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' DEVOTED TO SOUTHIERN RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY, NEWS, LITERATURE SCIENC AN.H AlNIPopitr (91-a TSu ~tWW7a;, WO. . RA SrperL -E, S. * , SE Ad:14e VDEVOTD TO SUT*ER RIGTS, VDLEOC.ACY, NEWS, T MBERTURE, SCENCE1 AN H6RS -----------S Popieor '2~fbot aW~~W~~S-Tv rUILITIUAL, Extracts from the Letter of the MION. JOHIN T0wNSEND. BLACK HALL, July 29, 1851. Gentlemen: I have to acknowl edge your kindness, in the conpli ment you intended me by your invi tation of the 19th inst., (just re ceived this day,) to be present at a meeting of the citizens of Charles ton to be held this evening. Many circumstances conspire, independent of the accident which has delayed the receipt of your letter, to prevent me tfomiI attending. My sympathies al-e, howe ver, all with you, in the objects which you have in view: of procuring an expression of opinion " favorable to co-operation, for the purpose of resistance, and opposed to separate State action, under exist ing circumstance ;" and I regret that I cannot participate with you in the duty which is now imposed on every true son of South Carolina, of endeavoring to undo the mischief which has been inflicted upon her by the Southern Rights Convention which met in your city in May. The meeting of that unfortunate body has been followed by but one solitary benefit-and that is, the awakening the attention of the peo. ple to the dangerous schemes which were started by certain reckless men, but which were then, for the first time, seriously threatened. This brought about discussion : an exanii nation into the consequences of those schemes ; meetings of the people (such as you are about to have) to express their opinions, and finally the condemnation of those measures as I confidently believe they will be, -wherever they are serimusly exam ined, and without prejudice, or rank, or passion With the exception of this solitary 'Ies itah'iavarnay: suppose the authors of- these measues little enl. culated on, and less desired, all the other action of that Convention has resulted in evil to the State, and da mage to the Southern cause. It mat, finding a people united be yond all paralel, both as to their seiise of grievances which were to be redressed, and as to their determined resolution to resist them, by every practical measure which promised to be successful. It was in session four brief days, and contrived during that time to sow the seeds of bitter divis ions, to alienate friends, to create parties, and send distraction into our Southern camp. When it met, it was surrounded by a people who generally-if not universally approved, and were preparing to ear ry out the prudent and dignified course marked out by the Legislature, and recommended by the sage coui eels of our most cherished and trust ed statesmen, to secure ,Southern Co-operation, and the advantages of a Southern Congre88. It adjourned after having virtually substituted, in place of these, the rash and suicidal scheme of separate secession ; which they kne w, for they bad been duly warnted) to be deeply objected to by a large and infltuential portion of their fellow citizens. T'hese warningzs were, howvever, (disre -garded ; the honest and well founded convictions of' their fellow-citizens, that their measures would prove ruinous to them, to the State, and to the cause of Southern Rights, were treated with contempt, and those '.who entertained them were de nounced and sneered at, as " sub issionists,"' " traitors,'" and "' cow s." And since then, instead of so and reflection, andl review of oir measure, 8epar'ate Recessionf is ushed onward b~y themi, with an in emperate arnd eager zeal, which plainly admonish us that our doom is fixed, and that cab~unity certain, if' the people (1o not take the matter in to their own hands, as you are nowv about to du in Charleston, andl av'ert it before it becomes past remedy. Perhaps a gr'eater' deception (I will not say fraud) was neverpr tised up lon any people than was per. petratedl upon0 the unsuspecting: citi zons of South Carolina, by the orga nizartion first, anid the do'ings after wrds, of the Southern Rights Cion v'ention, which met in C'harlestoni in Maiy. Organiiz'd, as it was uinder' stood to be, on tho prinoiple of -two delegates for every Senator and lie praesentativo wbieb each election dis trict was enititled to, some senarate ccession associations appointed, nev :rtheless, it was said, four, five and ten times as many as they were enti tled to ; and although in many cases, 11 these did not attend, yet some were represented by twice, three imes, and four times as many as they had a right to. This would not have been so repre iensible if those delegates represent. -d the people of the