Fellow-citizens: My friend, Mr. Evarts, I believe, is acting as Chairman of Committee here, or President, or something of that sort — I do not exactly understand what. Coming a stranger as I do to the Astor House [laughter] I am put under duresse as soon as I get here, and am brought down from my own private room to this place. That is all I know about myself or you either [laughter]; but I find you here, and Mr. Evarts with his mallet in his hand. I suppose it means that he is something like a presiding officer or speaker, or something of that kind. Mr. Draper has intimated to me that you're all Yankees, [A voice--Yes, we are, ] and I thought it as likely as not that you were. Therefore, I suppose that I might as well set all doubt about myself at rest at once, and anticipate all your inquiries. I left Auburn this morning at 9 o'clock, after breakfast; I got here at rather a late hour, for rather a late dinner. [A voice--Did you come by the express train? ] I came by the express train. Nothing particular happened me on the way [roars of laughter] except that I might as well anticipate the Express on Monday morning, as I did not anticipate the Express last Monday morning, by saying that I met Thurlow Weed in the cars. [Laughter.]

A voice--What did he say?

Mr. Seward--There the Yankee comes out at once. A gentleman asks me what hoe said. Now I am not a Yankee. There is no New England blood in me, and I do not answer impertinent questions. [Laughter.] I will not tell what he said to me. I will only tell what I said to him, and that was that I repudiated — all compromises whatsoever, which New York, Pennsylvania, and New England could not stand upon. I learned from him that he had been in Springfield, in the State of Illinois. I suppose you would all like to know what he told me he learned there. [Laughter, and shouts of Yes. ] I will give you the best satisfaction I can. He prints a newspaper called the Evening Journal. He is a man of truth, I believe ; and if he is, and wants to tell what he learned, you can get it in his newspaper. [Laughter.] But I have somehow got off from the direct course of my argument. I began to tell you about myself, and, somehow or other, I have got to telling about Mr. Weed and his journey to Springfield. I may as well go on in this indirect way till I get back to my direct road. I met the Governor going up to Albany. He did not tell me exactly, but I had a strong suspicion, from his appearance generally, and from some hints which he dropped, that Charles Stetson, of the Astor House, would probably be Inspector General of the State of New York. [Laughter.] I judge so because the Governor asked me my opinion about Mr. Stetson. I told him that, as a tavern keeper, I did not know a great deal in his favor, but that as a military officer, I thought he had no superior [roars of laughter], and that if it should turn out that the State of Florida should invade the State of New York in these troubles of ours, I did not know any better man to send out to meet them than Charles Stetson [uproarious laughter], who would disarm them of all hostility by bringing them in to a supper like this at the Astor House.

Fellow-citizens — he continued, in a more serious tone — these are extraordinary things that are happening in our day. I remember that it was the men of New England, who lived only two or three times as long ago as I have lived, and as my friend Mr. Joseph Grinnell has lived, whom I am glad to see here. I hope he is sounder in his politics than he was the last time I heard of him. [Laughter.] I hope he is as sound as his brother Moses. It is only twice as long ago as we have lived, I say, since these men of New England invented the greatest political discovery in the world — the confederation of republican states. The first confederation of republican states in America was the invention of New England. I have always admired and respected the people of New England for that great discovery, which, after having been put into successful operation in the colonies of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth, and Connecticut and NeW Haven, came ultimately, after having been sanctioned by the wisdom and experience of Dr. Franklin, to be adopted by the people of the thirteen British colonies on this continent, south of the St. Lawrence. It has been reserved for our day, and for this very hour, to see an innovation of another kind, of an opposite nature, by a portion of our countrymen residing south of the Potomac. The Yankees invented confederation. The people of South Carolina have invented secession. The wisdom of the latter is now to be tried in comparison with the experience of the former. At the first glance it exhibits this singular anomaly — that of a state which has in the Senate of the United States two seats, and in the House of Representatives six members, each of them paid $3,000 a year out of a treasury to which they contribute only a small part — a state consisting of 700,000 people of all conditions, and of whom 274,000 are white, going out of the Union, to stand by itself, and sending to the Congress of the United States three commissioners to stand outside of the bar to negotiate for their interests, and to be paid by herself, instead of having two senators and six representatives in Congress, on an equality with all the other states. This is the experiment that is to be tried by states on this continent — whether they will find it wiser to occupy seats within the Congress of the United States, and to have their representatives paid by the United States for coming there; or, in lieu of that, to send Commissioners to present their claims and their rights at the bar of the United States, without the privilege of voting on their own claims, and to be paid for by the states themselves. This is the last political invention of the times. I need not say to you that I do not think it is likely to be followed by many other states on this continent, or to be persevered in long, because it is manifestly very much inferior to the system that already exists. The State of South Carolina desires to go out. Just at this moment I am going back to Washington for the purpose of admitting the State of Kansas in; and I venture to say that for every state on this continent that will go out of the Union, there stand already waiting at least two states that will be glad to come in and take their place. [Loud cheers.] They will do so for this simple reason — that every state on the continent of North America will be a democratic or republican state. You, gentlemen of New England, do not like always to hear the word democratic. I will, therefore, use the word republican. No republican state on this continent or any other can stand alone. That is an impossibility. And the reason is a simple one. So much liberty, so much personal independence, such scope to emulation and ambition, as a free republic gives, where universal suffrage exists, are too much for any one state, standing alone, to maintain. Therefore it is, as you have seen, that the moment it was thought that secession had commenced in this great national confederacy of ours, you begin to hear at once of secession, not only in South Carolina, but of secession in California, secession in New England, and lastly, you begin to hear of secession of New York city and Long Island from the State of New York. [Laughter.] They are right in all this. Dissolve this American Union, and there is not one state that can stand without renewing perpetually the process of secession until we are brought to the condition of the States of Central America--pitiful states, unable to stand alone. No, gentlemen, republican states are like the sheaves in the harvest field. Put them up singly, and every gust blows them down; stack them together, and they defy all the winds of heaven. [Tumultuous applause.] And so you have seen that these thirteen republican states all came to the conviction, each of them that it could not stand alone; and the thirteen came together, and you have seen other states added to them. The state of Michigan, the state of Indiana; of Illinois, the state of Wisconsin, the state of Iowa and the state of Louisiana--what under heaven kept each of these states from setting up for itself and becoming independent? Nothing, but that it could not stand alone. And they are ready to be united to other republican states on this continent. So it was with Texas. She was independent. Why did she not remain so? You know how much it tried us to admit her into the Union; but it tried her much harder to stay out as long as she did. Why is not Kansas content to remain out? Simply because of the sympathy and the interest which makes it needful that all republican states on this continent shall be united in one. Let South Carolina, let Alabama, let Louisiana--let any other state go out, and while they are rushing out you will see Canada and all the Mexican States rushing in to fill up the vacuum. [Loud applause.] It is the wisdom discovered by our fathers which is all concentrated in these three words of such pregnant meaning--E Pluribus Unum. [Loud applause.] There is no such thing as one, separate from the many, in republican states. [Continued applause.] And now, fellow-citizens, I will speak one word concerning the anomalous condition of our affairs produced by this disposition of some of the American states to secede from the Union. It has taken, as it ought to have taken, the American people and the world by surprise. Why has it taken them by surprise? Because it is unwise and unnatural. It is wise that all the republican states of this continent should be confederated. It is unwise that any of them should attempt to separate. And yet it ought not to have taken us by surprise. Whoever could have imagined that a machine so complicated, so vast, so new, so untried, as this confederated system of republican states, should be exempt from the common lot of states which have figured in the history of the world? A more complex system of government was never devised — never conceived of among men. How strange it is, how unreasonable it is, that we should be surprised that a pin may drop out of this machinery and that the wheel should drag, or that the gudgeon should be worn until the wheel should cease to play with the regular action! How could we expect to subsist for a period of seventy years exempt from the necessity of repairing our political system of government? Every state in this Union is just like the federal Union--a republic. It has its constitution, and its regular system of action. No state is more than seventy years old, and there is not in any one state of this Union a constitution which is more than twenty-five years old; and so certain has it become that no state can adopt a constitution which will last for more than twenty-five years without being repaired and renewed, that in our own state the constitution which we adopted twenty years ago contains a provision that next year, without any appeal to the people whatever, a convention shall come together in the state of New York and make a new constitution. Is it strange, then, that this complex system of our government should be found, after a lapse of seventy years, to work a little rough, a little unequal, and that it should require that the engineer should look at the machinery to see where the gudgeon is worn out, and to see that the main wheel is kept in motion? A child can withdraw a pin from the mightiest machine and arrest all its motion, and the engineer cannot see it when it is being done; but if the engine be rightly devised and strongly constructed, the engineer has only to see where the pin has fallen out and replace it, and the machine will then go on stronger and more vigorous than ever. [Applause.] We are a family of thirty-three states, and next Monday I hope that we shall be a family of thirty-four. [Cheers.] Would it not be strange, in a family of thirty-four members, if there should not, once in the course of a few years, be one or two, or three or four, or five of the members who would get discontented, and want to withdraw awhile, and see how much better they could manage their fortunes alone? I think there is nothing strange in this. I only wonder that nobody has ever withdrawn before, to see how much better they could get along on their own hook, than they get along in this plain, old-fashioned way under the direction of Uncle Sam. They say that, while I was a boy, Massachusetts and some of the New England States got the same idea of contumacy for the common parent and want of affection for the whole family, and got up a Hartford Convention. [Laughter.] I hope you do not think this personal. [No, no.] Somebody in Massachusetts--I do not know who — tried it. All I know about it is, that for the first twenty years of my political life, although I was a democrat — a Jeffersonian — born and dyed in the faith of the Republican fathers, somehow or other, because I happened to become a whig, I was held responsible for the Hartford Convention. [Laughter.] And I have made this singular discovery in contrasting those times with the present; that, whereas, when Massachusetts or any New England State, gets in a pet and proposes to go out of the Union, the democratic party all insist that it is high treason, and ought to be punished by coercion; when one of the slave states gets into the same fret, and proposes to go out of the Union, the democratic party think it exceedingly excusable, and have doubts whether — she ought not be helped out of the Union, and whether we ought not to give her a good dowry besides. [Laughter.] Now, gentlemen, my belief about all this is, that whether it is Massachusetts or South Carolina, or whether it is New York or Florida, it would turn out the same way in each case. There is no such thing in the book, no such thing in reason, no such thing in philosophy, and no such thing in nature, as any state existing on the continent of North America outside of the United States of America. I do not believe a word of it; and I do not believe it, for a good many reasons. Some I have already hinted at; and one is, because I do not see any good reason given for it. The best reason I see given for it is, that the people of some of the southern states hate us of the free states very badly, and they say that we hate them, and that all love is lost between us. Well, I do not believe a word of that. On the other hand, I do know for myself and for you, that, bating some little differences of opinion about advantages, and about proscription, and about office, and about freedom, and about slavery and all those which are family difficulties, for which we do not take any outsiders in any part of the world into our councils on either side, there is not a state on the earth, outside of the American Union, which I like half so well as I do the state of South Carolina--[cheers]--neither England, nor Ireland, nor Scotland, nor France, nor Turkey; although .from Turkey they sent me Arab horses, and from South Carolina they send me nothing but curses. Still, I like South Carolina better than I like any of them ; and I have the presumption and vanity to believe that if there were nobody to overhear the state of South Carolina when she is talking, she would confess that she liked us tolerably well. I am very sure that if anybody were to make a descent on New York to-morrow — whether Louis Napoleon, or the Prince of Wales, or his mother [laughter], or the Emperor of Russia, or the Emperor of Austria, all the hills of South Carolina would pour forth their population for the rescue of New York. [Cries of Good, and applause.] God knows how this may be. I do not pretend to know, I only conjecture. But this I do know, that if any of those powers were to make a descent on South Carolina, I know who would go to her rescue. [A voice--We'd all go. ] We would all go — everybody. [ That's so, and great applause.] Therefore they do not humbug me with their secession. [Laughter.] And I do not think they will humbug you; and I do not believe that, if they do not humbug you and me, they will much longer succeed in humbugging themselves. [Laughter.] Now, fellow-citizens, this is the ultimate result of all this business. These states are always to be together — always shall. Talk of striking down a star from that constellation. It is a thing which cannot be done. [Applause.] I do not see any less stars to-day than I did a week ago, and I expect to see more all the while. [Laughter.] The question then is, what in these times — when people are laboring under the delusion that they are going out of the Union and going to set up for themselves — ought we to do in order to hold them in. I do not know any better rule than the rule which every good father of a family observes. It is this. If a man wishes not to keep his family together, it is the easiest thing in the world to place them apart. He will do so at once if he only gets discontented with his son, quarrels with him, complains of him, torments him, threatens him, coerces him. This is the way to get rid of the family, and to get them all out of doors. On the other hand, if you wish to keep them, you have got only one way to do it. That is, be patient, kind, paternal, forbearing, and wait until they come to reflect for themselves. The South is to us what the wife is to her husband. I do not know any man in the world who cannot get rid of his wife if he tries. I can put him in the way to do it at once. [He has only got two things to do. One is to be unfaithful to her. The other is to be out of temper with her. I do not know a man on earth who — even though his wife was as troublesome as the wife of Socrates — cannot keep his wife if he wants to do so; all that he needs is, to keep his own virtue and his own temper. [Applause.] Now, in all this business I propose that we shall keep our own virtue, which, in politics, is loyalty, and our own temper, which, in politics, consists in remembering that men may differ, that brethren may differ. If we keep entirely cool and entirely calm, and entirely kind, a debate will ensue which will be kindly in itself, and it will prove very soon either that we are wrong — and we shall concede to our offended brethren — or else that we are right, and they will acquiesce and come back into fraternal relations with us. I do not wish to anticipate any question. We have a great many statesmen who demand at once to know what the North propose to do — what the Government proposes to do — whether we propose to coerce our southern brethren back into their allegiance. They ask us, as of course they may rightfully ask, what will be the value of fraternity which is compelled? All I have to say on that subject is, that so long ago as the time of Sir Thomas More, he discovered, and set down the discovery in his writing, that there were a great many schoolmasters, and that while there were a very few who knew how to instruct children, there were a great many who knew how to whip them. [Laughter.] I propose to have no question on. that subject, but to hear complaints, to redress them if they ought to be redressed, and if we have the power to redress them; and I expect them to be withdrawn if they are unreasonable, because I know that the necessities which made this Union exist, for these states, are stronger to-day than they were when the Union was made, and that, those necessities are enduring, while the passions of men are short lived and ephemeral. I believe that secession was stronger on the night of the 6th of November last, when a President and Vice-president who were unacceptable to the Slave States were elected, than it is now. That is now some fifty days since, and I believe that every day's sun which set since that time, has set on mollified passions and prejudices, and that if you will only give it time, sixty days more suns will give you a much brighter and more cheerful atmosphere. [Loud and long continued applause.]

I came here to secure your constitutional rights, and to demonstrate to you that you can get no guarantee for those rights from your Northern confederates. The whole subject was referred to a Committee of Thirteen in the Senate. I was appointed on the Committee, and accepted the trust. I submitted propositions, which, so far from receiving decided support from a single member of the Republican party of the Committee, were all treated with derision or contempt. A vote was then taken in the Committee on amendments to the Constitution proposed by Hon. J. J. Crittenden, and each and all of them were voted against unanimously by the Black Republican members of the Committee. In addition to these facts, a majority of the Black Republican members of the Committee declared distinctly that they had no guarantees to offer, which was silently acquiesced in by the other members. The Black Republican members of this Committee of Thirteen are representative men of the party and section, and, to the extent of my information, truly represent them.

The Committee of Thirty-three on Friday adjourned for a week, without coining to any vote, after solemnly pledging themselves to vote on all the propositions then before them on that day. It is controlled by the Black Republicans, your enemies, who only seek to amuse you within delusive hope until your election, that you may defeat the friends of secession. If you are deceived by them, t shall not be my fault. I have put the test fairly and frankly. It is decisive against you now. I tell you, upon the faith of a true man, that all further looking to the North for security for your constitutional rights in the Union ought to be instantly abandoned. It is fraught with nothing but ruin to yourselves and your posterity. Secession by the 4th day of March next should be thundered froin the ballot-box by the unanimous vote of Georgia on the 2d day of January next. Such a voice will be your best guarantee for liberty, security, tranquillity, and glory.

