The New York Herald Newspaper, January 15, 1861, Page 4

—_—_—— 4 NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. OFFION ¥. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NaSSAU srs. TERMS. cash in cdvance. Money wont by mail wilt be at the ee the sender, None but Bank bills curvent in New York DAILY HERALD, two cents per 87 per annum, “tie + pal HEKALD, cvery Saturd nal wi gate very Wed nex copy, oF $8 per enna; the Earapean of og conde per oxy 1 annum to any part af Great Britals, hart T ratense tone tackle postuges, ths Cader Bl ition on the Unt, th, and 2ist of each memth, at six cents r annum. Tits Pasi LD, on Wednesday, at four cents per pov $2 per annem. WOLoN any PONDENCE, omtainiag tmportant mown, solivited fi quarter of the world; if dived, will be Dor vorsion Connesronmuwrs 428 Nberally paid ¥ Reqvestep To Skat aLL Lerrkas aNp Pack- ions sent UB. (RO NOTICE taken of anonymous correspondence. 1d communications. 7 ADVERTISEMENTS renewed every day: advertisements in. wert . Toad Fe. Fairy Heratp, and inthe Cultfornia and ition’. ‘JOU PRINTING ecccued with neatness, cheapness and de spateh, 4 We dono Volame XXVI No. 14 AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING NIRLO'S GARDEN, Broadway —Lecrunx ox Horst ‘TAMING. WINTER GARDEN, Broadway, opposite Bond street.— Aw Arrain or Honok—MAZKPPA BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery —Tranoa or tae Roav— MQUESTRIAN PERFORMANCES, WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway.—Tux Lapy or Sr. Trorez, LAURA KEENE’S THEATRE, No. 624 Broadway.— Buren Sisters. NEW BOWERY THEATRE, Rowery.—Prxr Bemwnp Tux Scune+Guance at New York—Buack Even Susan. THEATRE FRANCAIS, 585 Broadway.—La Frasmuna. BARNU! Evening. sirius, BRYANTS’ MINST@IPES, Meehantos’ way. —BURLas@uas, 50NGs, Dances, &c. HOOLEY & CAMPBELL’S MINSTRELS, Niblo’s Saloon, Broadway.—Ermorian Sonus, Daxozs, BuRLusgues, &c.— Marry Naw Yea, AMER EG MUSEUM, Broadway.—Day out GIC ULES aND Teaxs—Living ‘Hail, 472. Broad- ‘ork: D'Erusors. CANTERBURY MUSIC HAUL, 663 Broadway.—Sonas, Dances, BURLESQUES, &6. ATHEN.EUM, Brooklyn.—Woon's Minstrats. New York, Tuesday, January 15, 1861. MAILS FOR EUROPE, New York Herald— Edition for Europe. The steamship Australasian, Capt. Hockley, this port to-morrew for Liverpogl. ‘The European mails will close in this city to-morrow morning ’at eight o'clock. ‘The Evrorgan Eprrion or tux Herat will be published at seven o’clock in the morning. mas copies in Wrap- pers, six cents, ‘Tho contents of the Evrorgan Eprioy or tim Hxraup will combine the news received by mail and tclegraph at tho office during the previous week, and up to the bour of publication. The will leave e The News. The Cabinet had a meeting yesterday, and decided not to send any reinforcements to Major Anderson at present. The instructions to the Major have not yet been completed. Messrs. Hayne and Guardin, messengers from the Governor of South Carolina, and Lieut. Hall, bearer of despatches from Major Anderson, arrived at Washington yesterday. The latter immediately sought an interview with the President, but the object of his mission had not been made public. Nothing had officially transpired respecting the mission of the gentlemen from South Carolina, but it was believed to have reference to measures for the prevention of hostilities. There is but little news of importance from Charleston. The South Carolina Legislature has declared that any attempt by the federal govern- ment to reinforce Fort Sumter will be regarded as an act cf open hostility and a declaration of war. The Legislature has approved of the attack apon . the Star of the West, and decided to support the Governor in all measures of defence. Military companies were arriving at Charleston from all parts of the State. Governor Pickens has tele- graphed to the President of the Bank of the Re- public, of this city, that no vessel will be disturbed or prevented from entering the harbor of Charles- ton, unless bearing hostile troops or munitions of war for Fort Sumter. A telegraphic despatch received by Messrs. Spofford, Tileston & Co., dated Charleston, Janu- ary 13, states that it was blowing a gale from the northeast, with a heavy sea on the bar, and that the steamship Marion was detained, but would sail when the weather moderates. Both houses of Congress were yesterday en- gaged upon the pending troubles of the nation. In the Senate Mr. Bigler offered amendments to the constitution similar to those embraced in the Crittenden propesitions. The bill provides for sub- mitting the amendments to the people for ratifica- tion on the 12th of February. Owing to the absence of several Senators, the subject was passed over. Mr. Grimes, of Iowa, introduced a resolution requesting the President to com- municate apy information he may have re- garding attempts made or contemplated by any large body of men to interfere with the free navi- gation of the Mississippi river, and what efforts have been made to suppress the same. Laid over. A motion to postpone the bill to admit Kansas, in order to take up Mr. Hunter's crisis resolutions, was defeated—yeas 24, nays 27. A motion to postpone the debate on Mr. Crittenden’s resolu- tions till Thursday was defeated—yeas 19, nays 25. It was then