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Wteklg ts oudittttiamiißt by JAMES GARDNER. THANKSGIVING SERMON. Delivered in the First JPrt&yterijn Church, Site Orleant,on Thursday, Mortmterfi9. 1860. BY RET. B. U. PALMER, D. D. Psuhn XOIV, 20.—“ Shall the throne of iniquity hare fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? VOoidiah, 7.—AH the men of tby confederacy v, aTe brought thee eren to the border; the tnen tba' w#re at peace with thee hare deceired thee, and prevailed against thee; they that ate thy bread have laid a wound under thee; there isnonejtnder- Klanding in him.” The voice of the Chief Magistrate has summon ed us to-day to the bouse of prayer. This call, id its annual repetition, may be to often only a solemn State form; nevertheless it covers a mighty and a double truth. , , , It recognises the existeuce of a personal God whose will shapes the destiny of nations, and that sentiment of religion in man which Mints to him as the needle to the pole. Even with those who grope in the twilight of natural religion, namra conscience gives a votes to the dispens. ions of ProTidence. If in autumn, ‘‘extensive harm's -s hang their heavy head,” the joyous reajw • ed with the sickle aod the wheaten sheaf, Mts uib heart to the “Father of lights, fro “ w^ m i s D “ tl down every good and perfect gift- t . lence and femme waste the e ? rlb . ■ars smote with bleeding vtctms, and cosily neca tombs appease thS Divine &n ffT » among'chnstians ““ heathen aitke, seLks after God-the natural Tomapft S£ sasssA t 3S?^ssrwjas lie forects to weigh his aeruples, as the dark shadow passe# over him and fills hiseoitl with awe The daintv philosonher, coolly discoursing of tba forces of nature and her uniform laws, aban dona for a time, his atheistical speculations, abashed by the proofs of a supreme and personal Thus the devout followers of Jesus Christ, and those who do not rise above the level of a mere ’heism are drawn into momentary fellowship, as under the pressure of these inextinguishable con victions they pay a public and united homage to the God of nature anil of grace. In obedience to this great law of religious feel ing nofless than in obedience to the civil ruler who represents this Commonwealth in its unity, we are now assembled. Hitherto, on simnarocca sions, our language lias been the language of grati tude and song. “The voice of rejoicing and salva tion was in the tabennacles of the righteous. To gether we praise the I.ord “that our garners were full, affording all manner of store; that our sheep brought forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets; that our oxen were strong to labor, and there was no breaking in nor going out, and ao complaining was in our streets. As we to getber surveyed the blessings of Providence, the joyful chorus swelled Irom millions of people, “peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces." But, to-day, burdened hearts all over this land are broughtto the sanctuary nt God. We “see the tents of Cushan tu affliction, and the curtains of the land of Midian do tremble. YVe have fallen upon times when there are “signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts lading them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming in the near yet gloomy future. Since the word# ot this proclamation were penned by which we are convened, that which all men dreaded but against which all men hoped, has been realised; and in the triumph of a sectional majoritv we are compelled to read the probable deem of our oaee happy anjJ united Confederacy. Telrtu Iku i~ per lion s’ has occurred in our history as a'nation. The cords during four-fifths, of #- camturv. -a .- t uuf io, aro "fe strained to the utmost tension: they just need the touch of Ore to part asun der forever. Like a ship laboring in the storm and suddenly ground-., upon some treachous shoal, every timber of this vast Confederacy strains and groans under the pressure. Sectional divisons; the jealousy of; rival interests; the lust of political power; a bastard ambition, which looks to a per sonal aggrandisement rather than to the public weal; a reckless radicalism which seeks for the subversion of all that is ancient and stable, and a furious fanaticism which drives on its ill-consider ed conclusions with utter disregard of the evil it engenders—all these combine to create a porten tous crisis, the like of which we have never know-n before, and which puts lo a crucifying test the vir tue, the patriotism, >od the piety of the conn try. You, my hearers, who have waited upon my public ministry and have known me in the inti macies of pastoral intercourse, will do me the justice to testify that I h#Fe never intermeddled with'political questions. Interested as I might be in the progress of events, I have never obtruded, either publicly or privately, my opinions upon any of you- nor can a single man arise and say that, by word or sign have I ever sought to warp Ms sentiment or control his judgment upon auy political subject whatsoever. The party questions which have hitherto divided the political world, have seemed to me to involve no issue sufficently momentous to w arrant my turning aside, even for a moment, from mv chosen calling. In this day cf intelligence, I have felt there were thousands around me more competent to instruct in states manship; and thus, from considerations of modes ty do less than prudence, I have preferred to move among you as a preacher of righteousness belong ing to a kingdom not of this world. During the heated canvass which has just been brought to so disasterous a close, the seal of a rigid and religious silence has not been broken. I de plored the division among us as being, to a large extent impertinent m the solemn crisis which was 100 evidently impending. Most clearly did it appear to me that but one issue was before us; an issue soon to be presented in a form which would compel the attention. That crisis might make it imperative upon me as a Christian and a divine, to speak in language admitting no misconstruction. Until then, aside from the din and strife of parties, I could onlv mature, with solitary and (prayerful thought the destined ntterance. That hour has come At a juncture so solemn as the present, with the destiny of a great people waiting upon the decision of an hour, it is not lawful to be still. Whoever mav have influence to shape public opinion, at such a time, must lend it or.prove faith less to a trust as solemn as any to be accounted for at the bar of God. * It is immodest in me to assume that I may rep ’ resent a class whose opinions, in such a controver sy, are of cardinal imporiance—the class which seeks lo ascertain its duty in the *igbt simply of conscience and religion; and whico turns to the moralist and the Christian for support and guid ance. The question, too. which now places us up on the brink of revolution, was in its origin a ques tion of morals and religion. It was debated in ecclesiastical councils before it entered legis lative halls. It has riven asunder the two largest religious communions in the land, and the right determination of this primary question will go lar toward fixing the attitude we must assume in the coming struggle. I sincerely pray God that I mav be forgiven if I have misapprehended the duty incumbent upon me to-day; for I hare ascended this puipit under the agitation of feeling natural to one who is about to deviate from the settled policy of his public life. It is my purpose—not as your < organ, compromitting you, w-hose opinions are for the most part unknown to me, but on mv sole re- 1 sponsibility—to speakjuponthe one question of the dav; and to state the duly which, asl beliete patri otism and religion alike requires of us all. I eiia.il aim to speak with a moderation of tone and feeling almost judicial, well hefiting the sanctities of the place and the solemnities of the judgment day. In determining our duty in this emergency, it is cecessarj that we should first ascertain the nature of the trust providentially committed to ns. A na tion often has a character as weil defined and intense as tl a* cf the individual. This depends, of course, upon a variety of causes operating through a long periodot time. It is due largely to the original traits which distinguish the stock from which it springs, l aE( i to the providential training which has formed its education. But, however derived, this indi viduality of character alone makes any people, tru ly historic, competent to work out its specific mis sion, and to become a factor in the world’s pro gress. The particular trust assigned to such a people becomes the pledge of Divine protection, and their liJelity to it determines the fate by which it is finally overtaken. Whafthat trust is it rnustbe ascetaim-d from the neeessitiesof their position, the institutions which are the outgrowth of their prin ciples, and the conflicts through which they pre serve their identity and independence. If, tnen, the South is such a people, what, at this juenture, is their Providential trust? I answer, that it is to conserve and to perpetuate the institution of do mestic slavery as now existing. It is not necessary here to inquire whether this is precisely the best relation in which the hewer n( wood and drawer of water can stand to his employ er, although this proposition may perhaps be suc cessfully sustained by those who choose to defend it. Still less are we required, dogmatically, to af firm that it will subsist through all time. Baffled as our wisdom may now be, in finding a solution of this intricate social problem, it would nevethe les3 be the height of arrogance; to pronounce what change may or may not oco«r in the distant future. In the grand march of events, Providence m»y work out a solution undiscoverable by us. What modifications of soil and climate may'hereafter be produced, what consequent changes in the prodjtets on which depend, wbat political revotgtkons may occur strong the races which are now <ii*ct ing the great drama of history; all such inquiries are totally irrelevant, because no prophetic virion can pierce the darkuess of that future. If this question should ever arise, the generation to whom it is remitted will doubtless have the wisdom to meet it, and Providence will furnish the lights in which it is to be resolved. All that we claim for them and for ourselves is liberty to work out this problem, guided by nature and God, without ob trusive interference from abroad. These great questions of providence and history'.must have free scope for their solution, and the race whose for tunes are distinctly implicated in the same is alone authorised, as it is alone competent, to determine them. It is just thisimpertiuence of human legisla tion, setting bounds to what God only can regulate, that the South is called this day to resent and re sist. The country is convulsed simply because “the throne of iniquity frameth mischief by a law.” Without, therefcrc, determining the question of duty for future generations, I simply say, that for us, as now situated, the duty is plain of conserv ing and transmiting the system of slavery, with the freest scope for its natural development and extension. Let us, my brethren, look our duty in the face. With this'institution assigned to our keeping, what reply shall we make to those who say that its days are numbered? My own con viction is, that we should at once lift ourselves, in telligently, to the highest moral ground, and pro claim to ait the world that we hold this trust from God, aud in its occupancy we are prepared to stand or fall, us God may appoint. If the critical moment has arrived at which .the great issue is joined, let us say \bat, in the sight of all perils, we will stand by our trust,and God be with trie rtght! The argument which enforces the solemnity of this providential trust is simple and condensed. It is bound upon us. theD. by the prtncip'e of self preservation, that “first law” which is continually asserting its supremacy over others. Need I pause to show how this sv*tem of serritude underlies und supports out material interests ? That our wealth consists in our lands and in the serfs who till them? That from the nature of their products they can only be cultivated by labor which must be controlled in order to