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THUKSHAY MORNING, NOV. 28, 1861.
JOHN H. SEALS. EDITOR AND EROPRIETOR.
~ PART To fJLARS.
T-'Mih: Two l) liars, iu adraucs.
K uincr no
In fir.;»riuK the paper writ* jour name ana office
ptaiuly.
In otrlerinK yonr paper changed from one office to anoth
er. m e li.i h urttem ill tinrtly.
Our Ur in- r- quire that the ca«h most he paid invariably
i I ailvn ice. a"d the ri« option ol the papi r will he an e*eu
rance ih it tiio money ban been rtce : ved.
The Journal & Me.-seugor in entitled to the
credit of the editorial relative to Savannah.—
Our compositor omitted the credit.
Red Mark.
Our delinquent subscribers will observe a
red pencil mark on l be margin of their papers
indicating tbe h-ngth of time they are be
hind. Each straight mark will indicate one
year.
We shall continue them until we hear from
you.
To Correspondents and Friends.
Much more than a simple acknowledgment
of ft hanks” is due you for continued favors
and private letters of complimeut and encour
agement. You have borne with us most gener
ously—for though it is difficult at all times to
scud replies to so numorous a list of corres
pondents, we have endeavored to do so as far
as in our power, when in health. Sickness,
however, must bo our apology for our seem
ing reini-sticss during the last two months ; as
health is now restored, wo shall do better for
the future Let no one dream for a moment
that bis or loir letters havo been forgotten, or
that they are ’.aid aside unheeJed or unappre
ciated. Such is emphatically not the case—
though if wo occasionally, when “ hard press
od,” wish that some half dozen of our kind
friends lived at one bouse, so that one letter
might answer the purpose of six, may we not
be pardoned for that same, as llyron once was
when he Turkixtdy tvi-hed that all the ladies—
• Had but one mouth,
That i- might kiss them ail from North to South t"
L. V. F.
j|ot=Tbe above was unintentionally omitted
from Mrs. French’s page.
Martini Low.
Gov. Pickens, of South Carolina, has declar
ed Martial law on Sullivau’B Island, at Fort
Johnson, and on James Island—all in the vi
utility of Charleston.
Poor oho SuoTT.— An Ohio paper says that
oM So >tt is iu liis dotage, behind the times, and
unit! to havo the direction of an army. Poor
old man ! To bo kicked out of power, ami
aitmed by his own friends as a miserable do
tard. Li tt yesterday, he was the “ great Cap
t iiu of tho age “ now, nono so poor as to do
him reverence.” A. righteous retribution for
the hoary traitor who sold himself to the ene
mies i ! bis native land for the pay and emolu
ments of office
Kkady it; thk Fob.—The editors ol the
Charleston (S C ) 'Southern Lutheran,' in the
issue for 1 ist week, sty that there is some ex
pectation that tho Yankee fleet w 11 land about
Cinirlesinn. In this connection they make
tho following announcement :
“Should this expectation be realized, we here
by n.itiiy our re iders that the Southern Lttth
eruu will necessarily be suspended during the
progress of any military operations in this vi
of tho editing Committee is an ar
my Cn ijilaiu and smother is a member of a rifle
company ; the business agent, financial agent,
and nit tne compositors, are volunteers who,
tit this writing, hold themselves in readiness
to march at. a moment’s warning; hence tbe
non appeal anco of our paper will indicate that
the whole establishment has gone to fight, and
its re-afipearanoo will show that the Hessians
aro whipped.”
l'lu ( Ullilrt u of Mr. Douglas and dei|iiei>
t ration.
A Washington correspondent says: A gen
tleman arrived here to-Jay from NoMfi Caroli
na for the purpose of obtaining permission to
carry to that Statothe two children of the late
Senator S' •,short A. Douglas. It appears that
these boys are entitled to large estates in North
Carolina and Mississippi, -which, under the re
cently enacted law of the rebel Confederacy,
are iu danger of confiscation on account of the
non residence' of the children, although they
are infants. The relatives of their mother are
auxious Hint they shall be brought South to se
oure their rights to this property. They are
desirous also that Mrs. Douglas shall accompa
ny them if she will consent. The Government
has recently concluded not to grant passes to
go beyond the lines of the Federal army for
such purposes, as it intends to taka such action
as will render utterly null and void any of the
confiscations under the acts of the rebel usur
pers of the authorities in the Southern States.
