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£l)c Wccldn OttshttiMiatel*
BY JAMES GARDNER.
MB. YANCEY’S SPEECH IN DEFENCE OF
STATE BIGHTS AND THE CONSTITUTION
It is a wholesome task to recur, amid, the
clangor of arms, occasionally to first princi
ples, and, while our brave armies are de
tending our homes and liberties from foreign
invasion, neither deliberate usurpation, nor the
fervor of mistaken zeal in our defence, assail
us from within.
In this view, therefore, lay before our
readers the well-timed speech of Mr. Yancey,
the eloquent Senator from Alabama, upon the
amendment of Mr. Dortch, that Justices of the
Peace be exempt from C inscription. Mr. Yan
cey may truly be termed the Patrick Henry
of this, our second war* for Independence. We
are pleased to see that, his eloquence is devoted
not solely to nerving the Southern arm against
Northern despotism , but that he stands a vigi
lant sentinel on the watch tower, to guard the
public liberty aga'mat the mistakes and errors
ot our own people.
The intoxicati or, of victory should not come
over the senses, of the South in this hour of
exultation and triumph. It is by the light ot
victory, irradiating our arms, we should most
closely scrut iaize the course of military author
ity. It is t r-en should be kept most steadily in
view the p xiriciples for which our armies fight;
it is then itf.ie safeguards of our Constitution
should b most firmly insisted on, and most
bol ly v indicated.
THS R FLaTIVE POWERS OF THECONFED*
ER dISS AND STATE GOVERNMENTS, IN
THi A'CONDUCT OF THE WAR.
SPEECH OF W. L YANCEY, E?Q,
WOSiVBI AMFNDMBNT TO THB EXEMPTION BILL, PRO-
P'FSUD BY MB. DORTCH, THAT JUSTICES OF THE
fBiCJ BHOW.D BK LIABLE TO CONSCRIPTION, MADE
SENATE, StMTEMBER IOtH. 1862.
Jjr. President : The Senator from North Caro
lifcia p toposes that Justices of the Peace, in the
f federal States, shall be enrolled as conscripts in
•ffne army of the Confederate Slates, at the same
dime giving notice that he will offer other amend
aments, making other State ifficers liable to en
rollment under the Conscript act. The Senators
<rom Georgia [Mr. Hili J, and from Mississippi
■iMr. Puetan], and trom Kentucky [Mr- SimsJ,
have supported that amendment, and b»ve each
-asserted tbe power of Congress to enroll as con*
saddlers ic the army, -every officer of a
«BUt*, whether judicial, legislative or executive,
,<and, also, every officer under the Confederate
-Government, whether judicial, legislative or exe
-cuuve, with but a single execution, and that ex
ception the President of t'he Confederate States.
The enrollment or exemption of a few thousands,
-filling the humble but useful office of e Justice of
the Peace, can be of but 1 title moment compared
with the vast tundamental! change in the charac
ter of ‘.bis Government, wituch practical legisla
tion upon such principles must bring about.—
legislation upon the principles which have been
thus distinctly avowed font! elaborately argued,
would in aiv opinion, ut'ienly subvert the limited
-Constitutional Governm -nt, which the people of
the States have been at sc much peins to estab
lish, and have exhibited -so much patriotic sacri
fice and energy to defend; and would effectually
-erect upon its ruins a -purely military Gov
-ernment. So thinking,, I should <be unjnet tn
all the principles u;>on which 1 have acted
in the past, and derelict to the duty I owe to the
.State which lin part represent here, and to the
oatn I have taken to preserve and defend the
Constitution, if I were to permit the avowal of
such doctrines to pass unchallenged. If this
amendment had been proposed and passed upon
without debate, Mr. President, it might have thus
become one ot tbe facts in legislative history of
comparativeiv soall moment, and not justly held
to be a precedent. But its introduction has been
supported by grave and apparently maturely con
sidered opinions of Senators from three of tbe
thirteen States of the Confederacy—and has led
to a more lengthened and dignified debate than
anv other that has occurred in this body sines my
connection with it. Bach a debate, upon such as
issue, »n tnv opinion, will mark the action of the
Senate upon it as one of the greet landmarks in
legislative construction of the Constitution; and
as tne question passes into history its footprints
will »e gravely scrutimz d and considered here
after as indicating the progress of -this Govern
ment ettber in the march of swell understood
Constitutional policy, leading us on to an assured
political and commercial greatness as a free peo**
p| e —or in that broad and weil*beaten path, from
which the wrecks of governments that for centu
ries have strewn it could not deter us, and which
leads to absolutism in the person of some mighty
and unscrupulous military genius. This being
tbe case, our decision of tbis question is of tbe
gravest importance —not only for to-day but for
ail tune—and our action should be clearly defined
and leave no room for doubt as to our views of
the relative dignity and extent of the civil and
the war power m tbis Government.
