Ti!r,r gtt Vrtss. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1863 TAE NEWS. AFFAIRS, in the Southwest have their usual cha 'fader of alertness and enterprise. A deg:latch from Knoxville states that East Tennessee is at present cleared of all important rebel forces, the latest fight, whiob occurred at Roan Springs, having resulted in 'the rout of the rebels. A gallant cavalry fight or -coked at Lawrenceburg, Ttnn., where lea men under Major.Eitzgibbon defeated three times their number of rebels. A large force of guerillas have made a raid upon Western Kentucky, tearing up railroads and burning bridges, and capturing a num ber of prominent citizens in the neighborhood of Union city. Price's forces have mini been defeat ed at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The meet operations on Canton, Miss., by Mcnerson's forces from Nieltsburg, are thought to have been successful in preventing a formidable raid by rebel cavalry on Idemphie. Refugees are still flocking into our lines from the rebel territory. A COICSIDERABLIt engagement has occurred at Colliersville, Tennessee, on the line of railroad from Chattanooga. The enemy attacked a body of Rooker's troops in heavy force, but, after a severe fight, were repulsed. General Geary and staff are reported prisoner& Garranat Baa.oo's forage train, sent up L;)oltout 'alley, was recently captured by the forces of Ge neral Thomas. In the same army,an altercation oc curred between Colonel Loomis . add Major flerrod, •of the 9th Illinois Cavalry, resulting in the death of the former. Rerrod's life was with difficulty Bared from the fury of the soldiers. Ireretmorseu from North Carolina continues favorable to the cause, of the Union. The Raleigh Standard regards the elections in the North as a blow to the last hopes of the Confederacy. A new rebel ram, built at Wilmington, is mentioned in come. ponder= as being ready to make an attempt against the blockade. A avrAirsnir arrival from Europe has brought some interesting news of the progress of the Mexi can and Polish questions. In his, speech to the Mexican deputation, it is remarked that the Era- Teror made no mention of the Archduke Maximi lian, who may Possibly be abandoned for a French place or general, as doubt exists whether France 'will offer the guarantees which the Archduke re. quires. A parting breakfast was given to Mr. Beecher at Manchester. Ten speeches of Jefferson Davis to the troops in the Southwest are reported in the rebel papers. He recommends conciliation to what he is pleased to term his misguided brethren of Tennessee. Tux Mexicali papers state that quarrels between the French soldiery and the people are of common Occurrence in the capital of M.exwo, and numbers of the French have been assassinated. The guerillas are growing bolder and more numerous, and lately a republican demonstration occurred in one of the theatres. The rumor that France desires to aban don Mexico is current in British,correspondence. Fonmnarn news of the elections enlarges the aha• 'raster of the victories achieved by the Union party. *Nearly all the unconditional Union candidates for 'Congress in Maryland have been elected by ent. phatio majorities. Colonel Creamed], of the First district, is perhaps the only exception, having been defeated by Crisfield, the present Representative. The returns from the West convey no definite result, though it is very probable that the Radicals have carried Missouri. IN behalf of the Episcopal clergy who signed the protest against Bishop Hopkins , view of the Bible through slavery, Rev. A. De Wolfe Howe has writ• ten a strong and unanswerable letter replying to the Bishop of Vermont. The South not a Nation. :When Mr. GLADSTONE ventured to affirm, somo time ago, to a British audience, that "JEFFERSON DAVIS had made the South a great'nation," he was going one step farther than even the editor, of, the Richmond Whig would care to tread. Some time last month JEFssnsott DAvis made a speech to some .of the rebel troops in Alahama, in which he was reported to have said : "May you live to see the hag of our infant Repub. lie the ensign of a great nation, floating proudly among the national colors of the world." The Richmond Whig is not well pleased with this species of rhetoric, and gives utte rance to its displeasure in these words " We do not think the President could have used the language here attributed to him ; but, if he did, -we feel sure that it escaped him inadvertently. The people of these States are protesting now with all the energy and all the means they possess, with life and fortune and sacred honor staked on the issue, against the Yankee theory that the Union of which they were lately members was a Nation.' Their belief is that that Union was, and still more clearly and indisputably this Confederacy is, an association of nations, a partnership of Republics, and they re cognize no such word as nation and ' national When applied'to that association." We incline to the belief that the candor 'with which the Whig propounds this princi ple of government will cost it more than one subscriber; for, to say the least, it