Newspaper Page Text
pm it.
vaj'---* Cobb to t!ie
SgHjgHF/’ Georgia.
HU OPrem-d numerous Cojjfi'nunir i; ions
gggSKT portions of the State, asking
on the present condition of tlie
accompanied with the request that
be placed before the public.
impossible to answer each of those
communications, and I have therefore taken
the liberty of addressing my reply to the peo
ple of the State, asking for what I have to
say that consideration only which is due to
convictions deliberately formed and frankly
expressed.
The whole subject may properly be consid
ered in the discussion of the following en
quiry : Does the election of Lincoln to the
Presidency, in the usual find Constitutional
mode,'justify the Southern States in dissol
ving the Union ?
The answer to this enquiry involves a con
sideration of the principles of the party who
elected him, as well as the principles of the
man himself.
The Black Republican party had its origin
in the anti-slavery feeling of the . North. It
assumed the form and organization of a par
ty for the first time in the Presidential con
tests of 1856. The faetthat it was composed
of men of all previous parties, who then and
still advocate principles directly antagonis
tic upon all other questions, except slavery,
shows beyond doubt or questiou, that hostili
ty to slavery, as it exists in the fifteen South
ern States, was the basis of its organization
and the bond of its union. Free trade Dem
ocrats and protective tariff Whigs, internal
improvement and and anti-internal improve
ment men; and indeed all shades of parti
sans, united in cordial fraternity upon the
isolated issue of hostility to the South,
though for years they had fought each other
upon all other issues The fact is important
because it illustrates the deep-rooted feeling
which could thus bring together these hostile
elements. It must be conceded that there
was an object in view, of no ordinary inter
est, which could thus fraternise these incon
grous elements. Besides, at the time this
party organised, there was presented no
bright promise of success.
All the indications of the day pointed to
their certain defeat. So deep, however, was
this anti-slavery sentiment planted in their
hearts, that they forgot and forgave the as
perities of the past, the political differences
of the present, and regardless of the almost
certain defeat which the future had in store
for them, cordially embraced each other in
the bonds of anti-slavery hatred, preferring
defeat under the banner of Abolition to suc
cess, if it had to be purchased by a recogni
tion of the constitutional rights of the South-
The party has succeeded in bringing into its
organizational! the Abolitionists of the North,
except that small band of honest fanatics
who say, and say truly, that if slavery is the
moral curse which the Black Republicans
pronounce it to be, they feel bound to dis
solve their connection with it, and are tliere
- fore for a dissolution of the Union. Such I
* may denominate the personnel of the Black
Republican party, which, by the election of
Lincoln, has demonstrated its numerical ma
jority in every Northern State except New
Jersey.
I have said that the circumstances which
marked the origin and organization of this
party show that there was an object in view,
of no ordinary character. To see and ap
preciate that object properly, we must refer
to its first and most important declaration of
principles, which occurred in 1856, at the
time of the nomination of Mr. Fremont for
the Presidency.
“Resolved , That, with our republican fa
thers, we hold it to be a self-evident truth,
that all men arc endowed with the inaliena
ble rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness; and that the primary object and
ulterior designs of our Federal Government
were, to secure the rights to all persons with
in its exclusive jurisdiction; that as our rc-
publican fathers, when they had abolished
slavery in all our national territory, ordained
that no person should be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of
law, it becomes our duty to maintain this
provision of the Constitution against all at
tempts to violate it for the purpose of estab
lishing slavery in any Territory of tlie United
States, by positive legislation, prohibiting its
existence or extension therein. That we de
ny the authority of Congress, of a Territo
rial Legislature, of any individual or asso
ciation of individuals, to give legal existence
to slavery in of the United
w lil io i
’
11 ie\s
power it is jioth the right and WH|of
Congress to prohibit in tlie Territories Oiose
twin relics of barbarism —polygamy and
slavery.”
There can be no misapprehension of the
doctrine here announced. It is as plain and
explicit in its language as it is false and in
famous in its teachings. Upon its announce
ment, the people of the Northern States were
asked to pass their judgment upon its truth
and correctness. The response may be found
in the votes of nearly a million and a half of
northern people, in favor of the election of
John C. Fremont, its advocate and represen
tative; and 1 may add tliai the elect ion of
Mr. Fremont upon this doctrine was t ily
defeated by the personal popularity of .dr.
Buchanan in tlie State of Pennsylvania. In
that memorable canvass, the doctrines- thus
announced by the Black Republican party
were boldly and earnestly defended by the
supporters of Fremont everywhere. If there
was any departure from the standard of
principles thus formally and officially erected,
it will be found in the more offensive and ex
treme doctrines of the men who advocated his
election, and spoke as by authority for the
party of which they were the most active and
efficient representatives. I will not weary
you with a tedious detail of their infamous
sentiments, to be found in the editorials and
speeches of almost every advocate of Fre
mont’s election in 1856. They are too
familiar to every causual reader of that re
markable canvass, and can never be forgotten.
If these doctrines aud principles have ever
been disclaimed or repudiated, either by Mr.
Lincoln or any responsible man of liis party,
I have seen or heard of it. Though they were
not, repeated in the same language by the
Chicago convention, which liomimiked Lin
coln, they were virtually endorsed, with the
addition of a repudiation of the decision of
the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case,
as will appear in the extract below from the
platform of 1860, anil have, both by Mr. Lin
coln and his leading supporters, been defend
ed and elaborated in the most emphatic
language, and with the most embittered
spirit.
“7. That the new dogma, that the Consti
tution, of its own force, carries slavery into
any or all the Territories of the United States*
is a dangerous political ‘heresy, at varience
with the explicit provisions of that instru
ment itself, with cotemporaneous exposition,
and with legislative and judicial precedent; is
revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive
of the peace and harmony of the country.
8. That the normal condition of all the ter
ritory of the United States is that offrcedoni.
That as our republican fathers, when they
had abolished slavery in all our National ter
ritory, ordained that ‘No-person should be
deprived of life, liberty, or property without
due process of law,’ it becomes our duty, by
legislation, whenever such legislation is ne
cessary, to maintain this provision of the
Constitution against all attempts to violate it;
and we deny the authority of Congress, of a
territorial legislature, or of any individuals,
to give legal existence to slavery in a Terri
tory of the United States.”
Can there he a doubt in any intelligent
mind, that the object which the Black Re
publican party has in view, is the ultimate
extinction of slavery in the United States ?
To doubt it, is to cast the imputation of hy
pocracy and imbecility upon the majority of
the people of every northern State, who have
stood by this party through all its t rials and
struggles, to its ultimate triumph in the elec
tion of Lincoln. lam sure that no one can
entertain for them, individually or collec
tively, less personal respect than I do, and
yet I do give them credit for more sincerity
and intelligence than is consistent with the
idea that, on obtaining power, they will re
fuse to exercise it for the only purpose for
which they professed to seek it. Ido believe
that, with all their meanness and duplicity,
they do hate slavery and slaveholders quite
as much as they say they do, and that no ar
gument addressed to their hearts or judg
ments, in behalf of the constitutional rights
the South would receive the slightest con
sideration. What might be effected by an
appeal to their fear and cupidity, I will not
now stop to discuss.