Mr. President, the question is not an abstract
one, waicb can be postponed without detriment.
It pressed upon you as a practical question, re
.qutn >g legislative solution. Signs are not lack
ing that tbe war power is quietly . usurping tbe
powers of both State and Confederate Govern*
ments AJI history teaches us that, in times of
war, tbe mare modest.and less showy cml powers
-of government yield and shrink from the fiercer
bearing and more pretentious and swelling de
meanor of the war power. And in our own case,
»o great is the patriotic fervor of the people—so
ardent tbeir de.vo’ion to the cause— so unselfish
their sacrifices of property ,;of ease, aye, and of
life itself tn promotion of the common weal, that
-they are loth to question any act that is designed
to advance the common interest, no matter bow
.stranae or startling to them as a mere question
of power. And so far has this generous support
-of our armies gone, that it requires some moral
courage to sustain any who thinks it bis duty to
aay, “vigilanoe is tbe price of liberty v Hence
this generous confidence, while it may deter
many a watchful patriot from doing bis whole
■duty, has actually been seized upon as a defence
<>y .some who have violated civil liberty in the ex- I
ercise ol military power, and their acts justified
because tbe people are qciet.
But, Mr. President, this should not influence
Senators in their action here. Here we act upon
our solemn oaths to see to it tbat the Repub.ic
sufftrs do detriment. Here we are as watchmen
to tell our constituents “what of the night.”
Here we are pot upon our consciences, without
feai- or favor of the people, to do our duty—our
whole duty—not according to tbe “general wel
fare,” nor to tbat other dangerous plea of all
usurpers, “necessity”—but according to the writ
ten lawol the Constitution, which has been placed
in our bands as our only cower of attorney to act
stall Under such itfluences, as one of these
watchmen. I say tbat there are already signs tbat
a change from a civil government, with constitu
tional checks nod balances, to a military absoiut*
ism. is m progress. Wbat are the facts to sustain
ao startling an assertion? 1 repeat a few of them :
A inil>'ary commander of a department bad de
cland martial law in bis district and has muzzLd
the free press within it. j
T*ae first step towards despotism is invariably
ta suppress that watchful friend of civil liberty—a
free press; and the next is to suppress the civil
law, which would rescue a victim from lawless
arrest, and check all encroachments upon tbe peo
, pie’s rights.
Another military commander is solemnly charg
ed, and it is a matter of enquiry now, in this
body, with having executed a cit'zen without a
trial, either under civil or martial law. Tbe same
commander has superceded the municipal law of
one of our large cities, and substituted the law of
his own military edict; has displaced tbe authon*
ties elected by the people, under the sovereign
law of their State, and has placed over them an
officer of his own choosing. And, as if these
startling usurpations were not sufficient to satisfy
this craving of the military to drive all civil pow-
I er into obscurity—in fact, to banish it from the
land—here in tbe Senate, the chosen temple of
State sovereignty, one ot the tribunals upon which
it would be supposed the civil power could safely
repose, Senators from several sovereign States are
to be found who deliberately assert tbat Congress
can suspend and supercede all civil governments,
both Confederate and State ; fi r they assert that
under tbe clauses giving Congress the power to
declare and conduct tbe war, it can coerce every
officer as well as citizen of the State governments,
aud every officer of the Confederate government,
save the President, to serve in tne regular army
of the Confederate States as a soldier, as long as
1 it may sae fit to carry on the war.
Mr. President, if there are any within our land
so misled as to desire to overthrow our present
j form of government and to establish upon its
rums a central despotism, led by a dictator, they
could not desire to have more effective aid in ac»
eorpplishing their unhallowed designs, than these
Senators no doubt unremittingly lend to them.
