The disasters of July evidently led to a consideration of the subject of reconstruction as well in Georgia as in other States. Thus, in August, ex-Senator Toombs was led to write as follows:

WASHINGTON, GA., August 18th, 1863.

Dr. A. Bees, Americus, Ga.:

MY DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 15th inst., asking my authority to contradict the report that "I am in favor of reconstruction," was received this evening. I can conceive no extremity to which my country could be reduced in which I would for a single moment entertain any proposition for any union with the North on any terms whatever. When all else is lost, I prefer to unite with the thousands of our own countrymen who have found honorable deaths, if not graves, on the battle field. Use this letter as you please. Very truly, your friend, &c.,

R. TOOMBS. In August, a print issued at Macon said: To-day, and in the heart of Georgia, may be found men ready to discuss a reconstruction of these dissevered Unions! Men willing to degrade themselves, to enslave their wives and children-to insult our dead in their soldiers' graves-to make for their country a history of shame and infamy-to be the mock of all men for all time to come, by voluntary reunion with our vile, our despicable enemies. Reconstruction means but subjugation. To ask for readmission to the United States would be to petition for our own slavery and degradation.

Another in Savannah, a few days later, said:

That there are submissionists among us, remarks the Milledgeville" Union," all now see. They are banding together to form a political Union. Who compose this party or league? First and foremost the men who have never wanted the South to succeed. These are mostly men born at the North, or who have relatives in that section. Next comes the speculator, who has got rich out of the sufferings of our people, and who has bought property with his ill-gotten gains, which property he hopes to save by swearing allegiance to Lincoln, when it is put in danger. The next class (in shame and sorrow we say it) is composed of men who are between forty-five and fifty years of age, and who fear that they may yet be called to the field. They may have sons in the army-they may have had their sons butchered by the hated foe, but to keep at home themselves they are ready to dip their fingers in the heart's blood of an only son, and write traitor on his pale cold forehead. If we are not right, we are wrong. If we are not right in this war, we are all traitors. The man, therefore, who is ready to submit to Lincoln confesses himself guilty of treason, and deserves a

halter.

It appears that there were a very few who were bold enough to come out openly for reconstruction, but there were many who secretly harbored a wish for it. The position taken by the secessionists is shown in the above extracts and in the following: "Now, the time has long passed for discussing that subject. Secession is a fixed fact: we have been fighting two years for it; and I cannot separate between opposition to seceders and opposition to secession, which means opposition to the war, and that means submission to Abraham Lincoln."

A third candidate for governor was nominated, by the name of Furlow; but it does not appear what his peculiar views were. The entire vote cast was 64,704. The vote shows that Brown had 36,558; Hill, 18,122; Furlow, 10,

024-total vote, 64,704. For President in 1860 the total vote was 106,365.

Many of the candidates for the Congress at Richmond claimed the votes of the citizens on the ground that they were in favor of an "honorable peace."

Gov. Brown, in his message to the Legislature of the State, which convened in November, recommended the repeal of the substitute law, and the employment of negroes as teamsters and in similiar capacities in the army; that the pay of officers be increased twenty-five per cent., and that of privates to twenty-two dollars per month, and that the salaries of all State officers be increased; that cotton planting be restricted to one fourth of an acre to the hand, and that every energy be directed to the production of food; that $500,000 be appropriated to support soldiers' families; that $8,000,000 be appropriated as a military fund, and $2,000,000 as a clothing fund; that the militia be reorganized, so as to include all between eighteen and sixty, and that the 10th day of December be observed throughout the nation as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. He also opposed loaning the credit of the State to the Confederate Government or the endorsement of its bonds.

To meet this indebtedness, the interest and principal, the State had not only her taxable wealth, returned in 1863 as $991,596,383, and in 1860 returned at $672,322,777, but held stocks in banks and railroads amounting to $992,400, and the Western and Atlantic railroad entire, which was valued by a committee of the Legislature before the inflation of prices at $8,840,124, and which paid into the treasury as its net earnings during the year the sum of $1,650,000.

Resolutions were unanimously passed by the Legislature, reenacting the resolution in reference to the secession of the State, and pledging anew its entire resources, in vindication of the position then assumed, and declaring the determination not to become weary of the war until independence was achieved.

The military operations touched Georgia only on the southeastern and north western borders. Some naval movements in the waters adjacent to the Savannah river, which involved the attack on Fort McAllister, the capture of the ironclad steamer Atlanta, and the burning of the town of Darien, were the most important in the southeastern part of the State. Darien was burnt on the 11th of June by a force landed from two transports, accompanied by three gunboats. All the churches except the Methodist, the markethouse, courthouse, jail, clerk's office, and all the houses except three, were destroyed. The

salt works, at a distance from the town, were subsequently destroyed.

In May the governor called upon the State troops to come to the aid of the army in Mississippi, but without securing a sufficient force. On the approach of Gen. Rosecrans to Chattanooga, the reserves of the State were called into the field, and on a call for eight thousand, eighteen thousand offered themselves. The military organizations and officers had been retained, and to this cause the governor ascribed his success in securing men.

