University of South Carolina Libraries
Rg r' *,4 ' V-.1.*'* Ali..'i -, A' ~ ~f~ Y~41 .i 0 '.4,-. I I A 6 o 'awin' dvanee, Two Dollar sad 1M(c 44 athn exoiration of si u rP DIllya itthe end;of thi 'util all Iirioira uwile at theotion of th4 ente inserted at 75 cti lof orless,) fr the firs surm 1fgr. eah subiequep ullef Insertins to be inark TlA1 drisements or they- will bi b~d' t l ed to be discontinued accordingly. - n~i# per square for a sngle SAbuarterly and Montlily Advor. ill behrgedUthe same as and semi-monthly thu 14 Nlies exC6eding- SiO oraications reconunending at dtr publio~ offices or trust bdorsj will be charged a' M 15 aDERWeK Rstal is a travell in li paver, and is authoried tc crloeand, receipt for tnt Etinemarlos of MWr..Butler. teConvention .outher ,3tits Association.. aiRB'PaEsiDENT'AND GENTLEMEN 'hislin 'occasion that has associa. 16. Withit in its probable conse. genco ravo responsibiltibs--such as have intensely engaged and bl svily olipressed my mind. The highest- exertion of human %Igiomr is to.make a good government. ToChange established institutions tha view of substitutiig others in 0i place, requi:<.s boldness, fore ladd deliberato. design. Whilst T'aiprLzve enthusiasm-may be well re rddu 4tTt aptig6', poAr , aneL emC ~ se eledent lsdh a conjuneture, not to assume the tone o! * , ' .iditpatience. tho- he have 1h1 control 81ihtiud experience. T110 feel nigs whih I'See here- manifested, dc -uodr.te.hohearts of those who -en. tertai and 'express them. They sipr i tom the hearts of intelligent 1rcen who, knowing their rights, g to make any sacrifice tco ,.Maini 414them. .In taking counsel e highest impulses of their nature, they are impatient at any Luiggestion that might interfere with thei free indulgence. The venera e Chqves-who has been regarded as an adviser of both wisdom and oedtiage-has presented to you a ,ommunication well calculated to ar sYourattention. It is one thai v.. command, I am sure, throughout te Southern States, a profound re eet. Yet I have seen that papet at pith the impatience of the great and almost uncompromising excite. -.en v'hich prevails here; and even *th some* who have, no donbt, taken h'e' from the fires that were -idled by bisibold and commanding oquence. Under such intimations, hilght well pause in giving you my ~.~eiegentlemen, in a crisis that calls upon every one, especially every mnwho has accepted a seat in this Convention, -to do his duty; and tc A~ivoyou the ooi viction of his delib .orate -judgment. No man should gyoidesponsibility, by taking refug< nWatchful silence and prudent nen hGality. Many have thought that my official positon would have allowed me to re main away and take advantage of th< Aurrent, Ibhave been summoned by current, and help to guide it, or bc ovoi-whelmed by its violence. I em bark with those who have a commor destiny with me. The fate of thc people -of South Carolina shall be my fatoe-let what may come, I shall stand 'or fall with S'outh Carolina, thic fqnd m~other of my birth and my af fections. In the advice and counsoeh that I may give, I am willing, befort tlio tribunal of an impartial history :o0 .abido by the judgment of my ?ountrymon. mIt. has boon my fate, for the las' *&9 years, to takce, as your represen tative, a responsiblo part in the Na tional Councils of the Confederacy. L~have been made to -feel the expo sure of a struggling and isolated mi pority to an arrogant majority, who, felingth vtelgar str-ength of self d itngrmbrs, have resorted te ~1 hea machipery of a taunting au. dieneeand a iid press to pt- un. do#6 th~t.teigoese ropre sot~t ise jone4tsh ad much to ioghtri ig South Caroinaoccupied a from Wlhs aoold the hiii 1 ~ a'tizah~in radti i U foundAit, 'anvhnientt assaihi subservo 'their selfish ed.~ 8hei* been a stenfibling ik sij~~ if they had dare d,' od, it e their treacherous foot -i npnfi l I P -ay here, that I bad rather-eic$dn~ all thehazard ofde t Senators, or ayhazards that mlit present themseves outside ofaher limits, than: differ with a single sino core friend in this aissoehbly a, iy measure ,aWculated to affet dige uity, honor, and rights of our cherish4 od Commonwealth. I am persuadedlthat our differo6e of oyitiin'will, in. the ed, b more apparent -than reall I - may well question the policy of a celerity that may be too much actiated by gallant zeal and uncalculating chivalry.. If, with the more prudent resolution of Ulysses, perhaps without its wisdom, I may to disposed to restrain tho itn. potuous courage of -Dionede, I shall have none of the resentful'tempetr of Achilles, nor the grumbling censorij ousness of Thiisytes. No, my coun' trymen, my heart is too much in the cause you are engaged irAto suffer me to. do any thing but :what is prompted by 'a solemn duty. It s true that the proceedings of this body will not have the sanction; and au. thurity of law, t the.y 'i'll carry