State of this Confederacy with their slaves and other property; and the right of property in said slaves shall not thereby be impaired."

"No slave or other person held to service or labor in any State or territory of the Confederate States, under the laws thereof, escaping or lawfully carried into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such slave belongs, or to whom such service or labor may be due."

"The Confederate States may acquire new territory **** in all such territory the institution of negro Slavery, as it now exists in the Confederate States, shall be recognized and protected by Congress and by the territorial government; and the in

habitants of the several Confederate States and territories shall have the right to take

to such territory any slaves lawfully held by them in any of the States or territories of the Confederate States."

Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was, by the Congress, unanimously elected President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President, of the Confederacy for the current year; and they, too, were reëlected, without dissent, for a full term of six years, by a popular vote in the ensuing Au

tumn.

Mr. Davis reached Montgomery on the 17th by a special train from Jackson, his progress being one con

15 The True Delta (New Orleans) of February 16, contains the following telegraphic synopsis of Mr. Davis's speech on leaving Jackson for Montgomery:

"He alluded to the difficulties of constructing a new government, and how these difficulties are enhanced by the threatening elements in the North. It may be that we will be confronted by war, that the attempt will be made to blockade our ports, to starve us out; but they know little of the Southern heart, of Southern endurance. No amount of privation could force us to remain in a Union on unequal terms. England and France would not allow our great staple to be dammed up within our present limits; the starving thousands in their midst would not allow it. We have nothing to apprehend from blockade. But, if they attempt invasion by land, we must take the war out of our territory. If war must come, it must be upon Northern, and not upon Southern, soil. In the mean time, if they were

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tinual tinual ovation. He made twentyfive speeches 15 on the route to enthusiastic crowds, and was welcomed on his arrival at Montgomery by a vast concourse. He was inaugurated next day with most imposing ceremonies.

Mr. Davis's Inaugural was a temperate and carefully studied document. Assuming the right of Secession as inherent in "the sovereign States now composing this Confederacy," to be exercised whenever, in their judgment, the compact by which they acceded to the Union "has been perverted from the purposes for which it was ordained, and ceased to answer the ends for which it was established," and that its exercise "merely asserted the right which the Declaration of Independence of 1776 defined to be inalienable,” he avers of their recent action that "it is, by the abuse of language, that their act has been denominated revo lution." They formed a new alliance," he continues, [ignoring their solemn compact in the Federal Constitution by which they had covenanted with each other that "No State shall enter into any treaty, al

prepared to grant us peace, to recognize our equality, all is well."

And the following extract from one of those speeches, made at Stevenson, Alabama, faithfully embodies the joyous anticipations with which the struggle, then imminent, was commenced by the Confederates:

"Your Border States will gladly come into the Southern Confederacy within sixty days, as we will be their only friends. England will recognize us, and a glorious future is before us. The grass will grow in the Northern cities, where the pavements have been worn off by the tread of commerce. We will carry war where it is easy to advance-where food for the sword and torch await our armies in the densely populated cities; and though they [the enemy] may come and spoil our crops, we can raise them as before; while they cannot rear the cities which took years of industry and millions of money to build."

liance, or confederation."] The Federal Government is termed by him "the agent through whom they communicated with foreign nations," which they have now "changed". that is all. In short, the chief of the Confederacy talks as though his people had acted in a very natural and common-place manner in voting for President of the United States, and then, being beaten in the contest, seceding from the Union, framing a new Confederacy, and electing him President for the ensuing term, for which they had failed to elect Major Breckinridge. And, as they had cotton to sell, which the North, with nearly all other civilized countries, wished to buy, their policy was necessarily one of peace; and he argued that the old Union would inevitably and gladly, for cotton's sake, if for no other, cultivate peace with them. There was an undertone in this Inaugural, however, which plainly evinced that the author expected nothing of the sort. "If we may not hope to avoid war," says Mr. Davis, we may at least expect that posterity will acquit us of having needlessly engaged in it." "We have entered upon a career of independence, and it must be inflexibly pursued through many years of controversy with our late associates of the Northern States." Hence, he very properly called upon his Congress, in addition to the services of the Militia, to provide for a Navy, and " a well-instructed, disciplined Army, more numerous than would usually be required

as

a peace establishment"--which was putting quite as fine a point on it as the truth would warrant.

Mr. Davis carefully refrained from

any other allusion to Slavery, or the causes of estrangement between the North and the South, than the following:

"With a Constitution differing only from that of our fathers in so far as it is explanatory of their well-known intent, freed from sectional conflicts, which have interfered with the pursuit of the general welfare, it is not unreasonable to expect that the States from which we have parted may seek to unite their fortunes to ours, under the Government which we have instituted. For this, your Constitution makes adequate provision; but beyond this, if I mistake not, the judgment and will of the people are, that union with the States from which they have separated is neither practicable nor desirable. To increase the power, develop the resources, and promote the happiness of the Confederacy, it is requisite there should be so much homogeneity that the welfare of every portion should be the aim of the whole. Where this does not exist, antagonisms are engen

dered, which must and should result in sepa

ration."