The Convention which adopted the ordinance of secession, at the same time passed an ordinance declaring that each alien within the State at that time should be regarded as a citizen, unless he made a declaration within three months before a court of record that he did not wish to be considered a citizen of the State. All aliens who omitted to make this declaration were therefore conscripted like other citizens for the army.

Claims for exemption were subsequently brought before the courts of the State by aliens, but in all cases it was decided that the plea of alienage conferred no exemption. On the same grounds the protest of the British consul, Mr. Fullerton, in similar cases was disregarded.

The number of soldiers contributed to the army during the year is at present unknown. The foreign commerce of the State was reduced to a few small cargoes in some light vessels, which escaped the blockading force.

GERMANY, a confederation of sovereign and independent states in Central Europe. The Constitution of the Confederacy consists of twenty articles. Its object, according to the first article, is "the preservation of the internal and external security of Germany and the independence and inviolability of the various German states." The organ and representative of the Confederation is the Diet of Plenipotentiaries, which is permanent, and assembles in the free city of Frankfort-on-the-Main. The executive and administrative government of the Diet is constituted in two forms: 1st. as a General Assembly or Plenum, in which every member of the Confederation has at least one vote, and the larger states have two, three, or four votes each; and 2d, the Minor Council, or Committee of Confederation, in which the eleven largest states cast one vote each, while six votes are given to the smaller states, a number of them combined having a joint vote. The General Assembly decides on war and peace, on the admission of new members, on any changes in the fundamental laws or organic institutions, but in all other cases the Minor Council is competent to act both as Legislature and Executive.

At the time of its establishment, in 1815, the German Confederation consisted of thirty-nine sovereign states, but the following five states have now ceased to exist: 1st, the Duchy of Gotha, which became extinct in 1826, by the decease of the last duke, and was according to VOL. III.-29

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compact divided between Saxe Coburg and Saxe Meiningen; 2d, the Duchy of Anhalt Köthen, which, in consequence of the extinction of the ducal house in 1847, became annexed to Anhalt Dessau; 3d and 4th, the Principalities of Hohenzollern Hechingen and Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, which, in 1849 were united to Prussia, in consequence of the simultaneous abdication of the two reigning princes in favor of the king of Prussia, head of the House of Hohenzollern; 5th, the Duchy of Anhalt Bernburg, which became extinct on August 19th, 1863, and was united with Anhalt Dessau-Köthen.

The following table exhibits the present members of the German Confederation, the titles of the Sovereigns, the number of votes cast by each member in the Diet, and their rank. The Presidency of the Federal Diet is permanently vested in Austria.

The population of each German state, according to the census of 1861 (unless otherwise marked), its area in English square miles, as well as the contingent of each state in the Federal army, may be seen from the following table:

The great majority of the inhabitants of the Confederation belong to the Teutonic race. In two states only-Austria and Prussia-is there a considerable number of natives of other races. Austria has more than 6 millions Slavi and about 500,000 Roumanians in its crownlands, which belong to the German Confederation, and Prussia about 850,000 Slavi. In four

of the Austrian provinces of the Confederation-Bohemia, Moravia, Carniola and Illyria, Trieste, Goerz, Istria-the non-German races even form a majority of the population.

For several years Germany has been agitated by a movement for reforming the Federal Constitution and bringing about a closer union of the states. To promote this object, the "National Verein" (National Association) was founded, which soon spread through all the states, with the exception of Austria. The greatest difficulty in the way of a union of the German states, appeared to be the Government of Austria, which had announced its design by means of the new Constitution of the Austrian Empire to consolidate permanently all the various nationalities of the empire into one body politic. The majority of the National Verein were of opinion, that the first reconstruction of Germany should not embrace Austria.

One of the earliest results of the national movement was the attention paid to the construction of a German fleet. The General Assembly of the National Verein held at Heidelberg on August 23d and 24th, 1861, decided to organize a national subscription for the construction of gunboats, to appropriate from their own receipts 10,000 florins to this end, and to transmit all the contributions to the Prussian Ministry of the navy. In the Federal Diet propositions for the construction of a fleet for the defence of the coasts of the Northern and the Baltic seas were made by the Government of Hanover, on Oct. 10th, 1861. On Feb. 13th, 1862, the military committee of the Federal Diet proposed to create a commission, consist.

ing of experts, in which all the states might be represented, which should indicate all the general measures to be adopted. A second commission, composed exclusively of delegates of the sea coast states, would then be charged with elaborating the projects indicated by the first commission. This proposition was adopted by the Diet on March 8th, 1862, and the first commission assembled at Hamburg, on April 16th, 1862.

On Oct. 31st, 1861, the representative of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha demanded a Federal decision whether the National Verein conformed to or was contrary to the Federal laws. He added that it was time that the princes should give satisfaction to the wishes of the nation, and he indicated as a means to arrive at the unity of Germany, the combination of diplomatic and military control in one hand.

