gara^reai^grcascgraacsrcsff | LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, g Chap. Shelf UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. $ » AMERICAN ABOLITIONISM, FROM 1787 TO 1 A COMPENDIUM OP HISTORICAL FACTS, EMBRACING LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS AND AGITATION WITHOUT. (ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NEW YORK HERALD.) Br F. G. de FONTAINE. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON & CO. 1861. PRICE!, T\7C r i:3Xri , "5r-E*IT7"E CENTS. HISTORY AMERICAN ABOLITIONISM ; is Jiwrr fatf %0t|s. EMBRACING NARRATIVES OF THE ORDINANCE OF 1787, COMPROMISE OF 1820, ANNEXATION OF TEXAS, MEXICAN WAR, WILMOT PROVISO, NEGRO INSURRECTIONS, ABOLITION RIOTS, SLAVE RESCUES. COMPROMISE OF 1850, KANSAS BILL OF 1854, I JOHN BROWN INSURRECTION, 1859, I VALUABLE STATISTICS, &c, &c, &c. TOGETHER WITH A HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. V r (ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NEW YORK HERALD.) BY F. G — .^DE FONTAINE. r NEW YORK: D. APPLETON & Co* 1861. - Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, Bt F. G. ds FONTAINE, i the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. CHAS. CRASKE, BART0N & S0N > Stereotyped Printers, 111 Fulton Street, N.Y. INTRODUCTION. The following pages originally appeared in the New York Herald, of February 2d 1861. By request, they have been reproduced in their present shape, with the view of preserving, in a form more compact than that of a newspaper, the valu- able facts embraced. Without an extensive range of research it is almost impossible to acquire the information which is thus compiled, and, at the present time, especially, it is be- lieved that the publication of these facts will be desirable to the reading community. F. G. db F. (XMMWWMXWM tfW^W ^ ^WW HISTORY OF AMERICAN ABOLITIONISM CHAPTER I. The Spirit of the Age— Two Classes of Abolitionists— Their Objects— The Sources of their Inspira- tion—Influences upon Church and State — Proposed Invasions upon the Constitution — Effect upon the Slave States, ic, &c. One of the commanding characteristics of the present age is the spirit of agita- tion, collision and discord which has broken forth in every department of social and political life. While it has been an era of magnificent enterprises and unri- valled prosperity, it has likewise been an era of convulsion, which has well nigh upturned the foundations of the government. Never was this truth more evident than at the present moment. A single topic occupies the public mind— Union or Disunion— and is one of pre-eminently absorbing interest to every citizen. Upon this issue the entire nation has been involved in a moral distemper, that threatens its utter and irrevocable dissolution. Union— the child of compact, the creature of social and political tolerance— stands face to face with Disunion, the natural off- spring of that anti-slavery sentiment, which has ever warred against the interests of 3 the people and the elements of true government, and struggles for the mainte- nance of that sacred pledge by which the United States have heretofore been bound in a common brotherhood. Like the marvellous tent given by the fairy Banou to Prince Achmed, which, when folded up, became an ornament in the deli- cate hands of women, but, spread out, afforded encampment to mighty armies; so is this question of aboliiionism, to which the present overwhelming trouble of our land is to be traced, in its capacity to encompass all things, and its ability to attach itself even to the amenities and refinements of life. It has entered into every- thing, great and small, high and low, political, theological, social and moral, and in one section has become the standard by which all excellence is to be judged. Under the guise of philanthropic reform, it has pursued its course with energy, boldness and unrelenting bitterness, until it has grown from " a cloud no bigger than a man's hand" into the dimensions of the tempest which is to-day lowering over the land charged with the elements of destruction. Commencing with a pretended love for the black race, it has arrived at a stage of restless, un- compromising fanaticism which will be satisfied with nothing short of the con- summation of its wildest hopes. It has become the grand question of the day — nf politics, of ethics, of expediency, of justice, of conscience, and of law, covering -.ae whole field of human society and divine government. In this view of the subject, and in view also of the surrounding unhappy cir- cumstances of the country which have their origin in this agitation, we give below a history of abolition, from the period it commenced to exist as an active ele- ment in the affairs of the nation down to the present moment. ABOLITIONISTS AND THEIR OBJECTS. There are two classes of persons opposed to the continued existence of slavery in the United States. The first are those who are actuated by sentiments of phil- anthropy and humanity, but are at the same time no less opposed to any disturb- ance of the peace or tranquility of the Union, or to any infringement of the pow- ers of the States composing the confederacy. Among these may be classed the society of " Friends," one of whose established principles is an abhorrence of war in all its forms, and the cultivation of peace and good will amongst mankind. As far back as 1670, the ancient records of their society refer to the peaceful and exem- plary efforts of the sect to prevent the holding of slaves by any of their number ; and a quaint incident is related of an eccentric •' Friend," who, at one of their monthly meetings, "seated himself among the audience with a bladder of bullock's blood secreted under his mantle, and at length broke the quiet stillness of the wor- ship by rising in full view of the congregation, piercing the bladder, spilling the blood upon the floor and seats, and exclaiming with all the solemnity of an inspi- red prophet, ' Thus shall the Lord spill the blood of those that traffic in the blood of their fellow men.' " The second class are the real ultra abolitionists — the " reformers " who, in the language of Henry Clay, are "resolved to persevere at all hazards, and without re- gard to any consequences, however calamitous they may be. With them the rights of property are nothing ; the deficiency of the powers of the general gov- ernment is nothing ; the acknowledged aud incontestible powers of the State are nothing ; civil war, a dissolution of the Union, and the overthrow of a govern- ment in which are concentrated the fondest hopes of the civilized world, are noth- ing. They are for the immediate abolition of slavery, the prohibition of the re- moval of slaves from State to State, and the refusal to admit any new State comprising within its limits the institution of domestic slavery — all these being but so many means conducive to the accomplishment of the ultimate but perilous end at which they avowedly and boldly aim — so many short stages, as it were, in the long and bloody road to the distant goal at which they would ultimately arrive. Their purpose is abolition, ' peaceably if it can, forcibly if it must.' " Utterly destitute of Constitutional or other rightful power ; living in totally distinct communities, as alien to the communities in which the subject on which they would operate resides, as far as concerns political power over that subject, as if they lived in Asia or Africa, they nevertheless promulgate to the world their pur- pose to immediately convert without compensation four millions of profitable and contented slaves into four millions of burdensome and discontented negroes. This idea, which originated and still generally prevails in New England, is the result of that puritanical frenzy which has always characterized that section of the country, and made it the natural breeding ground of the most absurd '-isms" ever concocted. The Puritans of to-day are not less fanatical than were the Pu- ritans of two centuries ago. Intact, they have progressed rather than retro- graded. Their god then was the angry, wrathful, jealous god of the Jews— the Supreme Being now is the creation of their own intellects, proportioned in di- mensions to the depth aud fervor of their individual understandings. Then the Old Testament was their rule of faith. Now neither old nor new, except in so far as it accords with their consciences, is worth the paper upon which it is written. Tin ir creeds are begotten of themselves, and their high priests are those who best represeut their peculiar " notions." The same spirit which, in the days of Robes- pierre and Marat, abolished the Lord's day and worshipped Reason, in the person of a harlot, yet survives to work other horrors. In this age, however, and in a com- munity like the present, a disguise must be worn; but it is the old threadbate ad- vocacy of human rights, which the enlightenment of the age condemns as imprac- ticable. The decree has gone forth which strikes at Gcd. by striking at all subordination and law, and under the specious cry of reform it is demanded that every pretended evil shall be corrected, or society become a wreck — that the sun must be stricken from the heavens if a spot is found upon his disc. The abolitionist is a practical atheist. Iu the language of one of their congre gational ministers— Rev. Henry Wright, of Massachusetts :— '■The God of humanity is not the God of slavery. If so, shame upon such a God. I scorn him. I •will never bow to his shrine ; my head shall go off with my hat when I take it off to such a G"d as that. If the Bible sanctions slavery, the Bible is a self-evident falsehood. And, il God should de- clare it to be right, I would fasten the chain upon the heel of such a God, and let the man go free, tuch a God is a phantom." The religion of the people of New England is a peculiar morality, around which the minor matters of society arrange themselves like ferruginous particles around a loadstone. All the elements obey this general law. Accustomed to doing as it pleases, New England " morality " has usually accomplished what it has under- taken. It has attacked the .Sunday mails, assaulted Free Masonry, triumphed over the intemperate use of ardent spirits, and finally engaged in an onslaught upon the slavery of the South. Its channels have been societies, meetings, pa- pers, lectures, sermons, resolutions, memorials, protests, legislation, private discus- sion, public addresses; in a word, every conceivable method whereby appeal may be brought to mind. Its spirit has been agitation !