agreed to let them lay over till Wednesday. Mr. Hunter's resolutions relative to withdrawing the federal forees from seceding States were then taken up, and Mr. Polk, of Mis- souri, delivered his views on the pending difficul- ties. In the House leave to offer a resolution instruct- ing the Committee of Thirty-three to report the Crittenden proposition of adjustment was refused by the republicans. The committee made majo- rity and minority reports. The first mentioned was made the special order for Monday next. A resolution to suspend the execution of the federal laws in certain States was referred to the Com- mittee on the President's Message. Several other propositions relative to the crisis were offered, and finally the House went into Committee of the Whole, when a general debate on the affairs of the country was inaugurated by Messrs. McClernand, of Iiinoia, and Cox, of Ohio. At the conclusion of their remarks, Mr. Reagan, of Texas, obtained the floor, and the House adjourned. Hinton Rowan Helper again attempted to deliver his lecture on ‘The Two Systems of Labor,” at Clin- ton Hall, last evening; but the trustees closed the hall against him. Quite a large crowd assembled, and Colonel Titus, of Kansas celebrity, was arrest- ed by the police. A graphic report of the whole affair, with the resolutions passed at an extempore meeting of citizens, will be found in another column. At the monthly anti-slavery prayer meeting jast evening of the congregation attached to pr, Cheever's church, several addresses,were made in which the speech of Mr. Seward was spoken of as being too yielding and conciliatory, and not at all satisfactory to abolitionist principles. The present crisis was also regarded as the judgment of God for the sin of slavery. In the Cireuit Court yesterday, Judge Smalley delivered an important charge to the Grand Jury in relation to the subject of treason against the foderal government, defining what, in the eye of the constitution, constitutes treason, as also the Jeaser crime of misprision of treason. The Judge charges that not only those who, act- ing under the authority of different States, have seized the forts, arsenals and other federal property, are guilty of high treason, but also those who may have lent them assistance by the sale to them of arms and munitions of war, or vessels, knowing that the same were to be used in resistance to the authority of the United States government. The charge will be found in another column, ‘The Legislature reassembled last evening. But little business of importance was transacted, ex- cept a proposition introduced in the Senate by Mr. Spinola in favor of submitting the Crittenden ameudments to the constitution to the people. The mails by the steamship America, which ar- rived at Boston on Sunday, reached this city yes- ‘ terday morning, bringing dates to the 29th ult. | We give an interesting account this morning of the | ratification ofthe treaty of peace with China, and also some particulars concerning the capture and treatment of tc English prisoners by the Chinese, as given by Mr. Parkes, one of the survivors, to- gether with Beveral extracts from English papers respecting the secession movement in the United States, The Bowery murder case referred to in yester- day's HERALD was under investigation before Co- roner Schirmer yesterday. But little light was thrown upon the subject, notwithstanding a large number of witnesses were examined. The inquest was conducted at the Seventeenth precinct station house, in the presence of quite a large crowd of spectators. Sexton, the murdered man, was well known in the neighborhood, and the desire of the spectators to see his body and hear the testimony was so great that it required all Captain Turnbull's energies to preserve order, The Board of Councilmen finally succeeded in effecting a permanent oxganization last evening, by electing Morgan Jones (democrat) as their pre- siding officer, after which the Board adjourned till ‘Thursday. A regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen was held yesterday, but no business of importance was transacted; with the exception of the adoption of a resolution appointing a special joimt commit- tee to consider the propriety of revising and amending the charter of the city, and the appoint- ment of the several standing committees for the ensuing year. The Board adjourned until Thurs- day. About five thousand persons visited the Central Park skating pond yesterday, although the heavy fall of snow was enough to make the most cou- rageous keep under cover if business did not call him out of doors. A large number of cutters and sleighs were to be seen on the drive during the storm, The calendar of the Court of General Sessions yesterday was very large, and city Judge McCunn sat till a late hour to dispose of all the prisoners, the majority of whom were charged with larceny and burglary. Verdicts for robbery in the first degree were found against Stephen Leary, Jobn Gillen and John Hancocks, they having rob- bed William Lloyd, on the 2d inst., of a breastpin and seventy dollars in money. The prisoners pleaded guilty to grand larceny, and were each sent to the State prison for four years and nine months. The snow came down again yesterday from