Monday, December 20, 2010

Dec. 20.—The news from Charleston is very unfavorable this morning.

“Civil war is imminent—peace is impossible,” are the utterances which meet the ear on every side. There is here no longer any more hope of peace than of compromise, say the people. The speeches from northwestern representatives have taken us by surprise. Such flaming tirades against disunion, coupled with direct threats of coercion, were not expected from that quarter. It is not deemed impossible that the rich and saucy Northwest may join forces with the poor and starving East, and give the South some trouble, in the times now pressing upon us. The position of South Carolina is, however, so firmly taken, that though “one rose from the dead” to urge her retreat, she would not take one step backward.—N. Y. Times, Dec. 21.

—The Secession Ordinance passed the Convention of South Carolina to-day by a unanimous vote.—(Doc. 2.)

As soon as its passage was known without the doors of the Convention, it rapidly spread on the street, a crowd collected, and there was immense cheering.

In the House of Representatives at Washington, Mr. Garnet of Virginia announced the fact as follows: “Why, Sir, while your bill is under debate, one of the sovereign States of this Confederacy has, by the glorious act of her people, withdrawn, in vindication of her rights, from the Union, as the telegraph announced at to-day.” [Here some three or four Southern members expressed approval by a slight clapping of hands. There was no other manifestation in the House.]

—There was an enthusiastic meeting at Memphis, Tennessee, this evening, to ratify the secession of South Carolina.

—The Charleston Mercury discusses the necessity of providing for seacoast defence, and proposes to construct a half-sunken battery at the mouth of the river, with a block-house one hundred and fifty feet in the rear.

—The secession of South Carolina was celebrated at Mobile by the firing of a hundred guns, and a military parade. There was great rejoicing. The bells rang merrily, and the people in the streets by hundreds expressed their joy at the secession. Many impromptu speeches were made, and the greatest excitement existed.

—In the midst of a crowd of over three thousand people, collected in Secession Hall at Charleston this evening, the ordinance of secession was duly signed and sealed by the members of the Convention. The occasion was one of the greatest solemnity at some of its periods, and of the wildest excitement at others.—N. Y. Times, Dec. 21.