Eloquence of (he Heart.
A lady was ono day disputing with the cele
brated Cromwell. I‘rotector of England, on tho
art of oratory. She insisted that eloquence
c »uld not ho acquired but by themost profound
studi—. He Was o! a different opinion, and
maintained that true eloquence originated
frmi the heart. “ When the heart is moved,”
said the L il l Protector, “tho most true and
energetic expressions are drawn from it by the
[jpg of the otator.” The disoussion ended,
as discussions usually do, each holding to his
or her own opinion. A short time after, this
same lads was thrown unexpectedly into the
most violent grief by the arrest of her litis
bin I, who was accused of the capital crime of
treason, and shut up in the Tower of London to
awai' his trial
The lady, in a paroxysm of tears, went and
fell down at Cromwell’s feet, and implored
her husband’s pardon, with expressions of tho
most lively eloquence. The Protector at fir-t
knit his cyc-brows, ami looked at her very
sorely, whilst site supplicated him. Exhaus
t,d with grief and with speaking, she became
silent. He then smiled, and granted her hits
bund's pardon.
Gen. Pillow la Pre]>are<l to Hold Coluni*
hua Agaln-t any force the Enemy can
Bring.
Memphis, Nov. 25. —Gen. Pillow telegraphs
that he will hold Columbus against any force
the enemy can bring. He wants a larger
force unhisright and in the rearandat Fort Pil
low. All who come must submit to militaiy
discipline and government.
Adi-patch from Gen. Pillow announces that
he has raised the blockade on the shipment
goatb of pioduoe, stook, army supplies, sub*
istance. fort go, tc.
The Georgia Literary and Temperance Crusader.
How they Shriek.
The Northern papers are full of denuncia
tions, fierce and bitter, against the Adminis
tration for its management of military move
ments generally, and at Leesburg particularly.
In a late number of the Indianapolis Journa.
is a lengthy article, of whioh the first para
graph, which we copy heiewilh, is a fair sam
ple :
When, in the name of the dearest hopes of
the republio, when will the horrid blunders of
this war cease ? When shall we quit our weep
ing over noble lives sacrificed, cruelly saorifie
ed, in our almost despairing efforts to crush
this hellish rebellion? Alas! it is needless
to ask. The interrogatory has been put too
often, so long that the soul sickens and hope
perishes in ashes upon the heart. At Big
Bethel, where noble lives fell, we asked—
why ?
At Vienna where the blood soaked soil cried
out—why? why? We believed the good less
on taught, and iu confidence said, “Our blun
ders here end.” Did they? Let the heart
of a stricken nation tell. Let the broken
hearted wives, mothers, and sisters of those
whose blood made red tho waters of that aw
ful Hun, and clotted on adjacent soil, speak ;
and do not all voico it back in one united ut
terance, a blunder, dreadful, awful, criminal
mistake? But more. What, when the sad
news of the brave Lyon’s fall shocked the
country, was the voice of an indignant peo
ple? What, when Lexington fell, and sjores
of its heroic defenders fell t00,,t0 rise no more ?
Does not the response still come, butchery and
blunders follow us on every hand f And now
follows the crushing national affliction of the
murder—for it is murder—of the brave and
good Baker at the Leesburg fight.
An Old ftlnld’a Confession.
I laughed my way from girlhood to maiden
hood. At length there came a time to me, as
there comes to all, when I was in love. Ed
ward I’ayson was a youth whom any lady
might be proud to lovo. He was gentle and
kind, and for a time I was able to control my
laughing genius when with him. My parents
really hoped that I had begun to impirove.—
One eveniug he was unusually sober, I unusu
ally gay. He wanted to converse soberly. 1
would not, and tried to prevent him from doing
so. Tho tnoie sober and grave ho became, the
higher my spirits rose, till at length I was
above the earth—the cioud dancing about in
tho broad expanse of air. I leaped from one
air castle to another till at length my lover,
tirod, and no doubt disgusted, said : “ Amelia,
[ had hoped that you woro tho one to oontrol
my destinies, one who would be my eiropan
ion through life’s thick maze—a friend, a
wife : but 1 see my mistake. I am friendless
and alone, and must remain so Forgive me
tor thinking to tamo your wild free spirit.—
Farewell; hereafter we meet but as friends.”
