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V < ion subsists between the citizens of South Carolina i guenots of France, outlawed, oppressed, banished,
and the Union; that the community of States is iu the most brilliant age of French literature; un-
*not a sovereign, is not a nation; that sovereignty der the meridian splendors of her philosophy and
and allegiance cannot be divided; that the United
States have no citizens, hut only denizens; that
treason in the constitution of the United States is
not a breach of any allegiance; and that the State
has a right to require of every citizen and officer,
to swear, that he owes an exclusive allegiance to
the State,and none to the United Stales.!
VVhat is this but a denial of all that the political
bisiory of the Union establishes; of all that the
States and the people have acknowledged over and
over again, in various forms, and of all that facts
prove and principles sanction, and reasoning de
monstrates? What »jr? but denying the supre
macy of the Constitution of the United States, and
asserting the supremacy of the State Constitution,
for 6uch the ordinance is? The.ordinance, ihen,
is utterly repugnant to the Constitution of the Uni
ted States, and as already insisted on, either re
peals the Cotistitutitm of the United States, and
is equivalent to an act of secession,"or must be de
dared “null and void, and no law, not binding on
this State, its officers or citizens.” Such must,
and will be its fate.
I have said, that the ordinance is a part of the
State Constitution. Let us then put it into the
ninth article in the form of an oath, and read the
whole together, bearing in mind that the relation
between the citizen of South Carolina and the
United States is political, is allegiance, and that
this still is tire supreme Constitution of Smith
Carolina. This then would he the oath. “I- A.
B, do solemnly swear, that the Constitution of the
United States is the supreme, and the Constitu
tion of South Carolina only the subordinate law of
this State: and that I am a citizen of the United
States, and owe a higher allegiance to the United
States, than as a citizen of South Carolina, I owe
to the State,and! will accordingly, by virlue of
such higher allegiance, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States, even against the
Constitution of South Carolina, as long as the for
mer shall continue the supreme Constitution of
South Carolina." That this is actually the form
nndmeaningof the present oath in the Constitu
tion of South Carolina, has, I apprehend, been
put beyond all doubt. Let us now add the supple
mentary oath, nnder the amendatory ordinance of
18th March, !S83. “But I do likewise solemnly
swear, that the orditfance of 16th March, 1833, is
the supreme law of South Carolina, and the Con
stitution of South Carolina, and the Constitution of
the United States is only the subordinate law of
South Carolina; that f aiu a citizen «f South Car-
Jina, but only a denizen of theUnited Slates; that
I owe allegiance to South Carolina only, but none
to the United States; and that F will protect and
defend the ordinance, until repealed, even against
the Constitution of the United States.” Such are i
the palpable, irreconcilable contradictions, to
which we must he led, when we attempt in the
name of the people of South Carolina, to set up
their separate as their supreme will; when they have
expressly and solemnly declared, that it shall be
only subordinate; for that as long as the con
stitution of tub United States shall he
THEta CONSTITUTION, IT SHALL BE AS THEIK SU
PREME LAW.
I have now finished what belongs appropriately
to the argument of these great questions. And
here I might slop; but I may trust to be Field ex
cused, for adding somewhat more. Perhaps, it
may not seem to belong to the tribunal, or the
forms of the controversy. But are net these in
deed political, rather than civil questions? Cer
tainly conttiliitumal, not merely legal. Some re
marks, then, on what I believe to he the real char
acter of the oath, will not he inappropriate. F
trust I shall not be suspected of calling it a test
oath, from any desire or intention to stamp ii with
an odious name. I call it such, because I honestly
believe it to he a test oath. What is the criterion?
A test oath is, in my judgment, a declaration of
opinion, upon oath. It is immaterial, whether it he
religious or political, if it be not an ontii to facts—
to door not to do. A test oath is designed to he a
test of opinion, compared with some fixed and
known standard, established or adopted by the im-
poaerof the oath. Now matter of opinion, if it
belong to the departmeni of duty, is a matter of
conscience. To exaqt an oath in such a case, is
to interfere with the'rights of conscience; Tor all
our opinions on the subjects of duty, ought to he
formed, and must beheld under the responsibility
of conscience. Freedom of conscience is the no
blest work of God. It is a privilege granted by the
Creator himself; the haliennble right of an immor
tal soul; a right wlmh the creature cannot re
strict or violate, without usurping the authority of
the Creator. The genus of toleration is essential
ly, unchangeably, fret, pure, lofty, honorable.
“ Her track w’nere’ertl*e Goddess roves,
Glory pursues and gmerous shame,
Th’ unconquerable mud, and Freedom’s holy flams.”
Let us dwell for a few moments, on the history
of intolerance. Let ne not call it the history of
persecution, in connexon with this place, and this
cause. Let me call it the history of t rial and suf
fering, for opinion’ssake. The first scene, which
opens upon us, is found in the history of philosophy.
We behold tiie enlightened and benevolent So
crates condemned to the hemlock; for teaching tlie
Athenian youth a nobler, purer moral, than pagan
ism ever produced. We behold Anaxagoras sen
tenced to die; because his philosophy was adjudged
to be impious: Anaxandrides, because he satirized
the Athenian government: and Cleanthes invoked
the Greeks to condemn Aristarchus as guilty of
blasphemy, in his astronomical opinions. We be
hold the Roman, after Rome had been founded 591
years, banishing all the philosophers from the city;
and Cato the Censor, six years after, obtaining a
decree to dismiss Carreades, and his fellow philo
sophers, the Athenian ambassadors, lest they
should corrupt the severity and simplicity of Ho
man manners. Can we forget the striking scene
exhibited at the judgment seat and in the dungeons
of the Inquisition, when Galileo was tried and con
demned, as au unbeliever in the scriptures; be
cause he maintained Jhe astronomy of Pythagoras
against that of Ptolemy? And what a scene still
more impressive is that, which passed in the con
vent at Salamanca; when Columbus, pleading in
the cause of the new world, of our own America,
with the sacred eloquence of a prophet and the
profound reasonings of philosophy; received as
his portion from learning, and science, and religion,
the stern repulse of religious bigotry, and the in
credulity of ignorance and timidity.