It was given out yesterday at Fort Moultrie, on I Sullivan's Island, that an attack was expected to be made upon it by the people of this city, and that therefore it would be necessary to remove the wives and children of the men to a more secure place. Accordingly three schooners were engaged, which hauled up to the Fort wharf and loaded with what was supposed by the few persons resident on the island, to be the bedding and furniture of the men's families. It was given out that these vessels were to land their passengers and their goods at Fort Johnson, on James Island; and they hoisted sail and apparently steered for that point.

On last night, at about half-past 9 o'clock, the entire force, with the exception of about six or eight men, embarked on board of their own row boats, and proceeded to Fort Sumter, which they garrisoned at once, and where they met the persons who had left in the schooners, with many munitions of war which they had surreptitiously taken front Fort Moultrie. The few men left at the fortification last night, under the command of Captain Foster, as soon as the evacuation had taken place, at once commenced the spiking of the guns, the cutting down of the flag-staff, and the burning of the guncarriages, the smoke of which could be seen this morning from our wharves.

Fort Moultrie in a mutilated state, with useless guns, and flames rising ill different portions of it, will stand to show the cowardly conduct of the officers who had charge of it, and who in times of peace basely deserted their post and attempted to destroy a fortification which is surrounded with so many historical reminiscences that tlie arm of the base scoundrel who would have ruined it should have dropped from its socket.

The schooners, we are informed, although pretending to sail for Fort Johnson, stood off and on until nightfall when they put into time wharf at Fort Sumter. We feel an anxiety to know the nannies of these vessels and their captains, and shall endeavor to find them out.

About half-past 7 o'clock last evening two heavy discharges from Fort Moultrie, were heard in the city, and was the object of considerable talk, and the news of this morning satisfied us that it must have been tihe signal of the debarkation of the troops.--Charleston News, Dec. 27.

In order to ascertain truthful statements of the actual damage done to the forts, of the causes of the movement, and of the state of affairs generally, reporters were despatched to the scene during the forenoon. On the way across the harbor, the hoisting of the American flag from the staff of Fort Sumter, at precisely 12 o'clock, gave certain indication that the stronghold was occupied by the troops of the United States. On a nearer approach the fortress was discovered to be occupied, the guns appeared to be mounted, and sentinels were discovcred on duty, and the place to give every sign of occupancy and military discipline. The grim fortress frowined defiance on every side; the busy notes of preparation resounded through its unforbidding recesses, and everything seenied to indicate the utmost alacrity in the work on hand.

Turning towards Fort Moultrie, a dense cloud of smoke was seen to pour from the end facing the sea. Tlie flagstaff was down, and the whole place had an air of desolation and abandonment quite the reverse of its busy look one week ago, when scores. of laborers were engaged ill adding to its strength all the works skill and experience could suggest.

In the immediate vicinity of the rear or landside entrance, however, greater activity was noticeable. At the time of our visit, a large force of hands had been summoned to deliver up their implements for transportation to Fort Sumter. Around on every side were the evidences of labor in the fortification of the work. In many places, a portion of tihe defences were strengthened by every appliance that art could suggest or ingenuity do vise; while, in others, the uncompleted works gave evidences of the utmost confusion. On all hands the process of removing goods, furniture, and munitions was yet going on. The heavy guns upon the ramparts of the fort were thrown down from their carriages and spiked. Every ounce of powder and every cartridge had been removed from the magazines; and, in fact, every thing like small arms, clothing, provisions, accoutrements, and other munitions of war had been removed off and deposited — nothing but heavy balls and useless cannon remained.

The entire place was, to all appearances, littered up with the odds, ends, and fragments of war's desolation. Confusion could not have been more complete had the late occupants retired in the face of a besieging foe. Fragments of gun carriages, &c., broken to pieces, bestrewed the ramparts. Sand bags, and barrels filled with earth, crowned the walls, and were firmly imbedded in their bomb-proof proof surface, as an additional safeguard — and notwithstanding the heterogeneous scattering of materials and implements, the walls of the fort evinced a vague degree of energy in preparing for an attack. A ditch some fifteen feet wide and about the same in depth surrounds the entire wall on three sides. On the south side, or front, a glacis has been commenced menced and prosecuted nearly to completion, with a rampart of sand bags, barrels, &c.

On one side of the fort a palisade of Palmetto logs is extended around the ramparts as a complete defence against an escalading party. New embrasures have been cut in the walls so as to command the faces of the bastion and ditch. These new defences fences are all incomplete, and are evidence of the haste with which they were erected. Considering the inferior force, in point of numbers, under his command, Major Anderson had paid particular attention to strengthening only a small part of the fort.

A greater portion of the labor expended was spent upon the citadel or centre of the west point of the position. This he had caused to be strengthened in every way; loop-holes were cut and every thing was so arranged that in case a well-concerted attack was made, he would have retired from the outer bastions to the citadel, and afterwards blow up the other portions of the fort. For this purpose mines had already been sprung, and trains had been laid ready for the application of the match. The barrack rooms and every other part of the fort that was indefensible would have gone at a touch.

On the ramparts of the fort fronting Fort Sumter, were nine eight-inch columbiads, mounted on wooden carriages. As soon as the evacuation of the fort was complete, the carriages of these guns were fired, and at the time of visiting the fort yesterday, were nearly consumed, and the guns thereby dismounted. These guns, as well as those constituting the entire armament of the fortress, were spiked before it was abandoned. This is the only damage done the fortification, further than cutting down the flagstaff, and the breaking up of ammunition nition wagons to form ramparts on the walls of the fort.

We must own that the news of the transaction in Charleston harbor was learned by us yesterday with a prouder beating of the heart. We could not bu feel once more that we had a country--a fact which has been to a certain degree in suspense for some weeks past. What is given up for the moment is of no consequence, provided the one point, stands out clear, that the United States means to maintain its position, where its rights exist, and that its officers, civil and military, intend to discharge their duty. The concentration of the disposable force in Charleston harbor in a defensible post, is thus a bond of union. It is a decisive act, calculated to rally the national heart. * * We are not disposed to allow the Union to be broken up for grievances of South Carolina, which might be settled within the Union; and if there is to be any fighting, we prefer it within, rather than without. The abandonment of Fort Moultrie was obviously a necessary act, in order to carry into effect the purpose contemplated with such an inferior force as that under the command of Major Anderson.--Boston Courier.

If anybody ever doubted Major Anderson's eminent military capacity, that doubt must be dispelled by the news that we publish in another column. Of his own accord, without orders from Washington, but acting on the discretion which an officer in an independent command always possesses. Major Anderson, commander of the defences of Charleston harbor, transports his troops to the key of his position, Fort Sumter, against which no gun can be laid which is not itself commanded by a 10-inch columbiad in the embrasures of that octagon citadel. This rapid, unexpected manoeuvre has disconcerted treason, and received the highest military commendation in the country.

Brave Major of Artillery, true servant of your country, soldier of penetrating and far-seeing genius, when the right is endangered by fraud or force, at the proper time the needed man is always provided. The spirit of the age provides him, and he always regards the emergency. Washngton, Garibaldi, Anderson.--Boston Atlas and Bee.

The announcement of the evacuation of Fort Moultrie and the occupation of Fort Sumter, was received with various expressions of opinion; but the predominant one was a feeling of admiration for the determined conduct and military skill of Col. Anderson in abandoning an indefensible position and, by a strategetic coup de main which has reversed the whole position of affairs, transferring his force to Fort Sumter, the strongest of the Charleston fortifications, and the key of its defences. Col. Anderson is believed to have acted in this matter without special orders, but as he has charge of all the forts, the disposition of the force under his command is a matter in regard to which he may be supposed to have full authority.--Baltimore American.

Concerning the object of the movement of Major Anderson, we can, as at present informed, say little. But whether he acted in pursuance of orders from Headquarters, or consulted merely his own judgment, the step he has taken must be conceded to have been a wise and prudent one. He could not, with the force under his command, have defended both Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter; and by retiring to the one which is not only the strongest in itselt, but is the key of the position, he has rendered an attack upon his post less probable than it was before, and has placed himself in a better situation to resist it.--Baltimore Exchange.

war Department, Dec. 29, 1860.

Sir: On the morning of the 27th inst. I read the following paper to you in the presence of the Cabinet:

counsel Chamber, Executive mansion.

Sir: It is evident now from the action of the Commander of Fort Moultrie, that the solemn pledges of the Government have been violated by Major Anderson. In my judgment but one remedy is now left us by which to vindicate our honor and prevent civil war. It is in vain now to hope for confidence on the part of the people of South Carolina in any further pledges as to the action of the military. One remedy is left, and that is to withdraw the garrison from the harbor of Charleston. I hope the President will allow me to make that order at once. This order, in my judgment, can alone prevent bloodshed and civil war.

(Signed.)

I then considered the honor of the Administration pledged to maintain the troops in the position they occupied, for such had been the assurances given to the gentlemen of South Carolina who had a right to speak for her. South Carolina, on the other hand, gave reciprocal pledges that no force should be brought by them against the troops or against the property of the United States. The sole object of both parties in these reciprocal pledges was to prevent a collision and the effusion of blood, in the hope that some means might be found for a peaceful accommodation of the existing troubles, the two Houses of Congress having both raised Committees looking to that object. Thus affairs stood until the action of Major Anderson, taken unfortunately while the Commissioners were on their way to this capital on a peaceful mission looking to the avoidance of bloodshed, has complicated matters in the existing manner. Our refusal or even delay to place affairs back as they stood under our agreement, invites a collision and must inevitably inaugurate civil war. I cannot consent to be the agent of such calamity. I deeply regret that I feel myself under the necessity of tendering to you my resignation as Secretary of War, because I can no longer hold it under my convictions of patriotism, nor with honor, subjected as I am to a violation of solemn pledges and plighted faith.

With the highest personal regard,

I am most truly yours,

Troy, December 31, 1860.

My dear Sir:--South Carolina, after twenty-seven years--Mr. Rhett says thirty years--of constant and increasing efforts by her leaders to induce her to secede, has declared herself out of the Union; and this, too, without the slightest wrong or injustice done her people on the part of the government of the United States. Although she may have seized the revenue cutter, raised her treasonable Palmetto flag over the United States Arsenal, the Custom-house, Post-office, Castle Pinckney, and Fort Moultrie, she is not out of the Union, nor beyond the pale of the United States. Before she can get out of their jurisdiction or control, a re-construction of the constitution must be had or civil war ensue. In the latter case it would require no prophet to foretell the result.

It is reported that Mr. Buchanan has received informally the Commissioners appointed by the rebels of South Carolina to negotiate for the public property in the harbor of Charleston, and for other purposes. It is also reported that the President disapproved of the conduct of Major Anderson, who, being satisfied that he would not be able to defend Fort Moultrie with the few men under his command, wisely took possession of Fort Sumter, where he could protect himself and the country from the disgrace which might have occurred, if he had remained in Fort Moultrie. Being the commander in the harbor, he had the right to occupy Fort Sumter, an act which the safety of the Union as well as his own honor demanded. It is likewise stated that apprehensions are entertained that Major Anderson will be required to abandon Fort Sumter and re-occupy Fort Moultrie. There can be no foundation for such apprehensions ; for surely the President would not surrender the citadel of the harbor of Charleston to rebels. Fort Sumter commands the entrance, and in a few hours could demolish Fort Moultrie. So long as the United States keeps possession of this fort, the independence of South Carolina will only be in name and not in fact. If, however, it should be surrendered to South Carolina, which I do not apprehend, the smothered indignation of the free states would be roused beyond control. It would not be in the power of any one to restrain it. In twenty days two hundred thousand men would be in readiness to take vengeance on all who would betray the Union into the hands of its enemies. Be assured that I do not exaggerate the feelings of the people. They are already sufficiently excited at the attempt to dissolve the Union, for no other reason than that they constitutionally exercised the most precious right conferred on them, of voting for the person whom they considered the most worthy and best qualified to fill the office of President. Fort Sumter therefore ought not, and I presume will not, be delivered over to South Carolina.

I am not, however, pleading for the free States, for they are not in danger, but for the Union and the preservation of the cotton States. Those who sow the wind may expect to reap the whirlwind. The leaders of South Carolina could not have noticed that we live in an age of progress, and that all Christendom is making rapid strides in the march of civilization and freedom. If they had, they would have discovered that the announcement of every victory obtained by the hero of the nineteenth century, Garibaldi, in favor of the oppressed of Italy, did not fail to electrify every American heart with joy and gladness. Where liberty dwells there is my country, was the declaration of the illustrious Franklin. This principle is too strongly implanted in the heart and mind of every man in the free States, to be surrendered because South Carolina desires it in order to extend the area of slavery. With A christianized Europe and nearly all the civilized world opposed to slavery, are the Southern States prepared to set aside the barriers which shield and protect their institutions under the United States government? Would the separation of the South from the North, give greater security to slavery than it has now under the Constitution of the Union? What security would they have for the return of runaway slaves? I apprehend none ; whilst the number of runaways would be greatly augmented, and the difficulties of which slaveholders complain would be increased ten-fold. However much individuals might condemn slavery, the Free States are prepared to sustain and defend it as guarantied by the Constitution.

In conclusion, I would avoid the bloody and desolating example of the Mexican States. I am now, and forever, in favor of the Union, its preservation, and the rigid maintenance of the rights and interests of the States, individually as well as collectively.

Yours, &c.,

Washington, Dec. 29, 1860.

Sir: We have the honor to transmit to you a copy of the full powers from the Convention of the people of South Carolina, under which we are authorized and empowered to treat with the Government of the United States for the delivery of the forts, magazines, light-houses, and other real estate, with their appurtenances, in the limits of South Carolina; and also for an apportionment of the public debt, and for a division of all other property held by the Government of the United States, as agent of the Confederated States, of which South Carolina was recently a member, and generally to negotiate as to all other measures and arrangements proper to be made and adopted in the existing relation of the parties, and for the continuance of peace and amity between this Commonwealth and the Government at Washington.

In the execution of this trust it is our duty to furnish you, as we now do, with an official copy of the Ordinance of Secession, by which the State of South Carolina has resumed the powers she delegated to the Government of the United States, and has declared her perfect sovereignty and independence.

It would also have been our duty to have informed you that we were ready to negotiate with you upon all such questions as are necessarily raised by the adoption of this Ordinance, and that we were prepared to enter upon this negotiation, with the earnest desire to avoid all unnecessary and hostile collision, and so to inaugurate our new relations as to secure mutual respect, general advantage, and a future of good will and harmony, beneficial to all the parties concerned.

But the events of the last twenty-four hours render such an assurance impossible. We came here the representatives of an authority which could, at any time within the past sixty days, have taken possession of the forts in Charleston harbor, but which, upon pledges given in a manner that we cannot doubt, determined to trust to your honor rather than to its own power. Since our arrival here an officer of the United States, acting as we are assured, not only without, but against your orders, has dismantled one fort and occupied another — thus altering to a most important extent, the condition of affairs under which we came.

Until these circumstances are explained in a man ner which relieves us of all doubt as to the spirit in which these negotiations shall be conducted, we are forced to suspend all discussion as to any arrangement by which our mutual interests may be amicably adjusted.

And, in conclusion, we would urge upon you the immediate withdrawal of the troops from the harbor of Charleston. Under present circumstances, they are a standing menace which renders negotiation impossible, and, as our recent experience shows, threatens speedily to bring to a bloody issue questions which ought to be settled with temperance and judgment. We have the honor to be,

Very respectfully, your obedient servants,

To our friends in Florida we would respectfully pass a word. There are two powerful strongholds and most important points of military offence and defence in Florida--Pensacola and Key West. The States both of Georgia and Alabama have wisely taken time by the forelock, and put themselves in possession of such fortresses as lie within their borders, simply because they do not choose that their territories should be occupied, their commerce cut off, and the lives of their people put in jeopardy, by General Scott's, or Mr. Buchanan's despotic theory of the powers and duties of the executive officer of a consolidated, vulgar mobocracy. They have chosen to ward off violence and outrage by a timely precaution. If any thing could tend to demonstrate to the Executive at Washington the folly of attempting the blockading of southern ports, it would be the late action of Georgia and Alabama in regard to their forts. Yet it is impossible to tell to what extremities folly and desperation may drive men. In this view, it is important for the people of Florida to reflect that there are, perhaps, no fortresses along our whole southern coast more important than those of Florida. These forts can command the whole Gulf trade. And should Mr. Buchanan carry out what appears to be his present plan, he certainly must desire to hold possession of these forts. He may thus, with the assistance of war-steamers, block up the whole Gulf. But let Florida hold these forts, and the entire aspect of affairs is changed. Such vessels, in time of war, will have no port of entry, and must be supplied in every way from a very long distance, and that at sea; while the commerce of the North in the Gulf will fall an easy prey to our bold privateers; and California gold will pay all such little expenses on our part.

