Year: 1861

IT'S CONSEQUENCES.


Inc following extracts from an article bearing
the above title we take from the April No. Of the
Edinburg Revie,e:


Men are so much the creatures of impulse mas
SION, and imagination; they will bear so much in
patience when their mere interests are concerned:
that political and social grievances NAV continua
for long time without leading TO active n,easnr =
Tor their redress, unless some accident occurs
rouses tue simultaneous energy of numbers and
produces a sudden cOnAagrati6n. Hence tho i'm
mediate occasions of great political events are ro
neraiiy small: the real causes of such events lie be-
low the surface, and not unfrequentIv escape tho
most acute aiScernment, until they are laid bare by
their consequences. <


Why then was it that the election of President
Lincoln was the signal for secession in the South
ern States? How came it that this event was the
spark which fired the train, and caused the mine
to explode?


We conceive the answer to this question to be
found IN the fact that the resident whether his
powers be great or small, is the chief magistrate.
that he Is the head of the state, that moreover
he is virtually chosen directly by the votes of the
entire population; and that, therefore, he appears
to emhody the national WILL and to be the national
exponent of the political principle upon which his
election turns. Now it cannot be denied that the
election of Mr.. Lincoln turned upon the view of
the slavery question entertained by the Republican
party of the North. The cotton States of the
South viewed his return as national declaration
against their view of this vital question Their
fears were excited, their animosity was reused:
they regarded the election as open declaration
OF war against their 'prOpertv."


Although this proceeding of the Southern States
may not have been purely rational we must ad-
init that 1t was not unnatural. The election of
Lincoln may not have been a sufficient proyocation
to philosopher, or even to prudent statesman;
but we cannot be surprised that an AVERAGE njsrtar
should take alarm at national anti-slavery dem
onstration. 4


1t may be true that small number Of persons
who have occupied high places, have for several
years past been cOntriving means for disrpntion
of the Union. But without some event which
gave sudden and simultaneous impulse to the
mind OF the South, they might have continued tn
plot Tor years in secret, and might have remained
leaders without a follower, i


1t must be confessed likewise that the aIocri,v
which Congress has recently shown in increasinJ
the protectionism of the federal tariff, for the
proht OF the Northern and to the detriment of the
Southern States, evinces a selfish and unconcilia.
tory spirit in the now dominant party, calculated
to extinguish ary desire of reunion which NAV still
be lurking in the Gulf States.


1t the seeding States are not likely to be
brought back by negotiation, can they be BROUGHT
back by coercion? Now, If these States were de-
pendent provinces, like the Indian domnions of
England, or even if they were integral part of
a nation, such the Province of La Vendae in
France, they might be reduced By force to their
former obedience. But war of the North against
the States of the new Conf deracy would have for
its object their re-incorporation, on footing of
equality, with the old Union. War carried on for
such purnose defeats its own end The North
would tight for superiority and mastery over the
South. But as soon as it had conquered, it would
surrender the fruits of its victory and put the
South in position in which the process O, spces-
sion might be Immediately repeated. Coercion of
the seeding States in order to bring them back to
the Union, would resemble the effects of yvsecton
as described by Pope.


Like following life through creatures you dssect.


You lose it in the moment you detectn


1t is true that the Swiss Souderbuud was se
cession of seven cantOns, and that these seven
tons were virtually compelled by the majority of
the cantons to resume their former place in tba
Union. But Switzerland, even in its entiraty :: =
small country, 1t is surrounded by powerful neigh
oors; ana the saVen cantons Of the Sonderbund
were not large enough to form an independent
State. The utmost that they could hone IN do ,yos
to return. -


The address of President Lincoln upon his takino
the oath OF office, augurs i'll for the main tenance of
the Union The policy which it announces il
neither that OF concilation that of defiance
He shuts his eyes to the fact of secession: and he
oeca es his intention of enforcing the federal laws
as 1t 1t did not exist Under the operation of this
policy, the Northern States must speedily drift
into war, supposng it to be consistently followed
The best defence which be made of the inaug
ura address is that it does not mean what il saws
that its object is to gain time and that the federal
executive intends to adopt no decisive sten nntiI
the intentions of the border States are declared.


1t would in our opinion, be premature to specu-
late upon the probable effects of the movement
now In progress. All speculations must rest ON
merely conjectural basis, until it is known whe-
ther there Will be war between the Northern States
and the Southern Confederacv; and whether the
border States will adhere to the free North or ioin
the slave States Of the South. We will only. in
conclusion, express our opinion that the Matte
nance of the Union, in perpetuity, is impossibIe.
and that the entire region from Niagara to NJ
co. ana from New York to California, cannot con-
tinne for many years to be governed bv a suaIo
FEDERAL government. Dissolution, to some extant
and at no distant period, is, we believe. the .man
iieSt destiny" Of the United States.
nary contest between the two great sact;ona az
American people; but we are convinced, for nu.
merous reesons that such contest if it take place
a. all, Will be of very short duration. On the
osner nand, we confidently believe that the perils