It is a most startling fact, and history will record
it as one of the most strange in its annals, that in
the first Senate assembled under a Constitution,
which declares that it was tormed by each State,
‘•acting in its sovereign and independent charac
ter,” to “establish justice, insure domestic tran
quility, and secure the blessings of liberty” to
themselves and tbe posterity of their people, and
m tbe first session or that Senate, Senators could
be found, in the name of Liberty, to advocate tbe
erection of the' military power into such a su
premacy tbat it would absorb and destroy all the
State Governments, and all the Legislative power
ot' the Confederate Government—thus securing to
the sword an unchecked dominion over a people
who had seceded from tbe Lincoln usurpation, for
the sole purpose of preserving tbeir liberties
under their several S ate Governments. Strange,
too, tbat while thus severing their connection with
that Lincoln usurpation, on acoount of the en
croachments upon the rights of tbe States, that in
the early progress of the contest for tbe sover
eignty of the Siates, and the rights of tbeir cui
•£ ns, any intelligent man should be found com
prehending and approving the nature of the c< n <
test, who ehould follow, in his zeal to prosecute
this war, the very footsteps of that Lincoln
despotism. Lincoln and Seward proclaimed that
the war power, the same in tbe Federal as in the
Confederate Constituuon, justified tbe suppression
of the municipal authorities of Baltimore, and
tbeir imprisonment -in Fort Lafayette. They
thought the press was too free in its criticisms
upon tbeir acts, and they crushed its freedom,
and imprisoned its editors. They thought that
the Judiciary should be subordinate to tLe war
power, and they placed sentne s at the door of
the residences of the Judges and disregarded
their writs.! They thought that independent
State Governments weie stumbling blocks in
their progress to military absolutism, and they
imprisoned the members of tbe Legislature of a
sovereign State.
And what were h ; s special pleas for this
effectual and rapid transfer mation of a con
stitutional government into a practical despo
tism which did not allow its decrees to be ques
tioned ?
One plea was that so ardently advanced by the
Senator from Kentucky, (Mr. Simms,) in defence
of the proposition to seize and coerce an officer
of the civil government of a State into the army
of the Confederacy—that it would be absurd to
suppose that the Constitution conferred upon
Congress the power to wage war, and yet pro*
hibited it from forcing a State officer to duty as a
soldier.
Mr. Simms, oCKentucky—The Constitution no
where gives Congress power to raise and sups
pert armies for the overthrow of the State Gov
ernments, but it does give this power to Con
gress “to protect each State against invasion.”
The language of the Constitution is, “Congress
shall protect each of them (the States) against
invasion.” The war in which we are now en
gaged, and the armies we are now raising and
supporting are for that very purpose. If the
whole physical.power of the Confederacy be re
quired in the military service to successfully
“protect the States against invasion,” I hold that
Congress not only has power, but that it is made
its highest duty by the Constitution itself, to ex
ercise that power to the full extent demanded by
the exigencies of tbe occasion. I am, therefore,
for cotiscribing magistrates into tbe military ser
vice, not for tbe purpose of overthrowing the
State Government, but fer the purpose of pre*
venting their enslavement and overthrow by a
foreign invader. ■»
For the Constitution to declare, that “Congress
shall protect ea>eh State against invasion,” and
then declare tbat it shall nut have power to raise
a sufficient military force to do it, is to say that
tbe same Constitution which declares that “Con
gresc shall protect the States against invasion,”
also, denies to Congress tbe power to do the very
thung it declares Congress shall do. Such a con
st.ruction, I hold, would be enough to stamp tbe
in strument an absurdity, and more than enough
to stamp its authors with a stupidity incapable
of aaderstanding their own purpose.
Mr Yancey continued. It seems, Mr. President,
\ that I did not misapprehend the Senator. He re
, pea ts that sueb a limitation on the war power as
will prevent the Government forcing an officer of
a Bt.ate government to servem tbe army, is an
absurdity and a weakness of which tbe framers of
the Constitution could not be guilty. Precisely
the stime reasoning, if it can be called such, was
used by Lincoln, as to our right to secede from
his government—and m support of bis assumption
of power to suppress what he called disloyal
mumcijjaltiies and State Governments, and to im
prison judges and editors of a free press. Another
plea which Lincoln used to support his numerous
usurpations and acts of tyranny, was that used
here, by the Senator from Georgia—the necessity
of preserving the National Life—as if there could
be, in a free constitutional government, a National
life that was antagonistic to the sovereign rights
or life of a fret State or of a citizen of such a
State.
Another plea used by the authorities of tbe
United States, in their internal war upon the per
sonal righit of their own citizens and upon the
sovereign rights of their own States, was that so
vehemently urged here by the Senator from Mis
sissippi (Mr. Phelan) in behalf of his view tbat
this Congress can coerce into its armies all tbe
officers of the several States, and even the mem
bers of tbis body, the supremacy- tbe unlimited
extent of the power of Congress over all others
delegated by the States or reserved by them in
the conduct of a war.
