, 1861-01-11
Correspondence from The States.
BY PONY EXPRESS.
WASHINGTON Cry, d. c.,
NoH. % 1850.

Five days hence Congress will be IN ses-
sion, under circumstances momentous in
their interest and importance. For the
first time in the history OF the Union, our
Legislators will be called to consider the
great issue Of secession, not as an abstract
or remote peril, but as something which the
result Of the Presidential contest has forced
upon US in a practical shape, aud which
must be practically disposed Of, now OF
never. To postpone the consideration Of
the subject, or to defer the action which it
has rendered necessary, would be to allow
the whole matter to go BY default, and the
sun Of this glorious confederacy would set
in the horrors Of civil war
Far removed as you are from the exciting
scenes now transpiring in the Southern
States, and free as you may be supposed TO
be from the monetary panic and business
depression which hangs like q thick, impen-
etrable cloud over the entire country east
Of the Mississippi, it may be difficult for
you to realize the immiDence Of the danger
which is involved in the present movement
for secession. Similar movements have
beeu heard Of before. In South Carolina,
Georgia, Alabama, louisiana and Missisi
sippi disunion has more than once been
talked Of and battled for by distinguished
leaders; but the calm judgment Of q ma
jOrity OF the people, and the sincerity and
diSinterestedness Of their attachment to
the Union as made by our fathers, for the
time suppressed the agitation. Now, bow
ever, il RACES with force it never had be-
fore. Not party leaders only, but an over
whelming majority of the citizens in the
cotton-growing States, raised to the highest
pitch of indignation by the election of a
sectional, anli-slAvery President, refuse
longer to maintain existing relations with
the North, and insist upon protecting them
selves, either by retaliating upon northern
capital and industry, or by Withdrawing
from the Union and organizing a southern
confederAcy upon an independent basis.
Whilst it is impossible to contemplate
such contingency without the most pain
ful emotions, it were unjust not to recognize
the strength Of the influences which have
brought the southern people to their pres
ent conclusion. Their grievances are not
imaginary; their demands for redress ore
not ill-tempered or unreasonable. They
end their peculiar institutions, their prop.
erty, their social relations, their products,
their whole sovereignty and future, meuaced
BY northern fanaticism and sectionalism
Through long years, they have borne insult
and aggression, and now, the election of
Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency rises
before them, not simply as the incarnation
Of abolitiOOiSm in the federal government,
but as demonstration Of sectional pre-
and pledge Of continued and
more daring assaults upon the rights, the
honor, and the interests Of the south.
On the other hand, we may well doubt
the propriety Of anything like precipitate
action on the part Of the south against the
Union. It's history and its present position
render It too sacred thing to be broken
into fragments, save under the pressure Of
dire necessity. Certainly, there should be
no withdrawal from the Union until all con-
means have been employed with
10 the Union, to restrain northern aggres-
sion and so to protect the south. As yet,
these means have not been exhausted. If
southern senators and representatives do
their duty, there will be majority in Con-
gress against the Lincoln administration,
and that circumstance alone should DO ac-
copied as guarantee against unfriendly
overt action by Lincoln or his advisers
Again: patriotic national democrates in the
northern States are maturing plans for
driving back the abolition tide; repeating
hostile legislation, the product Of fauati-
cism, and preparing the public mind for the
adoption Of such amendments TO the feder-
al constitution as experience has shown to
be requisite for the satisfactory protection
Of the slave-holding States. These efforts
may fail. The highspirited statesmen who
are making them may be defeated But in
the meantime, they have a right to ask the
south to await the result of the trial; not
only because their past struggles in behalf
of the south give them claim upon south
ern forbearance and gratitude, but because,
until this trial be ended, no section Of the
country is justified in abandoning as hope
less the means Of obtaining redress and
protection provided by the constitution.
Not until these be exhausted should any
State, or any number Of States, fall back
upon "the last great right Of revolution"
Various proposals will no doubt occupy
the attention of Congress, with view TO
the friendly solution of this formidable dir
6culty. By some general national con-
ventlon is recommended, with hope that
both sections may be induced to yield some
what, and that new and satisfactory com-
promise may thus be brought about 9th
ers advocate the holding of two cOuVen.
tions-nsrth aud south-simultaneo ;
and the. balance Of opinion amongst moder-
ate men seems to be on the side Of the lat
ter course.
The action Of the people in the Pacific
States aud Territories will be watched here
with the deepest interest. 1t is felt that
the great west is entitled to q potential
voice in counsels affecting the integrity and
the future Of the confederacy, ana the hope
is cherished that the position you occupy
as neutralS-it may be as an arbiter-ln
the irritating contest between north and