We leave the matter for the reflection and decision of the people of Florida.--Charleston Mercury.

Numerous appeals have been made to me by pious and patriotic associations and citizens, in view of the present distracted and dangerous condition of our country, to recommend that a day be set apart for humiliation, fasting and prayer throughout the Union. In compliance with their request, and my own sense of duty, I designate

Friday, the 4TH day of January, 1861,

The Union of the States is at the present moment threatened with alarming and immediate danger — panic and distress of a fearful character prevail throughout the land — our laboring population are without employment, and consequently deprived of the means of earning their bread — indeed, hope seems to have deserted the minds of men. All classes are in a state of confusion and dismay; and the wisest counsels of our best and purest men are wholly disregarded.

In this, the hour of our calamity and peril, to whom shall we resort for relief but to the God of our Fathers? His omnipotent arm only can save us from the awful effects of our own crimes and follies — our own ingratitude and guilt towards our Heavenly Father.

Let us, then, with deep contrition and penitent sorrow, unite in humbling ourselves before the Most High, in confessing our individual and national sins, and in acknowledging the justice of our punishment. Let us implore Him to remove from our hearts that false pride of opinion which would impel us to persevere in wrong for the sake of consistency, rather than yield a just submission to the unforeseen exigencies by which we are now surrounded. Let us, with deep reverence, beseech Him to restore the friendship and good will which prevailed in former days among the people of the several States, and, above all, to save us from the horrors of civil war and blood guiltiness. Let our fervent prayers ascend to His throne, that He would not desert us in this hour of extreme peril, but remember us as He did our fathers in the darkest days of the Revolution, and preserve our constitution and our Union--the work of their hands — for ages yet to come. An Omnipotent Providence may overrule existing evils for permanent good. He can make the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath He can restrain. Let me invoke every individual, in whatever sphere of life he may be placed, to feel a personal responsibility to God and his country for keeping this day holy, and for contributing all in his power to remove our actual and impending difficulties.

To the Public: Whereas, the militia of the district is not organized, and threats have been made that the President-elect shall not be inaugurated in Washington, and there is reason therefore to apprehend that on the 4th of March next our city may be made the scene of riot, violence, and bloodshed; and, whereas, the undersigned believes that the honor of the nation and our city demands that the President-elect shall be inaugurated in the national metropolis, and that the young men of Washington City are determined not to desert their homes in the hour of danger, but to maintain their ground and defend their families and friends, in the Union and on the side of the constitution and the laws, therefore, the undersigned earnestly invites all who concur with him in opinion, and who are not now connected with some military company, to join with him in forming a temporary military organization, with a view of preserving peace and order in our midst on the 4th of March next, or whenever the emergency requires it — and for that purpose to unite with the volunteer companies of our city, which have, in a spirit of gallantry and patriotism worthy of our imitation, pledged themselves to the cause of the Union, the constitution, and the laws. It is proper to state that I take this step after consultation with friends in whom I have the greatest confidence. It is not my object to interfere with my brother officers of the militia — the organization proposed is to be purely volunteer, for the purpose above stated, in which I am willing to serve in any capacity. I make the proposition not as one of the generals of the militia, but as a citizen of Washington, who is prepared to defend his home and his honor, at the peril of his life.

I firmly believe that a division of this Government would inevitably produce civil war. The secession leaders in South Carolina, and the fanatical demagogues of the North, have alike proclaimed that such would be the result, and no man of sense, in my opinion, can question it. What could the Legislature do in this crisis, if convened, to remove the present troubles which beset the Union? We are told by the leading spirits of the South Carolina Convention that neither the election of Mr. Lincoln nor the non-execution of the Fugitive Slave law, nor both combined, constitute their grievances. They declare that the real cause of their discontent dates as far back as 1883. Maryland and every other State in the Union, with a united voice, then declared the cause insufficient to justify the course of South Carolina. Can it be that this people, who then unanimously supported the cause of Gen. Jackson, will now yield their opinions at the bidding of modern secessionists? I have been told that the position of Maryland should be defined so that both sections can understand it. Do any really understand her position? Who that wishes to understand it can fail to do so? If the action of the Legislature would be simply to declare that Maryland is with the South in sympathy and feeling; that she demands from the North the repeal of offensive, unconstitutional statutes, and appeals to it for new guarantees; that she will wait a reasonable time for the North to purge her statute-books, as to do justice to her Southern brethren, and, if her appeals are vain, will make her common cause with her sister border States in resistance to tyranny if need be, it would only be saying what the whole country well knows, and what may be said much more effectually by her people themselves, in their meetings, than by the Legislature, chosen eighteen months since, when none of these questions were raised before them. That Maryland is a conservative Southern State all know who know any thing of her people or her history. The business and agricultural classes, planters, merchants, mechanics, and laboring men; those who have a real stake in the community, who would be forced to pay the taxes and do the fighting, are the persons who should be heard in preference to excited politicians, many of whom, having nothing to lose from the destruction of the Government, may hope to derive some gain from the ruin of the State. Such men will naturally urge you to pull down the pillars of this accursed Union, which their allies at the North have denominated a covenant with hell. The people of Maryland, if left to themselves, would decide, with scarcely an exception, that there is nothing in the present causes of complaint to justify immediate secession; and yet, against our judgments and solemn convictions of duty, we are to be precipitated into this revolution, because South Carolina thinks differently. Are we not equals? Or shall her opinions control our actions? After we have solemnly declared for ourselves, as every man must do, are we to be forced to yield our opinions to those of another State, and thus in effect obey her mandates? She refuses to wait for our counsels. Are we bound to obey her commands? The men who have embarked in this scheme to convene the Legislature, will spare no pains to carry their point. The whole plan of operations, in the event of the assembling of the Legislature, is, as I have been informed, already marked out, the list of ambassadors who are to visit the other States is agreed on, and the resolutions which they hope will be passed by the Legislature, fully committing this State to secession, are said to be already prepared. In the course of nature, I cannot have long to live, and I fervently trust to be allowed to end my days a citizen of this glorious Union. But should I be compelled to witness the downfall of that Government inherited from our fathers, established, as it were, by the special favor of God, I will at least have the consolation, at my dying hour, that I neither by word nor deed assisted in hastening its disruption. (Signed)

January 12, 1861.

Sir:--Reliable information has reached this Department, that, on the 8th inst., Forts Johnson and Caswell were taken possession of by State troops and persons resident in that vicinity, in an irregular manner.

Upon receipt of this information I immediately issued a military order requesting the forts to be restored to the authorities of the United States, which orders will be executed this day.

My information satisfies me that this popular outbreak was caused by a report, very generally credited, but which, for the sake of humanity, I hope is not true, that it was the purpose of the administration to coerce the Southern States, and that troops were on their way to garrison the Southern ports and to begin the work of subjugation. This impression is not yet erased from the public mind, which is deeply agitated at the bare contemplation of so great an indignity and wrong; and I would most earnestly appeal to your Excellency to strengthen my hands in my efforts to preserve the public order here, by placing it in my power to give public assurance that no measures of force are contemplated towards us.

Your Excellency will pardon me, therefore, for asking whether the United States forts will be garrisoned with United States troops during your administration.

This question I ask in perfect respect, and with an earnest desire to prevent consequences which I know would be regretted by your Excellency as much as myself.

Should I receive assurance that no troops will be sent to this State prior to the 4th of March next, then all will be peace and quiet here, and the property of the United States will be fully protected as heretofore. If, however, I am unable to get such assurances, I will not undertake to answer for the consequences.

The forts in this State have long been unoccupied, and their being garrisoned at this time will unquestionably be looked upon as a hostile demonstration, and will, in my opinion, certainly be resisted.

Secretary Holt responded, under date of Jan. 15:

Your letter of the 12th inst., addressed to the President of the United States, has by him been referred to this Department, and he instructs me to express his gratification at the promptitude with which you have ordered the expulsion of the lawless men who recently occupied Forts Johnson and Caswell. He regards this action on the part of your Excellency as in complete harmony with the honor and patriotic character of the people of North Carolina, whom you so worthily represent.

In reply to your inquiry, whether it is the purpose of the President to garrison the forts of North Carolina during his administration, I am directed to say that they, in common with the other forts, arsenals, and other property of the United States, are in the charge of the President, and that if assailed, no matter from what quarter on under what pretext, it is his duty to protect them by all the means which the law has placed at his disposal. It is not his purpose to garrison the forts to which you refer at present, because he considers them entirely safe, as heretofore, under the shelter of that law-abiding sentiment for which the people of North Carolina have ever been distinguished. Should they, however, be attacked or menaced with danger of being seized or taken from the possession of the United States, he could not escape from his constitutional obligation to defend and preserve them. The very satisfactory and patriotic assurance given by your Excellency justifies him, however, in entertaining the confident expectation that no such contingency will arise.

To His Excellency the Governor of South Carolina:

Sir: Two of your batteries fired this morning on an unarmed vessel bearing the flag of my Government. As I have not been notified that war has been declared by South Carolina against the United States, I cannot but think this a hostile act, committed without your sanction or authority. Under that hope I refrain from opening a fire on your batteries. I have the honor, therefore, respectfully to ask whether the above-mentioned act--one which I believe without parallel in the history of our country or any other civilized Government — was committed in obedience to your instructions, and notify you, if it is not disclaimed, that I regard it as an act of war, and I shall not, after reasonable time for the return of my messenger, permit any vessel to pass within the range of the guns of my fort. In order to save, as far as it is in my power, the shedding of blood, I beg you will take due notification of my decision for the good of all concerned,--hoping, however, your answer may justify a further continuance of forbearance on my part.

I remain, respectfully,

An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Alabama and other States, United under the compact and style of the United States of America.

Whereas, The election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States of America, by a sectional party, avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions, and peace and security of the people of the State of Alabama, following upon the heels of many and dangerous infractions of the Constitution of the United States, by many of the States and people of the Northern section, is a political wrong of so insulting and menacing a character, as to justify the people of the State of Alabama in the adoption of prompt and decided measures for their future peace and security.

Therefore, be it declared and ordained, by the people of the State of Alabama, in convention assembled, that the State of Alabama now withdraws from the Union, known as the United States of America, and henceforth ceases to be one of the said United States, and is and of right ought to be a sovereign independent State.

Sec. 2. And be it further declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama in convention assembled, that all powers over the territories of said State, and over the people thereof, heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America, be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from the said Government, and are hereby resumed and vested in the people of the State of Alabama.

And as it is the desire and purpose of the people of Alabama, to meet the slaveholding States of the South who approve of such a purpose, in order to frame a revisional as a permanent Government, upon the principles of the Government of the United States, be it also resolved by the people of Alabama, in convention assembled, that the people of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, be and they are hereby invited to meet the people of the State of Alabama, by their delegates in convention, on the 4th day of February next in Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, for the purpose of consultation with each other. as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted, harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for the common peace and security.

And be it further resolved, That the President of this convention be and he is hereby instructed to transmit forthwith a copy of the foregoing preamble, ordinance and resolutions to the Governors of the several States named in the said resolutions.

Done by the people of Alabama, in convention assembled, at Montgomery, this 11th day of January, 1861.

The preamble, ordinance and resolutions were adopted by Ayes 61, Nays 39.

Whereas, The insurgent State of South Carolina, after seizing the Post Offices, Custom House, moneys and fortifications of the Federal Government, has, by firing into a vessel ordered by the Government to convey troops and provisions to Fort Sumter, virtually declared war; and,

Whereas, The forts and property of the United States Government in Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana have been unlawfully seized, with hostile intentions; and,

Whereas, Their Senators in Congress avow and maintain their treasonable acts; therefore,

Resolved, That the Legislature of New York is profoundly impressed with the value of the Union, and determined to preserve it unimpaired; that it greets with joy the recent firm, dignified and patriotic Special Message of the President of the United States, and that we tender to him, through the Chief Magistrate of our own State, whatever aid in men and money may be required to enable him to enforce the laws and uphold the authority of the Federal Government; and that, in the defence of the Union, which has conferred prosperity and happiness upon the American people, renewing the pledge given and redeemed by our fathers, we are ready to devote our fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honor.

Resolved, That the Union-loving citizens and representatives of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, who labor with devoted courage and patriotism to withhold their States from the vortex of secession, are entitled to the gratitude and admiration of the whole people.

Resolved, That the Governor be respectfully requested to forward, forthwith, copies of the foregoing resolutions to the President of the Nation, and the Governors of all the States of the Union.--N. Y. Times, Jan. 12.

steamship Star of the West, New York, Saturday, Jan. 12, 1861.

M. O. Roberts, Esq.--Sir: After leaving the wharf on the 5th inst., at 5 o'clock P. M., we proceeded down the Bay, where we hove to, and took on board four officers and two hundred soldiers, with their arms, ammunition, &c., and then proceeded to sea, crossing the bar at Sandy Hook at 9 P. M. Nothing unusual took place during the passage, which was a pleasant one for this season of the year.

We arrived at Charleston Bar at 1.30 A. M. on the 9th inst., but could find no guiding marks for the Bar, as the lights were all out. We proceeded with caution, running very slow and sounding, until about 4 A. M., being then in 4 1/2 fathoms water, when we discovered a light through the haze which at that time covered the horizon. Concluding that the lights were on Fort Sumter, after getting the bearings of it, we steered to the S. W. for the main ship-channel, where we hove to, to await daylight, our lights having all been put out since 12 o'clock, to avoid being seen.

As the day began to break, we discovered a steamer just in shore of us, who, as soon as she saw us, burned one blue light and two red lights as signals, and shortly after steamed over the bar and into the ship-channel. The soldiers were now all put below, and no one allowed on deck except our own crew. As soon as there was light enough to see, we crossed the bar and proceeded on up the channel, (the outer bar buoy having been taken away,) the steamer ahead of us sending off rockets, and burning lights until after broad daylight, continuing on her course up nearly two miles ahead of us. When we arrived about two miles from Fort Moultrie, Fort Sumter being about the same distance, a masked battery on Morris Island, where there was a red Palmetto flag flying, opened fire upon us — distance, about five-eighths of a mile. We had the American flag flying at our flagstaff at the time, and soon after the first shot, hoisted a large American Ensign at the fore. We continued on under the fire of the battery for over ten minutes, several of the shots going clear over us. One shot just passed clear of the pilothouse, another passed between the smoke-stack and walking-beams of the engine, another struck the ship just abaft the fore-rigging and stove in the planking, while another came within an ace of carrying away the rudder. At the same time there was a movement of two steamers from near Fort Moultrie, one of them towing a schooner, (I presume an armed schooner,) with the intention of cutting us off. Our position now became rather critical, as we had to approach Fort Moultrie to within three-quarters of a mile before we could keep away for Fort Sumter. A steamer approaching us with an armed schooner in tow, and the battery on the island firing at us all the time, and having no cannon to defend ourselves from the attack of the vessels, we concluded that, to avoid certain capture, or destruction, we would endeavor to get to sea. Consequently we wore round and steered down the channel, the battery firing upon us until the shot fell short. As it was now strong ebb tide, and the water having fallen some three feet, we proceeded with caution, and crossed the bar safely at 8.50 A. M., and continued on our course for this port, where we arrived this morning after a boisterous passage. A steamer from Charleston followed us for about three hours, watching our movements.

In justice to the officers and crews of each department of the ship, I must add that their behavior while under the fire of the battery reflected great credit on them.

Mr. Brewer, the New York pilot, was of very great assistance to me in helping to pilot the ship over Charleston Bar, and up and down the channel.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

--Times, Jan. 14.