In the nomination of Mr. Lincoln for the
residency, the Black Republicans gave still
more pointed expression to their views and
zeelmgs on the subject of slavery. Lincoln
ia neither the record nor the reputation of
a s atesman. Holding sentiments even more
o lous than those of Seward, he was indebted
° e comparative obscurity of his position
or a triumph over his better known competi
,) r ’ the boldness and ability with which
, had advo <mted the doctrines of
he higher law and “the irrepressible con
ffict, he had exhibited to the public a char
acter so infamous, that even Black Republi
cans would not hazard the use of his name.
Xo find a candidate of the same principles
and less notoriety was the great work to be
performed by the Chicago Convention. That
duty was successfully discharged in the se
lection and nomination of Mr. Lincoln
He had placed on record his calm and sol
emn declarations on the subject of slavery,
sentiments which remain to this hour without
retraction, or even modification, by himself.
In the pamphlet copy of his speeches, revised
by himself, and circulated throughout the
Presidential canvass by his supperters, we
find the following elcar and unequivocal de
claration of liis views and feelings on the
subject of slavery:
“I did not even say that I desired that slap
very should be put in course of ultimate ex
tinction. Ido say so now, however; so there
need be no longer any difficulty about that.
It may be written in the great speech.”
“/ have always hated dupery. I think, as
much as any Abolitionist. T have been an old
line Whig. I have always hated it ; but I
have always been quiet about it until this
new era of the introduction of the Nebraska
bill began. I always believed that everbody
was against it, and that it was in course of
ultimate extinction.”
“Wc are now far into the fitfh year since a
policy was initiated with the avowed object
and confident promise of putting an end to
slavery agitation. Under the operation of
that policy, that agitation has not only ceased
but has constantly augumented. In my opin
ion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have
been reached and passed. ‘A house divided
against itself cannot stand.’ I bdlieve this
Government cannot endure permanently half
slave and half free. 1 do not expect this
Union to be dissolved; Ido not expect this
house to fall; but Ido expect it will cease to
be divided; it will become all one thing or
all the other. Either the opponents of sla
very will arrest the further spread es it, and
place it where the public mind shall rest in
the belief that it is in the course of ultimate
extinction, or its advocates will push it for
ward till it shall become alike lawful in all
the States, old as well as new, North as well
as South.”
Commenting on this, he afterwards said:
‘‘l only said what I expected would take
place. I made a prediction only; it may
have been a foolish one, perhaps. I did not
even say that I desired thatslaery should be
put in course of ultimate extinction. I do
now, however; so there need be no longer
any difficulty about that.”
“If I were in Congress, and a vote should
come up on a question whether slavery should
’be prohibited in anew Territory, in spite of
the Bred Scott decision, I would vote that it
should.”
“What I do say is, that no man is good
enough to govern another man without the oth
er man's consent. I say this is the leading
principle, the sheet anchor of American
Republicanism. Our Declaration of Independ
ence says :
“ ‘Wc hold these truths to be self-evident,
—that all men are created equal; that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights; that among these are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that
to secure these rights, governments are insti
tuted among men, deriving their just power
fram the consent of the governed.’
“I have quoted so much at this time to
show, that according to our ancient faith, the
powers of government are derived from the
consent of the governed. Now, the relation
of master and slave is, pro tanto, a violation of
this principle. The master not only governs
the slave ‘Without his consent, but he
governs him by a set of rules altogether dif
ferent from those which he prescribes for
himself. Allow all the governed an equal
voice'in, the government; and that, and
that onlyis self-government.”*
Again, in a speech delivered in Chicago,
during the last I’residential election, which
we find published in tlielllinois State Journal,
the State organ of the Black Republican par
ty of Illinois, on tlie 16th of September, 1856,
Mr. Lincoln said :
“That central idea, in our political opinion,
at the beginning was, and until recently con
tinued to be, the equality of men. And, al
though it was always submitted patiently to,
whatever equality there seemed to be as a
matter of actual necessity, its constant work
ing has been a steady progress toward the
PRACTICAL EQUALITY OF ALL MEN.
“Let past differences as nothing be; and,
with steady eye on the real issue, let us re
inaugcrate the good old central ideas of the
Republic. We can do it. The human heart
is with us ; God is with us. We shall again
be able, not to declare that all the States, as
States, are equal; nor yet that all citizens,
as citizens, are equal; but renew the broader,
better declaration, including both these and
much more, that all men are created equal.”
Yet again, in liis speech at Chicago, on the
10th of July, 1858, Mr. Lincoln said :
“I should like to know if, taking the old
Declaration of Independence, which declares
that all men are equal upon principle, and
making exceptions to it, where will it stop ?
If one man says, it does not mean a negro;
why not another say, it does not mean some
other man? If that declaration is not the
truth, let us get the statute-book in which we
find it, and tear it out. [Cries of “No, no!”]
Let us stick to it, then ; let us stand firmly by
it, then. * * * * Let us diseard all this
quibbling about this man ami the other idan
—this race and that race and the other j-ace
being inferior, and therefore they must be
placed in an inferior position—discarding the
standard that we have left us. Let us discard
all these things, and unite as one people through
out this land until wc shall once more stand up
declaring that all men are created equal.
* * * * I leave you, hoping that tlie
lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until
there shall no longer be a doubt that all men
are created free and equal.”
In these declarations Mr. Lincoln has cov
ered the entire abolition platform—hatred of
slavery, disregard of judicial decisions, ne
gro equality, and, as a matter of course, the
ultimate extinction of slavery. None of
the e doctrines, however, are left to inference,
so far as Mr. Lincoln is concerned, as we sec
lie has avowed them in the plainest and clear
est language. They arc not exceeded by the
boldness of Seward-, the malignity of Gid
dings, or the infamy of Garrison. It-was the
knowledge of these facts which induced his
nomination by the Republican party ; and
by the free circulation which lias been given
to them in the canvass, it would seem that
Mr. Lincoln is indebted to tlieir popularity
for his election. Tlie insincerity of his dis
avowal of the doctrine of negro equality,
when pressed to the wall, after the solemn
declarations I have quoted, is too transpar
ent to require remark.
Such, tnen, are the sentiments and princi
ples which an overwhelming malority of tlie
North have indorsed by their votes for the
man who announced and defended them.
In this inquiry into the doctrines and prin
ciples of the Black Republican party, wc can
not leave unnoticed tlie announcements which
have been made to the country by tlieir ablest
recognised letter. Gladly would J. turn from
the nauseating recital; but to learn and ap
preciate the truth of (lie case,*we must look
to the whole record, however steeped in in
famy, or covered with falsehood. I affix to
these extracts the names of the Senators who
uttered them—names, I regret to say, too
familiar to all the readers of American po
litics.