be certain ? That any other than a tropical race must faint and wither beneath a tropical sun ? Need I pause to show bow this system is interwoven with our entire social fabric? That these slaves form parts of our households, even as our children, and that, too, through a rela tionship recognised and sanctioned in the scrip lutes of God even as thy other ? Must I pause to » 1 #1.9 s.tdr. V»! «»#... ■*(UOG ra Dt lilts, *iad ~de ermined all our habits of thought and feeltngh and moulded the very ui safc-ii sH#*** o * l «L HT"V, DO- ..Tu upon it without involving our existence ? The so-called tree States of this country are working out the so* cial problem undfer conditions peculiar to them selves. These conditions are sufficiently hard, and iheir success is too uncertain, to excite in us the least jealously of their lot. With ateemingpopulation, which the soil cannot support—with tneir wealth depending upon art, created by artificial wants— with an eternal friction between the grades of 'heir society—with their labor and their capital grinding against each other like the upper and nether mill stone—with lobor cheapened and diss placed by new mechanical inventions, bursting more asunder the bonds of brotherhood; amid these intricate perils we have ever given them our sympathy and our prayers, and have never sought to weaken the foundations of their social order. God grunt them complete success in the solution of all their perplexities! We, too, have our re sponsibilities and our trials, but they are all bound up in this instiution, which has been the object of such unrighteous assault through five-and-twenty years. If we are true to ourselves we shall, at this critical junctures, stand by it and work out our destiny. This duty is bound upon us again in the consti tuted guardians of the slaves themselves. Our lot is not more implicated in theirs, than is their lot in ours: in our mutual relations we survive or perish together. The worst foes of the black race are those who have intermeddled on their behalf. We know better than others that every attribute of their character tits them for dependence and ser vitude. By nature the most affectionate and loyal of all races beneath the sun, they are also the most helpless; and no calamity can befall them greater than the loss of that protection they ens joy under this patriarchiai si’stem. Indeed, the experiment has been grandly tried of precipitas tiug them upon freedom which they know not how to enjoy; and the dismal results are before us in statistics that astonish the woild. With the fairest portions of the earth in their possession, and with the advantage of a long discipline as cultivators of the soil, their constitutional indo* lence has converted the most beautiful island of the sea intoa howling waste. It is not too much to say that if the South should, at this moment, surrender every slave, the wisdom of the entire world, united in solemn council, could not solve the question of their disposal. Their transportas tion to Africa, even if it were feasible, would be but the mo3t refined cruelty; they most perish with starvation before they could have time to relapse into their primitive barbarism. Thetr residence here, in the presence of the vigorous Saxon race, would be but the signal for their extermination before they had time to waste away through lists lessness, filth and vice. Freedom would be their doom; and equally from both they call upon us, their providential guardians, to be protected. I know this argument will be scoffed abroad as the hypocritical cover thrown over our own cupidity and selfishness; but every southern master knows its truth and feels its power. My servant, whether born in my house or bought with my money, stands to me in relations of a child. Though providentially owing me service, which, providentially, I am bound to exact, he is, never theless, my brother and my friend; and I am to him a guardian and a father, fle leans upon me for protection, for counsel, and for blessing, and so long as the relation continues no power but the power of Almighty God shall come between him and me. Were there no argument but this, it binds upon ns the providential duty of preserv ing the relation that we may save him from a doom worse than death. It is a duty which we owe, further, to the civil* | sed world. It is a remarkable fact that during | these thirty years of unceasing warfare against ! slavery, and while a lying spirit has inflamed the world against us, that world has grown more and ‘ more dependent upon it for sustenance and wealth. Every tyro knows that ail branches of industry j ‘all back upon the soil. We muss come, everyone of us, to the bosom of this great mother for nours ishment. In the happy partnership which has grown up in providence between the tribes of this Confederacy, our industry has been concentrated upon agriculture. To the North we have cheer fully resigned all the profits arising from manus ’ facture and commerce. Those profits they have, j ; for the me st part, fairiy earned, and we have ! j never grudged them. We have sent them our su- j j gar and brought it back when refined; we have j sent them »ur thread and brought it back when AUGUSTA, GJL., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1860. spun into thread or woven into cloth. Almost i every article we use, from the shoe-latchet to the ' most elaborate and costly article of luxury, they ’ have made and we hava bought, and both sec- s tions have thriven by the partuerspip, as no peo- < pie ever thrived before or sioce the fiist shining of i the sun. So literally true are the words of the text, addressed by Obadiah to Edom: “All the : men of our Confederacy, the men that vrere at ’ peace with us. have eaten our bread at the very time they have deceived and laid around under us." Even beyond, this the enrichingjcommeree, which has built the splendid cities and marble places of England as well as of America—has been largely established upon the products of our soil; aud the blooms upon southern fields, gather ed by black hands, have fed the spindles aud looms of Manchester and Birmingham not less than of Lawrence