The New York Herald Newspaper, February 4, 1861, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD. —_——— : JAMES GORDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. OFFICE X. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STS, adeancs. Money sont by mat sill be al the ME ta Sees Kank Sie Servant in Noo York DAILY HERALD, too conts pe annum, WHERLY HERALD, ovory Saturday, Ol ola conte TD $3 rer annem the Europenn Edition cvery Welneaday, some as the oth" W include postage, Cabra ing a een ‘Sle of each month ct ota : prota Te SEWILY URESLD. om Wednexday, at four conte per “Vbienrsnr MoknearowD ERC, conuotmang tenportind Heraliy pod fox oo on Veceer Cguamatencanes 400 paricviauy Reqvesrap 70 Seat ati Levreas xD PACK ae AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Fourteenth strect.—Ieattam Ore- Ba—Tue BARBER OF SEVILLE. sroadway.—RicngLied, WINTER GARDEN, Broadway, oppoalte Bond strect.— Maowrru. NIBLO'S GARDEN, eee THEATRE, Broadway —Prarma wita TRE. LAURA KEENE'S THEATRE, No. 62% Broadway.— Bevan Sistexs. NEW BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Coor 4s 4 Cucum- wxn—Harcequin JACK—THxnese. BARNUM’S AMERICAN MUSEUM, Broadway.—Day and Fvening—Swites axn Txars—Tux Lavy oF Sr. Teorez— Lavine untosiries, &o. BRYANTS' MINSTRELS, Mechanics’ Hall, 472 Broad- ‘Buwiesques, Bones, Dances, &0—SceNks at GuR- HOOLEY & CAMPBELL’S MINSTRELS, Niblo’s Saloon, Broadway.—Ernioriax Sones, Daxces, BuRLKSQUKS, &C.— Brace Steuck Heroes. CANTERURY MUSIO HALL, Rorr, 8oxGs, Dances, BURLESQUKS, Broadway.—Ticut ‘Sonos, Daxces, Bun- MELODEON, No. 539 Broadway Lesquas, 4c. ART UNION, No. 497 Broadway.—Bun.xsqurs, Soxcs, Danons, £0. METROPOLITAN HALL, Jersey City.—Buoworra & Canrsxit's Woop's MunsTRes—BuRtesque ON RaRey.; New York, Monday, February 4, 1861. MAILS FOR EUROPE, Whe New York Herald — Edition for Europe. ‘The Cunard mail steamship Niagara, Capt. Moodie, will leave Boston on Wednesday for Liverpool. The mails for Europe will close in this city to-morrow afternoon, at a quarter past one and at half-past five o'clock, to go by railroad. ‘Tar Evrorean Eprriox or Tue Haratp will be published at eleven o'clock in the morning. Single copies, in wrap- pers, six cents. ' ‘The contents of the Evrormay Eprnon or Tan Herau will combine the news received by mail and telegraph ‘wt the offices during the previous week, and up to the bour of publication. The News. Our despatches from Washington this morning are interesting. A despatch received from Gover- nor Pickens assured his friends at the federal ca- pital that no attempt would be made to take Fort Sumter until all peaceable means to get posses- sion had been exhausted. The seizure of the reve- nue cutter Robert McClelland at New Orleans has been confirmed. Her commander sometime ago notified the government that he would not obey the orders of the Secretary of the Trea- sury. The instructions of Secretary Dix to the officer appointed to succeed Captain Brushwood, which, it appears, were intercepted by the Gover- nor of Alabama, were, as will be seen by the despatch, of the most spirited and decisive char. acter. It is now stated that the leading spirits of the republican party are about to muke a se- rious change in their policy, and that hereafter the question to be decided will be one of boundaries and not of slavery and Territories; that they will submit to the loss of all the slave States, with the exception of Maryland and Delaware, the possession of which will place the national capi- tal, with all its associations in their hands, and by a peaceable union with the Canadas, and a peaceable or forcible acquisition of Mexico and Central Am , build up an empire greater than has ever existed on the Continent. The Peace Congress will assemble in Washing- ton to-day, Our despatches furnish all the gossip and rumors in regard to their proceedings that were current in the federal capital yesterday. The Convention of the seceding States assem- bles at Montgomery, Alabama, to-day. A despatch received in Washington yesterday states that the Convention would probably adjourn over to await the action of the Peace Conference, Colonel Hayne, the Commissioner from South Carolina, on Saturday sent to the President a com- tounication containing the ultimatum of that State. He proposes to enter into negotiations for the pur. chase of Fort Sumter, and in case of refusal threat- ens the capture of that fortification. The Presi- dent will reply to the letter as soon as possible, and as his views have undergone no change, it ia thought his answer will be substantially the same as that given a few weeks since. By telegraph we learn that the Mint and Cus- tom House at New Orleans had been seized by the secessionists of that place. The Mint contained a considerable amount of money, which, it was re- ported, the Assistant Treasurer had refused to de- liver up to the agent of the United States, A commu- nication in our paper explains the matter, and the writer thinks the Legislature will return to the government at Washington whatever moneys may stand to its credit. The Governor of Indiana has appointed Hon. C. B. Smith, P. A. Hinckleman, G.S. Orth, E. H. Lewis, and