Districte, instead >f the mtembers of the Associations ; which Associations were composed of very lean 2ninorities of the people. Nor would it have been so bad if the iumber of secession delegates were in proportion to the number of aeces sionists in their several Districts. But no rule of that sort was observ Ld. But their object appeared to have been, and for a long time it was successful, and oven now is very no tential in this State, to produce a false (lemonstration of the strength of the separate secession part/ in the State, with a view to have effect up on the people and secure the waver ing. In pursuance of this scheme, heavy bands of separate secessionists were poured down into the Convention from every Association in which they happened to have an accidental ma jority; whilst, to make the contrast still stronger, several Districts which were strongly anti-secession, sent no lelegates at all, and many others were only partially represented. By this stratagem the separate secession arty appeared in that Convention nder the imposing aspect, and was o claimed and baasted, of "an over whelming majority;" which, as it was upposed to represent some body, was gnorantly supposed to represent a ike overwhelming majority in the Districts whence they came. But shat does an analysis of the Conven- I ion show ? Organized aecord;.. a tlhe I "rme le ul duuble t. ':ner of Senators tnd I presentatives which eacn elec ion district was entitled to, and sup. -osin;g that the strongly anti-seces cion Districts were fully represented, :hat body ought not to have contained iore than three hundred and thirty ight delegates; and yet, it not only :untained four hundred and forty ine, but from a limited number of eparate secession Associations, there were, as the published proceedings ihow, actually one hundred and sev iuty-four delegates sent more than those Districts were entitled to; and who had no more right to a seat in hat Concuention than an)Iy equal num ber of nien who might be picked usp in the streets or highwaays as they happened to be passing along. Now 'whoi did these one hundred and seventy-four supernumeraries re >resent ? for the Associations from which they cane were already fully represented. I say A sociations, for it is important to bear in mind that these delegates representedg after all, nerely the nmembers of the Assuea tons, and notl tihe people of the D)is triets; and the importance of keeping this mi mimd would appear more forei ble if it could be ascertained how meagre the propiortion of legal voters in the Associtionms hears to the ye ters in their resp~ective Districts. Ind'eedl, however much it may be attempted to disguise the fact, it can no longer be concealed, that there are two piarties in this State, widely ieparated, and with princilples broad ly dlefinedl, and that upon the separate secessionists in thme Convention rests the responsibility of having given vi tality to those parties. Tfhe object of one is to secede in the form of a single State, and con stitute themselves thme "Little Nation or South Carolina." T1hie object of thc other is to secede in thme form of a Southern Confeideracy, and consti tute ourselves afterwards into a "Mighty Nation of the Southern Uniited States," with abundant abili. ty and resources to protect ourselves, and pla:ce u~s beyond the mercy of other nations. Th'lese are the t wo forms of' political existenice which are now practically before the peopile, anid they must in :licate their preferenice for onme or the :>ther form, since they are incompati ble, and must be sought after by dif' I'erent meanis. For as are the objects so aro the measur-es d1ifferent, which are recomimendled by the two parties. and as arc the nhms, so are the ar nu~ments amh1( induge11ents diferent to persuade them to adopt the one or the other. I fear that the people generally have not as yet sufficiently realized to thereselves these wide differences by which the two parties are separated, and how much at right angles their respective roads are carrying them from each other. The starting point of Southern co-operation and a South ern Congress, from which all com menced travelling harmoniously to gether, has been virtually (although not avowed) abandoned by a portion of our citizens ever since the Ipeeting of the Southern [tights Convention in Charleston, when their leaders turned abruptly off at a Cro88 road in pursuit of separate secession, and left the rest of their fellow-citizens pursuing their former course straight on. The people, then, should not any longer d'eceive themselves that, because all started in union and har niony, seeking and promoting South ern co-operation, that the separate secessionists are really with them now in those aims. They may have had the motto at