early morning till after six o'clock in the even- ing, when the white particles gave place to a light shower of hailand rain. Intensely cold in the morning, a little pleashnter towards noon, by seven o'clock in the evening it was quite warm and agreeable, showing a variation in the tempera- ture during the course of twelve hours not usual even in this variable climate. According to the City Inspector's report, there were 425 deaths in this city during the past week, an increase of 48 as compared with the mortality of the week previous, and 77 less than occurred during the corresponding week last year. The re- capitulation table gives 3 deaths of diseases of the bones, joints, &c.; 73 of the brain and nerves, 2 of the generatfte organs, 19 of the heart and blood vessels, 171 of the lungs, throat, &c.; 4 of old age, 55 of diseases of the skin and eruptive fevers, 3 premature births, 38 of diseases of the stomach, bowels and other digestive organs; 55 of general fevers, 1 of disease of the urinary organs, and 1 unknown—of which 17 were from violent causes. The nativity table gives 268 natives of the United States, 103 of Ireland, 11 of England, 26 of Ger- many, 5 of Scotland, and the balance of various foreign countries. Owing to accounts by the America of stringency in the Fglicsh money market and the fears of war on the Con- tinent, combined with bad weather, the cotton market was quiet and less buoyant yesterday, while the sales were confined to about 500 bales, closing without quota- bie change in prices. The flour market opened with firm- ness in the forenoon, but in the absence of purchasers for shipment the market closed tamely, without change of moment in quotations. Wheat opened with an appear- ance of firmness, but became leas buoyant and closed at about Saturday’s quotations. Corn was without change of moment, while sales were made to a fair extent. Pork was drm, with sales of new mess at $170 $17 1244, and $13 121; a $13 25 for prime. Sugars wero less buoyant in prices, though not considered quotably lower; the sales embraced 800 hhds. and 600 boxes, on terms stated in «pother column. Coffee was quite steady, with a hardening tendency, while the sales embraced about 1,100 bags Rio at lic. a 13c. Freights were unchanged, while engagements were moderato. The R tionary Conspiracy to Seize the Seat of the Federal Government. Incredible as the report was supposed to be, which we published some time ago, of the ex- istence of a Southern revolutionary conspiracy to seize the city of Washington and the fede- ral buildings, archives and other government property therein, for the government uses of a Southern confederacy, there can be no longer any doubt upon the subject. Such a conspi- racy does exist, and, although the extent of its ramifications can hardly be conjectured, it is known that the plot comprebends the stupen- dous enterprise of superseding the general government of the United States by that of a Southern confederacy. Mr. Iverson, of Georgia, some wecks ago, in that inflammatory disunion speech of his in the Senate, boldly alluded to the expediency an@ propriety of the co-operation of Maryland and Virginia in the secession movements of the Southern States, contending that thus the seat of the existing government of the Union would revert to Maryland, and would thus very con- venietitly serve the purposes of the projected independent confederation of the fifteen slave States. The people in the galleries laughed at this funny proposition of the facetious Senator from Georgia; but subsequent events and re- velations have shown that if he did not utter the warnings of a conspirator, he spoke as with the inspiration, good or evil, of a pro- het. "i It now appears that this conspiracy in ques- tion comprehends:— 1, The secession from the Union of all the slave States, including Virginia and Maryland. 2. The coup d’etat of a seizure and oceupa- tion by a Southern armed force of the city of Washington, including the public buildings, archives, &e., for the purposes of a Southern confederacy, 3. The expulsion (coup d'etat), by force of arms, of the existing federal government, in- cluding the present and the incoming adminis- tration, on the 84 or 4th of March. 4. The establishment of the general govern- ment of the Southern confederacy in Washing- ton, and its proclamation to the world as the government which has superseded the ejected government of the United States. To clear the way for this comprehensive revolutionary programme, the first necessity is NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1861. to get Virginia and Maryland out of the Union, after the fashion of South Carolina and her confederates, before the end of February. To this end the Virginia disunionists have virtually carried their point in that quarter, by securing a special meeting of the Legislature, which has grdered the election of a State Convention, which is to meet about the middle of February; 0 that about the 20th of that month, most like- ly, said Convention, elected under the whip and spur of this Southern disunion excitement, will have passed the ordinance of secession. But there is a hitch in Maryland. If they could get a State Convention called there in season, no doubt the disunionists