)<^U^ E 440 riTUTmALITY AXD RIGIITFULXESS OF SECESSIOxN. .5 ■ .J66 Copy 1 SPEECH OF HON. ANDREW JOHNSON- OF TENNESSEE, jy/' IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, SyX ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER IS AND 19, 1S60. / The qucsficn pending being i'le Joint Resolution {S. JVo. 48) introduced by Mr. Johnson, on Thursdan the loth of December, l^QQ , proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Mr. JOHNSON, o*"Tennessee. Mr. President, by ibe joint reso'uron now before Tie Senate, tliree amendments to the Constitution of the Uni- ted Siates are proposed. One proposes to change the mode of election of President and Vice Presi- dent of the United States from the electoral col- lege to a vote substantially and directly by tiie ])eopie. The second proposes tluitthe Senators of the United Siates shall be elected bv the people, once in six year3. instead of by li>e Legislatures of the respective States. The third provides that the Supreme Court shal' be divided into three classes: the term of the first class to expire 'n four years from the time that the classification is made; of the second class in eight years; and of the third class in twelve years; and as these vacan- cies occu'- they are to be filled by persons chosen, one half from the slave Smtes and the other ha'f tVom the non-slavehoidin^ States, thereby taking the judges o "the Supreme Court, from the respec- tive divisions of the country. i\Ir. President, if these amendments had been made, and the Constitution had been in the shape now proposed, 1 think the difficulties that are now upon the country would have been obviated. It would have been required that either the President or the Vice President should be taken from the South, and that would have destroyed, to some ex- tent, the sectional character of our recent election. The next provision of the amendment would re- quire the votes cast for President and Vice Presi- *■ 'nt to be cast by districts; and if we are to take ^^'^'Sji indication the returns to the House of Rep- rest tj^^ypg Qj-j^ majority of twenty-seven against the 11 .filling Administration, it is pretty conclu- sive ^ ' a President differing in politics and sen- ^"^^l\^j\m the one v/ho has been recently elected would li-^^ been chosen. Each district would have vo -rectly for the President and Vice ?' J a ma' United States. The individual having '-^ 'V of the votes in that district ■would be cons.' . . i . i """ . t as we '^''^ ^^ receiving one electoral ^^^P ^'"o-.-pss H<-'J ^^^ votes for one member spective districts ha if all the votes in the re- eiple; we s hould in' 1 cast on the same prin- xt Congress have a i majority of twenty-seven in oppositioi to the incoming i\dministration in the House of Rep- I resentatives; for they would have given us a ma- jority in the electoral colleges. It seems to me, if these propositions were adopted and made a part of the Constitution, that, to a very great extent, the diffculty and complaint that is now manifested in different portions of tlie country would be ob- viated, and especially so with some improvement or modification of the law which provides for the restoration of fugitives from labor. j Ic is not my purpose, sir, to discus's these prop- os ions to amend the Constitution in detail to- day, and 1 shall say but little more in reference to them and to their practical operation; but, as we are now, as it were, involved in revolution, (for there is a revolution, in fact, upon the coun- t-y,) I think it behooves every man, and espe- cially every one occupying a public place, to indi- cate, insome manner, his opinions and sentiments in reference to the questions that agitate and dis- tract the public mind. I shall be frank on this occasion in giving my views and taking my po- sitions, as I have always been upon questions that involve the public interest. I believe it is the imperative duty of Congress to make some effort to save the country from impending dissolution; and he that is unwilling to make an effort to pre- serve the Union, or, in other words, to preserve the Constitution, and the Union as an incident resulting from the preservation of the Constitu- tion, is unworthy of public confidence, and the respect and gratitut'e of the American people. In most that I shall say on this occasion, I shall noi differ very csstintially from my southern friends. The difference will consist, as I think, from what I have heard and what I see published in the various [jeriodicals of the day, in the mode and manner by which this great end is to be ac- complished. Some of our southern friends think that secession is the mode by which these ends can be accomplished; that if the Union cannot be preserved in its spirit, by secession they will get those rights secured and perpetuated that they have failed to obtain within the Union. I am opposed to secession. I believe it is no remedy •S V for the evils complained of. Instead of acting with that division of mv southern friends who take ground for secession, li shall take other grounds, *ftils I try to accomplish the same end. i think that this battle ought to be fought not .\triot9 of the Revolution. Th«-y formt-d the Con- stitution; and this Union that is so much spoken of, and which all of us are so desirous to preserve, grows outof the Constitution; and 1 repeat, I am not willing to walk out of a Union growing out of the Constitution, that was formed by the pa- triots and, I may say, the soldiers of the R,evolu- tion. So far as I am concerntd, and I believe I may speak with some degree of confidence for the people of my State, we intend to fight that bat- tle inside and not outside of the Union; and if anybody must go outof the Union, it must be those who violate it. We do not intend to go out. It is our Constitution; it is our Union, growing out of the Constitution; and we do not intend to be driven from it or out of the Union. Those who have violated the Constitution either in the pas- sage of what are denominatid personal liberty bills, or bv their refusal to execute the fugitive slave law— thev having violated the mstrument that binds us together — must go out and not we. I do not think we can ^c> before the country with the same force of position demanding of the North a compliance with the Constitution and all its guarantees, if wt- violate the Constitution by going j out onrselv.'S, that we shall if we stand inside of the Constitution,demandingacompliance with its provisions and its guarantees; or if need be, as I i think it is, to demand additional securities. We i should maki' liiat demand inside of the Constitu- ; tion, and in the manner and mode pointed out by ! the instrument itself. Then we keep ourselves ; in the right; we put our adversary in the wrong; j and though it may take a little longer to accom- plish the end, we take the right means to accom- plish an end that is right in itsflf. I know that sometimes we talk about compro- mises. I am not a compromiser, nor a conserva- tive, in the usual acceptation of those terms. I have been generally considered radical, and I do not come forward to-day in anything that I shall say or propose, asking for anything to be done upon the principle of compromise. If we ask for anything, it should be for that which is right and reasonable in itself. It being right, those of whom we ask it, upon the great principle of right, are bound to grant it. Compromisfe! I know in the common acceptation of the-term it is to agree upon certain propositions in which some things are con- ceded on one side and others conceded on the other. I shall go for enactments by Co. , . t-ss or for amend- ments to the Constitution, upon tne principle that they are right and upon no other ground. I am not for compromising right with wrong. If we have no right, we ought not to demand it. If we are in the wrong, they should not grant us what we ask. 1 approach this momentous subject on the great principles of right, asking for nothing and demanding nothing but what is right in itself and which every right-minded man and a right- minded community and a right-minded people, who wish the preservation of tlvis Government, will bp disposed to grant. In jightiiiglhis battle, I shall do it upon the basis laid dcwn by a portion of the people of my own State, in a lar^i- and very intelligent meeting. A committee of the most intelligent men in the coun- try reported, in thi- shape of resolutions, to this meeting the basis upon which I intend to fight this great battle for our rights. They reported this resolution: ^^ Resolved, Tliat we deeply Rvnipathize witti our sister southern Slates, and freely ailinit that there is good cauae lor dissatisfaction and complaint on their part, dm account of the recent election of sectional candidates to the Presl dency and Vice Presidency »t the United States; yet we, as a portion of the people of a ^lavelloldingeomlnUMity,are not tor secedini! or breaking up the union o'" these States until every fair and honorable means iias been exhausted in trying to obtain, on the part of the non-slaveholding States, a compliance with the spirit and letter of the Cnn- stilution and all its guarantees; and when this shall have been done, and the States now in open rebellion against the laws of tile United States, in refusing to execute the fugl tive slave law, shall persist in their present unconstitu- lional course, and tlie Federal Government shall fail or reiUse to execute the laws in good faith, it (the Govern- ment) will not have accomplished the great design of its creation, and will therefore, in fact, be a practical dissolu- tion, ana all the States, as parties, be released from the compact which formed the Union." t The people of Tennessee, irrespective of party, igo on and declare further: " That in tlie opinion of this meeting no State has the j constitutional right to secede from the Union without the I consent of the other States which ratified the compact. JThe conipacl, when ratified, formed the Union without I making any provision whatever lor its dissolution. It (the ' compact) was adopted by the States in toto and forever, I ' ivithoutiTCscivation or candilinn :" hence a secession of one i or more'Slates from the Union, without the consent of the others ratTfving the compact, would be revolution, leadin; in the endto civil, and perhaps servile war. While we , deny JiM^^ght of ,i State, constitutionally, to secede from ' theUnron, we admit the great and inherent right of revo- lution, abiding and remaining with every people, but a right which should not be exercised, except in extreme cases, and in the last resort, when grievances are without redress, and oppression has become intolerable." j They declare further: I " That in our opinion, we can more successfhily resist the aggression of Black Kepuhlicanism by remaining within I the Union, than we can by guing outof it ; and more espe- cially s<<, while there is a nnjority of both branches in the National Legislature opposul to it, and the Supreme Court of the United Suites is on the side of law and tlie Consti- tution." They go on, and declare further: "That we are not willing to abandon our northern friend^' who have stood by the Constitution of the United Stat^ and in standing by it have vindicated our rights, an^ ^ tlieir vindication have been struck down ; and now, i'/i^ extremity, we cannot and will not desert tliem by sec' =' or otherwise breaking up the Union." /' This is the basis upon which a portig^ "* people of Tennessee, irrespective ^^f J?