Mr, Phelan here disclaimed that he was one of
those who made a mete general reference to “ibe
war power" in showing the constitutionality ol
any special measure. On tbe contrary, he bed
disclaimed any such general reference as dan
gerous in principle and pointless as proof. A
reference so indefinite, be bad declared, was of
no more force in proving the Constitutionality of
ft special measure than a similar reference, by its
AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING OO ? I. t 862.
•title, to any other writing. Every power, claimed
under the Constitution, must be established by
special clauses; and in his argument to show
tbat Congress had power to exact military service
of a State officer, be bad referred to the special
clauses, by which, he thought, it wits granted.
Mr. Yancey—l have not, then, misapprehended
the Senator. He reasserts unlimited right of
Congress to coerce every citizen. He only ex
plains that he derives it from special clauses, and
not from general reference to the war power. I
mention these coincidences between statesmen of
different and antagonistic governments not with
a view of showing any common design to destroy
pub'ic liberty, but to warn Senators test, in tbeir
patriotic zeal to strengthen tbeir Government in
the prosecution of ihe war, they lay the founda
tion for an eventual destruction ot the Governs
•ment itseland of all that vast mass of personal
and State rights which it is the sole object of the
war to secure and to perpetuate. If the lessons
of history, teaching by example, are too weak to
be beard amidst the din of the corflict, surely
the more recent and striking examples, punished
by our enemies because of tbeir effect upon the
struggle, shou.d cause Senators to pause in any
course which would seem to jus'ify those usurpa
tions and to stultify ourselves in pursuing tbe
like line of conduct.
If there is anything in our form of government
which checks the unlimited expansion of the war
power, and reserves from its seizure either State
or Confederate civil rights—and Senators will
persist in considering such checks and reserva
tions absurd-ties or weaknesses —let them c< n
sider that thus it has been maturely and con
siderately determined by the States. Sufficient
to every legislator should it be that over the
whole fundamental policy of cur complex gov
ernment it is thus written. Enough for "them
should be tbe wisest and most potent of all
reasoning— ita est scripta lex— thus is tbe law
written, and thus we are sworn to observe it. But
we are earnestly adjured not to let the Constitu
tion stand in our way, when it is necessary to put
every man in the field in order to resist subjugas
tion by the Lincoln despotism, and that when tbe
war is over we can return to Constitutional
government. Mr. President, I here solemnly state
my conviction that it is far better for a free peo
ple to be vanquished in open combat with the in
vader, than voluntarily to yield their liberties and
their Constitutional safeguards to tbe stealthy
progress of legislative and| executive usurpation
towards the establishment of a military dictator
ship. When a people have lost faith in the power
of free government to defend their liberties, and
lost tbat high courage and tried virtues which
can wrestle with danger and meet with disasters
with fortitude, and in cowardly search ot ease
they discard the onerous and trying duties of self
government, and throw themselves and them all
into the arms of a vigorous despotism of their own
choosing, in nine cases out of ten that people are
lost—lost forever. The recuperative energy and
virtue which would be required to throw off the
shackles which they had placed upon thier own
limbs, would be wanting, and they would have to
undergo ages of suffering, before a new race of
men could be born, equal to a task of such magni
tude. No sir. Far better, in every particular, if
h y are to be governed by a despotism—if free
constitutional government is to be overthrown—
that it be overthrown by an open enemy ; and if
they are to be governed by a despotism, that it
be after being vanquished in the conflict of arms
Virtues grow by trial: the virtues of courage, of
patriotism, of love of liberty, are not uprooted by
the triumph of an enemy, by defeat at the hand of
a foe. The world’s history t» full of tbe noble
truth—the stern, bloody, practical truth which
poetry has seized and almost consecrated as its
own, by reason of the amber of sweet numbers in
which it has embalmed it—
“ Freedom’s battle once begun.
Bequeathed by ble< ding sire to son.
Though baffled ott, Is ever won.”
There is hope for a people who are crushed by
superior power, in their brave struggle for the
right. There is no hope for a people so destitute
of courage and virtue and wisdom as to flee tqa
despotism to render their conflict with an invader
the easier. I, therefore, repudiate all idea that
we can safely abandon any ot the safeguards of
our liberties in order more successfully to contend
with our invaders.
Mr. President, I have said that thisVnendment
and the principles upon which it has been sup
ported, if carried into practical legislation, will
destroy both the State and Confederate Govern
ments. and will erect tbe Executive into a Military
; Dictatorship.