and Lowell. Strike now a blow atthis system of labor and, the world itself toilers at the stroke. Shall we permit that blow to fell? Do we not owe it to civilised man to staud in the breach and stay the uplifted arm? If the blind Sampson lays hold of the pillars which support the arch of the world’s industry, how many more will be buried beneath its ruins than the lords of the Philistines? “Who knoweth whether we are not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Last of all, in this great struggle, we defend the cause of God and religion. The Abortion spirit is undeniably atheistic. The demon which erected its throne upon the guillotine in the days of Ro bespierre and Murat, which abolished|the Sabbath, and worshipped reason in the person of a harlot, yet survives to work other horrors, of which those of the French revolution are but the type. Among a people so generally religious as the American, a disguise must be worn; but it is the same old threadbare disguise of the advocacy of human rights. From a thousand Jacobin clubs here, as in France, the decree has gone forth which strikes at God by striking at all subordination and law. Availing itself of the morbid and misdirected sym pathies of men, it has entrapped weak consciences in the meshes of its treachery, and now, at least, has seated its high priest upon the throne, clad in the black garments of discord and schism, so symbolic of its ends. Under this specious cry of reform, it demands that every evil shall be corrected, or society become a wreck—the sun must be stricken from the heavens, if a spot is found on his disc. The Most High, knowing his own power, which is infinite, and his own wisdom, which is unfathomable, can afford to be patient. But these self-constituted reformers must quicken the activity of Jehovah, or compel his abdication. In their furious haste thwy trample upon obliga tions sacred as any which can bind the*conscience. It is time to'reproduce the obsolete idea, that Provi dence must govern man, and not that man should control Providence. In the imperfect state of hu inan society, it pleases’God to allow evils which check others that are greater. As in the physical world, objects are moved forward, not by a single force, but by the composition of forces, so in his moral administration there are checks and bal ances whose intimate relations are comprehended only by himself. But what reck they of this— these fierce zealots who undertake to drive the chariot of the sun? Working out the single aud false idea which rides them like a nightmare, they dash athwart the spheres, utterly disregarding the delicate mechanism of Providence, which moves on, wheels within wheels, with pivots, and balances, and springs, which the great Designer alone can control. This spirit of atheism, which knows no God which tolerates evil, no Bible which sanctions law, and no conscience that can be bound by oaths and covenants, has selected us for its victims, and slavery for its issue. Its banner cry rings out already upon the air—“ Liberty, equality, fraternity”—which, simply interpreted, mean bondage, confiscation and massacre. With , its tri-color waving in the breeze, it waits to inau-j gurute its reign of terror. To the South the high position is assigned of defending, before all nkd Ti&us, the cause of ft|V •***&£-*+**>+£. ■> '• *’•" ’•"£ legating the power which wars constitutions, and laws, and compacts, againt Sabbaths and sanctuaries, against ll - family, the State and the church, which blasphe mously invades the prerogatives of God, and re bukes the Most High for the errors of his adminis tration, which, if it cannot snatch the reins of empire from His grasp, will lay the universe iu ruins at cline the onset? This argument, then, which sweeps over the entire circle of our relations, touches the four cardinal points of duty to ourselves, to our slaves, to the world, and to Almighty God. It establishes the nature and solemnity of our present trust, to preserve and transmit our existing system of do mestic servitude, with the right, unchanged by man, to go and root itself wherever Providence and nature may carry it. This trust we will dis* charge in the face of the worst possible peril. Though war be the aggregation of all evils, vet, should the madness of the hour appeal to the arbi tration of the sword, we will not shrink even from the baptism of fire. If modern crusaders stand in serried ranks upon some plain of Esdraelon, there shall we be in detense of our trust. Not till the last man has fallen behind the last rampart, shall it drop from our hands; and then only in surrender to the God who gave it. Against this institution a system of aggression has been pursued through the last thirty years. Initiated by a few fanatics, who were at first de spised, it has gathered strength from opposition uniil it has assumed its present gigantic propor tions. No man has thoughtfully watched the pro gress of this controversy without being convinced that the crisis must at length come. Some few’, perhaps, have hoped against hope, that the gathering imposthurne might be dispersed, und the poison be eliminated from the body politic by healthy remedies. But the delusion has scarcely been cherished by those who have studied the his tory of fanaticism in its path of blood and fire through the ages of the past. The moment must arrive when the conflict must be joined, and victo ry decide for one or the other. As it has been a war of legislative tactics, and notofphysical force, both parties have been maneuvering fora position; and the embarrassment has been, while dodging amidst Constitutional forms, to make an issue that should be clear, simple and tangible. Such an issue is at length presented in the result of the recent Presidential election. Be it observed, too. that it is an issue made by the North, not by the South. Upon whom, therefore must rest the en tire guilt of the present disturbance? With a choice between three national candidates, who have more or less divided the vote of the Sooth, the North, with unexampled unanimity, have cast their ballot for a candidate who is sectional, who represents a party