A comprehensive project of Federal reform was elaborated by Mr. de Beust, the prime minister of Saxony, and together with an explanation, presented to Austria. This project, which is dated Oct. 15th, 1861, called forth a long and important diplomatic correspondence. The Prussian cabinet before which it was laid, on Nov. 16th, replied to it by a despatch, dated Dec. 20th. To the Prussian despatch Austria, the four kingdoms, and several other states of the Confederation, replied by a note of Feb. 3d, 1862. The project of Mr. de Beust retains the Diet with its 17 votes, but proposes that it meet twice a year, on March 1st and November 1st, alternately at Ratisbon and Hamburg, each session lasting four weeks. The Presidency was to be alternately in Austria

that the "National Verein " and the "General Assembly of the members of German Diets," agreed in all important points, and that they demanded a more liberal and democratic basis for the reconstructed union than the Great German Party, although the latter contained likewise a strong democratic element.

The first General Assembly of the members of German Diets met at Weimar, on Sept. 28th. The members of the Austrian Council of the Empire had been specially invited, but none of them made their appearance. The assembly was attended by 213 deputies, representing most of the German states, and elected Mr. Fries, of Weimar, president, and Mr. Unruh, of Prussia, and Barth, of Bavaria, vice-presidents. Upon motion of Mr. Joseph, of Saxony, it was resolved, that the admission by the assembly of deputies from states, where constitutions had been introduced or modified without the assent of the chambers, did in no way prejudge the valid ity of these constitutions. It then adopted the following resolutions: 1. The Federal unity of Germany such as it was legally expressed by the German constitution of March 28th, 1849, without encroaching upon the independence of the particular states, is a political necessity both for making Germany respected abroad and for securing liberty at home. It can only be affected by the convocation of a parliament. The creation of a parliament for all Germany constitutes a right of the German people. It is the duty of every German, of each government, and of every German chamber to urge by all legal means the establishment of this constitution. 2. The German parliament must emanate from a free popular election. The proposed assembly of delegates cannot be regarded as even a first step, and ought, therefore, to be rejected. 3. The proposed Federal tribunal appears to be very dangerous to liberty, and must be absolutely rejected. 4. German unity must embrace all Germany; no people ought to be excluded, and it is the right as well as the duty of all the states to unite. This holds good, particularly of German Austria. But if insurmountable obstacles should oppose themselves in the beginning to the formation of a Federal unity embracing German Austria, this should not be a reason for the other states to delay on their part the execution of this national work. On the other hand, the admission of other countries of the Austrian empire, which have heretofore formed no part of the Germanic Confederation, is irreconcilable with the national wants of the German people. 5th. The question of the executive German power should not be definitely settled without the participation and the assent of the first German parliament. In the discussion which preceded the adoption of these resolutions, only one dissenting voice was heard, that of Herr Von Gagern, who pleaded the cause of Austria and demanded that the central power should be placed conjointly in the hands of Austria and Prussia. The assembly appointed a standing

committee of twenty members, who jointly chose eleven additional deputies.

A few days later, on Oct. 6th and 7th, the annual general assembly of the "National Verein" was held at Coburg. It passed resolu tions similar to those passed at Weimar. According to a report of the committee, the "National Verein" at this time numbered 25,325 members.

The first general assembly of the "Great German" Party was opened at Frankfort on Oct. 28th, and attended by about 550 members, many of whom were representatives of the chambers of Austria, Bavaria, Baden, Hanover, and other states. The views of this assembly are expressed in the following resolutions, which were adopted almost unanimously, viz.: 1st. The reform of the constitution of the Germanic Confederation is an urgent and indispensable necessity. 2d. The reform must make it possible for all the German states to enter the union. 3d. It can be achieved only by the creation of a strong Federal executive with a national representation. 4th. The only possible form for the Federal executive under the actual circumstances would be an executive college with an appropriate distribution of votes. 5th. The assembly of delegates, proposed by eight governments, must be accepted as a first step toward the creation of a national representation; but it is to be hoped that the governments will not delay to transform this assembly into a periodical representation near the Diet with an extension of its powers. 6th. In order to procure for it the required moral authority, it ought to have a sufficiently large number of members. The legislatures of the several states ought to have the right to fix the mode of their election; but in no case should the eligibility be limited to the members of the several national representations. 7th. The reform should be effected by way of agreement upon the basis of the actual Federal Constitution. 8th. Although a Federal tribunal whose independence should be secured appears to be one of the most useful institutions, the plan proposed by the eight governments does not appear to answer the desired end.

The Federal Diet toward the close of the year had animated debates on the question of establishing an assembly of delegates. Austria and her allies (the four kingdoms, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau) maintained that such a measure would not be an organic change of the constitution, and that therefore no unanimity of votes was required for its passage. This view was opposed by Prussia and Baden, the latter power maintaining, moreover, that if a representation of the people was to be inaugurated at all in connection with the Diet, it ought to have greater powers than were accorded to it by the scheme of Austria and her allies. A vote on the subject was reached on Jan. 22d, 1863. Only seven out of the seventeen votes of the minor council declared in favor of the Austrian scheme. Denmark declared that the negotia