would carry out their plans, even to the march upon Wash- ington. But the Convention required must be called by the Legislature. This point would be secured if the Legislature were only called to- gether. But here is the hitch, The Legislature (extra session) can only be called together by the Governor, and the present Governor (Hicks) declines to issue the call. To one and all the numerous applications made upon him, and to all the threats uttered against him from the disunionists, he has given, and continues to give, a flat refusal. He has pub- licly stated his reasons for this course. They embrace the disunion and Southern confederacy revolution we have indicated, to which he is utterly opposed, having more faith in the go- vernment of the United States, as it stands, than in this stupendous and dangerous revolu- tionary project of a Southern confederacy. Governor Hicks is an old line whig Ameri- can, and goes for “the Union, the constitution and the enforcement of the laws.” The enter- prise, therefore, of methodically carrying the State of Maryland out of the Union, in season to assert by the 4th of March her right and title to tne city of Washington as part of her original territory, reverting to her possession with her secession from the Union, will most probably fail, from the refusal of Governor Hicks to put the ballin motion. But still, among the dis- unionists of Maryland and Virginia, the design of seizing upon the city of Washington, and of preventing, by force of arms, the inauguration of the President elect, is not abandoned. The Richmond Enquirer has been boldly ad- vocating the enterprise for some time past, and there is reason to believe that it is supported by an ex-Governor or so of Virginia and Mary- land, an ex-member or two, or more, of the Cabinet, and by members and ex-members of Congress, and even by an organized band of four or five hundred men of the fighting revo- lutionary elements of Washington city itself. The Constitution newspaper editor is also sus- pected of being among these conspirators. The flagrant disunion course of that paper, at all events, has at length so far disgusted Mr. Buchanan that he has withdrawn all the government advertising patronage, which he has hitherto bestowed upon it. Of course this proceeding has not improved the temper of the unfortunate editor, Brown; but as the loss of this patronage will soon reduce him to a low diet, he may yet be convinced of the error of his ways. At present Brown is very indignant at the defensive measures undertaken by Gen. Scott for the maintenance of law and order in Wash- ington. But the whole country is now looking to him as the right hand man of the President in upholding the constitutional authority of he federal government, especially in Washing- on, Of all things, in order to avoid a civil war of endless calamities, it is most important to provide against any treasonable or revolu- tionary movements upon Washington, designed to overthrow the established government there. We dare say, however, that the President and his new Cabinet, assisted by the counsels and co-operation of Gen. Scott, will provide for the peaceable inauguration of the President elect, in pursuance of the constitution. In the mean- time Gov. Hicks, in refusing to provide for a secession State Convention in Maryland, has done, we doubt not, the most substantial ser- vice in behalf of the Union cause and in be- half of peace. Importayt Crane or JUDGE SMALLEY ON THE Question or HicH Treasox._We submit to the careful attention of our readers this morning the very important charge ef Judge Smalley, delivered yesterday to the Grand Jury of the United States Circuit Court of the Southern federal district of this State, in reference to the dangers of citizens of the United States in con- nection with these warlike Southern revolu- tionary movements of the day. From the constitution and the laws of the United States, and from the opinions of the great Chief Justice Marshall, Judge Smalley charges that the individuals concerned in the seizure of the federal forts, and other property at Charleston, in the name and under the au- thority of South Carolina, are guilty of high treason, as also are all parties in any other State similarly offending; and that any indi- vidual owing allegiance to the United States, in New York or elsewhere, who shall furnish these declared Southern traitors “with arms or munitions of war, vessels or other means of transportation, or any materials which will aid the traitors in carrying out their traitorous pur- poses, with a knowledge that they are intended for such purpose,” or any person guilty of “in- citing or encouraging others to engage in or aid the traitors in any way,” is clearly liable to be indicted, tried, convicted and executed as a traitor—for death is the penalty of treason. Let our readers of all parties, therefore, carefully read and inwardly digest this learned charge of Judge Smalley, and its exceedingly interesting definition of what constitutes treason against the United States, and misprision of treason, at this time. What- ever may be the opinions of other learned judges in the premises, it must be admitted that Judge Smalley makes out a very strong case; and they who may be brought before him on the charges of crime which he has specified will know, if guilty, what to expect at his hands. It behooves our fellow citizens now to study the laws of their allegiance and the pe- nalties for their violation; for when the federal courts intempose to define thelaw, it is best to conclude that their design is to enforce it, Eprrors Torvep Lerrer Werrers.