“Thus, these antagonastic systems are con
tinually coming into closer contact, and col
lision results. Shall I tell you what this
collision means? They who think it is ac
cidental, unnecessary, the work of interested
fanatical agitators, and therefore ephemeral,
mistake the case altogether. It is an irre
pressible conflict between opposing and en
during forces, and it means that the United
States must and will, sooner or later, become
entirely a slaveholding nation, or entirely a
free-labor nation. Either the cotton and rice
fields of South Carolina, and the sugar plan
tations of Louisiana, will ultimately be tilled
by free labor, and Charleston and New Or
leans become marts for legitimate merchan
dize alone, or else the rye fields and wheat
fields of Massachusetts and New York must
againbe surrendered by their farmers to slave
culture, and to the production of slaves, and
Boston and New York become once more a
mavket for trade in the bodies and souls of
men. It is the failure to apprehend this great
truth that induces so many unsuccessful at
tempts at final compromise between the slave
and free States, and it is the existence of this
great fact that renders all such pretended
compromise, when made, vain and ephmer
al.”—-Mr. Seward.
“The interests of the white race demand
the ultimat e emancipation of all men. Wheth
er that consummation shall be allowed to
take effect, with needful and wise precau
tions against sudden change and disaster, or
be hurried on by violence, is all that remains
for you to decide.”— Mr. Seward.
“Slavery can be limited to its proper
bounds; it can be ameliorated. It can be, and
it must be abolished, and you and I can and
must do it. The task is as simple and easy as
its consummation will be benificent, and its
rewards glowing. It only requires to follow
this simple rule of action : to do everywhere
and on every occasion what we can, and not
to neglect or refuse to do what we can, at
any time, because at that precise time, and on
that particular occasion, we cannot do more.
Circumstances determine possibilities.” ****
“Extend a cordial welcome to the fugitive
who lays his weary limbs at your door, and
defend him as you would your paternal gods.
“Correct your own error that slavery has
any Constitutional guarantees which may not
be realised, and ought not to be relinquished.”
* * “You will soon bring the parties of
the country into an effective aggression upon
slavery.”— Mr. Seward.
“What a commentary upon the history of
man is the fact, that eighteen years after the
death of John Quincy Adams, the people have
for their standard-bearer Abraham Lincoln,
confessing the obligations of the Higher Law,
which the Sage of Quincy proclaimed, and
contending, for weal or woe, for life or death,
in the Irrepressible Conflict between freedom
and slavery. 1 desire only to say that we are
in the last stage of the conflict, before the
great triumphal inauguration Os this policy
into the Government of the United States.”
Mr. Seward.
“In what I have done, I cannot claim to
have acted from my popular consideration of
the colored people, as a separate and distinct
class in the community, but from the simple?;
S,~From Howell’s Lifip of Lincoln, page 270.
conviction that all the individuals of that
class are members of the community, and, in
virtue of tlieir manhood, entitled to every orig
inal right enjoyed by any other member. We
feel, therefore, that all legal distinction be
tween individuals of the same community,
founded in any such circumstances as color,
origin, and the like, are hostile to the genius
of our institutions, and incompatible with
the true theory of American liberty. Slave
ry and oppression must cease, or American
liberty must perish.
“In Massachusetts, and in most, if not all,
the New England States,"the colored man and
the white are absolutely equal before the
law.
“In New York, the colored man is restric
ted as to the right of suffrage by a property
qualification. In other respects the same
equality prevails.
“I embrace, with pleasure, this opportuni
ty of declarng my disapprobat ion of that clause
of the Costitution which denies to a portion
of the people the right of , suffrage.
•‘True Democracy makes no inquiry about
the color of the skin, or place of nativity, or
any other similar circumstance or condition.
1 regard, therefore, the exclusion of the col
ored people, as a body, from the elective
franchine, as incompatible with true Demo
cratic principles.”— Mr. Chase.
“Fof myself, I am ready to renew my
pledge, and I will venture to speak in behalf
of my co-workers, that we will go straight
on, without faltering or wavering; until every
vestige of oppression shall be erased from tlie
statute books—until the sun, in all its journey
from the utmost eastern horizon through the
mid-heaven, till he sinks behind tlie western
bed, shall not behold the foot-print of a single
slave in all our broad and glorious land.”—
Mr. Chase.
“Language is feeble to express all the
enormity of this institution, which is now
vaunted as in itself a form of civilization,
ennobling, at least, to the master, if not the
slave. Look at it in whatever light you will,
and it is always the scab, the canker, ‘the
bare bones,’ and the shame of the country ;
wrong, not merely in the abstract, as it is
often admitted by its apologists,’ but wrong in
the concrete also, and possessing no single
element of right. Look at it in the light of
principle, and, it is nothing less than a huge
insurrection against the eternal law of God,
and also the denial of that divine law in
which God himself is manifest, thus being
practically the grossest lie and the grossest
atheism. Barbarous in origin; barbarous in
its law; barbarous in all its pretensions;
barbarous iit the instruments it employs;
barbarous in consequences; barbarous in
spirit; barbarous wherever it sbows itself.-
Slavery must breed barbarians, while it de
velops everywhere, alike in the individuals
and in the society of which he forms a part,
the essential elements of barbarism.
“Violence, brutality, injustice, barbarism,
must be reproduced in the lives of all who
live within their fatal sphere. The meat
that is eaten by man enters into and becomes a
part of his body; the madder which is eaten by
a dog changes his bones to red ; and tlie
slavery on which men live, in all its five-fold
foulness, must become a part of themselves,
discoloring their very souls, blotting their
characters, and breaking forth in moral le
prosy. This language is strong; but the evi
dence is even stronger. Some there may be
of happy natures, like honorable Senators,
who can thus feed and not be harmed. Mitli
ridates fed on poison, and lived; and ii may
be there is a moral Mithridates who can swal
low without bane the poison of slavery.
Mr. Sumner.
“Send it abroad on the wings of tlie wind
that 1 am committed, fully committed, com
mitted to tlie fullest extent, in favor of im
mediate and unconditional abolition of slave
ry, wherever it exists under the authority
of tlie Constitution of the United States.
Mr. M’ilson.
If all men are created equal, no one can
rightfully acquire or hold dominion over, or
property in, another man, without his con
sent. If all men are created equal, one man
cannot rightfully exact the service or the la
bor of another man without his consent. The
subjugation of one man to another by force,
so as to corifpel involuntary labor or service,
subverts that equality between the parties
which t he Creator established.— Mr. Seward.
“All this is just and sound ; but assuming
the same premises, to wit: that all men are
equal by the law of nature and of nations,
the right of property in slaves falls to the
ground; for one who is equal to the other,
cannot he the owner or property of that other.
But you answer that the Constitution recog
nizes property in slaves. It would be suffi
cient, then, to reply, that this constitutional
obligation must be void, because it is repug
nant to the law of nature and of nations.”
Mr. Seward.
“If is written in the Constitution of
United States, in violation of the divine la
that we shall surrender the fugitive slave.
You blush not at these tilings, been use they are
familiar as household words.”— Mr. Seward.
