V.^^'.-'ilfe'v \,-i^ :' 1 • - ■ o « . . '^ ' ■ ' , . • O .^"^ y. ■^' ^^-^^^ -^^ v^^- .^^'\ V, ^. .* ^' ^ V \' -:^^^ .■\'" 1 '' y LETTER OF THE HON. LANGDON CHEVES, To The Editors of the Charleston Mercury, Sept. 11, 1844. The appearance of the following letter in the Mercury, excited an extraordinary interest in Charleston, and from all sides come demands that it should be republished in a form more convenient for circulation, perusal and preservation, than the columns of a newspaper. The calm, earnest^deeply-reasoned work of a retired statesman, whose past life has been signally illustrated by rare ability, and a still rarer self- denial, consistency and stern integrity — this letter commends itself to the study and reflection of all good men. It is full of matter, and manfully and eloquently handled — great questions opened, and lighted up to their lowest depths. We trust the Press will unite in giving it general circulation among the people. Messrs Editors: — I have been informed, Jo my surprise, that, in consequence of a short note, addressed to my fellow-citi^ns of the neighborhood in which I live, on the 4th of July last, I am supposed to be in favor of resistance by the action of South-Carolina alone. Such an impression is entirely erroneous. I expressed a dozen years since, the same sentiments, almost in the same words, and was, at the same lime, as is well known, decidedly opposed to resistance by a single State. But I shall now, with your permission, leave no doulit of the position in which I wish to stand, and, in doing so, I shall mingle my opinions and counsels with those of my fellow-citizens, to be Weighed for what they are worth, in "this great argument." The Tariffl consider an act of insufferable and insulting oppression, which ought to be borne only until it can be judicioudy resisted, liut this resistance, in my opinion, to be effective, must unite the efforts of, at least, a large portion of the suf- ferers. I do not think one State ought to resist alone. There will bo neither confi- dence nor certainty in such a course. The people of one State, standing alone, wovddt not be heartily united among themselves. It might be dilferent if the State were alone in the suffering; but standing in the midst of common suflerers, much more numerous than themselves, whose arms were folded, the presence of these wou'd operate like a moral condemnation of their act, and chill the warm blood, though ani- mated in so good a cause, and enfeeble the strong arm just raised to strike. 1 c^- 2 Hut, It is asked, if our fellow-sufferers will not unite with us in resistance, shall we basely subinit? We have no ri^ht to anticipate that event. In my opinion, if they (!<» not, they will be insensil)!e to honor and to shame, and equally so, to their interests and their daiifrer But we dare not cast this repr )ach upon thi-m, merely because they do not think lit to adopt our measures and our time. If we think they are tardy, we must entreat them, with brotherly zeal, to quicken their step. If our measures be not acceptable to them, let us modify them, or adopt theirs if they lead to the same end. Resistance will be a very solemn act. If it be rashly attempted and fail, it Avill rivet our chains and bring on us new burdens and insults. Success in such great enterprizes is not usually the result of a sudden thought or the fruit of a single day, but of wise and sober deliberations and protracted action. We are speaking of the movement ol nations — a successful resistance will probably cost some years. The circuujstances in which we are placed, cannot fail to remind us of our first great act of resistance to oppression. Let us then boast less often and less idly of the deeds of our ancestors, ar)d more faithfully imitate them. They did not jiimi)in a single breath to their conclusion, and talk of single handed resistance. They deliberated l()ng. and they wisely united all who were under common sufiering and in common danger. Let us do as they did. Let associations be formed in every Southern, and, if pus«ib!e, in every Stjuth-Western State, and let them confer togeth(»r and interchange views and information; let leading men, through committees and private correspondence, collect, compare and conctntrate the views of* like men in the respective States, and when ripe titr it, and not before, let representatives from these Slates meet in Con- vention, and, if circumstances promise success, let them then deliberate on the mode of resistance and the measure of redress. If not, still persevere; let neither delay nor first f'lilures, should they happen, create despair or faint heartedness. Inflexible perseverance rarely fai's in a good cause, and ours is one that must never be aban- doned. Contirme to enlighten the public mind, rouse the public feeling, excite the public shame, for