—There are a certain set of politicians who are never tired of seeing their names in print, and who are consequently always writing letters to some- body. Every public question that arises, they are sure to be out in the newspapers with a letter, There are John M. Botts and Stephen H. Branch, and a lot of others, who are perpetually indi- ting long letters which nobody ever reads, but which serve the authors, no doubt, just as a dose of Brandreth’s pills, and must relieve them considerably. Editors and ex-edftors are “now beginning to be afflicted with the disease of letter writing. Not contented with speaking to the public, as they do every day in their papers, they must see their names appended to long letters well, There is Raymond, who has just been writing a series of letters to Mr. Yancey, and Greeley, who writes to any one and every one. They go about the country, too, making speeches for the sake of seeing them in their own newspapers. We are not surprised at the politicians for writing letters, because they want to keep themselves before the public; but it is a different thing with the editors. They are sufficiently represented, one would think, in the columns of their journals, and it would be better for them to give up letter writing and attend to their business. Alarming Condition of Europe—Prepara- tions for a General War. It is impossible to mistake the formidable character of the movements which are in pre- paration throughout Europe for the approach- ing spring. The silent energy with which they are being carried out shows the conviction that prevails, that diplomacy is powerless to forestall the events that call them into activity. The obstinate persistency of Austria in the in- sane policy which has cost her the most valua- ble of her Italian provinces leaves the other European governments no option but to league together to protect themselves against the con- sequences of her acts. The cession of Venice offered a ready solu- tion of the difficulties which the Vienna Cabi- net has brought upon itself, and up to the last few weeks there were hopes that it might be induced to accede to it. That expectation dis- appointed, no alternative remains but war. To compensate for the sacrifices that it must bring with it, there is some consolation in the reflec- tion that the cause of human freedom will probably be the gainer by them. The events of the lagt six months have shown a wonderful unanimity of sentiment between the leading governments and public opinion of Europe, as represented through its press, on the folly and wickedness of the course pursued by Austria in reference to Venice. The Paris, the St. Petersburg and the Berlin official organs have not hesitated to echo loudly the censures pronounced on her conduct by the English and American journals. The failure of the Warsaw Conference offered a further proof of the influ- ence which the opinions thus enunciated exer- cised over the policy of the Russian and Prus- sian governments. Had Francis Joseph and his advisers not been utterly bereft of common sense, they would have accepted this indication as a guide for their future course. They lost, however, the benefit of the lesson, and have now to prepare for an accumulation of perils which had not before entered into their caleu- lations. In treating of this question we have frequent- ly taken occasion to express our conviction that, notwithstanding occasional diplomatic di- vergencies, there was a secret understand- ing between France, England, Russia and Prussia in regard to the course which they should pursue in the event of Austria provoking another revolutionary out- break by her continued harsh treatment of Ve- nice. This view is confirmed by a statement which we have just received from one of oar correspondents in Paris, who has access to the highest and most reliable ,sources of informa- tion. The following, he says, is the programme decided upon between the governments in question, in view of the events which are pre- paring for the spring:— 1. France is to continue indefinitely her mili- tary occupation of Rome and of Syria, but is to withdraw her fleet from Gaeta. Orders to that effect have been sent to Admiral Tinan. 2. Bavaria, Saxony and several of the smaller German States having pledged them- selves to support Austria in the event of Gari- baldi commencing his threatened campaign against her by assisting the Hungarian revo- lutionists, it is understood that no opposition will be offered to France’s extension of her frontiers to the Rhine. Prussia is to be in- demnified by slices of Austrian territory and the supreme authority of the Confederation, the smaller sovereigns acting merely as her viceroys. This will give to ‘the German peo- ple the constitutional guarantees and the unity which they.so much desire. 