^'i,',. f ™" pose to fight this battle. We t;e'i<'v^Jf den v the position is inside of the Union. J^ gj^^j^j^^^ doctrine of secession; we deny tj{|,j,.g^^ ^^_ ,the power, of its own volition, '^Jing j^ ^^ ^^^ the Confederacy. We are noio coerce others [unconstitutional act, to indu^n of the United I to comply with the Con^/^vith the Conslitu- ii States. We prefer comp^ >^.,i tion and fighting our battle, and making our de- mand inside of the Union. I know, Mr. President, that there are some who believe — and we see that some of the States are acting on that principle — that a State has the right to secede; that, of its own will, it has a right to withdraw from the Confederacy. I am inclined to think, and I know it is so intact, that in many portions of the country this opinion has resulted from the resolutions of your own State, sir, [Mr. Mason in the chair,] of 1798 and 1799. 1 propose to-day to examine liiat subject, fori know from the examination of it that there has been a false m- pressiori made upon my own mind in reference to tho.se resolutions, and tlie power proposed to be exercised by a State in seceding upon its own will. When we come to examine those resolutions, we find that the third reads as follows: "That tliis Assembly doth explii'itly and ppreinptnrily declare that it views Hit: powers ol tlie Federal Goveriiiiiein , ts resultiii!: from llie compact, to which the States are par ties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the iii- Btruinentconstituiiiigthat compact, as no luither valid than tiiey arc authorized by the grunts enumerated in thut com- pact; and that in case of a delibi^iate, palpable, and dan- gerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the States who are parties thereto have tlie right, and are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits, tlie authorities, riglils, and liberties appertaining lo lUein." • The phra.seology of the Kentucky resolutions is somewhat broader and more extensive than that u State, of its own will, has the right to secede or withdraw from the Union. The Kentucky reso- lution goes on to declare that a State has the right to judge of the infraction of the Constitution, as well as the mode and measure of redress. This is what IS declared by that resolution which is rejieated by so many in speeches and j)ublications j inade through the country. Now, letMr. Madison speak for himself as to what he meant by that ; resolution. Mr. Madison, in his report upon those resolutions, goes on and states expressly that in the resolution the word " States" is used, notwithstanding the word " respective" is used. Mr. Madison says: " It appears to your committee to be a plain principle, founded iu common sense, illustrated by common prac- tice, and essential to the nature of compacts, that, where ■ resort can be had to no tribunal superior to the authority of ' parties, the parties themselves must be the rigliti'ul judges, in the la;t resort, whether the bargain made has been pur- i sued or violated. The Constitution of the United States 1 was formed by the sanction of tlie States, given by each | In its sovereign capacity. It adds to tlie stability and dig- nity, as well as to the authority of the Constitution, that ii. | rests on this legitimate and solid foundation. The States, Uien, being the parties to the constitutional compact, and in their sovereign capacity, it follows of necessity, that there can be no tribunal above their authority, to decide, in the last resort, whether the compact made by them be ' violated; and, consequently, that, as the parties to it, they j Miust themselves [that is the Stales] decide, in the last re- } sort, such questions as may be of sutfieient magnitude to j require their interposition." " The States" is the idea that is kept up through the report. He further remarks: " But the resolution has done more than guard against nisconstructicm, by expressly referring to cases of a delih- rate,iialpalile, and dangerous nature. It specifies the ob- ,ect of the interposition, which it contemplates lo be solely Uiat of uresUn; the progress of the evil of usurpation, and 1 Ol iinintalnlng the authorities, rights, and liberties appor- ' taining to the States, as parties to the Constitution." t Now we find, by the examination of this sub- ject, that Mr. Madison, in his report, explains it, and repudiates the idea that a State, as a member of the compact, has a right to judge of an infrac- tion of the Constitu'ion or any other grievance, and, upon its own v. \;tion, withdraw from the Confederacy. I will here read a letter of Mr. Madison to Nicholas P. Trist, in explanation of this very proposition: ' " MoNTPEUER, December 23, 1832. " Dear Sir : I have received yours of the 19th. inclosing some South Carolina papers. There are in one of them some interesting views ol the doctrine of secession, among which one that had oo in red to me, and which for the first time 1 have seen i i print, namely: that if one State can at will withdraw Irom the others, the others can withdraw from her, and turn her, nolentcm colenlcm, out of the Union. " Until of late there is not a Slate that would have ab- horred such a doctrine more than South CJarolina, or more dreaded an application of it to herself. The same may be said of the doctrine ot nullilicaiinn, which she now preaches 1 the only doctrine hv wliicli the Union. can be saved. '■ . p,:r!ake o!th \ iii.er that the men you name should view seces^iiin in uie light mentioned. Tlie essential ditler- ence between a free Government and a Government not Ire-! is, ihat the former is founded in compact, the parties to \ hicli are mutually and equally bound by it. Neither of III III, therefore, can have a greater right lo break off from ihe bargain tliaii the other or others have to hold him to it; and certainly there is nothing in the Virginia reso lutions of 1798 adverse to this piineiple, which is tliat of common sense and common justice. " The fallacy which draws a dirterent conclusion from them lies in ecnifoun i .g a single party with the parties to the constiliuionil compact of the United States. The lat- ter, having made the compact, may do what they will with it. The former; as one of the parties, owes fidelity lo it till released by consent or absolved by an intolerable abu.se of the power cr ^.ted. In the Virginia resolutions and re- port the "' i.i. number (States) is in every instance used wliencv r reference is made to the authority which pre- sided over the Government." He says theplural is used; that " States" is the word that is used; and when we turn to the res- olution we find it just as Mr. Mailison represents it, thereby excluding the idea that a State can sep- arately and alone determine the question, and have the right to secede from the Union. "As I am now known to have drswn those documents. I may say, as I do with a distinct recollection, tliat it was intentional. It was in fact required by the course of rea- soning employed on the occasion. Tlie Kentucky resolu- tions, being less guarded, have been more easily perverted. The pretext for the liberty taken witii those of Virginia is the word 'respective' prefixed to the ' rights, &.C.' lo be secured within the States. Could the abuse of the expres- sion have been foreseen or suspected, the liirm of it would doubtless have been varied. But what can be more con- sistent with common sense than that all having the rights, &.C., should unite in contending for the security of them to each .' " It Is remarkable how closely the nuliifiers, who make the name of Mr Jeft'erson the pedestal for their colossal heresy, shut their eyes and lips whenever his authority is ever so clearly and emphatically against them. You have noticed what he says iu his letters to Monroe and Carring- ton (pp. 43 and 203, vol. 2) with respect to the power of the old Congress to coerce delinquent States ; and his reason for preferring for the purpose a naval to a military force ; and, moreover, his remark that it was not necessary to find a right to coerce in the Federal articles, that being inherent in the nature of a compact. It is high time that the claim to SI cede will should be put down by the public opinion, and 1 am guiu lo see the task commenced by one who under- stands the subject. " I know nothing of what Is passing at Richmond more than what Is seen in Uie newspapers. You were right in your foresight of the effect of passages in the late procla- matlon. They have proven a leaven for much fermenta- tion there, and created an alarm asainstthe danger of con- sol'dat'on balancing that of disuuiuii. "With cordial salutations, "JAMES MADISON. •'Nicholas P. Trist." I have another letter of Mr. Madison, written in 1833, sustaining and carrying out the same interpretation of the resolutions of 