with them throtAhonat the State all the influOnC, h q patriotism and enorgy can inpart. They will have committed advocates Th9 gddress which has been read contains a-2Mal .of. itposipg truths, arrayed- withan oloqnent statnneq whieh'.h a conmauded ir3yqnil ttn4i and impending dang to Southern instittions. Other outhern States cannot condemn it witho-st condom ning their own resolutions and solemn pledges. The paper has impressed upon it unmistakable marks of sin. cerity and deliberate -purpose. Its author, or authors, are ready to stand by it, and make it good in the true import of the terms, "at every hazard, and to the last extremity." By others, it may be differently re g'rded. Some who will give it their sanction, may even regard it as the nucleus of a State party, to be used thus far and no farther. I choose to regard it as a solemn beginning, that may result in an important end, that will deeply affect the destinies and interests of this country. And as my friend from St. John's has said on another occasion, "we should take no beginning without looking to its probable end." The proceedings contemplated will require Sonth' Carolina to tread her way through a narrow pass as yet u e unexpored. Some are prepared to tread it with con fidence and boldness, and to find its termination by experiment-as Su warrow was said to have found his enemy by the point of the bayonet. Others, on the contrary, insist on the prudence of reconnoisance before the probable termination shall be in dicated. 'lhe object of the address is not only to put the State on the track of seperate secession, but by the mea sures contemplated to commit the State, now to that determination; in other words, it excludes the idea that the State will have in its power to adopt any other measure. The leg islaturo is required, as far as those proceedings can impose ani obligation, to call the Convention together, and that body then is to put the State, as soon as it can, on the trial of sep~arate -independence. In relation to this measure, and others connected with it and which have been' presented as alternatives. 1 have .nothing to disguise-i have no opimion to retract, no sentiment to suppress. I shall at least be cor. aistent with myself. In setting forth our _wrongs and endeavoring to rouse sentiments of resentment to them, and in preparing the public mind for measures of effectual resistance to the encraachments of the Fedez'al Gov ernment on Southern Institutions, through the breaches of a violated Constitution, I have endeavored to do mygdety to thie beebetn my bility, and I have ao steps to taiko back. wards. What stops for*ard Is tha 4tesi -iWhilsR. masuessj2 ere Sider coniddfationw iich he' laveholding and non-elaveholding ~y~l~W bit!Mithi the cciem sp o ofone Wif as villirig to let hu arJs b ardied':unt to their RRn L .the -rppresentatives eate spoke o4t with gnal tnearlimily the rosolutions 6f three different Le islatures. rq -,,t'iW -:h inn, compais 'viomeothorsi.iwero in toi-ms moderate,'in tono firm; and' in, 6se4iliberst All theso' roe-o tions~ weefgdedas mutual pledg(0 and covenant for the South. e tat go!Ike common cause, audMtstand b each other. The gouther cmbMrs con frred togeth er, and at one time would have been peepared to sink -or swim. in a com mon strugg1e,_ nd their 'destinies as involved tin a common fate. For a time the minds of all true men of tho South, were lifted above the mis. eiibi eontentions of party arid the jealousies of neighboring strife. Under the influence of this suspicious state of tnings, I finished one of my ipeedbes with a high note from the Diomedo of the old Thirteen.-our neighbor Georgia--"Equality or In dependence." And I say now,- if the -Southern' States had become united, they would. have made good this d"olaration. They have it in their power-to make it good at any tine; and they will 1e entrue to them selves airi 1:ostriity if tI'ev J, not. Ifhall Ahrinlki rm no tu .l (t' may be effectual, and shall only ob. ject to suchL mensures, as, in my op n r lt i a iid dis. cotfiture. , If measurei cannp be devised-as I believo they cannot oa restore i lost ua ir onb idi(. (%rilce of suchi Stnates as, y teir Conjunction can assume the -attitude, and invest "themnselves with the attributes of a national sov creignty. As this is a grave conclusion, or one that will so be regarded beyond this meeting, I must.submit the pro position upon which it is founded. The constitution of these States was intended by its express and dele gated powers to impose limitations on the department of the Federal Government. For some years these limitations were observed in good faith; and after it was said that some of them had been violated; it was thought that the States, by the inter position of their sovereignties, could enfo.co an observance of them. The securities of good faith have long since