The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-08-27

his temper Mt last when Floyd positively re
fused to connive in any way At the perform,
ance. upon my word" SAID T., Whe ~
not sure, do you know, that Wigfalrs go.
luton wouldn't ave been q good one, LOT
then we would have known where we are
and now where are we?" he agrees WIN MI.
Douglns In thinking that President buchanan
probably has given the South Carolina Com
missiofiers to understand that he Will receive
them, and also that he lbs certainly, VIII mol
receive them. That mission or Cusnlng 3 was
q most mischievously foolish performance;
and he was the last man in the whole world
to whom such a piece oil. work ought to nave
been con1ided, lit was to have been under
taken at all: After sending, Cusnlng 70 neT
to treat and make terms. ~ VIII
Carolina or anybody else understand why ne
should not Mt least receive. her COMMISSION
ers. 1t Is this perpetual putting OF each side
in q false light toward the other when mas
carry us on to worse things. B. has
seen Cushing since lie got back, ana tells me
never saw n man who showed clearer traces
of having been broken down by sheer fright;
"He is tho boldcst ma within four Walls.and
tile greatest coward out Of doors" sold B.
that l ever knew in my life!" His descrip--
ton, from Cushing's account, OF the people OF
Charleston. and the state Of mind they are IN,
was ut once comical and alarming IN Inc
highest degree. Certainly, nothing approach
ing to it can exist anywhere else In the coun-
try, or, l suspect, out Of pandemonium.
WERE THE C~ARotISIANs CHEATED?
took tho liberty OF sending today to Mr..
Orr, who brought me the story about Presl-
dent Buchanan's Intentions toward the South
thought now Of his informant: To. my sur.
prise, he tells me thnt Mr.: B. whom I had
supposed to he entirely devoted TO the person.
n Interests OF the President. persists In his
-, --I III ~~. O. - q. VI. o. - 49,
cessiveIy irrItated at the position In which lie
has now been placed. Mr., Orr wishes the
commissioners to 60 home ahd make their re-
port, but his c~olleagiies insist Upon sending In
q letter to the President, which ! fear will not
must add to the difficulty dbont. THAT wretch
ed Fort Sumter, notwithstanding the slrgu-
lar confidence which Mr.. Seward seems to feel
in his own ability ultimately to secure asatis-
factory arrangement of That affair by, means
ur,ite outside OF the operations of the present
Government, whatever those means may be.
The South Carolina Commissioners profess to
have positive information from New York
that the President has ordered reif1forcements
to be sent to Sumter, and they are convinced,
accordingly, that he has been trifling with
them simply to gain time for perfecting what
they describe rs policy OF aggression.
WAS TIE CoNFEDERAcY MEANT TO DE PER
MANENT?
January 18th
A very long and interesting conversation
with Senator BENJAMIN on the right OF Louis
lana to seize Federal posts within her terri.
tory without even going through the formali.
ty OF n secession. He Is too able and clear:
headed q man not to feel how monstrous ana
indelensible such action Is, but he evidently
feels the ground giving way under MIN, and
is but a child in the grasp Of his colleague,
who, though not to be compared with MIN In
te%llcctually. has oil that he lacks in the way
of consistency of purpose and stTength o.
will. Virginia, he Is convinced, Will not Join
the secession movement on any terms, but
will play the chief part in bringing about the
NV own letters from Richmond are to the
same tenor. After q while l told him what
had heard yesterday from Mr.. Aspinwall
fered to read him the remarkable letter IRON
Mr.. Aspinwnll's lawyer. Il copy OF which Mr.
Aspinwall, ut my request, was so good as =
leave with me. 1t illustrates Benjamin
had heard six sentences Of the letter read ht
interrupted me with a smile, saying; "Yot
need not tell me who wrote that letter, Mr.
-. recognize the style OF my eXceiienl
i friend nd; Mi 1;,a RH1 - oo,s Of IN SeT " YSrk' W6lah c he
accordingly proceeded to do, to my greatsur
prise, with most extraordinary CORRECTNESS!
and precision. In fact, ! inferred necessarily
that the views expressed by Mr.. AspinWallt
counsel must have been largely drawn from
Mr.. BENJAMIN himself. so completely do they
tally with his own diagnosis Of the positio n
which Is, curiOusly enough, that the leader.
OF the inchoatc Confederacy are no more a
one in their ultimate plans Ind purpose!
than. according to my best information, are
the leaders in South Carolina. Mr.. Benjamin
thinks that the ablest Of them really regarc
the experiment of n new Confederation as al
c1lectual means OF bringing the conservative
masses OF the Northern people to reatize III
of union. In his judgment, the Constitution
of 1857 has outlived It's usefulness. Not only
must new and definite barriers be erected u
check the play OF the passions and opinions
of one great section upor, the interests ant
the rights OF another great section, but tn
conditions under which the Presidency iscre
ated and held must be changed. Tn Presl
Dental term must be longer, the President
must cease to be reeligible, and aclass or Gov
eminent f~unctiOnaries, to hold their. places
during good behavior, must be called into be
ing. Icould detect, l thought, In his views OF
these points, o distinctly French turn 0
thought, but much that he said struck mnks
eminently sound and sagacions. He THEN
not otherwise nor any better OF Presidin
Buchanan than Mr.. Douglas, though his oper
lon Of Mr.. Douglas is anything but hatter
Ing. ~
He agrees with mo that, by permitting tn
South Carolina forces to drive of by force tn
Star of the West, the Government have prac
tically conceded to South Carolina all tina
she claims In the way Of sovereignty, thougl
he is not surprised, as own lam, at the IN
difference, not to say apathy, with which TN
this positive Insult to the Federal flag hav
been received by the people of the North an
| West. Certainly, since we are not ut this me
ment in the blaze Of civil war, there Woul!
/ seem to be little reason TO fear that we shai
be overtaken by 1t Mt oil: The chief peri
seems to me now to lie in the long period {
business prostration with which we ar
| threatened, especially II Mr.. Benjamin.
views are correct. I do not believe that TIL
tConfcdcrate Government will lose the oppor
tunity OF establishing its free-trade syster
wherever Its authority can extend while con
Quoting negotiations for a new organizatio
of the Onion, and ~irreparable damage may, J
forests before any adjustment can be reacheC