one time written upon their flag, but it has rapidly faded away, and become now almost indis tinct in the shadow of a solitary Pal metto, and alongside of the blazing letters of " Separate Secession," which they have lately added to their banner. Whilst many of the party honestly (but as I think, most mista kingly) still advocate separate seces sicn as the means by which Southern co-operation is to be attained, many more-and they the most violent and active (and therefore the most influ ential)-advocate it as the end which they aim at, desirable in itself, and sufficient of itself. . . . . . It is pnaniff-i that there is a wide and irI,'/?.fs;ile differ ence between th.: t&wo parties: 1st, nVIntierh aims and bj-ts; 2d, as to their princip ee and tastes; and 3d, as to tl meas tires by which these are respectively to be pursued. The separate secession party seem satisfied with such a political condi tion for South-Carolina as that of Belgium or Genoa, Lubic, Sanl Ma rino or Venice, and accordingly urge them as examples to induce us to sever our connexion with the other Southern States, and assume a sep arate nationality forgetting that Ve nice is, at this very moment under the iron heel of Austrian soldiery whose hated rule they are panting to thrown off, but are too feelle to do so. The co-operation party have no desire or taste for such a political condition. They desire, for their honored and beloved little State, no tolerited existence; no condition in which she must live by sirfjeranee; in which she is to be kept always upon the nict/ of her 'good beha viour;' and which good behaviour is to be judged of by every wolfish neighbor who might urge her into qjuarrel, because she forsooth first wade the water muddy and then cauised it to run up stream.- In throwing off one goverumnent, which they feel to be in many things harsh, unjust, and oppressive, they desire to start with materials sailicienit to build another, which shall be amply str1ong enough to protect, them in their lives, liberties and property; and especially such an one as shall accomplish the great heading object which they had in view im Beeking another govern ment-and that is, thse security and perpetuation of our- slave i'nstitu tions.8 Secession, in the form of a single State, cannot secure this obdet, but certainly p~uts. it in great peril; whereas Secession, it thu form of a ,Southern Confederacy, amply sc. cures its present safety and its future pe rmnanien cy. ~Secession, 'wvith or without co-op eration,' is their end-which is seces sion; whilst with thme other party, se cessionf, but wnly with co-operation, is their means, to their end -which is safety to the bSouth anid our slave inlsttittion. This view of tho char acter of the two parties isjuistified by tile sentiments which they themselves express, anid by the mneasuires which they are respectively setting on foot. This communication has already boeen extenided to so much greater length than X had intended, that I forbear to urge any more of thu nu mneron~s other objections which I en. tertain afrainst that ,-nbh illadnred, and I fear suicidal measure, and especially since it has become in a great measure unnecessary, after the many luoid expositions of the subject from some of the acutest thinkers of this State. The chief objects which I have had in view, on the present occasion, have been to show that the Southern Rights Convention which met in Charleston in May, by the extraordinary manner of its organiza tion, manufactured a spurious public, opinion for the State, and produced' a false impression of the strength of the separate secession party-which has led to much evil. That by start ing the measure of separate secession, and virtually abandoning that of Southern co-operation, they have sown biter divisions in the State; and that it is they, and not the co-op erationists, who are responsible for the creation of parties, and for the odium (if any he deserved) 'of divid ing the State;' that those parties are irreconcilably opposed in their views as to the form and condition of the political existence which they desire the State to take upon herself when she throws off her present connection; that as these differences of opinion cannot be reconciled, meetings of the people are not only justified, but be. come necessary, in order to correct the false impressions created by the Convention, and so as to enable them to decide whether they prefer South ern co-operation, which will triumph. antly accomplish all that we desire, instead of separate State nationality, which will be useless as a remedy, and will be fruitful only in mischief. I remain, gentlemen, with respect. ful consideration, Your fellow-citi,en. J O IIN T o ~ ' I1vi e ON. -. ...-.