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POLITICMI..
• Mr. MrDnllie’i Speech,
Delivered in Athens, Geo., August 7 th, 1533,
v at the •PiiTrJie Dinner firm to him by the
friends of State Rights, ass'-mhled there
from all ports of the State , in attmdunce on
■■■th*'College C&mmeneinu nt :
Tite fcjMowmg Toast having Wen gi»«n—>
k The H"on. Cr.o»:« MeDirr.'it, our dis
tinguished guest —His unbending integrity,
hi» ceaseless vigilance over Southern inter
ests, hfs untiring opposition to uurqud laws
and.uheonstiftitionai inraMires, and liis tri
umphant Vindication of State Rights, entitle
litjn to tliC reSpeCt and gratitude of the South,
and a heart-warm welcome to his native
State.”^;-
Aflcr the cheering had subsided, Mr. Mc-
Duffie, rose and addressed the company as
follow a:
1 am utterly incapable, fellow citizens, of
giving utterance to the deep and overwhelm
ing sensibility with which I am affected by
the very kind and flattering sentiment just
announced, and the still more flattering indi
cations of hearty approbation, with which it
h»ns been received by this cnlighted and patri
otic assemblage of freemen.
A variety of circumstances concur, to give
an iritense interest to the present occasion ;
aiid if 1 should be so fortunate as to be an
hujnble. instrument in bringing about a cor
dial tuiion ofsentiment and of action, between
my native and my adopted state, in a crisis
which so eminently demands it, 1 shall re
cur to this, in future, as to one of the happiest
incidents of my life.
Indeed, when I look hack to the eventful
occurrences of the two last years, and behold
South Carolina, with a heroic devotion to the
rights and liberties of the whole South, throw
ing herself, almost as a forlorn hope, into the
breach which a gigantic despotism bail made
in the sacred barriers of the constitution and
of justice—waging the unequal contest with
out the co-operation or countenance of a sin
gle State, even in the South, and under the
unkind and unnatural denunciations of so ne
of their legislative and ex eutive authorities,-
when I reflect, that in the most gloomy period
of the struggle, the first cheering voice of
.encouragement from without her own limits,
whicii animated South Carolina to persevere
in her glorious struggle for every thing dear
to fr .'omen, proco (led from tins very place,
ad in part, from tins vi ry ass tnbly ; and
when j lie oal assembl' and around inc, so large
a portion of .tiie intelligence and chivalry of
Gcorgi i, breathin': ttie s une sentiments, an.l
actuate.! by the an no principles, lor which
South C.rolina w.ts pr pan and to make the last
sacrifice of heroic patriotism, I cannot hut ex
claim, with a proud satisfaction, “ this is my
own, my native land.”
7'nougli, in the too partial estimate which
you seem td have formed of my efforts to
vindicate the rights," and maintain the liber
ties, of the South, you are pleased to ascribe
to u;y phtlic labors a Vutuc, which I regret
(hat they do not possess, yet 1 will not he
guilty of the affectation ot disclaiming the in
tegrity df purpose, for which you give me
credit, as a public man. It is, indeed, a source
of the highest consolation to me, that 1 can
'— n !—•■)«? affirm,before my friends and tny
enemies, in tnc face of the world, and in the
carry on, for the last six vears, against a sys
tem df Isjmdatton essentially unjust, oppres
sive,and despotic,! have been actuated by no
single purpose of selfish ambition : but have
st all times been pr paied to sacrifice at the
•brine of duty and bf patriotism, every allure
ment of ambition, and every hope of political
preferment. So essentially do 1 believe the
prosperity, the liberty, and indeed the very
existence of the Southern States, to be involv
ed in the great principles for which we have
been contending, that I believe those princi
ples cannot be too often impressed upon the
people t of the Southern States,nor can they be
too often reminded of the peculiar relation in
w hich they stand to the dominant Slates of
the confederacy. It would be a fatal error,
fellow cjuzcnp, to suppose, that the recent
adjustment of the tariff has removed all the
causes of apprehensions for our rights and
liberties. On the contrary, when we look, at
the entire’ proceedings of Congress, during its
last session, in relation to that measure, and
attentively consider the principles officially
avowed irt Ihc progress of those proceedings,
it is but fuo apparent, that the Southern States
never have had greater occasion, than at this
moment, fqr maintaining their sovereign
rights in their undihiinishcd vigor, and
watching the movements of the Federal Gov
eminent, and of the majority which controls
with uPutapn'K vigliancct What, then,
let us inquire, is the true state of the contro
versy, between the Sovereignty of the States,
and the pretended sovereignty and assumed
omnipotence of Congress I
On the one hand it is contended, that the
States entered into the Federal compact as
sovereign communities J that each State still
retained its sovereignty, notwithstanding the
power* granted to tire Federal Government;
and that when the members of this govern
ment usurp powers not granted, each Slate
has an inherent right, absolutely inseparable
from its sovereignty, to interpose and arrest,
within its own limits, the progress of the usur
pation, and thus preserve the compact from
violation. These simple propositions, self
evident to every mind capable of comprehend
ing the import of the terms used to express
them, constitute the doctrines of State Sov
ereignty and Nullification—the fundamental
securities of freedom in a federative system of
government, without which, it would he the
very worst of all forma of despotism and op
pression. On the other hand, our adversa
ries contend that the functionaries us the
Federal Government are the exclusive and
final judges of tho extent of the powers con
ferred upon them by that very Constitution,
which the Sovereign Slates of the confederacy
established for the special purpose of imposing
limitations upon those powers, winch amounts
to nothing less than that a majority of Con
gress, and of the other departments of the
Federal Government, have a Charter from
Heaven, paramount to that by which they
were created, authorizing them to do what
they plrase, and enjoining upon the States,
passive obedience to eve ry act of usurpaticn
and tyranny, w Inch an ambitious or an in
i' r sled majority may choose to |ierpt irate.