Let us turn now to the modern history of reli
gious intolerance; a history replete with lessons
10 humble our pride as men, and fill as with grief,
as patriots and philanthropists. And what is the
first remarkable feature? Is it not the unnatural
union of church and Stale?—a union, which the
common sense and enlightened conscience of Amer
icans has forevbr abolished. And who does not
see that from this union arose-the maxim, that the
civil magistrate had power, and was bound by the
most solemn obligations of Christian duty, to deny
the rights of conscience, and to punish the heretic
for his opinions, iu flames at the stake, or by the
axe on the scaffold? And who can deny that the
peculiar, the exclusive authority of God himself
was thus usurped; when the civil magistrate held,
that as the opinions of the heretic were opposed to
those of the established religion, they must be hos
tile to the marriage bond of Church and Slater—
Did not tjie magistrate confiscate property, mana-
• cle the limbs, imprison the person, nay, shed the
Very life blood of brothers, because he assumed that
the"enemy of the church must be Ihe enemy of the
state: and that either heresy must be exterminated,
or the government would perish? Behold the Hu-
at the height of her power and glory, in the >art|
and in arms! They were not driven out from the
homes and the graves of their lathers, to the cav
ern, and the forest, and the land of strangers, hv
the religion of humility and meekness; but, under
the plea of state necessity, by the inexorable sword
of the civil magistrate. And whence, but from
the same cause, sprang the intolerance of Protes
tant to Catholic, of Catholic to Protestant, in .the
British isles? Both held the church and the state
to be one. Bound by a holy wedlock to each other,
who is surprised that the sentiment of religion be
came the maxim of politics, “what God hath join
ed together, let no man put assunder?” Heresy
against the church was therefore treason against
the State; and the heretic, a traitor. Is it wonder
ful, that the law pronounced him a felon, an out
law, a perjured man, a deadly foe, never to be for
given? Fs it wonderful to behold, on the scaffold of
the “defender ol the liiith,” the axeman behead
ing Sir Thomas Moore; because he rejected Ihe
oath of supremacy to the king, as the head of the
church?
And what are all the test oaths of England, but
political tests? VVhat is the oath of supremacy,
but a denial of allegiance to the Pope? And vvliat
the oath of abjuration, which banishes the Catho
lic house of Stuart forever, from the English
throne? And, what are all the laws, that have
been enacted and enforced in England, againsi the
Jew and the dissenter; but statutes to protect the
State, as indissolubly one with the Church? And
what, hut the same reason, has prostituted to the
purposes of political ascendancy, the most awlul
and holy of sacraments: and lias made the com
munion itself, the condition of office?
Shocked and indignant, as we are, at the cata
logue of European bigotry, lias il not had its rival
even in America? We look with astonishment on
the persecutions of the quakers and baptists in
New England, of the puritans in Virginia. We
behold with surprise and gratitude, the toterant in
stitutions of Lord Baltimore, the Catholic, and of
William Penn, the quakcr. We behold with mor
tification our own Constitution of 1773, establish
ing the protestant as the religion of the State,
and rejecting the catholic and the Jew, as political
outlaws. \V e are filled with amazement and regret*
on reading the colonial statute ol New York, con
demning the popish priest and jesuit to perpetual
imprisonment and even to death. With the same
sentiments, we now look on the original constitu
tion ot New York, exacting from every naturali
zed foreigner, an oath, abjuring all foreign alle
giance, even in matters ecclesiastical. And, with
deep indignation, we peruse the records of that in- j
fence, what are the adversaries of the ordinance
and militia oath, but the political catholics, the po
litical nonconformists, the political non jurors bt
South Carolina?
May I trust to be borne with, yet awhile longer,
wefaite I read and apply toour differences of opinion,
another passage from the same inaugural address
of Mr. Jefferson. “We have called by different
names, brethren of the same principle. We are
all republicans, and are all federalists. If there
lie any among us, who would wish to dissolve the
Union, or to change its republican form, let them
stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety, with
which error of opinion may be tolerated, where
reason is left free to combat it,” And may not the
advocates of national and State Rights, profit if
they are wise, by the alternate application ot
this memorable passage to themselves? May not
the majority in the Union say of the champions of
exclusive allegiance, * if there lie any among vs,
who believe that no allegiance is due to the United
States, let them stand undisturbed, as monuments
of the safety, with which error of opinion may be
tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it.”—
And will not the friends of the ordinance and oath,
enlightened by the experience of the past, and the
ample discussions 'of this question, will they not
with the magnanimity, the generous frankness,
which becomes Carolinians, glory in the sentiment
of Jefferson, and in the name of the people of
South Caroiinia say to the antagonists of their po
litical creed, “if there he any Among us, teho be
lieve that allegiance is due to the United States, let
them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safe
ty, with which error of opinion may be tolerated,
where reason is left to combat it.” May we learn
one lesson of wisdom and moderation! Politicos.
TESTS ARE INSTRUMENTS OF FEARFUL POWER AND
DANGEROUS TENDENCY, IN THE HANDS OF A MA
JORITY, OR OF THE GOVERNMENT ADMINISTERED
BY THEM. They ARE USEFUL AND HARMLESS,
when subjected TO THE ONLY LAWFUL
JURISDICTION OVER SUCH MATTERS.
