here "property" has another meaning beside that to which Blackstone has applied it. Being obliged to stop for the night at the cottage of a simpleminded primitive old couple, we were sitting round a log-fire in the room, which formed our kitchen, parlour, and host's bedroom, when a little black woolly-headed urchin made his appearance, and began diligent preparations for our supper. "Smart lad that, ma'am," we remarked to our hostess. Yes, siree," replied the old lady. "Wouldn't take 700 dollars for my boy. There's not such another in all the country round. A gentleman offered me 600 for him last week; but dear me, 'twould break my heart to part with my boy. He goes with me to meetin' every Sunday-to mind my horse and waggon." 66 Having reached a station on the Louisville and Nashville line, we found the regular trains stopped, and the "track" altogether devoted to soldiers and munitions of war. A delay, therefore, of several hours ensued, which we passed most agreeably at a small hotel in the company of several gentlemen of Kentucky, whose opinions made it necessary for them to proceed south in order to avoid arrest, and who for some days previously had suffered considerable privations in eluding the grasp of the Federal authorities. armed to the teeth; forts crown her pleasant hills, and the smoke of the camp-fire curls over her dense oak-forests. In and around Louisville a large army of Union soldiers are quartered. Freedom of speech there is at an end, and arrests are reported in the newspapers every morning. At Bowling Green, a little to the south, there is a great Confederate camp, commanded by a gallant General, who certainly possesses the undivided affection of his soldiers. In the west, another large corps threatens Peducat; while General Zollicoffer, in the east, is organising an army to oppose any movement that may be made from Frankfort. The forces of these three commanders are daily increasing, and the arbitrary acts done at Louisville, Elizabeth Town, and elsewhere, have served greatly to swell the ranks. Yet Kentucky is not altogether Secessionist. Her legislature is still strong for the Union. Whole counties are the same. Distinguished men, opposed to the Government, still adhere to the stars and stripes. The mature and honoured judgment of the venerable Crittenden is yet against "the rebels ;' " but where are Morehead, Buchner, Preston, Breckenridge ? Our party at the little inn broke up on the arrival of a train, and we found standing-room in a car crowded with soldiers. Few were dressed in uniform, but all were well armed: one beside us, not a bad sample of the rest, had a breech-loading carbine slung over his shoulder, two revolvers in one side of his belt, and a bowie-knife in the other. What a contrast these men presented to the soldiers we had hitherto seen! Determination and reckless daring marked every feature and gesture. This State," the eldest daughter of Virginia," presented to the stranger an interesting, and at the same time painful spectacle. Her people, generally esteemed the bravest in the Union, strongly attached to the national flag, refused at first to secede, although a considerable number of her most distinguished statesmen openly avowed their sympathy for the Confederate Government. Subsequently her neutrality was recognised by the authorities at Washington, which the Confederates say was afterwards violated by the North-and the North declare was broken by the Confederates. Well, they have a fine army, However that may be, she is now and will do their best, I think." "Do you think the Yankees are going to whip us, sir?" inquired our friend, looking like a walking infernal machine. 66 "Don't care, sir; they can't do it. If they beat us in the field, we'll take to the woods, and shoot them down like squirrels." "Look here, sir; see what they have done to me. I am a shoemaker by trade. They tried to arrest me in Elizabeth Town; I got away, but they took my wife; so, by. -I'll take five-and-twenty Yankee scalps, or they shall have mine"!! Being disappointed in finding any of that Union feeling in the south of Kentucky of which we had heard so much in New York, we proceeded to Nashville in Tennessee. More camps, more soldiers, more drilling. Men, women, and children think of nothing but the war. Fathers of large families are frequently seen serving in the ranks as privates, side by side with their sons. Ladies make soldiers' coats and trousers, while children knit their stockings. Trade is in a great measure at a stand-still; but the rapidity with which the people, hitherto dependent upon the North for every manufactured article, however simple, are beginning to supply their wants for themselves, receives at Nashville a curious exemplification. A few weeks ago a boy discovered a method of making percussion-caps, which the army was then much in need of. A factory was forthwith established, that now turns out some millions per week. Amongst the dangers which we had heard at New York threatened the South, a revolt of the slave population was said to be the most imminent. Let us take, then, a peep at a cotton-field, and see what likelihood there is of such a contingency. On the bank of the Alabama river, which winds its yellow course through dense woods of oak, ash, maple, and pine, thickened with tangled copse of varied evergreens, lie some of the most fertile plantations of the State. One of these we had the advantage of visiting. Its owner received us with all that hospitality and unaffected bonhommie which invariably distinguish VOL. XC.