I was amazed—thunderstruck; but he had
gone. I often met hint afterwards; but he
was reserved, and 1 was always gay aud triv
ia! in his presence Oh! woman, thou art an
on igma! When thou feclest most deeply thou
seemeet most gay! when thou love3t most,
thou eeemi-st most to scorn! Then came an
other lover, light headed as myseif. lie was
always joking, always “guy. People said:
• what a match,’ and looked upon the thing as
settled. Oue evening he came to me with a
very solemn countenance and said : “Amelia,
l have an idea in my head." “ Don’t it feel
tunny ?” said I, which so frightened the poor
man that ho was not able to finish. Io like
manner I havo stopped two other confessions
Thus you see that my propensity for making
fun has made me what I am—a lone old maid.
1 Slave not mourned my flesh off on account ot
l t, however, but on tho contrary have ‘laughed
and grown fat.’ But still, i! some machine
could bo invented to keep my countenance
while I listen to another declaration, I would
be most happy to receive both the machine
and mo declaration.
“ Little Stuff.’*
Editor of the Crusader :
College mates of otLer Jays, although a sol
dier in the camp I do uot cease to be interested
in tho columns of your valuable journal, nor
in whatever else relates to the prosperity of
our young Republio. We volunteers will ef
fect her political independence—you, tho jour
nalists and other guardians of Education must
look well to her literary interest. See to it
that, tho foundation of the great literary pub.
lie be laid upon a proper basis, viz., a correct
system of elementary instruction.
Some weeks since your columns contained a
critique upon a spelling series, which subse
quent examination of the work convinced me
was very far irom being exhaustive ; and the
conviction was irresistible that no greater evil
could ue inflicted upon our country than the
adoption by our schools of a work so fraught
with error, not to speak of the absurd system
if teaching therein inculcated upon teachers.
In your last issue I observe an answer to
that critique, in which the authorapplies to it
the words which I have placed at the head of
this article, viz., “little stuff.” Persons differ
in their views about essentials, as most assur
edly 1 differ with tho venerable author of those
books and of that reply. Although when at
home my duties ns a member of the legal pro
fession engross much of my attention, I am
not indifferent to what portions to the advance
ment of education, nor havo I forgotten
that during the years iu which 1 was actively
engaged in endeavoring to promote that inter
est, I ever found the most difficult part of
teaching to bo tho unteachiug of what had been
taught amiss—No “little stall this.”
To prove the correctness of his estimate
while he admits that such words as elite , souv
enir, rendezvous, ,I'C-, are, perhaps, not very
well classed, ho says, “they are rarely ever
used by cither toaoher or pupil.”
That .Jay be true as applied to teacher
uud pupul iu his school ; but, in other places
those words are in very common use. Thous
ands of men are now daily hurrying to places
of rendezvous, and thousands aro giving souv
enirs, or receiving them from their lonod ones
Tho word finance, is in very common use ? so
is hiatus, museum, circumspect, melee, spectator
series, and various others, which are most man.
ifesly so placed as to mislead the learnr, as to
their true pronunciation or to devolve an un
necessary, and perhaps, a fruitless labor up
on the teacher. We had thought the ob
ject of classifying words to be to direct pupils,
and teachers too, if need be, to the proper
suuods of the letters and syllables of words;
I cannot but confess my surprise, therefore
at the following sentence as coming from a
teacher, of long experience, viz:
“ Fault is found with the order in whioh suoh
Words occur as infinite, (f short,) sacrifice, (i
long, inranbly ,) disfranchise, (i short,) edifice, (
short,) leonine, oolite I(C., (i long.) because » in
mo terminal syllable of those words is short
in some, and long in others*; as though tbe
author designed that the final syllables should
be pronounced similarly, or as if the tesoher
would-be likely to have the pupil sound t of
the ultimate syllable of those words long or
short from their particular 'arrangement in the
lesions of the book."
To thia appeal, I for one should auswer, the
design of a book is to point to these important
distinctions, and thus to not only Bpare teach
ers the trouble of unteaching, but to be to both
teacher and pupil, an infalible guide, as afore
said.
This may seem as “Little stuff” to the
venerable author of this reply; but I trust it
will not so appear to those who preside , over
the forming mind of our beloved South.
