dom, when their struggle was confined to the domain of peaceful arguments."

SPECIOUS PLEAS OF THE FEDERALS.

When the war commenced, the determination was announced on all occasions, and by all the means in the Federal power, "as the South has taken part in the election which terminated in favour of Lincoln, we will fight him into the presidency in all the States." The South, however, has taken no part in his second re-election; and, therefore, their former plea is no longer available; and as the constitution of the United States requires that the governors should have the consent of the governed, we should like to know by what process the advocates of the Federal government arrive at the "plea now used," that the Federal Government has rights wherever her flag has floated." The Index has the following able article on the subject, which we introduce to the reader.

THE FOURTH OF MARCH.

"The approaching inauguration of a new government to conduct the affairs of 20,000,000 of men —and which in the days of our children's children may rule over 100,000,000 of men-is, one would suppose, an event that must command the attention of the world. And the supposition is correct.

On

the continent of America the 4th of March next is looked forward to as one of the few days in a century pregnant with mighty changes which in all time to come will be a great landmark in history. In Europe statesmen, and all those who have any political intelligence, are discussing and thinking about the ceremony that will be performed in Washington on the 4th of March next. On that

day Abraham Lincoln will be inaugurated as the first President of the section of the old United States which still retains the old name. In vain do some Federal partisans in this country try to deny this position. Sophistry can weave no web that will conceal the fact. The people of the Federal States, if not by words, acknowledge it by their acts. They may not be quite sure that Europe will, on and after the 4th of March, recognise the Confederate States, but they know that on and after that day there will be no pretence for saying that the government of Washington has any legal or constitutional right to claim dominion over the States of the South. Hence the haste to secure, if possible, an immediate peace, and hence the rumours of recognition that are rife both in Europe and America. At such a juncture it may be desirable to set forth the position of Europe with respect to the two great Confederations of America.

It is utterly impossible for any one to invent any pretext to justify the assumption that after the 4th of March next Mr. Lincoln will be President of

the Southern as well as of the Northern States. Mr. Lincoln is an elected magistrate, and has no hereditary right to rule the States of the South. He has not been elected President by the Southern States -or, to put it more forcibly, the Southern States have taken no part in his election. What other claim, then, can Mr. Lincoln urge? Not that of conquest, for the South is not conquered. There are only three titles to sovereignty known amongst menhereditary descent, conquest, and election. genuity can devise a fourth title. Will any one pretend that Mr. Lincoln is the hereditary ruler over the South? Will any one pretend that Mr. Lincoln is the ruler over the South by virtue of conquest? Will any one pretend that Mr. Lincoln is ruler over the South by the title of election ?

No in

"In despair some Federal partisans in Europe have cried out that the South might have taken part in the election if she would. The Federal Congress has in a most formal and solemn manner refuted this feeble suggestion. The constitution of the United States decrees as follows, respecting the election for President, the only action in which the several sovereign states of the Federation participate simultaneously, and which is indeed the only national act :

"Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the State may be entitled in

Congress.

The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed. If no person have a majority, then, from the five highest in the list, the said house (of Representatives) shall in like manner (by ballot) choose the President. But, in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representative from each State having one vote. A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.'

"In January last the United States Congress decreed that only 24 States should take part in the November election, and as the 24 included the bogus State of Western Virginia, the congressional decree forbade 11 of the 34 States from taking part in the election. Nor is that all. The Federal House of Representatives has lately adopted a resolution that the States of Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, shall be excluded from the electoral count of the votes for President and Vice-President of the United States. Does not this in a most emphatic and legal manner bar the South from taking part in the Presidential election? Does it not prove that Mr. Lincoln, who is not the hereditary sovereign of the South, nor the sovereign of the South by right of conquest, is

not the sovereign of the South by virtue of election? And since there is not a fourth title to sovereignty, is not the action of the United States Congress a de facto recognition of the separation of the South from the North? There is not a statesman in Europe who does not give an affirmative reply to these questions.

"We have maintained, and history will maintain, that the South had a legal right to recognition as an independent Confederacy as soon as the act of secession was accomplished; but we do not deny that there was a flimsy argument against recognition, or rather in favour of recognising the title of Mr. Lincoln as supreme magistrate of 34 States, because the 34 States took part in his election. But after the 4th of March next the recognition of Mr. Lincoln as the President of the United States cannot and will not involve his recognition as the chief magistrate of the Southern States. What then is to be done respecting the South? In each of the Confederate States there is a regular government in full operation, and there is as much order and law as there is in England or France. There are large Confederate armies in the field, and between the North and South there is a cartel of exchange. The public loan. of the Confederate States is quoted on every principal exchange in Europe. The second session of the second Congress of the Confederate States is sitting in Richmond. The President of the United States and Mr Seward