I now proceed to sustain tbat proposition :
In considering this question, it must be borne
in m>nd tbat this is not a consolidated Govern
-1 ment; but tbat the powers of this Confederacy
are limited, because delegated, and tbat all the
powers of government are distributed between
this and tbe several State Governments.
There are seven articles in the Confederate Con
stitution. I assert that the exercise of such a
power by Congress will destroy the provisions ot
‘ six of these articles, and will thus destroy tbe
various powers delegated to Congress and which
make tbis a constitutional civil government, and
1 will leave the Exec itive and war power without
tbe checks and balances so wisely provided to
1 keep these subordinate to the civil and legislative
power.
In the first articles are provisions that the Leg
islature es a State has power to prescribe who
shall be voters for members of House of Repre
sentatives; and shall choose members of the Sen
ate, and prescribe the times, places and manner
of their election; and that the State executives
shall issue writs ot election to fill vacancies in
House of Representatives; and which reserve to a
State the right to keep troops to resist invasion in
time of war. Every one of these provisions can,
and would, be destroyed by Congress assuming
the powers contended for by tbe Senators from
Georgia (Mr. Hill) and from Mississippi (Mr.
Phelan), the power to place in the army tor three
years the members of the State Legislature and
the Executive, through whose action alone can
Representatives and Senators be elected, and the
power to enroll as conscripts tbe militia officers
of a State; and the militia, when called out by a
State, to resist its invasion.
Texas has a regiment of rangers now in her
service to protect her borders; Virginia has a
large body of her militia to protect her insulted
territory. In my opinion, Congress cannot touch
a man of either under the conscript law; although
I believe tbat Congress can provide tor calling
forth the militia'to repel invasion; and in such
case the States would be bound, to send their mis
litia in obedience to that clearly delegated power.
There is another class of provisions in tbe first
article, which the assumption of such powers by
Congress as are contended for would render null
and destroy. These Senators say distinctly that
Congress has power to enroll every member cf
Congress as privates in the army for three years
or more. Let us see tbe effect. The Ist article ;
provides that all legislative powei shall be vested
in Congress; that it shall meet once a year ; that
the House shall alone impeach an officer; that
the Senate shall try impeachments; that members
shall be free from civil or m’litarv arrests—save
for treason, felony or breach of the peace; and
that all bills for raising revenue shall originated
the House. In addition to all this, there are
nineteen distinct powers specially'delegated to
Congress in that article, six of which relate to tbe
war power. .To enroll members of Congress in
the army would destroy the legislative branch ol i
the gwernment, and would render Congress un- ■
able to exercise all those powers and perform all ]
those duties; and would take from the people of <
the States their voice m managing the General I
Government, and would take from the States the i
representation o.f tbeir sovereignty in this gov 1
e rnment, and vfcould place the revenue in the <
hands of the Executive—would give bim the
purse as well as tin sword. Further, the suppress
sion of Congress, by enrolling it in tbe army,
would destroy the only power which could im»
peach and try the Executive tor usurpation.
Let us now examine the 2d Article. It provides
that tbe President shall be elected by electors
every six. years, chosen as tbe State Legislatures
may direct. It gives to him the power of ap
pointment of officers subject to confirmation or
rejection by tbe Senate, lie can make treaties by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
He shall give information of the state of the Ccns
federacy to Congress. He shall be removed from
office on impeachment. But these Senators say
that Congress has the power to destroy the State
Legislatures, which prescribes the appointment
of electors—has power to destroy the Senate,
which can reject his appointees, and which can
reject his treaties, and which can remove him
from office by impeachment; and, when all this
has been done, there will be an Executive, with
out the check of tbe legislative power, without
tbe fear of the High Court of impeacbment-r-an
Executive to raise money at will—to put up and
put down at will—to make alliances with foreign
powers to maintain him m his one man power,
without consultation or drawback from any quar
ter. and to keep his control of government, as
there will be no power in existence to elect his
successor and dispute his term of office.
Let us examine the 3d Article. It provides that
the judicial power shall be vested in supreme
and other courts, and that tbe judges shall hoid
office during good behavior —that they shall pres
side over c'vil and criminal trials of prescribed
character.