3. Russia undertakes not to aid Austria,even though Poland should be included in the re- newed nationalities. This at first sight would appear improbable, but for the fact that she is to get a compensation to which she attaches an infinitely higher value. The possession of Constantinople and the undisputed control of the Black Sea are objects to ker ot such tra- ditional pride and importance that she will gladly yield the Poles their independence to secure them. 4. England is to have for her concurrence Egypt, which, with Malta, will secure to her the shortest and most direct route to her Indian empire. We have in support of this statement the facts that France is making preparations for war upon a much larger scale than a mere co- operation with Italy for the recovery of Venice would necessitate; that the French army in Rome has been reinforced, and the occupation of Syria formally prolonged by the consent of the other governments; that England is known to have been jously alarmed by the Suez canalization project of M. de Lesseps, and that an insurrection is being actively fomented in Servia, Bosnia and other dependencies of the Porte by Russian emissaries, the rising to take place simultaneously with that in Hungary. It is settled that Garibaldi will commence his operations for the recovery of Venice from the latter quarter, and not by a direct attack on the Quadrilateral. By dividing the military strength of Austria in this manner, it is expected that she will be so weakened as to render the conquest of the Venetian territory a subsequemly easy matter. Whatever may be the value of this latter speculation, it is evident that the ball of revo- lution cannot be again set in motion in Europe, and the integrity of a great empire menaced, without there being a general and long con- tinued disturbance of those interests which de- pend upon the maintenance of peace for their prosperity. Between the prospect of anarchy and internecine strife in this country, and the probability of a general and perhaps protract- ed war in Europe, the trade and industry of the world will receive a shock from wieich it will take them a long time to recover. Let those on this side who can, by a few timely concessions, avert the fearful sufferings which euch a state of things must bring about, cast from them a responsibility which no Christian man or true patriot would congegt to ingur Rail Splitting and Cabinet Making. It is only latterly, and in this country, that rail eplit'ing has come to be considered one of the fine arts. Up to last May, rail splitters were looked upon as very worthy members of society, but not as persons calculated by their occupation and education to assume leading positions in the community. That this im- pression was altogether fallacious has been proven by the fact that the people have ad- vanced the chief of the rail splitters to the po- sition of a master cabinet maker, and ever since the 7th of November this ancient type of rail splitting superiority has been hard at work in his new vocation, and has not met with any very wonderful amount of success. To drop metaphor, the newly elected President of the United States seems to have had con- siderable difficulty in the selection of bis constitutional advisers. It did not require any especial sagacity on his part to designate Mr. Seward as the mainstay of the new Cabinet; Mr. Seward is the founder and fatber of the republican party, and isa practical statesman of the first order. He ap- pears, when compared with his confreres, like agreat golden nugget lying upon the seashore in the full glare of the noonday sun, adver- tising its value to the immediate percention of the most ordinary intellect. So the selection of the Sage of Auburt as the rail splitter’s Premier was one that could not well be avoided. After picking up this nugget, the next im- portant post to be filled was the Department of the Treasury, which was tendered to Sena- tor Cameron, of Pennsylvania. This tender was made orally by Mr. Swett, a con- fidential friend of the President elect. Cameion, who is a business man as well as a politician, desired that the offer should be made in writing, and in the President’s own hand. This was done—Lin- coln writing direct to Cameron, and Cameron aecepting the post. The news of Cameron’s appointment raised a tremendous breeze in Pennsylvania. The ancient fossilized fogies— galvanized old whigs, such as Curtin and McClure—got up a severe outside pressure upon Old Abe, objecting particularly to the election of a wide awake ‘democrat like Came- ron, Under this pressure Lincoln succumbed, and wrote to Cameron, asking him to withdraw his acceptance. To this last communication no answer has yet been returned. So that ap- pointment remains in statu quo. Going along a little further in our examina- tion of the Lincoln Cabinet, we come across a very curious antique—a fossil which would de- light the heart of a political geologist. It is intended for Mr. Lincoln’s Attorney General, and is labelled “Old Mr. Bates, of St. Louis.” Bates is known as having added liberally to the populgtion of Missouri, and that is about his only recommendation for a seat in the Cabinet. We believe that Bates ought to have a medal and the thanks of the Census Marshal, but not a Cabinet office in troublous times. Going down to the