the degradation to which we have been brought; let yoiu' exertions be not occasional and desultorv, but organized and incessant; avoid especially all blustering, and put in the place of it sound sense and forcible reasoning. Your a|)p('als to your fellow-citizens mav, nevertheless, be as impassioned as your sense of injury and shame and danger may inspire, but they ought to be chastenerl by a re11 chosen tracts, and let them be found in every han)let and house in the South and South-West. Carry your exertions into the cam|) of the enemy. Thus did the colonies in their preparation for resistan;;e to the mother country. During that struggle, we had among our friends the Burkes and the (.'hathams, and others of the greatest names that ever adorned humanity. 'J'here are in every country virtuous men who hate inpjstice and detest oppression, though they be the acts of their own country and government; and their influence, thouirh tlu-y may not be able to carry a vote, has otlen great moral and political wi'i'^ht. Thi'ir approbation will have great effect in sustaining your own resolution. Iiiit in this case you may a|)peal to their int if under the sore aftlictions you sufl^er through its forms, you propose to calculate the value of it and the dangers of it too, for the threatened dangers of it are more alarming than all we actually suffer, great as that may be. The Tarifl' is only an exponent of the power and the disposition to abuse and oppress us under the forms of the Constitution. Do not the halls of Congress ring daily with their unfraterna! and insolent homilies on our morals and humanity; and are we a free people, who are their equals in every moral and intellectual quality, to hear this? Do we not hear ominous threats of their interposition in our domestic concerns and with our tenderest interests, as if we were dependant or conquered provinces? Do we not know that those who thus raise their voices under the privi- leges of the Constitution, are the mouth-pieces of foreign fanatic associations with whom they correspond? Yet, these people eat the bread, taken from your own mouths, of that labor which they reprobate, and stint the comforts of that class of persons of whose condition they aflTect to be so fastidiously tender; for among the very highest duties which they impose to increase their extravagant gains, is that on the clothing of the slave. The heart of their humanity is in their strong box, and in the balance sheet of their profit and loss account. They are, Les amis des noirs, with 6 less motive of virtue than the Furies wlioin the National Convention of France vonjited upon St. Duiiiiiij^o, to scatter death among their white bretliren, and ever- lustinjT desohition and misery among the blacks. These were honest, erring and unhappy enthusiasts wlio knew not wliatthey were doing; but our assailants are cold blooded calculators, with this awml example before their eyes, stealing upon their victims, under the forms of the Constitution which guarantees the rights which they seek to destroy. Remember! — On the inviolai)ility of the Institution which is thus threatened and assaded, depends, not our prosperity alone, but every blessing under heaven, which we enjoy. Every thing Southern must necessarily perish with it. Hous- es, lands, stocks, monies at interest, and every other species of property, must go down with it and share a common fate. Let these people be unchecked, and we shall have nor coun'.ry, nor home, nor fire-side, nor civilization, nor social charities, nor life itsell". We shall be blotted from the face of the earth. The beaulilul and prolific South will exhibit nothing but scathed and blackened ruins, with a remnsint of the African race wandering amidst them in all the misery of desolation and hopile.ssness. The interjjosition we deprecate will be worse than plague, pestilence and tamine; worse tlian all the horrors of war, if waged by a civilized people. The l)avonets of our assailants pointed against our breasts would be more harmless than their counsels. On this subject, the Methodist Episcopal Church of the South have set us a noble exam|)le, which, if our opponents persi*it, we shall be otjliged to imitate, were the TarifJ' out of the question. Yet they invoke the Constitution, appeal to the sacred name of Washington, and call upon you iu his words to frown upon the man who shall endeavor to weaken its ties. Would it not be enough to return the chalice, with its poisoned ingredients, to theirown guilty lips? But let their guilt he what it mav, we are not and never have been the enemies of the Union. What Union did that great and good man venerate? It was the Union as it came from the hands of the Patriots who framed it. It was the Union we consented to. An Union ot equal rights and equal burdens. An Union in which we were to be