Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Letter rrom^Iion."!)'. Wallace. Unionvillb, S. C., Apvil 20,1851. M<j Dear Sir : I have received your lettor of the 13th hist., in which you ask me for an expression of my opinion upon the great question now at issue between the North ami South, and also in regard to the mode of action which South Carolina ought to adopt to protect her people from tho ruinous consuquonces which must result from tho aggressive action of tho Eedoral Government. 1 have not tho vanity to suppose that my opinion upon these subjects are deemed of any importance by any portion of the peo plo of South Carolina; but as I hold no opinion that I desire to conceal, I will comply with your request, as far as 1 enn do so within thu limits usually assigned to a communication of this kind. The great question of the age is that of African slavery. I will present to your consideration, as briefly as I can. my views upon the present state of this question, itu tendency and tiual destiny, as manifested by a national progress and development the most palpable. I must do this in order that the reasons which I shall give for the course which in my judgment South Carolina ought to pursue in the preseut great emergency, may be fully comprehended by all who feel any interest in my opinion. The existence of African slavery is coeval win tno earnest settlement ot ttio white man upon this continent. Its first, locality was on tho beach of the Atlantic. It spread back towards the interior of tho the continent with the extension of the Anglo-American race. At the time of the Revolution it prevailed in all tho States. Seven of tho old thirteen have abolished it, and it is now found in the remaining 6ix of thein only. When tho Union was formed it consisted of thirteen States, each one of which had a front 011 the Atlantic, and extended back towaida tho interior of the continent only to the extent of the boundary of a single State. All, or nearly all beyond that boundary was then an unexplored wilderness. Since tho Union was formed, a new line of Slates has been r 1 1 i 1? -tJ ? - 1 loniieu i>ei.\veeii 1110 oiu unrieen ana ttic Mississippi river, another line between that river and the R icky Mountains in the Louisiana territory, and the third line of new States in now heing formed between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. As the second line of States were formed, African slavery extended with the white race into them. When the Louisiana territory was acquired by the treaty of Paris, in 1803, African slavery was found pre-existing there, and in a portion of that territory it still exists. The Ordinance of 1787 was the first air^rcssive action against African slavery on this continent. Thai Ordinance arrested its extension North of the Ohio, and the Constitution of the United States arrested foreign African emigration in 1808. The Missouri compromise arrested ils extension in the Louisiana territory in 1820, and the old XT .1 i T-? . -- - - - i>oriiieni ana liastern Slates, by their acts of prospective emancipation, with the liberty to the ownt?rto sell iu the ineautime, virtually expelled the African race from their limit#, and drove thc-ra into the Southern Stale*. The acta of Congress of 1848 and 1850, in reference to Oregon and California, have arrested the farther extension of the African nice, as slaves, within the limits of the United States. The acts of emancipation of the Northern States have driven back the African from Maine to Maryland, a diftanee of seven hundred miles. The fourth line of States, now growing up between the Kocky Mountains and tho Pacific Ocean, are therefore, according to act of Parliament, beyond the reach of African slavery. As far, then, as the power of the General Government is concerned, slavery cannot spread be yond its present limits. A wall of fire iB formed around it, beyond which it cannot pass; and it is a Bubject worthy of profound consideration, to determine whether it can even retain its present boundary. I assume that it cannot, and will proceed to give my reasons why. I will also show that it not only cannot retain its present area, but on the contrary, its area is now undergoing the process of change, by becoming less, and this, too, by the absorption of the border States into the great Northern empire. It may be stated as an admitted proposition, that the fifteen millions of j v'v r* ihc nonslaveholding States are united in ihoir opposition to slavery extension and to slavery itself. The representatives of these people control every department of the General Government. The Governmont, therefore, executive, legislative and judicial, like the people it represents, is hostile to the existence of African slavery. All its powers will be exerted for its overthrow. The agitation of the slavery question by tho people of the North, reaching to the threshold of the border States, and tho aggressive action of the Federal Government, coupled with the avowed intention to destroy the inRtitn non 01 slavery, has already destroyed the tenure by which the border States hold their Klavos. A sense of insecurity prevails everywhere in these States, and a stern necessity is forced upon them to sell their slaves for the best pi-ice they can get. The slaves on the border aro now being sold to the South in larger numbers than in any other past period of our history. Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri are selling their slaves to purchasers who convey them down the Mississippi river, to the States of Mississippi, Louf* ' isiana and Texas. Maryland and Virginia arelellinnr ?.!!?> ? ?.u uuuui vjarouna, Ueorgia. Alabama and Mississippi. The wave of African slavery, which at first spread back toward* the interior of the continent, is thus arrested, and is rolling back upon the south Atlantic and Oulf States. The ebb tide is , now rolling back in this direction. The wind ( of African emigration now blows a steady gale from north to south, as did the east y villi upon the Red Sea when the Israelites j passed over, and it * , ?v. uu propnetic ) vision to foresee that a few yean only will , pa>s away before Maryland, a cjnriderable { portion of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee , and Missouri will in a measure be freed from , the prereuce of the African, and the Alle- j ghany Mountain* will be the boundary of > slavery on on r own border. t i' - By th* dismemberment of Texas, under t; the proviiiona of Pearce's Bill, slavery is I djiven S9jj|hi^ard from latitude 86 deg. 80, Ii ; j>. dorrn to 82. The dismemberment of Tex- * Kg* as is thus begun, but i* not yU cndtd. That n Stale his*still more territory than fcdsral pi gold, levied l^ fcderal tax?6oD, mostly flpon si kk. B " southern labor and capital may buy; and it may be predicted that in a few ycai^ Texas will give up her vast domain to free-soil and TexaB proper will tlion bo a small State on tbe gulf shoro; and the northern part of tho State of Louisiana will then be the boundary of free-soil in the south-west. This great national developement is manifest to every unprejudiced mind, which is capablc of comprehending the simplest combination of facts. If tliis be true, tlien it ; follows hs h corollary, plainly dcducible from the preceding propositions, that the slavo States to which 1 have referred, including Texas, are now undergoing the process of absorption into the empire of the north.? The free-soil leadeis in the South, Clay, Houston, Bonton, <fcc., by their acts in the Senate, have demonstrated that they concur in this policy of driving slavery back upon the South Atlantic and Gulf States, and the votes of the Representatives of Western Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee. Missouri aud Texas, upon the admission of California, and upon Penrce'3 bill, prove the proposition that the States they represent now sympathize with the anti-slavery movements, and that these States are undergoing tne process of absorption, into the empire of the North, and in the end, and that at no distant day, the African, driven 111 from all points to his original ground, will be found alone in the States which have a boundary on the sea shore, and the backward wave will be arrested by th aves of the sea, and will stop there only because the free-soil legionR can drive it no further. Where, it may well be asked, is thiB national developement to end ? With the history of abolition before 11s, who shall set bounds to its destructive march ? It is now nearly eighty years since the first note of preparation was heard. A ? .1- - - - zil me ume me question ol abolition tiret arose in England, in 1772, African slavery prevailed in most of the countries of Europe?in the Islands of Europe, and in the Islands of Asia which were subjected to European Kings. It prevailed over all north and south America, and the Islands of America. It.has since been abolished in all these countries, except in the fourteen slave States of this Union. Cuba, Porto Rico, and Brazil ?but little remains to be done to complete the social revolution nf rliriatnn/lrttM - - WW...>VUUVI1I* AJ.V *? is this revolution to be arrested 1 Will it go br.ck of its own accord ? On the contrary, are not the elements tending to the final overthrow of slavery, gathering strength and becoming more arrogant, daring and presumptuous daily ? What motive can enter into the heart of a southern man that can induce him to advise this country to submit to the fatal action of the federal government, unless hs is ready for emancipation, and to surrender the fairest portion oj the South, and of the earth itself to the African race ; for the plain and unmistakable isBU? presented to the South is resistance or abolition, and then, as a consequence ol abolition, theHOUtbern country bordering up *1 1 - * " on tne sea-snore must be surrendered to the increasing millions of the African race, 01 they must be destroyed by the sword. The deadly coils of the boa