“The ear trieth words as the mouth tasteth
meats,” and to a cultivated ear it makes some
difference whether a preacher says sacrifis or
sacrifice, whether he says he will make an ex
pose of his subject or an expo-sa, whether he
will make a resume of his arguments, or a res
u-ma, and whether his effort shall be extern
pore or ex-tempo-re. If tho ear of John Ran
dolph was so excruciated by hearing a fellow
Congressman speak of the “ archeeves of our
nation ” as to the extort from him the cry,
“Say” ar kives, “for the hCTJbr of tho jjn liah
language,” surely he must pnt a low estimate
upon that important branch of science who re
gards as “littje stuff” an attempt to
turo oingressmen, preachers, aud other public
and private speakers from errors no less glar
ing. It remains to be seen what estimate will
be put upon this_attempt by a discriminating
public.
If such attempts to guard Orthography and
Ortheopy are to be regarded as “ little Btuff ”
why four books on the subject from this learn
ed author? one of which is incumbered with
rules ad infinitum
If attainment in these branches is important,
it is the dictate of common sense that no pains
should be spared to render it correct; also that
in a work designed to teach them, no pains
should be spared to form classes for every va
riety of words. In both respects the work un
der consideration is lamentably deficient. And
again, the labor of attainment in these branches
is ordinarily a dull one, for as it has been well
questioned by an old and experienced teacher*
the venerated president of Oxford College—
“what, to the child—signifies a mere mass ol
words ?”
These can have interest for the learner duly
as they are made to him the vehicle of thought.
Here are three volumes of spelling stuff, and
there is that other with the multiplied “rules
aud exceptions ” —cjiough, Isbould think, to
stultify a pretty sharp intellect, to say noth
ing of tile errors to be imbibed. But suppose
the errors all to be removed, which is promised,
still wh.it is there to secure tho toilsome attain
ment then mnde ? When it was once asked of a
superintendent of public s< hools who was ex
hibiting a Speller and DeSuev, “What do the
pupils do with the words after they have lern
ed them ? ’ His answer, after a moments re
flection we, “Forget them, I suppose.” 1
But, let us inquire if thero is not a means by
which attainment in Orthography, Orthoepy
anil Definiug, may bo rendered not only pleas
ing but permanent ? and if so, whether or not
it should commend itself to tho cordial consid
eration of the educators of our country, as
well as to every friend progress.
Let us suppose then stjelt a work as igtset
forth in the following rentalks of Judge
of Mobile, and which have been expressed in
different words by a number of the first schol
lars of the viz.
Mbs. S A» Vaughn,
M Dear Madam : From the brief examina
tion X have been able to give vour Elementary
Schoolbooks, I am satisfied that in a profound,
yet simple annalysis of the principles of Spell
ing and Pronunciation; in progressive system
atic classification and exposition; and in com
pined instrnoiiooiioas and entertainment they
are greatly superior to any rudimental work
now in use. Tbe pupil is gradually led on as
through a well ordered garden to glean its
fruits and flowers, both at cnoo, without the
“ tares ’’ and noxious weeds that elsewhere so
abound. Tour books are fust what we want in
in our Southern schools ; and if I had the pow
er they should be unanimously adopted.
I am very truly madam,
Your obedient servant,
A. B. MEEK, of Mobile, Ala.
Atlanta, Ga , October 7, 1801.
Should we not felicitate the South, as hag
been done, upon tho fact of so desirable an ad
dition to her school literature ? and upon the
fact that the plan of it together with its execu.
tion, was the w“tk of a daughter of the South ?
Message of the President.
Richmond, November 19, 1861.
The following is of President
Davis, read before Congress :
To the Congress of the Confederate States :
The few weeks which have elapsed since
your adjournment has brought us so near the
close of tne year that we are now able to sum
up the general results. The retrospect is such
as should fill the hearts of our ptoplo with gra
titude to Providence for His kind interposition
in their behalf.
Abundant yields have rewarded the labor of
the agriculturist, whilst the manufacturing in
dustry of the Confederate States was never as
prosperous as now. The necessities of_the
times have called into existence new branches
of Manufactures and given a fresh impulse to
the activity of those heretofore in operation.
The means of the Confederate States for man
ufacturing tho necessities and comforts of life,
within themselves, increases as the conflict con
tinues, and we are gradually becoming inde
pendent of the rest of the world for the sup
ply of suoh military stores and munitions as
are indispensable for the war.