equally respected and honored with our brethren, and our peculiar institutions sacredly protected. Not a Union of strife, and tribute, and insult, and slavery, on our parts. Hut would he, all just and wise, under the fijrmsofthe Constitution, have recommended submission to the unconstitutional o|)pression, insult and injury, under which we groan? General Washington was a sincere ('hristian, and would have called upon his felh wcitizens to frown upon the man who should endeavor to subvert the holy religion, in accord- ance with whose principles he had formed his own, and under whose irdluence he walked during the whole of his good and glorious life. Hut it" its Professors, regard- less of its truth and fearless of their (iod, had introduced ihe Iiujiiiftilion into the land, would l)e have looked with approbation on an auto cla fc, and called upon the pi'ople to support and venerate it? It was a righteous government which he sustained, and not one of guilt and oppression. He would, according to the whole tenor of his life, have been among the first to resist it; and so ought we, while, like him. we ven- erate it, in its truth and purity. No, our crime is not disloyalty to the Union, l)ut our Error in loo great a veni'ration for if, and il'we carry that veneration much liirlher, it will bt» an rvidence of unparalclled stupidity or unblushing baseness. Preserve till' Union, ilvoii can — appi-al to the great Democratic party to save the Union, which it can do, if it will. That party, though shattered, ami contiiunded, and betrayed, cmlirarcH a larfxi- majority of the people, almost the whole conservative class, almost all of every s(»und class, opposed only by manufacturing capitalists and th(>ir (le|)('nd- jinls, aliiditionists and their deluded followers, and the adherents of personal cabals and inil)rin(ipled tiictioiis. Let them unite in "a long pull, a strong pull, and a i)ull altogether," and the Union will be safe, and not only safe, but purified, Rut, if they will not, neither the preservation of the Union nor any other consideration under heaven, should induce you to continue your submission to the spoliation, ignominy, and danger, to which under the abuses of the Constitution, you are now subject. This language may be new and strong, but it is not the language of violence. There is a wide difference between earnestness and decision, and violence. The last is folly and weakness, the first is the sublimation of truth and sober reason. I warn you that anything short of what this language intimates will be trifling with the sub- ject, Do not deceive yourselves by supposing that the only struggle before you, or the greatest, is that of the Tariff. That of Abolition is at hand (how near, we cannot distinctly see) and often times the importance and danger. The Abolitionists aim directly at your destruction, and indirectly at the sul)version of the Union, That neither our destruction, nor the misery and desolation of the Race they pretend to serve, much less the preservation of the Union, will restrain them in their endeavors to establish their principles, is but too clear. Theirs is not a work of love, but of hate. They hate you more than they love the x\frican liace. But what I mean to say is, that they aim at the destruction of the Union. All will admit that they aim at speedy abolition, and to force it upon you. Now, is there any sober man of common sense in the nation, who can believe if they advance one step further, but that the Union must be dissolved. They cannot advance one step fur- ther without entering your territories and controlling your laws. This, I think, will appear by stating the advances they have already made. They have not indeed actually exchanged credentials and entered into a Treaty in diplomatic form, with foreign nations, but they are most di:ectly co-operating with foreign associations, and, at least, one great Foreign Government, all pledged to universal enmncipation. The proofs are, among others, 1st. The existence of Abolition Societies of great weight and numbers in Great Britain. 2d. The co-operation of the Government of Groat Britain with their own Societies. 3d. The co-operation of our Abolition- ists with those Foreign Societies. 4th. That these Foreign Societies have their agents and orators, with whom they correspond, on the floor of Congress. 5th. That they have a political party in many States, organized and distinctly designated. 6th. , That this party forms one great clement of the great Whig party of the Union — at | least in power, if not in name — so much so, that if the Whig candidate for the Presi- dency be successful, he will owe his success to abolition votes; because in some States, whose votes are necessary to his success, New^-York for example, the Whigs, without the votes ofthe Abolitionists, will be in the minority. These Foreign Soci- eties will thus, if that result happen, have had great influence in the election of our Chief Magistrate. 