ruiseo tr.ni reduces the Federal Consti. j
tutio.i to a mere dead letter, uttcrlv deprived 1
of all power to restrain the usurfunion of th> ,
rivcrnmcut. In plain word», it makes the !
ad'.tsl Cov. rnn,. nt paramount to the Vir
GEORGIA TIMES AND STATE RIGHTS’ ADVOCATE.
t io.i Slates which created it, and the acts of
Congress paramount to the Constitution, from
which alone they can derive any rightful au
thority. These consequences cannot l>e
avoided, if the whole civil and military power
of the Federal Government, may be rightfully
exerted to enforce any act of Congress,
I whether constitutional or not; and if the
i States who are the Sovereign parties to the
I compact of the Union, have no rightful power
! to interpose and enforce its limitations. That
I the States do possess this power, is not only
I demonstrable, hui self-evident, if it be true
| that tr.cy are Sovereign. 1 ask nothing more
• from any intelligent adversary, than that he
will admit that the States are Sovereign, and
that they adopted the Federal Constitution,
as States, and in their highest sovereign ca
pacity. For I hold it to be impossible for
any man who admits this, and who realizes
the import of the term sovereignty, to deny
that it is the right, and indeed the duly of the
States to interpose, through the regular or
gans of that sovereignty, to rescue tlieirci’.i
zens from the operation us an unconstitution
al and oppressive act of Congress. To deny
this right is to annihilate the Sovereignty ot
the States .- for there can lie no greater politi
cal solecism, than to admit that the Federal
Government is bound by the limitations of the
Constitution,and may yet transcend them with
impunity, and that the States w ho formed that
Constitution, have sovereign powers and sove
reign rights, without sovereign means of pre
serving them from encroach men t and viola
tion. This right of State interposition, is an
original, underived, inherent attribute of sov
ereignty, and nothing can he more absurd
than to derive it from the Federal Constitu
tion, unless it be to deny its existence alto
gether. That man is as utterly ignorant of
the import of the terms lie uses, as he is of our
scheme of government, who supposes that any
sovereign power can he derived from a con
stitutional compact. It is a pre-existing sov
ereign power that forms constitutions ami gov
ernments,and those constitutions are nothing
more than organic laws, prescribed by that
sovereign power, for regulating and control
ling those governments. The terms consti
tutional and unconstitutional, in the Federal
sense, are as utterly inapplicable to this right
ofStato interposition, as they are to the right
of a State to protect the property and lives of
its citizens, by exercising the high sever
eign power of inflicting capital punishment
on the perpetrators of robbery and murder.—
So obviously inseparable are Slate Sovereign
ly and the right of State Interposition, that
that the more intelligent advocates of a su
preme consolidated government, boldly ami
consistently deny that the St me re sovere gn.
As 1 regard this as tho real question at issue
—as the hinge upon which the whole con
troversy turns —l will take leave to present
some views and illustrations, calculated to
give a distinct idea of what constitutes Sov
ereignty, and to shew by arguments, entirely
free from all metaphysical refinement, that
the States arc not only sovereign, but are the
only sovereign powers known to our political
system.