“The Supreme Court also can reverse its
spurious judgment more easily than we can
reconcile the people to its usurpation.” * * *
“The ’people of the United States never can,
and they never will, accept un
constitutional and so abhorrent. Never,
never. Let the court recede. Whether it
recedes or not, we shall reorganize the court,
and thus reform its political sentiments and
practices, and bring them into harmony with
the Constitution and the laws of nature.”
Mr. Seward.
Similar extracts from tlie same aud other
equally high authorities might be produced to
an indefinite extent. 1 have confined myself
to Senators —men high in authority, and who
bring to the support of their doctrines un
questioned evidenee of tlie sanction and ap
proval of the people tuey represent. All of
these Senators have been endorsed by re
election to the Senate, and by elevation to
other posts of honor and distinction. Some,
if not all of them, are indebted for tlieir po
sition aud popularity to tlie very avowal upon
which 1 am comineiiti ig. It is worse than
idle to say that tlie people condemn these
doctrines, and that they are tlie extravagant
ebulitions of exsited partizans. This is im
possible. Otherwise these sentiments would
not be repeated and reiterated, in and
out of season, by these Senators, and always
with more than usual emphasis and bitterness
as tlie time for their re-election approaches.
Nor would State Legislatures continue to re
turn them to Congress if the people did not
approve and sanction the doctrines thus an
nounced by those chosen to represent them.
In the other branch of Congress, the Black
Republican representatives have gone even
farther than Senators, in their abuse and de
nunciation, not only of tlie institution of
slavery, but of slaveholders. No language
is deemed too harsh—no epithet too course—
no denunciation too bitter, in tlie estimation
of these men, to be applied to the people of
the South. The official record ot Congress
is filled with the most inflammatory appeals,
not only to tho people of the North, but to
the slaves of tlie South, inciting insurrection,
stimulating revolls, encouraging arson and
murder, and denouncing sladeho'lders as pi
rates and barbarians. I shall not stop to
make quotations from these speeches It is
only necessary to open any volume of the
Congressional Globe for the last few years,
and turn to the speech of any Black Repub
lican on the subject of slavery, and you will
find ample evidence of the truth of the state
ment.
~To such an extent has this habit, on the
part of menbers of Congeess, of abusing the
people of the South gone, that a citizen of
a Southern State cannot visit the Capitol of
his country, and linger for an hour in its
halls during the session of Congress, without
hearing and epithets applied to
himself and section of the most offensive
and insulting character. The venerable men,
of all sections, who served in Congress
twenty-five and thirty years ago, listen to
these discussions or read them in the papers
with equal astonishment and mortification. I
will not pause to comment upon this state of
things, but will proceed with my inquiry into
the principles and objects of this party.
Whilst these announcementsarcbeiugmade
in the halls of Congress, and by those who
have been commissioned to speak for the
people of the North, it is not strange that the
public press should be filled with similar seuti
ments, only clothed, if possible, in more vul
gar language. 1 simply allude to the fact,
without intending to weaken the argument
by bringing to the witness-stand the lower
order of Black Republicans, of the class of
Webb, Wentworth, Greeley, Stc. They simply
do the bidding of wiser beads. With them it
is thrift. With the others it is sentiment—
passion—power; and the fact that so many
instruments can be found to do the mental
work is only evidence of the extent to which
the doctrines and principles have taken root
in the popular heart.
There is one dogma of this party which lias
been so solemnly enunciated, both by their na
tional conventions and Mr. Lincoln, that it is
worthy of serious consideration. I allude to
the doctrine of negro equality. The stereo
typed expression the Declaration of Indepen
dence, that “all men are born equal,” has
been perverted from its plain and truthful
meaning, and made the basis of a political
dogma which strikes at the very foundation
of the institution of slavery. Mr. Lincoln
and his party assert that this doctrine of
equality applies to the negro; and necessarily
there can exist no such thing as property in
our equals. Upon this point both Mr. Lin
coln and his party have spoken with a dis
tinctness that admits of nq question or equi
vocation. If they are right, tho institution
of slavery, as it exists in the Southern States,
is in direct violation of the fundamental prin
ciple of our Government; and to say that they
would not use all the power in their hands to
eradicate the evil and restore the Government
to its “ ancient faith,” would be to write them
igtlvcs down self-convicted traitors, both to
Principle and duty.
* These principles have not only been de-
language of its ad
jHMttMM^Hhcfcnders^u^iavn^taote|r[|i)
found their way into the statute-books of ten
of the Northern States.
Every good citizen, North and South, ad
mits that the Constitution of the United States,
in express terms, requires our fugitive slaves
to be delivered up to their owners, when
escaping into another State. Congress has
discharged its duty in passing laws to carry
out this constitutional obligation; and, so far,
every Executive has complied with ht 6 oath
•f office, to see this law duly executed. The
impediments thrown in the way by lawless
mobs; the threats of violence to which the
owner has been, on different occasions, sub
;ected; and the expense to which both the
Government and the owner have been put,
are matters of small consideration, compared
with the more pregnant faetthat ten sovereign
States of the Union have interposed their
strong arm to protect the thief, punish the
owner, and confiscate the property if the
citizen of a sister State. Such are tho laws
passed by these Northern States, to defeat the
fugitive slave act of Congress, and annul a
plain provision of the Constitution of the
United States.
These laws arc the legitimate fruit/ot the
principles and teachings of the Black Repub
lican pariy, and have therefore very natural
ly made their appearance upon the staiutc
books of States under the control and in tlie
hands of that party. The existence cannot
ami should not be overlooked by those who
are desirous of knowing what this party will
do on the subject of slavers whenever they
have the power to act. I call attention lo
them, not only as an important item in the
evidence I am offering of the principles and
objects of the Black Republican party, but
for the more important purpose of presenting
a plain and palpable violation of the consti
tutional compact by ten of tte sovereign
parties to it. These very States are x aigoug
the loudest in their demands for uncondition
al submission on the part of the South to
the election of Lincoln. The inviolability of
the Union is the magic word with which they
summon the South to submission. The Sou.h
respouds by holding up before them a Consti
tution basely broken—a compact
violated. That broken Constitution ami vio
lated compact formed the only Union we ever,
recognized: and if you would still have us
to love and preserve it, restore to it th.lt-'Wtnl
spirit of which it has been robbed by your
sacrilegious hands, and make it again wiai
our fathers made it—a Union of good faith
in the maintenance of constitutional obliga
tions. Do this; and the Union will find in
all this lend no truer or more devoted sup
porters than the evev-loyal sons of the South.
This, however, tlie Black Republicans will
not do, as the facts I am now developing will
show, beyond all doubt or question.
In the election which has ju-d transpired,
the Black Republicans did not hesitate to an
nounce, defend, and justify the doctrines and
principles which I have attributed to them.