— and its language, fruits and measures have partaken throughout of a character that is thoroughly warlike. " In lan"-ua"e no element ever flung out, more defiance of authority, contempt of religion, or authority to man. As to agency, no elementon earth has broken up more friendships and families societies and parties, churches and denominations, or ruptured more organizations, political, so- cial "r domestic. And as to measures I What spirit of man ever stood upon earth with bolder front and wielded fiercer weapons? Stirring harangues 1 Stern resolutions I Fretful memorials 1 Angry protests ! Incendiary pamphlets at the South 1 Hostile legislation at the Xorth I Under- ground railroads at the West 1 Resistance to the Constitution ! Division of the Union 1 Military contribution I Sharpe's rifles I Higher law ! If this is not belligerence enough, Mohammed's work and the old Crusades were an appeal to argument and not to arms." What was philanthrophy in our forefathers has become misanthrophy in their descendants, and compassion for the slave has given way to malignity against the master. Consequences are nothing. The one idea preeminent above all others is abolition ! It is worthy of notice in this connection that most abolitionists know little or nothing of slavery and slaveholders beyond what they have learned from excited, caressed and tempted fugitives, or from a superficial, accidental or prejudiced observation. From distorted facts, gross misrepresentations, and frequently malicious caricatures, they have come to regard Southern slaveholders as the most unprincipled men in the Universe, with no incentive but avarice, no feeling but selfishness, and no sentiment but cruelty. Their information is acquired from discharged seamen, runaway slaves, agents who nave been tarred and feathered, factious politicians, and scurrilous tourists ; and no matter how exaggerated may be the facts, they never fail to find willing believer? among this class of people. In tbe Church, the missionary spirit with which the men of other times and no- bler hearts intended to embrace all, both bond and free, has been crushed out. New methods of Scriptural interpretation have been discovered, under which the Bible brings to light things of which Jesus Christ and his disciples had no concep- tion. Assemblings for divine worship have been converted into occasions for the secret dissemination of incendiary doctrines, and thus a common suspicion has been generated of all Northern agency in the diffusion of religious instruction among the slaves. Of the five broad beautiful bands of Christianity thrown around the North and the South— Presbyterian, old school and new, Episco- palian, Methodist and Baptist, to say nothing of the divisions of Bible, tract and missionary societies— three are already ruptured— and whenever an anniversary brings together the various delegates of these organizations, the sad spectacle is presented of division, wrangling, vituperation and reproach, that gives to re- ligion and its professors anything but that meekness of spirit with which it is wont to be invested. Politically, tbe course of abolition has been one of constant aggression upon the South. At the time of the Old Confederation, the amount of territory owned by the Southern States was 647,202 square miles ; and the amount owned, by the North- ern States, 104,081. In 1783, Virginia ceded to the United States, for the common benefit, all her immense territory northwest of the river Ohio. In 1787, the North- ern States appropriated it to their own exclusive use by passing the celebrated ordinance of that year, whereby Virginia and all her sister States were excluded from the benefits of the territory. This was the first in the series of aggressions. Again, in April, 180:;, the United States purchased from France, for fifteen millions of dollars, the territory of Louisiana, comprising an area of 1,189,112 square miles, the whole of which was slaveholding territory. In 1821, by the 9 passage of the Missouri Compromise, 9G4,667 square miles of this was converted into free territory. Again, by the treaty with Spain, of February, 1819, the United States gaintd the territory from which the present State of Florida was formed, with an area of 59,268 square miles, and also the Spanish title of Oregon, from which they acquired an area of 311,463 square miles. Of this cession, Florida only has been allowed to the Southern States, while the balance — nearly six-sevenths of thef whole — was appropriated by the North. | Again, by the Mexican cession, was acquired 520,078 square miles, which the j North attempted to appropriate under the pretence of the Mexican laws, but which was prevented by the measures of the Compromise of 1850. Of slave ter- ritory cut off from Texas, there have been 44,602 square miles. To sum this up, the total amount of territory acquired under the Constitution has been, by the Northwest cession 286, £81 square miles. Louisiana cession , 1,189,112 do. Florida and Oregon cession 400,731 do. Mexican cession 526,078 do. Total 2,377,602 do. Of all this territory the Southern States have been permitted to enjoy only 283,713 square miles, while the Northern States have been allowed 2,083,889 square miles, or between seven and eight times more than has been allowed to the South. The following are some of the invasions that have been from time to time pro- posed upon the Constitution in the halls of Congre by these agitators : 1. That the clause allowing the representation of three-fifths of the slaves shall be obliterated from the Constitution; or, in other words, that the South already in a vast and increasing miuority, shall be still further reduced in the seal" of insignificance, and thus, on every attempted usurpation of her rights, be far below the protection of even a Presidential veto. Next has been demanded the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia; in the forts, arsenals, navy yards and other public establishments of the United States. What object have the abolitionists had for raising all this clamor about a little patch of soil ten miles square, and a few inconsiderable places thinly scattered over the land — a mere grain of sand upon the beach — unless it be to establish the precedent of Congressional interference, which would enable them to make a wholesale incursion upon the constitutional rights of the South, and to drain from the vast ocean of alleged national guilt its last drop ? Does any one suppose that a mere microscopic concession like this would alone appease a con- science wounded and lacerated by the ■' sin of slavery?" Another of these aggressions is that which was proposed under the pretext of regulating commerce between the States — namely, that no slave, for any purpose aid under any circumstances whatever, shall be carried by his lawful owner from one slaveholding State to another; or, in other words, that where slavery now is there it shall remain forever, until by its own increase the slave population shall outnumber the white race, and thus by a united combination of causes — the fears of the master, the diminution in value of his property and the exhausted condition of the soil — the final purposes of fanaticism may be accomplished. Still another in the series of aggressions was that attempted by the Wilmot Proviso, by which Congress was called upon to prohibit every slaveholder from s removing with his slaves into the territory acquired from Mexico — a territory as laige as the old thirteen States originally «omposing the Union. It appears to have been forgotten that whether slavery be admitted upon one foot of territory or not, it cannot affect the question of its sinfulness in the slightest degree, and that if every nook and corner of the national fabric were ©pen to the institution, not a single slave would be added to the present sumber, «r that, if excluded, their number would not be a single one the less. We might also refer to the armed and bloody opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law, to the passage of Personal Liberty Bills, t® political schemes in Congress and out, and to systematic agitation everywhere, with a view to stay the progress of the South, contract her political power, and eventually lead, at her expense, if not of the Union itself, i© the utter expurgation of this " tremendous national sin." In short, the abolitionists have contributed nothing to the welfare of the slave or of the South. "While over one hundred and fifty millions have been expended by slaveholders in emancipation, except in those sporadic cases where the amount was capital invested in self-glorification, the abolitionists have not expended one cent. More than this : They have defeated the very objects at which they have aimed. When Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, or some other border State has come so near to the passage of gradual emancipation laws that the hopes of the real friends of the movement seemed about to be realized, abolitionism has stepped in, and, with frantic appeals to the passions of the negroes, through incendiary publications, dashed thenvto the ground, tightening the fetters of the slave, sharpening authority, and producing a reaction throughout the entire eommunity that has crushed out every incipient thought of future manumission. Such have been the obvious fruits of abolition. Church, state and society ! Nothing has escaped it. Nowhere pure, nor peaceable, nor gentle, nor easily entreated, nor full of mercy and good fruits ; but everywhere forward, scowling, uncompromising, and fierce, breaking peace, order and structure at every step, crushing with its foot what would not bow to its will ; defying government, despising the Church, dividing the country, and striking Heaven itself if it dared to obstruct its' progress ; purifying, pacifying, promising nothing, but marking its entire pathway by disquiet, schism and ruin. We come now to the train of historial facts upon which we rely in proof of tho foregoing assertions. <> THE FIRST EPOCH, From 1787 to 1820. CHAPTER H. ^of ^ diDa ^ e w 17 , 87 7^T he ^ lave P °P ulation of n90-Abolitionism at that time-The Importation An»nT + 3 ? ^ork°f Northerners-Statistics of the Port of Charleston, S. C, from 1804 to 1808- Anecdote of a Rhode Island Senator, &c, &c. i The first great epoch in the history of our country at which the spirit of aboli- tionism displayed itself was immediately preceding the formation of the present government. From the close of the Revolutionary War, in 1783, to the sitting of the Constitutional Convention, was a space of only four years. Two years more brings us to the adoption of the Constitution, in 1789. It was in the summer of 1787, and at the very time the Convention in Philadelphia was framing that in- strument, that the Congress in New York was framing the ordinance which was passed on the 13th of July, 1787, by which slavery was forever excluded from all the territory northwest of the river Ohio, which, three years before, had been generously ceded to the United States by Virginia, and out of which have since been organised the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. According to the first census, taken in- 1790, under the Constitution, when every State in the Union, with one exception, was a slave State, the number of slaves was as follows : — States. No. of Slaves. 