If a murder should be committed in Geor
gia, for example, no one would dream of call
ing in question the exclusive right of the
state authorities, to inflict capital punish
ment on the offender, though lie should be
the citizen of another state ; nor would tin
government of the United .States, or ofanv
—....a,..... v unj uiuic ngm to interpose
their authority, than the government of Tur
key. Ail this, every body will admit; and
yet, I should be glad to know by what name
we shallcall an undcrivcd and uncontrollable
right to inflict the highest punishment upon
the highest crime that can be committed a
gainst the safety of the State, if it be not
Sovereignty. To what government is it that
a citizen of Georgia looks up to protect him
in the enjoyment of life, properly, and charac
ter, against ali those crimes and frauds which
it is the end of civil government to repress
and punish ? Is there a single one of till
those rights which constitute civil liberty,
which the Federal Government has any sem
blance of power to pr< tcct against the assaults
to which it is exposed ? A murder, or a
robbery, committed on tnc citizens of anvone
State, is not even an offence against the gov
ernment of the United States; and yet we
hear men gravely maintaining that that gov
ernment is sovereign, and that our paramount
allegiance is due to it; as if protection and
allegiance were not co extensive and recipro
cal. There is, indeed, scarcely a crime that
can assail the peace and good order of socie
ty, that may not be perpetrated in any part of
the United States, with perfect impunity, so
far as the Federal Government is concerned ;
nor would a crime committed in any one state,
be any offence at all against the other States
of the Union. Where, then, does the sover
eignty of the United States reside? Not,
surely, in the government, either of the Union
or of the States. Sovereignty can only reside
in the people ; and what can lie more abso
lutely preposterous than to affirm that the peo
ple o( the U. S. possess Sovereign power in
Georgia? What a wretched pageant must
that Sovereign be, within every foot of whose
dominions, except a small district and a few
forts, all manner of crimes may be perpetra
ted, and yet he cannot raise a finger to pre
vent or punish them ? There is in fact no
crime'that could be committed within the
limits of the United St„tes, that would be an
offense against the people of the United
State s, in the aggregate. On the contrary,
what outrage can be perpetrated within the
limits of Gerogia,which she has not the right- J
ful pow er to punish, at her discretion, w ith
out responsibility to anv power on earth?—
The sovereignty of the States, therefore, is
not so much a matter of speculative theory,
as of historical fact. They possets all those
attributes, and cxrrrir,- . • - ; • -«
an original and inherent right, whicii cousti’-
tutes sovereignty. When, thercfoic, the
sovereign will of Georgia is declared, what
human being w ithin In r limits can rightfully
taisc his arm to resist it / The very highest
functionary of the Federal Government, would
be just as subject to punishment, for resisting
the sovereign will of Georgia, within her
territorial jurisdiction, as the humblest citi
zen.
I w ill state a case, suggested by the history
of her relations w ith the Federal Government,
calculated to exhibit, in a strong practical
(foiiit of view, the absurdity of denying the
Sovereignty of the Slates, and ofclaiming that
attribute for the Federal Government. It
will be remembered, that some few years ago,
President Adams, claiming to act under an
obligation higher than human, declared, that
il the State of Georgia should pertinaciously
continue to excret e legislative authority"
over her own territory, he wouid put down so
dangerous a pretension, by the military am.
of the Federal Government. Now, supposo
an army of Federal mercenaries had been
marched into Georgia, to settle the delicate
question of jurisdiction by the very discrimin
ating arbitrament of tho sivord, and that, to
give dignity to the proceeding, the President
had marched at the head of the army asCorn
inander-tn-Chief, with his Cabinet Ministers
and the Federal Judges as his Staff, and the
members of Congress as Ins body guard.—
Suppose, moriAer, that Governor Troup had
had the treasonous audacity not to quail be
fore the storin, and that the "Hancock Troop”
! had actually presented themselves, in military
array, in the august presence of these potent
judges °f constitutional and international law.
L,«'t us further suppose, that the President,
• with the advice of his staff, had wantonly di
j reeled liis body guard to lire upon the palri
j otic militia of Hancock, and that, in obedience
110 this order, a number of the citizens of
j Georgia had been killed. What, then, would
j have been the legal predicament of these
{functionaries of a government, claiming to
be Sovereign, even within the limits of Geor
gia ? I put it to every .jurist in this State, and
in the United States, to sav, whether every
one of theui would not "lave been guilty ol
murder by the laws of Georgia, and whether
the authorities of that Stale, would not have
had an undoubted constitutional and lawful
right, to arrest, arraign, try, eondeinn.aml in
form ot law—[here some gentleman exclaim
ed, “ hung the President?” atid .Mr.- Mcl).
continued,] mmg tile w hole Federal Govern
ment, Executive, Judicial, and legislative,
without the possibility of any lawful interpo
sition to save them ; thus e xhibiting the sin
gular spectacle of an overwhelming and oin.
nipoti ut Sovereignty, lawfully annihilated
by one of its subject provinces!