An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Georgia and other States United with her under the compact of Government entitled the Constitution of the United States.

We, the people of the State of Georgia, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinances adopted by the people of the State of Georgia in convention in 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States was assented to, ratified and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded and abrogated.

And we do further declare and ordain that the Union now subsisting between the State of Georgia and other States, under the name of the United States, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Georgia is il full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State.

I rise for the purpose of announcing to the Senate that I have satisfactory evidence that the State of Mississippi, by solemn ordinance in convention assembled, has declared her separation from the United States. Under these circumstances, of course, my functions terminate here. It has seemed to be proper that I should appear in the Senate and announce that fact, and to say something, though very little, upon it. The occasion does not invite me to go into the argument, and my physical condition will not permit it, yet something would seem to be necessary on the part of the State I here represent, on an occasion like this. It is known to Senators who have served here, that I have for many years advocated, as an essential attribute of State sovereignty, the right of a State to secede from the Union. If, therefore, I had not believed there was justifiable cause — if I had thought the State was acting without sufficient provocation — still, under my theory of government, I should have felt bound by her action. I, however, may say I think she had justifiable cause, and I approve of her acts. I conferred with the people before that act was taken, and counselled them that if they could not remain, that they should take the act. I hope none will confound this expression of opinion with the advocacy of the right of a State to remain in the Union, and disregard its constitutional obligations by nullification. Nullification and secession are indeed antagonistic principles. Nullification is the remedy which is to be sought and applied, within the Union, against an agent of the United States, when the agent has violated constitutional obligations, and the State assumes for itself, and appeals to other States to support it. But when the States themselves, and the people of the States, have so acted as to convince us that they will not regard our constitutional rights, then, and then for the first time, arises the question of secession in its practical application. That great man who now reposes with his fathers, who has been so often arraigned for want of fealty to the Union, advocated the doctrine of nullification, because it preserved the Union. It was because of his deepseated attachment to the Union that Mr. Calhoun advocated the doctrine of nullification, which he claimed would give peace within the limits of the Union, and not disturb it, and only be the means of bringing the agent before the proper tribunal of the States for judgment. Secession belongs to a different class of rights, and is to be justified upon the basis that the States are sovereign. The time has been, and I hope the time will come again, when a better appreciation of our Union will prevent any one denying that each State is a sovereign in its own right. Therefore, I say I concur in the act of my State, and feel bound by it. It is by this confounding of nullification and secession that the name of another great man has been invoked to justify the coercion of a seceding State. The phrase to execute the law, as used by General Jackson, was applied to a State refusing to obey the laws and still remaining in the Union. I remember well when Massachusetts was arraigned before the Senate. The record of that occasion will show that I said, if Massachusetts, in pursuing the line of steps, takes the last step which separates her from the Union, the right is hers, and I will neither vote one dollar nor one man to coerce her, but I will say to her, God speed! Mr. Davis then proceeded to argue that the equality spoken of in the Declaration of Independence was the equality of a class in political rights, referring to the charge against George III. for inciting insurrection, as proof that it had no reference to the slaves. But we have proclaimed our independence. This is done with no hostility or any desire to injure any section of the country, nor even for our pecuniary benefit, but from the high and solid foundation of defending and protecting the rights we inherited, and transmitting them unshorn to our posterity. I know I feel no hostility to you Senators here, and am sure there is not one of you, whatever may have been the sharp discussion between us, to whom I cannot now say, in the presence of my God, I wish you well. And such is the feeling, I am sure, the people I represent feel towards those whom you represent. I, therefore, feel I but express their desire, when I say I hope and they hope for those peaceful relations with you, though we must part, that may be mutually beneficial to us in the future. There will be peace if you so will it, and you may bring disaster on every part of the country, if you thus will have it. And if you will have it thus, we will invoke the God of our fathers, who delivered them from the paw of the lion, to protect us from the ravages of the bear; and thus putting our trust in God, and our own firm hearts and strong arms, we will vindicate and defend the rights we claim. In the course of my long career, I have met with a great variety of men here, and there have been points of collision between us. Whatever of offence there has been to me, I leave here. I carry no hostile feelings away. Whatever of offence I have given, which has not been redressed, I am willing to say to Senators in this hour of parting, I offer you my apology for any thing I may have done in the Senate; and I go thus released from obligation, remembering no injury I have received, and having discharged what I deem the duty of man, to offer the only reparation at this hour for every injury I have ever inflicted.

[As the Senators from Florida, Alabama and Mississippi were about to retire from the Senate, all the Democratic Senators crowded around them and shook hands with them. Messrs. Hale and Cameron were the only Republican Senators that did so.]--Herald, Jan. 22.

He thanked God that he was permitted, after a long sickness, to take his stand upon that floor in renovated health, at a time when his services might prove most valuable to his constituents. He would not now speak in passion. It would not befit the solemn and portentous issues of the hour. They were in the midst of great events. It might be that they were in the dying days of the Republic, and he would not therefore utter, even in a whisper, one word which might tend to bring down the impending avalanche upon the quiet homes of the people. He would at the same time speak as a Southern man, identified with all the interests of the South. He would speak as a Western Virginian, and as the custodian of those who were not old enough to know the perils to which they were exposed, by those who were now riding on the crest of the popular wave, but who were, nevertheless, destined to sink into the very trough of the sea to a depth so unfathomable that not a bubble would ever rise, to mark the spot where they went so ignominiously down. Well might those who had inaugurated the revolution which was now stalking over the land, cry out with uplifted hands for peace, and deprecate the effusion of blood. It was the inventor of the guillotine who was its first victim, and the day was not far off when they would find among their own people, those who would have to rely upon the magnanimity of that population, whom they had most cruelly outraged and deceived. He had not the heart to enter into a detail of the arguments, or to express the indignant emotions, which rose to his lips for utterance. But before God, and in his inmost conscience he believed that Slavery would be crucified, should this unhappy controversy end in a dismenmbermelt of the Union. If not crucified, it would carry the death-rattle in its throat. It remained to be seen whether treason could be carried out with the same facility with which it has been plotted. There was a holy courage among the minority of every State that might be for the time overwhelmed. Lazarus was not dead, but slept; and ere long the stone would be rolled away from the mouth of the tomb, and they would witness all the glories of a resurrection. It would not be forgotten, that among the clans of Scotland, beacon fires used to be lit by concerted signals from crag to crag, in living volumes of flame, yet expiring even in its own fierceness, and sinking into ashes as the fagots which fed them were consumed. To such a picture as that might be likened a rebellion such as political leaders sometimes excite for a brief hour; but the fires of rebellion burnt out with the fagots, and all was cold and dark again. There was a striking contrast between such a movement, between such a rebellion as he alluded to, and the uprising of the masses of the people in vindication of violated rights. As great a difference as there was between Snug, the joiner, and Bottom, the weaver, who could roar you as fierce as a lion, or coo you as gently as a sucking-dove. One was the stage-trick of a political harlequin, the other was a living reality — the one was a livid and fitful flame, the other was a prairie on fire, finding in every step of its progress food for its all-ravening maw. In the present emergency, before this political conspiracy, it might be that he would stand alone with his colleague, (Mr. Wilson.) Let it be so. He sought no office. His political race was very nearly voluntarily run. History would record the proceeding of this turbulent period, and time — the gentle but infallible arbiter of all things earthly — would decide the truth. Upon that he would take his stand. They lived in an age of political paradoxes. Broad, expansive love of country had become a diseased sentimentality. Patriotism had become a starveling birdling, clinging with unfledged wings around the nest of twigs where it was born. A statesman must now not only narrow his mind and give up to party what was meant for mankind, but he must recede as submissively as a blind horse in a bark mill to every perverted opinion which sits, whip in hand, on the revolving shaft, at the end of which he is harnessed. To be a diamond of the first water, he must stand in the Senate House of his country, and in the face of a forbearing people, glory in being a traitor and a rebel. He must solemnly proclaim the death of the nation to which he had sworn allegiance, and with the grave stolidity of an undertaker, invite its citizens to their own funeral. Ife must dwarf and provincialize his patriotism to the State on whose local passion he thrives, to the country where he practises court, or to the city where he flaunts in all the meretricious dignity of a Doge of Venice. He can take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, but he can enter with honor into a conspiracy to overthrow it. He can, under the sanctity of the same oath, advise the seizure of forts and arsenals, dockyards and ships, and money belonging to the Union, whose officer he is, and find a most loyal and convenient retreat in State authority and State allegiance. He was ready to laugh in their faces if they only told him that, before the time when he was muling and puking in his nurse's armss there lived a very obscure person named George Washington, who, before he died, became eminent by perpetrating the immortal joke of advising the people of the United States, that it was of infinite moment, that they should properly estimate the immense value of their national Union--that they should cherish a cordial, habitual and inmmovable attachment to it — that they should watch itsprcservation with jealous anxiety, discountenance whatever might suggest a suspicion that it could in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frown down the first dawning attempt to alienate any portion of the country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which linked together its various parts. Washington saw into the future, and discovered that disastrous period in our history against which le warned his countrymen when he told them to beware of geographical parties. These extreme parties, North and South, had at last met. Their differences had been created and carried on by systematic perversions of each other's aims and objects. In the North it had been represented that the South desired and intended to monopolize with slave territory all the public lands, and to drive there — from free labor, to convert every free State into common ground for the recapture of colored persons as slaves who were free, and to put the Federal Government in all its departments under the control of a slave oligarchy. These and all other stratagems that could be resorted to aroused antagonistic feeling, which were welded with turbulent passions. As they planted so they reaped. Now that victory had been won by the Republican party, and the Government must be administered upon national policy; the fissures in the ground occupied by them became apparent, and hence there would necessarily be a large defection in its ranks among the more ultra of its adherents, who were, as a general thing, ideal, speculative, and not practical men. Out of actual power, a party was apt to be radical. Vest it with power, and it became conservative. This was the ordeal through which the Republican, like all other parties, was now passing, and he hoped for the peace of the country, and the triumph of practical, rather than ideal policy and measures. Herein consisted the almost insuperable difficulty of coming to any feasible adjustment upon the existing discontents. The bulk of politicians, North and South, were bound by a past record and past professions. They were, in fact, thinking all the while what Mrs. Grundy would say. The people themselves understood the cause of the difficulty, and if they but once interfered, the country would be saved. What was the difficulty now? He appealed whether it was not that in the hands of ultras, North and South, the slaveholder had been used as a shuttledore, who, for purposes utterly dissimilar, had been banded from South Carolina to Massachusetts, and from Massachusetts back again to South Carolina, until now the last point of endurance had been reached? Every violent word uttered North had been sent South, and the South had responded in the spirit. The abolitionist himself had been granted an audience in every Southern city, at every Southern political meeting, and the most violent insulting, agrarian speeches repeated even in the hearing of the slaves themselves. Was it not humiliating to confess, that the very people who would burn in effigy, if not at the stake, a postmaster who would dare to distribute a copy of abolition speeches, honor as among their chief defenders the candidates who could quote the most obnoxious passages from all who had made Southern politics a vast hot-bed for the propagation of abolition sentiments? The two great sections of the nation stood at that moment towards each other like two encamped armies, waiting the orders to engage. The patriot planned, deplored, and appealed, but found little succor in the only quarter whence succor could come. The abolitionist revelled in the madness of the hour. He saw the cracks in the iceberg at last. To him the desert and the battle-field were alike welcome. He had knelt down in the desert with the camels, for a speck in the far distance showed that the simoom was coming. He looked into the future as into a dark cloud in the morning, when nothing but the early lark was on the wing. But soon history, like the light of the eastern horizon, would curtain back that cloud, and paint in blood's ruddiest tints field and forest, hamlet and city, the very mountains to their pine-crowned tops, and the great ocean itself, as an ensanguined flood, where brother contending with brother should find a nameless sepulchre. No anaconda, with his filthy folds around the banyan tree, threw out the venomous tongue and yearned with fiercer passion for the crushed bone and the pulpy flesh than he, the abolitionist, now expectant of his prey, yearned for this long-proposed repast Well might he cry that the day of jubilee had come. Well might he marshal his hosts to the last great war of sections and of races. Defeated, stigmatized, insulted, scoffed at, ostracized and gibbeted by his countrymen, he now gloated over the most fearful of all retributions. His deadliest foes in the South had now struck hands in a solemn league of kindred designs, and with exultant tramp, stolidly marched, adorned, like a Roman ox, with the garlands of sacrifice, to their eternal doom. At this moment, when a sudden frenzy had struck blind the Southern people, this picture could not even be realized in all its horrors. When he looked at his country, and its present distracted and desolate condition, and its possible fate, he felt almost ready to close the quick accents of speech, and allow the heart to sink down voiceless in its despair. He would refer them to the words of Lloyd garrison, and demand what answer would be given to them. Mr. Clemens then referred to an article in the Liberator, which appeared a few days after the secession of South Carolina, in which garrison said that the last covenant with death was annulled, and the agreement with hell broken, by the action of South Carolina herself ; closing with an appeal to Massachusetts, ending with the words, How stands Massachusetts at this hour in reference to the Union?--in an attitude of hostility. Mr. Clemens then quoted from a. speech of Wendell Phillips, delivered in the Music Hall, at Boston, a few days ago, in which Phillips declared, We are Disunionists, not for any love of separate confederacies, &c., ending with a reference to South Carolina, and Egypt will rejoice that she has departed. The people had, therefore, arrayed against them these knights of a new crusade. The Constitution of the United States was the sanctified Jerusalem against which their deluded cohorts battled. They contended that the only mode to over-throw slavery was to overthrow the constitution. These men claimed that their allegiance was only due to the States wherein they lived. They claimed to be States' rights men of the strictest sect, and they would wield the legislative power of the State for the extinction of slavery, as South Carolina professed to wield it for the perpetuation of slavery. In this crisis it was meet that Massachusetts, so largely partaking of the common glory in the past--Massachusetts, where the first blood for American liberty had been shed — should rise superior to the convulsions of the hour, and give an earnest at least that the spirit of conciliation, of inter-State comity, of fraternal affection, was not yet wholly lost. As the worn traveller in the midst of the snows of the Alps lingered with delighted gaze upon the friendly light which peered from the windows of the convent where from the desolation of the storm around him he might at last find repose, so did he hail the little gleam of hope in the future. Mr. Clemens gave statistics of population and slavery in the Border States and in the Gulf States, for the purpose of showing, as he said, that there was an irreversible law of population governing the question, and that the South wanted population and capital rather than territory. If secession were allowed to be carried out, he would show them a Southern Confederacy from which every man would turn back affrighted and pale, because it would be on the bloody hand that his rights of property would have to depend. Slavery cannot expand rapidly, either within the Union or without the Union, so long as slaves remained at their present high prices. The only mode by which slavery could ever expand, was to reduce the price, and have a new source of supply. That was, in fact, the real design of the coast States. Mr. Clemens, in proof of this, referred to all the Southern Conventions of late years, and cited the admissions of Messrs. Miles, Bonham, McRae, and Crawford, in the House, to show that the object was the re-opening of the slave-trade. Suppose, said he, that they do not get, out of the Union, this equality which they now claim? That is a little problem in the Rule of Three, which will be ciphered out if these events are much longer pending. The Border Slave States might as well be prepared first as last for the realization of the truth. But where was slavery to expand? If the South left the Union, she would never get as much of the present territory as he could grasp in his hand. A war of thirty years would never get it back, nor could there ever be extorted from the North a treaty giving the same guarantees to slavery that it now had. Where was slavery to expand? Not to Central America, for England exercised sovereignty over one-half her domain. Not to Mexico, for England had caused the abolition of slavery there also. Their retiring confederates ought not to forget the events of 1834, when George Thompson, the English abolitionist, was sent to enlighten the dead conscience of the American people. In this connection he cited a letter from Thompson to Murrell, of Tennessee, in which was this sentence: The dissolution of the Union is the object to be kept steadily in view. In the event of a Southern Confederacy, there will be, besides the African slave-trade, other elements of discord and agitation. Slavery was the great ruling interest of the extreme States, while the other States had other great interests which could not be lightly abandoned. It would be for the interest of the coast States to have free trade in manufactured goods; but how would that operate on the mechanical and manufacturing industry of Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware? There would be, therefore, in the proposed Union, an antagonism quite as great as there ever has been in this. But if manufactories were to be protected and encouraged in the Border Slave States, their white population would increase so fast that they would be but nominally Slave States, and would finally become Free States. He appealed to the North to guarantee by constitutional enactments the principle secured by the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case. Let us feel, he said, that we have a country to save instead of a geographical section to represent. Let us act as men, and not as partisans, and the old Constitution, now in the trough of the sea, with battered masts and sails, will weather the storm.--Times, Jan. 23.