1 Massachusetts , 2 New Hampshire 158 3 Rhode Island 948 4 Connecticut , 2,764 6 New York 21,340 6 New Jersey '. 11 ,423 7 Pennsylvania 3,737 8 Delaware 8,887 9 Maryland 103,036 10 Virginia 305,057 11 North Carolina 100,571 12 South Carolina 107,094 13 Georgia 29,264 Territory of Ohio 3,417 Total 697,696 In 1820, New York had 10,088 slaves. In 1827, however, by virtue of an Act, passed in 1817, they were declared free, and emancipated, without compensation to their owners. Even in 1830, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania had slaves : New Jersey containing 2,254. Since 1790, the increase of slaves has been at the rate of thirty per cent, each decade. At this period numerous emancipation societies were formed, comprised princi- pally of the Society of Friends, and petitions were presented to Congress, praying for the abolition of slavery. These were received with but little comment, referred, and reported upon by a committee. The reports stated that the gene- ral government had no power to abolish slavery as it existed in the several States, and that the States themselves had exclusive jurisdiction over the subject. 10 This sentiment was generally acquiesced in, and satisfaction and tranquility en- sued, the abolition societies thereafter limiting their exertions, in respect to the black population, to offices of humanity within the scope of existing laws. In fact, if we carry ourselves by historical research back to that day, and as- certain men's opinions by authentic records still existing among us, it will be found that there was no great diversity of opinion between the North and the South upon the subject of slavery. The great ground of objection to it then was political ; that it weakened the social fabric ; that, taking the place of free labor, society was less strong and labor less productive ; and both sections, with an exhibition ot no little acerbity of temper and violence of language, ascribed the evil to the injurious and aggrandizing policy ot Great Britain, by whom it was first entailed upon the Colonies. The terms of reprobation were then more severe in the South than the North. It is a notorious fact that some of our North- ern forefathers were then the most aggravated slave dealers. They transported the miserable captives from Africa, sold them at the South, and were well paid for their work; and, when emancipation laws forbade the prolongation of slavery at the North, there are living witnesses who saw the crowds of negroes assembled •along the shores of the New England and the Middle States to be shipped to lati- tudes where their bondage would be perpetual. Their posterity toil to-day in the fields of the Southern planter. It is a remarkable fact, also, that of the slaves imported into the United States during a period of eighteen years, from 1790 to 1808, not less than nine-tenths were imported for and by account of citizens of the Northern States and subjects of Great Britain — imported in Northern and British vessels, by Northern and Bri- tih men, and delivered to Northern born and British born consignees. The trade was thus carried on, with all its historic inhumanity, by the sires and grandsires of the very men and women, who, for thirty years, have been denoun- cing slavery as a sin against God, and slaveholders as the vilest class of men and tyrants who ever disgraced a civilised community ; and the very wealth in which, m a large degree, these agitators now revel, has descended to them as the fruit of the slave trade in which their fathers grew fat. The following statistics of the port of Charleston, S. C, from the year 1804 to 1808, will more plainly illustrate this remark : — imported into Charleston from Jan. 1, 1804, to Jan. 1, 18 '8, slaves 39,075 By British subjects 19,649 " Fn-neh subjects 1,078 ■*' Foreigners in Charleston 5,107 " Rhode Islanders 8,238 " Estonians 200 «' Phi'adelphians 200 " Hartford, citizens of 250 " Charlestonians 2,006 " BUtimoreans 750 " Savannah, citizens of 300 " Norfolk, citizens of «87 " Naw Orleans, citizens of 100 39,075 '* British, French and Northern people ■• 35,532 *' Southern people 3,543 39.075 CONSIGNEES OF THESE SLAVES. Natives of Charleston 13 Natives of Rhode Island — . . . . 88 Natives of Great Britain ■'• 91 Natives of France 10 Total 202 11 It is related, that daring the debate on the Missouri question, a Senator from South Carolina introduced in the Senate of the United States a document from the Custom House of Charleston, exhibiting the names and owners of vessels engaged in the African slave trade. In reading the document the name of De "Wolfe was repeatedly called. De Wolfe, who was the Senator elect from Rhode Island, was present, but had not been qualified. The Carolina Senator waa called to .order. "Order!" "Order !" echoed through the Senate Chamber. "It is contrary to order to call the name of a Senator/' said a distinguished gentle- man. The Senator contended he was not out of order, for the^ Senator from Rhode Island had not been qualified, and consequently was not entitled to a seat. He appealed to the Chair. The Chair replied, "You are correct, sir ; pro- ceed;" and proceed he did, calling the name of De Wolfe so often, that before he had finished the document, he had proved the honorable gentleman the importer of three-fourths of the " poor Africans" brought to the Charleston market, and the Rhode Island abolitionist bolted, amid the sympathies of his comrades and the sneers of the auditors. Such was the aspect of affairs with reference to this question at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. The spirit of affection created and fostered by the revolution — the cords binding together a common country in a common struggle and a common destiny — were too strong in the breasts of our revolutionary fa- thers for them to countenance the feeble efforts even of those prompted by mo- tives of humanity for the immediate emancipation of the slaves, and by almost the entire North of that period they were regarded with general disfavor, as an un- warrantable interference with an already established institution of the country. The consequence was that they sank into disrepute, and the country was blessed with and prospered under their comparative cessation for a number of years. This hostile feeling long lay dormant, and it was not until the year 1818, when Missouri applied for admission into the Union as a State, that the period of quiet was interrupted, and the little streams of abolitionism that had been quietly forming, merged into the foul and noisome current which is now devastating the land, has undermined and destroyed the Union, and is exerting its blighting in- fluence upon every department of the political and social fabric. 12 SECOND EPOCH, CHAPTER III. History of the Missouri Compromise, 1820— Benjamin Lundy and the '• Genius of Universal Email* Cipation "—Insurrection at Charleston, S. C— The result of agitation in Congress— British Influ- ence and Interference Abolition in the East and West Indies — Remarkable opinion of Sir Robert Peel— Letter from Lord Brougham on the Harper's Ferry Insurrection. Probably there has never been in the history of the United States, except at the present time, a more critical moment, arising from the violence of domestic excite- ment, than the agitation of the Missouri question from 1818 to 1821. On the 18th day of December, 1818, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States presented before that body a memorial of the Legislature of the Territory of Missouri, praying that they might be admitted to form a Constitution and State government upon " an equal footing with the original States." Here origi- nated "the difficulty. Slavery existed in the Territory proposed to be erected into an independent State. The proposition was therefore to admit Missouri as a slave State, which involved three very essential and important features. These were : — 1. The recognition of slavery therein as a State institution by the national sovereignty. 2. The guarantee of protection to the ownership of her slave property by the laws of the United States, as in the original States under the Constitution. 3. That the right of representation in the National Legislature should be appor- tioned on her slave population, as in the original States. This was a recognition ot slavery, which at once aroused the interest of the people in every section of the Union. The petition was received, read and reported upon, and in February, 1819, Mr. Tallmadgc, of New York, proposed an amendment " prohibiting slavery except for the punishment of crimes, and that all children born in the said State after the admission thereof into the Union, shall be free at the age of twenty-five years." This passed the House, but was lost in the Senate. The excitement, not only in Congress, but throughout the Union, soon became intense, and for eighteen months the country was agitated from one extreme to the other. In many of the Northern States meetings were called, resolutions were passed instructing mem- bers how to vote, prayers ascended from the churches, and the pulpit began to be the medium of the incendiary diatribes for which it has since become so famous. In both branches of Congress amendments were passed and rejected without number, while the arguments on both sides brought out the strongest views of the respective champions. On one hand it was maintained that the compromise of the federal constitution regarding slavery respected only its existing limits at the time ; that it was remote from the views of the framers of the Constitution to have the domain of slavery extended on that basis; that the fundamental principles of the American Revolu- tion and of the government and institutions erected upon it were hostile to slavery ; that the comDromise of the Constitution was simply a toleration of things that 13 were, and not a basis of things that were to be ; that these securities of slavery, as it existed, would be forfeited by an extension of the system ; that the honor of the republic before the world, and its moral influence with mankind in favor of freedom, were identified with the advocacy of principles of universal emancipa- tion ; that the act of 1787, which established the Territorial government north and west Of the river Ohio, prohibiting slavery forever therefrom, was a public recognition and avowal of the principles and designs of the people of the United States in regard to new States and Territories north and west ; and