The operations of the army, soou to bo par
tially interrupted by the approaching winter,
have afforded a protection to the country and
shed a lustre upon its arms, througa the try
ing vicissitudes of more than one arduous
campaign whioh entitle our brave voluntoers
to our praise and our gratitude. From its
commencement up to the present period, the
war has been constantly enlarging its propor
tions and extending its boundaries, so as to in
clude new fields. The conflict now extends
from tho shores of the Chesapeake to the con
fines of Missouri and Arizona. Vet, sudden
calls from the remotest points for military aid
have been met with promptness enough, not
only to avert disasters in the faco of superior
numbers, but also to roll back tho tide of in*
vaeion from tbe border.
When the war commenced the enemy were
possessed of oertain stragetio points and strong,
places witbing the Confederate States. They
greatly excelled in numbers, in available ro
sources, and in the supplies necessary for war:
military establishments had been long organi
zed and were complete, the navy, and for tbe
most part, the army, once common to both,
were in t>-oir possession. To meet all this, we
bad to create not only an army, in tho face of
war itself, but also the military'ostabiishmcnts
neoessary to equip and plaoe it in the field.—
It ought, indeed, to be a subjeot of gratifica
tion, that tho spirit of the volunteers and the
patriotism of the poople, have enabled us, un
der Providence, to grapple' successfully with
these difficulties. A suooession of glorious
viotories at Bethel, Bull Run, Manassas
Springfield,
ed the wicked invasion which greed of gain
and the unhallowed lust of power brought up
on our soil, and has proved that numbers cease
to avail when directed against a people fight
ing for the sacred right of self-government
and privileges of freemen. After moro than
seven months of war, the enemy have not
only failed to extend the occupation of our
soil, but new States and Territories have been
added to our Confederacy ; while, instead of
their threatenedjmarch of conquest, they have
been driven to assume the defensive ; aud up
on a fair comparison between the two bellige
rents, as to men, military means and finanoittl
condition, the Conleder&t States are, relative
ly, much stronger now than whon the struggle
commenced.
Since your adjournment, the people of Mis
souri have conducted the war in the face of al
most unparalleled difficulties with a spirit and
sucoess alike worthy of themselves and of the
great cause in which they are struggling.
Sinoe that time Kentucky, too, has become
the theatre of active hostilities. The federal
forces have not only refused to acknowledge
her right to neutrality iu the war, but have in
vaded her for the purpose of attacking the Con
federate States. Outrages of the most dospot
io character have been perpetrated upon her
people. Some of her most eminent oitizens
have been seized and borne away to languish
in foreign prisons, without knowing who were
their aocusers, or specification of charges made
against them, while others have been forced to
abandon their homes, families and property
and seek a refuge in distant lands. Finding
that the Confederate States were about to be
invaded through Kentucky, and that her peo
ple, after being deceived into a mistaken se
curity, were unarmed and iu danger of being
subjugated by the Federal forces, our armies
wero marched into that State to repel the ene
my and prevent their occupancy of oertain stra
tegic points which would have given them great
advantages in the contest—a stop which was
justified, not only by the necessity of self-de
fence, on the part of the Confederate States, but
also by a desire to aid the people of Kentucky.
It was never intended by the Confederate Gov
ernment to conquer or coorce tho people op
that State, but, on the contrary, it was declar
ed by our Generals that they would withdraw
their troops if the Federals would do likewise.
Proclamation was also made of the desire to
respect the neutrality of Kentuoky and tho in
tention to abide by the wishes of her people, as
soon as they were free to express thoir opin
ions. These declarations wore approved by
mo, and I should regard it as oue of tho best
effects of the maroh of our troops into Iven
tucky, if it should end in giving to her people
the liberty of clioico and a free opportunity to
decide their own destiny according to their
own will.
The army has been chiefly instrumental in
prosecuting the great contest in whioh we arc
engaged ; but the navy has also been effective
in full proportion to its means. The naval of
ficers, deprived to a great extent of an oppor
tunity to make their professional skill availa
ble at sea, have served with commendable zeal
and gallantry on shore and upon inland wa
iar> i further details of which will be found in
the reports of the Secretaries of the Navy and
War.
In the transportation of the mails many dif
ficulties have arisen, whioh will be fully devel
oped in the report of the Postmaster General.