7th. Great Britain has already interposed with our own Govern- ment in a manner to countenance the American Abolitionists, by declaring to it views in coincidence with theirs, and which our Executive Government has veiy properly protested against. 8th. There is the hostile Act of the Legislature ofthe State of Massachu efts, which in itself woidd, if executed, be a subversion of the Union. 9th. The temper of the Abolitionists, evincive of the consciousness of their power, of which I shall give but one proof. That is a letter of the Anacharsis Cloofes oC the United States. In this letter, afler abusing in the grossest terms, the President ofthe United States, the present Secretary of State, and several of his pre- decessors, and denouncing generally the conduct of the Government of his own country, and showing himself in heart and soul devoted to the unfriendly views ol foreign country, he comes down to the late letter of remonstrance of Mr. Calhoun to the British Minister, and says, "we are yet 1o learn with what ears the sound of the trumpet of slavery was listened to by the British Queen and her ministers. We are ypt to learn wlielhor the successor of Elizaltflh on the tluone of England, and her BiirliMjjhsand Walsinghams, upon hearinj^, that their avowed purpose to promote uni- versal einanripdiion and tlie cxtinedon of .si aver i/^ is to be met by the man robbers of our oirn count ri/ with exterminating lear; will, like craven cowards, turn their back and Jlecoreat their own iC07-ds, or disclaim the purpose and object which they have avowed.^'* I now ask, if the abolitionists can go one step further without entering your terri- tories and controlling your laws? Whether they do not now shake the Union, and whether, if they can proceed any farther, they will not destroy it? These are the allies of the Whigs and the manufacturers. Slay it not now be asked, with some hope that the peo|»le will have opened their eyes, who are the enemies of the Union? and what will stop the abolitionists from going on? Not certainly their discretion, not their fear of scenes of horror, nor their love of their white brethren, nor of their country; — nothing but their want of power will stop them; and yet you have seen a great array of strength which they control. Beware! the tariff is a tiifle to this danger. But I have forgotten, in the exhibition of the power and progress of the abolitionists, to mention the greatest of all their successes — the rejection of the treaty for the annexation of Texas, in which they have triumphed over the interests of the whole Union, and the will and power of all the Southern and all the Western States. Hut we must pass on. All admit our wrongs, all acknowledge our danger, but as often as the tongue lisps resistance, you are met by the eternal cry of the Union! the l'ni(jn! the dangers of the Union! and you are subdued by it. Until you can throw off this thraldom, and cherish the vital truths, that your llrst and holiest allegiance is due to your State institutions — that the Union ought to be altogether secondary in your thoughts and hearts — that all governments ought to be loved and sustained only for their virtues, and that their vices should be watched with jealousy, and resisted at the threshhold, you are unprepared for resistance. Ifthe Union must be imperishable, though established on the usurpation of your rights, the insecurity of yoursocial peace and your insignificance as a people, away with all thoughts of resistance. In fine, it is my humble opinion, that if we are to resist at all, we must surrender this trembling fear of the dangers of the Union, to other fears and dangers much more important, involving interests still dearer to us, and which immediately ''come home to our business and bosoms." That no effectual resistance will be made without the union of three or four States. That therefore, the great object of exertion is to effect that concurrence; and that as often as you shall attempt separate action you will fail, and more and more weaken the moral power of resistance, to which the physical will always be obedient. Nevertheless, I advise no Hotspur rashness, no immoiierate haste, though unnecessary delays are dangerous. You sleej) on a volcano. The figure no more than expresses your danger. But that danger, unlike the great natu- ral phencjinenon with which I have compared it, may be controled by human power; you may extinguish it, but if you wait till it ex[)lodes and covers you with its lava, the mataphor again becomes expressive, and indicates ilic awlul ruin in which you will be involvfd. There are some incidental matters on which 1 propose to dwell lor a short lime. There is one measure