1798 and 1799. I desire to read some extracts from that letter. Mr. Madison says: "Much use has been made of the term 'respective' in the third resolution of Virginia, which asserts the right of :he States, in case of sutficient magnitude, to interpose ' for maintaining within their respective limits the authorities, Stc, appertaining to thorn ; the term ' respective'being con- strued to mean a constitutional right in eacli State, sepa- rately, to decide on and resist by force encroachments within its limits. A foresight or apprehension of the mis- construction might easily have guarded against it. But, to say nothingof the distinction between ordinary and extreme cases, it is observable that in this, as in other instances throughout the resolutions, the plural number {States) is used in referring to them; that a concurrence and coopeia- tion of all might well be contempia •! in interpoi;itions for effecting the objects within reach ; and that the laiiguage of the closing resolution corresponds with this view of the third. The course of reasoning in the report on the reso- lutions required the distinction between a State and t'le States. " It surely does not follow, from the fact of the Statf s, or rather the people embodied in them, having, as parties to the constitutional compact, no tribunal above them, that in controverted meanings of the compact, a minority of the parties can rightfully decide against the majority, still less that a single party can decide against th(^ rest, and as little that it can at will withdraw itself altogether from its com- pact with the rest. " The characteristic distinction between free govern- ments and governments not free, is that the former are founded on compact, not between the governnientand those for whom it acts, but among the parties creating the gov- ernment. Each of these beingequal, neither can have more right to say that the compact has been violated and d' solved than every other has to deny the fact, and to insist on the execution of the bargain. An inference from tlie doctrine that a single State has a right to secede at will from the rest, is that the rest would have an equal right to secede from it; in other words to turn it, against its will, out of its union with them. Such a doctrine would not, till of late, have been palatable anywhere, and nowhere less go than where it is now most contended for." When these letters are put together they are clear and conclusive. Take the resolutions; take the report; take Mr. Madison's expositions of them in 1832 and 1833; his letter to Mr. Trist; his letter to Mr. Webster; his letter to Mr. Rives; and when all are summed up, this doctrine of a State, either assuming her highest political atti- tude or otherwise, having the right, of her own will, to dissolve all connection with this Confed- eracy, is an absurdity, and contrary to the plain intent and meaning of the Constitution of the United States. I hold that the Constitution of the United States makes no provision, as said by the President of the United States, for its own de- struction. It makes no provision for breaking up the Government, and no State has the consti- tutional right to secede and withdraw from the Union. In July, 1788, when the Constitution of the United States was before the conveimua oi New York for ratification, Mr. Madison was in the city of New York. Mr. Hamilton, who was in the convention, wrote a letter to Mr. Madison to know if Ne^v York could be admitted into the Union with certain reservations or conditions. One of those resi'rvations or conditions was, as Mr. Hamilton says in his letter, that they should have the privilege of receding within five or seven years if certain alterations and amendments were not made to the Constitution of the United States. Mr. Madison, in rc-ply to that letter, makes use of the following emphatic language, which still further corroborat(_'S and carries out the idea that the Constitution makes no provision for break- ing up the Government, and that no State has a right to secede. Mr. Madison says: " New York, Sunday evening;. " My dear Sir : Yours of yesterday is this instant come to hand; and I have but a few miniUes to answer it. lam sorry that your situation obliges you to listen to proposi- tions of the nature you describe. My opinion is, that a reservation of a right to withdraw if amendments be not decided on under the form of the Constitution within a certain time, is a conditional ratification ; that it does not make New York a member of the new Union, and conse- quently that she could not be received on that plan. Com- pacts must be reciprocal — this principle would not in such a case be preserved. The Constitution requires an adop- tion in toto and/orere?'." This is the language of James Madison. " It has been so adopted by the other States. An adop- tion for a limited time would be as defective as an adoption of some of the articles only. In short, any coni/iVioii what- ever must vitiate the ratification. What the new Congress, by virtue of the power to admit new States, aiay be aWe and disposed to do in such case, I do not inquire, as I suppose that is not the material point at present, f have not a mo- ment to add more than my fervent wishes for your success and hap|)iness. The idea of reserving a right to withdraw was started at Richmond, and considered as a conditional ratification, which was itself abandoned as worse than a rejection. •' Yours, JAMES MADISON, Jr." I know it is claimed, and I see it stated in some of the newspapers, that Virginiaand someoftheother States made a reservation, upon the ratification of the Constitution, that certain conditions were an- nexed; that they came in upon certain conditions, and therefore they had a right, in consequence of those conditions, to do this or the other thing. When we examine the journal of the conven- tion, we find that no mention is made of any res- ervation on tiie ratification of the Constitution by the State of Virginia. We find that Mr. Madison says, in his letter to Mr. Hamilton, that this idea was first nfiooted at Richmond, and was aban- doned as worse than a rejection. His letter was written after the ratification of the Constitution of the United States by the State of Virginia: hence he spoke with a knowledge of the fact that no reservation was made: but if it had been made by one of the parties, and not sanctioned by the other parties to the compact, what would it have amounted to.' Then we see that Mr. Madison repudiates the doctrine that a State has the right to secede. We see that his resolutions admit of no such construction. We see that Mr. Madi- son, in his letter to Mr. Hamilton, puts the inter- pretation that this Constitution was adopted in toto a.nd forever, without reservation and without condition. I know that the inquiry may be made, how is a State, then, to have redress .' There is but one way, and that is expressed by the people of Ten- j nessee. You have entered into this compact; it I was mutual; it was reciprocal; and you of your own volition liave no riojht to witlidraw and break the compart, without tJic consent of the other parties. What remedy, then, lias the State ? It has a remedy that remains and abides with every people npon the face of the eaith. When g;riev- ances are witiiout a remedy, or without redress; when oppression becomes intolerable, they have the great, the inherent right of revolution. Sir, if the doctrine of secession is to be carried out upon the mere whim of a State, this Govern- ment is at an end. I am as much opposed to a strong, or what may be called by some a consol- idated Government, as it is possible for a man to be; but while I am greatly opposed to that, I want a Government strong enough to preserve its own existence: that will not fall to pieces by its own weight or whi'iiever a little dissatisfaction takes place in one of its members. If the States have the right to secede at will and pleasure, for real or imaginary evils or oppressions, I repeat again, this Goverimient is at an end; it is not stronger than a rope of sand ; its own weight will crumble it to pieces, and it cannot exist. Notwithstanding this doctrine may suit some who are engaged in this perilous and impending crisis that is now ujion us, duty to my country, duty to my State, and duty to my kind, require me to avow a doctrine that I believe will result in the preservation of the Government, and to repudiate one that I believe will result in its overthrow, and the consequent disasters to the people. of the United States. If a State can secede at will and pleasure, and this doctrine is maintained, why, I ask, on the other hand, and as Mr. Madison argues in one of his letters, cannot a majority of the States com- bine and reject a State out of the Confederacy.' Have a majority of these States, under the com- pact that they have made with each other, the right to combine and reject any one of the States from the Confederacy .' They have no such right; tlie compact is reciprocal. It was ratified with- out reservation or condition, and it was ratified " in toto and forever;" such is the language of James Madison; and there is but one way to get out of it without the consent of the parties, and that is, by revolution. I know that some touch the subject with trem- bling and fear. They say, here is a State that, perhaps by this time, has seceded, or if not, she IS on the road to secession, and we must touch tills subject very delicately; and that if the State secedes, conceding the power of the Constitution to her to secede, you must talk very delicately upon the subject of coercion. I do not believe the Federal Government has the power to coerce a State; for by the eleventh amendment of the Constitution of the United States it is expressly provided that you cannot even put one of the States of this Confederacy before one of the courts of tiie country as a party. As a State, the Fed- eral Government has no power to coerce it; but it is a member of the compact to which it agreed in common with the other States, and this Gov- ernment has the right to pass laws, and to enforce those laws upon individuals within the limits of