T. C. Stonghton, Commissioners to Washington. The Kentucky Legislature on Saturday adopted the resolutions, appealing to Southerners to stop the progress of revolution, and protesting against federal coercion. By the overland pony express at Fort Kearney we have advices from San Francisco to January 17. The Alamada case had been decided by declaring all the documents genuine, and the title of the claimants to the mines valid. Busi- ness men were experiencing serious difficulties trom the disturbed state of the Union, having had government drafts which they purchased for re- mittances Hast returned protested. Terrence B. McManus, one of (he Irish exiles of 1848, died in San Francisco on the 16th ult. The news by the Northern Light from the revo- Tation in New Granada is that Mosquers was within a day's march of the capital. A report that he had been defeated by General Paris, near the city of Neiva, and which was received with great ac: clamation by the people of Pauama, turned out to be utterly untrue. We shall probably hear, next time, of hia entry into Bogota. The bark Overman, Captain Boarse, which loft this port on Saturday, for Rotterdam, returned yesterday. The captain reports that she sprung aleak while going down the bay, and made eigh- teen inches of water per hour. While this is the oaptmin’s statement, it appears that there are three United States Marshal's officers on board, which seems to indicate that she had been engaged for some illegal purpose. The officers would fur- nish no information in regard to her or why they were on board. Jn the State Sc artay ie dicsahiy ocnourrent resolutions bo appoint Uvmmissioners N on the proposition of Virginia were announced. A desire was manifest to consider them immodiatéty, but objection being made they were laid over. In the Assembly the resolutions authorizing the State to endorse the bonds of the United States to the amount of tho deposit fund were introduced. Among the bills passed wasone suthorizing the sale or leasing of real estate belonging to benevo- lent, scientific, orphan asylums aod missionary societies. The cotton market on Saturday was without change of moment in prices. The transactions footed up about 4,000 bulos, at least 2,000 of which were gold in transit. Although the Arabia's pews showed an active market in Liverpool, yet it led to no improvement with us. Were it not for the stringency in the English money market | the article would no doubt rule higher in that market. | The future growth and supply of cotton is one of the | most important questions that ever concerned England | and the commersial world generally, Manchester i | copsum 8 weekly about 40,000 bales of Amorican cotton, | of the value of about $2,000,000, or $8,000,000 per mouth. | Great Britain, in round numbers, lust year consumed about $100,000,000 worth of American cotton France No. 34 | tock between 500,000 and 600,000 bales, of the value of $25,000,000 to $30,000,000. ‘Thotetmhexperted to all Eu Tope was 3,774,000, of the value of $188,700,000. Ame- rican manufacturers consumed about 800,000 bales, of the value of $40,000,000. The total value of cotton consumed in Europe and america, of the crop of 1850-'60, was $126,- 700,000; and the total value of the crop, of about 4,600, 000 bales, including stock leftover in other ports was $230,- 000,000. Were it possible to strike this production from existence, it would result in greater disaster than the total annihilation of half a dozen California gold regions. In the one case, millions of people derive thoir food and clothing from its production, mantfacturo and transpor- tation, while in the other caso a few veesels could carry all the gold ever dug from the carth; while the shipment of one crop of cotton, like that of 1859-'60, employed over a million tons of American shipping, manned by about 31,000 American sallors. Tho destruction of the cotton crop of the South would produce a commercial revulsion which would be felt throughout Christendom, involving revolution, if not the overthrow of the government, in England. If anything can euspend or eubvert its cultt vation at the South it will be an attompt at coercion, leading to civil war. Breadstufls were heavy and dull thronghout. Pork was in fair demand, with rather more doing. The sales of sugars embraced about 900 bhds., at unchanged prices. Coffoe was steady. Freights closed at better rates, especially for grain to Liverpool. The Washington and Montgomery Con- ventions—What Will Be Their Re- sults? Two Conventions meet to-day, at different points in the Union, to deliberate upon the causes which have produced present results in the country, and upon the remedies most ap- plicable to the crisis at which it has arrived Representatives from the seceding States will convene at Montgomery, Alabama, for the pur pose of consolidating the bonds between the slaveholding members that have already with- drawn from the confederation; while, at Wash- ington, a State Compromise Union Convention will attempt to consult respecting the best means of compromising difficulties between the two sections, and restoring