fretjuently recommended, which I think decidedly wrong, and thoref()re dangerous. I mean the call of a State Convention. [ thii\k it wrong tor the following reasons, among many others : • lor thiK letter, see the Pendleton Mt-Buengcr of llic L>3d August lu8t, taken from llic Georgia ('uiiiilituliunalixt. Isl. This is proved in the very outso, by the fact, that many, perhaps all, propose it under the supposition, that a- Convention possesses some power applicable to the question, which the Legishiture does not possess, which is a gross mistake. The Legislature possesses all the power of the sovereign people, except where it is e.vi»rs.sl)i restrained by the Constitution. Now, there is no restraint upon it in the Con- stitution, which bears on any measure that has been, or that can be, imagined for the redress of our grievances. 2ii. The value, efficiency and power of Government, is mainly founded on stability, uniformity, and even the establi-;hed forms with which its powers are executed. It presents a well known legal person to the peojjle of State and to the whole world, acting under just responsibility and with the greatest wisdom the country can supply, if the representatives i)e properly chosen, as they ought always to be, and probably will be, at the present crisis especially. 3d. A Convention has the character, more or less, of a revolutionary measure. It more or less shakes the foundation of Government. It is a comparatively clumsy machine, sub'-tituted for one of great skill and appropriateness, instituted by the wisest men in the State, with great deliberation, in the absence of all excitement, for the express purposes of all the powers granted to it by the Constitution. A Convention cannot be called, under the Constitution of this Slate, for a special purpose. When convened, it has all the power of the people, virtually supercedes the Government, and if it chooses, may dissolve it. Such a body ought not to be constituted unless absolutely necessary. It is not enough to say, it will now do no harm. The example of convening it, is itself an evil. Though there be now no danger of the abuse of it, it may hereafter become a terrible instrument in the hands of a faction or a demagogue. 4(h. The action of the State, whatever it may be, must immediately or ultimately, look to the co-opera- tion of other States, and, tor the reasons I have mentioned and others, it may have a forbidding aspect in the eyes of those States. If this State shall only act jointly with other States, that action will probably be more harmonious and homogeneous, if we employ the same authorities which they, in all likelihood, will employ. There is another incidental subject which seems to embarrass the writers of the, day, and yet it is extraordinary that it should do so. It is said, the State is pledged to resist. If that pledge ought to be redeemed, it\vill be onlybecause it is right and proper that we should resist. I shall not stop to encpiire what the precise terms of the pledge are, because it is impossible that the State can be pledged to any coufse inconsistent with its true interests, among which, and the head of which, I admit will rank its untarnished honor. Pledges of a State, like those of an in lividual, mu4 be to itself or to others. Pledges of the last kind must be inviolably performed, however disadvantageous or impolitic, unless they involve moral guilt. Pledges of the State to itself, however, are very diflc^rent. They can never mean more than what is always required, independent of any pledge — that she shall act with Avisdom, firmness and consistency, according to the circumstances of the time and the occasion when she is called to act. If the pledge be rash or unwise, will it be argued that she is bound to act? The question will always be, pledge or no pledge, what is wi=!e — what is expedient, unless it be dishonorable. When the pledge is not to a thiriperson, surely it cannot be obligatory or reputable to do a thing which is unwise, rash, inex- pedient, and perhaps destructive of the very object which the pledge was intended to advance. A pledge to one's self is no more than giving pub icity to the thought or opinion of the moment. Having given publicity to it. if it be wise and proper and honorable, not to execute it, shows weakness and instability, and therefore it is disreputable not to do so. On the other hand, it would display weakness or obstinacy to do what was unwise, rash or dishonorable, because one had pledged 2 10 himsflf to do so. It, therefore, seems to me, that the question before iis is entirely free from niiv embarrassment of pledges. Hut tliere st'iJins to be a difference between tlie pledge of an individual and that of a Siafe by its represeiitativi-s. The pledge of tliese caimot involve the free deliberations of luture fiuictionaries, where there