~ m .e Sout .r . n'nrd CAubLm . Aug. 30, 1.1i. G entlemen, ,-Besides the courtesy which is due to your invitation, I am not at liberty to Forgot, that in years gone, by I have had a familiar and an agreeable intercourse with very many of the worthy people of Darlington, in whose behalf you bid me to participate with themn in a meeting appointed for the day after to-norrow; or else to communicate mv sentiments upon the great question of the day. I adopt the latter branch of the alternative from considerations entirely consistent with due respect for you and your people, and which are known to at least one of your Committee. 1 have said the great questiou of the day. What is that? I conceive it thus; Shall the Convention, within one vyear from the time it meets (which is the term of its existence) abrogate the Con stitution of the United States, and declare South Carolina foreign to every State in the Union? If it be asserted that such condition is desirable for tile State, as matter of cholec, and is to be permanent, I shall be surprised to find that a dezen men of respecctab le intelligence, within our ilmits, would adv ise ai measure inivolvin g such a con sequence. I cannot imaine that tile people of Southl Carolinla wili yet suffer themsllelves to be seduced nlto suchl an experiment, unless they canl be persuladed that it will operate to force or entice othler slavehlolding States also out of tile Union, and bring them into conceer t, Co-operation, and filnally organi!zed federation withl us. If theln behooves those who call themselves the meni of action, and who are willinlg to take the grave re sp)onsibility of pushing mlatters into such position, to establish, beyond reasonlable doubt, that the~ act'they advise is not the end, hbut the mians of briniginig about a Southlern Conl federacy. TIhey aflirmn and urge vehlemently-, it is teir oilice an~d duty to supply tile piroof. I will, nlevertheless, submit to your judgment sonie conlsiderationls that lead me greoatly to distrust the fitn~ess of seprate SecessionI by South Car lRia, wiith no0 better und~erstandinlg thlan that now subsistin~g beftweenl her people and thlosc of othler Southlern States, as a measurie to bring into comlbination the reqiiite powter to sustamn suchl a movemelnt, and tile great cause whlich all good and wise men hlave it in view to maintain. 1. No Southern State approves tihe measure: I believe many of the abolitionists do. government, or if lie does, that he can drive it to conclude that South Carolina is right, and the rest of the Union wrong, that an unjust block ade has been imposed upon us, which ought to be raised by the navies of European commercial nations? Can Carolina desi-e it to be thus raised, and therely run the imminent hazard of becoming the helpless dependent of any European power? .Have the readers of our own history forgotten with what difficulty the thirteen States escaped the coils of France, by reason of their treaty offensive and defensive, stipulated as a considera tionfTor her assistance againstliritam', Should we fall under the tender mer cies of a foreign power, a final leave, I apprehend, may ho taken of all hope of combination and co-operation at home. It is not difficult, I think, to perceive that the shippers of Lon don, Liverpool, Havre, Bremen, &c., will not have an adequate motive to move their governments to a forcible interposition, or that if they do, their governments will be very apt to say to them-"the play is not worth the candle ; steer your vessel to another port ; sell and buy there, as others do." I do not perceive that South Carolina Rice and Cotton is so indis pensible to the foreign world, that they must and will fight for them or if they are, that they will be ob-. liged to come to Charleston for them, and no where else. Smuggling out may take place as well as smuggling in. 8. I derive distrust of the wisdom of separate secessionwitb a view to Co-operation, from the scene of Nul, lificatioii which has' been.: moss sta c rsetup as shiningT t4r.cy thad N'i b: second act 4 'paorate SecesSion by South Carolina, i consider it to be as empty a conceit as that other which found the first act of. that character in her revolutionary era." I cannot but think that this citation has beena made by a brain not educated in the troublesome times of '28-'33. Nulli fication was a remedy based by us upon the idea, that there was no so. vereignty in er all of the departments of t'e Federal Government-that the sovereignty of the United States was vested in three-fourths of the States who had the power of amend ingthe Constitution -that the legis lative power had infringed the Con stitution- that there was no umpire between the State, vindicating a tres pass on her rights, and Congress, the tresspaseer, except the power in