that is sectional, and the ground of that sectionalism prejudice against the estab lished and Constitutional rights and immunities and institutions of the South. What does this de clare—what can it declare—but that from hence forth this is to be a Government of section over section; a Government using Constitutional forms only to embarrass and divide the sectional ruled, and as fortresses through whose embrasures the cannon of legislation is to be employed in demol ishing the guaranteed institutions of the Souih? What issue is more concrete, intelligible, than this? I thank God that, since the conflict must be joined, the responsibility of this issue rests not with us, who have ever acted upon the defensive; and that it is so disembarrassed and simple that the feeblest mind can understand it. The question with the South to-day is not what issue shall she make, but how shall she meet that which is prepared for her? Is it possible that we can hesitate longer than a moment? In our natu ral recoil from the perils of revolution, and with our clinging fondness for the memories of the past, we may perhaps look around for something to soften the asperity of this issue, for some ground on which we may defer the day of evil, for some hope that the gathering clouds may not burst in fury upon the land. It is alleged, for example, that the President elect was chosen by a fair majority under pre* scribed forms. But need I say, to those who have used history, that no despotism is more absolute than that of an unprincipled Democracy, and no tvrannymore galling than that exercised through Constitutional formulas? But the plea is idle, when the very question we debate is the perpetu- I ation of that Constitution now converted into an ! engine of oppression, and the continuance of that Union which is henceforth to be our condition of I vassalage—l say it with solemnity and pain, this * Union of our forefathers is already gone. It ex-' isted Vut in mutual confidence, the bonds of 1 which ruptured in ihe late election. Though i its forms shown be presetted, it is, in fact, de- I stroyedi We may possibly entertain the project 1 of rc'(*>nft*rustt&g it, but it will be another Union i resting upon oth than past guarantees. “In that i we say covenant we hafe made the first old, i and tfiat which dteaveth and waxeth old is ready < to vanish a wav ’—“ as a vesture it is folded up. 1 For myself, I say, that under the rule which threatens us I throw off the yoke of the Union as readily. as did our ancestors the yoke of King Georgd iU., and f* ; causes immeasurably stronger i than thbse pleaded in their celebrated declaration, i It is *c;>iy whispered, too, that the successful! competitor for the throne protests and avers bis purpose to administer the Government in a conser- ! vative and nati< ual spirit. Allowing him all cred- | it for personal uuegrity in these protestations, he is, in tb s matte-, nearly as impotent for good as he is competent for evil.~*He is nothing more than a figure upon the political chess board—whether ptiwd, fcmght. or king, will hereafter appear—but still a silent figure upon the checkered squares, moved Jyv the hands of an unseen player. That player ?s the party to which he owes his elevation —a party that has signalised its history by the nio't unblushing perjuries. What faith can be placed »n the protestations of men who openly avow mat their consciences are too sublimated to be resinned by the obligation of covenants or by the sanctity of oaths? No, we have seen the trail °f serpent h ve-and-twenty years in our Eden; ! twiik now in the branches of the forbidden tree, we fee' the pangs of death already begun as its hot breatl is upon our cheek, hissing out the original falsehood-—“Ye shall not surely die.” Another suggests that even yet the electors, alurn ed by these demonstrations of the South, may mt cast the black ball which dooms their cooniry lo the executioner. It is a forlorn hope. Whether we should counsel such breach of faith in them, or take refuge in their treachery—wheth er such a result would give a President chosen by the people according to the Constitution—are points I will not discuss. But that it would prove a cure for any of our ills, who can believe? It is certain that it would, with some show of justice, exasperate a party sufficiently ferocious—that it would doom us'to four years of increasing strife and bitterness—and that the crisis must come at lass. finder issues possibly not half so clear as the Ereiset. Let us uot desire to shift the day of trial y miserable subterfuges of this sort. The issue is upon us ; let ui meet it like men, and end this str:% forever. I it some auietist whispers, yet further, this ma jority is accidental, and has been swelled by ac cess ions of men simply opposed to the existing Ai mioistra .iofl; the party is utterly heterogenous, an must be shivered into fragments by its own suncess. I confess, traakly, this suggestion has s ggered lemore than any other, and I sought t-> take ret ige should we not wait a i see the etket of Bijbcess itself upon a party i ose element 3 might pevour each other in the i ry distribution of the jsoil r Two considerations I. ve dissipated the faljhcy before me. The first in that, however mixei the party, Abolitionism is • early its informing afid actuating soul, and fanati ■ , sm is a bloodi-onod that never bohs its track heu it has or o Japped blood. The elevation of eir candidate ■ ; "ar from being the conuuumia on of their aims- it is only the beginning of that : ‘Dflummation; and, it all history be not a lie, j lere will be cohesion enough till the end of the I ‘ginning is reached, and the dreadful banquet of | laughter ana ruin shall glut the appetite. The econd oonsidenition is a principle which I cannot r but. It is nowhere denied that ihe first article j «-ed .of the new dominant party, is the re itnctnu of slavery w '.Un i 3 present limits. It is iistincu avowed hi- ‘ " rgana, and in the name j f their elected chi fiaiu, us will appear from the, f lo—inu extract from an articre written to pacify be o T \ and to re-assure its fears: As -TV- '"% r \ - **»«««* - w mf any man th»HPvj7inci/.ii regards slarerr as a moral social and political evil, and that it should be deah with as such by the Federal Government in eve.