But the sta .dmg answei to all these argu
ments is, that the will of the majority must
pievail, even if it be in violation of the Con
stitulion, ami that it is the duty of the States
to submit to the usurpation, precisely in tile
same manner as if it wore a constitutional ex
ercise of power.
Now, follow- citizens, let us inquire for a
moment, what is the true character of that
majority, to which is ascribed this high pre
rogative of “violating the Constitution by
virtue of a “divine right,” heretofore, claimed
only by absolute tyrants, and lo which the
Sovereign States, which formed that Consti
tution, are thus bound to yield that “passive
obedience, ’ appropriate only to slaves. In
all that great class of measures, out of which
lias grown the existing conflict between the
manufacturing and the planting States of the
Union, this sacred majority, whose sovereign
will, the Southern States are called upon to
how down and worship, have an interest dia
metrically opposed to that of the Southern peo
ple. Every import duty which is imposed
upon those articles which the manufacturing
States produce, anil tlve planting States im
port in exchange for their agricultural staples,
is a bounty to tho industry of the former, ami
a burthen on the industry of the lattei*. This
is strictly true, even when the duties are im
posed exclusively with a vievv to revenue;
and as two thirds of the federal revenue is
raised by duties on this very class of articles,
it is obviously tho interest of the dominant
majority, to oppress the planting minority,
not only by imposing excessive >*"ties, but
oy inventing every possible expedient for
squandering the public revenue. It is, then,
this very majority, principally compos- dos a
people remarkable for their devotion tevgain,
and who have a direct pecuniary interest in
the oppression of the planting States, that we
aro told by Southern statesmen, have the su
premo and uncontrollable right, under the
Federal Constitution, of doing »1,a«.,r they
may deem to be constitutional, though in fact
it be unjust, unconstitutional, and oppressive!
Yes, gentlemen,! have heard a representative
in Congress, from the Southern States, de
clare, that he bidiwvccf the Tariff of jS-'iU, to
be unjust, unconstitutional, and oppressive,
to tho people of the South, and yet, that he
would vote for an act to enforce it upon South
Carolina, at the point of tho bayonet; thus,
though sworn “to support the Constitution of
the United States,’" becoming an avowed ac
complice in its violation, and committing the
citizens of a sister Stale to the tender mer
cies of a military invasion, for no o’.lycr of
fence, than yielding obedience to the sove
reign power to which t!iey owed allegiance,
when that pow er was interposed, by his own
admission, to rescue those citizens from the
oppressive operation of an unjust and uncon
stitutional act of Congress ! To such mon-
strous and revolting consequences, disguise
it as wc may, arc vve necessarily led by the
doctrine which denies the right of State inter
position, and affirms that the will of the ma
jority is supreme in all cases. A more impo
tent contrivance, a more delusive mockery,
cannot be conceived, than a written Federal
Constitution, if the functionaries of the gov
ernment, created by that constitution, have
the exclusive right of lixingthc liinit3 of their
own power. All will agree, in terms, that
the Federal Government, is a govcrnurcii.t of
specified powers, and limited authority; and
yet I defy any man to draw’ a practical dis
crimination between “a government without
limitation of powers,” and- a government
which is the exclusive and final judge of the
extent of its own authority. It is admitted
bv almost every Southern politician, that the'
Federal Government is the mere creature of
the Sovereign Stales of the confederacy, and
[ yet many of them reason about it, as if it were
a consolidated government, and draw nil their
analogies from governments of that kind.
Even in such governments, extending over a j
small territory, and embracing a population j
of homogeneous inteicsts, it has been the
g" * e ject of lawgivers, in all ages, so to
organ.ze and distribute political power, as
that no one class, or combination of classes, i
constituting a majority of the State, should
have the power of oppressing the minority.
And to this end, all free governments have
been so constituted, that each of the great ri.
val interests of the State, should he able to
protect itselfagainst the injustice and oppres
sion of the rest, by some reserved power,
similar to Nullification. But a governmerit,
embracing w ithin its scope the territories and
people of twenty.four distinct Sovereign
States, of various climates, productions, mill
pursuits, ami Imvirig interests directly op
posed to each other, almost to the whole ex
tent of their annual income, which are liable
to be vitally affected by the legislation of lha*
government, would Ik- the most intolerable of
all tyrannies, if tin separate sovereignties i
had not the righU'i! power of protecting the |
*epara*< mti rc*G ol the confederacy. Th.it
they have that power, I have briefly attempt
ed to shew from the very nature and origin
of our federal system, and shall now proceed
to confirm my reasoning, bv authorities
which ail profess to reverence, however in
differently the practice of some may con
form to their professions.