IN A REPUBLIC-THE PEOPLE AT THE
BALLOT BOX.
1 have now discharged the duty allotted to me.
Let me close this scene of anxiety and trial, with a
few, a very few words more. I have felt the deep
obligation to treat these questions with the simplici
ty and gravity of truth. 1 admire, I trust 1 have
exemplified the noble sentiment of Dexter, that in
the argument of constitutional questions, he had
not the right to utter what his convictions disavow
ed. I had resolved to speak in the spirit of a
Christian, honestly as a patriot, fearlessly as an
advocate before independent judges. I felt, that
such a course was honorable to them and myself, to
my country and my profession. 1 have been deep
ly sensible of the delicacy, as well difficulty of die
tolerant spirit, which hut a Jew years since, resist- questions: and of the unfeigned respect due to
t A11 this is the more remarkable when it is remembered
that this Ordinance does not claim an indefeasible, perpetual
allegiance, but only an allegiance commensurate with resi
dence. In other words, the allegiapce which -the United
.States claims is perpetual and indefeasible, by the act of the
citizen; that Which the ordinance claims is only local and
temporary. The United States claim an estate for life in
the allegiance .of the citizen; South Carolina only n tenancy
at will, determinihlo at the option of the citizen.
ed the right of a Hebrew to-his seat in the Legis
lature of North Carolina, and until within a few
years, condemned the Fsrealite to political slavery,
in the very city and state founded by lord Balti
more.
And have these lessons been written in vain, with
the iron pen of bigotry, and in the blood of reli
gious and political martyrs? And is it possible,
that we mean to tread that forbidden path in poli
tics which other ages and countries, and even our
own States have trodden, in the cause of church
and State. In vain, have we.divorced them from
each other; in vain have we declared that “no re
ligious test shall ever be required as a qualification
to any office or public trust;” if we are so unwise,
as to substitufepolitical test oaths. “Let us re
flect,” says Thomas Jefferson, “that having ban
ished from our land, that religious intolerance, un
der which mankind so long filed and suffered, we
fiave yet gained little, if we countenance a political
intolerance, as despotic as wicked, and capable of
as bitter and bloody persecutions.” Inaugural ad
dress, 4th March, 1301.
Does not the bisiory of our own times instruct
us in the origin of the ordinance, and of the oath
in the milila-y bill? We know, il is not matter of
opinion or belief"; we know, that, they have arisen
out of those unhappy political contests, which led
directly to the question of exclusive or divided al
legiance. Who can doubt that, tint for this one
difference of opinion, the ordinance as to allegiance
and the oath in the military bill never would have
existed. To believe otherwise,’would be. doing
the deepest injustice to the clear heads, tiie pa
triot feelings, the integrity of purpose of the con
vention, a body which counted in its ranks, some of
tlie best and ablest men of llie Stale; men among
the most honorable in private life, and long tried as
servants of the public. But tfie history ot all
countries, and our own among the rest, has de
monstrated, that the wise and good have repeated
ly erred, whilst they believed themselves to be
rendering importaut’serviccs, and to he discharg
ing the highest and holiest duties to God or their
country. And may not the talented and honest
men, who sat in that convention, have equally
erred, when they legislated, in the name of the peo
ple, on matter of opinion, or matter of duty, on
the rights of conscience, with a view to the differ
ence of opinion as to divided allegiance. Have
they not unfortunately and erroneously assumed,
that to differ from them on this question, is to be
unfriendly to the State. If their own good sense,
magnanimity and frankness, do not cancel the
deed, may we not behold a precedent, among the
most dangerous that a republic can witness—the
indissoluble union of party and state—the perilous
principle that a party is the state—the natural
fruits of such a maxim, that the friend of a ruling
parly is a patriot, its adversary the enemy of the
country—that political heresy is treason, and the
political.schismatic, a traitor. These lamentable
consequences can never he realized, unless the
people of our country shall reach forth their hands
and pluck and eat.of the forbidden fruit of political
test oaths.
1 have, said that the acknowledgment, of alle
giance to the UniieiiJStates, furnished the eceasion,
and was the cause ol the ordinance and military
oath. The majority denied that any allegiance
was due to the United Slates, ihe minority insist
ing that allegiance was due. Those contended lor
an exclusive indivisible allegiance to the State:
these while they admitted allegiance to be due to
the State, maintained the doctrine of divided alle
giance; hut held, that a superior was due to the
Union, an inferior to the State. What was this
but matter of opinion, a question of political duty,
a case of conscience. Let us turn to the commen
tator on the laws of England, and read an instruc
tive lesson from his pages. In that memorable
chapter which treats of offences against God and
religion, partly justifying and partly excusing the
laws of England against atheists, apostates and
heretics, against Jew, dissenter and catholic, Black-
stone has the following passage: “As to papists,
what has been said of the protestant dissenters,
would hold equally strong for a general toleration
of thent, provided their separation was founded on
ly upon difference of opinion in religion, and their
principles did not also extend to a supervision of the
civil government. If once they could he brought
to renounce the supremacy of the Pope, they might
quietly enjoy their seven sacraments, their purga
tory and auricular confession; their worship of re-
liques and images; nay even their tmnsuhstantia-
tion. But while they acknowledge aforeign pow
er, superior to the sovereignty of the kingdom, they
cannot complain if the laws of that kingdom do
not treat them upon the footing of good subjects.”