Never for many years can the United States be to the world what they have been. Mr. Buchanan's message has been a greater blow to the American people than all the rants of the Georgian Governor or the ordinances of the Charleston Convention. The President has dissipated the idea that the States which elected him constitute one people. We had thought that the Federation was of the nature of a nationality; we find it is nothing more than a partnership. If any State may, on grounds satisfactory to a local convention, dissolve the union between itself and its fellows; if discontent with the election of a President, or the passing of an obnoxious law by another State, or, it may be, a restrictive tariff, gives a State the right of revolution, and permits it to withdraw itself from the community, then the position of the American people with respect to foreign Powers is completely altered. It is strange that a race whose patriotic captiousness when in the society of Europeans is so remarkable, should be so ready to divide and to give up the ties of fellow-citizenship for a cause which strangers are unable to appreciate. Still stranger is it that a chief magistrate, who would have plunged the world in war rather than a suspicious craft should be boarded by English officers after it had displayed the Stars and Stripes, or would have done battle against despots for any naturalized refugee from Continental Europe, should, without scruple, and against the advice of his own Secretary of State, declare the Federal Union dissolved whenever a refractory State chooses to secede.

It may well be imagined that the American people have been taken by surprise, both by the suddenness and violence of the outcry for secession, and by the ready concessions of the President. From the day the message appeared it was evident that South Carolina no longer formed part of the Union. The State had, by every organ which it possessed — by its Senators, its Representatives, by the voice of the Press, of the great slaveowners, and of the multitude — declared its resolution to secede. Only courage like that of General Jackson could have quelled the Gamecock State, as we perceive some of its admirers call it. But there was a middle path between civil war and such an instant recognition as Mr. Buchanan thought advisable. As one charged with the duty of upholding the Federal power, he might have easily used the authority vested in him to delay the movement, and give the Union and South Carolina itself time for reflection. Mr. Cass would, probably, deprecate holding a State by force, but he still declined to remain in the cabinet of the statesman who would not reinforce Fort Moultrie, and assert, during the short remainder of his term of office, the supremacy of the constitution. But as things went the action of South Carolina was predetermined. On the 20th of December that State seceded from the Union by an unanimous vote, and by this time has probably gained possession of all the Federal property within its borders, and established a post-office and customhouse of its own. The instruments which the Carolinians drew up on this occasion are singular and almost amusing. The philosophy and phraseology of the Declaration of Independence of 1776 are imitated. Whole paragraphs are copied from that famous document. The thoughts and style of Jefferson were evidently influenced by the great writers of his age, and we may trace Montesquieu and Rousseau in every line of his composition. It is rather interesting to see his language, which denounced King George's violation of the social compact, used by a conclave of frantic negro-drivers to stigmatize the conduct of those who will not allow a Southern gentleman to bring his body servant into their territory. South Carolina, however, has shown wisdom in thus taking high ground. People are generally taken at the value which they set on themselves, and Carolina does right to play the part of outraged patience and indignant virtue. She has declared, in the language of the Fathers of the Republic, that the Federal Union no longer answers the ends of its foundation by insuring the happiness and prosperity of South Carolina, and that the conduct of several States having been a violation of the compact made by all, South Carolina resumes her rights as a sovereign community, and will make war or peace, conclude treaties, or establish commerce, independently of the Government at Washington.

This bold course has its natural effect on the exciteable slaveowners. The secession of South Carolina has been received everywhere with enthusiasm. It may, perhaps, be said that the other States have feigned an approbation which they do not feel, in order to bring the North to terms by the menace of a Southern Republic. But, whether from feeling or policy, the secession cry was just at its loudest at the close of the year. It was looked upon as certain that six or seven States would separate from the Union in the first days of 1861. Georgia leads the van. The ordinance of secession was looked upon as already passed. The North Carolina Legislature had read a second time the bill for arming the State. Alabama had voted, by a large majority, in favor of secession. In Virginia, the oldest, the most conservative, and the most cautious of the Slave States, we are told that the secession feeling was gaining ground. State conventions are to meet in Florida on the 3d of January, in Alabama on the 7th, in Texas on the 8th, in Georgia on the 9th, and in Louisiana on the 23d; and our correspondent believes that there will be a majority in each of them in favor of immediate and separate secession. Hence in a few days more the United States of America, as the world has hitherto known them, will cease to exist.

But now comes the most singular part of this history. Till within a few weeks hardly any body in this country believed in the dissolution of the Union. People thought that instincts of patriotism and private interest would prevail, and that the Yankees and the Southerners would quarrel harmoniously for many years to come. The event seems to be against these anticipations, and Englishmen are content to look on in silence and wonder. Not so the Americans. While every mail is bringing news of fiery speeches and the planting of palmetto trees, the almost universal tone of private letters is that there is nothing in it at all. South Carolina cannot secede, or if she does she must come back again. The other States only want to make terms and to come back into the Union after having extorted new concessions as the price of reconciliation. The wish may be father to the thought, but that such is the thought is to be learnt from the most cursory glance at the American newspapers. The course of proceeding is to be as follows: South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Texas, perhaps Louisiana, are to separate, form a federation of their own, and then treat on equal terms with those who remain faithful to Mr. Lincoln. The Northern Slave States, with Virginia and North Carolina at their head, are to act as mediators, and enforce concessions by the threat of joining the Southern league, which would then number fifteen Slave States, with a vast territory, and the prospect of conquering all the riches of Mexico. The President, it is whispered, is in favor of compromise; Gov. Seward is in favor of compromise; in short, now that the loss of Southern wealth threatens them, greatnumbers of the stanchest Anti-Slavery men arc in favor of compromise. What the terms of the compromise shall be of course remains in doubt. The hope of the democratic party in the North is that the slaveholders will not be too exacting, or insist on the repeal of the personal liberty acts, by which some of the Abolitionist States have nullified the Fugitive Slave act. Many of the Republicans are anxious to revive the Missouri compromise, by which slavery will be prohibited in any part of the United States territory north of 33° 30×. But as the abolition of this compromise and the assertion of the slaveowners' right to carry negrocs into any part of the territory is a recent and very great victory, it is hardly likely that the South will concede this. No one in this country can pretend to judge of the event; but this we may conclude from the tone of American discussion, that the North will not be too rigid, and that the slaveowners will receive what all but the most rabid of them will consider satisfaction. Gov. Seward, who first spoke of the irrepressible conflict which was impending, now prophesies peace and harmony at no distant day, while many of his most intimate friends have given their adhesion to the scheme of compromise brought forward by Mr. Crittenden. But whatever may be the final restilt, we may expect to hear shortly that other States have followed the example set by South Carolina.--London Times, Jan. 9.

Milledgeville, Jan. 24, 1861. To His Honor Mayor Wood:

Is it true that any arms intended for and consigned to the State of Georgia have been seized by public authorities in New York? Your answer is important to us and to New York. Answer at once.

To this the Mayor returned the following answer:

Hon. Robert Toombs, Milledgeville, Go.:

In reply to your dispatch, I regret to say that arms intended for and consigned to the State of Georgia, have been seized by the Police of this State, but that the City of New York should in no way be made responsible for the outrage.

As Mayor, I have no authority over the Police. If I had the power I should summarily punish the authors of this illegal and unjustifiable seizure of private property.

--N. Y. Times, Jan. 26.

An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Louisiana and the other States United with her, under the compact entitled the Constitution of the United States of America:

We, the people of the State of Louisiana, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained that the ordinance passed by the State of 22d November, 1807, where-by the Constitution of the United States of America and the amendments of said Constitution were adopted, and all the laws and ordinances by which Louisiana became a member of the Federal Union, be, and the same are hereby repealed and abrogated, and the Union now subsisting between Louisiana and the other States, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved.

We further declare and ordain, that the State of Louisiana hereby resumes the rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America, and its citizens are absolved from allegiance to the said Government, and she is in full possession of all the rights and sovereignty that appertain to a free and independent State.

We further declare and ordain, that all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under laws of this State not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force, and have the same effect as though this ordinance had not passed.

A resolution was reported to the Convention that the following be added to the ordinance:

We, the people of Louisiana, recognize the right of free navigation of the Mississippi River and tributaries by all friendly States bordering thereon, we also recognize the right of the ingress and egress of the mouths of the Mississippi by all friendly States and Powers, and hereby declare our willingness to enter into stipulations to guarantee the exercise of those rights.

The following statement in relation to the surrender of the revenue cutter Robert McClelland, is derived from an official source:

On the 19th of January, four days after Secretary Dix took charge of the Treasury Department, he sent Mr. Wm. Hemphill Jones, Chief Clerk in the First Comptroller's Office, to New Orleans and Mobile, to save, if possible, the two cutters on service there. Captain Morrison, a Georgian, in command of the Lewis Cass at Mobile, must have surrendered her before Mr. Jones' arrival. On the 29th of January, the Secretary received, in relation to the other, the following telegraphic dispatch from Mr. Jones:

New Orleans, Jan. 29, 1861.

Hon. J. A. Dix, Secretary of Treasury: Capt. Breshwood has refused positively in writing, to obey any instructions of the Department. In this I am sure he is sustained by the Collector, and believe acts by his advice. What must I do?

To this dispatch Secretary Dix immediately returned the following answer, before published:

Treasury Department, Jan. 29, 1861.

W. Hemphill Jones, New Orleans: Tell Lieut. Caldwell to arrest Capt. Breshwood, assume command of the cutter, and obey the order through you. If Capt. Breshwood, after arrest, undertakes to interfere with the command of the cutter, tell Lieut. Caldwell, to consider him as a mutineer, and treat him accordingly. If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot.

This dispatch must have been intercepted both at Montgomery and New Orleans, and withheld from Mr. Jones, and the treason of Captain Breshwood was consummated by means of a complicity on the part of the telegraph line within the States of Alabama and Louisiana. (See Doc. 31.)--N. Y. Times, February 8.

The Louisiana Convention, after having taken possession of the United States Sub-Treasury at New Orleans, passed the subjoined ordinance, authorizing the payment therefrom of certain Government drafts:

Whereas, The State of Louisiana has taken under its control the funds deposited in the late Sub-Treasury of the United States at New Orleans, but considering it just that certain drafts drawn against the same should be paid;

Therefore, be it ordained by the people of the State of Louisiana in convention assembled, That the State depositary of said funds be, and he is authorized to pay all drafts drawn in the legitimate course of disbursement by the disbursing officers of the United States on the funds heretofore deposited in the Sub-Treasury of the United States at New Orleans, to the credit of said officers respectively: Provided, That no draft shall be paid except out of the balance standing to the credit of the officer drawing the same: And, provided, further, That the aggregate amount of drafts hereby authorized to be paid shall not exceed the sum of $306,592 80.

Be it further ordained, That the State depositary aforesaid be, and he is hereby authorized to pay all outstanding drafts drawn by the United States prior to the passage of the ordinance of secession, against the funds heretofore deposited in the Sub-Treasury of the United States at New Orleans, to the credit of the public revenue of the United States, Provided, that the aggregate amount of said drafts shall not exceed the sum of $146,226 74; but no transfer drafts on the bullion fund shall be recognized or paid.

Be it further ordained, That the sum of $31,164 44, standing to the credit of the Post Office Department on the books of the late Sub-Treasurer of the United States, at New Orleans, is hereby held subject to draft of the United States, in payment of postal services, until otherwise ordered by this convention or the General Assembly of the State.

Secretary Dix sent a report to the House of Representatives, in answer to Mr. Sickles' resolution of inquiry, showing the following state of facts:

First.--The impediments to commerce by usurping control of the ports of Mobile, Charleston, Pensacola and New Orleans.

Second.--The control of commerce of the Mississippi Valley, by requiring the duties on all goods entered at New Orleans for delivery at St. Louis, Nashville, Louisville, and Cincinnati, to be paid to the State of Louisiana.

Third.--The seizure by Louisiana of all United States moneys, as well as those of private depositors in the mint and sub-treasury at New Orleans and other places.

Fourth.-The seizure of revenue cutters, by arrangement between their commanders and the collectors of Mobile, New Orleans and Charleston.

Fifth.--The expulsion of the sick and invalid patients at the United States Hospital at New Orleans, in order to provide accommodation for Louisiana troops.

Mr. Dix says it is believed that duties on imports continue to be collected in the ports of entry established in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida, and that vessels are entered and cleared in the usual manner; but so far as the department has been advised, the collectors assume to perform their duties under the authority of the States in which they reside, and hold and reserve the duties, subject to the same authority.

Speaking of the general subject, Mr. Dix says:

Throughout the whole course of encroachment and aggression, the Federal Government has borne itself with a spirit of paternal forbearance, of which there is no example in the history of public society; waiting in patient hope that the empire of reason would resume its sway over those whom the excitement of passion has thus fair blinded, and trusting that the friends of good order, wearied with submission to proceedings which they disapproved, would at no distant day rally under the banner of the Union, and exert themselves with vigor and success against the prevailing recklessness and violence.

T. Hemphill Jones, the special agent appointed to secure the revenue cutters McClelland and Lewis Cass from seizure by the Louisiana secessionists, reports to the Treasury Department that he arrived in New Orleans in pursuance of his instructions on the 26th January. He found Captain Breshwood, of the McClelland, after a long search, and handed him the following order:

New Orleans, Jan. 29, 1861.

Sir:--You are hereby directed to get the United States revenue cutter McClelland, now lying here, under way immediately, and proceed with her to New York, where you will await the further instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury. For my authority to make this order you are referred to the letter of the Secretary, dated the 19th inst., and handed you personally by me.

Very respectfully,

Breshwood conferred with Collector Hatch of New Orleans, and then returned the following answer, flatly refusing to obey the order:

U. S. Revenue cutter Robert McClelland, New Orleans, January 29, 1861.

Sir: Your letter, with one of the 19th of January from the Hon. Secretary of the Treasury, I have duly received, and in reply refuse to obey the order.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Mr. Jones's report continues:

Believing that Captain Breshwood would not have ventured upon this most positive act of insubordination and disobedience of his own volition, I waited upon the Collector at the Custom House, and had, with him a full and free conversation upon the whole subject. In the course of it, Mr. Hatch admitted to me that he had caused the cutter to be brought to the city of New Orleans by an order of his own, dated January 15, so that she might be secured to the State of Louisiana, although at that time the State had not only not seceded, but the Convention had not met, and in fact did not meet until eight days afterwards. This, I must confess, seemed to me a singular confession for one who at that very time had sworn to do his duty faithfully as an officer of the United States; and on intimating as much to Mr. Hatch, he excused himself on the ground that in these revolutions all other things must give way to the force of circumstances. Mr. Hatch likewise informed me that the officers of the cutter had long since determined to abandon their allegiance to the United States, and cast their fortunes with the independent State of Louisiana. In order to test the correctness of this statement, I addressed another communication to Captain Breshwood, of the following tenor:

New Orleans, January 29, 1861.

Sir: By your note of this date I am informed that you refuse to obey the orders of the honorable Secretary of the Treasury. As, on accepting your commission, you took and subscribed an oath faithfully to discharge your duties to the Government, and as you well know, the law has placed the revenue cutters and their officers under the entire control of the Secretary of the Treasury, I request you to advise me whether you consider yourself at this time an officer in the service of the United States.

Very respectfully,

To this letter I never received any reply. I then repaired again on board the cutter, and asked for the order of the Collector bringing her to New Orleans. The original was placed in my possession, of which the following is a copy. And here it may be proper to observe, that the order is written and signed by the Collector himself:

Custom House, New Orleans, Collector's office, Jan. 15, 1861.