But these Senators declare that Congress has
power to blot out that article—to render it of no
effect—to take the Judges from the bench and en
roll them as soldiers, under military rule—to de
prive them of the dignities and privileges of their *
high office, no matter how irreproachable tbeir I
lite! Tbe Chief Justice is required to preside in I
the Senate, if the President is tried by impeach
ment. But, although the Presidfent may have
bribed members to destroy tbe civil functions of
government, and may have unconstitutionally
arrested and forced State authorities and all Con
gress and tbe Judiciary into his army, and, there
fore. had assumed all the powers of government,
and be liable to be fried for treason, there will.be
found no House to impeach—no Senate to try Eim
—no Chief Justice to preside—all will be forced,
under the principles so recklessly avowed here by
the Senators from Georgia, [Mr. Hill,] from Mis
sissippi, [Mr. Phelan,j and from Kentucky, [Mr.
Simms,] to be under the mailed band of a mili
tary Dictator —that has grown under tbeir plea of
“ necessity,” and of the “ unlimited nature of the
war power.”
But to resume my'review of tbe Constitution.
Under the 4th article, tbe Confederate States
guarantee to every State a Republican form of •
government, and upon application of the Executive
against domestic violence. Under the principles
ot these Senators, what becomes of this valuable
provision ? The government of the Confederate
States so far from affording that guarantee, has
destroyed every vestige of republicanism in both
State and General Government. It will have des
troyed the Legislature, the Executive, and the
Judiciary of each State—it will have left it a prey
to anreby, or, what i more probable, a province
of a Military Ruler, governed by one of bis satraps
The spirit, the vitality, the essence of our Re
publican system will, in every particular, have
been effectually crushed. And when, m such an
event, the citizen—not then, but once the citizen
of a free Government—shall seek the sacred places
where his State sovereignty was enshrined, and
shall find the Executive chair vacant, and the
mace of Executive broken—when he
shall stray still further into tbe temple of State
justice, and find the bench of Justice no longer
occupied, and the sacred ermine torn and tram<-
pled under the feet of Confederate soldiery—the
very altars of bis liberties desecrated and cast
down—pray tell me, sir, what will it be to him to
tell him that you did it from “necessity,” to pre
serve “the National life,” from a fear of Lincoln’s
hordes, from an opinion that you bad the right to
do it—what to him will be your desire to be suc->
cessful in war, when success in war is based on a
destruction of tbe very rights for which alone he
was willing to war.
I pass over the sth Article, as of comparatively
little importance to the 6ch. The two last pro
visions are the most important in tbe whole Con
stitution—yet, they were not devised by the wise
men who framed the instrument in Convention.
After they had sent it to the States for their cons
sideration, a citizen of this ancient Dominion,
far-sighted and with a thorough knowledge of
government and its workings as taught iu history,
had them, amongst others, proposed as amende
ments—and they were adopted. They constitute
the grand beacon lights to every benighted or
puzzled statesman by whieh to guide the bark of
State. By tbeir light there Tan be no excuse even
for a blind man for not correctly reading this
C nstitution. They speak a language of warning,
of instruction, and reproof to the Senator from
Mississippi, [Mr. Phelan,] who, from obtain spe
cial deduces the power of Cob^ ref , B t 0
destroy or render null and of no effect
every other delegated power in that instrument
and to disparage, if not destroy, nearly every,
right retained and reserved by the States. I rea,d
them:
“The enumeration in the Constitution of cer
tain rights shall not be construed to deny or dis
parage others retained by tbe people of the several
States. ' ■
“Tbe powers not delegated to the Confederate
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it
tolhe States, are reserved to the States respect
ively, or to the people thereof.”
Now I put it to the Senate, “Have not a few
specified rights as the conduct of the war power
been so construed by tbe Senators who have ad,
vocated this amendment as ‘to deny or disparc
age’ the right of State government which was
‘retained by the people of tbe several States?”
Can those Senators deny that they have done so?
Have they not so construed the few war powers
as effectually to suppress the judiciary, the legis
lative and the Executive departments of State
governments if their principles should be fully
acted upon by this Congress ? Has any Senator
pretended tbat the power of legislation upon
domestic relations among citizens of a State has
been delegated to Congress, or has been prohibit
ed to the States ? Not one. Then it is a reserved
power to the States respectively. And if a reserv
ed power, then, says the Constitution, “You shall
not construe certain delegated rights so. as to
deny or disparage that reserved right." Yet
Senators here have, without due reflection, I
must suppose, done that very prohibited thing.
I have thus, Mr. President, performed my task.