The celebrated resolutions adopted by the
Legislature of Virginia in 1798, and the still
more celebrated report subsequently drawn
up by Mr. .Madison, in support of these reso
lutions, have been almost umveisaily receiv
ed, particularly in the Southern States, as the
political creed of the republican party. Even
now, the most bitter reviler of the doctrine
of StHic Interposition, as maintained by South
Carolina, will tell you, with a grave counte
nance and a clear conscience, that lie fully
recognizes the doctrines of these resolutions
and of that report. If you will take up these
documents, and ask him if he believes with
Mr. Madison,and the Virginia Legislature,
that, “in casccfa deliberate, palpable, and
dangerous exercise of powers not granted,[by
the Federal Constitution,] it is the right amt
duty of the States whonre parties to the com
pact, for arresting the progress of the evil,
and for maintaining their respcc live limits,
the authorities, rights, and liberties apper
taining thereto,” he will say—“to be sure,
1 believe all this ; but the right of Mate ln
ter|K»sition is a mischievous and dangerous
heresy, which l utterly abhor.” If, appealing
to the still higher authority of Mr. Jcflr r.-on,
you ask him if he believes, in the very words
of that great apostle of liberty, that incases
of the assumption, by the Federal Govern
ment, “of powers not plainly and intention
ally granted by the Constitution, the Mates
have the right to judge,as well of the infrac
tion, as of the inode and measure of redress,”
and that the “nullification, by those sover
eignties, of the unauthorized act, is the right
ful remedy,” be will still say, “I grant you ail
thi3 ; but nullification is nonsense.”
Now, 1 can understand the advocates ofa
consolidated government, the federalists of
the school of’9B, when they denounce Nulli
fication. But how a man can stand up and
say, “I am a republican of the school of Jef
ferson, l believe in the doctrines of the Vir
ginia and Kentucky Resolutions, and am in
favor of State Rights and a strict construc
tion of the Constitution,” and stiil deny the
right ofa State, in a case of acknowledged u
surpation, to judge of the mode and measure
of redress, to interpose for arresting the pro
gress of the cv il, or in plainer language, to
nullify the unauthorized act, is, I confess,
quite beyond my comprehension. \\ hat mis
erable drivelling is it, to say, “[ ain in favor
ofa strict constrncticn of the Conslitutioiyand
yet deny the existence of the only power that
can enforce its limitations? Is it not obvious to
every one,that the Constitution,without an or
ganized power of living energy, to preserve it
from violation, is mere paper, or, at most,
parchment ; and does any man suppose, that
lie can arrest the torrent of usurpation, by
holding up that instrument to our oppressors,
and prating about a strict construction of it ?
He had as well attempt to tie down a giant
with a cobweb.
I am aware that Mr. Madison in the dc
creptitude of his faculties, has given a ver
sion to liis Report, and the Virginia Resolu
tions, which converts the whole proceeding
into a solemn farce. It seems that the whole
argument of that labored report was designed
lo prove nothing more than that a State had
a right to change its representatives, to pe
tition Congress, to remonstrate, and to pro
test against its proceedings—only however in
cases of oppression, where the Constitution
had been clearly violated ! Let us see how
this document will read, when corrected by
the recent commentary of it«
<•( a oerinerate, palpable, and danger
ous exercise of powers not granted, it is the
right of the States, who are parties to the com
pact, to interpose for arresting the progress
of the evil, by rcfusiugto re-elect their repre
sentatives, by petitioning Congress for relief,
by remonstrating, and even by protesting!!
From such solemn and pompous premises,
was there ever a more “latne and impotent
conclusion”?
Who would ever have imagined that a
volume of reasoning was necessary to prove
that a Sovereign State had a right to pray
and protest against an act of the Federal Gov
ernment; and who, moreover, would have
imagined that this right was limited to cases
of dangerous and palpable violations of the
constitution, when every school boy knows
that the humblest citizen has the most tin
limited and unqualified right to petition and
protest, with, or without cause, and wheth
er the constitution has been violated or not ?
I know of nothing that can be compared
with the ridiculous incongruity of this solemn
and empty bravado, except, perhaps, a simi
lar denunciation pronounced some years ago
in the Legislature of South Caroliua, by a
gentleman who is now, as might he expected,
a loyal member of the Union partv. It was
immediately after the passage of the Tariff of
IS'2B, when, carried away by the contagion ot
the general indignation which pervaded the
whole South, the orator rose and said: Mr.