political stratum where old Mr. Bates is embedded was a pretty tough job, but old Abe was not daunted by it. On the contrary, he excavated still further, and brought up the remains of Gideon Welles. We remember that Welles was known in Con- necticut (not elsewhere) thirty years ago as the editor of a democratic newspaper and a busy country politician. But the history of political geology during the last thirty years records so many changes and new formations that we really are astonished that any one should have gone down into the depths of old fogyism to dig out Gideon Welles. Such is Linceln’s Cabinet, so far. One prominent statesman, one clever man, hung up, like Mahomet’s coffin, between heaven and earth, and two old fogies, whom no- body objects to, because nobody knows any- thing about them, provided with portfolios. In the matter of the distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania, Lincoln’s course has been avery unfortunate one, showing ignorance and imbe- cility at the outset. If he expects to have ca- pable men as his advisers, the President elect must make his selections and stick to them in spite of parties and feuds or personal prejudices. If he appoints people who have no enemies, he must take old fogies or incapables. These are not times when important positions can be given, with safety, to either. Cantset Maxtxa at Wasntyetox.—While there is a good deal of vacillation and imbe- cility displayed by the Cabinet makers at Springfield, the same branch of business at Washington seems to have been rather clumsily transacted. We always suspected, and very frequently intimated, that there was a good deal of rotten timber in Mr. Buchanan’s Cabi- net, and the great mistake of the President seems to have been that he considered himself bound to sustain his chosen ministers through thick and thin. The result is indeed pitiable. Within the last six weeks no less than four Cabinet officers have deserted their posts, under the same peculiar circumstances which precipitated poor Fowler’s flight to Havana. They have not been so polite as the New York Postmaster, and have declined to remove themselves beyond the jurisdiction of the United States government. Undoubtedly it is intended that a grand Congress and general jubilee of all the defaulters, Fowler included, shall be held at some convenient point south of Mason and Dixon’s line. Now the President has been compelled to do what he should have done before—that, is to reconstract his Cabinet entirely. Long ago it was known that his Secretary of the Treasury was altogether unfit for the plact, and the same general verdict has been recorded against all the outgoing mem- bers of the Cabinet, except Mr. Cass. The President should have turned them out nec! and heels, upon the first intimation of a differ- ence of opinion. No new administration can expect to combine, at the first experiment, a Cabinet which shall satisfy the political exi- gencies of the moment, and at the same time possess the requisites of fitness, experience and integrity. The same rule applies to private enterprises. During the _ first two years of our experience in con- ducting this journal, we were obliged to dismiss three sots of editors, printers, printers’ devils, &c., ke. We endeavor to do equal and exact justice to all, but tolerate no divi- sions or disputes or differences, and have had no trouble since. Now Mr. Buchanan has re- constructed his Cabinet. His Ministers have only a short time to serve; butin these times minutes are as important as years in periods of profound peace. We are told that the new Secretaries are all honest men. With some of them we are acquainted; others are entirely unknown to us. The place which the adminis- a ee en Se tration of Mr. Buchanan will bold in bist as well as the fate of the republic, will depend not so much upen the advice which the Cabi- net may give him as upon his own acts. It is for the President to arrange some clear and definite line of action, and then require the aid of his subordinates in carrying it out. The country holds the President, not the Cabinet, responsible for the management of the govern- ment.. Therefore Mr. Buchanan should be careful to see that his Cabinet is a unit; tha his Ministers are ready to lend their aid in the execution of the plans of their chief; other- wise to surrender their posts at once. Is Secession to be Permitted, ‘There be Civil Wart The policy which Mr. Seward’s speech of Saturday insinuates, rather than avows, fore- shadowing, as it does, some germs of good, cor- rectly indicates to what extent republican fa- naticism has begun to recoil before the ava- lanche of destruction which is tottering over the country. Louis XI. bows low, in his craft, before the stirrup of his “cherished, victorious brother of Burgundy,” and humbly begs for time. A little delay, only, and he will grant everything. True, if he cannot gain the sought for truce he must yield everything; instead of promises he must, if required, hand over his crown. Mr. Seward emulates his prototype, and will consent to any concessions “after the eccentric, movements of secession and dis- union shall have ended—one, two or three years hence.’”’ While he may, he reiterates “not now;” only “when calmness shall have resumed its accustomed sway over the public mind, then, and not until then,” is he prepared. to yield those “modifications which the changes of society and alternations of empire require.” Sagacious Seward, whose manifesto, like the proffers of Louis XI. in his imprisonment, ends with a gigantic, indispensable—“yet.” He says that we are “in the midst of alarms, and somewhat exposed to accidents, unavoidable in seasons of tempestuous passions,” “and, therefore,” although he would prefer above all things such procrastination as may yet insure that “the cotton and rice fields of South Caro- lina and the sugar’ plantations of Louisiana shall ultimately be tilled with free labor,” “yet”—and this is his most significant utterance, as the mouthpiece of Mr. Lin- colna—‘whatever sacrifices, private or pub- lic, shall be needful for the Union, they will be made.” And with a foresight as to what those reaieate instigated by him- self as Premier of the incoming administration, may be, he adds:—“The Union shall continue and endure; and men in after times shall de- clare that this generation, which Saved the Union from such sudden and unlooked for dangers, surpassed in magnanimity even that one which laid its foundations in the eternal principles of liberty, justice and humanity.” Mr. Seward’s programme for the future is, nevertheless, unbloody and compromising enough to be infinitely displeasing to the Wades, Sumners, Giddingses, Washburnes, Lovejoys, Hales and Garrisons of the republican party. They have adopted the motto that “the victors must dictate to the vanquished,” unwilling to comprehend that, although they have elected a President on an abolition platform, he is far yet from having been inaugurated, and that his chances are small of ever becoming chief magistrate of the whole thirty-three States— united. They are unprepared to abandon so soon the chance of the fulfilment of Mr. Gree- ey’s aspiration:—“Let the epitaphs of John Brown and his compatriots remain unwritten until the not distant day when no slave shall clank his chains in the shades of Monticello, or by the grave of Mouat Vernon.” Such a let- ting down from his old positions was the speech of Mr. Seward held to be, that Senator Wade exclaimed:—“Great was the fall there- of.” Of course the radical Southern party are equally dissatisfied. They ridicule the awk- ward absurdity that the disease of to-day can be cured years hence; that acknowledgment of the ‘need of immediate change should be simultaneous with the declaration that change must be postponed; that avowal of the immi- nence of the emergency is accompanied by a demand that it shall not be met until it is too late; that the country should be called upon to sleep quietly on the edge of the crater, while the velcano is rambling with the elements of inevitable explosion. Meanwhile the huge, hideous, jagged mass of revolution tumbles downward, in its irregular, unexplored track, with constantly accelerating rapidity. “Irrepressible conflict” has deve- loped itself into such outlines of civil war that sober minded, petriotic citizens tremble from day to day lest the next news should be the ca- lamity of bloodshed somewhere, and the be- ginning of internecine strife which may spread like a pall over the prosperity of the Union. The populations of South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Maryland, Florida and Georgia have virtually broken the links alrea- or Shalt dy that bind them to the confederation. Ten-. nessee has called for a State Convention in February for the purpose of secéding, and Kentucky cannot long remain in the back- ground. The occupation of the arsenal at St. Louis by United States troops shows howstrong the anti-Northern feeling is there. The excited sectional feeling which opened the mouths of the cannon of Fort Moultrie upon a steamer chartered by the United States government finds its re-echo and response from Cape Henlo- pen to the Rio Grande. The fortifications which have been seized upon by State authorities on the Atlantic seaboard and on the Gulf of Mexi- co render the approach to most of the South- ern ports impossible. Fort Pulaski, in the hands of Georgft, is impregnable; the defences of the Belize could not be retaken by the en- tire United States Navy; Pensacola, in the hands of Alabama, and forts Monroe and Mc- Henry, occupied by Virginia and Maryland, defy attack. In face of such a critical state of things the time has passed to reason that the President or the government has the right to protect federal property. Even though it had not passed @way beyond hope of recovery by force of arms, it‘would still be a duty to inquire whether there is no higher principle than that which is based upon mere abstract right. ‘The bitter end so long foreseen is at last ap. proaching. The period has arrived for the country to pay for the treat of elevating anti- slavery republicanism to power in the country: The present prostration and confusion of all material interests; such a dislocation of admin- istrative machinery as never has been known before; bitter, bloodthirsty hatred between ul- traists of the South and the North; the proba- bility that a quiet, continuous routine of gov- ernment, after the 4th of March, will be im-