constrictor is thus around us; the hold we have on life, on our national existence, grows weaker and woaker with every pulsation of the heart. Lei . the border States progress as they are now progressing, for a brief season, and their number of slaves will continually become less until abolition with them will create no convulsion or alarm. As the number of slaves decrease the number of abolitionists in the slave States increase. The precedent has al ready been made in the reccnt dismember raent of Texas, lliat the public treasury may be subsidized to purchase slave territory, to convert it into free-soil. It is but one step further to offer federal gold to a State, upon condition that such State shall emancipate her slaves. Pearce's bill could not become a law without the consent of Texas. The Federal Government will assume the power to emancipate, if a State will consent to the articles of agreement. England bought the slaves she emancipated in her West India Colonies for an hundred millions of dollars. A Northern Senator during the last Congress offered an amendment to the bill abolishing the slave trade in the District of Co lumbia, which proposed to appropriate out. of the public treasury, two hundred thousand dollars to pay for the slaves in the District of Columbia, and then to emancipate them. This idea was neither original or new. The British Parliament, in the case referred to, has recorded a precednt, and as every step of the abolitionists of England has, from the beginning, been followed by corresponding acts by the abolitionists of America, the amendment proposed was sanctioned by the authoritative precedent. The history of abolition from the beginning until now, shows the fact that the negro is to be set free, at the expense of the toil and ui mo mine man, and tbe time may not be remote when a Giddings or a Seward may tender, through the action of an abolition Congress and au abolition President, to Maryland, Kentucky or Missouri, ten, twenty, fifty millions of dollars, upon condition that such State or States shall emancipate the remnant of their slave*, after the greater number of them have been sold to the south Atlantic and gulf Stales. An event like this is anion? the ninrn* #-.f ??? o O MV times. Governments are constituted to protect property. To destroy it by act of Parliament would arouse the peopla to overt acts of revolution. To buy property of the States is one way to avoid the direct mode of destroying property by legislation, and in this way abolition triumphed in England. If we of the South are wise, the lesson will not be lost upon us. The Government may , lay and collect taxes to any extent, for that it constitutional. Whilst this process of driving in the Af- < rican from the Interior to the sea-shore is go- I ng on, what is the state of things which the ' nture present* to the south Atlantic and I ??1f s-.. umimi jlqo number of Africans in 2 he South now amount* to more than three nilliona. With a boundless continent in t light thej dare not paM beyond the narrow c imits assigned them. The number of these e ?eople will soon increase to ten, fifteen, twen- a v millions. There is a greater number of * hem now, than the whole people of the o Tmted States, at the close of the revolution, v t is needless to dwell on the state of things 0 hich must prevail when this gfeat develop- to lent ia accomplished j and the final eatastro- it bearrim* The fc?MV sickens, hamenity is Ladders, at the prospect The torch and b< . , -:4 ... * ' *- ' tho knife on iho 0110 hand, and the ritlo and the musket 011 tho other, must bo resorted to, to decide the question of supremacy between tho two races, or our country must be given up to the negro, and become, with nil its refinement, its opulence, and its fair fields the home of reptiles?a dark chasm of barbarism, desolation and abandonment. All nations pursue the policy of enlarging the limits of their soil, that population, as it increases, may have room to expand, mat uie moans 01 suoststanco may be secur ed for a redundant population, and that the miseries of famine may be averted. If thiB enlargement, of the soil of a State bo accomplished by just means, it is consistent not only with a wise national policy, but hIso with the law of nature and of nations. The United States, at tho conclusion of the late treaty with Mexico, were in possession of the means of national expansion, to an extent unknown to any other State or people.? With public domain sufficient for the national growth of all the States of the Union for a period of five centuries, the northern abolition parliament has virtually set apart every squae mile of the public domain for the sole uie of tho North, for the purpose of giving supremacy to the form of civilization which they prefer, and to increase their already paramount political power, and have fhprohv iiMnrlti nvi.liwl.irl ? 