How wonderfully parallel are the cases; except that
the constitution and government of the United
States are not foreign; hut are those of our own
State. With a little alteration, to accommodate it
to our own controversy, let us read the language
of this apologist tor test oath prohibitions against
the Romanists. To the minority in South Caro
lina, the passage is then directly applicable. “But
while they acknowledge the United States superior
to the sovereignty of the State, they cannot com
plain if the latvs of that State will not treat them
on the footing of good citizens?” Are we not pain
ed and mortified at the striking analogy? For
what, indeed, and I trust I may ask it without of*
those, whose opinions 1 had to examine. I have
come to lay my gift on the altar of G.»d and mv
Country, and what are the halls of justice, hut
lemplesof the Most High? I have felt, that I dar
ed not offer my gift on such an altar; if anv bro
ther has aught against me. I have not willingly ut
tered a word, that could in the slightest degree,
give an instant of pain. And if, by aught that has
been said, I have excited a momentary unpleasant
ness, or have cast even a transient shade over a
single countenance, may I trust to be forgiven?
‘'Virginia Elections—The Richmond Whig.—The Rich
mond Whig of the 6th inst. contains Borne very sensible re
marks in relation to the course which it becomes the unti-Ad-
ministrat ion party in Virginia to pursue, if th*>y would profit
by their late splendid triumph. We subjoin one of its para
graphs, for the purpose of adding a word of comment, in a
spirit both of personal and political friendship. The Whig,
referring to the victory of the anti-Jackson part}’, says:
4 44 Absolute and total victory is before them, upon one sin
gle condition, that they neither quarrel themselves, nor per
mit ihe arts of the enemy to prevail to make them quarrel.
This will now lie their game. They will endeavor to divide
and conquer. Ixl us be peremptory in our resolution, nei
ther to be divided nor conquered.” ’
It is not too much to say that it rests mainly with the
Whig itself, whether the unity of purpose and action which
it desires should be maintained. Its editors will pardon us
if we tell them that their course heretofore, has been by no
means calculated to produce this result. We have abstain
ed, for obvious reasons, hereroforc, from noticing i;s fre
quent and gratuitous assaults upon that portion of the anti-
Jackson party, by Jar the larger moiety, which dissents from
the opinion of the Whig on the subject of State nullifica
tion. Hut we cannot consent to receive these side-wipes any
longer in silence—and we speak not boosting])’ when we say,
that if they are persisted in, retaliation and division may be
expected. In opposing Andrew Jackson's assunrjition of
power, we by no means abate one jot or title of our hostility to
the doctrines of the South Carolina school. And although
circumstances have thrown that jtnrty and some of its most
der ided opponents into the same ranks, for tlie accomplish
ment of a sp“eial purpose, to w it, the arrest of Andrew
Jackson in his abuse and assumption of power—yet we shall
sejxirute from them whenever the existing danger shall have
passed away, and it becomes again nececessary to oppose Mr.
Calhoun's plan of sapping the Union of the States. These
remarks are not made for the purpose of “sowing tares” in
the ranks of the majority; but for the purpose of reminding
the Whig, that it strikes friend as well as foe, in its frequent
insulting allusions to those who supported the principles of
the I’roclamntion of December, 1832; and of telling it, that
it is only by desisting from this exceptionable course that
unity of purpose and concert of action can lie preserved
nmong the anti-Administration party in this State, and the
fruits of their triumph secured next winter.—LynMurgh
Virginian.
advantages of the ther numbers, appears too much in the
nature of a parado, or n self-evident absurdity to reconcile
itself to our undemanding. It seems but one degree re
moved from the elfm of a man, to share in the advantages
of ^.copartnership ifier he has retired from the firm, and set
up for himself. Inthis point of view, therefore, we think
ers with which the constitution lias armed him UNION MEETING,
for the defence and safety of the people. j Pursuant to public notice previously gi V c n a nim , w r
j Friday,the 25,h April, .-ha,''”SSJ hStTJK"
SOUTH CAROLINA NULLIFICATION “'^Sfv-Thl”bw, rfXr 1 ? *
the People ought tqcxtend their usuaj indulgence to General AND GEORGIA STATE RIGHTS.—The • plained by Noel B. Knight Esq who^Ju* 8 n™? y
t>ie excitement in the country, concluded by
his motion for the rpeal of the
—New York Events t! Post.
PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS:
“’Tis the star-spangled banner,oh, long may it (rave
“O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
FEDERAL UNION.
UILI.EDGEV1LI.E, MAY -28. 18:14.
adoption of .ho now name of “Stato Righto,” to .
would be placed in ^uite an awkward position, if the junior designate their party, is but another turn of that I _ _
memberof the trinavirate should mrsistin bringing forward J ece pti V e policy, which has always characteriz- I The adaptation of our republican form of Constitution .
his motion for the meal of the “Revenue Collection Bill. , * J , r , 0 - , , ,, <• 1 the security of the citizen in the i*>arof„i „ t rullon to
ed the nullifies The State Right’s Party of jL^nn^ **
Georgia, is the same in its doctrines, its senti-1 for which governments are instituted, is proved by the e Pnis
ments, and its temper, as the party heretofore face of near half a century it challenges the friends or
k„„wA by the name of "JiUfLr with «
stnall number of exceptions, it is the same in he regarded as the great charter of Constitutional’ Crtv
the members of which it is composed; and the ! £"uS£ it,
nuilifiers Ot Georgia are the same in doctrines, ' “health in the breeze and shelter in the storm,’’ but lia*
sentiments, and temper, as the nullifiers of South i risen lro , m a s,at; ‘ c °l° n ‘ al . vassalag-, t 0 an exaltedoa
Carolina. The State Rights’ Pany of Geor.
the country, to propagate a doctrine, under the prions and
popular name of State rights, the direct tendency a f . v ^ ,
is the prostration of those rights, and a disseverance of
Union, we should lie dead to the impulses uf patriotism
were we to remain silent at a moment of such interest ton
and posterity. ~ v ‘ s
Be it therefore resolved, That werherish the strongest
tachment to the rights of the States, and the Union of the
States. ue
2. Resolved, That, while we recognize the authority of
the general government when acting within its legitimate
sphere, we will guard with vigilance, and hv all constitu
tional means, maintain the rights reserved by the constitu
tion “to the States respectively, or to the people "
3. Resolved, That nullification cannot he practiced l>v
Slate as a constitutional, but as a natural and rmlutionar
right.