During the progress of the canvass I obtain
qd copies of the documents which they wey*
circulating at the North, with a view of as
certaining the grounds upon which they were
appealing to the people for their support and
confidence. With the exception of a few dull
speeches in favor of a protective tariff, in
tended for circulation in Pennsylvania and
New Jersey, and a still fewer number of piti
lul appeals for squandering the public lands,
the whole canvass was conducted by the most
bitter and malignant appeals to the anti-sla
very sentiment of the North. Under the sanc
tion of Senators and Representatives in Con
gress, tlie country was tiooded with pamph
lets and speeches holding up slaveholders
as “barbarians, more criminal than murder
ers,” and declaring unhesitatingly in favor of
immediate and unconditional abolitionin eve
ry State in the Confederacy where it now ex
ists—doctrines w hich are the necessary and
legitimate consequences of the universally
recognized dogmas of the Black Republican
party. It is worse than idle to deny that such
are the doctrines and principles of their par
ty because all of them have not reached that
point of boldness and honesty which induce
men to follow principles to tlieir legitimate
conclusions. One thing at least is certain ;
the managers of the canvass believed that
sucli doctrines were popular, or they would
not have spent both their time and money in
giving them such general circulation to the
exclusion of other matter. The election of
Lincoln in respone to sucli appeals show that
these men properly understood the popular
sentiment of their section, to whom alone
they appealed for votes to elect their candi
date.
From tiiese doctrines, principles, and sics
of the Black Republican party, I propose to
extract ilie aims and objects of the partly* It
will be borne in mind, that I rely upon the
declaration of tlieir principles : Ist. Asffuade
by tlieir national convention, lid. As /con
tained in tlie deliberate and repeated decllsEay
tions of their successful candidate i'otH|
£> ■ lency. 34. As a 4..mi"r jby
honored anl trusted if- dei-TijAthn
the United States. I invito attention
following propositions, as tlie plain anil le
gitimate objects proposed to be carricd/out to
the extent of their power:
First. That slavery is a moral, social, and
political evil; and that it is the duty of the
Federal Government to prevent its exten
sion.
Second. That slavery is not recognized by
the Constitution of the United States; and
that the Federal Government is in nowise
committed to its protection.
Third. That property in slaves is not en
titled to the same protection at the hands of
the Federal Government, with oilier proper
ty. ?
Fourth. That so far from protecting, it is
tlie duty of tho Federal Government; whom
ever its power extends; to prohibit it, aud
therefore it is tlie uuty of Congress, by law,
to prevent any southern man from going into
the common Territories of the Union with his
slave property.
Fifth. That slavery is such an evil and
curse, that it is the duty of every one, to the
extent of his power, to contribute to its ulti
mate extinction in the United States.
Sixth. That there is such a conflict between
slave and free labor, that all tlie States of the
Union must become either slave or free; a M
as all Black Republicans are opposed?to
slavery and slave States, their policy and
doctrines lock to all those States becoming
free, as not only the natural but desired result
of tlie “irrepressible conflict.”
Seventh. That the Declaration of Inde
pendence expressly declares, and tlie Consti
tution recognizes, tlie equality of tlie negro
to the while man; and that the holding the
negro in slavery is violative of his equality,
as well as of that, “ancient faith,” which Mr.
Lincoln says is violated in tlie present rela
tion of master and slave in tlie Southern
States.
Kiyhlh. That tlie Southern States do not
stand upon an equality with the non-slave
holding States, because, whilst it is the re
cognized duty of the General Government to
protect the latter in the enjoyment of all their
rights of property, and would esjiecially be
required to protect tlieir citizens from any
act of confiscation in the common territories
of the Union; it would be the duty of the
same General Govern incut not only to with
hold such protection from the citizen of a
Southern State with his slave property, in
the common domain, but io exercise that
power for his exclusion from that common
territory.
isinth. That the admission of more slave
States into the Union is rendered a moral if
not a physical impossibility.
To appreciate the full import of these doc-*
trines and principles of tlie Black RSpul!iaj
can party, they should be looked at iu-'coM
nection with tlie constitutional rights anpj
guarantees claimed by the Southern States.
They are briefly :
1. That the Constitution of the United
States recognizes the institution of slavery
as it exists in the fifteen Southern States,
2. That the citizens of the South have the
right to go with their slave property into the
common’territories of tho Union, and are en
titled to protection for both their persons ami
property, from the General Government dur- v
ing its territorial condition.
3. That by the plain letter of the Consti
tution, the owner of a slave is entitled to re
claim his property in any State into which
the slave may escape, and that both the Gen.-
eral and State Governments are bound under’
the Constitution’ to the enforcement of tills’
provision; the General Government by posfl
tive enactment, as has been done; and tliij
State Governments: by interposing no obsta®
cle in the way of the execution of the lam
and the Constitution. \ m
I decline to enumerate other constuutiomw
rights, equally clear, because 1 prefer to cow
fine myself in this argument to those whiefl
have been fully recognized by tlie higbefl
judicialatribunal in the country. No law aift
Constitution-abiding man will deny That t
rights here enumerated are within the clears
provisions of the Constitution, and that tli£
South is fully justified in demanding their rM
cognition and enforcement. Otherwise o>,
are asked to pay tribute and give allegiance,-
to h government which is wanting^either in’
the will or power, to protect us in
ment of undoubted rights. I apprehend®’
is equally clear that the antagonism betweiA
these recognized rights and the
principles of the Black Republica%party ft
plain, direct, and irreconcilable. •The
or the other must give way.
minded mam who ndsjits t li”
rights claimed by the Sent It, v. ;lftft|
she ought to yield. It only
quire whether the- Batch - ;
will recede from it
••lin-.ri, ]i - - - •,]>:, ii;• h^HHHft
trines have inaugurated. Those
tite hope that such will be tho ‘tfte
my n st jndgi.u-ni. 1 fiftp 1-’
id -
jUp It
i|j|| ’ jm
indicate, with unffl|H£ certainty, that'there
is no reasonable hopin’ such a result.
I know that there arwtliose who say and
believe that this party is\incapablc of exer
cising the power it has\obtained without
breaking to pieces, and they'iswk confidently
to its overthrow at an early period. It may
be that a cool philosophy, located <at a safe
distance from the scene of danger, mey rea
son plausibly upon the chances of overthrow
ing a party utterly unworthy of public Con
fidence ; but men looking to the security of
their property, and father and husbands anx
ious for the safety of their families, require
some stronger guaranty than the feeble as
surance of partisan speculations, to quiet
their apprehensions and allay their fears.
.This lhay be the case ; but unfortunately for
the future peace and security of the South,
the causes which may lead to its dissolution
and defeat arise outside of the slavery ques
tion. So far from the question of slavery
leading to such a result, it is only subject up
on whicn the party thoroughly harmonizes.
