The American quarrel advances slowly, both parties drawing in strength
towards Virginia as their first battle-field. Perhaps the most noteworthy fact of the week is the distinct evidence of Mr. Russell on the unanimity and desperation of the South. He found, apparently, but one set of opinions both in Charleston and Mont- gomery, and that was one of bitter hostility to the North, a resolu- tion to sacrifice everything, life included, rather than yield a step. In proof of their determination, the planters have placed one-half of the cotton crop of next season at the disposal of Mr. Davis, a con- tribution believed to amount to 25,000,000/. sterling. The Congress at Montgomery has officially recognized war, and offered a bounty of twenty-five dollars a head on every sailor on board a ship of the United States when taken or destroyed—an offer which, though not precisely that of blood-money, is almost without a precedent in modern warfare.