-NO. DLIV. a Southern gentleman. Having mounted a couple of hacks, we started off through a large pine-wood, and soon arrived at a "clearing" of about 200 acres in extent, on most of which was growing an average cotton-crop. This was a fair sample of the rest of the plantation, which consisted altogether of 7000 acres. Riding into the middle of the field, we found ourselves surrounded by about forty slaves, men, women, and children, engaged in "picking." They were all well dressed, and seemed happy and cheerful. Wishing to know what time of day it was, I asked Mrthe hour, whereupon one of the darkies by my side took out a gold watch and informed me. "Do your labourers generally wear gold watches, sir?" I inquired. "A great many of them have. Why, sir, my negroes all have their cotton-plots and gardens, and most of them little orchards." We found from their own testimony that they are fed well, chiefly upon pork, corn, potatoes, and rice, carefully attended to when sick, and on Sundays dress better than their masters. Many of them had six or seven hundred dollars of their own, which they either lend to the banks or hide in the ground. In the hot weather they begin work at six in the morning, and go on till ten; they then go home till about three, and when the sun declines, return to their work till six or seven. In the cool weather they begin soon after daylight, and rest for two or three hours in the middle of the day. We next visited the "Station," a street of cottages in a pine-wood, where Mr's "family" reside. These we found clean and comfortable. Two of the men were sick, and had been visited that morning by a doctor; in the mean time they were looked after by the nurses of the establishment, of whom there were three to take care of the children and invalids. On the whole, it can fearlessly be said, if this is a true type of the 3 E 66 mode in which slaves are treated in the South, that their physical condition is as good, if not better, than that of any labouring population in the world. The masters ridicule the idea of disloyalty. They live amongst them in the most perfect confidence, and never bestow a serious thought upon what they consider such an impossibility as a negro insurrection." Having visited other plantations in Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia, we cannot resist the belief that the great mass of the slaves in the South must be pronounced to be well cared for and contented; and although there are necessarily a thousand things connected with "the institution" of which no Englishman can approve, it is undoubtedly true that, notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of abolitionists, the negroes bear the yoke cheerfully, and heartily join their fortunes to those of their masters in the great struggle in which they are now engaged. Many plantations may now be seen without a white man upon them, except the overseers; and instances occur daily of the fidelity with which "servants" who have accompanied their masters to the war serve them in the camp and field. Further, the generals employ the negroes in the commissariat, and upon earthworks in situations where desertion and consequent freedom would be perfectly easy, thereby showing in the slaves a confidence which is justified by the fact that the Northern army, now on Arlington Heights, find it almost impossible to obtain correct information of what is going on in the Confederate camp, two miles distant from the Union outposts. The perfect unanimity throughout the whole South in the belief that their cause is just, strikes the stranger as one of the most formidable symptoms which the Union has to fear. Without pretending to form an opinion as to whether this universal conviction is rightly or wrongly arrived at, we simply assert the fact. The same story is told in the trains, in the hotels, on the plantations, in the drawing-rooms, in the camps, and in the newspapers, by young and old, rich and poor, men and women, with a uniformity that would be monotonous, were it not for the fire generally thrown into its narration. 66 They say that the North began the conflict years ago, in the irritating and unprovoked agitation of the slavery question, and have continued it from the time of the Missouri controversy to the 4th of last March, when the President announced that the platform of his party was "a law unto him," and that party had declared there was an irrepressible conflict" between the two sections of the Union. If we remarked that slavery was an evil about which we considered all American statesmen must feel anxiety, they replied, The President was sworn to defend it. It is an institution which feeds and clothes the world, which protects the negro against the vicissitudes of old age, sickness, and infancy, and keeps him in the only position where he can be useful to society, and harmless to himself. That the sun fixed the boundaries between white and black labour, in spite of arms and laws; and so sure as one flourished in Massachusetts, the other would prosper in Georgia. That when the North abolished slavery, and sold their slaves to the South, they then turned round, broke faith, and endeavoured to disquiet a title emanating from themselves. That the tariff laws were ruinous to the South. That in raising their revenue by heavy duties on foreign goods, which came back in return for Southern produce, the North were making the South pay the great bulk of the expense of government. That by prohibiting trade in foreign ships, the South were obliged to take Northern to the exclusion of foreign goods. That, by monopolising the European trade, the North obtained great profits in brokerage and in 1861.] freights upon Southern produce to Europe, as well as upon European goods brought back in return for that produce, from all of which the South reaped little benefit. If we remarked that the political power of the United States had been for many years in the hands of the Southern party, who ought therefore to have remedied these evils, we were told, True; many Northern men -the whole Democratic party, in fact-disagreeing with the extreme Republicans, would vote with the South on general subjects, and in the choice of statesmen; but when it became a question between the two great sections into which the country is divided, the North would unite and outvote the South. That Southern statesmen acquiesced in a financial policy of which they disapproved, because they feared that, if the management of affairs were given into the hands of the Republican party, the evils complained of would be immediately aggravated, and the condition of their country rendered altogether desperate. That division among the Democrats had led to the return of Mr Lincoln, and the triumph of