* mstance where it is called upon to deal with it a* all. On this point their need be no mis givings j»s to bis official action. The whole intiuence of the executive department of the Government, while ip hi* hands, will be thrown against the ex tension e' slavery into the new Territories of the Union, "id the re-opening of the African slave trade “On tkfcse points he will make no compromise noryiellone hair’s breadth to coercion from any quarter or in any shape. He does not accede to the alleged decision of the Supreme Court, that the Constitution places slaves upon the footing of other prc'&erty, and protects them as such where ever its jurisdiction extends; nor will he be, in the least degree, governed or controlled by ii in his executive action. He will do all in his power, per sonally ai |i officially, by the direct exercise of the powers office and the indirect influence in separable #i)m it, to arrest the tendency to make slavery national aud perpetual, and to place it in precisely She aameposition which it held in the early days of the Republic, and in the view of the founders of the Government.” Now, wh‘atEnigmas may be couched in this last sentence, theHphynx which uttered them can per haps resolve ; but the sentence in which they occur is as big as the belly of the Trogan horse which laid the city of Priam in ruins. These utterances we have heard so long that they fall stale upon the ear ; but never before have they had such significance. Hitherto they Lave cotne from Jacobin conventicles and pulpits, from the rostrum, from the hustings, and from the halls of our National Congress; but always as the utter ances of irresponsible men, or associations of men. But now the voice comes from the throne; alreadv, beto-e clad with the sanctities of office, ere the qnnointing oil is poured upon the monarch’s head, the decree has gone forth that the institution of southern slavery shall be constrained within as signed limits. Thougn nature and Providence should send forth its branches like the banyan tree, to take root in congenial soil, here is a power superior to both, that says it shall wither uud die within its own charmed circle. What say you to this, to whom this great provi dential trust of conserving slavery is assigued? “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?” It is this that, makes the crisis. Whether we will or not, this is the historic moment, when the fate of this institution hangs suspended in the balance. Decide either way, it is the moment of our des tiny; the only thing affected by the decision, is the complexion of that destiny. If the South bows down before this throne, she accfpts the decree of restriction and ultimate extinction, which is made the condition of her homage. As it appears to me, the course to be pursued in this emergency, is that which has already been inaugurated. Let the people in all the southern States, in solemn council assembled, reclaim the powers they have delegated. Let those conven tions be composed of men whose fidelity has been approved—men who bring the wisdom, expe rience, and firmness of age, to support and an nounce principles which have long been matured. Let these conventions decide firmly and solemnly what they will do with this great trust committed to their hands. Let them pledge each other in sacred covenant, to uphold and perpetuate what they cannot resign without dishonor and palpable ruin. Let them further take all the necessary steps looking to separate and independent exists ence, and initiate measures for framing a new and homogeneous Confederacy. Thus prepared for every contingency, let the crisis come. Paradoxi cal as it may seem, if there be any way to save, or rather to reconstruct, the Union of our forefathers, it is this. Perhaps, at the last moment, the conservative portions of the North may awake to see the abyss into which they are about to plunge. Perchance they may arise and crush out forever the Abolition hydra, and cast it into a grave from which there shall never be resurrection. Thus, with restored confidence, we may be re joined, a united and happy people. But, before God, I believe that nothing will effect this but the line of policy which the South has been compelled in self-preservation to adopt. 1 confess frankly, lam not sanguine that such an auspicious result will be reached. Partly, because Ido not see how new guarantees are to be grafted upon the Constitution nor how, if grafted, they can be more binding than those which have already been trampled uu der foot; but chiefly because X do uot see how such 1 guarantees can be elicited trom the people at the North. It cannot be disguised that almost to a man, they are anti-slavery where they are not Abo ition. A whole generation has been educated to look upon she system with abhorence as a nation al blot. They hope and look, and pray for its ex tincttoo, within a reasonable time, and cannot be satisfied unless things are seen drawing to that conclusion. We on the contrary, as its constitu ted guardian, can demand nothing less than that it should be left open to expansion, subject to no limitations save those imposed be God and nature 1 fear the antagonism is too great, and the con science of both parties too deeply implicated to al ow such a composition of the strife. Xeverthe less, since it is within the range of possibility in the providence of God. I would not »nut out 'the alternative: Should it fail, what remains but that tve say to each other, calmly end kindly, what Abraham’said to Lot: “Let there be no strife, .1 pray thee, be tween me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me—if tbou will take the lelt hand, then I will go on the right, or it thou depart to the right baud, then I will go to the left.” Thus, if we cannot save the Union, we may save the inestima ble blessings it enshrines; it we cannot preserve the vase, we will preserve the precious liquor it contains. In all this, I speak for the North no less than for the South; for on our united