that the pro- posal to establish slavery in Missouri was a violation ot all these great and funda- mental principles. On the other hand, it was urged that slavery was incorporated in the system of society as established in Louisiana, which comprehended the Territory of Missouri, when purchased from France in 1803 ; that the faith of the United States was pledged by treaty to all the inhabitants of that wide domain to maintain their rights and privileges on the same footing with the people of the rest of the coun- try ; and consequently, that slavery, being a part of their state of society, it would be a violation of engagements to abolish it without their consent. Nor could the government, as they maintained, prescribe the abolition of slavery to any part of said Territory as a condition of being erected into a State, if they were other- wise entitled to it. It might as well, as they said, be required of them to abolish any other municipal regulation, or to annihilate any other attribute of sovereignty. If the government had u-Je an ill-advised treaty in the purchase of Louisiana, they maintained it would be manifest injustice to make its citizens suffer on that account. They claimed that they were received as a slaveholding community on the same footing with the slave States, and that the existence or non-existence of slavery could not be made a question when they presented themselves at the door of the Capitol of the republic for a State charter. After much bitter and acrimonious discussion, the question was finally, through the exertions of Henry Clay, settled by a compromise, and a bill was passed for the admission of Missouri without any restriction as to slavery, but prohibiting it throughout the United States north of latitude thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes. Missouri was not declared independent until August, 1821. Previous to the passage of the bill for its admission, the people had formed a State constitution, a provision of which required the Legislature to pass a law <; To prevent free negroes from coming to and settling in the Slate." When the constitution was presented to Congress, this provision was strenuously opposed. The contest occu- pied a greater part of the session ; but Missouri was finally admitted on condition that no laws should be passed by which any free citizen of the United States should be prevented from enjoying those rights within the State to which he was entitled by the Constitution of the United States. Such was the Missouri Compromise, and though its settlement once more brought repose to the country and strengthened the bonds of fraternity and union between the States, its agitation in Congress was like the opening of a foul ulcer— the beginning of that domineering, impertinent, ill-timed, vociferous and vitupe- rative opposition which has ever since been the leading characteristic of the aboli- tion movement. The " settlement " of the question in Congress seemed to be merely the s-igual 14 for its agitation among the non-slaveholding Slates. Fanatics sprang up like mushrooms, and, " in the name of God," proclaimed the enormity of slavery and eternal damnation to all who indulged in the wicked luxury. Among the earliest and most notable of these philanthropic reformers was one Benjamin Lundy, who, in the year 1321, commenced the publication of a monthly periodical called the " Genius of Universal Emancipation," which was successively published at Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington City, and frequently en route during his travels wherever he could find a press. It is related of him that at one time he traversed the free States lecturing, collecting, obtaining subscribers, stir- ring up the people, writing for his paper, getting it printed where he could, stop- ping to read the " proof" on the road, and directing and mailing his papers at the nearest post-office. Then, packing up iu his trunk his column-rules, type, "heading" and " direction book," he pushed along like a thorough-going pioneer. What this solitary "Friend" — for such he was — in this manner accomplished, he himself states in an appeal to the public in 1830. He says : — " I have within the period a£ove mentioned (ten years) sacrificed several thonsands of dollars of ray own hard earnings; I have travelled upwards of five thousand miles on foot and more than twenty thousand in othir ways ; have visited nineteen States of this Union, and held more than two hundred public meetings— have performed two voyages to the West Indies, by which means the emancipation of a considerable number of slaves has been effected, and I hope the way paved for the enfranchisement of many more." INSURRECTION AT CHARLESTON, S. C. The year 1822 was marked by one of the most nefarious negro plots ever devel- oped in the history of the country. The first revelation was made to the Mayor of the city of Charleston on the 30th of May, 1822, by a gentleman who had on the morning of the same day returned from the country, and obtained on his arri- val an inkling of what was going on from a confidential slave, to whom the secret had been imparted. Investigations were immediately set on foot, and one of the slaves who was ap- prehended, fearing a summary execution, confessed all he knew. He said he had known of the plot for some time ; that it was very extensive, embracing an indis- crimate massacre of the whites, and that the blacks were to be headed by an indi- vidual who carried about him a charm which rendered him invulnerable. The pe- riod fixed tor the rising was on Sunday, the lGth of June, at twelve o'clock at night. Through the instrumentality of a colored class-leader in one of the churches, this information was corroborated, and it was ascertained that enlistmeut for the insurrection was being actively carried on in the colored community of the church. It appeared that three months before that time, a slave named Rolla, belonging to Governor Bennett, had communicated intelligence of the intended rising, saying that when this event occurred they would be aided iu obtaining their liberty by people from St. Domingo and Africa, and that if they would make the first move- ment at the time above named, a force would cross from James Island and land at South Bay, march up and seize the arsenal and guardhouse ; that another body would at the same time seize the arsenal on the Neck, and a third would rendez- vous in the vicinity of his master's mill. They would then sweep the town with fire aud sword, not permitting a single white soul to escape. 15 Startled by this terrible intelligence, the military were immediately ordered out and preparations made to suppress the first signs of an outbreak. Finding the city encompassed with patrols and a strict watch kept upon every movement, the ne- groes feared to carry out their designs, and when the period had passed for the explosion of the plot, the authorities proceeded with vigor to arrest all against whom they possessed information. The first prisoner tried was Rolla, a commander of one of the contemplated ^ forces. On being asked whether he intended to kill the women and children, he remarked, " Wlien we have done with the men we know what to do with the wom- en." On this testimony he was found guilty, and sentenced to be executed on the 2d of July. Another was Denmark Vesey, the father of the plot, and a free black man. It was proved that he had spoken of this conspiracy upwards of four years previous- ly. His house was the rendezvous of the conspirators, where he always presided, encouraging the timid by the hopes of success, removing the scruples of the re- ligious by the grossest perversion of Scripture, and influencing the bold by all the savage fascinations of blood, beauty and booty. It was afterwards proved, though not on his trial, that he had been carrying on a correspondence with cer- tain persons in St. Domingo— the* massacre and rebellion in that island having suggested to him the conspiracy in which he embarked at Charleston. His design was to set the mills on fire, and as soon as the bells began to ring the alarm, to kill every man as he came out of his door, and afterwards murder the wo- men and children, " for so God had commanded in the Scriptures." At the same time, the country negroes were to rise in arms, attack the forts, take the ships, kill every man on board except the captains, rob the banks and stores, and then sail for St. Domingo. English and French assistance was also expected. Six thousand were ascertained to have been enlisted in the enterprise, their names being enrolled on the books of " The Society," as the organization was called. When the first rising failed, the leaders, who still escaped arrest, meditated a second one, but found the blacks cowed by the execution of their associates and by the vigilance of the whites. The leaders waited, they said, " for the head man, who was a white man," but they would not reveal his name. The whole number of persons executed was thirty-five ; sentenced to transpor- tation, twenty-one ; the whole number arrested, one hundred and thirty-one. Among the conspirators brought to trial and conviction, the cases of Glen, Billy Palmer and Jack Purcell were distinguished for the sanctimonious hypocrisy they blended with their crime. Glen was a preacher, Palmer exceedingly pious, and Purcell no less devout. The latter made the following important confession :— "If it had not been for the cunning of that old villain Vesey I should not now be in my present situation. He employed every stratagem to induce me to join him. He was in the habit of read- ing to me all the passages in the newspapers that related to St Domingo, *g W>™ n £*ts destruction, if that can be easil v avoid-d, but to convert it to the use of the slaves. If it cannot be thus converted, then we advise its destruction. Teach ,J}^ i \ their master's buildings, to Ml their cattle and horses, to conceal or destroy farming vtemxh, to abandon labor ,n seed time and harvest, and let crops perish. Make slavery unprofitable in this way, if it can be done m no other. '•u ' T ? T ak ? sIa T eholders ob Jects of derision and cowtonp*, by flogging them whenever they shall be guilty of flogging their slaves. J "3 To risk no general insurrection until we of the North go to your assistance, or you are sure 01 success without our aid. "4 To cultivate the friendship and confidence of the slaves ; to consult with them as to their rights and interests, and the means of promoting them ; to show your interest in their welfare, and your readiness to assist them ; let them know that they have vour sympathy, and it will give them courage, self-respect and ambition, and make men of them— infinitely better men to live by, as neighbors and friends, than the indolont, arrogant, selfish, heartless, domineering robbers and aUwho live b°hone t l'b yourselves and the slaves in subjection, and look with contempt upon " 5. To change your political institutions as soon as possible, and, in the meantime, give never a vote to a slaveholder ; pay no taxes to their government, if you can either resist or evade them ; as witnesses and jurors, give no testimony and no verdicts in support of any slaveholding claims ; penorm no military, patrol or police service; mob slaveholding courts, jails and sheriffs; do temrthr 1 » sustamin S sl avery, but everything you safely can, publicly and privately, for THE END. We have before given a table of the number of slaves in the United States in 1790. It was then 697,696. The following is a similar estimate for the year 1850, as determined by the seventh census : 1 New Jersey 222 2 Delaware ."