is the coolest attempt we have yet seen to denationalize the "0 -called Southern Con federacy." And yet the theoryis not an ex traordinary one: It is the old doctrine of disintegration, of State sovereignty, of which south Carolina was = the .foremost champion, and which to-day numbers among its warmest advocates the REEDS, and ThnDLEs, and INGEnsoLLs, of our State. Mr. GLADSTONE could not have offered a greater insult to the South than he did in affirming that it was a " great nation." As for the Richmond Whig, however, in combatting the theory of the centralization of power into which Mr. DAVIS inadvertently fell, it is guilty of the grossest plagiarism. At least three months ago, a New York Copperhead paper called the Daily News, denounced our present Adminis tration for its "attempts at centralization," upon the ground that a "military despot ism" was sought to be established ; and the News itself did not claim the issue as a new one in American politics. More than this, its Richmond coteruporary, not content with plagiarism, makes that plagiarism the occa sion of a nice bit of sophistry. It is untrue that the people of the South have refused to cognize the Words " nation " as applied to tineir pseudo government. How long has it been since a " national " conscription was ordered by the " Confederate" government? How long since a "national currency" was decided upon by the same august body? How long since Confederate M. C's waxed eloquent upon the question of a design for a - Confederate flag ? Nevertheless, we are con tent to accept the argument of the Whig as just, without any: very close scrutiny—for it is not every species of argument that will stand the test, as is abundantly proved in this instance. We accept the admission that the South is not a nation, and does not aspire to be a nation. Upon this basis it will be a very easy matter to re• establish our Federal Union, when the military power of ibe Rebellion has been destroyed, and peace dawns upon the land. Mr. Seward's Speech at Auburn. The Secretary of State has not made many speeches since he accepted a position in the Cabinet, though there are few men whose utterances are as welcome as his; few, who, by reason of ability and experi -ence, are entitled to declare the dangers and duties of the nation. But Mr. SEWARD can serve the people even better than through counsel, and his responsibility as --a Cabi net officer is sufficient reason for his usual silence. When he does speak it is with the influence of a man trusted by the peo ple, who does not waste his words upon topics of secondary importance. His speech at Auburn, New York, has, there fore, weight and emphasis ; it is the un premeditated utterance of a mind which has thoroughly studied the causes of na tional misfortune, and perfectly understands the methods of removing them forever. The important truth which is the basis of Mr. SEWARD'S argument, - which he so repeatedly affirms and undeniably proves, is this—J.' ABRAHAM LINCOLN must be Presi dent of all the States by - virtue of his -election of 1860, or not only the peace of the Union, but the Union itself is forever lost." Justice must reign, and this war must enthrone it in South Carolina as well as in Pennsylvania. The whole country was insulted when the South ern States refused to abide by the decision of the country when it elected Mr. Lirworx. Those who voted for Mr. Doti 'WAS, Or Mr. BRECMIsTRIDJE, or Mr. BELL, were as much insulted as those who voted for the successful candidate, for the mo ment the decision of the people was out 'raged the question ceased to be of party, and becamb national. -is now purely na :tional, and the nation must decide it upon '6lie principles which Mr. SEWARD has so -ably set forth. We are to remember that the Administration cannot be divorced from the Government, and to understand that it is only through the Administration that the people can exert their energies in defence of the country. "The instinct of enemies is infallible," Mr. SEWARD shrewdly says, and our enemies have instinctively hailed all victories over the Administration astheir ‘ovv.u. But, after all, is the it.merifta pee, pie to be taught by the Richmond journals that a Copperhead success is a Union de feat? . We commend this noble address of our distinguished statesman to men of all par ties, for to all it is addressed. Its author has recognized the loyalty of the Democra tic masses, and, discarding party himself, has calmly and earnestly appealed to the people alone. To eloquence the address makes no pretence, for the simplest state ment of these great truths is most forcible ; yet, Mr. SEwnito is eloquent by necessity, and closed with a definition of that peace desired by all loyal men, in which his thought, because it is rooted in truth, blos soms more purely into beauty. General Burnside's Position. The statement in our telegraphic column, that East Tennessee has been cleared of the rebels, would be highly cheering, if it were a little better authenticated. Knowing, as we do, that the life of the rebellion, de pends upon the recovery of this territory frorn our possession, we