peace to our na- tional councils. The States-saving Convention, last named, will accomplish mothing, It will ; up in disorder; thd elements that com pose it are heterogeneous; and no good can ar rive from it, however resolved it may be to effect ends that are clearly impracticable, when the circumstances under which it is called upon to act aré considered. The Mont- gomery assemblage will possess, on the con- trary, elements of life that cannot fail to mark with definite precision the progress of revolu- tion at the South, and the requirements of pub- lic opinion in the slaveholding States, in a manner which will agtound and should ad- monish--if they are yet capable of receiving nstrnction—those upon whom the responsibili- ties of the future rest, this side of Mason and Dixon’s line. There was a period, not many weeks since, when the difficulties between the North and the South could have been easily settled. The South then asked for no more than was gua ranteed to them by the common law of the coun try, at the time the constitution was framed. Freedom to carry their property into the Terri- tories; the repeal of certain obnoxious laws; liberty to sojourn with bondsmer in any part of the Union, and that perfect tolerance of slavery, as a social institution, which is readily granted by sect towards sect, in the world of religious freedom, were all that was necessary for the North to accord to their brethren south of the Potomac, to secure endless tranquillity, and the dissipation of every cloud that hangs over the horizon. Had the United States Se- nate and House of Representatives bestirred themselves while there was time; had they not been utterly lost, stupified, and corrupted, in the midst of a revolutionary period which they have had neither the knowledge to comprehend, the sagacity to control, nor the uprightness and independence to encounter, all might have been well. The discretion, judgment and patriotism of statesmen like Washington, Jefferson and Madison, would have saved the Union in its hour of necessity. It is now too late, and the confederacy can no longer be held together, unless the republican party, upon which the responsibility of the future rests, is prepared to grant, unreservedly and without demur, every one of the requirements of the States against which its aggressions have been directed for thirty years past. Revolutionary bodies ever move boldly, firm- ly, and sternly forward, in their work of recon struction. The representatives, at Montgomery, of the seceding States, will not leave incomplete | the task they have been appointed to perform. Onur information leads us to believe that they will, at once, constitute a Southern Senate and House of Representatives, to be composed of such ex-members of the two houses at Washing- ton as have resigned their positions, to be re- inforeed by othexs who may, hereafter, give up their places at the call of their respective States, or may be elected from slaveholding unrepresented Congressional districts. The | Hon. Alexander H. Stephens will probably be nominated to the Presidency of the new South- ern confederacy, and ex-Senator Jefferson Davis as Lieutenant General of the armies of the Southorn republic. Resolutions will be passed demanding the right of peaceable seces- sion; claiming the privilege of establishing a free and independent government for those sovereign members ot the confederacy who are desirous of withdrawing from it; while the bor- der States will ‘be invited to-onet their lot with their brethern who have taken a stand, with South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, against Northern fanaticism and intolerance. It is not to be be- lieved that the acts of representa- tives from the northern slaveholding States who form the nucleus of the body which will convene to-day at Washington will be discordant from those of their friends at Moat- gomery. They have unsuccessfully exhausted every effort in favor of a compromise between the North and the South, Thoir propositions have been rejected, and the only honorable course open to them fs to ald thejr lavebolding | neighbors to the extent of their power, The EW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, FEBRUAKY 4, finale of the Washington and Alabama Conven- tions will certainly be, that Virginia and Mary- land will both eecede from the Union, and, with their withdrawal, that the city of Wasb- ington, invaded or not, will cease to be the Capital of the American Union. * Only a short time ago, Congress had this whole question in its hands, The South de- monded comparatively little from it. Every one knows thut five-sixths of the vast masses of our population, North and South, are conserva- tive in sentiment. Of those who are entitled to vote, eight out of ten deplore the agitation by which the popular surface has been tossed to and fro, and they execrate the demagogues who have brought us to the present stage of a deplorable national crisis. Public feeling de mands the overthrow, once and forever, of sec- tional tyranny, from whatever quarter it may be arrogated. If the voice of the intelligence, worth, integrity and wealth of