......! 2 990 3 Maryland .'.'..'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.' .'.'.'.'.'.'.' 90,368 4 Virginia 472,528 6 North Carolina 288,548 6 South Carolina ' ' 384 984 7 Georgia 7.7777 7 !!s8rt'.P82 8 Florida _ _ 39 309 9 Alabama 340 892 10 Mi; — : ~ ssissippi goo. S78 11 Louisiana 244 809 12 Texas 7.7. .7.7.7.7. '.'.'.'. 58^161 13 Arkansas 47 100 14 Tennessee ' 239 460 15 Kentucky 1. ...................... .'.\'.'.'.'.'.'.'.2ia,9Sl 16 Missouri . . 87 422 17 District of Columbia . 3*687 18 Utah 7. ' 26 Total. 204,347 Adding to this sum thirty per cent, a fair estimate of the increase for the last ten years, and we have in I860. 3,965,651 slaves in the United States or four mil- lions in round numbers. There were in the United States 347,525 persons owning slaves. Of this number two owned 1,000 each ; both resided in South Carolina. Nine only owned between 500 and 1,000. of whom two resided in Georgia, four in Louisiana, one in Mississippi. Fifty-six owned from 300 to 500, of whom one resided in Maryland, one in Virginia, three in North Carolina, one in Tennessee, one in Florida, four in Georgia, six in Louisiana, eight in Mississippi, twenty-nine 55 in South Carolina, one hundred and eighty- seven owned from 200 to 300, of whom South Carolina had sixty-nine, Louisiana thirty-six, Georgia twenty-two. Missis sippi eighteen, Alabama sixteen, North Carolina twelve, five other States four- teen, and four States none. Fourteen hundred and seventy-nine owned from 100 to 200. All the slaveholding States, except Florida and Missouri, are represented in this class, South Carolina having one-four ih of the whole; 29,733 person owned from ten to twenty slaves each. South Carolina, from this statement, owns more slaves in proportion to her population than any other State in the South. A few general considerations, and we conclude our narrative. After tracing the course of events recorded in the foregoing pages, the questions naturally arise — What has been the result? what have the abolitionists gained? The answers may be briefly summed up as follows :— 1. They have put an end to the benevolent schemes of emancipation which originated among the real philanthropists of the South, and were calculated, in a proper time and manner, beneficent to all concerned, to produce the desired result. In their wild and fanatical attempts they have counteracted the very object at which they have aimed. Instead of ameliorating the condition of the slave*, they have only aroused the distrust of the master, and led to restrictions which did not before exist. The truth is, the lot of the people of the South is not more implicated in that of the slaves than is the lot of the slaves in the people of the South. In their mutual relations, they must survive or perish together. In the language ot another, " The worst foes of the black race are those who have intermeddled in their behalf. By nature, the most affectionate and loyal of all races beneath the sun, they are also the most helpless : and no calamity can befal thefli greater than the loss of that protection they enjoy under this patriarchal system. Indeed, the experiment has been tried of precipitating them upon a free- dom which they know not how to enjoy ; and the dismal results are before the world in statistics that may well excite astonishment. "With the fairest portions of the earth in their possession, and with the advantage of a long discipline as the cultivators of the soil, their constitutional indolence has converted the most beau- tiful islands of the sea into howling wastes. It is not too much to say, that if the South should, at this moment, surrender every slave, the wisdom of the entire world, united in solemn council, could not solve the question of tleir disposal. Freedom would be their doom. Every Southern master knows this truth and feels its power." 2. Touch the negro, and you touch cotton— the mainspring that keeps the machinery ot the world in motion. In teaching slaves to entertain wild and dangerous notions of liberty, the abolitionists have thus jeopardized the commerce of the country and the manufacturing interests of the civilized world. They have likewise destroyed confidence. Northern institutions are no longer filled with the young men and women of the South, but find rivals springing up in every State south of Mason and Dixon's line. Northern commerce can no longer depend upon the rich placer of wealth it has hitherto found in Southern patronage. Northern men can no longer travel in the South without being regarded as objects of suspicion and confounded with the abolitionists of their section. In short, all the kind relations that have ever existed between the North and the S^uth have been 66 interrupted, and a barrier erected, which, socially, commercially and politically, has separated the heretofore united interests of the two sections, and which nothing but a revolution in public sentiment, a higher sense of the moral obliga- tions due our neighbor, a religious training, which will graft upon our nature a truer conscience and inculcate a purer charity, and finally a recognition of abstract right and justice, can ever remove. 3. They have held out a Canadian Utopia, where they have taught the slaves in their ignorance to believe they could enjoy a life of ease and luxury, and having cut them off from a race of kind masters and separated them from comtortable homes left the deluded beings incapable of self-support upon an uncongenial soil, to live in a state of bestiality and misery, and die cursing the abolitionists as the au- thors of their wretchedness. 4. They have led a portion of the people of the North, as well as of the South to examine the question in all its aspects, and to plant themselves upon the broad principle that that form of government which recognizes the institution of slavery in the United States, is the best, the condition of the two races, white and black being considered, for the development, progress and happiness of each. In other words, to regard servitude as a blessing to the negro, and under proper and philanthropic restrictions, necessary to their preservation and the prosperity of the country. 5. Step by step they have built up a party upon an issue which has led to a dissolution of the Union. They have scattered the seeds of abolitionism until a majority of the voters of the free States have become animated by a fixed purpose not only to prevent the further growth of the 6lave power, but to beard the lion in his den. * The power of the North has been consolidated, and for the first time in the history of the country it is wielded as a sectional weapon against the interests of the South. The government is now in the hands of men elected by Northern votes, who regard slavery as a curse and a crime, and they will have the means necessary to accomplish their purpose. The utterances that have heretofore come from the rostrum or from irresponsi- ble associations of individuals now come from the throne. " Clad with the sanctities of e office, with the anointing oil poured upon the monarch's head, the decree has gone forth that the institution of Southern slavery shall be con- strained within assigned limits. Though Nature and Providence should send forth its branches like the banyan tree to take root in congenial soil, here is a power superior to both, that says it shall wither and die within its own charmed circle." If this be not believed, let the following selections from the speeches of the leaders of the Republican party be the proof : — Hon. Charles Sumnes, United States Senator from Mass.: — " This slave oligarchy will soon cease to exist as a political combination. Its final doom may he postponed, but it is certain. Languishing, it may live yet longer, but it will surely die. Yes, fellow-citizeDS, surely it will die — when disappointed in its purposes— driven back within the States, and constrained within these limits, it can do longer rule the Republic as a plantation of slaves at home ; can no longer menaoe Territories with its five-headed device to compel labor without wages ; can no longer fasten upon the constitution an interpretation which makes mer- chandise of men, and gives a disgraceful immunity to the brokers of human flesh, and the butchers of human hearts ; and when it can no longer grind flesh and blood , groans and sighs, the tears of mothers and the cries of children into the cement of a barbarous, political power I Surely, then, in its retreat, smarting under the indignation of an aroused people, and tho concurring judgment of the civilized world it must die ;— it may be, as a poisoned rat dies, of rage In its hole. (En- thusiastic applause) Meanwhile all good omeos are ours. The work cannot stop Quiok«r.ied by the triumph, now at hand,— with a Republican President in power, State after State, quitting the condition of a territory, and spurning slavery, will be welcomed into cur plural unit, and joining hands together, will become a belt of fire about the slave States, in which slavery must die." Hon. John Wentworth, Editor of the Chicago Democrat, and Mayor of Chicago:— " We might as well make up our minds to fight the battle new, as at any other time. It will have to be fought, and the longer the evil day is put off, the more bloody will be the contest when it comes. If we do not place slavery in the process of extinction now, by hemming it in, where it is, and not suffering it to expand, it will extinguish us, and our liberties " If the Union be preserved, and if the Federal government be administered for a few years oy Republican Presidents, a scheme may be devised , and carried out, which will result in the peaceful, honorable and equitable EMANCIPATION of ALL the SLAVES " The States must be made ALL FREE, and If a Republican government is intrusted with tho duty of making them FREE, the work will be done without bloodshed, without revolution, without disastrous loss of property. The work will be one of time and patience , but i t must be done 1 Hon. Win. H. Seward, Secretary of State (his Rochester speech of Oct. 25, 1858): " Our country is a theatre which exhibits, in full operation, two radically different, political systems— the one resting on the basis of servile or slave labor, the other on the basis of vo untary labor of freemen. * * * * *„**. „„»i„ " The two systems are at once perceived to be incongruous. But never have permanently existed together in one country, and they never can. * * * These antagonistic systems are continually coming in closer contact, D « Shall I tell you what th's collision means? It is an irrepressible conflict, between opposing and enduring forces, and it means that the United States must, and will, sooner or later, become entirely a slaveholding nation, or entirely a free labor nation . Either the cotton and rice fields or South Carolina, and the sugar plantations of Louisiana, will ultimately be tilled by free labor, and Charleston and New Orleans become marts for legitimate merchandise alone, or else the rye fields and wheat fields of Massachusetts and New York must again be surrendered by their farmers to the slave culture and to the production of slaves, and- Boston and New York become once more markets for trade in the bodies and souls of men." At a later period, in the Senate of the United States, the same Senator uttered the following language: — " A free Republican government like this, notwithstanding all its constitutional checks, cannot long resist and counteract the progress of society. ....