Sir: You are hereby directed to proceed forthwith under sail to this city, and anchor the vessel under your command opposite the United States Marine Hospital, above Algiers.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Defeated at New Orleans, Mr. Jones then took his way to Mobile, to look after the Lewis Cass. Her Captain (Morrison) could not be found, but Mr. Jones discovered in the cabin the following letter, which explains the surrender of that vessel:

State of Alabama, Collector's office, Mobile, January 30, 1861.

Sir: In obedience to an ordinance recently adopted by a convention of the people of Alabama, I have to require you to surrender into my hands, for the use of the State, the revenue cutter Lewis Cass, now under your command, together with her armaments, properties and provisions on board the same. I am instructed also to notify you, that you have the option to continue in command of the said revenue cutter, under the authority of the State of Alabama, in the exercise of the same duties that you have hitherto rendered to the United States, and at the same compensation, reporting to this office and to the Governor of the State. In surrendering the vessel to the State, you will furnish me with a detailed inventory of its armaments, provisions and properties of every description. You will receive special instructions from this office in regard to the duties you will be required to perform. I await your immediate reply.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Mr. Jones concludes his report with the statement, that he made a final and unsuccessful effort to recover the McClelland, but, failing in the attempt, he retraced his steps to Washington.--Evening Post, Feb. 22.

Alabama.Robert H. Smith,Richard W. Walker,Colin J. McRae,John Gill,W. R. Chilton,S. F. Hale,David P. Lewis,Thomas Fearn,J. L. M. Curry.FloridaJackson Morton,J. Patton Anderson,James Powers.Georgia.Robert Toombs,Howell Cobb,Francis Barton,Augustus R. Wright,Martin Crawford,Thomas R. Cobb,Judge Nesbitt,Augustus Keenan,Benjamin Hill,A. H. Stephens.Louisiana.John Perkins, Jr.,A. Declomet,C. M. Conrad,E. Sparrow,Duncan F. Kenner,Henry Marshall.Mississippi.Wiley P. Harris,Walker Brooke,W. S. Wilson,W. S. Barry,A. M. Clayton,J. T. Harrison,J. A. P. Campbell.North Carolina.J. L. Bridgers,M. W. Ransom,Ex-Gov. Swann.South Carolina.T. J. Withers,W. W. Boyce,R. B. Rhett, Jr.,James Chestnut, Jr.,L. M. Keitt,R. W. Barnwell,G. G. Memminger.

The title of the Constitution for the Provisional Government of the Confederated States of America.

The Preamble reads as follows:

We, the deputies of the sovereign and independent States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, invoking the favor of Almighty God, do hereby, in behalf of these States, ordain and establish this Constitution for the provisional government of the same, to continue one year from the inauguration of the President, or until a permanent constitution or confederation between the said States shall be put in operation, whichsoever shall first occur.

The seventh section, first article, is as follows:

The importation of African negroes from any foreign country other than the slaveholding States of the United States, is hereby forbidden, and Congress is required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same.

Article second-Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a member of this Confederacy.

Article fourth of the third clause of the second section says:

A slave in one State escaping to another shall be delivered up on the claim of the party to whom said slave may belong, by the executive authority of the State in which such slave may be found; and in case of any abduction or forcible rescue, full compensation, including the value of the slave, and all costs and expenses, shall be made to the party by the State in which such abduction or rescue shall take place.

Article sixth of the second clause says:

The Government hereby instituted shall take immediate steps for the settlement of all matters between the States forming it, and their late confederates of the United States, in relation to the public property and public debt at the time of their withdrawal from them, these States hereby declaring it to be their wish and earnest desire to adjust every thing pertaining to the common property, common liabilities, and common obligations of that Union, upon principles of right, justice, equity, and good faith.

The tariff clause provides that the Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises for revenue necessary to pay the debts and carry on the Government of the Confederacy, and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout. the Confederacy.

All the other portions of the Constitution are almost identical with the Constitution of the United States.--Commercial Advertiser.

The Charleston Mercury thus discusses the power of the Southern Congress:

In the first place, has this convention any authority to elect a President and Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy? Excepting in Mississippi, it is doubtful whether any other State convention in the South thought of any such project. What good can result from this convention assuming to elect the President and Vice-President of the Confederacy, without at the same time electing the Senators and Representatives of the Congress? Mississippi has already exercised the right to elect her Senators and Representatives to the Congress.--Surely the other States should exercise the same right. It will not do for her to appoint her Representatives by her convention, and then come here and appoint ours besides.

But there is a graver matter than its absurdity behind this scheme. Is it any thing else than the policy of reconstructing the Union? Take the Constitution of the United States as it is, with all its constructive powers, and get the frontier States in the Confederacy with us, and will the Constitution ever be altered? And if not altered, will we not have the same battle to fight over again with them, after a few years, which we have been compelled to fight with the Northern States? But will a Southern confederacy exist at all with such a policy? Will not all the Northern States come again into a Union with us? Why should they not? They are satisfied with the Constitution of the United States as it is, open to their interpretation. It establishes a capital despotism under their power. Of course they will seek to reconstruct the Union. And will it not be done? Yes, certainly, under this scheme. After all, we will have run a round circle, and end where we started.

The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle recommends the Hon. A. H. Stephens as provisional President, because he bears no stain of the prevalent corruption, and because he is Southern by birth and education, patriotic beyond question, calm, sound, and mature in judgment, with a reputation that was national when we had a nation, and a favorite, at one time or another, with all parties.

Such a nomination, the Chronicle says, would reconcile the feelings of our friends at the North, and also the Union men of the South. It then says:

Disguise it as we may, the greatest danger to the new confederacy arises, not from without, not from the North, but from our own people. We have only to refer to recent speeches in Congress, such as those of Clemens, Etheridge, and Nelson, to show that the indications are growing stronger that organized if not armed opposition to the new order of things may arise in States or parts of Southern States not vitally interested in the Slavery question. Such discontent is to be allayed if possible.

Our position has ever been that all the Southern States should unite in action, and we have advocated separate action and an independent State Government by Georgia only because we saw no hope for united action by all the Southern States. We have invariably been consistent in our desire for cooperation. When our hopes seemed about to fail, and separate State action was an accomplished fact, we thought it better that Georgia, powerful in resources beyond any of her neighbors, rich and prosperous, should set up for herself, and not link her fortunes to a confederacy ruled by disorganizing charlatans, without the talent to construct, though potent to destroy; governed by chimerical schemers, without a particle of practical common sense or business knowledge, in which she would have to bear more than her share of the burdens, and incur more than her proportion of the financial and commercial disadvantages. But with Stephens at the helm (for he has brains) Georgia and the South are safe.

Gentlemen of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, Friends and Fellow-Citizens:

Called to the difficult and responsible station of Chief Executive of the Provisional Government which you have instituted, I approach the discharge of the duties assigned me with an humble distrust of my abilities, but with a sustaining confidence in the wisdom of those who are to guide and aid me in the administration of public affairs, and an abiding faith in the virtue and patriotism of the people. Looking forward to the speedy establishment of a permanent government to take the place of this, and which by its greater moral and physical power will be better able to combat with the many difficulties which arise from the conflicting interests of separate nations, I enter upon the duties of the office to which I have been chosen, with the hope that the beginning of our career as a confederacy may not be obstructed by hostile opposition to our enjoyment of the separate existence and independence which we have asserted, and which, with the blessing of Providence, we intend to maintain.

Our present condition, achieved in a manner unprecedented in the history of nations, illustrates the American idea that governments rest upon the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter and abolish governments whenever they become destructive to the ends for which they were established. The declared compact of the Union from which we have withdrawn was to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity; and when in the judgment of the sovereign States now composing this confederacy, it has been perverted from the purposes for which it was ordained, and ceased to answer the ends for which it was established, a peaceful appeal to the ballot-box declared that, so far as they were concerned, the government created by that compact should cease to exist. In this they merely asserted the right which the Declaration of Independence of 1776 defined to be inalienable. Of the time and occasion of its exercise they as sovereigns were the final judges, each for itself. The impartial, enlightened verdict of mankind will vindicate the rectitude of our conduct; and He who knows the hearts of men will judge of the sincerity with which we labored to preserve the government of our fathers in its spirit.

The right solemnly proclaimed at the birth of the States, and which has been affirmed and reaffirmed in the bills of rights of the States subsequently admitted into the Union of 1789, undeniably recognizes in the people the power to resume the authority delegated for the purposes of government. Thus the sovereign States here represented, proceeded to form this confederacy; and it is by the abuse of language that their act has been denominated revolution. They formed a new alliance, but within each State its government has remained. The rights of person and property have not been disturbed. The agent through whom they communicated with foreign nations is changed, but this does not necessarily interrupt their international relations. Sustained by the consciousness that the transition from the former Union to the present confederacy has not proceeded from a disregard on our part of our just obligations or any failure to perform every constitutional duty, moved by no interest or passion to invade the rights of others, anxious to cultivate peace and commerce with all nations, if we may not hope to avoid war, we may at least expect that posterity will acquit us of having needlessly engaged in it. Doubly justified by the absence of wrong on our part, and by wanton aggression on the part of others, there can be no cause to doubt the courage and patriotism of the people of the confederate States will be found equal to any measures of defence which soon their security may require.

An agricultural people, whose chief interest is the export of a commodity required in every manufacturing country, our true policy is peace, and the freest trade which our necessities will permit. It is alike our interest and that of all those to whom we would sell and from whom we would buy, that there should be the fewest practicable restrictions upon the interchange of commodities. There can be but little rivalry between ours and any manufacturing or navigating community, such as the northeastern States of the American Union. It must follow, therefore, that mutual interest would invite good will and kind offices. If, however, passion or lust of dominion should cloud the judgment or inflame the ambition of those States, we must prepare to meet the emergency and maintain by the final arbitrament of the sword the position which we have assumed among the nations of the earth.

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. We have vainly endeavored to secure tranquillity and obtain respect for the rights to which we were entitled. As a necessity, not a choice, we have resorted to the remedy of separation, and henceforth our energies must be directed to the conduct of our own affairs, and the perpetuity of the confederacy which we have formed. If a just perception of mutual interest shall permit us peaceably to pursue our separate political career, my most earnest desire will have been fulfilled. But if this be denied us, and the integrity of our territory and jurisdiction be assailed, it will but remain for us with firm resolve to appeal to arms and invoke the blessing of Providence on a just cause.

As a consequence of our new condition, and with a view to meet anticipated wants, it will be necessary to provide a speedy and efficient organization of the branches of the Executive department having special charge of foreign intercourse, finance, military affairs, and postal service. For purposes of defence the Confederate States may, under ordinary circumstances, rely mainly upon their militia; but it is deemed advisable in the present condition of affairs, that there should be a well instructed, disciplined, army, more numerous than would usually be required on a peace establishment. I also suggest that, for the protection of our harbors and commerce on the high seas, a navy adapted to those objects will be required. These necessities have, doubtless, engaged the attention of Congress.

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 recently 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 would be the aim of the whole. Where this does not exist antagonisms are engendered which must and should result in separation.

Actuated solely by a desire to preserve our own rights, and to promote our own welfare, the separation of the Confederate States has been marked by no aggression upon others, and followed by no domestic convulsion. Our industrial pursuits have received no check, the cultivation of our fields progresses as heretofore, and even should we be involved in war there would be no considerable diminution in the production of the staples which have constituted our exports, in which the commercial world has an interest scarcely less than our own. This common interest of producer and consumer can only be intercepted by an exterior force which should obstruct its transmission to foreign markets, a course of conduct which would be detrimental to manufacturing and commercial interests abroad.

Should reason guide the action of the government from which we have separated, a policy so detrimental to the civilized world, the Northern States included, could not be dictated by even a stronger desire to inflict injury upon us; but if it be otherwise, a terrible responsibility will rest upon it, and the suffering of millions will bear testimony to the folly and wickedness of our aggressors. In the meantime there will remain to us, besides the ordinary remedies before suggested, the well known resources for retaliation upon the commerce of an enemy.

Experience in public stations of a subordinate grade to this which your kindness has conferred, has taught me that care and toil and disappointments are the price of official elevation. You will see many errors to forgive, many deficiencies to tolerate; but you shall not find in me either want of zeal or fidelity to the cause that is to me the highest in hope and of most enduring affection. Your generosity has bestowed upon me an undeserved distinction, one which I neither sought nor desired. Upon the continuance of that sentiment, and upon your wisdom and patriotism, I rely to direct and support me in the performance of the duties required at my hands.

We have changed the constituent parts but not the system of our government. The Constitution formed by our fathers is that of these Confederate States. In their exposition of it, and in the judicial construction it has received, we have a light which reveals its true meaning. Thus instructed as to the just interpretation of that instrument, and ever remembering that all offices are but trusts held for the people, and that delegated powers are to be strictly construed, I will hope by due diligence in the performance of my duties, though I may disappoint your expectation, yet to retain, when retiring, something of the good will and confidence which will welcome my entrance into office.

It is joyous in the midst of perilous times to look around upon a people united in heart, when one purpose of high resolve animates and actuates the whole, where the sacrifices to be made are not weighed in the balance, against honor, right, liberty, and equality. Obstacles may retard, but they cannot long prevent the progress of a movement sanctioned by its justice and sustained by a virtuous people. Reverently let us invoke the God of our fathers to guide and protect us in our efforts to perpetuate the principles which by his blessing they were able to vindicate, establish, and transmit to their posterity; and with a continuance of His favor ever gratefully acknowledged, we may hopefully look forward to success, to peace, to prosperity.

A dispatch from Harrisburg, Pa., to the N. Y. Times, dated Feb. 23, 8 A. M., says:--

Abraham Lincoln, the President-elect of the United States, is safe in the capital of the nation. By the admirable arrangement of General Scott the country has been spared the lasting disgrace, which would have been fastened indelibly upon it, had Mr. Lincoln been murdered upon his journey thither, as he would have been, had he followed the programme as announced in papers, and gone by the Northern Central railroad to Baltimore.

On Thursday night after he had retired, Mr. Lincoln was aroused and informed that a stranger desired to see him on a matter of life or death. He declined to admit him unless he gave his name, which he at once did. Such prestige did the name carry that while Mr. Lincoln was yet disrobed, he granted an interview to the caller.

A prolonged conversation elicited the fact, that an organized body of men had determined that Mr. Lincoln should not be inaugurated, and that he should never leave the city of Baltimore alive, if, indeed, he ever entered it.

The list of the names of the conspirators presented a most astonishing array of persons high in Southern confidence, and some whose fame is not confined to this country alone.

Statesmen laid the plan, bankers indorsed it, and adventurers were to carry it into effect. They understood Mr. Lincoln was to leave Harrisburg at 9 o'clock this morning by special train, and the idea was, if possible, to throw the cars from the road at some point where they would rush down a steep embankment and destroy in a moment the lives of all on board. In case of the failure of this project their plan was to surround the carriage on the way from depot to depot in Baltimore, and assassinate him with dagger or pistol shot.

So authentic was the source from which the information was obtained, that Mr. Lincoln, after counselling his friends, was compelled to make arrangements which would enable him to subvert the plans of his enemies.

Greatly to the annoyance of the thousands who desired to call on him last night, he declined giving a reception. The final council was held at 8 o'clock.

Mr. Lincoln did not want to yield, and Col. Sumner actually cried with indignation; but Mrs. Lincoln, seconded by Mr. Judd and Mr. Lincoln's original informant, insisted upon it, and at 9 o'clock Mr. Lincoln left on a special train. He wore a Scotch plaid cap and a very long military cloak, so that he was entirely unrecognizable. Accompanied by Superintendent Lewis and one friend, he started, while all the town, with the exception of Mrs. Lincoln, Col. Sumner, Mr. Judd, and two reporters, who were sworn to secrecy, supposed him to be asleep.

The telegraph wires were put beyond reach of any one who might desire to use them.

At one o'clock the fact was whispered from one to another, and it soon became the theme of the most excited conversation. Many thought it a very injudicious move, while others regarded it as a stroke of great merit.

The following is a list of the property given up to the State of Texas by Gen. Twiggs: 1,800 mules, valued at $50 each$90,000500 wagons, valued at $140 each70,000950 horses, valued at $150 each142,500500 harness, valued at $50 each25,000Tools, wagon materials, iron, nails, horse and mule shoes250,000Corn (at this port)7,000Clothing150,000Commissary stores75,000Ordnance stores400,000 Total$1,209,500

Exclusive of public buildings to which the Federal Government has a title. Much of the property is estimated at the original cost, its value in Texas being much greater, and worth to the State at least a million and a half of dollars.--San Antonio Herald, Feb. 23.