the majorities in the States could make themselves beard, an unequivocal cry would re-echo from New York to Louisisna, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, in favor of the preservation of ‘he Union, at whatever sacrifice, of mere patty and platform interest. Slowly and inevitably, however, the conviction bas forced 4tself upoa the conservative masses, that the vis inertia: of republicanism in Congress would prevent its doing anytbing—tbat the abolition strength there preferred the disruption of the republic to conciliatory legislation. With this convic- tion, exasperation has increased south of the Potomac, and offers would be rejected now that might bave been joyfully accepted a few months ago. Just as the colopies secured terms in 1783, which, previous to the declaration of independence, might, if agreed to, have bound them with bands of adamant to the mother country, seceasionists have raised their demands in proportion to the reticence of their aboli- tionist adversaries. Iu face of the two conventions at Washing- ton and Montgomery, the waves of popular ex- citement are daily rising higher and higher. Insurrection at the South has passed out of the hands of sober minded people into the power ofan unruly, uncontrollable populace. Con- gress can still pour oil upon the troubled sea; but it must do so without any stint, in order to be of avail. Crittenden, Bigler and other com- promises are bygone palliatives. Our national representatives must concede all that the South- ern States demand; they mugt abandon every plank of their rotten, ill constructed platforms, or the Union must go to pieces. The incoming administration might, weeks ago, have gained for itself eternal fame, and have instantaneously quelled tbe dins and clamor that have obtained such hideous supremacy everywhere, but its mouthpieces have allowed the period of proba- tion to expire in silence, or conteuting itself with smbiguous utterances. If the followers of Mr. Lincoln do not at once make up their minds to concede everything that the South ask, no resource remains excepting “a disrup- tion of the confederacy, or civil war. Will the people of the North, however, per- mit civil war? We answer, no. We live neither in the eeventeenth, the eighteenth, nor any but the nineteenth century. Tho people of this country, with the experience of ages to look back upon, will not imbrue themselves in each other’s blood. The dynasty of the Stuarts perished, and who conquered? The people. The dynasty of the Bourbons crambled into dust, and who were the victors? Neither their adversaries nor their supporters, but the peo- ple-those who supply the mind, the means, the bone, the sinew, the being to the common wealth. The people of the United States re- probate civil war; they loathe the thought of internecine strite upon a paltry issue, created by Northern despotism and fanaticism, and they have already issued the fiat that if the States of the Union must separate, they shall do so in peace, but that they will hold those demagogues responsible who have produced such a result. Tux Dereat or Greecey ror Usrrep Srates Se#nator.—Alas! poor Greeley, after all he has done and suffered for the republican party, is thrown overboard in the republican caucus at Albany. This is most ungrateful. No man has contributed so much to the party’s success. He has turned his old white coat in- side out and outside in half a dozen times to serve it. As Cassius M. Clay shows in his re- ply to him, Greeley first advocated the cause of Bates for President, a Southern conservative man who did not belong to the republican party, in order to entrap conservative voters, and he deliberately cut Seward’s throat with the same view. When secession first commenced Gree- ley encouraged it, and said that if six or seven states seceded they ought to be allowed to de- part in peace, according to the doctrine of the Declaration of Independence. Besides, to hold unwilling States would be absurd. He then did not dream that six or seven States would secede; but ever since they did, his voice has been for war. Long notorious as a peace man and a sympathizer with foreign foes when at war with the United States, he now breathes threatenings and slaughter against his fellow countrymen He believed, no doubt, in all this be was muking eure of his success as a candi- date for Mr Seward’s place. But Thurlow Weed outgeneraled him, and though he could not secure the nomination of his own man, Evarta, he turned his votes over to Harris, and thus defeated our unfortunate philosopher, notwithstanding all the dirty work he has done tor the party. Lt is evident that the republican party is already split up into factions and demo- ralized. The spoils and the offices are as effectu- ally accomplishing its destruction as they did the ruin of the democracy. Wait tar Democratic Stare Convention Ovont to Have Doye.