Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1861-01-31
From the London Times. Jan. 0.
The United States not a Nation, but
"a Mob OfSeparate States

"a Mob 0fSeparate States,
| Never for many years can the United
STATES DO to the world what they hav,
been. Mr. Buchanan's message ha.
been greater blow to- the American
people than all the rants Of the Geor.
gian Governor, or the ''ordina nee" o.
the Charleston Convention. The Presi
dent has dissipated the idea that the
States which elected him constitute one
people We had thought that the Fed.
Grafton was Of the nature of nationai-
lty We find that it is nothing more
than a partnership. 1fany State may.
on grounds satisfactory to a local con-
vention. dissolve the Union between it.
self and its fellows; if discomfort with
the election of President, or the pass
ing of an obnoxious law by another State
or, it may be, a restrictive tariff. gives
a 'tste the fright of revo!u ion, and
permits it to withdraw itself from the
community. then the position of the A.
merican people with respect to foreign
powers is completely altered. 1t is strange
that race whose patriotic capti1usness
when in the society of Europeans is 50
remarkable, should be so ready to di-
vide and to give up the ties Of fellow
citizenship for cause which strangers
are unable to appreciate - Still stranger
is it that Chief Magistrate. who would
have plunged the world in war rather
than suspicious craft should be boarded
by English officers after it had displayed
the stars and stripes, or who would have
done battle against despots for any natu-
rallied refugee from Continental Europe,
should, without scruple and against the
advice of his own Secretary of State, de-
clare the Federal Union dissolved when
ever refractory State chooses to Sc.
ccdc.
1t may be well imagined that the A.
mcrican people have been taken by sur
prise both by the suddenness and vio-
lence of the cutlery for secession, and by
the ready concessions of the President
From the day the Message appeared it
was evident that South Carolina n lon.
ger formed part of the Union. The
State had, by every organ which it pos
sessed, bv its senators. its representa-
tives. by the voice of the press. of the
great slave owners. aud of the multitude,
declared its resolution to secede. Only
courage like that of General Jackson
could have quelled the 'Gamecock State,
As We perceive some of its admirers - |
il, But there was middle path between
civil war and such an instant recognition
as Mr.. Buchanan thought advisable -
AZ one charged with the dnty Of uphol-
ding the Federal power, no might have
used the authority vested in hun to de-
lay the movement aud give the Union
AMI South Carolina Itself timc for refec-
ton. Mr. Cass would probably depre-
cate holding State by force, but he
sill declined to remain in the Cabinet
Of the statesman who would not reinforce
Fort Moultrie, and assert, during the
short remainder of his term of office, the
supremacy o! the Constitution. But as
,hngs went, the action of South Caro-
lima was predetermined On the 10Th
Of December that State seeded from the !
lime has probably gained possession of
Ill the Federal property within its Dor
lers, and established custom house and |
oost-ofice of its own.
This bold course has its natural OBJECT |
IN the TX ,table slavs.owners Tho So
,ession of South Carolina has been re-
,eivc1 everywhere with enthusiasm. 1t
nay, perhaps, be said that the other
States have feigned an appreciation which
hey do not feel. in order to bring the
North to terms By the menace Of o South
srn Republic. But, whether from fee
ing our policy. the secession was just
1t its loules. at the close Of the year -
{ was looked upon as certain that six or
even States would seperste from the
Union in the first days of 1861 Geor-
,ia leads the van The ordinance of
secession was looked upon as already
passed. The North Carolina Legislature
las already read second time the bill
or arming the State. Alabama had
'oted, by large majority, in favor of
cccssion. In Virginia, the Oldest. the
most conservative. and the most cautious
# the Slave States, VIC are told tina. the
feeling il gaining ground
State Conventions are - meet in Flori-
IA on the 81 off .nuary. in Alabama on
he 18th. in Mississippi on the It'll, in
'exas CD the 9Th. in Georgia on the 9th,
nd in Loulsisna on the 23l; and our
correspondent believes that there viii
re \ majority in each Of them in favor of
and separate secession. -
Hence, in few days more the United
t,tes of America. as the world has
i,herto known them. will cease to ex.
Il.