is no third party roneerned. If the pledge be wise and projier, it is the duty of the successors to' redeem it. but surely not otherwise. The question then seems to me as free as if no pledge hatl ever been made; and is — ought the Slate to resist, and what shall b(i the mode and time of that resistance? Much has been said about a leader. You will be much better without one. Such a leader may be a fit instrument to dictate the movements of a faction, but not those of a people or a nation. Resistance, to be effective and reputa!)le, must not be dema- gogical. but national. It is paltry and feeble, in this great question, affectiug so ma^iiy States, to talk of a leader. The nation must rnnve, and you must have many leaders. No people prepared for a great achievment will ever want leaders. You want a due preparation of the national mind and .fpiril for a great vwremcnt; — you irant also, a settled principle and a determinate ohjeci of action, which no individual should be permitted to dictate. The people acting implicitly under the dictates of a leader, debase themselves, resemble a mob, and exclude from their ranks all the sober, deliberate, steady, good sense of the community, which cannot be expected to follow the authoritativedictates of a leader. The principle and object of action should be established by the people themselves, (who should not, surrender the character of thinking beiugs,) by the advice and assistance of the leading men in their respective States. If the States unite, this will be best done in a Convention of the States; and, if they act separately, by their Legislatures. When the principle and object of action shall be thus established, it will be national, and you will have leaders enough; and they will be fit and appropriate leaders, embracing all the good sense, talent and rliaracter of the country. The Congress which declared the independence of the United States, was not governed by a leader. The Congress which declared the late war against Great Britain, was not governed by « leader. Hut these acts were brought about l»y leading men, who knew and spoke the will of their constituents. Tlie last incidental circumstance which I shall notice, is the servile adulation which is paid to the Union, at a time it would be natural and, 1 think, just, to feel resentful. It does, indeed, excite my special wonder, to see Southern men bowing down before the idol and shouting hosimnasto it, as if it were in the act of showering blessings upon us. These are, I confers, a music hateful to my car. I could as much respect the spirit of a man who had fallen under the blows of an adversary, and who should choose that moment to eulofji/e his virtues, his humanity and his benevolence. I blame no just rcsjject to the Union. I have loved the Union as much as any man in it; I still respeft it, aiul wish to preserve it; but it is not in my heart, Avhile my country is smarting under its lash, to pour out my devotions to it. I should consider it a moral defilement. In a n;iliou, it is a sign of a dark and leeble mind and a pusillanimous s|)irit. No man, with such a spirit, can duly love his nearer and dearer institutions; no man, with such a spirit, will be ready to resist the wrongs done to them, lletlecl cm till- pur|)oNes of a good and beneficent ("lovernment. Such a (»overmnenl is Ire- rpienily dcKcribed by figures, significant of benefits received and love returned, which our hearts, rather than our minds, suggest, and which are, therefore, more emphati- rally just. — [i js called a panuita! protector and a kind nursing mother. Now, name a single blessing of sueh a (Joverrunerit that you enjoy. Does it make you (the Soutlj) great — docH it enshrine you in honor — docs it make you rich and prosperous 11 — does it secure your property — iloes it protect the peace of your slumbers — does it shield you from the fanatic iii(>tMidiary, or does it not hold up his torch and enliven its flame, and invite him to api)ly it to your most combustiijie miterial ? Name, if you can, one single benelit of a good and heneficent (ioverimient which you enjoy under it. Thanks to a stuidy nature, we still live and breathe in spite of its inflictions. Even this we owe to our neglected and forsaken State institutions. But your assail- ants tell you plainly, that even this, the bare breath of life, which they have left in you, you enjoy merely under a short reprieve, until their plans are ready for the e.xe- cution of that doom of dejolation and ruin which they have pronounced against you, and which they are hastening on with all their zeal and power. In the Halls of Legislature they are already permitted to tell you, that your presence there is poUu. tion of their Pharisaical purity; and are you, proud freemen, (do you not so call your- selves .' with what truth I shall not decide;) humbly