I have shown tbat the cons ruction put by some
Senators upon this war-power is utterly at vari
ance with six of the seven articles of tbe Consti
tution, and, if adopted and acted upon bv Con
gress, will crush all civil power, destroy two out
of the three great departments of the Governs
ment, namely: the legislative and judicial depart
men’s—will also destroy all tbe State Governs
ments and will erect the limited Constitutional
Executive into an absolute despotism—a pure
military dictatorship. As I have so often alluded
to tbe Executive, I here <ake occasion to say tbat,
though differing on some matters with tbe Presi
dant, I have no fears of his assuming unconstitu
tional power. Educated and living a strict con
structionist, I believe his heart sympathizes with
his bead, and that no more determined opponent
of military usurpation will be found m the Con
federacy. And wbat Is the reason urged for ’his
assumption of unlimited power? Necessity—
blood-covered, libertyodespoiling “necessity”—
stained with the crimes of ages, and yet dripping
VOL. 14.—-No. 40
with the fresher bloqji of a neighboring republic,
which, although we may be at war with, it may
be no treason to wish it had received a happier
fafe.
But, Mr. President, “necessity” can hardly be
urged at tbis time for the.perpetration of so heni
ous a crime against our own liberties —none more
unpropitious for such an excuse at this bright
period in tbe history of tbe war. Though hard
pressed in tbe spring, when surprised and unpres
pared, the wonderful recuperative energy and
ready resources of tbe Southern people have
raised and equipped an army in the very presence
of three quartersot a million of armed and dis
ciplined enemies; and those armies have driven
back the enemy from all his fortified bolds on
our borders and have routed him on seveialwell
contested fields, and now bang threateningly oyer
his capital and along"bis undefended frontier.
Yet this is the hour chosen for an onslaught upon
the dearest principles of ihe Southern people—
upon the chief principle for which they separated
from the government of tbe United States, and
upon which they have built up this Confederacy—
the right to preserve in tact the reserved rights of
the States—the right to resist usurpation of those
rights by the Federal government.
Mr. President, I have full faith in this compli
cated and limited government to carry us safely
through this war. Its strength, however, lies in
the most careful observance ol the rights cf each
department of the government and ot each State.
Its greatest weakness is in a disposition to assume
powers, from a mischievous and fallacious idea
that they are necessary to our safety. Such as’
sumption is more to be feared, mere dangerous,
in my opinion, than are a million of Yankee bay
onets. Let there be mutual respect for tbe rights
of each and all—and there will result a harmony
and an energy and a power tbat will secure to us
all the value in constitutional government.
I BATTLE OF SHARPSBURG -TERRIBLE CON
FLICT—THE ENEMY REPULSED.
From the [Savannah Republican, Sept. 2s.
Sharpsburg, Sept. 17, 9 P. M.
A bloody battle has been fought to-day. It
commenced at daybreak and lasted until 8 o’clock
at night—fourteen hours. The enemy made the
attack, and gained some advantage early in the
day on the left, and subsequently on the right,
but was finally repulsed with great slaughter.
Our own losses have been heavy, including many
officers of worth and position. For the present 1
can only mention the following:
Killed—Brig. Generals Starke and Branch, Col.
Douglas of the 13th .Georgia, commanding bri
gade, Co). Holmes of tbe 2d Georgia, Col. Milligan
of the 15. h Georgia, Col. S. B. Smith of the 27th
Georgia, Col. Newton of the 6th Georgia, Capt.
Nisbet commanding 3d Georgia, and Lieut. Col.
3arclay of tbe 23d Georgia, (reported killed,)
■ Maj. T. S. Mclntosh of Gen. McLaws’ staff, and
Lieut. S B Parkman of Read’s Georgia battery.
Also Col. Strong, Capts. Ritchie and Calloway .and
Lieuts. Linleand Lynne of tbe 6th Louisiana, and
Capt. McFarland and Lieut. Newman ot tbe 7th
Louisiana.
Wounded- Major General Anderson of 8, C.;
Brig. Gen. Anderson, ot N.C. ; Gen. Lawton, of
Ga., iu leg; Gen. Wright, of Ga., in leg; Gen.
Ripley, ot 8. C., in throat; Col. Duncan Mcßea,
ot N. C., who succeeded Ripley in command;,
slightly, Col. Magill, of Ga. Regulars, lost an arm.
Majs. Sorrell and Walton, of Longstreets staff, Col.
Gurdon and Lieut. Col. Lightfoot, of the 6th Ala.;
Cipt. Reedy, of the 3d Aia , (wounded and mis
sing ai Boonsboro’ Gap,]; Col. Alfred Cumming,
of 10th Ga.; Major Tracy, badly, and Capt.. Wat
son, of 6 h Ga , Lieut. Coi. Sloan, of 53d GaqCol.