The amendment to the twelfth section of the constitution, offered at Washington by Mr. Corwin, reads as follows:

No amendment shall be made to the cornstitution, which will authorize or give Congress power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or servitude by the laws of said State.

Fellow-citizens of the United States:

In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, and to take, in your presence, the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President, before he enters on the execution of his office.

I do not consider it necessary, at present, for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement. Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the southern States, that, by the accession of a Republican Administration, their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches, when I declare that. I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so; and I have no inclination to do so. Those who nominated and elected me, did so with the full knowledge that I had made this, and made many similar declarations, and had never recanted then. And, more than this, they placed in the platform, for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:

Resolved, that the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.

I now reiterate these sentiments; and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the now incoming Administration.

I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the constitution and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause, as cheerfully to one section as to another.

There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the constitutional any other of its provisions:

No person held to service or labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping 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 service or labor may be due.

It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law.

All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution — to this provision as well as any other. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause shall be delivered up, their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not, with nearly equal unanimity, frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?

There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by state authority; but surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done; and should any one, in. any case, be content that this oath shall go unkept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?

Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in the civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not, in any case, surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guaranties that the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States?

I take the. official oath to-day with no mental reservations, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules, (and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.

It us seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our national Constitution. During that period fifteen different and very distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the government. They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope for precedent, I now enter upon the same task, for the brief constitutional term of four years, under great and peculiar difficulties.

A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. I hold that in the contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some, action not provided for in the instrument itself.

Again, if the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of a contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it — break it, so to speak; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? Descending from these general principles we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself.

The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1174. It was matured and continued in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation, in 1778; and, finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was to form a more perfect Union. But if the destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less than before, the Constitution having lost the vital element of perpetuity.

It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect, are legally void; and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.

I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken, and, to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this, which I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, I shall perfectly perform it, so far as is practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisition, or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary.

I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself.

In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it is forced upon the national authority.

The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government, and collect the duties and inmposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere.

Where hostility to the United States shall be so great and so universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people that object. While the strict legal right may exist of the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.

The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union.

So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection.

The course here indicated will be followed, unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper; and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised according to the circumstances actually existing, and with a view and hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles, and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.

That there are persons, in one section or another, who seek to destroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neither affirm nor deny. But if there be such, I need address no word to them.

To those, however, who really love the Union, may I not speak, before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes? Would it not be well to ascertain why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step, while any portion of the ills you fly from, have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to, are greater than all the real ones. you fly from? Will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake? All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written in the Constitution has been denied? I think not. Happily the human mind is so constituted, that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this.

Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly-written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If, by the mere force of numbers, a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly-written constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution; it certainly would, if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case.

All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guaranties and prohibitions in the Constitution, that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length contain, express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by state authorities? The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. From questions of this class, spring all our constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities.

If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the government must cease. There is no alternative for continuing the government but acquiescence on the one side or the other. If a minority in such a case, will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will ruin and divide them, for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such a minority. For instance, why not any portion of a new confederacy, a year or two hence, arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this. Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new Union as to produce harmony only, and prevent renewed secession? Plainly, the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy.

A majority held in restraint by constitutional check and limitation, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it, does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible; the rule of a majority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible. So that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left.

I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding in any case upon the parties to a suit, as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the government; and while it is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled and never become a precedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different practice.

At the same time the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the government upon the vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by the decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made, as in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their own masters, unless having to that extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal.

Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink, to decide cases properly brought before them ; and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes. One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended; and this is the only substantial dispute; and the fugitive slave clause of the constitution, and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured, and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived, without restriction, in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other.

Physically speaking we cannot separate-we cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon you.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the national Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendment, I fully recognize the full authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself, and I should, under existing circumstances, favor, rather than oppose, a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it.

I will venture to add, that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish either to accept or refuse. I understand that a proposed amendment to the Constitution (which amendment, however, I have not seen) has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.

The chief magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix the terms for the separation of the States. The people themselves, also, can do this if they choose, but the Executive, as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the present government as it came to his hands, and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor. Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? In our present differences is either party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal, the American people. By the frame of the Government under which we live, this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years.

My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.

If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it.

Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either.

If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there is still no single reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulties.

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.

You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government; while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it.

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Sec. 1. Enacts, that from and after the passage of the act, the military establishment of the. Confederate States shall be composed of one corps of engineers, one corps of artillery, six regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and of the staff department already established by law.

2. The Corps of Engineers shall consist of one colonel, four majors, five captains, one company of sappers, miners, and pioneers, consisting of ten sergeants or master-workmen, ten corporals or overseers, two musicians, and thirty-nine privates of the first-class, or artificers, and thirty-nine men of second-class, or laborers — making in all one hundred.

3. Said company shall be officered by one captain and as many lieutenants, taken from the line of tile army, as the President may deem necessary.

4. Duties of the colonel of the Engineer Corps prescribed.

5. The artillery corps shall consist of one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, ten majors, and forty companies of artillerists and artificers; and each company shall consist of one captain, two first lieutenants, one second lieutenant, four sergeants, four corporals, two musicians and seventy privates; also one adjutant to be selected by the colonel from the first lieutenants, arid one sergeant-major to be selected from enlisted men of tile corps.

6. Each regiment of infantry shall consist of one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major and ten companies. Each company shall consist of one captain, one first lieutenant, two second lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, two musicians and ninety privates; and to each regiment there shall be one adjutant, and one sergeant-major.

7. The cavalry regiment shall consist of one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one major and ten companies. Each of which shall consist of one captain, one first lieutenant, two second lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, one farrier, one blacksmith, two musicians and sixty privates; also, of one adjutant and one sergeant-major.

8. There shall be four brigadier-generals, entitled to one aid-de-camp each.

9. All officers of the army shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Congress; and the rank and file shall be enlisted for not less than three or more than five years.

10. All officers are required to stand a creditable military examination.

11 and 12. Promotions in the army shall be made according to seniority and ability.

13. The pay of the brigadier-general is $3,612 per year, and his aid-de-camp (in addition to his pay as lieutenant) the sum of .$35 per month.

14. Monthly pay of the officers of the Corps of Engineers: colonel, $210; majors, $162; captains, $140; lieutenants serving with sappers and miners will receive the pay of cavalry officers of the same grade.

15. The monthly pay of the colonel of the artillery corps is $210; lieutenant-colonel, $185; majors, $150; and when serving on ordnance duty, $162; captains, $130; lieutenants, $90 ; second lieutenants, $80. The adjutant, in addition to his pay as lieutenant, the sum of $10 per month. Officers serving in the light artillery, or performing ordnance duty, shall receive the same pay as officers of cavalry in the same grade.

16. The monthly pay of officers in the infantry regiment. Colonels, $195; lieutenant-colonels, $170; majors, $150; captains, $130; lieutenants, $90; second lieutenants, $80; and the adjutant, in addition to his pay as lieutenant, $10 per month.

17. The monthly pay of officers of cavalry: Colonel, $210; lieutenant-colonel, $185; major, $162; captains, $140; first lieutenant, $100; second lieutenants, $90; and the adjutant $10 per month in addition to his pay as lieutenant.

18. The pay of officers of the general staff (except those of the medical department,) will be the same as officers of cavalry of the same grade. The annual salary of the surgeon-general is $3,000, with fuel and quarters; monthly pay of surgeons of ten years service in that grade, $200; a surgeon of less time service, $162; assistant-surgeon of ten years service, $150; assistant-surgeon of five years service, $130, and for assistant of less than five years service, $110.

19. There shall be allowed, in addition to the pay herein before provided, to every commissioned officer, except the surgeon-general, $9 per month for every five years services, and to the officers of the army of the United States who have resigned, or may resign, to be received into the service of The Confederate States, this additional pay shall be allowed from the date of their entrance into the former service. There shall also be an additional monthly allowance to every general officer cammanding in chief a separate army actually in the field, the sum of $100.

20. The pay aforesaid shall be in full of all allowances, except forage, fuel, quarters, and travelling expenses, while travelling under orders, etc., etc.

21. Allows forage to officers, etc.

22. Monthly pay of enlisted men: Sergeants or master workmen of engineer corps, $34; corporals or overseers, $20; privates of first-class or artificers, 17; privates of second-class, or laborers, and musicians, $13; sergeant-major of cavalry, $21; first sergeant, $20; sergeants, $17 ; corporals, farriers, and blacksmiths, $13 ; musicians, $13; privates, $12; first sergeants, $20; sergeants, $17; corporals and artificers, $13; musicians, $12; and privates, $11. Non-commissioned officers, artificers, musicians, and privates serving in light batteries shall receive the same pay as those of cavalry.

23. The President is authorized to enlist all master workmen necessary to the ordnance service, not exceeding one hundred men, and at salaries ranging from $13 to $34 per month.

24. Each enlisted man shall receive one ration per day and clothing.

25. Refers to commutation of rations.

26. The Secretary of War is directed to prescribe the duties of every department of service.

27. Requires Quartermasters and Commissaries to give bonds.

28. Prohibits any officer from being interested in purchases made for the army.

29. The rules and articles of war of the United States, with slight exceptions, adopted by the Congress of the Confederate States.

30. The President is directed to call into service only so many of the troops herein provided for as he may deem necessary.

31. Repeals all conflicting laws.

The law is quite long, and hence the reason of the analysis, which will doubtless be more satisfactory to readers generally than the perusal of the entire law.

Below is a tabular statement of the number and grade of officers and men: Rank.Engineer Corps.Artillery.Infantry.Cavalry.Total.Colonels11619Lieutenant-Colonels-1618Majors4106121Number of Companies-406010110Captains5406010115First Lieutenants-806010150Second Lieutenants-4012020180Sergeants1016024040450Corporals1016024040450Privates782,8005,4006008,878Farriers------44Blacksmiths------44Musicians28024020342Adjutants-1618Sergeant Majors-1618     Total10,737Add Brigadier-Generals4Aids to Brigadier-Generals4

--N. Y. Herald.

The order of Major-General Bragg, cutting off supplies from the United States fleet off Pensacola:

Headquarters Troops Confederate States, Near Pensacola, Fla., March 18, 1861.

The Commanding-General learns with surprise and regret that some of our citizens are engaged in the business of furnishing supplies of fuel, water and provisions to the armed vessels of the United States now occupying a threatening appearance off this harbor.

That no misunderstanding may exist on this subject, it is announced to all concerned that this traffic is strictly forbidden, and all such supplies, which may be captured in transit to said vessels, or to Fort Pickens, will be confiscated.

The more effectually to enforce this prohibition, no boat or vessel will be allowed to visit Fort Pickens or any of the United States naval vessels without special sanction.

Col. John H. Forney, Acting Inspector-General, will organize an efficient Harbor Police for the enforcement of this order. By command of Brigadier-General

--Times, March 28.

The following is the correspondence between the Secretary of State and the Commissioners from the Confederate States:--

Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford to Mr. Seward, opening negotiation and stating the case. Washington city, March 12, 1861. Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States:

Sir :--The undersigned have been duly accredited by the government of the Confederate States of America as Commissioners to the government of the United States, and in pursuance of their instructions have now the honor to acquaint you with that fact, and to make known, through you, to the President of the United States, the objects of their presence in this Capital.

Seven States of the late federal Union having, in the exercise of the inherent right of every free people to change or reform their political institutions, and through conventions of their people, withdrawn from the United States and reassumed the attributes of sovereign power delegated to it, have formed a government of their own. The Confederate States constitute an independent nation, de facto and de jure, and possess a government perfect in all its parts and endowed with all the means of self-support.

With a view to a speedy adjustment of all questions growing out of this political separation, upon such terms of amity and good will as the respective interests, geographical contiguity, and future welfare of the two nations may render necessary, the undersigned are instructed to make to the government of the United States overtures for the opening of negotiations, assuring the Government of the United States that the President, Congress, and people of the Confederate States earnestly desire a peaceful solution of these great questions; that it is neither their interest nor their wish to make any demand which is not founded in strictest justice, nor do any act to injure their late confederates.

The undersigned have now the honor in obedience to the instructions of their government, to request you to appoint as early a day as possible, in order that they may present to the President of the United States the credentials which they bear and the objects of the mission with which they al charged.

We are, very respectfully,

Your obedient servants,

Mr. Mayor and gentlemen of the Committee, and fellow-citizens — For this reception you will please accept my most profound and sincere thanks. The compliment is doubtless intended as much, or more, perhaps, in honor of the occasion, and my public position in connection with the great events now crowding upon us, than to me personally and individually. It is, however, none the less appreciated by me on that account. We are in the midst of one of the greatest epochs in our history. The last ninety days will mark one of the most memorable eras in the history of modern civilization.

[There was a general call from the outside of the building for the speaker to go out, that there were more outside than in.

The Mayor rose and requested silence at the doors, that Mr. Stephens' health would not permit him to speak in the open air. Mr. Stephens said he would leave it to the audience whether he should proceed in-doors or out. There was a general cry of in-doors, as the ladies, a large number of whom were present, could not hear outside.

Mr. Stephens said that the accommodation of the ladies would determine the question, and he would proceed where he was. At this point the uproar and clamor outside, was greater still for the speaker to go out on the steps. This was quieted by Col. Lawton, Col. Foreman, Judge Jackson and Mr. J. W. Owens going out and stating the facts of the case to the dense mass of men, women, and children who were outside, and entertaining them in short, brief speeches.

Mr. Stephens all this while quietly sitting down until the furore subsided.]

Mr. Stephens rose, and said, When perfect quiet is restored I shall proceed; I cannot speak as long as there is any noise or confusion. I shall take my time; I feel as though I could spend the night with you, if necessary. [Loud applause] I very much regret that every one who desires cannot hear what I have to say, not that I have any display to make or any thing very entertaining to present, but such views as I have to give, I wish all not only in this city, but in this State, and throughout our Confederated Republic, could hear, who have a desire to hear them.

I was remarking that we are passing through one of the greatest revolutions in the annals of the world--seven States have, within the last three months, thrown off an old Government and formed a new. This revolution has been signally marked, up to this time, by the fact of its having been accomplished without the loss of a single drop of blood. [Applause.] This new Constitution, or form of government, constitutes the subject to which your attention will be partly invited.

In reference to it, I make this first general remark: It amply secures all our ancient rights, franchises, and privileges. All the great principles of Magna Charta are retained in it. No citizen is deprived of life, liberty, or property, but by the judgment of his peers, under the laws of the land. The great principle of religious liberty, which was the honor and pride of the old Constitution, is still maintained and secured. All the essentials of the old Constitution, which have endeared it to the hearts of the American people, have been preserved and perpetuated. [Applause.] Some changes have been made — of these, I shall speak presently. Some of these I should have preferred not to have seen made, but these perhaps meet the cordial approbation of a majority of this audience, if not an overwhelming majority of the people of the Confederacy. Of them, therefore, I will not speak. But other important changes do meet my cordial approbation. They form great improvements upon the old Constitution. So, taking the whole new Constitution, I have no hesitancy in giving it as my judgment, that it is decidedly better than the old. [Applause.] Allow me briefly to allude to some of these improvements. The question of building up class interests, or fostering one branch of industry to the prejudice of another, under the exercise of the revenue power, which gave us so much trouble under the old Constitution, is put at rest forever under the new. We allow the imposition of no duty with a view of giving advantage to one class of persons, in any trade or business, over those of another. All, under our system, stand upon the same broad principles of perfect equality. Honest labor and enterprise are left free and unrestricted in whatever pursuit they may be engaged in. This subject came well-nigh causing a rupture of the old Union, under the lead of the gallant Palmetto State, which lies on our border, in 1833.