The absorption of the ordinary means of trans
portation for the movement of troops and mil
itary supplies, the insufficiency of the rolling
stock of railroads for the accumulation of bus
iness, resulting both from military operations
and the obstruction of water communication
by the presence of tho enemy’s fleet, the fail
ure and even refusal of contractors to comply
with the terms of their agreements, the diffi
culties inherent in inaugurating so vast and
complicated a system as that which requires
postal facilities for every town and village in a
territory extended as ours, have all combined
to impede the best directed efforts of the Post
master General, whose zeal, industry and abil
ity have been taxed to tbe utmost exteut.—
Some of these difficulties can be overocme by
time, and an improved condition of the coun
try, by the restoration of peace; but others
may be redeemed by legislations, and your at
tention is invited to the recommendations con
tained in the report of the head of that de
partment. The condition of the Treasury will,
doubtless, boa subject of anxious inquiry on
your part. lam happy to say that the finan
cial system already adopted, has worked well,
so far, and promises good results for the fu
ture. To the extent that Treasury Notes may
be issued, the Government is enabled to bor
row money without interest, and thus facilitate
the coaduot of the war. This extent is meas
ured by the portion of the field of circulation
which these notes can be made to occupy. The
proportion of the flold thus occupied, depends
upon the amount of tho debts for which they
are receivable ; and when dues, not only to the
Confederate and State Government, but also to
corporations and individuals, are payable in
this medium, a large amount of it may bo cir
culated at par. There is every reason to be
lieve that the Confederate Treasury Notes are
fast becoming suoh a modium. The provision
.that these Notes shall be oonvertable into Con
federate stook, bearing eight percent, interest,
at the pleasure of the holder, insures them
against a depreciation bolow the value of that
stook, and no considerable fall iu that value
ueed be feared, so long as the interest shall be
punctually paid. The punotual payment of
this interest was secured by tho Act passed by
you at the last session, imposing such a rate of
taxation as must provide suflfloinent means for
that purpose.
For the suocessfnl proscoution of this wav,
it is indispensable that the means of trans
porting troops and military supplies bo furn
ished, as far as possible, in suoh manner as
not to interrupt the oommerelal Interoours
between our people,,nor place a check on their
productive energies. To this end the means of
transportation from one section of ourj coun
try to the other, must bo carefully guarded aud
improved, and this should be the object of anx
ious care on the part of the State and Confed
erate Governments, so far as they may have
power over the subject. We have already two
main systems of through transportation from
the North to the South ; one from Richmond
and along the seaboard; the other through
Western Virginia to New Orleans. A third
might be secured by completing a link of
about forty miles between Danville in Virgin
ia, and Greensboro’ in North Oarolina. The
construction of this comparatively short line
would give us a through route, from North to
South, ia the interior of the Confederate States,
and give us recess to population and to military
resources, from which we are now, in a great
measure debarred. We should increase great
ly the safety and capaeity of our means for
transporting military supplies. If the con
struction of this road should, in the judgment
of Congress, as it is io mine, be indispensable
for the most successful prosecution of the war
tho action of the Government will not be re
strained by the constitutional objection whioh
would attach to a work for oommeroial
purposes, nnd attention is invited to the
practicability of securing Us early completion
by giving the necessary aid to the company
organization aud administration.
If wo husband our moans and make a judi
cious use of our resources, it would be difficult
to fix a limit to tho period during whioh wo
could conduct a war against the adversary
whom we now er.oouuter. Tho very efforts
which he makes to isolate and invade us, must
exhaust his means whilst they serve to com
plete the circle and diversify the productions
of our industrial system.
The reconstruction which he seeks to effect
by arms bocomos daily more and more palpa
bly impossible. Not only thooauses whioh in
duced us to separate still exist in full force,
but they have been strengthened ; and what
ever doubt may havo lingered in the minds of
any, has been completely dispelled by subse
quent events. If, instead of being a disolu
tion of a league, it were indeed a rebellion in
which wo arc engaged, we might find ample
vindication for the course wo have adopted in
the scouoa which are now being enacted in the
United States.
Our people look with contemptuous astonish
ment on those with whom thoy had been so re
cSntlj associated. Thoy shrink with aversion
from tho bare idea of renewing snob a connec
tion—when they see a President making war
without tho assent of Congress—when they
behold judges threatened beoause they main
tain the writ of habeas corpus, so sacred to free
men—when they see justice and law trampled
under the armed heel of military authority,
and up-right men and innocent women dragged
to distant dungeons upon the more ediot of a
despot—when they find all this tolerated and
applauded by people who had been in the full
enjoyment of freedom but a few months ago
—they believo that there must be some radical
incompatibility between suoh a people and
themselves. With such a people we may be
content to live at poace, but the separation is
final and for the independence we have asser
ted we will accept no alternative.