each State. While the one proposition is clear, "the other is equally so. This Government can, by the Constitution of the country and by the laws enacted in conformity with the Constitution operate upon individuals, and has the right ano the power, not to coerce a State, but to enforc and execute the law upon individuals within the limits of a State. I know that the term, " to coerce a State," is used in an ad caplandmn manner. It is a sover- eignty that is to be crushed ! How is a State in the Union? Wiuit is her connection with it.' AH the connection she has with the other States is that which is agreed uj)on in the compact between the States. I do not know whether you may con- sider it in the Union or oui of the Union, or whether you simply consider it a connection or a disconnection witli the other States; but to the extent lliat a State nullifies or sets aside any law or any provision of the Constitution, to that ex- tent it has dissolved its connection, and no more. I think the States that have passed their personal liberty bills, in violation of the Constitution of th(j United States, coming in conflict with the fugitive slave law, to that extent have dissolved tlieir con- nection, and to that extent it is revolution. But because some of the free States have passed laws violative of the Constitution; because they have, to some extent, dissolved their connection with this Government, does that justify us of the South in following that bad example? Because they have passed personal liberty bills, and have, to thatex- tent, violated the compact which is reciprocal, shall we turn round, on the other hand, and vio- late the Constitution by coercing them to a com- pliance with it? Will we do so? Then I come back to the starting point: let us; stand in the Union and upon the Constitution; and if anybody is to leave this Union, or violate its guarantees, it shall be those who have taken the initiative, and passed their personal liberty bills. I am in the Union, and intend to stay in it. I intend to hold on to the Union, and the •guarantees under which this Union has grown; and I do not intend to be driven from it, nor out of it, by their unconstitutional enactments. Then, Mr. President, suppose, for instance, that a fugitive is arrested in the State of Vermont to- morrow, and under the personal liberty bill of that State, or the law — I do not remember its precise title now — which prevents, or is intended to pre- vent, the faithful execution of the fugitive slave law, Vermont undertakes to rescue him, and pre- vent the enforcement of the law: what is it? It is nullification; it is resistance to the laws of the Uni- ted States, made in conformity with the Constitu- tion; it is rebellion; and it is the duty of the Pres- ident of the United States to enforce the law, at all hazards and to the last extremity. And, if the Federal Government fails or refuses to exe- cute the laws made in conformity with the Ccn- stitution, and those States persist in their viol tion and let those unconstitutional acts remai upon their statute-books, and carry them ini practice; if the Government, on the one hand, fail to execute the laws of iho United States, and thosi States, by their enactments, violate them on tht other, the Government is at an end, and the par- ties are all released from the compact. Mr. COLLAMER explained that the Vermon; legislation, to which allusion bad been made, wa.^ 6 anterior to the passage of the fugitive slave law; and besides, the laws of Vermont were referred to a board of revision, by which, as well as by the courts of that State, no enactment would be sanctioned that was in conflict with the Consti- tution of the United States. Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. 1 do not think I the honorable Senator's explanation is entirely satisfactory, inasmuch as, though one law was anterior,anotherwas passed in 1858. The Senator is a lawyer; he has presided in the courts of his State; and he has been a long time in the coun- ! cils of the country; and therefore I had reason to expect a direct answer. I think it will be determined by the courts and by the judgment of the country, that the acts passed in 1850 and 1858 by the Legislature of' Vermont are a violation, a gross, palpable viola- , tion of the Constitution of the United States. It is clear and conclusive to my mind, that a State passing an unconstitutional net intended to im- Eede or lo prevent the execution of a law passed ythe Congress of the United States which is con- i stitutional, is thereby placed, so far as the initia- tive is concerned, in a state of rebellion. It is an open act of nullification. I am not aware that there has been any attempt in Vermont to wrest any persons out of the hands of the officers of the i United States, or to imprison or to fine any per- i son under the operation of this law; but the pas- sage of such an act is to initiate rebellion. I think it comes inconflictdirectly with the spirit and let- ter of the Constitution of the United States, and \ to that extent's an act of nullification, and places ^ the State in open rebellion to the United States. ' I have stated that there is no power conferred ' upon the Congress of the United States, by the : Constitution, to coerce a State in its sovereign ca- pacity; that there is no power on the part of the , Congress of the United States even to bringa State into the supreme tribunal of the country. You cannot put a State at the barof the Supreme Court . of the United States. The Congress of the Uni- ted States has the power to pass laws to operate ^ upon individuals within the limits of a State, by ; which all the functions of this Governmentcan be | executed and carried out; and if Vermont, either] by an act of secession, which I take to be uncon- j stitutional, or without first having seceded from the Union of the States by open force, in con- formity with the laws of the State, should resist! or attempt to resist the execution of the laws of [ the United States, it would be a practical rebel- lion, an overt act; and this Government has the , authority under the Constitution to enforce the laws of the United States, and it has tiie authority to call to its aid such means as are deemed neces- , eary and proper for the execution of the laws, [ even if it were to lead to the calling out of the ' militia, or calling into service the Army and Navy of the United States to execute the laws This principle applies to every State placing herself in , an attitude of opposition to the execution of the , laws of the United States. I do not think it necessary, in order to preserve this Union, or to keep a State within its sphere, that the Congress of the United States should ! have the power to coerce a State. All that is ne- • cessary is for the Government to have the power to execute and to carry out all the powers con- ferred upon it by the Constitution, whether they apply to the State or otherwise. This, I think, the Government clearly has the power to do; and so long as the Government executes all the laws in good faith, denying the right of a State con- stitutionally to secede, so long the State is in the Union, and subject to all the provisions of the Constitution and the laws passed in conformity with it. For example: the power is conferred on the Federal Government to carry the mails through the several States; to establish post offices and post roads; to establish courts in the respective States; to lay and collect taxes, and so on. The various powers are enumerated, and each and every one of these powers the Federal Govern- ment has the constitutional authority to execute within the limits of the States. It is not an inva- sion of a State for the Federal Government to execute its laws, to take care of its public prop- erty, and to enforce the collection of its revenue; but if, in the execution of the laws; if, in the en- forcement of the Constitution, it meets with resist- ance, it is the duty of the Government, and it has the authority, to put down resistance, and etTect- ually to execute the laws as contemplated by the Constitution of the country. But this is a diversion from the line of my argument. I was going on to show that, accord- ing to the opinions of the fathers, not only (^f the country but of the Constitution itself, no State, of its ovn volition, has the right to withdraw from the Confederacyafter having entered into the com- pact. I have referred to the last letter ]Mr. Mad- ison wrote upon this suliject — at least it is the last one that I have been able to find — in which he summed up this subject in a conclusive and mas- terly manner. In his letter to Mr. Webster of March 15, 1833, upon the receipt of Mr. Webster's speech, after the excitement had subsided to some extent and the country had taken its stand, Mr. Madison said: " Tlie Constitution of tlie Uiiitcil Slates IjelnfrcstaWiphed by a competent authority, by that of the sovercisrn people of the several f5tates who were parties to it, it remains only to inquire what the Constitution is ; and here it speaks for itself. It organizes a Govennnent into the usual leeislativc, executive, and judiciary departments; invests itwithspeci- i\cS powers, leaving others to the parties to the Constitu tion. It makes the Government, like other Governments, to operate directly on the people; places at its command the needful physical means of executing its powers ; and finally proclaims its supremacy, and that of the laws made in pursuance of it, over the constitutions and laws of the States, the powers of thp Government being exorcised, as in other elective and responsible Governments, under the control of its constituents, people, and the Legislatures of the States, and subject to the revolutionary rights of tlie people in extreme oases. "Such Is the Constitution of the United States rfc Jure and ile facto; and the name, whatever It be, that may be given 10 it, can make it nothing more or less than what it is." This is clear and conclusive, so far as Mr. Mad- ison goes on the subject. 