disappeared, and the power of the States to interpose to protect their reserved rights has not and will not be recognized by the Federal an thority. All the provisins of the Constitution intended for the protec tion of a minority have been perver ted by artful construction, or fraudu lce compromise: undler these comn promises: under these combined influ ences the Southcrn States have not only lost their influence, but will become worse than dependent pro v'inces. They will become pros~cri bed political commiunities- disfran chised fromi the high honors of the Federal Government, and with their property and institutions liable te confiscation and unprovoked invasion. The Southern States can no longer be the nurse of great statesman. The ambition of the eagle's flight will be no longer seen-we may have crows and ducklings who will he ready to he satisfied with the crumbs and garbage of office. There are thesd who will be willing to make an easy transition to dlegradation,- by being candidates for the secondary and subordinate offices. Suppose there wvere a provision in the Conisti tution, that no man from the South Atlantic States, should be eligible to the Presidency, it would not ebange the present state of things. Such a clause might as we-ll be ini the Con stitutioni for all practical purposes. -To conclude the proposition, the Federal Government has become a despotism of an interested majority. You will ask why have not the other Southern States been ready to join South Carolina, or rather to come into .a voluntary conjunction with themselves, to devise measuros for their ~roteption. made bf 6i weft& the roproaches olilt' e, uoi the disstalers of hladr imion.. He said he had niid; Ith the thee at Web bf free -States: "The-joel Vf netibor ing States, the go Phillin be stowed on corit - e bined love 6f pidas.. 4nd the oharm of tranquilty. The Southern vo had some elements of dis Uti;. estinod, I hope, to be tein TeI is union of party, iirte ktce to fedial politics, has beels fo40l; but, un less Iai inistake ii t bocdmlo lessr Th6 Federal ODiei-nment blas a Maeedenian par t R'liN o .tiiP. strobtg for i time, j h I qii. ence of office And j age. The greatost"encnmy to t outh his beetq an indisposition hasards-ofchango As it would be- pace to dwell ngor' on topi at -nty not be immediately conn 'd with the questions here to* discussd topics with whinh thi 'mbly 19 bs well acquainted as - , IWill go directly to the meas bigh I have suggested, as the o d ei'da of your deliberations.' f.149 shabl this Convention, at 0 uider take to commit the o thetrial of separate secess6 As far as this CaOri btb ligation on the Stat do to take the step as so a T shall nw A ;bjections Ire.pect of proceduee. .K I think, in tiid for decisio e !f enji-p kiiid f onventicu uf th y to ho 0"Jre. after convened, hi ghe responsi bility of decision, ogh t t -be left per. fectly free to formVffie best judgment in its power, under the actual june ture of circumstances that miay exist' at the time of its meeting. it ought neither to be instructed nor supersed. ed by the pre-determination of an irre sponsible body-irresponsible I mean in any official point of view. Such pre-determination, will make an issue not called For by the occasion, that must result in popular agitation with in the State. It will mako divisions among ourselves, and disclose feelings which have not heretofore existed, and ought not to exist. In fact, it will defeat, rather tian promote the end contemplated. To show how it will operae onl our friends in other States, I need only refer to the con. sequences of movements of a similar character. I say heFe, that fron the time that prominent men in South Carolina intimated a purpose to put the State on the track of separate se cession, in dlisregard of the co-opera tion of her neighbors, they deprivedl our real friends of thec power of help. ing us. Itf they did not altogether alinente our friends from their devo. tion to the Southern cause, they gave their opponents great advantage over them. In fact, a Southern piarty at Washington, that w as fanst organizing, was dissolved. They were willing to move as fast anid as well as they could. What would have been their fmnal resolve and measures, I know not. But I (10 know that they f'elt that they were separated from their true friend1s by intimations for which their peopile were not preparedl. Our an cestors made no such adtvertisemer.t of their purposes as to enable others, opposed to them, to forco and defeat them. In general, they were by their acts ahead of their resolves; and never made tihe latter without previ ously having means to accomplish them. We seem to reverse this or der. We give long notice, in the form of speeches and threatening re soluticens. T1hec conasequence has boon that short per formancees have followed long advertisements, for the reason that we lost