4. Reso'ved, That the inculcation of the doctrine, that
nullification is a constitutional and peaceable remedy against
the measures of ihe federal government, is calculated to
exert a pernicious influence upon the public mind, and
must tpnd to the most disastrous consequences.
5. Resolved, That, when the treasures of ihe federal
government sltall become intolerable, when all peaceful uii'
constitutional nvans shall have been inefficient we will
appeal from a constitution canceled by its abuses, to natural
right paramount to all eonstitutions.
5. Resolved, That th- measures of the federal Govern
ment do not warrant us in an appeal to this last resort.
7. Resolved, That w-are opposed in principle to political
associations and socieii s, regret their establishment in this
Mate: but since they have an existence amongst us, we feel
it a solemn duty, to neutralize their pernicious effects by the
formation of counter associations. \Ve will use the societies
to cure the disease which the societies are likely to produce
“us we apply snow to the jroztn hub and fire to extract fire “
The meeting was then addressed by l> Graves Esq. inon
appropriate and imposing speech, of considerable length, in
support of the resolutions, and in opposition to nullification
Upon the conclusion of which, the resolutions were taken
up seriatim, and passed unanimously with the exception of
UNION DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN
TICKET FOB CONGRESS.
JOHN COFFEE, of Telfair,
SEATON GRANTLAND, of Baldwin,
CHARLES E. HAYNES, of Hancock*
GEORGE VV. OWENS, of Chatham,
JOHN W. A. SANFORD, of Baldwin.
WILLIAM SCHLEY, of Richmond,
JAMES C. TERRELL, of Franklin,
GEORGE B. TOWNS, of Talbot,
JAMES M. WAY r NE, of Chatham.
Forsyth, Monroe county, Ga. May. 3, 1834.
The eight hundred and fifty Union Democratic Republi
cans contained in Monroe county, design voting for, and
electing, the following ticket, on the first Monday in Octo
ber next:
' For Senator,
JAMES THWEATT.
For Representatives,
ERASTUS W JONES.
ALLEN COCHRAN,
WILLIAM C. REDDING,
JAMES M. SMYTH.
FOURTH OF JULY.
The Union Democratic Republican Association of Mon
roe county have made arrangements for the celebration of
Independence in the town of Forsyth.
Alfred Brooks Esq. will read Washington’s Farwell
Address, Capt. Archibald Gaulding the Declaration of
Independence, and James M. Smyth Esq. deliver an Ora
tion.
A FREE DINNER will be provided on the occasion.
Our fellow-citizens, who are friends to the Union, from
every section of the county and State, are respectfully invi
ted to partake in our festivity 22dof May, 1834.
JOSE DUNN, j
ANDERSON BALDWIN, I
WILLIAM CHAPMAN, J- Committee.
E. W. JONES, I
JOHN WATSON, J
GEORGIA PENITENTIARY.—On Mon
day evening, the xlfith instant, an unsuccessful
attempt was made by a number of convicts, to
escape from the Penitentiary. They endeavor
ed to bribe oneof the Guard recently taken in
to service; who pretended to yield to their so
licitations, and promised to turn them out bv
means of false keys, with which they furnished
him. The Guard reported the whole to Colo
nel Mills, the Principal Keeper; who directed
him to proceed with the plan, that the convicts
might be detected in the act. At the appointed
hour, Colonel Mills was on the alert, with the
whole Guard, and most of the officers of the
institution, secretly posted at ad vantageouspoints.
The Guard who had been tampered with, let
one of the ring-leaders out of his cell, who im
mediately proceeded to open the cell-doors of
three others. One of them, extinguished the
fight in the entry through which they expected
to escape. Colonel Mills, unwilling that others
wiio had not formed the plot, should be impli
cated by the mere force of temptation, and anx
ious to avoid Ihe necessity of taking the lives of
any of the prisoners, at this moment announced
to them that they were detected; and they has
tily retreated to their separate cells, submitting
instantly, without a struggle. He has obtain
ed possession of the false keys.
The Principal Keejierhad received from sev
eral sources, timely information of the plot, and
gia is identical with the Nullifying Party of
South Carolina. There is however a wide dif
ference in their condition. In Georgia they
are in a minority; in South Carolina they con
stitute a majority: and this difference in their
condition has ipduced them to use an artifice in
Georgia, which they do not practise in South
Carolina, but which well accords with the set
tled policy of that party. They have succeed
ed only by deceiving the people. In our sister
state they rose into power under the false pre
tence, that nullification was a PEACEABLE
remedy against the injustice of a protective ta
riff. Their own military preparations to over
throw the authority of the federal government,
and the consequent military and naval prepara
tions of the federal government to execute the
law, exposed the falsehood of this pretence: and
they then avowed an intention to make their
state, “one armed camp.” But this refutation
of the falsehood came too late' to produce any
change of sentiment in that state; their leaders
had already kindled in the bosoms of the nul-
lifiers, a furious hatred for the federal govern
ment, and for the Union party at home; their
pride was interested, their ambition was aroused,
to maintain the opinions which they had advan
ced, and to execute the purposes which they had
avowed, in emulous and angry, and threaten-
iug controversy with their fellow-citizens. Men
would have detected it, even if the guard had . c . . .... .