Hostility to slavery is the magic word which
holds them together; and when torn to pieces
by other dissensions, hatred to the South and
her institutions swallows up all other trou
bles, and restores harmony to their distracted
ranks. On this point wc are not left to mere
conjecture; the history of the party in the
ten nullifying States affords practical proof
of the fact. In which of these States did
the Black Republican party loose power in
consequence of their acts repealing the fugi
tive slave law and nullyfying the Constitution
of the United States? So for from their anti-sla
very legislation being an element of weak
ness, it has proven in nil these States the
shibboleth of their strength. In New York
and Pennsylvania, tlie corruptions of this
party were so palpable and infamous, that
their own press cnedout against it. Those of
the party who made pretension of honesty
felt the shame and humiliation brought upon
them; and yet, when the Presidential battle
wa* to be fought, it was only necessary to
raise the Abolition banner, and these acts of
Arutd and corruption were forgotten and for
g*iyii the greater and more absorbing feel
iiflfTfliosulity and hatred to the South and
her institutions. Shall we close our eyes to
‘these historical facts, and indulge the vain
hosts that these men will play a different pan
simply because they are transferred to anew
theatre of action ? I do not doubt that the
Black Republican party will be guilty of sim
ilar and greater frauds iu the Federal Gov
ernment ; nor do I doubt that their wrang
ling and quarrels over the offices and patron
age, will plant in their party the seeds of
strife and dissension, which would lead ordi
narily to their speedy downfall and over
throw ; hut I feel assured, by the teachings
of the past, that the magic word of anti-sla
very, will again summon them to a cordial
and fraternal re-union to re-new and contin
ue the war upon slavery, until they shall have
accomplished the great object of their organi
sation —“its ultimate extinction.”
What arc the facts to justify the hope, that,
the Black Republicans will recede from tlieir
well defined position of hostility to the South
and her institutions ?—Are they to be found
in the two millions of voters, who have de
liberately declared in favor of these doctrines
by their support of Lincoln ? Is tlie hope
based upon the fact that an overwhelming
majority of the people of every Northern
State save one cast their vote for the Black
Republican candidate? It is drawn from the
fact that, on the fourth of March next, the
chair of Washington is to be filled by a man
who hates the institution of slavery as much
as any other abolitionist, and who hits not
oniy declared, but used all the powers of his
intellect to prove, that our slaves are our
equals, and that all laws which hold other
wise are violative of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, and at war with the law of God —
a man who is indebted for It is present ele
tion to the Presidency alone to liis abolition
sentiments —anil who stands pledged to the
doctrine of “tlie irrepressible conflict,” and,
indeed, claims to be its first advocate?—or,
shall we look for this hope in the whispered inti
mation that, when secure of his office, Lincoln
will prove faithless to the principles of liis
party; and false to Ids own pledges, or, in liis
emphatic declaration of May, 1850, that lie
would “oppose the lowering of the Republi-
can standard by a hair’s breadth ;” or iu the
public announcement made by Senator
“Trumbuli” of Illinois, since the election, in
the presence of Mr. Lincoln, that he, Lincoln,
would “maintain and carryforward the prin
ciples on which he was elected,” at the same
.time lidding up the military power of the
United Slates as tlie instrumentality to en
force obedience to tlie incoming abolition ad
ministration, should any Southern State
secede from the Union; or in the prospect of
a mare efficient execution of the fugitive slave
, wlien the marshals’ offices in all the
Hfeheva have been filled with
of ihe*, flection of Lin-’
(loin, by the decisive vote of more than two
to one, in her Legislature, to repeal tlie Per
sonal Liberty Bill of that State; or shall we
look for it in tlie doctrines of negro equality,
which finds among its warmest supporters the
brightestlightsof the Black Republican party;
or in tlie announcement solemnly made by
Conventions, speakers, papers, and all other
organs of the party, that the recognized rights
oftlie South to equality and protection of slave
property shall never be tolerated ; or in fact,
that the party is not oniy sectional in its
principles, but sectional iu its membership ;
thereby giving to tlie South (lie promise ol’
such boon as she may hope to receive from
1 “Black Republicans in tlieir newly assumed
character of guardians and masters ; or in the
warning voice of their ablest statesmen, that the
decisions of the Supreme Court in favor of our
constitutional rights are to be met, not with
reason and argument for reversal, but with
tlie more potent and practical remedy of “re
organization of tlie Court,” by adding a suffi
cient number of abolitionists to reverse ex
isting decisions; or in ibe pregnant fact de
veloped by the census returns now coming in,,
that the numerical majority of tlie North is
steady and rapidly increasing, with the pro
mise of still further increase, by tiie addition
of more free States carved out of that com
, mon territory, from which the Soifili is to be
excluded by unjust and unconstitutional le
gislation ? or in such manifestations of Nor
thern sentiment as led to tlie nomination by
this party of John A. Andrews for Governor
of Massachusetts, after lie had declared liis
sanction and approval of the John Brown
raid; or in tlie election of the same Andrews
to that oflice by seventy thousand majority,
after lie had declared, in his anxiety to
abolish slavery, that “lie could not wait for
Providence” to wipe it out, but must himself
undertake that duty with the aid of his Black
Republican brethren; or shall we be pointed
io the defiant tones of triumph which fill the
whole Northern air with i lie'wild shouts of
joy and thanksgiving, that the days of slavery
are numbered, and the hour draws near when
the “higher law” and “hatred of slavery and
slave holders” shall be substituted for “the
Constitution” and the spirit of former brother
hood; or to the cold irony which speaks
through their press, of the “ inconvenience ” of
negro insurrections, arson, and murder, which
may result in the South from the election of
Lincoln. In none of these, nor of the other
facts to which I have before referred, can
anytiiing he found to justify the hope suggest
ed by those confiding friends, who, in this
hour of gloom and despondency, are disposed
to hope against hope.
” Turning from these indications in the po
litical world, to the more quiet and peaceful
L-walks of social and religious life, let us
| pause, for a moment, and look to the pulpit,
.the Sunday schools, and all the sources of
Christian influence, for one cheering beam of
of light. Unfortunately, wherever you find
the presence of Black Republicanism, it is
engaged in this work of educating the hearts
of the peopleto hate .the institutionof slavery.
The pulpit forgets every other duty and doc
trine to thunder its anathemas against this
institution, whilst the Sunday school room is
made the nursery of youthful Abolitionists.
-This hope - we are asked to adopt will find in
’ these sources no encouragement or support.
On the contrary, nothing has contributed
/more to the creation of that bitter feeling of
hatred, which now pervades the two sections of
the country, than the religious teachings of
the North. It has broken social relations,
severed churches, and now t hreatens, in com
pany with its political handmaid, Black Re
publicanism, to overthrow our once happy
and glorious Union.
I refer to one other source, upon which the
South is asked to rely, and will then close the
argument. We are expected, in view gs all
these facts, to rely for our safety and protec
tion, upon an uncertain, and, at best, trem
bling majority in the two Houses of Congress,
and told, with an earnest appeal for further
delay, that with a majority in Congress
against him, Lincoln is powerless to do us
harm. I doubt not the sincerity of those
who present this appeal against Southern ac
tion ; but their confidence in its merit only
shows how superficial lias been their consid
eration of the subject. It is true that, with
out a majority in Congress, Lincoln will not
be able to carry out, at present, all the ag
gressive measures of his party. But let me
ask if that feeble and constantly-decrcasiug
[majority in Congress against him can arrest
[that tide of popular sentimental the North
[against slavery, which, sweeping down all
[the barriers of truth, justice, and constitu
tional duty, has borne Mr. Lincoln into the
[Presidential chair ? Can that Congressional
[majority; faint and feeble as it is known to
[be, xepeal the unconstitutional legislation of
Kliose ten nullifying States of the North ?