„*„ „„ a "Free labor has at last apprehended its rights and its destiny, and is organizing itself to af sumo the government of the Republic. It will henceforth meet you boldly aid resolutely here (Wash- ington) ■ it will meet you everywhere, in the Territories and ou». of them, wherever you may go to extend slavery. It has driven you back in California and in Kansas, it will invade you soon m Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Missouri, and Texas. It will meet you in Arizonia, in Central America, and even in Cuba. t * * * * * * * • , ■ « You may, indeed, get a start under or near the tropics, and seem safe for a time, but it will be only a short time. Even there you will found States only for free labor to maintain ana occupy. The interest of the whole race demands the ultimate emancipation of all men. Whether that consummation shall be allowed to take effect, with needful ana wise precautions against sudden change and disaster.or behurriedon by violence, is all that remains for you to decide. The Wt ue man needs this continent to labor upon. His head is clear, his arm is strong, and his necessities are fixed. <# *«***** « It is for yourselves, and not for us, to decide how long and through whatfurther mortifications and disasters the contest shall be protracted before freedom shall enjoy her already assured tf « You may refuse to yield it now, and for a short period, but your refusal will only animate the friends of freedom with the courage and the resolution, and produce the union among them, which alone is necessary on their part to attain the position itself, simultaneous* with the im- pending overthrow of the existing Federal Administration and the constitution of anew and more independent Congress." Hon. Joshua Giddings, Member of Congress from Ohio :— « I look forward to the day when there sbftll bo a servile insurrection in the South; when tho 58 black man, armed with British bayonets, and led on by British officers, shall assert his freedom, and wage a war of extermination against his master; when the torch of the incendiary sha>l light up the towns and cities of the South, and blot out the last vestige of slavery. And though I may not mock at their calamity, nor laugh when their fear cometh, yet I will hail it as the dawn of a political millennium." Hon. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States : — "I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave, and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thiisg, or all the other. Eiiher the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind s ail rest in the belief, that it is in the course cf ultimate extinction, or its advocates will pusn it forward, until it shall become alike lawful i; all the States, old as well as new, North as well as Soutn." " I have always hated slavery as much as any abolitionist. I have always been an old line Whig. I have a'ways hated it, and I always believed it In a course of ultimate extinction. If I were in Congress, and a vote should come up on a question whether slavery should be prohibited iu anew territory, in spite of the Dred Scott decision I would vote that it should." These are a few only of the extracts of a similar nature which may be selected from multitudes of speeches that have been delivered by the leading men of the party. The same sentiment, however, runs through them all, and abolition, in one way or another, is not less a doctrine of the Republican party of 18fi0 than it was of the Liberty party of 1840, to which it owes its birth. " Abolitionism is clearly its informing and actuating soul ; and fanaticism is a blood-hound that never bolts its track when it has once lapped blood. The elevation of their candidate is far from being the consummation of their aims. It is only the beginning of that con- summation ; and if all history be not a lie, there will be coercion enough till the end of the beginning is reached, and the dreadful banquet of slaughter and ruin shall glut the appetite." And now the end has come. The divided house, which Mr. Lincoln boastfully said would not fall, has fallen. The ruins of the Union are at the feet as well of those who loved and cherished it as of those who labored for its destruction. The Constitution is at length a nullity, and our flag a mockery. Fanaticism, too, must have its apotheosis. HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. CHAPTER IX. The Six Seceding States and date of their Separation— Organization of the Southern Congress — Names of Members— Election of President and Vice President, and Sketch of their Lives — The New Constitution— The City of Montgomery, &c, &c. On Saturday, February 9, 1861, six seceding States of the old Union organized an independent government, adopted a constitution, and elected a President and Vice President. These States passed their respective ordinances of dissolution as follows : — STATU. DATE. TEAS NATS. [ STATE. DATE YEAS. NATS. South Carolina Dec 20,1860 169 — | Florida Jan. II. 1861 62 7 Mississippi Jan. 9,1861.... 84 15 I Georgia Jan. 19, 1861.. ..2 8 89 Alabama Jan 11,1861 61 39 | Louisiana Jan. 25,1861 113 17 Only two of the seceding States — South Carolina and Georgia — were original members of the confederacy. The others came in in the following order : — Louisiana April 8.1812 Mississippi r .Dec 10, 18U Alabama Dec 14 1819 Florida March 3,1845 Texas Dec 29,1845 59 The Convention which consummated this event assembled on the 4th of February, at Montgomery, Alabama. Hon. R. M. Barnwell, of South Carolina, being ap- pointed temporary chairman, the Divine blessing was invoked by Rev. Dr. Basil Manly. We give this first impressive prayer in the Congress of the new Confederacy below, and further add, as an illustration of the religious earnestness by which the delegates were one and all animated, that tbe ministers of Montgomery were invited to open the deliberations each day with invocations to the Throne of Grace : — Oh, Thou God of the Universe, Thou madest all things; Thou madest man upon the earth; Thou hast endowed him with reason and capacity for government. We thank Thee that Thou hast made us at this late period of the world,aod in this fair portion of the earth, and hast establish- ed a fres government and a pure form of religion amongst U3. We thank Thee for all the hallowed memories connected with our past history. Thou hast been the God of our lathers; oh, be Thou our God. Let it please Thee to vouchsafe Thy sacred presence 10 this assembly. Oh, Our Father, we appeal to Thee, the searcher of hearts, for the purity and sincerity of our motives. If we are in violation of any compact still obligatory upon us wiih those States from which we have sepa- rated in order to set up a new government — if we are acting in rebellion to and in contravention of piety towards God and good faith to our fellow man, we cannot hope for Thy presence and blessing But oh, Tnou heart searching God, we trust that Thou seest we are pursuing those rights which were guaranteed to us by tne solemn covenants of our fathers aod which were ce- mented by their blood. And now we humbly recognise Thy hand in the Providence which has brought us together. We pray Thee to give the spirit of wisdom to Thy servants, with all neceFsary grace, that they may act with deliberation and purpose, and that they will wisely adopt such measures in this trying condition of our affairs as shall redoucd to Thy glory and the good of our country. So direct them that they may merge the lust for spoil aud the desire for office into the patriotic desire for the welfare of this great people. Oh God, assist them to preserve our republican form of government and tne purity of the forms of religion, without interefere- ce with the strongest form of civil government May God in tender mercy bestow upon the oeputies here assembled health and strength of body, together with calmaess and soundnvss of mind ; may they aim directly at the glory of God and the welfare of the whole people, and when the hour of trial which may supervene shall come, euable them to stand firm in the exercise of truth, with great prudence and a just regara for the sove- reign rights of their constituents. Oh, God, grant that the union of these States, and all that may come into this union, may endure as long as the sua and moon shall last, ami until the Son of Man shall come a second time to judge the world in righteousness Preside over u>is body in its organization and in the distribution of its offices. Let truth and justice, and equal rights be secured to our government. And now, Our Father in Heaven, we acknowledge Th<-e as our God do Thou rule in us, do Thou sway us, do Tnou control us, and let the blessings of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon this assembly now and forever. Amen. A. R. Lamar, Esq., of Georgia, was then appointed temporary secretary, and the deputies from the several seceding States represented presented their credentials in alphabetical order, and signed their names to the roll of the Convention. The following is the list :— ALABAMA. R. W Walker, R. H Smith, J. L. M Curry, W. P. Chilton, S. F. Hale Colon, J. McRae, John Gill Shorter, David P. Lewis, Thomas Fearn. FLORIDA. James B. Owens, J. Patten Anderson, Jackson Morton, (not present ) GEOBGIA. Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, F. S. Bartow, M.J. Crawford, E A. Nisbet, B. H. Hill, A. R. Wright, Thomas R. R.Cobb, A. H. Kenan, A. H. Stephens. LOUISIANA. John Perkins, Jr. A. Declonet, Charles M. Conrad, D. F. Kenner, G. E. Sparrow, Henry Marshall. MISSISSIPPI. W. P. Harris, Walter Brooke, N. S. Wi'son, A. M. Clayton, W S Birry, J T Harrison. SOUTH CAROLINA. R. B. Rhett, R. W. Barnwell, L. M Keitt, James Ch snut, Jr. C. G. Memmir.ger, W. Porcher Miles, Thomas J. Withers, W. W. Boyce. THE HALL OF THE SOUTHERN CONVENTION. The following description is from a Southern paper : — " On the extreme left, as the visitor enters the Hall, may be seen a list of the names 60 of the gallant corps constituting the Palmetto regiment of South Carolina. *o distin- guished in the history of the Mexican War; next to that is an impressive representation of Washington delivering his inaugural address ; and still farther to the left, a pic- ture of South Carolina's ever memorable statesman, John C. Calhoun : and next to that, an excellent portrait of Albert J. Pickett, " the historian of Alabama." Just to the right of the President's desk is the portrait of Dixon H. Lewis, a repre- sentative in Congress from Alabama for a number of years. Immediately over the President's desk is the portrait of the immortal General George Washington, painted by Stuart. There are a few facts connected with the history of this por- trait which are, perhaps, deserving of special mention. It was given by Mrs. Cus- tis to General Benjamin Smith, of North Carolina. At the sale of his estate it was purchased by Mr. Moore, who presented it to Mrs. E.E. Clitherall (mother of Judge A. B. Clitherall, of Pickens), in whose possession it has been for forty years. It is one of the three original portraits of General Washington now in existence. A second one, pained by Trumbull, is in the White House at Washington, and is the identical portrait that Mrs. Madison cut out of the frame when the British attacked Washington in 1812. The third is in the possession of a gentleman in Boston, Massachusetts. Next to the portrait of Washington is that of the Old Hero, An- drew Jackson ; next in order is an excellent one of Alabama's distinguished son, Honorable W. L. Yancey ; and next, a picture of the great orator and statesman, Henry Clay ; and next to that, a historical representation of the swamp encamp- ment scene of General Marion, when he invited the British officer to partake of his scanty fare ; and on the extreme right of the door, entering into the Hall, is an- other picture of General Washington, beautifully and artistically wrought upon canvas by some fair hand." The deputies having handed in their credentials, on motion of Mr. Rhett, of South Carolina, Honorable Howell Cobb, of Georgia, was chosen President of the Convention, and Mr. J. J. Hooper, Secretary. Thus permanently organized, the Convention proceeded with the usual routine of business. A committee was appointed to report a plan for the Provisional Government upon the basis of the Constitution of the United States, and after remaining in se- cret session the greater part of the time for five days, the " Congress " — the word " Convention " being entirely ignored on motion of Honorable A. H. Stephens, of Georgia — at half past ten o'clock, on the night of February 8, unanimously adopted a provisional constitution similar in the main to the constitution of the old Union. The vital points of difference are the following: — 1. Ihe importation of African negroes from any foreign country other than the slave- holding States of the Confederated Slates is hereby forbidden, and Congress is required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same. 2. Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a member of this Confederacy. The Congress shall have power — 1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, for revenue necessary to pay the debts and carry on the government of the Confederacy, and all duties, imposts, and excises shcdl be uniform throughout the Confeder-acy. 61 A slave in one State escaping to another shall be delivered up on the claim of the- party to whom said slave may belong by the Executive authority of the State in which such slave may be found; and any case of any abduction or forcible rescue full compen- sation, including the value of slave, and all costs and expenses, shall be made to the party by the State in which such abduction or rescue shall take place. 2. The government hereby instituted shall take immediate steps for the settlement of all matters between the States forming it and their late confederates of the United States in relation to the public property and public debt at thetime of their withdrawal from them, time States hereby declaring it to be their wish and earnest desire to adjust everything pertaining to the common property, common liabilities, and common obligations of that Union upon principles of right, justice, equity and good faith. In several other features the new constitution differs from the original. The old one commences with the words — "We the people of the United States," &c. The new — "We the deputies of the sovereign and independent States of South Carolina," &c, thus distinctly indicating their sovereign and independent character, and yet their mutual reliance. Again, the new constitution reverentially invokes "the favor of Almighty God.' j In the old, the existence of a Supreme Being appears to have been entirely ignored. In the original, not only was the word "slave" omitted, but even the idea was so studiously avoided as to raise grave questions concerning the intent of the several clauses iu which the "institution" is a subject of legislation, while in the new, the word "slaves" is boldly inserted, and the intention of its framers so clearly denned with reference to them that there is hardly a possibility of misapprehension. Again, contrary to the expectation of the majority of the Northern people, who have persistently urged that the object of the South in establishing a separate government was to re-open the African slave trade, the most, stringent measures are to be adopted for its suppression. All this was done with a unanimity which indicated the harmony ot sentiment that prevailed among the people of the seceding States, and among the delegates by whom they were represented in the Southern Congress. THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT. The constitution having been adopted, the sixth day's proceedings of the South- ern Congress, on Saturday, February 9, were characterized by unusual interest, the galleries being crowded with anxious and enthusiastic spectators. During the preliminary business several model flags were presented for consider, ation— one being from the ladies of South Carolina; and a committee was appointed to report on a flag, a seal, a coat of arms and a motto for the Southern confederacy. There were likewise appointed committees on foreign affairs, on finance, on military and naval affairs, on postal affairs, on commerce and on patents. The Congress then proceeded to the election of a President and Vice President of the Southern confederacy, which resulted, by a unanimous vote, as follows:— President —Honorable Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi. Vice President— Honorable Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia. This announcement was received with the grandest demonstrations of enthusi- asm. One hundred guns were fired in the city of Montgomery in honor of the event, and in the evening a serenade was given to the Vice President elect, to 62 which he eloquently responded. Messrs. Chesnut and Keitt, of South Carolina, and Conrad, of Louisiana, likewise made appropriate speeches. A resolution was adopted in Congress appointing a committee of three Alabama deputies to make arrangements to secure the use of suitable buildings for the use of the several executive departments of the Confederacy. An ordinance was also passed, continuing in force, until repealed or altered by the Southern Confederacy, all laws of the United States in force or use on the first of November last. The Committee on Finance were likewise instructed to report promptly a tariff for raising revenue for the support of the government. Under this law a tariff has been laid on all goods brought from the United States. The appointment of a committee was also authorized for the purpose of reportiug a constitution for the permanent government of the Confederacy. These are some of the measures thus far adopted by the new government. The legislation has been prompt, unanimous, and adapted to the exigency of the mo- ment, and there is little doubt that when all the necessary laws have been passed, a strong, healthy, and wealthy confederation will be in the lull tide of successful experiment. The Southern Cabinet is composed of the following gentlemen: — Secretary of State Robert Toombs Secretary ot Treasury C. S. Memmioger. Secretary of In terior Va -ancy Secretary of War L P. Walker. Secretary of Navy John Perkins, Jr. Pos«master General.... H. T.Ebett. Attorney General J. P. Beijamin. HON. JEFFERSON DAVIS, OF MISSISSIPPI, PRESIDENT. Few men have led a life more filled with stirring or eventful incidents than Jefferson Davis. A native of Kentucky, born about 1806, he went in early youth with his father to Mississippi, then a Territory, and was appointed by President Monroe in 1822 to be a cadet at West Point. He graduated with the first honors in 1828 as Brevet Second Lieutenent, and at his own recpiest was placed in active service, being assigned to the command of General (then Colonel) Zachary Taylor, who was stationed in the West. In the frontier wars of the time young Davis dis- tinguished himself in so marked a manner that when a new regiment of dragoons was formed he at once obtained a commission as first lieutenant. During this time a romantic attachment sprang up between him and his prisoner, the famous chief Black Hawk, in which the latter forgot his animosity to the people of the United States in his admiration for Lieutenant Davis, and not until his death was the bond of amity severed between the two brave men. In 1835 he settled quietly down upon a cotton plantation, devoting himself to a thorough and systematic course of political and scientific education. He was married to a daughter of Gen. Taylor. In 1843 he took the stump for Polk, and in 1845, having attracted no little attention in his State by his vigor and ability, he was elected to Congress. Ten days after he made his maiden speech. Soon the Mexican war broke out, and a regiment of volunteers having been formed in Mississippi, and himself chosen Colonel, he resigned his post in Congress, and instantly repaired with his com- mand to join the corps d'armee under