1- ~r ?L I ? x._. VAVIUUKU tuv: J/CUJUU UI Llie 1 slaveholding States aud the form of civiliza| lion which they prefer, from all participation in its benefits, although mainly purchased with Southern blood and treasure. Over the line which the North has thus drawn around the south, the white man ;nay pass, but t he negro slave cannot, and to the white man's permission to pass over, the hard condition is appended, that he must abandon forever the form of civilization under which he was born, and adopt another to which ho is a stranger in feeling and affection. But be the condition ever so hard, man must go where his interests lend him, and it is a fair inference from the preceding propositions, that if we add to the number of our white population who die within our limits, the number of those who will pass the bounds assigned us, the amount will equal the natural increase of our population, and that jis a consequence our white population will increase but little beyond the present number, while the African, confined to his jail bounds, will increase in numbers daily, until the condition of things above described must and will come. So refined is the cruelty, so artful the means resorted to, to accomplish our ruin, that our national growth is arrested, , and our vitality mildewed and blighted.? From henceforth our national existence, like the mighty oak of the forest, with its heart decayed, p.nd its fbling^^itbed Kutbo lightning's blast, can be but a living death?a prolonged dissolution. Our national proi gress is cut off, our property confiscated, (for n norf tnn /!????!? v 1 I,. |,... V VI Viiv |juwiiU UUiJIrtlU Willi OlirH,| flWfl our national increase and extension inter dieted and prohibited by act of the northern \ parliament, by the tyranny of a government. as essentially foreign to lis as was the British Parliament to the American Colonies, when i the stamp act was passed. The decree of p the Roman Senate against Carthage is revivi ed, re-enacted, and entered of record against i us?"Delenda est Carthago." The South - must bo destroyed, and no means ever re sorted to by the tyrants of the world, to ac, complish the ruin of a State, have been more - effectual than those must be, which the north i have enacted against the south. It is in efi feet provided that our white population shall increase no more, and that the national death of the South Atlantic and Gulf States may be sealed, it is also in effect decreed that the . negro race slmll increase in our midst contin> ually, until our wives and children cannot lay their heads upon their pillows for repose, without armed guards at our doors to insure their safety. This monstrous scheme of tyranny, spoliation and imposture does not stop here. The physical condition of the second and third line of States, into which the African race has extended, will enable the greater number of these States to avoid the doom provided for the Atlantic and Gulf States, by selling their slaves to the hist named States, and then going over to the empire of the north and joining our enemies, as they are now doing. This is one reason why these border States do not now unite with the Atlantic and Gulf States for a redress of wrongs. They see before them the means of escape from the doom prepared for us, and leaving us to our fate, thev nv<?r ?/> ?!?? ? ;?!? , . D. >v v??v oiuu VI power, and will in the end espouse the cause of our enemies and join the crusade against us. There is yet another feature in the desIructive policy of the government of the North, not less revolting to common hones ty, and abhorrent to every principle of jus tice, than those already enumerated. Although the national death of the South is decreed; although the South is plundered of her share in the public domain, and excluded from all participation in its benefits, and although that exclusion must be accompanied by the terrible results I have described, yet we are held to the most rigid and if.riftkoc/'ft'inf i* ' ? www WW uvor* V \JJ lU'JXS. The South is the great tax-paying province of the empire; the Indies of the West? the erown lands, valued in proportion to the amount of revenue we pay to the crown; and although we are excluded from all the benefits of the public domain, yet toe can pay taxes. We have still left to us the proud privilege of paying into tho public treasury, millions of money annually, wrung . from the hard earnings of a people who are doomed to destruction, by the government < which exacts it, to be spent in the support of an army and navy, fostered for our sub- < iucration. and in hnilHinB im ilia ?1 . C ? ? "f ' tbe remote province? on the Pacific, whose < mongrel population have insolently presumed to sit in judgment, and to pronounce sen- 1 lence of excommunication upon us; and 1 which sentence, upon appeal, has been con- t Srmed by thd Supreme Northern Abolition i Parliament. t The revenue to be collected on imports in c he Pacific ports, will not; for the next half 1 lentury, be uffiefcmt to pay a tithe of the z iVtUAiA' A# ?? * * ** C*a - >W|?vm?w vi vuiiuiij^ up me jmcmo OW16S, & rod to