to solicit their forborn embrace ? Surely, I may say, let us have no m^re of this servile adulation of the Union, while it is what you (not enjoy, but) suffer. On the contrary, examine freely and fearlessly its value and the dani^ers with which it threatens you, as well as the suffering which it already inflicts. Despise the clamors raised against you as enemies of the Union. It is false, absolutely false, that you are the enemies of it, in its truth and purity, and it were base and cowardly not to be the enemies of its abuses. As it is practically administered, call it by what name you please, it is a gross and oppressive tyranny, and much the worse because it is many headed. "A popular tyranny is more terri- ble and debasing than the tyranny of a monarch; in its appetites more inappeasable and gross, an J in its duration more lasting. It never dies. The gloomy expanse of tune whicli it covers is never irradiated by a Trnjan or an Antonius. There is an eternal duration of its vicious qualities and its rapacious reign." That there are any among us that can pour out this crouching adulation, I must lament, and I can pity the nustaken devotion. But the Southern man who can join our assailants bitterly and acrimoniously, in the slanderous cry of our enmity to the Union, for the purpose of weaki-ningthe resolution and paralyzing the efFoits of his own countrymen, in re- sistance to its abuses, 1 am obliged to thmk justly chargeable with the most uimatural feelings, with a hideous want of patriotism, with a most guilty moral .treason, wiiich, though the laws do not touch, the public scorn will not allow to go unpunished. Finally, I say, do no rash or sudden act : wait yet longer. There are some favora- ble sigus'in the political heavens. There are, I think, hopes, that your grievances will be redr(;ssed by constitutional and peaceable means, and the dangers of the Union averted. The Democratic party see how profitless and di:basing it is to serve men instead of principles. I think it may be predicted (the darkest hour usually precedes the d;iwn) ihai before very long, perhaps within the coming year, there will be a re-acliou which will establish the Democratic party in its ancient power and purity, and unite, in a faithful and fraternal band, cemented by their best interests and their best feehngs, all the mcmb<;rs of that great conservative body, throughout the Union, whether Morlh, South or West. The incongruous and unpatriotic combinations of Wiiigism cannot long cohere. The sacrifice of Texas, if nothing else, must make it odious to all the sound part of the nation, and particularly to the South and West. They cannot — they will not forgive it. The commencement of this re-action will probably be moie o\- less advanced or retarded by the result of the ensuing Pvesiden- tial election, in which, instead of being luke-warm, the whole South and West should pu! forth tlif;ir whole zeal and strenght. But this hope is not a reason why the remedial movements of the South should not commence, ut furthest, with the close of the present year, when the turmoilof all the 12 elections will bo over. You ought by sober, regular ami deliberate steps, to deter- mine the geneial prii)ci|)li;s ol' your aclion — lo orgairizo the means of union and concert among the Suites, and to wutcli the movenu.ni of the times, — The Southtirir Slates ought now lo assume, and afterwards keep up, as long as their oppression and danger last, an armour of defenee prepared for contiti gencies. 1 do not, of course, mean an array of pliysieal force, but a moral armour under which they may be ready, speedily to act, witii union and conccjrt, as circum- stances may require. I have already adverted to the subject of Texas. The rejection of the Treaty of Annexation I regard as a measure (if not of wickedness) of egn gious fully, saci'i- ficing inicrests of great value and impurt-ince to the whole Union, but particularly lo the South and West; and more especially in connexion with ihe claim of Great Britain, which, I fear, is veil Ibunded, to tliefree navigation of the Mississippi, and, as a consequence, perhaps of its tributaries. This right, if it fxist, wi.l give her uncon- trolled access to your territories, and carry, alike, her commercial agents and her emissaries of abolition, through the midst of your towns and plantations into the very heart of Texas, all which would have been averted for ever by the ratification of the Treaty of Annexation. But when we look, through the vista of lulurity, at the advan- tages to commerce, to navigation, to manulacluri.'s, to agriculture, and, above all, to the national security, and jjower and greatness which would necess irily have resulted from the acquisition, we can hardly estimate the immense value ot the boon, nol to us alone, but to the whole Union, which was providentially put in our power, and which we have wantonly thrown away. But the evils of the ri-j^ ciion of the Treaty do not end with its direct edects. The time of the negotiation was eminently pro- pitious, and the President deserves, and will yet, and sjjceddy. rec»>ive ihe abundant thanks of the country for the promptness, wisdom and j);itiiotism with wnich he seized and improved it. In the language of an able Senator, (Ur. Buchanan, of Pa-,) whose speech ought to occu[)y the columns of every patriotic press in the country: "Had tile Treaty been ratified by the Senate — had the union b.