a party purely sectional, but pledged to the destruction of the peculiar institutions and material interests of the South. The women of all classes seemed not less unanimous and devoted than the men. Along the line of railway crowds waved flowers and handkerchiefs as the train bore towards the seat of war those who were nearest to their affections. Mothers, sisters, wives, flocked to the railway stations to bid farewell to those for whom they would willingly give their lives. Yet few shed tears at these partings. All the weaker feelings of their nature seemed sealed up or banished; and a conviction that each was making a sacrifice in a holy cause was stamped on every countenance. In passing along the line of railway, between Montgomery and Charleston, we had many opportunities of conversing with the soldiers in the trains; these were But "conspicuous by their absence" were the farmer-boys-a body from which the best of the Northern army are recruited. In the South, of course, this class does not exist, the whole of the fieldlabour being carried on by slaves. This industrial peculiarity, which was considered by foreigners as the great weakness of the Confederates, has hitherto proved to them a tower of strength. We found in all the States which we visited, agricultural operations progressing with as much vigour and regularity as in times of profound peace. Indeed, tracts of land hitherto allowed to run waste will this year be sown in corn to counteract as much as possible the inconvenience of the blockade. But the slaves are not employed exclusively in out-door labour. Necessity has taught the South that she must rely upon herself for many things which she cannot do without, and which, in former times, it was cheaper to import than to manufacture. Large numbers of hand-looms and spinning-wheels are seen in the country districts, which the population are rapidly learning to make good use of; and we met one planter who showed us enough cloth for the uniforms of fifty men, that had been entirely made on his own property. Again, before the war, leather was so little manufactured in the South, that hides were seldom saved, and tan-yards were almost unknown. Shoemaking, saddlery, and many other industrial employments, are now being quickly brought into operation; and all the country appears to want is the machinery to adapt its boundless natural productions to the wants of man. The blockade has undoubtedly been productive of great individual in convenience. All communication by letter has been cut off. Friends are unable to correspond. Painful instances are met with every day of the anxiety to hear tidings of relatives abroad. But we doubt very much whether it has at all materially crippled the South, while nothing has more served to effect that social separation which the people take pleasure in, declaring it is as complete now as if the Confederacy had been established for fifty years. Charleston being the commercial emporium of South Carolina, which was the first State to "go out" of the Union, may be said to be the metropolis of Secession. Her harbour, a shallow bay with low marshy woods on each side, which are plentifully supplied with racoons, squirrels, rattlesnakes, and malaria, contains the famous Sumter. The town, built on a promontory jutting out into the harbour, looks straight upon the sea, and the "battery," from which the ladies waved their handkerchiefs during the siege, lies along the water's edge, and forms the favourite promenade of the fair and gallant citizens. The "Fort" is situated about five miles from the "Battery," nearly half-way between it and the mouth of the bay, and more than a mile from the northern and southern shores. It is a brick pentagon building, built upon an artificial island, and contains three tiers of guns, the two lower being in casemates, and the higher one in embrasures. The former are protected by arched bomb-proof coverings, the latter by a parapet eight feet high. The number of guns altogether is about 140. Round the parade are the men's quarters, and in the centre stand two furnaces for heating shot. The magazines are capable of containing 40,000 pounds of powder, with a proportionate quantity of shot and shell. During the siege the garrison consisted only of 1 major, 3 captains, 4 lieutenants, 1 sergeant, 15 bandsmen, and 55 gunners making a total of 79; or about sufficient to fight ten guns. Upon this work were brought to bear fifty pieces of heavy artillery from batteries erected on both sides of the harbour and from Fort Moutrie, situated on the northern shore. It is here unnecessary to describe the siege minutely; but we may mention that, on Thursday the 11th of April, General Beauregard made a demand on Major Anderson to surrender, which, the latter replied, it would be inconsistent with his duty to comply with; that under the direction of President Davis General Beauregard informed the Major that if he would evacuate the fort when his provisions were exhausted, there would be no appeal to arms. This offer was refused, and the first Confederate gun opened fire on Friday morning the 12th, marking the commencement of civil war in the United States. The bombardment lasted during the whole day and following night, when, about nine o'clock on Saturday morning, a column of smoke rising above the battlements announced the fact that "Sumter was on fire." About this time Colonel Wigfall, aide-de-camp to the General, and Private Young, embarked in a small boat, and, entering the fort through a porthole, demanded a surrender. Major Anderson replied, "They are still firing on me!" "Then take down your flag," said Colonel Wigfall; 66 they will continue to fire on you so long as that is up." After some explanations, in the course of which it appeared that the small garrison were fast suffocating in the casemates, the gallant commander agreed to an unconditional surrender to General Beauregard, who, as Colonel Wigfall remarked, "is a soldier and a gentleman, and knows how to treat a brave enemy." A horse was the only living thing killed during the bombardment. This is explained, on the one hand, by the guns in the embrasures hav |