—If the Convention which met, during the last week, at Albany, had thoroughly appreciated its own position, the wants of the country, and the relation of partics to each other, it wolld have confined its proceedings, exclusively, to the passage of one resolution which might bave been worded as follows:—“Whereas the recent Presidential election has put an end to the powor which the democratic party has persoveringly mis- used, for a period of over fiftcen years, re- solved, That, in the present deplorable condi- tion of the country, we can exorcise no influ- ence whatever for good to restore the Union to ahappy and prosperous condition, and that the entire responsibility of the future reste upon the republican party, who already exer- cise.a paramount influence over national legis- Tation and will soon hold the reins of govern- ment altogether in their own hands.” By passing euch a resolution, the democratic Conventien would have put the saddle upon * the right horse, ‘The Fourth of February. In the fu ure history of the country the 4th of February will be a day as memorable to tbe country as the 4th of July. On this day the six revolted States meet, by their dele- gates, at Montgomery, Ala, for the purpose of forming a Southern confederacy, which will declare its independence of the late United States, as the Congress of the thirteen colonies declared their independence of Great Britain, at Philadelphia, on the 4th of July, 1776. Had the day been fixed one month later, thir. teen States, if not fifteen, would have as- sembled in revolutionary conclave. A nu- cleus federal government being formed im- mediately by the six seceding States under the present constifhtion, and all the Southern States being well satisfied with that great charter of huwan freedom, each other State, as it secedes during the present month, cap join without delay, while the Congress will, meantime, be consolidating the Southern Union, organizing its diplomacy and making preparations for defence against invasion. It is well Known that a large majority of the Texas delegates, now in Conven “tion, are in favor of secession; so that we may at apy moment hear of that State becoming sgnin a “lone star,” and the next moment being numbered the seventh in the Southern coprtellation. Thus the entire belt of cotton States, from the southern boundary of North Carolina to Mexico, will have been severed from what remains of the Union, and be con- federated for weal or wo before the expiration of the present week. But is this all? By no means. The indica- tions are tbat as South Carolina led off in the cotton States, so will Virginia show the way out of the Union to the border slave States Her election for a Convention to decide upon the question of secession takes place this day, and, according to the latest intelligence from the Old Dominion, the secessionists are confident of carrying the State, and the friends of the Union despair. A short time since this was not the case. Had the election been beld a month, or perhaps even a fortnight ugo, the Union party would have triumphed. But the strengthening of Fortress Monroe, the concentration of troops at Washington, tho in- decent buste betrayed at the North in offering the militia to coerce the Southern States, under the guise of executing the revenue laws, pro- tecting the federal property and preserving the Union, ond at the same time the dogged refusal of the leaders of the republican party, in and out of Congress, to offer any concessions, or udopt the moderate compromises proposed ‘by mediators, while most of them denounce the whole people of six States as traitors and re- bels, and threaten to subdue them by bayonets and cannon balls—these things have wrought a revolution in conservative Virginia, and any conciliatory measures that may be adopted by the border State compromise convention will be too late to have any influence upon the action of her State Convention; for if tho secession party are in a majority they will declare her out of tbe Wnion, no matter what the compromisers may do. Andif Virginia, whose Convention meets on the 13th, goes out, it is safe to pre- dict that the other border States will be sure to follow. Indeed that was their firm resolve from the beginning, if ample gua- rantees should not be given for their protection inthe Union before the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln. That nothing effectual will be done in the way of compromise before that time there is too much reason to fear. Every Southern State save three—namely, Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware—has taken action in ¢alling a convention; and it needs no ghost to tell that Kentucky and Maryland will unite their fortunes with Virginia. Cassius M. Clay admits that Kentucky will go out untess speedy concessions are made. As for Delaware, it is of small consequence what she does in this revolution. Missouri will meet in Convention on the 28th. Tennessee will meet on the 25th, if the people should so decide on the 9th instant. This State, once the most conservative, is now ripe for revolution. The Legislature of Arkan- sas has also left it to the people to decide by a vote on the 18th whether there will be a Con- vention, and if they should decide in the affir- mative it will be held on the 4th of March. There can be little doubt what Arkansas will do. The Legislature has appropriated $100,- 