1 have already shown that in 1789, in making his report upon the Vir- ginia resolutions, he gave the true interpretation to those resolutions, and explair.;d what was meantby the word " respective "before " States." In his letter, in 1832, to Mr. Rives, and in his letter of 1832, to Mr. Trist, having had lime to reflect on tlie operation of the various provisions of the Constitution upon the couiUry, in the de- cline of life, when he had S(;en the experiment fairly made, when his mind was matured upon every single point and [irovision in tlv Cunstitu- tion, lie, at that late period, sums up the doctrine and comes to the conclusion that I am contending for on the pn^sent occasion. In addition to this, Mr. Ji'fferson, who prior to the formation of thf Constitution WHS in Paris, writing letters on the subject of the formation of a stable Government hfre,sawthe trn^at defect in the Federal head under the old Articles of Con- federation, and he pointed with tiieunej-ring finger of phih>sophy and C'Ttainty to what is now in the Constitution, as what was wanting in the old Articles of Confederation. Mr. Jefferson, in his letter to Colonel Monroe, dated Paris, August 11, 1786, speaks thus: " Therp never will be money In the Treasury till the Conledcraey shows its teeth. The States mu:it see the rod ; perhaps it must he felt hy some one of them. I am per puadeil all of them would rejoice to Bee ever>- one ohlit;ed to furnish its contributions. It is not the difficulty of fur- nishing them whieli beggars the Treasurj', but the fear that others will not furnish as much. Every rational citizen must wish to see an effective instrument of coercion, and should fear to see it on any other element than the water."' Here Mr. Jefferson, seeing the difficulty that, under the old Articles of Confederation, the Fed- eral Government had not the power to execute its laws, that it could not collect revenue, points to what should be in the Constitution of the Uni- ted States when formed. Mr. Jefferson, upon the same idea which was in his inind, and which was afterwards embodied in the Constitution, said, in a letter to E. Carringlon, dated Paris, August 4, 1787: " I confess I do not jro as far in the reforms thousiht neces- sary, as s"iliina; connected with foreign nations, and several as to ever) thing purely domestic. But, with all the imperfections of our present Government, it is with- out comparison the best existing, or that ever did eiist. Its greatest defect is the imperfect manner in which mat- ters of commerce have been provided for. It has been so often said, as to be generally i)elieved, that Congress have no power by the Confederation to enforce anything — for example, contributions of money. It was not necessary to give them that power expressly ; they have it by the law of j nature. When tiro parties make ii compact, there results to | each a jioicer of compelling the other to execute it." If it was not even expressed in the Constitution, | the power to jireserve itself and maintain its au- • thority would be possessed by the Federal Gov- 1 eminent upon the great principle that it must have i the power to preserve its own existence. But we I find that, in plain and ex|)ress terms, thisauthority | is delegated. The very powers that Mr. Jeffer- I Bon ])ointed out as being wanting in the old Gov- ■ ernmeiit, under the Articles of Confederation, are granted by the Constitution of the United States 10 the present Government by cxjjress delegation. Congress has the power to lay and collect taxes; Congress has the power to pass laws to restore fugitives from labor escaping from one Stale into another; Congress has the power to establish post offices and post roads; Congress has the ppwerto tnutbliiih court! in th» ilitferent Statei; an^ having these powers,ithas the authority to do everything necessary to sustain the collection of the revenue, the enforcement of the judicial system, and the carrying of the mails. Because Congress, having the power, undertakes to execute its laws, it will not do to say that the Govennnent is placed in the position of an aggressor. Not so. It is only acting within the scope of the; Constitution, and in compliance with its delegated power.s. But a State that resists the exercisation, and ouilit to be repelled by those to whom the people have delei;ated their power of repelling it." — IVheaton's Reports, vol. 6, p. 389. Now, whether you apply that, in a general sense, to the people in the aggregate, or to the States occupying the same relation to the Federal Government that the people do to the States, the principle is just the same; and when yon speak of States ratifying and making the Constitution of the United States, one State, an ingredii-nt— one of the oommuQiljT th»i madt* the Co^UluUon— 8 has no right, without the consent of the other | States, to withdraw from the compact, and set the j Constitution at naught. It is the principle that I seek; and the principle applies as well to a com- i munity of States as it does to a community of in- ' dividuals. Admitting that this Federal Govern- | ment was made by a community of States, can one of that community of States, of its own will, without the consent of the rest, where the compact is recijirocal, set it aside, and withdraw itself from the operation of the Government? I have given you the opinion of Judge Marshall, one of the most distinguished jurists that ever presided in this country, though he is called by some a Fed- eralist. His mind was clear; he lived in that day when the Constitution should be understood, and when it was understood — in the days of Mndison and Jefferson; and this is his opinion upon that subject, as far back as 1821. In this connection, I would call the attention of the Senate to General Jackson's views upon this subject; and I would also call their attention to Mr. Webster's views, if it were necessary, for he is conceded, by some at least, lo be one o.' the most able expounders of the Constitution of the United States. General Jackson , though not cel- ebrated for his legal attainments, was celebrated for his sagacity, his strong common sense, his great intuitive power of reaching correct conclu- sions, and understanding correc. principles. In 1833, General Jackson, in his proclamation, takes identically the same ground; and declares that, first, a State has no power of itself to nullify a law of Congress within its limits; and next, that notwithstanding a State may claim to hav-e se- ceded, it has no constitutional power to withdraw itself from the Union of the States, and thereby set at naught the laws and the Constitution. He argues this question forcibly and clearly; and comes to the unerring conclusion, according to- my judgment, that no State has the constitutional power to withdraw itself from this Confederacy without the consent of the other States; and it may do good to reproduce his views on the sub- ject. He says, in his famous proclamation, speak- ing of the nul'ification ordinance of South Car- olina: " And whereas the said ordinance prescribes to the peo- ple of South (Carolina a course of conduct in direct viola- tion of theirdutyas citizens of tlie United States, contrary to the laws of their counti-y, subversive of its Constitution, and having for its object the df^struction of the Union — that Union wliich, coeval with our political existence, led ourfathers, without any otlier ties to unite them than those of patriotism and a common cause, tliroui.;li a sanguinary struggle to a HJorious independence — that sacred Union, hitherto inviolate, which, perfected by our happy Consti- tution, has brouelit us, by the favor of Heaven, to a state of prosperity at home, and high consideration al)road, rarely, if ever, equaled in the history of nations. 'J'o preserve this bond of our political existence from destruction ; to maintain inviolate this state of national honor and pros- perity, and to justify the confidence my fellow-citizens have reposed in me, 1, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, liave thought proper to issue this my procla- mation, stating my views of the Constitution and the laws applicable to the measures adopted by the convention of South Carolina, and to the reasons they have put forth to eustain them, declaring Ui ■ course which duty will require me to pursue, and, ap|)e,iliMg to the understanding and pa- triotism of the people, warn them of the consequences that must inevitably result from an observance of the dictates of the convention." He argues the question at length: " This right to secede is deduced fiom the nature of the Constitution, which, they say, is a compact between sov- ereign States, who have preserved their whole sovereignty, and therefore are subject to no superior ; that because they made the compact they can break it when, in their opinion, it has been departed from by the other States. Fallacious as this course of reasoning' is, it enlists State pride, and finds advocates in the honest prejudices of those w!io have not studied the nature of our Government sufficiently to see the radical error on which it rests." * * * •' The people of the United States formed the Constitu- tion, acting through the State Legislatures in making the compact, to meet and discuss its provisions, and acting in separate conventions when they ratified those provisions; but the terms used in its construction show it to be a Gov- ernment in which tiie people of all the States collectively are represented. We are one people in the choice of the President and Vice President. Hence the States have no other agency than to direct the mode in which the votes shall be given. The can formation of anew confederaey of those wliioh . le, at present, supposed to be homoseneous? If we do form a new confederacy, when the old is gone, it would \ teem to lie neither vise, priulent, nor itatemuinlike to frame ' i after the pattern of the old. New safesuards and guar- iiitees must necessarily be required, and none but a lieed- Ii ^smaiiiac would seek to avoid looking this matter square- ii in the tacc. •' It is true thai we might make a constitution for the fif- i I. en southern States, which would seeure llie rights of all, at jn-eseut, from hr.rm. or, at least, wliicli would require a dear violation of its letter, so plainly that the world could disceniit, when unconstitutional action was eonsummated. But then, in the course of years, as men changed, times <-li;insed. interests chansed, business changed, productions .