qBarter the army and navy which p tract be stationed there to prevent the reign ti t that anarchy which most otherwise pre- ol aH among the barbarian tribes which have hi rmgregstod there. Three millions ot dot- rr irs have been expanded therefor quarter- ec latter*' store* alone, for the army and navy, cc i the Isst twelve months. The Sooth pay* it ?Hy three-fourths of this. Millions more so must be raised annually, by taxation upon imports on tbo Atlantic, to be expended on the Pacific border. Tbo commerco of Oregon and California must be carried on with the East; and lines of Government steam ships, under a pretext (if a pretext be wanting, where profligacy and public robbery are esteemed public virtues,) of carrying the mails, will be built at no distant date, and this mainly, too, at the expense of the South, to ply over the bosom of the Pacific to foster the commerco of these foster children of abolition brood, and to create munificent government bounties for Northern men and Northern enterprize. We are just now verging upon the most stupendous scheme of taxation known among the nations of the earth. The career of other nations exhibits instances of exorbitant taxation to s.ipport armies and to raise the material of war.? The taxation upon which we arc verging seeks, by a system of government plunder unequalled in its imposture, to transfer the property of one section of the Union, to another section, and to distribute it among the people of the favored section in the form or government bounties. "Give me the right to labor," said Proudhon, in the French chamber of Deputies, "and I will Like care of the property." Give the Northern Parliament the unlimited power of taxation, as it now has under the Constitution, by the strange fatality of its framcrs, and it is an easy tiisk to transfer the property of the South to the North?a system of spoliation which has been steadily in progress ever siuce the Union was formed. According to the plainest princinlo of iustiee and common sense, the South, being deprived of all participation in the benefits of tho public domain, should be exempted from the payment of all taxes to be expended there. But this immunity is not only denied, but the wants of tho new Pacific States demand increased levies of taxes upon the South, that their prosperity may be guaranteed and fostered. Can despotism be more despotic, injustice more unjust, tyranny more remorseless, than this ? Can any doom be more terrible, more relentless, than that to which the South is thus consigned ? If tho South submits to these manifold acts of tyranny and oppression, can her degradation bo deeper, her infamy blacker, or her ruin more disastrous and complete? To be thus sentenced to a living death; to feel a slow decay sinking deeper and deeper into the public heart, and the death worm, with its stealthy inarch, feeding upon the vitals of the State ere life be extinct, is a refinement of cruelty and tyranny unknown among the nations. Were an attempt made, like that upon Poland ot Hungary, to devastate and lay waste oui country with fire and sword, we should have the privilege of meeting the invader in the battles' shock, and if borne down by the weight of numbers, we could fall gloriuusly with untarnished honor, under the folds of: flag whose escutcheon never yet paled in from of an enemy. Cut to quail cravenlv to the oppressor, and quietly fold our arms to re ceive the chains of bondage, without a man lu V ^ atnt uui I.ur, lU \ IllUICilie OUI national equality and honor, and prescrv< our liberty, will cover us with a mountain o deserved infamy, disgrace and ruin. Such, then, is the condition to which wc are reduced. Oor sovereignty and indepen dence derided and denied, our equali y des troyed, our Constitution overthrown, our na tional cxUnsion prohibited, every priuciplt of national faith and justice violated, our na tional subjugation and death decreed, and the sword <5f the Union held over us if wc dare to assert our rights". And this is callNl "Liberty," "Equality," "Freedom and In dependence," "Glorious Union." This great issue which is now pending be twecn North and South may be resolved in iaj .? MII^IU poniuiaie 01 political pniI090})l>V. The Union which our fathers formed involve? the proposition, that different tribes and nations of men who are progressing to different and incompatible forms of civilization, may be united under the same form of free government. The history of the world, through every generation of man, from the beginning until now, proves upon every page, of it that this cannot be done. A union of different forms of civilization, under the same form of government, though free at first, will degenerate into a despotism : and dif ferent states and tribes of men, progressing under different forms of civilization, cannot be held together in the same union and under the same form of government, except by force. The history of the empires of Greece and Rome, and of the empire of Great