000 to arm the State. In North Carolina a Con- vention is to be held on the 1th of March, if the people should agree to it by their vote on the 28th of this month. That State will follow Virginia and Tennessee. In Virginia, Tennes- see, Arkansas, Missouri and North Carolina the action of their respective Conventions is to be submitted to a vote of the people. What is the prospect that the Compromise Convention, which mects at Washington to-day, will or can do anything to arrest the progress of the revolution? Three Western States—Michigan, Iowa and Min- neeota—and the leading New England State, Massachusetts, will not be represented. This circumstance alone would render any plan that may be adopted unsatisfactory to the South; but if the Convention should agree upon good measures, they will be voted down or laid on the shelf by the present infatuated Congress. The Compromise Conference, there- fore, cannot do anything to save the Union— that is among the things that were. They can do nothing to reconstruct it; for that, too, is beyond their control. It will probably break up in confusion and disorder, and that will be the end of the affair. Tho Impending Conflict in Earope—Prus- sia Preparing to Defend the Rhine, The address delivered by the new King of Prussia to the generals present in Berlin on the 16th ult. has justly excited a good deal of dis- quietude abroad. It confirms the apprehensions entertajged that the object of the immense war preparations of France is the restoration of her old boundaries to the Rhine. It is true that the King does not expressly state this convic- tion, but the earnostness of his language im plics it. It is evidently not to a collision with Denmark that he refers when he says that if he and his brother sovereigns do not succeed in turning aside the storm which is rising Prus- sia will have need of all her forces to defend hersolf, Neither is it the certainty of another conflict between Italy and Austria which evokes so much anxiety. It is the integrity of Prussia itself which is menaced; for this is now the only important peint of the Napoleonic policy in connection with continental territory that remains to be worked out. It is impossible to regard the warlike pre- parations that are being made through- out Europe for the spring without arriving at a similar conclusion to | that conveyed in tho royal speech, If, as it 1861, would now seem, the attack upon Venice has been abandoned for the present, what excuse has France for placing her army and navy upon such a formidable footing? She can only legitimately interfere in the approaching struggle when Austria attempts to pour her troops into Lombardy. Let the movement commence on the side of Hungary and the the Principalities, as appears now to be the plan, and the Italians will be able to settle the Venetian question without an opportunity for intervention being afforded to Louis Napoleon. At least such is the hope of the revolutionists, and they are directing all their arrangements to that end. But the enormous military pre- parations of France are as actively continued as ever, and that on a scale which leaves no doubt as to her views. She evidently looks fogward to the dismemberment of Austria, and the chances of the revolutionary movement ex- tending all over Germany, as in 1948. In either of these events she calculates upon step- ping in and compensating herself, after the fashion of the Nice and Savoy arrange- ment, for whatever trouble she may take in settling the affairs of the Confederation. Of course Prussia cannot but see in this prospect tbe certain alteration of her boundaries. She’ must feel that the Cabinet of St. Petersburg is playing into the hands of Napoleon, and there- fore does right to arm herself for the worst. Should means not be found to avert the ca- lamities of a general war, the sufferings of the commercial classes in Europe will be dreadful. They will have increased taxation superadded to the paralyzation of their industry by the sus- pension of the cotton crop and shortened sup- plies of breadstuffs from this side. Our own condition will be bad enough, but it will not be without its alleviations. Even in the event of civil war breaking out, disastrous as that will be, we shall, owing to our less crowded condi- tion and the fruits of previous years of prosperi- ty, have still, we hope, the means of sustaining our poor through this period of probation and suffering. The prospect on both sides of the Atlantic is, it must be owned, as gloomy as it well cau be, And to think that allthis has been brought about by the shortsightedness and ob- stinacy of a few selfish statesmen and insane politjcal theorists! Revolution in Canada— Rei ance to British Authority. We published yesterday a telegraphic de, spatch from Toronto stating that the English writ of babeas corpus had arrived in the case of the negro slave and murderer Anderson, but that the Canadian Chief Justice of the Common Pleas had likewise issued a writ of habeas cor- pus. There is thus an irrepressible conflict of jurisdiction. Both the Canadian bench and bar are unanimous in the opinion that the course of the