proved treacherous. Under the admirable po- j, . f ast ,a changed their policy-
lice which he lias established, it is almost im- c o ls ^ tulL ‘ convened, it ivas found to contain a
possible that any incident of importance, occur-1 s * 10n £ roujoaty agamst lie Lalboun heresy; and
ingin the Penitentiary, should elude hisvigi- “ ,enu lhners faded in all the elections by the
who had enlisted in the party, who had enrolled jhe 08 ’ " ' l<- * na< ’ 0SEriI Matters said
their names, under the belief that nullification
was a peaceable remedy-, after identifying them
selves with the party in its daily strifes, felt too
proud, too revengeful, too ambitious, to yield
when danger threatened. The leaders of the
party, counseled by their fears, or their pru
dence, submitted to the protective tariff, under
the pretext of a compromise, and rescinded the
nullifying ordinance: but the individual mem
bers of the party were too far pledged, their
passions were too highly inflamed, candidly to
review, and frankly to renounce doctrines, for
whose establishment they had been ambitiously
struggling. Tiie same principles were in opt
ration in Georgia; but with us the malady was
not so inveterate as in South Carolina; and the
instructive spectacle there exhibited, was not
without some beneficial effect in our state
.After the meeting held in Athens, in August,
1832, at which Clayton and Berrien were prin
cipal managers; nullification made rapid progress
in Georgia; and the phrenzy of this wild and
furious doctrine seemed to be spreading like a
desolating scourge over the land. For a long
time its converts boldly avowed their creed un
der the specific appellation of nullifiers. When
they assembled in Athens, at the last commence
ment, they did not attempt to disguise their
character as nullifiers. When, at that period,
they received from Major Joel Crawford an ex
planation of his sentiments, arid determined to
support him as their candidate for the executive
of the state, they avowed themselves to be mil-
lifters. When they held a festival during the
commencement, in honor of George M‘Duffie,
and received the counsel and instruction of this
ferocious uullifier from the sister-state, they at
tempted not to throw a veil over their character
as nullifiers. They seemed then to believe that
they could succeed in an open contest with the
friends of the Federal Union. But the elections
When the
The Opposition in the Senate is made up of such discord
ant materials, that they must fall to pieces on the first op
portunity. They are only kept together hy the common
bond of hatred to the Administration. Iy>t that extrinsic
tie be removed, and they must tumble to pieces.' There can
be no lasting harmony or cordial good will betw een the Nul
lifiers and the Nationals. The thing is out of the question—
provided we give them the least credit for any fixed political
principles. Take this sign!—The following is an extract
lirom the Charleston Post of the 17th, (a rank Nullifying,
Calhoun organ:)
“There is something truly considerate, if not humane, in
the idea of Mr. Clay, that he would have voted for the bill
that declared war upon a sovereign member of this confede
racy, but that he did not think the present Executive exactly
ihe sort of man to be entrusted with conducting the war!”
“Bad as Gen. Jackson is, he is a thing of light compared
to the courtly Mephistopheles in whose dainty hands Mr.
Clay would thus have placed the rod of absolute empire and
supreme dominion. Let this polished notion of Mr. Clay
be remembered. We shall begin U> think the insolence of
Andrew Jackson but a rough honesty—a plain, blunt-spoken
sincerity, when contrasted with the devilishness which can
“smile, and smile and smile, and murder whilst it smiles!”
As the keenest wit is said to he the most remarkable for
polish, so, too, the subtlest treachery is the smoothest—the
profoundest depths usually the calmest and stillest at the
surface. A polite cut-throat is at heart a fiend. 7V> say
that Mr. Clay is unworthy of being associated with the trifled
and high-minded delegation from this State, would he to ex
press ourselves feebly and inadequately. In spite of his cun
ning he has shown the 'cloven foot'd-and freemen should be
wary how thry consort with him."
Courteous language, indeed, to use towards a political as
sociate!—Richmond Enquirer.
A proposition was mode to print the Protest, in the Senate,
yesterday, in connexion with certain memorials presented
by the Bank patty, purporting to be a reply to the Presi
dent’s paper. The reponding memorials were ordered to be
printed by the Senate, but the printing of the protest re
fused. Mr. Clay advocated the printing of the answer, but
objected to the printing of the protest, saying that 4 ‘it came
with an ill grace from the friends of the President to object
to the printing of the response to the protest, as forty thousand
copies of the protest had been printed"—Mr. Poindexter reit
erated the same thing, and brought out fully, what Mr. Clay
insinuated, that the printing ‘‘was paid for out of the Secret
Service Fund."
We pronounce the insinuation and the assertion absolutely
false. About twenty-three thousand copies of the protest
have been printed at the Globe office. They were printed,
for the most part, to fill the orders of the members of the
House, and not one dollar’s worth has been paid for out of
any public fund—every protest issued by us being sold to
individuals, and paid for by them, or charged to tlirir private
(recounts. Our books are open to Messrs. Clay and Poin
dexter; aud Mr. Rives, the manager of the Globe office, is
ready to attend upon subptena duces tecum, and to testify If
Mr. Biddle would do so, we could show from what secret
service fund, the lavish expenditures of Messrs. Clay and
Poindexter have been supplied.— Washington Globe, 16th
inst.
The Senate of the United States.—In addition to the otirer
grievous offences against the People of the United States
which have called down the denunciations of certain Hon-
oraole Senators on the time-honoured head of the Old
Man of the People, that of having by a prompt and vig
orous effort, arrested the heresy of Nullification, is not
among the least. Whatever may be thought of the right of
a State, in an extreme case, to separate itself from the Cot-
federacy, and establish itself as a wholly independent sove
reignty, there can be, among men in thair sober senses, but
one opinion as to the wild and ruinous doctrines of Stat
rights, as promulgated by South Carolina. For a member o;
this Union to assume the right of refusing obedience to the
laws, while it at the same time, enjoys all the privileges and
lance.
