Mr. Buchanan is the President-elect of the United States. Not
that the election had been actually con:4)104A at the date of the latest news from America. Tho event that has taken place is the nomination of those " Presidential electors" whose busi- ness it is to meet and give the vote of their State for the Presi- dent. The aggregate number of votes in all the Electoral Col- leges of the Union is 297 ; 149 gives that absolute majority without which no candidate is nominated by the direct election. The report is that Mr. Buchanan has secured 163 votes. At the latest date the Presidential electors had not actually assembled in their State capitals ; even their election has not been authori- tatively proclaimed ; the reports are analogous to our own unau- thorized reports of " the final state of the poll." But since the majority was so decided it is not probable that any doubtful return will materially affect it. There is no precedent of a split vote- among the Presidential electors of any one State. On these grounds, notwithstanding the incomplete stage of the re- turns Mr. Buchanan is accepted as the new President of the United States for the next term.
It commonly happens that as soon as an election is ascertained in the United States, the heat that preceded it undergoes a very rapid subsidence. There was accordingly a marked change in the -tone with which Mr. Buchanan was already mentioned. Num- bers v* opposed him at the election would now probably step for-weld to defend him against attack, because he has become the President of the United States. A somewhat similar change has taken place in this country : his official position supersedes much of the criticism which was made upon him in his purely personal character. He will necessarily govern according to the circumstances by which he is surrounded ; but he is a man of the world, shrewd and prudent, and it is fair to anticipate that his administration will be practical and moderate.