the aid (of our true allies. There are nowv friends in othelr States willing to (10 all that they can undeor the circumstances of' their situation. I fear they will be diriven to disa vow us; when, if left to themselves, they might have pursued a course to maintain thme true but much a4used cause of tho Southern States. The measures intimated in the draft of the address, and in some of the resolutins. will riot allowr rnina th& - p 'wdirete sheLf q ~ ~ i ilcbii 4 cdioto 06f thb Tt t b -14114 blii6*i i eojoo ia ctet 6f i 'a bio.. Bdl'oT ilialleiheP..b eirnnt 'in' rblereride to"SotiCiro lina, shou1d'sh 64"epiniti to' eeio I'will Wotice'sn6, vis and6' somL conisideraton on as a n em e twiro The ti* o V pn'siiito it to 4 a wig bi in a polita and mova vie an- difibnttlitgP hn de y beeeidd ilUei . -a (1ilast he qthei-, as it tblSatio an~i fhtyt irrri South ('rolia b~ 1b ,o oi r 'remain ont of the' Fddada Union .- sh.e entaed as a soVeroi0ay tou~e erelf' aunt nfederate:Mz i;: their T16wf, r~~ ment of ot h r should have the -riI of resuming the orig' al0'. Toay othf erwitaou oldhb#'t 'akedrie ?Statei as they entered into the Confederacy, not meftly-r ttiesrto- r.dispotiaObV. rnment,-lit victimns ofit agains their consent. But wheth ' prcesion 'be conceded as a1egal9rightdrrus mea ure 'of' revolation,"is irnat~rial;"i$ thero. be .real occasion to rort'to it, and it'can be used to effect some great political end worthy of itiexere cise. 'If it.should end in nerely'sep arating the. State fromnher former confedetates,' and placing- her in vo condition that - would require her to invest herself with all 'the attributes and duties of asovereign 'nation both abroad and at - home, then. it' eigiht bring South Carolina into a situationi of isolation, at war with hertruo in; terests and policy. If "she shlould resort to this reasure with' n ivietof bringing her nelghbors into.a politi' cal connection," so as to riable them j'intly to form' 'a Confkeai. for themselves, that would be adequate fo.: all the ,pur-poses of mairstamnhg theirr rights at hoie' and 'ielations with foreign powers, then it becomes a question of the greatest.magnituide, full of consequences.that should be looked to with all the care and intelli ugence that cuan possibly be employed. The State should take no course that would make rivals and adversaries of her Southern nigihibors. .Onithe con t rary she should endeavor by all pos' sible means to act with therL as allies. If the State shoul look'. to' bothing beyond 'her own secessiorn, sbe will enabld the Federal Governmnent to make rivals of those .who. in' interest are, and in feeling, should' be her friends. I make 'the broad remarks, that there is not a publio man in South Car'lina sensible of a responsiblo trust, and foreseeing tho inevitable consequences of separate secession, that wol put the State on' the trial of thatt experiment, if the 'actwero to operate exclusively on the State 'itself siuch an act would not 'only. cut off our commerce, but would place it in the hands of cur rivals. In assuing such an attitude, it would be the dety of the State: to make arrangements for the managemnont of her rights abroad. Her pride vold' revolort, sending forth-her fagd :itntspno navy to protectit, ainwithoizt',ainis. ters and consuls' to repreaent heag rights, and pruoqte i'i(,nrst abroad. 'N4 n~p~ r41 0$ ,t forbearannrioegsi IAl; titkaaesyt igi aie a re got 6Vbid~e 41:1 I.,Clbtfiint i, bgo a If .sPii th16 bil livii 0 Ld t t t ifoe~ 1Aoi -014.4; i l4 d in Woer O :1 more thnibruo b 'h si efg uder' 5O rtins : co er 11 n ~o ayo'ohri emrea,, "feies, -e in Ahd omorce an. ,comes 1 out ~ ' ooto he bVdr. i oudi fild i f uta iout 1ifg t Bonthu awsnaa of oteyatos ssno d'uA e byhatyrorti nb"f, ctdf-ceas nuh onercen s ev portse0 pod ed it tldtanah nro erunfereder. tsomud cald at bmitsre adeu vihot vilting Pthe etitonwa of ther tios rig-ts isosaid be inolved, aorhdnamo Co n . as m ,-.uAhc moic s plased asd sndg it to Sai rftivi erimdr waIsome o4.l li eSotmtoh fohr~is gt across theii bordersin 'violation rfthei laws It ould be an acknowledged tight of the Fedefal Gover n Ient b regard Sout Cai ifa as a 'srangers ad to 'piier commere going into the pori 'f the States in the ion 'idea ite~*ibai& 6 and so far as concettifcirn& and 'North Chiolina, r ehti po'ts of entrt se pIsda which comun'icato .a1er s, 6 the' 'oeafauc fed avnih#d Wihingnton. " That 'on di mnight not establisti #or 4t ina lin e; iiiO1 t1s ie4 e cousl eo into lhar~eat~rbtlo could it ge t *ithon i~~pr~s ofshiu te 'itr poist could+ M wthsot into Charleston in op sii t Federal Obvernmt nuder ~I~o positiort theat th~ eould tnel on them throtg the'"q4eddi~s thrifty smugglig? But "in ti mercial war4.t6 State toigtt be i posed to take all advan~taee it might3 'e athel Go~gia anTd 1{oit'~ irT havq orlsott ~ Tt i W~ .. -S , JC4ge ft*a t-. o edKD"P lop4an