Speaker, whatever others may do, I never
willsubmitto Ibis most unrighteous art of
intolerable oppression. lam in favor of re
sistance, bold and manly resistance at all
hazards. I would use every weapon, and
exhaust every means of uncompromising
warfare, ami finally, in the last extremity ot
desperate valor, when all other resources
failed, 1 would protest !” It is just as ab
sorb to suppose, u lien the Virginia Legisla.
tur ■ spoke of the ‘right of the States to ar
rest the progress of the evil, and maintain
| their liberties within their respective limits,’
j in extreme cases of unconstitutional oppres
sion, that they did not mean Nullification, in
some form, as that Mr. Jefferson did not
mean the same thing, when he said, “Ntillifi
! cation is the rightful remedy,”
If Mr. Madison really meant, when lie
wrote his report, what he now affirms, lie cer
tainly made a different r impression upon the
Virginia Legislature, and upon the whole
country. They doubtless thought he meant
something ; but it seems that all his pro
found argument to establish the federal ori
gin of the government, and the sovereign
rights of the States, was an empty flourish
and literally meant nothing. And I think
South Carolina might well say to him. as
Lord Chatham said to a member of the British
Parliament, on a similar occasion,“Sir, wiicn
you mean nothing, you would do me a favor
if you would say nothing ;” for it is certain
that the Virginia Resolutions, and Mr. Madi.l
ami’s argument, have contributed very large-j
ly to lead South ( arolina into error, if Nulli. I
fie it ion be n riebiical lien *v.
I have thus briefly presented iny reasons
for believing, that the assumed omnipotence
of the Federal Government, is utterly incom
patible with the liberty of the country, and
especially with the rights and liberties of the
Southern States ; and that the right of Slate
interposition, is an inseparable incident o!
State Sovereignty, and the only practicable
means of enforcing the linn ations of the Con
stitution, and preventing the Federal Gov
ernment from becoming “ a government
without limitation of powers.” —If it should
be asked, why keep up the discussion ol
these principles now, when the adjustment of
the tariff has removed all grounds of com
plaint and apprehension, I answer, by asking,
why diil Congress pass a bill, clothing the
President with dictatorial powers, and cre
ating a military despotism, when it was ap
parent to every one, that South Carolina would
acquiesce in the arrangement of the tariff,and
that no pretext existed for creating such ex
traordinary powers? Why was the statute
book tarnished by this bloody record of vin
dictive despotism ? Why was she olive
branch of peace accompanied by the sword
of a military executioner?
The answer is but too obvious. It was
designed to establish a precedent, fatal to
the Sovereignty of the States, and to the
rights and liberties of the South. It was
was designed to forge a thunderbolt, to be
laid up ready for future use, whenever the
mock Jupiter who has been raised up, on the
ruins of the Constitution, may think proper to
hurl it. Availing themselves of an extraor
dinary conjuncture, and of the reckless and
vindictive passions of a popular arid super
annuated President, the friends of an unlimi
ted, consolidated government, the old federal
ists and the new, boldly resolved to have
their principles embodied in the Statute book,
even if they should be inscribed in Idood.
Improving upon the example of that infatua
ted ministry, who when they repealed the du
ty on tea, retained the preamble of the act
imposing it, declaring the unlimited power of
Parliament to tax the Colonies, our “very
worthy and approved good masters,” have
subverted the whole constitutional frame of
our government, so far as an act of Congress
could effect it. By this bill of bloody usurpa
tion, the sovereignties of the States are ut
terly blotted out—like so many brilliant
stars struck from the firmament of freedom,
leaving one dark and gloomy night of cheer
less and hopeless despotism. Do not flatter
yourselves, fellow citizens, as some have
done, that this ae.t is intended or destined to
be a mere dead letter, because the adjustment
of the tariff has removed every occasion for
calling it into action. The tariff is but one
of the forms in which the property of the
South is liable to he assailed ; and he must
be blind to the most palpable indications,
who docs not perceive the threatening signs
of an approaching crisis, much more fearful
than that which has passed, in which this
dead enactment w ill rise up in bloody resur
rection, reanimated by the fiendish spirit of a
blind and heaitless fanaticism, carrying ter
ror and death, and worse than death, into onr
domestic sanctuaries, and our household al
tars. While this act remains upon the stat
ute book, there can be no security for the
rights and liberties of the Southern States.