-iweeii the Republics been completed, the subject would have i)assed aw.»y without producing a ripple upon the surface of public opinion throughout the world." But, excited and einbo'.di-ned by the rejection of the Treaty, you already behold the two greatest powers of Europe obtrusively [lassing their jusi political limits, taking footing upon a portion of the continent so npproiiriated, that except in a hostile spirit, according to national usage, they were forbidden to interpose, and projecting (heir scheiiK^s ol intrigue, as it you wcrc! in the heart of Europe. They have crossed ihe Rubicon. England has already had her emissaries in Texas. Cuba will next be seized, under some pretext or other, OS a fair field lor Abolition. She will lluii command ihe Gulf and the Mis- aissippi. To speak of no other danger, what will then he the condition of New Oil. iins, without which, the whole >Vest could not brailie; or, if at all, hke nil asthmatic palirnt ? Tims we st>e laid open the clear sighted and patriotic wisdom ot this glorious union of Whigs, Manufacturers and Abolitionists, by which the Treaty ssible, but much more than probable. Be, thfiefore, not deterred by any such suf^gest )n, from the good work. Let the aid be alForded under regulations of prudence which shall make iiapplicable only on the contingency of its being necessary and which shall secure its due a[)plication. Tlie monuy need not be drawn from your treasuuries, (which may not be supplied,) but may be raised on stocks author- ized by the respective Slates. Men of tlie South and VV<;st, if there be political dif- ferences between you, lay them down for a moment at the shrine of patriotism and humanity, and do this great service to the interests of your country, and at the same time prevent this awful sacrifice of your own kindred; which, should il ha;>p(Mi, your iiearls will bleed to bt/hold, and which your consciences will ever afterwards reproach you for having sulFjred. It has mn been without some hesitation and reluctance, that I have at all entered into this discussion. I considered my day of activity as by gone, and was reposing in the most absolute retirement, in which 1 desired to remain for the rest of my life, when the i'lcident mentioned in the beginning of this paper, drew from me, OS an act of civility, a shor* expression of my opinions; and I should have said no more, bit for the misconception of my views on a point on which I am most anxious not to be misunderstood. But, being about to correct this error, and feeling as strongly and indignuntly as any man can do, the ojjprcssion, disgrace and danger 15 under which my country suirers,ahlioufjh no one is more scnsihlfi of the little import- ance of my opinions and counsels tlian I am, I luivc leic it to be tlie diityof n citizc-ii, on my P'>rt, to lluow lliini into tlie mass ol deliberation on the s'lbject of tlic great crisis which liangs so awfully over lis Besides, 1 have always had an utter ablior- i-ence of oppression, by whatever hands it may be inflicted. It is now a third of a century, since when, in the prime of life, with some share of popular favor, and ambitious of more, 1 did not hesitate to hazard all that I possessed and all that I lioped for, in defending the rijihls and interests of that pco[)le who are now the oppressors of my own immediate country, and who tlireaien daily, not only its prosperity, but its social peace. I held up, with a few noble associates, the flag of their gallant but then unpopular little navy; I vindicated tlieir glorious coinmercial (MiU'r|)iize — r\n cnterprize which, while it enriched them, made no one poor; and 1 defended, (not without success,) their pecuniary rights, against what I considered, tlic hand of rapacity and unjust power, though it was the hand of the pulitical men with whom I was associated. It would ill becinne mc then, I lliought, to close my life by declining to offer mv counsel for what it was worth, and tu raise my voice in the assertion of ihe rights and the reprobation of the wrongs of "my own, my native land." LANGDON CHEVES. PRINTED BY WALKER & BURKE, No. 3 Broad-street. ir46 i y- ° A- ^. >/ ^"^ V 'it. ■ ^ ^^^"^ .^^ .^ ?..^^ J"^^ V ^ ■0' .0 '5 o o > 'V^''' .s^"- ,0' A' ^^.A-*