[Can it restore the lost equality of the South
lorn States ? Can it give to the South its con
‘stitutional rights? Can it exercise its power
in one single act of legislation in our favor
without the concurrence of Lincoln ? or can
it make Christians of Beecher, Garrison,
Cheevcr, and Wendell Phillips, or patriots of
Seward, Chase, and Webb? Can that ma
jority in Congress control tho power and pa
tronage of President Lincoln ? Can it stay
his-arm, when ho wields the offices and^a
tronage of the Governnoent, to cement and
strengthen the anti-slavery sentiment ,wliich
brought his party into existence, and which
alone can preservo it from early and certain
dissolution. Can it prevent the use of that
patronage for the purpose of organizing in
the South a baud of apologists—the material
around which Black Republicanism hopes,
during his four years, to gather an organiza
tion in Southern States to be the allies of
this party in its insidious warfare upon our
family firesides and altars ? True, but over
anxious friends of the Union at the North,
faithful but over-confiding men of the South*
may* catch at this congressional, majority
straw, but it will % only be to grasp and sink
with it.
The facts and considerations which I have
endeavored to bring to your view present
the propriety of resistance, on the part of
the South, to the election of Lincoln in a
very different light from the mere question of
resisting the election of a President who has
been chosen in tlie usual and constitutional
mode. It is not simply that a comparatively
obscure Abolitionist, who hates the institn
tionn of the South, has been elected Presi
dent, and that we are asked to live under
the administration of a man who commands
neither our respeet nor confidence, that the
South contemplates resistance even to disun
ion. Wounded honor might tolerate the out
rage until, by another vote of the people, the
nuisance could be abated ; but the election o
Mr. Lincoln involves tar higher considera
tions. It brings to the South the solemn
judgment of a majority of the people of every
Northern State—with a solitary exception—
iu favor of doctrines and principles violative
of lier Constitutional rights, humiliating to
her pride, destructive of her equality in the
Union, and fraught with the greatest danger
to the peace and safety of her people. It can
be regarded in no other light than a decla
ration of the purposes and intention of the
people of the North to continue, with the
power of the Federal Government, the war
already commenced by the ten nullifying
Statesof the North, upon the institution of
slavery and the constitutional rights of the
South. To these acts of bad faith the South
has heretofore submitted, though constituting
ample justification for abandoning a com
pact which had been wantonly violated. The
question is now presented, whether longer
submission to an increasing spirit and power
of aggression is compatible either with lier
honor or her safety. In my 4iml there is no
room for doubt. The issue must now be met,
or forever abandoned. Equality and safety
in the Union arc at an end ; and it only re
mains to be seen whether our manhood is
equal to the task of asserting and maintaining
independence out of it. The Union formed
by our fathers was one of equality, justice,
and fraternity. On tlio fourth of March it
will be supplanted by a Union of sectional
ism and inured. Tlie one was worthy of the
support and devotion of freemen—the other
can only continue at tlie cost of your honor,
your safety, and your independence.
Is there no other remedy for this state of
things but immediate secession? None worthy
of your consideration has been suggested,
except the recommendation of Mr. Bucbatian,
of new constitutional guaranties—or rather,
the clear and explicit i-ecognition of those
that already exist. This recommendation is
the counsel of a patriot and statesman. It
exhibits an appreciation of the evils that arc
upon us, and at the same time a devotion to
the Constitution ami its sacred guaranties. It.
conforms to the record of Mr. Buchanan’s life
on this distracting question—the record of a
pure heart and wise head. It is the language
of a man whose heart is with a
sense of the great wrong anti injustice that
has been done to the minority section, min
gled with an ardent hope and desire to pre
serve that Union to which he has devoted the
energies of a long and patriotic life.
The difficulty is, there will be no response
to it from those who alone have it in their
power to act. Black Republicanism is the
ruling sentiment at. the North, and, by the
election of Lincoln, has pronounced, iu the
most formal and solemn manner, against the
principles which are now commended to the
country for its safety and preservation. As
a matter of course, they will spurn these
words of wisdom and patriotism, as they have
before turned tlieir back upon all the teach
ings of the good and true men of the land, or
else they will play with it in tlieir insidious
warfare to delude tlie South into a false
security, that they may the more effectually
rivet their iron chains, and thereby put re
sistance iu the future beyond our power.
They have trampled upon the Constitution of
Washington and Madison, and will prove
equally faithless to tlieir own pledges. You
I ought not —cannot trust them. It is not the
faithless to their own pledges. You ought
I not—cannot trust them. It is not tlie Con
’ stitution and the laws of the United States
j which need amendment, but the hearts of tlie
% northern people. To effeift- the first would be
a hopeless undertaking, whilst the latter is an
impossibility. If the appeal of the PresideqJ
was made to brethren of the two sections of
the country, we might hope for a different
response. Unfortunately, however, Black
Republicanism lias buried brotherhood in the
same grave with the Constitution. We are
no longer “brethren dwelling together in
unity.” The ruling spirits of the North are
Black Republicans—and between them and
the people of the South there is no other feel
ing than that of bitter and intense hatred.
Aliens in heart, no power on earth can keep
them unitetk Nothing now holds us together
but the cold formalities of a broken and vio
lated Constitution. Heaven has pronounced
tlie decree of divorce, and it will be accepted
by the Sout h'as tho only solution which gives
to her any promise of future peace and safety.
To part with our friends at the North who
have been true and faithful to the Constitu
tion will cause a pang ir*every Southern
breast; for with them we could live forever,
peaceably, safely, happily. Honor, and fu
ture security, however, demand t he separation,
and in tlieir hearts they will approve, though
they may regret the act.
Fellow-citizens of Georgia, I have endeavor
ed to place before you the facts of tlie case,
in plain and unimpassioned language; and
I should feel that I had done injustice to my
own convictions, and been unfaithful to you,
if I did not, in conclusion, warn you against
the dangers of delay, and impress upon you
tlie hopelessness of any remedy for these evils
short of secession. You have to deal with a
shrewd, heartless, and unscrupulous enemy,
who, in their extremity, may promise any
thing, but in the end, will do nothing. On
the 4th day of March, 1861, the Federal Gov
ernment will pass into I lie hands of the Abo
litionists. It, will then cease to have the
slightest, claim cither upon your confidence,
or your loyally ; and, in my honest judge
ment, each hour that Genrgi-i remains there
after a member of tlie Union, will be an hour
of degradation, to be followed by certain and
speedy ruin. I entertain no doubt either of
your right or duty to secede from the Union.
Arouse, then, all your manhood for the great
work before you, and be prepared on that, day
to announce and maintain your independence
out of the Union, for you will never again
have equality and justice in it. Identified
with you in heart, feeling, and interest, I re
turn to share in whatever destiny tlie future
has in store for our State and ourselves.