imperial tribunal is unwarrantable. In another column to-day we publish an article from the Torento Leader, the organ of the Ca- nadian government, commenting upon the de- cision of the English Court of Queen's Bench by which it is attempted to override the decision of the Queen’s Bench of Canada, which is made by the Canadian constitution a co-ordinate, inde- pendent tribunal, equal in authority and power to that which sits at Westminster Hall. The is- sue of the writ of habeas corpus by the Eng- lish court “has fallen like a bombshell upon the Canadian community.” The observations of our Toronto contempo- rary on the subject are excellent. The out rageous illegality of the order of the English court is demonstrated, the statement of Mr James, on which it is based, is torn to pieces, and it is shown that the principal ground on which the case rests, namely, that the negro Anderson is a British subject, is an abolition falsehood. It was sworn to by the Secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society, a man with a very hard name, and who, according to our contem- porary, swears a “pretty hard oath’—a man who “not only sets up his opinion in opposi- tion to the Canadian Court of Queen's Bench, but in effect swears that he is right and they are wrong.’ It was not contended on the trial in Canada that Anderson was a British subject, where it un- doubtedly would have been if the fact were so, seeing that it would materially help his case, and the editor of the Leader observes that “this is the first time he has heard it alleged that the accused is a subject of her Majesty.” Well, therefore, may he characterize the proceedings as “ of the most extraordinary character.” But whether the Canadian court was right or wrong is immaterial to the issue now raised between the colony and the’ mother country. It is no less an ‘ssue than whether the independence which the Canadians supposed they had obtained for their judicature is to be practically rendered null and void by a London court of law, and whether their whole constitution is not “a mockery, a delusion and a snare.” The con- stitution guarantees that writs of habeas corpus in Canada sball be issued through the Canadian courts; but the London court supersedes the constitution. “If,” argues our contemporary, “if the Canadian Court of Queen’s Bench can be ignored and set aside by an imperial tribunal, where is the guarantee for Canadian liberties? If the judicial branch of our government may be trenched upon in this summary manner, who is to guarantee the executive and legislative functions of the government from invasion?” Very pertinent and suggestive questions, which will probably soon receive their solution in the way the thirteen colonies of old settled their troubles with the imperial government. “Tro- bably no similar attempt,” says the Leader, “has been made within our day to encroach on the liberties of a free people.” There is a similar attempt now being made by the party who con- trols the Northern States to encroach upon the rights of the South, and it is resulting in revo- lution and the complete severance of the ties which hold the two sections tegether. If the British attempt do not result in the same denoue- ment, then we are greatly mistaken in the signs of the times. The Leader, which reflects the sentiments of the people of at least one pro- vince, declares that Canada will not surrender the independence of her judiciary, one of “the attributes of local self-government with which sho has been invested,” in obedience to a writ from an English court, which seeks to “usurp a jurisdiction that belongs to her own tribu- nals.” It is very plain, therofore, that Ander- ton will not be sent to England in obedience to the writ, and then comes the tug of war. Will the mother country yield, or will she fight? That is the question, The republicans must be greatly delighiod at this turn of affairs in Canada. itis a Godsend to them. It precipitates the revolntion there faster than they cdhtemplated. The programme is being performed more rapidly, hott: North an? South, than its author, Mr. Sc A,expocted. la ' his speech at the New England banquet, at the Astor House, be said South Curoline ‘was “only bumbugging,” and that she did not ie (end to secede. There are now six States out of the Union and in possession of the federal forts. These States will be organized into a confederacy to-day. Two or three more will immediately join the new government, and how mawy more on or before the 4th of March oan- not at present be accurately determined; but if the republicandeaders adhere to their prin- ciples, and the President elect should con- tinue to stand as firm on the Chicago plat- form as he says he will, there can be little doubt that every slave State. except, perhaps, little Delaware, will be severed from the pre- sent confederacy before his inauguration. In that case he never will be President of the United States, but of a Northern confederacy, consisting of the free States which voted for him, together with newly-born Kansas. There ought not, therefore, to be a moment's delay in repairing our loss of territory and