Britain in modern times, proves the truth of this proposition beyond doubt or controversy. The Union our fathers formed includes in its limits two distinct forms of civilization, lowit: the slave States of the South, and the free States of the North. Here h the fatal apple of discord which has distracted the councils of the Government, and- disturbed the harmony of the Union from the beginning until now. From these propositions the following postulate is clearly deducible: That when different States progressing in different forms of cimlization are united in political union under the same government, if it be a Representative Gov ernment, the political opinions and principles, and the form of civilization which nr vail in the State or States which possess, by any manner of meant, the greatest amount of political power, will predominate ; and the weaker States or tribes, who have a different form of civilization will in the end be absorbed by, and merged in the stronger, and the only means of preventing the absorption of the weaker by the stronger, and zonsequently the subjection of the weaker to (he stronger, is a separate government each If its own. This postulate is now accomplishing its L IJ*?_ - - * * uimment in toe American Union. At the i North, one form of civilization prevails, and i it the South another form. The North he- 1 ag in the majority in all the departments of I he Government, they have the whole politi- 1 at power of the Union under their control. ( 'hey have proclaimed that southern civili- < ation ought to be extirpated from the earth, c nd with the Bible'In their hands, they t reach deliverance to the slave, and th? ex ? notion of southern civilization in the name li f God. Before the march of this crusade, a scked by the whole power of the Govern- b ient, which thi# great question has convert- n t into a tyranny by tne overthrow of the fl institution, southern civilization, and with southern liberty most disappear, if the oth remains in political union with the ijMii?1?wnrMniijwiBili 11 mn i i???ii> iw w? north. This is tho plain issuo presented to us. The North will absorb us, ami wo muBt give up our forui of civilization and adopt theirs, or we must Beparute from them. The price of Union is the emancipation of the slave, and a surrender of the fairest portion of our country to the emancipated African. Twist and turn the question as you may, to this complexion things must conic at last. I cannot bring my mind to tho sad conclusion that tho South will ever submit to this. But yet I cannot sit the same time, close my eyes to the. fact, that tho border States are even now yit-lding to the necessity which presses upon them, and that they are now preparing, with Ilenry Clay, the great emancipation leader, at their head, to eive up their own civilization, and adopt that of tlie empire ot' the North. The interior Southern States have vital interests in this question, which the border States have not, and the last great battle, to decide what form of civilization shall prevail as a whole within the limits of this Union, mutt be fought by the south Atlantic and Gulf Stales. If they remain in the Union, the issue is not even doubtful. Another century will not pass away before the terrible tragedy of St. Domingo, in the days of the French Revolution, will be renewed upon a much more extended Btage. Humanity shudders at the horrors which the terrible visions picture to the mind through the vista of the future. T *!...? K.un., r ?. Lit*?v> vii?ia xji iv^ujr 1WI J'UUr UU1I* sideratiou my views in reference to the present state of the slavery question, its tendency, and filial doatiny. I have drawn what I believe to be a truthful picture of the doom thnt is prepared for our country if we remain in the Union. Can there be a fate awaiting us worse than this out of it ? If so, may God in his Providence avert it. I return to the proposition in which I expressed the opinion that the people of the South, most deeply interested in this great question, upon which turns the fate of this Union, and it is to be feaied, of constitutional liberty on this continent, will awake to their true interests, and take their political destinv iritn thpir own hnnrl* fi> a iiwil T believe a dissolution of the Union an event that is sure to happen?that its rupture is inevitable. The length to which this letter has already i extended, forbids the attempt to go at length into a discussion of the remedy which the i South ought to adopt, to avert the dire ca, lamities which are impending over her. A Southern Confederacy, to be formed of the Suites most deeply concerned, is certainly the i highest aim?the most effectual remedy. A Confederacy thus formed, would be the ar biter under Heaven of its own political and nukini ucsuujr, uucuiiiiuiieu oy loreign legis; lators. Looking into the dim vista of future : times, I can comprehend the possibility oi , opening the way by treaty stipulations with i the nations south of us, for the emigration