Jones, of 22d Ga’; Lieut. Col. Crowder, badly, of
! 81st Ga.; Major Lewis, Capts. Harney atto St. Mar
tin, and Lieuts. Murphy, Cook, Current, Dea,
Montgomery, Bryant, Wren, Birdtfall and Mc-
Jimsev, of the Bth Louisiana: Colonel Penn, Cap
tains Frank Clark ana O'Connor, and Lieutenants
Smith, Orr, and Martin, of the 6th La.;
Herrin, Morgan, and Harper, and Lieuts.
Tarpey, Flower, Talbot, and Wells, of La ’
Major Menger, Capt. Hart, a”4 Lietit. Patterson’
ofthesthLa.; Col. flately and. Lieut. Col. T. B
Lamar, and Sergeant Major Anderson cf ’he sth
Florida; Captain Gregory, and Privates Hat'®*
Henry, Bryant, Parker, Strickland, Bateman
Barnett, Dillard, and Martin, of company 11 of
same reg.ment; 8. B Barnwell, CoJr Sergean
of Oglethorpe Light Infantry, Btb Ga„
knee, and leg amputated ; Captains Karacker an d
Catey, and Lents. Macon, Gay, Hubert, of “h
Major Randolph Whitehead, of 48th Ga
an d Captain Charles Whitehead, of Gem Wrinbt’s
staff ; Major Harns, of 2oih Ga., and Colonel Wm
Smith, (late Governor, and known as Extra Billv
w m JLhP° fVlrg H inia l I bad l . ly ’ Genß ’ anl
Wr ‘i?bt 8 wounds, though severe, are not consid
ered dangerous. The same may be said of Col
Gurdon s and Lieut. Col. Lightfoot’s, of 6tb Ala *
Major General Anderson’s, Brigadier General An’
derson’s, and General Ripley’s.
I have omitted to mention in the proper place
that Major Robert S Smith and L eutenant Lewis
Cobb, of the 4th Georgia, were killed; also,
Lieuts. Underwood and Cleveland, us the 18th
Georgia. Captains George Maddox andAfrawtord
Lieutenants Callahan and Williams, and Sergeant
McMurray, (tbe latter mortally) of the same r-gi-
Yment, were wounded. Private Slade, ot the 2d
killed.
ThiKi • •
ani o^' fi mpe [ feCt ’ perhaps, limited as it is,
able to as 1 been
fight. My arran^-£ nt ‘ g hn t he f! r ° greßß es th e
procure lull, as b M “ beeD made t 0
killed and wounded, pirol^ 00 "® 0 ' I,Bttt of the
not move immediately. ' l “ e . arm y should
But I cannot say more at this time. . .
and hastily written note ia designed to bel”
forerunner only of my account ot the battle, and
is sent now because an opportunity is offered to
forward it to the post office at Winchester.
I will only add, that the timely appearance of
McLaws on* the left, about nine o’clock in the
morning, saved tbe day op ffiat part of tbe field
and that to Toombs we arA indebted for saving it
late in the afternoon on the right. Both charges
were brilliantly successful, ia. P. Hill got up at
2 P. M.. and went in at 4, arid contributed iargelv
to the success of the day. Nearly all the troons
behaved with great spirit. * r
Again I say—and with this remark I conclude
thia note—the prospect is, we shall have to return
to Virginia. P W A
Gunboat No. 290 —We are indebted to a distin
guished source for the following interesting and
authentic information : s
Captain R. Semmes (late of the Sumter) com
mands gunboat No. 290. '
OFFICBRS.
Captain—R. Semmes.
Lieutenants- Keil, Hamilton, Armstrong.
Masters—Low, A. Sinclair.
Doctor—Galt.
Marine Officer—Howel).
Midshipmen - W. Smcldir, Bulloch, E. Maffit E.
C. Anderson. ’ ’
Lieuts. Chapman and Evans were too late to
join tbe gunboat.
m}ri e N ept>r * ° f the en K a gement w probably a
mere Nassau rumor as Captain Semmes is well
aware, from his recent visit, of the impracticas
bility of obtaining men iu Nassau or Cuba The
aahered t to pr ° C!a!nSlioD is Btli3 S« nt an <l
[Ala ] Evening New, Sept. 22.
boy en,ered a stationary store, and
aS “ to/k” P ro ß r,etor what kind of pens he sold.
“All kinds,’’ was the reply.
“Well then,” said the boy, “I’ll take three
cents worth of pigpens.” 7