•;i:inged, a violation of thesiim* might occur, which would not be clearly a violation ot the letter. It may be said that ihe constitut'ion might provide for its own change as times clanged. Well, tliat was the design when our present Con- Klitution was formed, and, still, we say. it was a failure. How more earet'nilv could a n- w cme b- arranged.' Men will say that we of the South incoiie, anil that we shall get along well enough. But thev who say it know neither his- tor^' nor human nature. When the Union was fornu-d, twelve of the thirteen States were slaveholding; and ifthe cotton gin had not been invented tliere would not probably lo-dav have been an African slave in North America. "But how about the State organizations.' This is an important consideration, for whether we consult with the .itlier southern Slates or not, it is certain that each State must act for itself, in the first instance. When any State goes out of the present Federal Union, it then becomes a foreign Povcr as to all the other States, as well as to Hie world. Whether it will unite again with any of the States, nr stand alone, is tor it to determine. The new Confeder ncv must Ihen be made by tho~e States which desire it— and it Georgia, or any other State, does not lind the pro- (K»sed terms" of federation agreeable, she can maintain her own separate form of government, or at least try it. Well, what form of government shall we have.' This is more .-.ihily asked tlian answered. •• Some of the wisest and he^f citizenx pmyose a herkd ; TARY coNSTlTtiTioNAL MONARCHY ; but. liowevergood that ni.iy be in itself, the most important point to discover is, \\ liether or not the people are prepared for it. It is thought, n/'ain, by others, thai we shall be able logo on for a «cner- atwn or ttro, in a new confederacy, with additional safe- guards ; such, for instance, as an Executive fality of suflrage, with tlie attendant arousing of the people's passions, and the in oessary sequence of demagogues being elevated to hisli suuion. are Uioughl by many to be the ^rcat causes of trouble umong us. '• We throw out these puggestions that tlie people may I jnkof ihem, and act as their interests require. Our own -.pinion is that the South might be the greatest nation on .ne earth, and might maintain, on the b.isis of African slaverj', not only a splendid Govcniment, but a secure re- publican Governinent. But still our fears are that through aitarcky w€ sltall reach the despotism of military chieftains, and finally he raised again to a monarchy.-' — Cupula (Georgia) Chronicle and Sentinel of December 8, 1860. [From the Columbus (Georgia) Times.] "Let OS Reason Tooether. — Permit a humble indi- vidual to lay before you a few thoughts thai are burnt Into his heart of' hearts by their very truth. "The first great thought is Uiis : The institution known as the ' Federal Government,' established by the people of the United Slates of America, is a. failure. This is a fact which cannot be gainsayed. It has ncocr been in the power of the ' Federal Government' to enforce all its own law* within its own territory ; it has, therefore, been measurably a failure from the beginning ; but its first convincing evi- ' dence of weakness was in allowing one br.inch of its or- ' ganization to pass an unconstiiulional law, (the Missouri compromise.) Its next evidence of decrepitude was its inability to enforce a constitutional law, (the iugilive slave law,) the whole I'abric being shaken to its foundation by the onlv attempt of enforcement made by its chief officer, (Presid'?nt Pierce.) 1 need not enlarge in this direction. The ' Federal Government' is a failure. " What then.' The States, of course, revert to their orl "inal position, each sovereign within itself. There can be no other just conclusion. This, then, being our position, the question for sober, thinking, earnest men is, what shall we do for the future.' 1 take it for granted that no man In his senses would advocate ihe remaining in so many petty sovereignties. We should be worse than Mexicanizi.d by thai process. What, then, shall we do.' In the first place, I would say. let us look around and see if there is a gov- ernment of an enlightened nation that has not yet proven a failure, but whicii is now, and has ever been, productive , of happiness to all its law abiding people. If such a gov- ernment can be found— a government whose first and only ! object is the goorf. the real good (i\nt fancied good, an i'nis fatuus which I fear both our fathers and ourselves have'too much run after in this country) of all its people— if such a government exists, let u-- exiimme it careiully ; if it has apparent errors, (as wliat humnn institution has not.') let us avoid them. Its beneficial arrangements let Uf adopt. Let US not be turned aside by its name, nor he lured by its ' pretensions. Try it by its works, and adopt or condemn it by its fruits, ifo more experiments. • I speak a^ to wise men; judge ye what I say." : *' I am one of a few who ever dared to think that repub- licanism wiis a failure iVoin its inception, and 1 have never : shrunk from giving my opinion when it was worth while. I have never wished to see this Union disrupted ; but if it must be, then 1 raise my voice for a return to a I "CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY." j " Columbia, South CAROt.iNA, December 5, ISTiO. ; " Yesierdav the debate in the House of Uepresentatives '■\ was unusually warm. The parties arrayed .igainst each ' other in the matter of organizing an army, and the manner ! '' of appointing the commanding odicers, used scathing lan- ! guage, and debate ran high throughout the session. So lar as I am able to judge, both the opposing parties are led on by bitter prejudices. The Joint Military ConimiUee, with two or three e.\c-ptions, have pertinaciously clung to the ' idea that a standing army of paid volunteers, to he raised at once, to have tfe power ol' choosing their ofliccrs, up to captain, and to reiiuire all above to be apjiointeil by the Governor, is the organization lor the times. .Mr. Cunning- ham, of the H.iblv led in the House by iMr. McGowan, of Abbeville, and !Mr. 'Moore, of ,\nderson. These gentlemen have a hard fight of it. They represent the democratic sentiment? I of the rural districts, and are in opposition to the Charles- ton clique, who are urged on by Edwaril Uliett, Thomas Y. Simmons, ai.d B. H. Khett. jr., of the riiarleston .Mercmy. The tendencies of these gentlemen ar. all towards a dicta- torship, or monarchical fonn of govenmient; at least it ap- pears so to my mind, and I finil myself not alone in the opinion. They fi^'ht heart and soul for an Increase of guber- natorial power ; and one of their number, as I have already 20 stated, openly avows his desire to make the Governor a niilirary chieftain, with sovereign power." — Correspond- ence of the Baltimore American. Mr. JOHNSON, of Tennessee. Mr. President, I have merely called attention to these surface in- dication.s for the purpose of sustaining the assump- tion that even the people in the southern States ought to consider what kind of government they are going to pass under, before they change the present one. We are told that the present Con- stitution would be adopted by the new confed- eracy, and in a short time everything would be organized under il. We find here other indica- tions, ami we are told from another quarter that another character of government is more prefer- able. We know that. North and South, there is a portion of our fellow-citizens who are opposed to a government based on the intelligence andwill of the people. We know that power is always stealing from the many to the few. We know that it is always vigilant and on the alert; and now that we arein arevolution,andgreat changes are to be made, should we not, as faithful senti- nels, as men who are made the guardians of the interests of the Government, look at these indica- j tionsand call the attention of the country to them? Is it not better to " Bear those ills we have, Than fly to others that we krow not of.'" We see, by these indications, that it is contem- ] plated to establish a monarchy. We see it an- nounced that this Government has been a failure from the beginning. How has it been a failure? Now, in the midst of a revolution, while the peo- ple are confused, while chaos reigns, ii; is sup- posed by some tliat we can be induced to return to a constitutional or absolute monarchy. Who can tell that we may not have some Louis Napo- leon among us, who may be ready to make a coup d'etat, and enthrone "himself upon the rights I and upon the lioerlies of the people? Who can j tell what kind of government may grow up?' Hence the importance, in advance, of considering maturely and deliberately ijefore we give up the old one. 1 repeat again that the people of Tennessee will never pass under another government that is less republican, less democratic in all its bearings, than the one under which we row live, I care not whether it is formed in the North or the South. We will occupy an isolated, a separate and dis- tinct position, before we will do it. We will pass into that fractional condition to which I have alluded before we will pass under an absolute or a constitutional monarchy. 