L of the surplus portion of the African race, ! to the plains of Central America, and ovei the Isthmus of Darien into South America, and "to the shore of the Pacific, and events r are possible which may give to South Cali j fornia a portion of this race, f In reference to the duty which, in my uuwncn upui ouuiu v^HI'OHTia 111 thin grea/ emergency, I shall express th< - opinions which 1 have formed, as the result of much deliberation, and without any reference to the course already taken bv tin : Slate, by the action of the Legislature?pre furring simply to express my own opinions, I without commenting upon the opinions ol others. I hope 1 may be permitted lo reI assert every sentiment which I have heretofore uttered, in my speeches in the House ol Representatives of the United States, and before the people of this Congressional District in their primary assemblies. My opinions have undergone no modification or ,.l ? -i- ?i- i * i biuinge, uunug IOC wnoie conuowrsy. His our cause and our quarrel, and we have no right to leave to our children and to posterity, an inheritance so fraught with ill and so full of peril. If we defer the settlement of this vital question, it seems to me, clear, that we will do it contrary to our own convictions of duty; and we will thus hand down to our children, in a form much more imposing than that in which it is now presented to us o ivp/>nt Ifoort M.ttw.U " !- 1 u l^icoi, icnuc ?? 111VII nc MIK llll' lli;|[)I10()(l to meet and decide ourselves. If we f;ii), therefore, to do our duty now, we will deserve, as we will doubtless receive, the reprobation of posterity. Believing, then, a? I do, that " there is more danger in staying in the Union, than in going out of it;" and believing also, that a separation of this Confederacy is an inevitable event. I believe it to be the duty of South Carolina to look now to the great law of self-preservation, and to begin in earnest "to put her house in order, not to die, but to live." The true policy of the State now is, in my judgment, to commence at once a wise and energetic system of preparation, with the view to the resumption of her sovereignty and independence, and to draw upon her available resources to place the State ! in a position to maintain that independence, which she achieved in the revolutionary struggle, and which wo have never compromitted or surrendered. The rights of a State are respected in exact proportion to its ability to defend them with the sword. We inust then, if wo would act wisely, look to the efficiency of our military power, an element which, perhaps more than linv nlliAr mnimonilo tlm ~.?t J w...v.| a vo^tt \t VI IIMIWIIS. Tho strength of h Stato depends not so much upon its numbers as upon the character of its people; and we are able to command the respect which is due to a sovereign State. Threatened, as we are, with the military power of tho Union, and taunted with our . fancied weakness, we should prepare for de- 1 fenoe against aggressions coming from any quarter, upon a scale commensurate with the 1 magnitude of the interests involved, and | which shall be compatible with tha lii? lorv, the honor and dignity of the 8tate. When the State is thus placed in a condi,ion to resume and to maintain her sover- 1 signty and independence, then I am in favor >r making the experiment, if the people of he State concur, in co-operation with othor - itates if possible, but alone if we mutt. be- 1 ieving, as I do, that calamities, dire and dis- \ stroua aa ever yet befel a 8tate, will be " rought upon ui and our chilren if toe sub- p tit to the wrongs inflicted, and to .be. in- ? icted by the present Union. " . ?y I am, dear air, with very great respect, Yoyr^ob't ?er?;^ I " D. WALLACE. Proceedings of Ibe Southern Rights Convention. Monday, May 6, 1851. The Convention met at the Military IIall at 4 o'clock, and proceeded to the organization of the mooting by the appointment of :i Chairman. Secretaries, ?kc., &c. . The meeting was fully attended by o large g ^ representation from every District of tne * State ; and thocalm and deliberate tone and thoughtful expression which marked the character of the assembly, distinctly declared j its determined position and weight, which . action, under a duo knowledge and appreciation of responsibility, must ever carry. \ , Forty Associations (numbering in theag- \ grogate 431 members) having registered themselves, General Buchanan stated that the Chair was prepared to hear any proposition that might be made, tending to the organization of the meeting, whereupon On motion of Maj. W. S. Lyles, of Fairfield District, Messrs. Lyles, Spain, Manigault, P.D.Torre, Duunovant, Witherspoon.Nanco Noble, Calhoun, Dargan, Dozier, Sumers, Kelts and Lary, were appointed a Commiiteo to select auitable officers to preside the Convention, and after an hours absence roturned and recommended as follows : For President. Ex-Govcrnor J. P. RICHARDSON. For Vice Presidents.?Ex-Gov. W. B, Scabrook, Hon. J. S. Ashe, W. L. Griffin, l)r. J. N. Simpson, Col. R. H. Goodwyn, Hon. B. K. Henegan, Hon.N. H. Gist. For Secretaries.? W. H. Campell, C. A. Prince, Z. B. Frazer, A. Simpkins, 0.1). Met ton, J. C. Walker. The following is the number of Delegates appointed from each District: A 1.1 til-. e\n r\ * nuuc v iiiu. . vwmngCDtirg. ...., 19 Darn well ~31S Pickens 1 Chester 11) Anderson _~...7 Chesterfield -.9)Princc Williams Parish...11 . I Greenwood ~...2} Prince George Winyah 6 t All Saints 2) Richland -..35 ' Christ Church 5(St. Andrew's Parish 5 Claremonl _12(St- Helena 6 Clarendon 12)St. John's Berkley 3 Darlington ~.12>Si. Luke's .5 Edgefield ?27/BlufTlon 3 II Fairfield ~..33<St. Bartholomew's 8 i Greenville iO\St. John's Colleton 6 _ >| Horry -?