and determined resistance at this moment depends the salvation of the whole country—in saving ourselves we shall save the North from the ruin she is madly draw ing down upon her own head. The position of the South is at this moment sub lime. If she has grace given her to know her hour, she will save herself, the country, and the world. It will involve, indeed, temporary pros tration and distress; the dykes of Holland must be cut to save her from the troops of Philip. Hut I warn my countrymen the historic moment once passed, never returns. If she will arise in her majesty, and speak now as with the voice of one man, she will roll back for all time the curse that is upon her. If she succumbs now, she transmits that curse is an heirloom to posterity. We may, for a generation, enjoy comparative ease, gather up our feet in our beds, and die in peace; but our children will go forth beggared from the homes of their fathers. Fishermen will cast their nets where your proud commercial navv now rides at anchor, and dry them upon the shore now covered with your bales of merchandise. Sapped, circumvented, undermined, the institu tions of yonr soil will be overthrown ; and within five-and-twenty years the history of St. Domingo wil be the record of Louisiana. If dead men’s bones can tremble, ours will move underthe muts tered curses of our sons and daughters, denounc ing the blindness and love of ease which have left them an inheritance of woe. I have done my duty under as deep a sense of responsibility to God and man as I have ever felt. Under the full conviction that the salvation of the whole country is depending upon the action of Hie South, I am impelled to deepen the sentiment of resistance in the southern mind, and to streugtheu the current now flowing toward a union of the South in defense of her chartered rights, l! is a duty whith I shall not be recalled to repear, tor such awful junctures do not occur twice a century. Bright nnd happy days are vet before 11s ; and before another political earthquake shell shake the continent, I hope to he “where the w icked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at re f .” It only remains to say, that whatever he :he for tunes of the South, I accept them for my own. Born upon her soil, of a father thus lorn before me—from an ancestry that occupied it while vet it was a part of England’s possessions—she is m every i nse my molher. I shall die upon her bo ■ sont—st ■ shall fct ow no peril bu it is my peril— -00 conflict bat It is inv lonliic. and no abyss of t:uin into which 1 shaft wot share her iali. ’-Isv -i-tf-m-*-.x,-r..:Jc WUs- a* —y 1 battle ! ’ JAPAN. Recent letters from Japan throw much light ■ on the internal arrangements of that country. We can now better understand the matter of the assassination of the Prince Regent. It seems that the Tycoon, or secular monarch of the country, died some littlo time ago and was succeeded by a minor. As there was no direct heir to the throne, and the law provides that in such a case the new mono Mi is to bo chosen from among the members of the “three Imperial Houses,” the heads of which aro call ed the Emperor’s brothers, an election was held. Tho Prince of ilito was set aside aud the son of the Prince of Ki was chosen. He being a mi nor, tho Regent had to be chosen. The lot fell upon the unfortunate person lately massa cred, who, no doubt, fell a Victim to the malice of the disappointed Prince of Jlito. We trace with much interest the workings in Japan of that same antagonism between king and nobles which for so many centuries caused rivers of blood to flow in Europe. Recent events reveal the extent to Which the govern ment of the country depends on the will of feu dal lords. A large majority of the damios, who number three hundred and fifty, are averse to all connexion with foreign nations, and are able to prevent it. In order to do this, they aro in the habit of playing off the Mecado, or spiritual Emperor, who would be otherwise a mere ei-' pher, against tho Tycoon. This Meeado resides at Meaeo, the religions capital, which is two hundred miles from Yeddo. The Tycoon is really the only successor of the Premier, or mil itary administrator of the Empire, who, after encroaching for a long while upon the preroga tives of the Mecado. finally assumed all the functions of royalty somo three hundred years ago. , The Great Council, consisting of eight or ten principal damios, are the real rulers of the land at present. It carries otic back to the time 3 of the great houses of the British nobility of the middle ages, to observe the conduct of the damios. Residing for half the year in the capital, and compelled to leave their families always there, they stout ly maintain that they are the guests and not the subjects of the Tycoon. In the'regular old Brit ish spirit, they proclaim that every man’s house is his castle and his kingdom, into which no one else may intrude without leave from the propri etor. Thus the Tycoon cannot even obtain a census, so pertinaciously arc ail his agents ex cluded from the feudal castles. In view of this state of things, it is unwise for foreign nations to demand many concessions from the Tycoon, for fear of uniting the great lords against them. Here again comes up° an other point of resemblance to the middle ages of European history; common people side with the Tycoons against the nobles, and evince no hostility to foreign nations. The civilized world was much surprised to hear that the “Emperor of Japan ” was mur dered while the Embassy from that country was in the United States, and expected either a stampede or a simultaneous hari-kari, on the part of these worthies, on their reception of the news ; but tlie latter understanding the nature of the case, showed no disposition to take either of these steps. “Look for the stama "Hartford,” if you want the genuine axe—Sam. YV. Collins.” The Collinsville Axe Factory, we understand, has partly suspended its operations, having lately discharged one-half of its workmen, and placed the remainder upon half time. It may not be inappropriate to say that this factory manufactured the John Browtf pikes, which were