6

Mr. Stephens, the Vice-President of the Confederacy,' proved far less reticent and more candid. On his return from the Convention or Congress whereby the 'Confederacy' had been cemented, and he chosen its Vice-President, he was required to address a vast assemblage at Savannah," and did so in elaborate exposi tion and defense of the new Confederate Constitution. After claiming that it preserved all that was dear and desirable of the Federal Constitution, while it embodied very essential improvements on that document, in its prohibition of Protective Duties and Internal Improvements by Confederate authority; in its proffer to Cabinet Ministers of seats in either House of Congress, with the right of debate; and in forbidding the reëlection of a President while in office, Mr. Stephens proceeded :

"But, not to be tedious in enumerating the numerous changes for the better, allow

me to allude to one other though last, not least the new Constitution has put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution-African Slavery as it exists among us- -the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and the present revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the 'rock upon which the old Union would split.' He was right. What was conjecture with him is now a realized fact. But whether he comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with; but the general opinion of the men of that day was, that, somehow or other, in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not incorporated in the Constitution, was the prevailing idea at the time. The Constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last; and hence no argument can be justly used against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error, It was a sandy foundation; and the idea of a Government built upon it-when the storm came and the wind blew, it fell.

"Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon, the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that Slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. [Applause.] This, our new Government, is the first in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths in the various depart-❘ ments of science. It is so, even amongst us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well that this truth was not generally admitted, even within their day. The errors of the past generation still clung to many, so late as twenty years ago. Those at the North who still cling to these errors with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanaticism springs from an aberration of the mind; from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is, forming cor

rect conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the anti-Slavery fanatics: their conclusions are right if their premises are. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights, with the white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be logical and just; but, their premises being wrong, their whole argument fails. I recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the Northern States, of great power and ability, announce in the House of Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the South would be compelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of Slavery; that it was impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanicsthat the principle would ultimately prevailthat we, in maintaining Slavery, as it now exists with us, were warring against a principle-a principle founded in nature-the principle of the equality of man. The reply

I made to him was, that, upon his own grounds, we should succeed; that he and his associates in their crusade against our institutions would ultimately fail. The truth announced, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics as in physics and mechanics, I admitted; but told him it was he, and those acting with him, who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal.

"In the conflict thus far, success has been on our side complete, throughout the length and breadth of the Confederate States. It is upon this, as I have stated, our social fabric is firmly planted; and I cannot permit myself to doubt the ultimate success of a full recognition of this principle throughout the civilized and enlightened world.

"As I have stated, the truth of this principle may be slow in development, as all truths are, and ever have been, in the various branches of science. It was so with the principles announced by Galileo-it was so with Adam Smith, and his principles of political economy. It was so with Harvey, and his theory of the circulation of the blood. It is stated that not a single one of the medical profession, living at the time of the announcement of the truths made by him, admitted them. Now, they are universally acknowledged. May we not, therefore, look with confidence to the ultimate universal acknowledgment of the truths upon which our system rests? It is the first government ever instituted upon principles in strict conformity with nature, and the ordination of Providence, in furnishing the materials of human society. Many governments have been founded upon the principle of enslaving certain classes; but the classes thus en

slaved were of the same race, and their enslavement in violation of the laws of nature. Our system commits no such violation of nature's laws. The negro, by nature, or by the curse against Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he occupies in our system. The architect, in the construction of buildings, lays the foundation with the proper material—the granite-then comes the brick or the marble. The substratum of our society is made of the material fitted by nature for it; and by experience we know that it is the best, not only for the superior, but for the inferior race, that it should be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with the Creator. It is not for us to inquire into the wisdom of His ordinances, or to question them. For His own purposes, He has made one race to differ from another, as He has made 'one star to differ from another in glory.'

"The great objects of humanity are best attained when conformed to His laws and

decrees, in the formation of governments as well as in all things else. Our Confederacy is founded upon principles in strict conformity with these laws. This stone, which was rejected by the first builders, 'is become the chief stone of the corner' in our new edifice. [Applause.]

"I have been asked, What of the future? It has been apprehended by some that we would have arrayed against us the civilized world. I care not who or how many they may be; when we stand upon the eternal principles of truth, we are obliged to and must triumph. [Immense applause.]"

With regard to future accessions to the Confederacy, Mr. Stephens

said:

"Our growth by accessions from other States will depend greatly upon whether we present to the world, as I trust we shall, a better government than that to which they belong. If we do this, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas, cannot hesitate long; neither can Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. They will necessarily gravitate to us by an imperious law. We made ample provision in our Constitution for the admission of other States. It is more guarded and wisely so, I think-than the old Constitution on the same subject; but not too guarded to receive them so fast as it may be proper. Looking to the distant future-and perhaps not very distant either-it is not beyond the range of possibility, and even probability, that all the great States of the North-West shall gravitate this way, as well as Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, etc. Should they do so, our doors are wide

enough to receive them; but not until they are ready to assimilate with us in principle.