population. Before the dvor is open to receive the Canadians they are ready to enter. Let Mr. Seward, in the “rump” Congress, immediately propose the admission of Canada into the Union of the Northern States, subject to the vote of the Canadian people, which there can be no doubt will be in favor of the annexation. We excel the Canadians in grace- ful loyalty to the Prince of Wales. We shall have a consolidated government, combined with local independence, resembling the re- presentative monarchy of England in all ita best features, and excluding all the worst It will be the model government of the world, with not a slave within its limits. We are one with them in institutions and love of liberty, for their resistance to the edict of Westminster Hall has the ring of the right metal in it—the true sound of °76. In race and religion we are one with the Canadians. We are historically and geographically connected with them, and what God and nature have thus joined, let not man keep asunder. The annexation of Canada is manifest destiny. NewsPaPER PRroGRESS—CIRCULATION OF THR New_York Herap.—The following table shows the daily circulation of the New York Herat for the month of January just ended, and we might lay it before our readers without a word of comment as a record alike of the success and the value of indepemdent journalism:— CIRCULATION OF THE NEW YORK HERALD FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY, 1861, January 1, January 2. Daily average These figures illustrat parallel in the history of journalism. In the whole world there is no daily newspaper en- joying so large a circulation—being within a fraction of TWO MILIJON SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND A MONTH—OVER THIRTY MILLIONS A YEAR. This prodigious circulation we attribute to the fact— for there is no other way of accounting for it— that the people are satisfied with the statements of the Hrracp and the enterprising manner in which it has been conducted with regard to procuring the fullest and earliest news. Re- cognizing the right of free discussion upon every®question, its columns have been open to all parties and factions, affording them an op- portunity of illustrating their sentiments, while atthe same time we have our own opinions upon the progress of events, upon what is right and what is wrong, in judging of all im- portant subjects, which we freely express, de- nying to no one the privilege of expressing theirs. This,as we understand it, is the proper mission of a leading daily journal; and that we are not in error, we leave the popular ver- dict as expressed in the foregoing figures to decide. We might add that we could nearly double our circulation—that is to say, issue 150,000 day, instead of 85,000—if we had the mechani- cal power at our command to compass such @ work. A Boovs Letrer rrom Apranam Lryconx.— We clip the following remarkable correspond- ence from the Charleston Mercury:— ABRAHAM LINCOLN ON THE JOHN BROWN RAID AND DRED SCOTT DECISION. Lariat FROM TUM ABOLITION PRESIDRNT FLECT. Wirmiana, Va., Jan. 12, 1961. To Tx Error oF THe Caarumton Maxcony — Fneksed 1 send you a copy of a letter of mine to the President elect, and his reply. You are at liberty te make any disposition of them you may deem proper, Yours, &e., J, A. SPENOI Wugruimo, Va., Dec. 24, 1860. Ton. A. Laxcous—Dear Sir-—1 you will not deem it presutaptuous in mo in thus demanding from you « plain reply to the foliowing interrogatories, and moreover Vhat you wil give me the permission to give publicity te your answor, should I desire to do #0. Ist. Had pd gee the crime committed by Jobu Brown als. been surrendered to the federal go- vernment, and jugment delayo until the 4th of Maroh next, wouk you Lave exercised the parJoning power t 24. Do you regard the Dred Scott decision as binding upon the of the North? Hoping to from you soon, I remain rei J. A. SPENCER, Srrivorrein, Jan. 2, 1961, J. A. Sexwcon, Kay. —Sir:—I had resolved in my’ mind te reply to no letters addressed me from any one concerning the manifold questions that have of late gained a foot! : our distracted \ sed But CR frequently ha he same ries propouns to me b; thers, ‘and ns your letter seomns to be dictated in a apitit of kina nese, seeking information only, I have concluded for the have carofuily reviewed testimony ip said case, and in my ‘opiates Brown committed no offence againgt the-Tederal govornment Mmortting such vovere puniahment as he received. The Most he committer against the federal government waa A grors misdemeanor. Had T have been the Governor of your State] might have pursued the course he did. Yoe even then there wore strong mitigating ciroumstances. Brown was no doubt a monomaniac on the subject of negro slavery; aud, as such, clowe confinement would athg been more in accordance with the dictates of jua- ‘To your second, J reply in the ive, for this reason: Said decision hostile “to the advance it of repabli- cnn principles, and therefore attended with dangor in ® government Hike ours, Hoping the above will prove satiefuctory, I am, ait, Py obedient pe 1 A. LINCOLN. * Qur Charleston contemporary in this matter