which federal sovereignty was vested, and that nullification of the obnox ious act served rightfully to arrest its execution within this State, until the disputed question should be adjudged by three-fourths of the States. It was advocated as a remedy in the Union, not as on'e that pilaceid us out of it-as peaceable, not as bloody; that it was short of Secession ; that it was a war against an unconstitu tional act through the jury box, not the eartouch box. As the scene un wound it3elf, bayonets weore discover ed in the backgr-ound of thre picture, -a collision appeared imminent. We - then toasted the three boxes--the ballot, thre jury, and the cartouch boxes. But. none flocked to our standard. When force was threat ened at W~ashington, thenm, anid then only, was Secession threatened and solemnly promised by the Convention of that dlay. Never hiowevet was it declared that South Carolina was out of thre Union ; but it was obvious that if we had to fight, th& Constitu tion must be abrogated thatour peo pile should be emancipated from the danger and consequences of treason, as defined in that instr-ument. hut what do the developments of that event teach us? This much, I think, to wit: that if we turn a deaf ear, touching the mode of remedy, to the advice of those who agree ever so, thoroughly in puriposo and principle, anid whon have tho same interest at stake ini a common quarrel, we have no reason to expect that they will fly to our rescue, even in an extremi ty, which they will impute to a reck less fury. Several of the Southeri *1t is worthy1 or remark thiat. though atj~ui -organic changei hn Federal Rl-ationu Wi~n dige.the people were allowed n ~rly rr tofx hetr dehegates to th~e Coayeatton; (1pakt melorv,) andt they wehnt fresh fromthe ructon the batiot box when they bi bn he ektln anrdtheot~aiArrlot" '. The -Party which we recognise as our friends in every Southern State, has expressed it disapprobation of the measure; our friends in Missis sippi have oplicitly done so. 3. The members of Congress from the Co-States, who acted with our Delegation at Washington, have advised against it, as premature and mischievous in its influence upon their contests at home. 4. Georgia has solemnly taken ground that forbid; her Co-operation until some change can be wrought there in popular sentiment, of which I fee no reason to despair-nor do I understand that our friends in Geor gia are hopeless: 5. I rely upon my view of human nature in concluding that communities wholly independent of us in organiza tion, and not unaccustomed to dis trust us,who believe themselves (and I have no ground to dispute it) as wise, as virtuous as brave asas we are, who are as proud, who have the same interest as we have in a common cause, who have already condemned our separate action as rash and precipitate, are not to be forced, dragooned, or coaxed by South Carolina, (even if her people were united, much less as we are,) into any position prescribed for them, by what they deem to be the spirit of arrogance and presumption. 6. I rely upon the same view of human nature, and the maiy exhib. itions of it disclosed by the chronicles of many -iations, when 1 say, that communities, certainly not les than individuals, are controlled in affairs of the greatest moment,. by. .pi-eseni interests; and it is ilain to .ny-nmind, that every dollar lost to us from for i A - i from our resources, the en - national wealth an-d p,.wer, in capital and parsons, i are notlikely tc persuade them by such means, that we act wisely, or to draw them intc our example. That I do not unjustly asperse human nature as it works upon naticns, in the imputation of selfishness, behold an incident that arose in the Continental Congress of 1774. With the hope of inflictino distress upon Great Britain, an association, intended to embrace all the Colonies, was proposed, totally prohibiting exportation, after a specified time, to Great Britain, Ireland, or the British West Indies, and it was assented to by each Colony except South Carolina-four of wt hose delegates out of five, refused to sign it unless rice and indigo were excepted. Business was suspended for several days, and at last, by way of compromise, riee was excepted and .allowed to be exported tc /' uroj e. It wtas imputed by four ol our delegates to the Northern Col. onies, that the latter would suffer bil little by the embargo, since little of their trade went direct to the Britis domioncts, but found its way there indirectly, and they saw their owr peculiair profit in making dupes o: others by excluding rice, and rhus mtakmng more room for flour. But storm aroSe here among the producern of other things, against the ric< planter thus favuored, and a comn petnisationi hatd to be devised foi the producers of