The prisoners detected, are the two Baleys
from Morgan county, Hall, Whitlock, Falk,
Fletcher, Olmstead and Sterrct.
THE CHEROKEES.—This people have
been compelled to submit to the laws of Geor
gia, and to yield to the distribution made by the
legislature of the State, of the lands claimed by
their tribe. The necessary policy of the State
requires that they should be governed by laws,
in enacting which they have had no voice, and
in the continuance, alteration, or repeal of
which, they will not be consulted. They are
subjects, not citizens of the republic. It was
not to be expected, that they would demean
themselves as orderly members of a community,
whose regulations they have never consented to
obey, and whose government over them they be
lieve to be founded in oppression. With the
subject fully before it, the legislature of the
State determined not to retain among the Cher-
okees, the military guard which was establish
ed in 1830; but to rely for the administration of
our laws, on the civil authoritiess of the newly
organized counties.
We are not surprized that imprudent individ
ual of the tribe, violate the laws of the State;
nor are we surprized that our fellow-citizens
resident in the same counties with the Indians,
apprehend serious outrages from them. But
while Georgians require from the Cherokees,
obedience to our laws; we hope they will not
exhibit to this ignorant people, the evil example
of Lrampling on those laws. The persons and
property of the Cherokees are under the pro
tection of the laws of Georgia; and neither
should be disturbed without legal authority, and
regular process. No attempt should be made
to: mpersede the authority of the laws, by the
exortionof military force.. We are sure that
tho se virtuous and honorable men, to whom our
fell ow-citizens in Cherokee look for counsel and
direction, will practice no wilful oppression; and
we hope that they will be careful to perform no
act. which they will not be able to justify be
fore the judicial tribunals of their country, to
which they are responsible. All the the forms
of law must yield to a necessary self-defence;
but until such a crisis shall arise, (and we be
lieve rt never will arise) we hope that our fel-
low-citizens will not be provoked, by the vexa
tious repetition of minor offences, or by the
occasional perpetration of atrocious outragesj
to substitute arbitrary and illegal force, for the
regular and energetic administration of the
law. Thev may rest assured, that should the
condition of the country justify such a course,
a wise, vigilant, and patriotic executive will I withdraw from their leaders in South Carolina,
promptly exert in their behalf, all the pow. I they will be known as NULLIFIERS.
general assembly, except in a single instance,
the election for surveyor general; in which an
amiable and virtuous man was continued in
office through the kindness of those who con
demned his political opinions. It was under
these disastrous defeats that the nullifiers de
termined silently to drop the party desig
nation, under which they liad been so sig
nally beaten. As a large majority of the new
party had been members of the Troup party,
incessant efforts had been made to identify mod
ern Calhounism with the doctrines of the Troup
party; and under the influence of excited party
feeling, to carry all the members of this an-
tient party into the South Carolina vortex. But
these attempts had proved abortive. Many
enlightened and virtuous Troup men had resist-
ed these exertions to drag them by the ties of
party, into a system of political doctrines which
they believed dangerous to the liberty and pros
perity of their country. With a pure, and
generous patriotism, they had nobly subdued
the strong partialities, and deep-rooted hostili
ties, which had grown up, and gained strength
in the long-continued party-feuds of the state;
and they withdrew from their former associates
whom they could not reclaim from a fatal here
sy, and united themselves with their former op
ponents, to erect a party inflexibly determined
to defend the union of the states, and the sover-
eignty ol the states, as established, recognized,
controlled, and modified in that great national
compact, the federal constitution. Other Troup
men who condemned the doctrines of nullifica
tion, but who were not endowed with a resolute
and energetic patriotism, remained in a state of
hesitancy, yielding a feeble support to the nul
gav- to the six first resolutions bis h.-arty pimrobatioii,
hut frit hound to vote against the adoption of th- last one.
lie said he would not move to strikeout the resolution, he-
eaus” he believed a large majority of his political friends
were in favor of its adoption. He wished to see hist riends
acting in a solid phalanx throughout the -Stale—he thought
the crisis demanded it. It was his wish to harmonize and
not divide th-*m—but he was not prepared to say that we
should do evil that raod might result. These political asso
ciations were calculated to agitate the public mind, and ra-
err. unhappy influences. Oilier countries had experienced
their malign effects, and he thought the American people
should take warning from Un ir example. After making
some remarks in r lauon to th-- administration of our nation
al affairs, and the attempts that were making to withdraw
the confidence of the peopl ■ from the President of their
choice, he offered the folioiug resolution:
8. Resolved, That our confidenoe in Andrew Jackson
remains unshaken, and that we approve of his administra
tion Which was passed unanimously.
The day being rainy, the hour late, and many persons
present residing ala distance from th * court-house,it was
agreed to postpone the organization of a society to some
early day.
On motion of Capt. J. Watters,
Resolved, That the proceedings of the meeting lie signed by
the President and the Secretary, and that they tie forwarded
to the Federal' Union for publication, with a request that they
be copied into papers in the State friendly to the cause of the
Union.
On motion, the thanks of the meeting were returned to
the President and Secretary.
The meeting then adjourned in the most perfrt harmony,
each individual having determined to resist with constancy
and firmness, a doctrine which had been the in ;ms of
palming upon the citizens of a sister state an odious tesi
oath. ISAAC P. HENDERSON, Chairman.
Charles A. Brooks, Secretary.
UNION MEETING.