~.10^St. Peter's .5 > 1 Kershaw _15)St. Philip &. St. Michael.33 |1 Lancaster 19?Union _9 Laurens 7( Williamsburg _8 Lexington 5 j York 7 { Marion ?.3/Indian Land 7 ' Marlborough 3) < Newberry _13c 431 Ex-(iovornr>r Rit>linriHnn ttno nnnnintoJ - -- ?" """ TI"""KU to the Chair, after taking which he rose, anil in an eloquent, forcible, though temperate and calm address, represented the present condition and relation of our Stute with the Federal Government. After a mature and i deliberate expression and admission of the f evils which result from political changes, ho utercd into tho reverse of causes which influence and justify them. The effects of , Federal aggression upon our institution was duly weighed, and by which the conviction was established in his mind that these could > not survive it twenty years, The blood and treasure expended by our State in the various efforts to support I he national honor, , 1 1 1 .... ii.iu ut;tn ?ut sil naugnt, oy excluding her i from any participation in the territories thus ' acquired, and limiting slavery entirely to the / !. Southern States. When dangers thus reach our very doors, it is time to arm. It is fu1 tile to hope lliat the Constitution, based upon legislation, can survive. Concession , can yield nothing to its support, for the destruction of every harrier thus established for its maintenance must admit evils, which ' will eventually be destructive of all rule. The only consideration of the body now assembled.he believed, was with regard to time, place, and the method of resistance. In allusion to the Union, he referred to the many instances of the attachment exhibited by our State, from the earliest period of its formation to the present time. Thtre were no to..- .iio....:--:oi? ? .i-;- ? uo-*uiui;iiii)io aiin'ii^ ii3?mis me whole history of our State ever proved. He loved the Union?was for it now an a principle of safety, a guard against all encroachments from abroad, and, in the present condition, clung to it when it maintained th i s?*. Hn now advocated union?union among ourselves. If any are forming on . our rear, let us await their approach ; if they Jm are in our van, let us boldly march up to 'fT their support, and form our column npon - 'j ' their line. It had been said in denunciation of any attempt to separate ourselves from an association which operated, as the present, perniciously upon our interest, that they whom | <jrou and nature had joined together, no man should put asunder ; but the converse of the proposition hnd never been considered, that they whom God and nature had separated no man should attempt lo unite. Governor Richardson then traced the antipodal principles which exist in interests, feelings and institutions between the North and South, which of itself could never be reconciled, but at the sacrifice of every thing most dear to the latter. He concluded with an exhortation for calm and deliberate action, of tbe course which should be adopted, and a firm and determined adherence to such eonvie tions as resulted from the same. He as- i sured the assembly of his perfect devotion to their interest, and tbe cause which he bad so ably and eloquently vindicated. - It was , a stirring and forcible appeal, and spoka to , the mind of all present with that power of ' conviction which most ever result from such truthful and earnest representations. Charleston Sun. Daguerreotype*. T\AVin finpp n-? -* ?fwiiiuij imuruj* *H0 6IUU xenB and the public generally that be has arrived in the Village, and u now folly fnnitil to take LIKENESSES In alt the porfrctlo* of the ' , art. N j f U Rooms in the old Maaoaie Hall. The jmb? ' [ lie are invited to call and examine his apeoimew- >' May 10 U ..... Bacoa. . t V> | A AAA LBS. CHOICE COUNTRY-?3A- 1 t,uUl! CON, juat received and for sale by I ntylO-7 W. E. AROHBC I f FOREWARN all peraona trading for a Nat? U L of Handf gl?en by the iiubfctiribel' in JkMl&f ft' VinianiRoberta?*, for Forty-nine DoTlaiiC iMIml \\ at pay aaid note nnteaa compelled by Wttr; ti^tfa ' ropsny ior wnott siud no to wa? viron hmrmiwiU- I iwoond. ' f JA8. KILLINO8W0KtS^ I M?y S..I8S1. * ?TliS? X ; * - .o ?: ;? i. ?*?- ?V??tiiify \ (TA.M.-MO K^ w c?' iwCL^; \ ' "iM? For s*lc by > A.'MlHISIDIr^ " ( v - r ' r^mL _n/