The nature of the hostilities which they have
waged against us must be characterized as bar
barous wherever it is understood. They have
bombarded undefended villages without giving
notice to women and children to enable them
to escape, and, in one instance, selected the
night as the period when they might surprise
them most effectually whilst asleep and unsus
picious of danger. Arson and rapine, the de
struction of private houses and property and
injuries of tho most wanton character, even
upon non-combatants, have marked their fo
rays along our borders and upon our territory.
Although we ought to hove been admonished
by these things that they were disposed to
make upon us war in the most cruel and relent
less spirit, yet we were not prepared to see
them fit out a largo naval expedition with the
confessed purpose not only of plunder, but to
incite a servile insurrection in the midst of us.
If they convert their soldiers into incendiaries
and involve us in a spocies of war whioh claims
non-combatants, women and children as its
victims, they must expect to be treated as out
laws and enemies of mankind. There are cer
tain rights of humanity which are entitled to
respeot even in war, and he who refuses to re
gard them forfeits his claims, if captured,
to he considered as a prisoner of war, but must
expect to bo dealt, with as an offender against
all law, human and divine.
But not content with violating our rights
under the laws of nations at home, they have
extended theso injuries to us within other ju
risdictions. Thedisdnguishcd gentlemen whom
with your approval at the last session, I com
missioned to represent the Confederacy at cer
tain foreign Courts, have been reoently seized
by the captain of a United States ship-of-war
on board a British steamer on tho voyage from
tho neutral Spanish port of Havannah to Eng
land. They have thus olaimed a general juris
diction over tho high seas, and entering a
British ship sailing under its country’s flag,
violated the rights of embassy, for the most
part held sacred even amongst barbarians, by
seizing our Ministers whilst under the protec
tion aud domains of a neutral nation. These
gentlemen were as much undor the protection
of tho British Government upon that ship and
beneath its flag as if they had been on its soil,
and a claim on the part of the United States
to seize them in the streets of London would
have been as well foundod as that to apprehend
them where they were taken. Had they been
malefactors and oitizens of the United States
they oould not have been arrested in a British
ship or on British soil unless under the express
provisions of a troaty, and according to the
forma therein provided for the extradition of
criminals.
But rights, the most sacred, seem to have
lost all respoot in their eyes. When Mr. Falk
ner, a former Minister of the United States to
France, commissioned before the secession of
Virginia, his nativo State, returned in good
faith to Washington to settle his accounts and
to fulfill all tho obligations into whioh he had
entered, he was porfidiously arrested aad im
prisoned in New Vow, where he now is. Th*
unsuspecting confidence with whioh he repor
ted to his Government was abused, and his de
sire to fulfil his trust to them was used to his
injury.
In conducting this war wo have sought no
aid and proposed no alliance, offensive or defen
sive, abroad. We have asked for a recognised
piaoe in the great family of nations. But In
doing so we have demanded nothing for which
we did not offer afair equivalent. The advantage
of intercourse are mutual amongst nations, and
seeking to establish diplomatic relations we
were only endeavoring to plaoe that inter
course uqder the regulation of public law.
Perhaps we had the right, if we had chosen
to exercise it, to ask to know whether the prin
ciple, that blockades to be binding must be ef
fectual, so solemnly announced by tbe great
powers of Europe at Paris, is to be generally
enforced, or applied only to particular parties.
When the Confederate States at your last ses
sion beeame a party to the declaration refer
ring to this principle of international law,
which has been reoognized so long by pubncisls
and Governments, we oertainly supposed that
it was to be universally enforced.
The oustomary law of nations is made up ot
their praotioe rather than their declarations,
and if such declarations are only to be enfor
ced in partioular instances, at the pleasure of
those who make them, then the commerce of
the world, so far from being placed under the
regulation of a general law, will become sub
jeot to the oaprioe of those who execute or sus
pend it at will. If such is to be the course of
nations iu regard to this law, it is plain that it
will thus beoome a rule for the weak and not
for the strong.