Agrceabiy to previous notice, a respectable number of Lir’
“Union Democratic Republican Party” of l pstm county,
convened in I'homaston, on Saturday, the lTth instant;
when, on motion, Dr. David Kendall was called to the
Chair, and Calvin Fresley, Esq. appointed Secretary,
i'he meeting having be«-n calfoii to order, the Chairman, in a
very able and lucid manner, explained its object; he likeivie
explained the principles of the respective parties, the pool
ers of the Federal a d State Governments; and exhibited, in
the clearest and most satisfactory manner, the dangeroui
effects of nullification, and the absolute necessity of adopt
ing measures of defence, against that dangerous heresy.—
Alter the Chairman had taken his seat, Dr. Sylvands Vf
Burney submitted the following preamble and resolutions,
which were advocaUd by Joseph Sturgis, Esq. in a ven
able and appropriate manner; and the same being read, were
unanimously adopted:
Whereas, at a m -eting of a portion of our fello e-citizens,
styling themselves the “Stat- Rights Party” of l pson coun
ty, they proceeded to organize themselves into what they
are pleased to call a Slate Rights Association—auxi iary to
one formed in Mil ledge ville, in November last, and have
adopted a Constitution for the government ol the same;—
and whereas, the principles assum-d by the Central Asso
ciation, as well do their Upson auxiliary, recognize the dan
gerous doctrines of nullification—the hanetul effects ot
which have been recently demoiistrated in a sister -Slate;—
and whereas, we have good reasons for believing, that the
object of these associations is to inculcate these hateful prin-_
ciples, under the specious pretence of defending the rights of
the States; and as it was by a similar course pursued in
South Carolina, unresisted, that gave the advocates ol mis
rule and discord the ascendancy in that State;
1 he citizens of Upson county, attached to the Union Dem
ocratic Republican Party of Georgia (relieving now, as they
have heretofore, and as their revolutionary ancestors taught
them, tliat the constitution and the laws enacted in obedience
thereto, afford ample protection, and are sufficient safe
guards to the rights of tne people and to the Slates, for the
full enjoyment of rational liberty; and that these political
associations are intended to weaken the bonds of our Feder
al Union, the perpetuation of which is wholly essential to
the preservation of the reserved rights of the States, and the
security of the liberties of the people;
Be it resolved therefore, That we continue to adhere to the
Constitution of the United Slab's, and the laws enacted in
obedience thereto; and that we will support, protect and de
fend the same.
Resolved, That we have no confidence in the professions
or the practices ol the party yclept the “State Rights Par
ty,” for while they pretend io derive their views of State
Rights, from the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, ac
tually borrow them from the infamous Hartford Conven
tion.
Resolved, That we form no association further than may
be essentially necessary for self-protection, and self-defence,
in the resistance of the doctrine of Nullification, and al-
othei heresies, that tend to destroy our Federal Union.
Resolved, That we fully concur in the doctrines contained
in the resolutions adopted by the Union Democratic Repub
lican Party of Georgia, at a meeting held in Milledgeville, in
November last.
Resolved, That we fully approve of the general measures
of the administration of our venerable Chief Magistrate
Andrew Jackson; and that for his recent fearless and pa
triotic course in defending himself against the nationals and
nullifiers in the Senate of the United States, he is entitled to
the undiminished confidence of the American people.
Resolved, That for the purposes of self-defence in resist
ing the heresies of the self styled “State Rights Party,” the
Chairman of this meeting appoint a committee of three i«
each district in the county; which committee shall be deem
ed the General Committee of Vigilance, for the Union Dem
ocratic Republican Party of Upson; and that the first named
person of each Committee, together with the committee of
If :• , ,, v, . . • „ person oi eacn committee, together witn the committee
liners. It was not improbable that the Virtue of three for the Thomaston district, shall constitute a Central
these men would triumph over the narrow pre
judices of party; and that ere long, they also
would be found in opposition to the South Caro-
lina heresy. Unless the nuliifiers could save
themselves by a manoeuvre, they must expect
defeats more disastrous than those under which
they were then writhing. Such a manoeuvre
they have attempted. At a meeting held in
Milledgeville, in November last, they dropped
the South Carolina garb, gave a new dress to
their doctrines, and assumed a new name to
themselves. The nullifiers are now the State
Rights’ Party; and a very large proportion of
the State Rights’ Party are nullifiers. But the
artifice is shallow, and will not avail them. A
few men of feeble virtue, but who wish to pre
serve the appearance of attachment to the Fed
eral Union, may take hold of the pretext, and
enlist under the new name. But until the party
shall renounce the doctrines of nullification, and
Committee, who shall meet in the town of Thomaston, at
such tim.-s as may bo by them deemed necessary. And that
it shall be the duty of the said general committee of vigil
ance to give the Central Committee, such general informa
tion as may come to their knowledge," and diffuse such as
may be deemed necessary for the people to be advised ot.^
Whereupon the Chairman appointed Joseph Sturgis, Ste
phen D. Heard, Thomas Mabry, Henry J. Bailey, John
Garratt, Thomas G. Beach, S. G. Dawson, George Powell,
George P. Cannon, William Williamson, John Snipes, Jes
se Jackson, Calvin Presley, Seaborn Florence, Drury Gil
bert, Jesse Newby, Dempsey R. Glanton, John G. Starling,
Davis Dawson, James R Cox, and Colin Merkison.
On motion of Joseph Sturgis, Esq. Resolved, That the
proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman and
Secretary, and published in the Federal Union, and other
Union papers of this State. .
On motion of Dr. S. W. Rumey, Resolved, That toe
thanks of this meeting be tendered to thp Chairmani ®
Secretary, for the able manner in which they have discharg
ed their duty.
The meeting then adjourned.
DAVID KENDALL, Chairman.
Calvin Presley, Secretary.
'Hie Correspondent of the Baltimore Federal Gazette,
writes from Washington, that the'recent d’spdtches Irorn
Mr. Livingston give positive assurance, that the vote on
the American claims, in the French House of deputies, wi*»
be reconsidered and revised