It is a formal declaration, that tlie States
shall lie henceforth shorn of their sovereign
ty ,& reduced to the condition of vassal provin
ces, while the limitations of the power Fed
eral Government, are to be prescribed, not as
heretofore claimed, by the Supreme Court,
hut marked out by the sword of a military dic
tator. What, then, is the duly of every citi
zen of the Southern States, who feels the* sa
cred obligation of transmitting unimpaired to
i.io wtittitrciij me precious inncmanee of free
dom, which his ancestors purchased with
their blood? If these were the last words 1
had to utter, I would say to my fellow citizens
of the South, “he prepared to defend vour
liberties in every form, and at every hazard,
and as soldiers of constitutional liberty, sleep
on your arms." Melancholy experience has
taught us, the impotence of all parchment se
curities for our rights, and w o have found
that that is true, new and here, which has
been true in all ages and countries, that no
people can long preserve their liberties, who
have not the spirit, and who are not prepared,
to defend them in every form in which they
may he assailed.
It is high time that the Southern States
should awaken from their slumber of false se
curity, and,offering up every selfish feeling,
and distracting jealousy, on the altar of patri
otism, prepare fora united struggle for con
stitutional liberty. Already have our adver
saries drawn their lines around the citadel,
and commenced their approaches according
to the most approved system of attack ; and
God only knows how iong it may ho before
they will open their trenches, and commence
their cannonade. I ndcr these circumstances,
1 do sincerely believe, that a speedy union
of the planting States, in precautionary mea
sures :or the protection of their peculiar
rights, is the only means of saving our pos
terity from the most awful and afflicting des
tiny.
But, gentlemen, I have a'rcady exhausted
myself, and l am sure I must have exhausted
vour patience- I will, therefore, bring mv
remarks to a conclusion, by offering von a
sentiment which conics from the bottom of
my heart :
Georgia amd Sooth Carolina—lnsepar
ably united in their interests ; may they be
as inseparably united in their councils and
•heir destinies. Whom God hath joined to
gether, let no man put asunder.
FOR I'M;*.
bale from Fiiro|»<*.
-Vfw York-, Ang. 21.
I he Canada, from Kondon, and Portsmouth,
vehicli last place she left on the Ist, brings
London papers to the diet July. St. l l*«s
had fallen into the hands of the Pedroites,
vvlium troops were advancing steadily towards
Lisbon. Between them, however, and that
capitol, is the broad i'ayus; which opposite
and tor some miles above Lisbon, is between
two and throe miles wide, and below the citv
still wider. Napier, however, with his fleet,
is oft the harbor, and it would well suit his
dashing character, whenotcr the army reaches
tile b.inks ol the I agio, to run up past the
torts, as he might, w ith a leading wind do,
without imminent danger—and anchor above
• lie city, and tlnis laeilitate the passing of the
troops- Report, of the capture of Lisbon
prevailed in l-ondonon the HI .it,(says n lam.
don paper.) it 1m mg asserted that his Majas.
«> hip, the Stag. Imd arrived oil Plymouth,
"itli that intelligence, rinse, though strong
ly maintained, we believe,are not
any credence. \V e have also reason i„\"
lieve that our Government has not
any despatches. recc, *«l
Marshal Bourmont had made an attack
on Oporto, and had been repulsed. P
In Loudon, the question on ti,„ r ,
Church Bill was settled, and the bill Wa V I!
a third time on Tuesday evening, lhe
July, by a vote of 135 to 34, and then oaJS
—the i)uke ot Wellington voting lor it
[/is tiller. 9 38 a
In the House of LsOrrfs, July 129th V
Grey moved that the report of the Ch,»e
Temporalities.(lreland) Bill be recoct
lhe Lari of W inchclsta resisted the mmu
and divided the House on it; the numbers
were ayes (57 ; nocsiW; majority 30. -pi.
report was then presented, and the ’ JCVcr < j
clauses w ere n ad. The Duke of \Ycll„, ston
suggested an amendment that the Commj.
sioncrs be required to take oath that tl,ev
were of the Protestant religion, .whicn u/,
acquiesced in.
The setting apart of twenty livings for lb.
Junior Fellows of Dublin L’niversitv
was argued. F.arl Grey replied that he
disposed to admit lhe principle of the sum,,.,
lion, and thought that, if ten livings wtre°i,n
set apart, the arrangement might be of
benebeial tendency. The report waseventu
ally agreed to, and the bill is to he read i
third time this day.
I rom Paris the dates arc of the j„j r
The fast of the “ three days,” which wW/
eu up to mourning, had passed off v m well"
I iie rumor, however, ol a dissolution of i| lc
Chamber,and u change of ministry, acquired
consistency. .Mr. Dupin, it was affirmed,had
had an interview with the King, and was ccr
lairilv to lake office. Mr. Thiers will, it
said, be the only Onocfthe present ministers
who will remain. Marshal Gerard is named
as probably the new President of the Coun-
CIJ.