General Taylor. At Monterey and Buena Vista he and his noble regiment achieved the soldiers' highest fame. Twice by his 63 coolness he saved the day at Buena Vista. Wherever fire was hottest or danger to be encountered, there Colonel Davis and the Mississippi Rifles were to be found. He was badly wounded in the early part of the action, but sat his horse steadily till the day was won, and refused to delegate even a portion of his duties to his subordinate officers. In 1848 he was appointed to fill the vacancy in the Senate of the United States occasioned by the death of General Speight, and in 1850 was electedCo that body almost unanimously for the term of six years. Iu 1851 he resigned his seat in the Senate to become the State Rights candidate for Governor, but was defeated by Governor Foote. In 1S53 he was called to a seat in the Cabinet of President Pierce, and was Secretary of War during his administration. In 1857 he was elected United States Senator from Mississippi for the term of six years, which office he held until his resignation on the secession of Mississippi from the Union. Personally, he is the last man who would be selected as a "fire-eater." He is a prim, smooth looking man, with a precise manner, a stiff, soldierly carriage and an austerity that is at first forbidding. He has naturally, however, a genial temper, companionable qualities and a disposition that endears him to all by whom he may be surrounded. As a speaker he is clear, forcible and argumentative ; his voice is clear and firm, without tremor, and he is one in every way fitted for the distinguished post to which he has been called. HON. ALEXANDER H. STEVENS, OP GEORGIA, VICE PRESIDENT. This gentleman is known throughout the Union as one of the most prominent of Southern politicians and eloquent orators. His father, Andrew B. Stephens, was a planter of moderate means, and his mother (Margaret Grier) was a sister to the famous compiler of Grier's almanacs. She died when he was an infant, leaving him with four brothers and one sister, of whom only one brother survives. Mr. Stephens was born in Georgia on the 11th of February, 1812. When in his fourteenth year his father died, and the homestead being sold, his share of the entire estate was about five hundred dollars. With a commendable Anglo-Saxon love of his ancestry Mr. Stephens has since repurchased the original estate, which comprised about two hundred and fifty acres, and has added to it about six hundred more. Assisted by friends he entered the University of Georgia in 1828, and in 1832 graduated at the head of his class. In 1834 he commenced the study of the law, and in less than twelve months was engaged iu one of the most important cases in the country. His eloquence has ever had a powerful effect upon juries, enforcing, as it does, arguments of admirable simplicity and legal weight. From 1837 to 1810 he was a member of the Georgia Legislature. In 1842 he was elected to the State Senate, and in 1843 was elected to Congress. He was a member of the whig party in its palmiest days, but since its dissolution has acted with the men of the South, and such has been the upright, steadfast and patriotic policy he has pursued, that no one in the present era of faction, selfishness or suspicion has whis- pered an accusation of selfish motives or degrading intrigues against him. In the House he served prominently on the most important committees, and effected the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill through the House at a time when its warmest friends despaired of success. He was subsequently appointed chairman of the €4 Committee on Territories, and was also chairman of the special committee to which was referred the Lecompton constitution. By his patriotic course on various measures, he has, from time to time, excited the ire of many of the Southern people, but he has always succeeded in coming out of the contest with flying colors, and his recent elevation is a mark of the profound respect entertained for his qualities as a man and a statesman. Mr. Stephmis is most distinguished as an orator, though he does not look like one who can command the attention of the House at any time or upon any topic. His health from childhood has been very feeble, being afflicted with four abscesses and a continued derangement of the liver, which gives him a consumptive appearance though his lungs are sound. He has never weighed over ninety-six pounds, and to see his attenuated figure bent over his desk, the shoulders contracted and the shape of his slender limbs visible through his garments, a stranger would never select him as the " John Randolph" of our time, more dreaded as an adversary and more prized as an ally in a debate than any other member of the House of Representa- tives. When speaking he has at first a shrill, sharp voice, but as he warms up with his subject the clear tones and vigorous sentences roll out with a sonorousness that finds its way to every corner of the immense hall. He is witty, rhetorical and solid, and has a dash of keen satire that puts an edge upon every speech. He is a careful student, but so very careful that no trace of study is perceptible as he dashes along in a flow of facts, arguments and language that to common minds is almost bewil- dering. Possessing hosts of warm Mends who are proud of his regard, and enlight- ened Christian virtue and inflexible integrity, such is Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice President elect of the Southern confederacy. THE NEW CONFEDERACY. At this particular juncture it will also be interesting, in view of coming legisla- tion, to note some of. the statistics of the several seceding States with reference to their population, State debt, &c. They are as follows: — , — Population in 1860— » State Debt Free Slate. in 1859. South Carolina 308,186 407,185 $6,192 743 Georgia 615,336 467,400 2,632,722 Alabama 520,444 435,473 5,888,134 Mississippi 407,051 479,607 7,271,707 Louisiana ; 351.245 312,186 10,703,142 Florida. ..,„ 81.885 63,800 158,000 2,287,147 • 2,165.651 2,287,147 Total 4,452,798 This is a population exceeding by 522,920 that of 1790, at the close of the Revo- lutionary war of the whole United States. 1850. I860. Total population of free States i7Yr» 13,454,169 18,950,759 Do. do. slaveStates 9,612,969 12,433,409 Do. do. Territories 120,901 262,701 Total population of tbo United States 23.191,870 31616,869 Increaso in tcuyearB «*«-, 8 4^4,893 65 THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY— THE PROVISIONAL CAPITAL OP THE NEW CONFEDERACY. The city of Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, has assumed such a sudden importance as the capital of the Southern Confederacy and the seat of the federal operations of the new government, that we give below a brief sketch of its locali- ty and surroundings. It is situated on the left bank of the Alabama River, 331 miles by water from Mobile, and 830 miles from Washington, D. C. It is the sec- ond city in the State in respect to trade and population, aud is one of the most flourishing inland towns of the Southern States, possessing great facilities for com- munications with the surrounding country. For steamboat navigation the Ala- bama River is one of the best in the Union, the largest steamers ascending to this point from Mobile. The city is also the western termination of the Montgomery and West Point Railroad. It contains several extensive iron foundries, mills, fac- tories, large warehouses, numerous elegant stores and private residences. The cotton shipped at this place annually amounts to about one huudred thousand bales. The public records were removed from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery in No- vember. 1847. The State House was destroyed by are in 1849, and another one was erected on the same site in 1851. The present population of the city is not far from 16,000, and it is probable that, with all its uatural advantages, the fact of its present selection as the Southern capital, will soon place it in the first rank of Southern cities. THE EFFECT OF THE SOUTHERN CONGRESS. The united front and united action of the six States which have thus formed themselves into the pioneer guard, as it were, of the remaining nine, is an earnest that no one of them, in its sovereign capacity, will uudertake a conflict with the old United States without the assent of its brethren. What they have thus far done " in Congress assembled," they have done soberly and after mature consider- ation ; and in their past action we may find assurance that no future movements will be undertaken— especially those of a nature likely to involve them in a civil war— without equal deliberation, calmness, and a just regard for the common wel- fare. If there should be, it will be the fault of the aggressive policy of some of the Legislatures of the North. It will be observed that, notwithstanding Texas had already passed the ordinance of secession, as that act had not yet been endorsed by the people, at the time of the sitting of the Convention, she was not regarded as one of the new confederacy, and consequently was unrepresented. North Carolina also sent three Commissioners to deliberate with the delegates of the seceding States— namely, Messrs. D. L. Swain, J. L. Bridgers and M. W. Ransom. The entire movement bears upon its face all the marks of a well developed, well digested plan of government— a government now as independent as were the old thirteen States after the Fourth of July, 1776, and possessing what our ancestors of that date did not fully hav«— the wealth, ability and power to meet almost any contingency that may arise. Meanwhile, judging from the disposition of rcpubli- cans in Congress and throughout the country, the ball thus set in motion will not stop. The States already united will undoubtedly remain so, and form the nucleus around which will gather others. The new Union will grow in strength as it grows in age. According to our recent intelligence from England and France, these two nations will rival each other in endeavoring to first secure the favor of the new Power. With them cotton will be the successful diplomat. Ministers and agents will be appointed, postal facilities will be re-arranged, a new navy will spring into existence, prosperity will begin to pour into the newly opened lap, and we shall wit ness at our very side the success of a people who, by the pertinacity of the selfish political leaders and the political domination of the North, have been driven to measures of defence which are destined to redound to their benefit, but to our cost and national shame. — New York Herald, Feb. 11, 1861. X 8X0 L£8 TO • ssaaoNoo jo wwaan ,.' ■■• ■■ , ■ ■ f • : ' ■■ ■ , : "' -: ■ i : • ! 1 \ ! ' • - ■■ ■ 1 '■■ 1 ■ ' ; . 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