1 do not say that this is the design North or South, or perhaps of any but a very small portion; but il shows that there are some who, if they could find a favorable opportunity, would fix the descrifition of govern- ment I have alluded to on the great mass of the people. Sir, I will stand by the Constitution of the country as it is, and by all its guarantees. I am not for breaking up this great Confederacy. I am for holding on to it as it is, with the mode and manner pointed out in the instrument for its own amendment. It was good enough for Wash- ington, for Adums, for Jefferson, and for Jackson . It is good enowgh lOr us. 1 intend to stand by it. and to insist on a compliance with all its guaran tees, North and Soutli. Notwithstandiiig we want to occupy the posi- tion of a breakwater between the northern and the southern extremes, and bring all together if we can, I tell our northern friends that the constitu- tional guarantees must be carried out; for the time may come when, after we have exhausted all hon- orable and fair means, if this Government still fails to execute the laws, and protect us in our rights, it will be at an end. Gentlemen of the North need not deceive themselves in that partic- ular; but we intend to act in the Union and under the Constitution, and not out of it. We do not intend that you shall drive us out of this house that was reared by the hands of our fathers. It is our house. It is the constitutional house. We have a right here; and because you come forward and violate the ordinances of this hou.se, I do not intend to go out; and if you persist in the violation of the ordinances of the house, we intend to eject you from the building and retain the possession ourselves. We want,"if we can, to stay the heated, and I am compelled to say, according to my judg- ment, the rash and precipitate action of some of our southern friends, that indicates red hot mad- ness. I want to say to those in the North, com- ply with the Constitution and preserve its guaran- tees, and in so doing save this glorious Union and all that pertains to it. I intend to stand by the Constitution as it is, insisting upon a compli- ance with all its guarantees. I intend to stand by it as the sheet anchor of the Government; and I trust and hope, though it seems to be now in the very vortex of ruin, though it seems to be running between Charybdis and Scylla, the rock on the one hand and the whirlpool on the other, that it will be preserved, and will remain a beacon to guide, and an example to be imitated by all the nations of the earth. Yes, I intend to hold on to it as the chief ark of our safety, as the palladium of our civil and our religious liberty. 1 intend to cling to it as the shipwrecked mariner clings to the last plank, when the night and the tempest close around him. It is the last hope of human freedom. Although denounced as an experiment by some v/ho want to see a constitutional mon- archy, it has been a successful experiment. I trust and I hope it will be continued; that this great work may go on. Why should we go out of the Union ? Have weanythingto fear? Wha. are we alarmed about? We say that vou of the North have violated the Constitution; that you have trampled under foot its guarantees; but we intend to go to you in a proper way, and ask you to redress the wrong, and to comply with the Constitution. We believe the time will come when you will do it, and we do not intend to break up the Government until the fact is ascertained that you will not do it. Where is the grievance; wliere is the complaint that presses on our sister. South Carolina, now? Is it that she wants to carry slavery into the Territories; that she wants protection to slavery there? How long has it been since, upon this very floor, her own Senators voted that it was not necessary to make a statute now for the protec- tion of slavery in the Territories? No longer ago 21 than the last session. Is that a good reason?' They declared, in the resolutions adopted by the Senate, that when it was necessary they had the power to do it; but tliat it was not necessary then. Are you going out for a grievance that lias not occurred, and which your own Senators then said had not occurred? Is it because you want to carry slaves to the Territories ? You were told that you had all the protection needed; that the courts had decided in your belialf, under the Con- stitution; and tiuit, under the decisions of the courts, the law must be executed. We voted for the passage of resolutions that Congress had the jiowor to protect slavery, and that Congress ought to protect slavery when neces- sary and wherever protection was needed. Was there not a majority on this floor for it; and if it was necessary then, could we not have passed a bill for that purpose without passing a resolution saying that it should be protected wherever neces- sary? 1 was here; 1 know what tlie substance of the proposition was, and the whole of it was sim- , ply to declare the principle that we had the power, and that it was the duty of Congress, to protect slavery when necessary, in the Territories or wherever else protection was needed. Was it necessary then ? If it was, we had the power, and why did wc not pass the law? The Journal of the Senate records that on the 25th of May last — " On motion by Mr. Brown, to amend the resolution by striking out all alter the word ' resolved,' and in lieu thereof iiisertinc : " That experience having already sliown that the Con- stitution and the common law, unaided hy statutory enact- ments, do not atiord adequate and sutlicient protection to slave property ; some of the Territories having failed, oth- ers having refused, to pass such enactments, it has become the duty of Congress to interpose and pass sueh laws as will artord to slave property in the Territories that protec- tion which is given to other kinds of property. " It was determined in the negative — yeas 3, nays 42. " On motion by .Mr. Brown, the yeas and nays being desired by one fifth of the Senators present. Those who voted in tlie atfirmative, are : " Messrs. Brown, Johnson of Arkansas, and Mallory. '• Those who voted in the negative, are : " .Messrs. Benjamin, Bigler, Bragg, Bright, Chesnut, Clark, (^lay, Clingman. Crittenden, Davis, Dixon. Doolit- tlc, Fiizpatrick, Foot, Foster, Green, Grimes, Gwin, Ham- lin, Harlan, Hemphill, Hunter, Iverson, Johnson of Ten- nessee, Lane, Latham, Mason, Nicholson, Pearee, Polk, Powell, Puijh, Rice, Sebastian, Slidell, Ten Eyck, Thom- son, Toombs, Trumbull, VVigfall, Wilson, and Yulee." I was going on to say that the want of protec- tion to slavery in the Territories cannot be con- sidered a grievance now. That is not the reason why she is going out, and going to break up the Confederacy. What is it, then? Is tiiere any issue between South Carolina and the Federal Goverimient? Has the Federal Government failed to comply with, and to carry out, the obligations that it owes to South Carohna? In what has the Federal Goverinnent failed? In what has it neg- lected the interest of South Carolina ? What law has it undertaken to enforce upon South Carolina that is unconstitutional and oppressive? If there are grievances, why cannot we all go together, and write them down, and point them out to our northern friends after we have agreed on what those grievances ar\ and say, " here is what we demand; here our wrongs are enu- merated; upon these terms we have agreed; and now, after we have given you a reasonable time to consider these additional guarantees in order to protect ourselves against these wrongs, if you refu.se them, then, having made an honorable effort, having exhausted all other means, we may declare the association to be broken up, and we may go into an act of revolution." We can then say to them, " You have refused to give us guar- antees that we think are needed for the protection of our institutions and for the protection of our other interests." When they do this, I will go as far a.s he who goes the furthest. I tell them here to-day, if they do not do it, Tennessee will be found standing as firm and unyielding in her demands for those guarantees in the way a State should stand, as any other State in this Confederacy. She is not quite so bel- ligerent now. She is not making quite so much noise. She is not as blustering as Senipronius was in the council in Addison's play of Cato, who declared that his " voicewas still forwar." There was another character there, Lucius, who wiis called upon to state what his opinions were; and he replied that he must confess his thoughts were turned on peace; but when the extremity came, Lucius, who was deliberative, who was calm, and whose thoughts were upon peace, was found true to the interests of his country. He proved him- self to be a man and a soldier; while the other was a traitor and a coward. We will do our duty; we will stand upon principle, and defend it to the last extremity. 1 We do not think, though, that we have just ' cause for going out of the Union now. We have just cause of complaint; but we are for remaining in the Union, and fighting the battle like men. We do not intend to be cowardly, and turn our backs on our own camps. We intend to stay and fight the battle here upon this consecrated ground. Why should we retreat? Because Mr. Lincoln has been elected President of the United States? Is this any cause why we should retreat ? Does not e/eryman. Senator or otherwise, know that if i.ir. Breckinridge had been elected, we should not be to-day for dissolving the Union? Then wiiat is the issue ? It is because we have not got our man. If we had got our man, we should not have been for breaking up the Union; but as Mr. Lin- coln is elected, vi'e are for breaking up the Union ! I say no. Let us show ourselves men, and men of courage. How has Mr. Lincoln been elected, and how have Mr. Breckinridge and Mr. Douglas been defeated? By the votes of the American people, cast according to the Constitution and the forms of law, though it has been upon a sectional issue. It is not the first time in our history that two candidates have been elected from the same sec- tion of country. General Jackson and Mr. Cal- houn were elected on the same ticket; but nobody considered that cause of dissolution. They were from the South. I oppose the sectional spirit that has produced the election of Lincoln and Hamlin, yet it has been done according to the Constitution and according to tlie forms of law. I believe we have the power in our own liands, and I am not willing to shrink from the respons- ibility of exercising that power. 