Letters 0 r the “Ist July had been received
troin Oporto. The Pedroites had strength
ened their fortifications, and the Miguelitte
hesitated about attacking. Provisions were
cheap. Subst quentlv to this, a London Pe.
per, 2d Edition, at -1 o’clock 31st,says—. Ma
rshal Bourmont attacked Oporto, and tvas bea
ten off'. The result was decidedly favorable
to the constitutional cause- On this news
the Portuguese bonds rose rapidly.
Madrid, July 19—The accounts received
here in relation to the state of affairs in Por
tugal, and the little doubt now entertained of
the success of Don Pedro, have produced a
considerable sensation in the public of this
city, and it is understood, not a little alarm
in the Cabinet. Indeed the tone of the Gov.
eminent.in relating the recent occurrences in
the Algarves, is evidently changed r the dc
teat of the Miguclite squadron is officially
mid unequivocally announced, and the ad
herents ot the ex-Dniperorare no longer sty led
rebels. There appears to exist a disposition
■ o adopot anew line of policy toward Portu.
gal; and one more advantage gained by the
liberal party of that country wilt effect in this
one w hat the diplomatic skill of the late Am
bassador Extraordinary was unable to a
ohieve. That there is sucti a disposition, and
that If. C. M. is willing to avail himself of
some pretext to back out, and abandon Don
Miguei, tiny he inferred from the fact, that
some bickerings have already taken place be
tween the Government and that of Lisbon.—
L. seems that a seditious correspondence was
lately detected.
Tlte Viceroy of Egypt is said to be about
sending an agent to London to continue ne
gotiations aln adv commenced relative to the
promised o->«..pk tion of the canal for connect
ing the Nile with the Red Sea at Suez. He
is also represented as contemplating various
other works, indicative of his conviction that
he had concluded a lasting peace with the
Porte.
Capt. NArieu. — The Journal du ifarve
takes the ? .lowing notice of Capt. Napier,
who was so mere sful in capturing .Miguel’s
fleet :
“ The English Capt. Napier, who has just
obtained such a signal and decisive victory fl
yer Don Miguel’s fleet, resided several years
in this country, lie was one of the first to
associate in one of the enterprises of iron
steamboats to navigate the Seine. Capt. Na
pier and family resided at St. Andresses, and
almost every person in Havre nave had occa
s on to ascertain In familiar intercourse with
him, the extent arid variety of his practical
knowledge. He is the officer who made bis
appearance in our Roads a few years since in
command of the British frigate Galatea, to
which he had fitted wheels, resembling these
ol stcaui-boats, which were v,o;ked by hand
and piopcllcd his vessel several knots an hour
in smooth w ater.”
Don Pedro—A letter from Oporto, « ni
ton by a gentleman who has frequent oppor
tunities of seeing this person, and witnessing
the inode in which he passes his time, gives us
the following account: —“ Don Pedro is cer
tainly an extraordinary, though I cannot call
him a great inan. Flo rises early in the
morning, sometimes at 5 o’clock, and before
he receives his officers, frequently amuses
himself for an hour in composing music, or
making notes upon the plans of operations
which have been submitted to him, or which
he has received from different quarters.
Sonic of these observations arc shrewd, but.
generally speaking, he is not to be considered
a clever man. After breakfast, which is
speedily despatched, lie receives those who
are presented to him by his ministers, il | l<
then riucs out with Sir John Milley Dd)' e J
or another officer of service ; but Sir Milk)
is his favorite. He confers with hisrnini 9ttrs
on his return, and requires from tii« in a " af '
count of all that has occurred during d |C
preceding day. In council lie is sometime*
frivolous, ami at other times self-willed. Tins
lias boen carried sometimes to such an extent,
that there have been two or three instances
in which the ministers, in order not to run'
their cause, have had secret consultations, and
come to resolutions of which he knew nothing
until they had been carried into effect. Some
of the most important arrangements connected
with the expedition of the Algarves were
made in this way. Pedro is very accessible,
and n pi r?on unacquainted with his cm*
character would leave him after a first inter
view, under the impassion that he was an *■
ble man ; but this is removed as acquaintan
ce increases. He* is fiugal in his expenm
lure, and moderate in his style of living
deed, ho lias been sometimes. he-srd to **.'*
that he could support him*' It comfortably** l
the ilarv ol a roiiimi - toner's clerk.
[/ Vior! Jourmil.