"The process of disintegration in the old Union may be expected to go on with almost absolute certainty. We are now the nucleus of a growing power; which, if we are true to ourselves, our destiny, and our high mission, will become the controlling power on this continent. To what extent accessions will go on, in the process of time, or where it will end, the future will determine. So far as it concerns States of the old Union, they will be upon no such principle of reconstruction as is now spoken of, but upon reörganization and new assimilation. [Loud applause.] Such are some of the glimpses of the future as I catch them."

Mr. Abraham Lincoln, on the 11th of February, left his home at Springfield, Illinois, for Washington, receiving on the way advices that he had been, upon a careful canvass and comparison of the Electoral votes by Congress, proclaimed" by Vice-President Breckinridge the duly elected President of the United States, for four years from the 4th of March ensuing. Immense crowds surrounded the stations at which the special train halted wherein he, with his family and a few friends, was borne eastward through Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Albany, New York City, Trenton, Newark, Philadelphia, Lancaster, and Harrisburg, on his way to the White House. He was everywhere received and honored as the chief of a free people; and his unstudied remarks in reply to the complimentary addresses which he day by day received indicated his decided disbelief in any bloody issue of our domestic complications.

Thus, at Indianapolis, where he spent the first night of his journey, he replied to an address of welcome from Gov. Morton, as follows:

"FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF INDI-¡ ANA: I am here to thank you much for this magnificent welcome, and still more for the very generous support given by your State to that political cause which, I think, is the true and just cause of the whole country and the whole world. Solomon says, 'There is a time to keep silence;' and, when men wrangle by the month with no certainty that they mean the same thing while using the same word, it perhaps were as well if they would keep silence. The words 'coërcion' and 'invasion' are much used in these days, and often with some temper and hot blood. Let us make sure, if we can, that we do not misunderstand the meaning of those who use them. Let us get the exact definitions of these words, not from dictionaries, but from the men themselves, who certainly deprecate the things they would represent by the use of the words. What, then, is 'coercion'? What is 'invasion'? Would the marching of an army into South Carolina without the consent of her people, and with hostile intent toward them, be invasion? I certainly think it would be 'invasion,' and 'coërcion' also, if the South Carolinians were forced to submit. But, if the United States should merely hold and retake her own forts and other property, and collect the duties on foreign importations, or even withhold the mails from places where they were habitually violated, would any or all these things be 'invasion' or 'coërcion'? Do our professed lovers of the Union, but who spitefully resolve that they will resist coërcion and invasion, understand that such things as these on the part of the United States would be 'coërcion' or 'invasion' of a State? If so, their idea of means to preserve the object of their great affection would seem to be exceedingly thin and airy. If sick, the little pills of the homœopathist would be much too large for it to swallow. In their view, the Union, as a family relation, would seem to be no regular marriage, but rather a sort of free-love arrangement, to be maintained on 'passional attraction.' By the way, in what consists the special sacredness of a State? I speak not of the position assigned to a State in the Union by the Constitution; for that is the bond we all recognize. That position, however, a State cannot carry out of the Union with it. I speak of that assumed primary right of a State to rule all which is less than itself, and to ruin all which is larger than itself. If a State and a County, in a given case, should be equal in extent of territory and equal in number of inhabitants, in what, as a matter of principle, is the State better than the County? Would an exchange of names be an exchange of rights? Upon principle, on what rightful ground may a State, being no more than one-fiftieth part

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of the nation in soil and population, break up the nation, and then coërce a proportionally larger subdivision of itself in the most arbitrary way? What mysterious right to play tyrant is conferred on a district of country, with its people, by merely calling it a State?

"Fellow-citizens, I am not asserting anything. I am merely asking questions for you to consider. And now, allow me to bid you farewell."

At Columbus, Ohio, he said:

"I have not maintained silence from any want of real anxiety. It is a good thing that there is no more than anxiety; for there is nothing going wrong. It is a consoling circumstance that, when we look out, We entertain different views upon political there is nothing that really hurts anybody. questions: but nobody is suffering anything. This is a most consoling circumstance; and from it we may conclude that all we want is time, patience, and a reliance on that God who has never forsaken this people."

At Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the 15th, he said:

"Notwithstanding the troubles across the river [the speaker pointing southwardly across the Monongahela, and smiling], there is no crisis but an artificial one. What is there now to warrant the condition of affairs presented by our friends over the river? Take even their own views of the

questions involved, and there is nothing to justify the course they are pursuing. I repeat, then, there is no crisis, except such a one as may be gotten up at any time by turMy advice to them, under the circumstanbulent men, aided by designing politicians. people only keep their temper both sides of ces, is to keep cool. If the great American the line, the trouble will come to an end, and the question which now distracts the counficulties, of a like character, which have try be settled, just as surely as all other diforiginated in this Government, have been their self-possession, and, just as other clouds adjusted. Let the people on both sides keep have cleared away in due time, so will this great nation continue to prosper as heretofore."

At Philadelphia, being required to assist at the solemn raising of the United States flag over Independence Hall, Mr. Lincoln, in reply to an address of welcome by Mr. Theodore Cuyler, said:

"I have often pondered over the dangers incurred by the men who assembled here, and framed and adopted that Declaration of