Feeling that such views must be taken by
the neutral nations of the earth, I have there
fore caused the evidence to be collected whioh
proves completely the utter inefficiency of the
proclaimed blookade of our coast, and shall
direct it to be laid before suoh Governments as
shall afford us the means of being~heartf7'“‘~' —
But although we should be benefitted by the
enforcement of this law, so solemnly declared
by the great Powers of Europe, we are not de
pendent upon that enforcement for the success
ful proseoution of the war. As long as hos
tilities continue the Confederate States will ex
hibit a steadily increasing capaoity to furnish
their troops with food, clothing and arms. If
they should be forced to forego many of the
luxuries and some of the comforts of life, they
will at least, have the consolation of knowing
that they are thus daily becoming more and
more independent cf the rest of the world.—
If in this prooess labor in the Confederate
States should be gradually diverted from those
great Southern staples which have given life to
so muob of the commerce of mankind, into
other channels, so as to make them rival pro
ducers instead of profitable customers, they
will not be tne only or them the chief losers
by the change in the direction of their indus
try.
Although it is true that the cotton supply
from the Southern States could only be totally
cut off by the subverson of our social system,
yet it is plain that a long continuance of this
blockade might by a diversion of labor and an
investment of capital in other employments so
diminish the supply as to bring ruin upon
those interests of foreign countries which are
dependent upon that staple. For every labor
er who is diverted from the oulture of cotton
in tho South, perhaps four times as many else
where, who have found subsistence in the va
rious employments growing out of its use, will
be forced also to change their occupation,
while the war which is waged to take from us
the right of self-government can never attain
that end.
It remains to be seen how far it may work a
revolution in the industrial system of the world
which may oarry suffering to other lands as
well aB to our own. In the meantime, we shall
oontinue this struggle in tbe humble
denoe upon Providence, from whose
scrutiny wo oannot conceal our hearts, and t\9
whose rule we confidently submit our destinies.
For the rest, we shall depend upon ourselves.
Liberty is always won where there exists the
unconquerable will to be free, and we have
reason to know the strength that is given by a
conscious sense, not only of the magnitude,
hut of the righteousness of our oause.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
A Provisional Government Organized In
Southern Kentucky.
Russbllvillk, Ky., Nov. 20. —The Sover
eignty Convention, whioh has been in session
here for three days, finally adjourned this eve
ning, after the transaction of business of
deop and vital Importance to the Freemen of
Kentucky.
A Declaration of Independence and an Or
dinance of Secession were adopted.
A Provisional Government was organized,
and oonsists of a Governor, Legislative Coun
cil of ten, a Treasurer, and an Auditor.
Georgo W. Johnson, of Soott, was chosen
Governor.
The Legislative Counoil is composed of the
following gentlemen:
Willis B. Machon, of Lyon.
John W. Crookett, of Henderson.
James P. Bates, of Barren.
James S. Chrisman, of Wayne.
Phil. B. Thompson, of Mercer.
J. P. Burnside, of Warren.
H. W. Bruce, of Louisville.
J. W. Moore, of Montgomery.
E. M. Bruce, of Nicholas.
George B. Hodge, of Campbell.
The following gentlemen were appointed
Commissioners to Richmond :
H. G. Burnett, of Trigg.
W. E. Sims, of Bourbon.
Wo. Preston, of Louisville.
Other offioers will be appointed by the Gov
ernor, with the advice and oonsent of the
islative Counoil.
All Executive and Legislative powers are ves
ted in the Governor and Legislative Council.
Acts done by the Provisional Government
shall have the concurrence of a majority of
the Legislative Gounoil and the Governor.
The Council may fill vacancies.
No member of the Council shall be made
Governor to fill a vacancy.
The old Constitution and Laws of the Stata,
except where inconsistent with the acts of this
Government, are deolarcd in force.
Sixty-five Counties are represented in the
Convention by more than two hundred mem
bers.
The proceedings and final aetion of the Con
vention excited great enthusiasm.
The Government goes into operation at Bow
ling Green immediately.
Woman’s eye appears more beautiful when
4 glances through a tear, as the light of a star
seems more brilliant when it sparkles on a
wave.
To oonvert yourself into wood, fall in love
and take to pine-ing. The laugh cornea in on
pine. Be careful to turn your toes out.
Why are the ladies of Louisiana like printed
slips f Because they are La. belles.