22 How has Lincoln been elected, and upon what basis doi's he stand? A minority President by nearly a million votes; but had the election taken place upon the plan proposed in my amendment of the Constitution, by districts, he would have been this day defeated. But It has been done according to the Constitution and according to law. I am for abiding by the Constitution: and ill abiding by it I want to maintain and retain my Clace here and put down Mr. Lincoln and drive ack his advances upon southern institutions, if he designs to make any. Have we not got the brakes in our hands ? Have we not got the power? We have. Let South Carolina send her Senators back; let all the Senators come; and on the 4th of March next we shall have a majority of six in this body against him. This successful sec- tional candidate, who is in a minority of a mil- lion, or nearly so, on the popular vote, cannot make his Cabinet on the 4th of March next unless this Senate will permit him. Am I to be so great a coward as to retreat from duty ? I will stand here and meet the encroach- ments upon the institutions of my country at the threshold; and as a man, as ont- that loves my country and my constituents, 1 will stand here and resist all encroachments and advances. Here is the place to stand. Shall I desert the citadel, and let the enemy come in and take possession? No. Can Mr. Lincoln send a foreign minister, or even a consul, abroad, unless he receives the' sanction of the Senate? Can he appoint a post- 1 master whose salary is over a thousand dollars a year without the consent of the Senate ? Shall i we desert our posts, shrink from our responsi- 1 bilities, and permit Mr. Lincoln to come with his : cohorts, as we consider them, from the North, to j carry olf everything? Are we so cowardly that i now that we are defeated, not conquered, we shall do this? Yes, we are defeated according to the | forms of law and the Constitution: but the real victory is ours — the moral force is with us. Are we going to desert that noble and that patriotic band who have stood by us at the North; who have stood by us upon principle, and upon the \ Constitution ? They stood by us and fought the i battle upon principle; and now that we have been j defeated, not conquered, are we to turn our backs ; upon them and leave them to their fate ? I, for' one, will not. I intend to stand by them. How , many votes did we get in the North? We got; more votes in the North against Lincoln than the entire southern States cast. Are they not able and faithful allies? They are; and now, on account of this temporary defeat, are we to turn | our backs upon them and leave them to their fate? Wc find, when all the North is summed up, that Mr. Lincoln's majority there is only about two hundred thousand on the popular vote; and when that is added to the othervote cast through- out the Union, he stands to-day in a minority of nearly a million votes. What, then, is neces- sary to be done ? To stand to our posts like men, and act upon principle; stand for the country; and in four years from this day, Lincoln and his administration will be turned out, the worst-de- feated and broken-down party that ever came | into power. It is an inevitable result from the combination of elements that now exist. Whni cause, then, is there to break up the Union? What reason is there for deserting our posts and destroy- ing this greatest and best Government that wa."i ever spoken into existence? I voted against him; I spoke against him; 1 spent my money to defeat him; but still I lovf my country; 1 love the Constitution; I intend t' insist uDon its guarantees. There, and there alone. I intend to plant myself, with the confident hop and belief that if the Union remains together, i.-i less than four years the now triumphant par jr will be overthrown. In less time, I have thehoj)e and belief that we shall unite and agree upon our grievances here and demand their redress, not sm suppliants at the footstool of power, but as pm • ties to a great compact; we shall say that we w;ii!t additional guarantees, and that they are necessury to the preservation of this Union; and then, wlien they are refused deliberately and calmly, if we cannot do better, let the South go together, and let the North go together, and let us have a divis- ion of this Government without the shedding '»t blood, if such a thing be possible; let us havi- a division of the property; let us have a division 1 the Navy; let us have a division of the Armv. and of the public lands. Let it be done in peace, and in a spirit that should characterize and dis- tinguish this people. I believe we can obtain all our guarantees. I believe there is too much good sense, too much intelligence, too much patriot- ism, too much capability, too much virtue, in the I great mass of people to permit this Government i to be overthrown. ' I have an abiding faith, I have an unshaken ' confidence in man's capability to govern himself. I will not give up this Government that is now called an experiment, which some are prepared to abandon for a constitutional monarchy. No; ] I intend to stand by it, and I entreat every man throughout the nation who is a patriot, and who [ has Seen, and is compelled to admit, the success of this great experiraent, to come forward, not in ! heat, not in fanaticism, not in haste, not in p e cipitancy, but in deliberation, in full view of ali that is before us, in the spirit of brotherly love and fraternal affection, and rally around the altar of our common country, and lay the Constitution upon it as ourlast libation, and swear by our God, and all that is sacred and holy, that the Consti- tution shall be saved, and the Union preserved. ■ Yes, in the language of the departed Jackson, .ei us exclaim that the Union, " the Federal Unii-n. it must be preserved." I Are we likely, when we get to ourselves, North j and South, to sink into brotherly love? Are \vt 1 likely to be so harmonious in that condition as ! some suppose? What did we find here the other ! day among our brother Senators, one of whom I referred to a southern Governor? I allude to :i 1 only to show the feeling that exists even amont ourselves. I am sometimes impressed with th»' force of Mr. Jefferson's remark, that we may aa well keep the North to quarrel with, for if we have j no North to quarrel with, we shall quarrel among I ourselves. We are a sort of quarrelsome, pug- nacious people; and if we cannot get a quarrel from one quarter, we shall have it from another / 23 and I would mthpr quarrel a littlf now with the ; on your p»rt. It is no supplinncy on ours, but North than be^iiuarreling with ourselves. Because I simply a 'fptnnnd of ri^ht. What concession is the Governor ot" a southern State was refusing; to ' there in dunj,' ri^ht? Then, come forward. We convene the Le^islaiurf to liasten this movement ' have it in our power — yes, this Congress hereto- ihat was i^oinff on throughout the South; and hi- ' day has it in its power to save this Union, even cause he o!)jeciid to that' course of conduct, what j after South Carolina has ffone out. Will they did a Senator say h^re in the American Senate.' The question was asked if there was not some TfXan Hruius tiiat would rise upand rid the coun- try of the hoarj'-headed traiccu-I This is the lan- guage that a Senator used. This is the way we begin to speak of southern Governors. Yes; to remove an obstacle in our way, we nuist have a modern Brutus who will go m the capital of a State and assassinate a Governor to accelerate the movemtM)t. If we are so unscrupulous in refer- ence to oMiselvts, and in ref-rence to the means we are willing to employ to consummate this dis- solution, then it does not look very much like not (In u ■ V'ou can do it. Who is willing to take the ure.uifui alternative without making an hon- oroli'v'eiJDi t to save this Goveriunent ? This Con- gress l:;■^• It in its power to-day to arrest this thing, at least for a season, until there is time to con- sider nb^ut it, until we can act discreetly and pru- dently, nnd I believe arrest it altoirelher. Shall we give all this up to the Vandals and the Goths.- Shall we shrink from our duty, and de- sert the Government as n sinking ship, or shall we stani by it.' I, for one, will stand here until the high behest of my constituents demands me to desert my post; and instead of laying hold of harmony among ourselves after we get out of i the columns of this fabric and pulling it down, Mr. President, I have said much more than 1 anticipated when I commenced; and I have said more now (though external appearances seem dillerent) than [ have strength or liealth to say; Init if there is any effort of mine that would pre- serve this Government till there is time to think, till there is time to consider, even if it cannot he preserved any longer; if that end could besecure(i Ijy making a sacrifice of my existence and ofFer- ing up my blood, I would be willing to consent to it. Let us pause in this mad career; let us hes- itate; let us consider well what we are dning be fore we luake a moveiuent. I believe that, to a certain extent, dissolution is going to take place. 1 .tav to the North, you ought to come up in the .i|>irll which should characterize and control the .North on this question; and you ought to give these indications in good faith that will approach wiat the South demands. It will be no sacrifice though I may not be much of a prop, i will stand with my shoulder supporting the edifice as long as human effort can do it. In saying what I have said on this occasion, Mr. President, I have done it in view of a duty that I felt I owed to my constituents; to my chil- dren; to myself. Without regard to consequences, [have taken my position; and when the tug comes, when Greek shall meet Greek, and our rights ore refused after all honorable means have been ex- hausted, then it is that I will perish in the last l>reach: yes, in the language of the patriot Em- met, " 1 will dispute every inch of ground; ] will burn every blade of grass; and the last intrench- inent of freedom shall be my grave." Then, let ris stand by the Constitution; and in preserving the Constitution we shall save the Union; and in saving the Union, we save this, the greatest Gov- ernment on eartli. I thank the Senate for their kind attention. LIBRfiRY OF CONGRESS iliilllillililllllilillliiiiiiiiiiiii 4 002 533 535 1 • UBRARY OF CONGRESS DDD5S33S351 ^ pennulifeo