This old thorn of the tariff, which occasioned the cause of so much irritation in the old body politic, is removed forever from the new. [Applause.] Again, the subject of internal improvements, under the power of Congress to regulate commerce, is put at rest under our system. The power claimed by construction under the old Constitution, was at least a doubtful one--it rested solely upon construction. We of the South, generally apart from considerations of Constitutional principles, opposed its exercise upon grounds of expediency and justice. Notwithstanding this opposition, millions of money, in the common Treasury had been drawn for such purposes. Our opposition sprung from no hostility to commerce, or all necessary aids for facilitating it. With us it was simply a question, upon whom the burden should fall. In Georgia, for instance, we had done as much for the cause of internal improvements of as any other portion of the country, according to population and means. We have stretched out lines of railroads from the seaboard to the mountains, dug down the hills and filled up the valleys, at a cost of not less than $25,000,000. All this was done to open up an outlet for our products of the interior, and those to the west of us, to reach the marts of the world. No State was in greater need of such facilities than Georgia; but we had not asked that these works should be made by appropriations out of the common treasury. The cost of the grading, the superstructure and equipments of our roads was borne by those who entered upon the enterprise. Nay, more — not only the cost of the iron, no small item in the aggregate cost, was borne in the same way, but we were compelled to pay into the common treasury several millions of dollars for the privilege of importing the iron after the price was paid for it abroad. What justice was there in taking this money, which our people paid into the common Treasury on the importation of our iron, and applying it to the improvement of rivers and harbors elsewhere?

The true principle is to subject commerce of every locality to whatever burdens may be necessary to facilitate it. If the Charleston harbor needs improvement, let the commerce of Charleston bear the burden. If the mouth of the Savannah river has to be cleared out, let the sea-going navigation which is benefited by it bear the burden. So with the mouths of the Alabama and Mississippi rivers. Just as the products of the interior — our cotton, wheat, corn, and other articles — have to bear the necessary rates of freight over our railroads to reach the seas. This is again the broad principle of perfect equality and justice. [Applause.] And it is specially held forth and established in our new Constitution.

Another feature to which I will allude, is that the new Constitution provides that Cabinet Ministers and heads of Departments shall have the privilege of seats upon the floor of the Senate and House of Representatives--shall have a right to participate in the debates and discussions upon the various subjects of administration. I should have preferred that this provision should have gone further, and allowed the President to select his constitutional advisers from the Senate and House of Representatives. That would have conformed entirely to the practice in the British Parliament, which, in my judgment, is one of the wisest provisions in the British Conlstitution. It is the only feature that saves that Government. It is that which gives it stability in its facility to change its administration. Ours, as it is, is a great approximation to the right principle.

Under the old Constitution, a Secretary of the Treasury, for instance, had no opportunity, save by his annual reports, of presenting any scheme or plan of finance or other matter. He had no opportunity of explaining, expounding, enforcing or defending his views of policy; his only resort was through the medium of an organ. In the British Parliament the Premier brings in his budget, and stands before the nation responsible for its every item. If it is indefensible, he falls before the attacks upon it, as he ought to. This will now be the case, to a limited extent, under our system. Our heads of Departments can speak for themselves and the Administration in behalf of its entire policy, without resorting to the indirect and highly objectionable medium of a newspaper. It is to be greatly hoped, that under our system we shall never have what is known as a Government organ. [Rapturous applause.]

[A noise again arose from the clamor of the crowd outside, who wished to hear Mr. Stephens, and for some moments interrupted him. The Mayor rose and called on the police to preserve order. Quiet being restored, Mr. S. proceeded.]

Another change in the Constitution relates to the length of the tenure of the Presidential office. In the new Constitution it is six years instead of four, and the President rendered ineligible for a re-election. This is certainly a decidedly conservative change. It will remove from the incumbent all temptation to use his office or exert the powers confided to him for any objects of personal ambition. The only incentive to that higher ambition which should move and actuate one holding such high trusts in his hands, will be the good of the people, the advancement, prosperity, happiness, safety, honor, and true glory of the Confederacy. [Applause.]

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 institutions — 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 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 fully 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 cornerstone 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 moral 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 departments 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 as 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 correct 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 as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics. That the principle would ultimately prevail. That we, in maintaining slavery as it 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, and 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 well 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 to nature, and the ordination of Providence, in furnishing the materials of human society. Many Governments have been founded upon the principles of certain classes; but the classes thus enslaved, were of the same race, and 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 degrees, 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 and must triumph. [Immense applause.]

Thousands of people, who begin to understand these truths, are not yet completely out of the shell; they do not see them in their length and breadth. We hear much of the civilization and christianization of the barbarous tribes of Africa. In my judgment, those ends will never be obtained but by first teaching them the lesson taught to Adam, that in the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread, [applause,] and teaching them to work, and feed, and clothe themselves.

But to pass on. Some have propounded the inquiry, whether it is practicable for us to go on with the Confederacy without further accessions. Have we the means and ability to maintain nationality among the Powers of the earth? On this point I would barely say, that as anxious as we all have been, and are, for the Border States, with institutions similar with ours, to join us, still we are abundantly able to maintain our position, even if they should ultimately make up their minds not to cast their destiny with ours. That they ultimately will join us, be compelled to do it, is my confident belief; but we can get on very well without them, even if they should not.

We have all the essential elements of a high national career. The idea has been given out at the North, and even in the Border States, that we are too small and too weak to maintain a separate nationality. This is a great mistake. In extent of territory we embrace 564,000 square miles and upwards. This is upwards of 200,000 square miles more than was included within the limits of the original Thirteen States. It is an area of country more than double the territory of France or the Austrian Empire. France, in round numbers, has but 212,000 square miles. Austria, in round numbers, has 248,000 square miles. Ours is greater than both combined. It is greater than all France, Spain, Portugal and Great Britain, including England, Ireland, and Scotland, together. In population, we have upwards of 5,000,000, according to the census of 1860; this includes white and black. The entire population, including white and black, of the original Thirteen States, was less than 4,000-000 in 1790, and still less in 1776, when the independence of our fathers was achieved. If they, with a less population, dared maintain their independence against the greatest power on earth, shall we have any apprehension of maintaining ours now?

In point of material wealth and resources, we are greatly in advance of them. The taxable property of the Confederate States cannot be less than $22,000,000,000. This, I think I venture but little in saying, may be considered as five times more than the colonies possessed at the time they achieved their independence. Georgia alone possessed last year, according to the report of our comptroller-general, $672,000,000 of taxable property. The debts of the seven Confederate States sum up in the aggregate less than $18,000,000; while the existing debts of the other of the late United States sum up in the aggregate the enormous amount of $174,000,000. This is without taking into the account the heavy city debts, corporation debts, and railroad debts, which press, and will continue to press, a heavy incubus upon the resources of those States. These debts, added to others, make a sum total not much under $500,000,000. With such an area of territory — with such an amount of population — with a climate and soil unsurpassed by any on the face of the earth — with such resources already at our command — with productions which control the commerce of the world — who can entertain any apprehensions as to our success, whether others join us or not.

It is true, I believe, I state but the common sentiment, when I declare my earnest desire that the border States should join us. The differences of opinion that existed among us anterior to secession related more to the policy in securing that result by cooperation than from any difference upon the ultimate security we all looked to in common.

These differences of opinion were more in reference to policy than principle, and as Mr. Jefferson said in his inaugural, in 1801, after the heated contest preceding his election, there might be differences in opinion without differences on principle, and that all, to some extent, had been Federalists and all Republicans; so it may now be said of us, that whatever differences of opinion as to the best policy in having a cooperation with our border sister Slave States, if the worst come to the worst, that as we were all cooperationists, we are now all for independence, whether they come or not. [Continued applause.]

In this connection, I take this occasion to state that I was not without grave and serious apprehensions that if the worst came to the worst, and cutting loose from the old Government would be the only remedy for our safety and security, it would be attended with much more serious ills than it has been as yet. Thus far we have seen none of those incidents which usually attend revolutions. No such material as such convulsions usually throw up has been seen. Wisdom, prudence, and patriotism have marked every step of our progress thus far. This augurs well for the future, and it is a matter of sincere gratification to me that I am enabled to make the declaration of the men I met in the Congress at Montgomery (I may be pardoned for saying this) an abler, wiser, a more conservative, deliberate, determined, resolute, and patriotic body of men I never met in my life. [Great applause.] Their works speak for them; the Provisional Government speaks for them; the constitution of the permanent Government will be a lasting monument of their worth, merit, and statesmanship. [Applause.]

But to return to the question of the future. What is to be the result of this revolution?

Will every thing, commenced so well, continue as it has begun? In reply to this anxious inquiry I can only say, it all depends upon ourselves. A young man starting out in life on his majority, with health, talent, and ability, under a favoring Providence, may be said to be the architect of his own fortunes. His destinies are in his own hands. He may make for himself a name of honor or dishonor, according to his own acts. If he plants himself upon truth, integrity, honor, and uprightness, with industry, patience, and energy, he cannot fail of success. So it is with us: we are a young Republic, just entering upon the arena of nations; we will be the architect of our own fortunes. Our destiny, under Providence, is in our own hands. With wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship on the part of our public men, and intelligence, virtue, and patriotism on the part of the people, success, to the full measure of our most sanguine hopes, may be looked for. But if we become divided — if schisms arise — if dissensions spring up — if factions are engendered — if party spirit, nourished by unholy personal ambition, shall rear its hydra head, I have no good to prophesy for you. Without intelligence, virtue, integrity, and patriotism on the part of the people, no Republic or representative government can be durable or stable.

We have intelligence, and virtue, and patriotism. All that is required is to cultivate and perpetuate these. Intelligence will not do without virtue. France was a nation of philosophers. These philosophers became Jacobins. They lacked that virtue, that devotion to moral principle, and that patriotism which is essential to good government. Organized upon principles of perfect justice and right — seeking amity and friendship with all other powers — I see no obstacle in the way of our upward and onward progress. 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 can not 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 as 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, &c. 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 now spoken of, but upon reorganization and new assimilation. [Loud applause.] Such are some of the glimpses of the future as I catch them.

But at first we must necessarily meet with the inconveniences, and difficulties, and embarrassments incident to all changes of government. These will be felt in our postal affairs and changes in the channels of trade. These inconveniences, it is to be hoped, will be but temporary, and must be borne with patience and forbearance.

As to whether we shall have war with our late confederates, or whether all matters of difference between us shall be amicably settled, I can only say, that the prospect for a peaceful adjustment is better, so far as I am informed, than it has been.

The prospect of war, is at least not so threatening as it had been. The idea of coercion shadowed forth in President Lincoln's inaugural, seems not to be followed up thus far so vigorously as was expected. Fort Sumter, it is believed, will soon be evacuated. What course will be pursued towards Fort Pickens, and the other forts on the Gulf, is not so well understood. It is to be greatly desired that all of them should be surrendered. Our object is Peace, not only with the North, but with the world. All matters relating to the public property, public liabilities of the Union when we were members of it, we are ready and willing to adjust and settle, upon the principles of right, equality, and good faith. War can be of no more benefit to the North, than to us. The idea of coercing us, or subjugating us, is utterly preposterous. Whether the intention of evacuating Fort Sumter, is to be received as an evidence of a desire for a peaceful solution of our difficulties with the United States, or the result of necessity, I will not undertake to say. I would fain hope the former. Rumors are afloat, however, that it is the result of necessity. All I can say to you, therefore, on that point is, keep your armor bright, and your powder dry. [Enthusiastic applause.]

The surest way to secure peace, is to show your ability to maintain your rights. The principles and position of the present Administration of the United States--the Republican Party--present some puzzling questions. While it is a fixed principle with them, never to allow the increase of a foot of Slave Territory, they seem to be equally determined not to part with an inch of the accursed soil. Notwithstanding their clamor against the institution, they seem to be equally opposed to getting more, or letting go what they have got. They were ready to fight on the accession of Texas, and are equally ready to fight now on her secession. Why is this? How can this strange paradox be accounted for? There seems to be but one rational solution — and that is, notwithstanding their professions of humanity, they are disinclined to give up the benefits they derive from slave labor. Their philanthropy yields to their interest. The idea of enforcing the laws, has but one object, and that is a collection of the taxes, raised by slave labor to swell the fund necessary to meet their heavy appropriations. The spoils is what they are after — though they come from the labor of the slave. [Continued applause.]

Mr. Stephens reviewed at some length the extravagance and profligacy of appropriations by the Congress of the United States for several years past, and in this connection took occasion to allude to another one of the great improvements in our new Constitution, which is a clause prohibiting Congress from appropriating any money from the Treasury except by a two-thirds vote, unless it be for some object which the Executive may say is necessary to carry on the Government.

When it is thus asked for and estimated, he continued, the majority may appropriate. This was a new feature.

Our fathers have guarded the assessment of taxes, by insisting that representation and taxation should go together. This was inherited from the mother country, England. It was one of the principles upon which the Revolution had been fought. Our fathers also provided in the old Constitution that all appropriation bills should originate in the Representative branch of Congress; but our new Constitution went a step further, and guarded not only the pockets of the people, but also the public money, after it was taken from their pockets.

He alluded to the difficulties and embarrassments which seemed to surround the question of a peaceful solution of the controversy with the old Government. How can it be done? is perplexing many minds. The President seems to think that he cannot recognize our independence, nor can he, with and by the advice of the Senate, do so. The Constitution makes no such provision. A general Convention of all the States has been suggested by some.

Without proposing to solve the difficulty, he barely made the following suggestion:

That as the admission of States by Congress under the Constitution was an act of legislation, and in the nature of a contract or compact between the States admitted and the others admitting, why should not this contract or compact be regarded as of like character with all other civil contracts — liable to be rescinded by mutual agreement of both parties? The seceding States have rescinded it on their part. Why cannot the whole question be settled, if the North desire peace, simply by the Congress, in both branches, with the concurrence of the President, giving their consent to the separation, and a recognition of independence? This he merely offered as a suggestion, as one of the ways in which it might be done with much less violence to constructions of the Constitution than many other acts of that Government. [Applause.] The difficulty has to be solved in some way or other — this may be regarded as a fixed fact.

Several other points were alluded to by Mr. S., particularly as to the policy of the new Government towards foreign nations, and our commercial relations with them. Free trade, as far as practicable, would be the policy of this Government. No higher duties would be imposed on foreign importations than would be necessary to support the Government upon the strictest economy.

In olden times the olive branch was considered the emblem of peace, we will send to the nations of the earth another and far more potential emblem of the same, the Cotton Plant. The present duties were levied with a view of meeting the present necessities and exigencies, in preparation for war, if need be; but if we have peace, and he hoped we might, and trade should resume its proper course, a duty of ten per cent. upon foreign importations, it was thought, might be sufficient to meet the expenditures of the Government. If some articles should be left on the free list, as they now are, such as breadstuffs, &c., then, of course, duties upon others would have to be higher — but in no event to an extent to embarrass trade and commerce. He concluded in an earnest appeal for union and harmony, on the part of all the people in support of the common cause, in which we were all enlisted, and upon the issues of which such great consequences depend.

If, said he, we are true to ourselves, true to our cause, true to our destiny, true to our high mission, in presenting to the world the highest type of civilization ever exhibited by man — there will be found in our Lexicon no such word as fail.

Mr. Stephens took his seat amid a, burst of enthusiasm and applause, such as the Atheneum has never had displayed within its walls, within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant. --Savannah Republican.

The vessel fired into from the forts on Morris Island has arrived at Savannah. The schooner is the R. H. Shannon, Capt. Monts, of Boston, and she was bound for this city with a cargo of ice, consigned to A. Haywood. On Wednesday she was shrouded for many hours in a dense fog, during which she drifted through mistake over the Charleston bar. Soon after the fog lifted, the captain, not knowing his whereabouts, found himself nearly abreast of the fort on Morris Island, and while cogitatincg over his latitude and longitude, he was greeted with a salute from the fort. He immediately ran up his colors — the stars and stripes — but that demonstration seemed an unsatisfactory answer to their summons. Several shot (thirty-two's) were fired into his rigging, one of which passed through his mainsail and another through his topsail. In the midst of his dilemma, not knowing where he was or the object of this hostile demonstration, a boat from Fort Sumter came to his relief, and being made acquainted with the facts, he lost no time in putting to sea. The schooner suffered no material damage from the shots, though one of them came most uncomfortably near the head of one of the crew. Capt. M. thinks there is no mistake about the Morris Island boys being excellent marksmen.--Savannah Republican, April 5.