indigo, haemp', corn flour, lumber, pork, and butter Let no one then deceive himself b, supposing, that patriotism is si ethereal, in any community or at an time, as to soar tabove the earth ama scout the almighty dol'ar. 7. If the Seceders prevail in om Convention, 1 do not believe the Fe deral powver will do more at the onset than to take measures as effectual as they eani, to collect the dluties nov levied on foreign goods in th~e Unaitet States which iay be found seeking our ports : if flagrant war ensues,i wuill haive to be from sonme act of ours they conme even then, when our wo course, leading to such result, ho: been disappjroved by them? I doub it. But there is a question beyond Will foreig'n shipments come t< Charileston?~ What foreign shippei or ships owner will risk his piopor ty between Sylla and Chaurybdis whore he has an open sea before him Why shall ho runs the gauntlet fo' Charleston when other ports are quit4 accessible, ready to take what h4 bring, and supply what he wapte Does ausbody sum~OSe ho will urge hi States (Georgia and Virginia em. ihatically,) endorsed tIe views f south Carklina iil1828, and joi:nd her in occjipying-the platfoum of Virginia and Kentucky Relutionso 1808-9. But they e t'r" ted , bearance in any exitnit resistance. 'hey contempla dress by tho operation of m 9'na - Io of those approved, by ma oe ?-b5 the people of thi Sta a Tat a jority proceeded not stin - They nullified two Triff anti in November 1832; bunt htheane a Bill was intro uced, with th seic tion of Mr. Calhoun, to odiy the Tariff laws; by gene al un.erstandjr." in South-Carolina, no caseiun<ler tbh ' ordinancie of nullificatin; wag tobw made, pendinig 'that measure, i wa passed and approved early in 188, and produced a revcation of'ou Zrsir ordinance of -nullification. iY It - was accompanied by a sett'e auk lin flamnmatdry sting, the "Force Bilh ' . When that bitter measure, which . lived out the term prescrilled ftor iH* : recording an imperial Executive niquin. date, was presented to the Senatoli# : of the United States, those oftur co.4 States, whose advice We had rejected were found wanting, (with rear'i 3 an exception,) in the extremity: O' Why ? That, in my apinion, is a - pregnant question niow. . have e believed that oulr disappoit ecnt 'the cool indifference of our - were due, mainly, to our own precipQ itation in driving-into a measur o understood or approved, b p r ple else ire-uby oqr reliance or the' sense o o :upon resolutions of., iailioriod 4i'spe f Ji - under anonymous stsi with uin he last dite1P hurried on thus, and nota little al by the heat, (and intense it w - generated by a collision amon selves. We forgot to profit:. pruftound comnentyry, :wich might have-derivod fnom the patitt . ' preserving, diligent edueation f ti mass by our ancestts of the redypti , - . tion, which had beenlbappily expi -- ed, .nore than once, by Jol AdA " t d t the elder, to this effet tharhe~i. derstood little of the American R o - lution, nho supposed that cit ons: in the Declaration of indejendence and the fightirg that fi'llowed, since it had, lug iefre hee, achieved "in. the hearts (f the people." Whore"-the will of the mass must control, whe the power of the mass is necessar to sustain the attempt at a great'or ganic change in political iatitdiotA by means regular, or by Reotlution, * save that pointed out by John: Adhma the elder:' This all-sutlicient fonda tion, the nullifiers verily thought thpy . had secured, ift contr y o .thgir - theory and expectation.they .ere driven to the field. They finallyjt solved to resent blow for-hiow' widle'. out it; and I have no maniner4f do~6 they would have borne theceechea gallantly, in the emergency. Hay in Iiy, as I felt, (andlztin'k I'didup differ in tl particriirfroturfany others,) -the yery eXtge'pd@. ista avoided; otheewise4whataourto~.4 leagues *ould '1havdone \t ,. pronouncokmit - iti d uipournhtl bistory, that, Siteri o T fault or by theirsg.theyidid tibt ari1 or try to arrest',thro ih thieir Rdpe, sentation irngrs a preparationi to driv6 9 gi though the cannon and tbe comniaxia er wero~.ea~dy for theodork in bh harbor 6df"Chlestqn- 'datfrefe'' this to nothing ~leenbd'oonvictit that their 4'uatitueatsvwore notaltK usIaLet us not again mahlh-i uuistakenvhiere thme - occasionn lli ' more dhenfons, wvherad he c~nitiicou intercst isgtill 'stronger wheroe need the doatigueweg dudnoitc-b agents mer j and Wbhik ,th6 work seemlt011 ri rogres thatihalh ultituately achieve a Revjoitpn~ the htearts of the peoplef~ - , 9. I have other reas. da me t distrust septite as it is pi osedjfor the pur tobtain, I:apa teu ng Q mi t 4),000 a ye ,d four eretar Ares a$50,000 a year, (the preao.p ti* 'believe, of a seceding and pop ula a amnbhleteer,) coneitve all Qhi