intended to pierce the South, but which are thus turned against the North, literally return ing “to plague the inventors.” Sew Haven (Conn.) News. Mr. Bunch’s New Contributor. —As the Hero was short of fuel, the Duke inquired of the Prince whether he should signal to the Ariadne for any ? “I should advise yot not,” was the princelv repiv; “for they will never be such f io!s as to send coals to Newcastle.” —/' 'inch, VOL AO —q. i 13 Y TELEGRAPH. Later from Europe. ARRIVAL OF THE STEAMSHIP FULTON. COTTON MARKET QUIET, BUT STEADY. PRICES UNCHANGED. SALES OF TWO DAYS, IS,OOO BALES. BREA DSTUFFS ACTIVE . Consols o*2 5-S a 02 3—4:. Cape Race, Dec. 21. —The steamship Fulton was boarded off this point, this morning, by the news steam yacht belonging to the Associated Press. The Fulton brings Liverpool dates to the 12th inst. Liverpool Cotton Market. —Sales of Cotton for two days 18,000 bales. Quotations were unchanged, and the market was quiet but steady. Os the sales of these two days (Monday and Tuesday), 5,000 bales were taken by speculaters and exporters. State of Trade. —Manchester advices were unfa'* vorable. For Yarns, prices were easier, but quota tions unchanged. Cloths were very dull. Liverpool General Markets. —Breadstuff's active* Flour advanced Cd. a Is. Wheat advanced Id. a Gd. Corn advanced 6d. Provisions duil. London Money Market. — Consols were quoted at i'%% a 92%'. Specie Arrivals. —The steamships City of Balti* more, and City of Manchester had arrived at Liv erpool with seven thousand hundred dollars in specie, while the Fulton brings six hundred thousand dollars in specie to this country. ADDITIONAL BY THE PERSIA. The general news by this arrival is unimportant. The reactionary movements in Italy continued. It was reported that the allies had captured Pe kin, sacked the Emperor’s palace, and taken an immense amount of spoils. The Emperor had tied to Tartary. The allies would winter in Pekin and Tiertsin. The Persia brings six hundred and twenty thou, sand dollars in specie. 4 CONGRESSIONAL. Washington, Dec. 20.— Senate. —Mr. Morrill’s tariff bill, and Clark’s resolution of inquiry, as to the state of the forts in Charleston harbor, were laid <. Mr. Slidell moved the expulsion of the reporter of the Associated Press, foi au alleged inaccuracy in his speech, based on the authority of a private dispatch to him from New Orleans. M**. Sltdbll said that he would call his motion up at an early day. * Mr. Pugh, of Ohio, mad . a strong, patriotic, and very affecting speech, in response to Messrs. Wade and Johnson, on the latter’s resolutions that denied • th >i it was the duty of the President to coerce a t ceding Stay xEA |V j \m wuuffilWWr ft-WWllTeff by W AD e, ! he would resign his seat in the Senate. The following committee was appointed, under ; Powell’s resolution, in reference to the Presi dent’s Message: Messrs. Powell, Hunter, Orit ‘ tenden, Seward, Toombs, Douglas, Coll .mer, Wade, Bigler, Rice, Doolittle. (>.,ee.. and Davis. The latter asked, uud was excused from ’ serving on said committee. House. —Mr. Delano, of Massachusetts, intro duced the following resolution: \\ here as, Mr. Miles, of South Carolina, a mem ber of the House, used language in conversation, and subsequently in a written com munication to the President: “I kuow this to have been said, that if we send a solitary soldier to those forts, the instant the intelligence reaches our people, and we shall take care that it shall reach them before the soldiers reach the forts, the forts will be taken ; because such a course is ne cessary for our safety and self preservation”— Resolved , That the President be requested to commuuicate to this House what infor-ration he has received, either oral or written, to the effect that if the forts in the harbor of Charleston are further reinforced, that said forts will be taken by any force or authority hostile to the authority and supremacy of the United States. The resolution was informally passed, and made the order for another day. The Pacific railroad bill was debated, and amended and passed, by a vote of ninety-four ayes to seventy-five nays. The House adjourned until Monday. SOUTH CAROLINA CONVENTION. Charleston, Dec. 21.—The convention assem bled at noon to-day, aud was opened with prayer, in the course of which the clergyman invoked God to unite the people of the South m the forma tion of a Southern Confederacy. Afier the reading of the journal, Gen. Adams moved that the convention now go into secret session, to which an amendment was offered in a motion to appoint a committee to invite the Gov ernor of the State, the collector of the port, aud the postmaster to be present. Both of these mo tions were temporarily postponed, in order to hear the report of the committee appointed to prepare an address to ihe people of the South. lion. Barnwell Rhett, chairman of this com mittee, then read the address, which is very lengthy, but very ably written, and reviews the injuries which South Carolina has suffered during her connection with the American Union. The convention refused to use the address until it is finally adopted. It was, therefore, made the special order for Saturday (to-morrow), and will then probably be discussed and passed. Judge Wardlaw reported an ordinance amend ng the Constitution of the State of South Carolina. After some other business of but little impor tance, the convention went into secret session, ex cluding all but members. CONGRESSIONAL. Washington, Dec. 21. —N0 business of impor tance was transacted in the Senate to-day. Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, withdrew his declination of yesterday, to serve on the special committee of thirteen, to whom was referred that portion of the President’s Message relating to Federal affairs. The Senate has adjourned until Monday. CHARLESTON NEWS. Charleston, Dec. 21. — Caleb Cushing arrived here last night, and remained five hours, and then departed for Washington. Rumors are various as to his mission here. The Legislature to-day changed the name of the committee on Federal, to Foreign relations, and also appointed a committee to report the style of he State flag*