HOWELL COBB.
Washington Citv, Dec. 0, 1860.
A correspondent of the Semi-Weekly True
Flag of Rome, Ga., (an able little sheet by
the way, which we are always happy to greet)
writes as follows :
Messiis Editobs.—l will bet SIOO that cot
ton will be 10 cts per lb in 90 days after Geor
§ia secedes—sloo that it will be 20 cts and
100 that it will be 25cts. Any gentleman
who wishes tc take the three bets together,
can call on the editors of the Hag, Rome Ga.,
and be accommodated. NO BACK OUT.
“According to thy faith, be it unto thee.”
Camden Races.
Camden, Dec. 12.—For the three mile race,
this day, the scoring was :
Alden 1 1
Exchequer (?) ,~r..2 2
Twer Bills Distanced.
In the second race, for mile heats, the re
sult w. s:
Cantey’s Flora McCaa 1 2 2
Mooke’s filly 2 1 3
Bullion A 33 1
[.Special Dispatch to the Charleston Courier.
Ought to be Commuted. —The first sentence
in the address of Gov. Magoflin, of Kentucky,
before the State Agricultural Society, contains
two hundred and sixty-four words, lie should
have commuted that sentence.
A dwarf only forty inches high, while
being made sport of in a bar-room, in Colum
bus, Ohio? tho other evening, fell oft’ the
counter backwards and was killed.
Col. llardee, U. S. A., Jias been requested
to address the New York State Military As
sociations, upon the occasion of their annual
meeting at Albany.— N. Y. Herald, Wthinst.
Aid from Connecticut. —Gov. Gist, of South
Carolina, has received a letter from a gentlo
manin Connecticut, enclosing a SI,OOO check,
with a request that it be invested in the new
issue of South - Carolina 6 per cent, stock,
intended to raise funds for arming the State.
The correspondence is published.
Columbia, Dec. 10.—The Report of tho
Board of Health, (which will appear in Mon
day’s paper,) announces 14 new eascsof small
pox. The panic among the members .is in
creasing rapidly.
Both tho Convention and Legislature will
very probably adjourn to meet in Charleston,
on Tuesday.
Ex-Secretary Cobb and Hon. Win. Porcher
Miles reached herefrom Washington < o-<lny.
They are in good spirits, and entertain high
hopes of a speedy dissolution.
WEEKLY TREE DEMOCRAT.
OFFICE IN LaFAYETTE IIALL,
Broad street,
unity 84 OO
Weekly 1 50
Invariably in Advance.
JOHN I . ELI.S, News Editor.
AUGUSTA, GA.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, DEC. 19, 1860.
PROSPECTUS
OF THE
TRCK DEMOCRAT
Change is written upon all earthly exis
tence. Through the dark centuries of the
past we behold not only the ghastly phan
toms of myriads who had lived, but, also,
the shadowy forms of empires which once
flourished in all the elements of power and
greatness. Time, in its flight, seems to be
dropping upon these United States the bale
ful dews of dissolution. The Union is no
longer the beneficent dispenser of justice,
liberty, and happiness to the people of our
Southern land. Under the malignant auspices
of Black Republican ascendency there is no
hope for the South but in the resumption and
exercise of all her sovereign powers.
The True Democrat originated in a politi
cal necessity. The friends of Equality in
the Union had no organ iu this city to advo
cate tlieir principles, and it was established
to fill that much needed political want.
Subsequently, it was the only organ,
here, of those who advocated the doctrine and
necessity of State secession. We arc pleased
111 another papers have become converts, and
we trust that they will continue in the faith
first taught them by the True Democrat.
As all the old parties have temporialy dis
appeared, and the issue, now, is submission
or resistance, we shall not announce, for the
present, any other line of policy than that
which has been indicated in our columns for
the past few weeks.
We shall counsel our people to throw off
the tyrauy of Northern fanaticism and sub
stitute Independence and Freedom in its
place. Wc shall hail liberty as a celestial
goddess, and counsel our people to enjoy it
in a Southern Confederacy. How rich, bow
great and powerful it may become, will ap
pear, from time to time, in our columns. Wc
can only allude to sucli matters in a brief
Prospectus. Strict attention will be paid to
our News and Market columns. In all re
spects, the paper will be valuable and useful
to those who may become its patrons.
Terms —Daily, $4 ; Weekly, $1 50. Pay
ments invariably in advance. There will be
no club rates. All business communications
will be addressed to the Firm, and all others
to the Editor. Wm. J. Vason & Cos.
Gov. Cobb’s Address to tlie People of
Georgia.
Wc publish (liis morning a portion of Gov.
Cobb’s able address, and will complete it on
Tuesday next. In order that our readers may
be in possession of liis views, in advance, wc
present a few id’ its leading points.
Ist. The Black Republican party originat
ed in Northern opposition to slavery.
2d. Men of all parties, however much they
differed in opinion upon oilier topics, united
in a determination to destroy tlie institution
of slavery.
3d- The constitutional rights of the South
were to lie ignored.
4th. The Supreme Court decision was re
pudiated.
sth The Black Republican party will ad
here to the principles which brought it into
power.
6th. Lincoln declared liis hatred of slavery
and that it must be ultimately overthrown.
7th. He declared that the negro is the equal
of the white man.
jßth. Seward, Chase, Sumner, Greeley,
ffiibb, and oilier trading Black ij.epwtdicans,
Mich the same doctrine.
Woth. They teach that there is a law higher
pan the Constitution, which justifies a disre
gard of its provisions.
10th. Ten sovereign States have legislated
upon this idea.
11th. The South claims protection, the
North resists the claim. ‘
12th. The Northern pulpit and Sundy
school have tauglit the people of that section
to hate the institution of slavery.
13th. A temporary majority in Congress
against Lincoln will be unable to secure the
rights and safety of tlie South.
14th. Tlie whole power of the Government,
with Lincoln at its head, will be used to de
stroy southern rights, equality, and safely in
the Union.
15th. There is no remedy but secession for
existing difficulty, worthy of consideration
save that of new constitutional guarantees as
proposed by Mr. Buchanan, and they will be
spurned by our Northern enemies.
16th. Mr. Cobb entertains no doubt of tlie
right or duty of the people of Georgia to se
cede from the Union, for she never will again
have equality and justice in it.
The Dangers of Disolutiou.
We doubt not some people are deterred from
advocating immediate secession lest war,
with all Us attendant horrors, might be pre
cipitated upon us.
Timid politicians have so often Hashed (lie
fires, of war into the eyes of our people tlia l
it is not surprising some timid people should
cry Union ! Union ! to avoid its dangers.—
But, we ask such, what do they expect to
gain by remaining in the Union? Do they
not see that t-lie North will grow stronger and
the South weaker? Out of the Union the
North would require annually forty-five to
fifty millions of dollars to meet the expenses
of her separate government.
How could she obtain that immense sum ?
Her exports will not reach more than seventy
millions, and, of course, her importations
could not largely exceed that amount. It
would take from seventy to eighty per cent,
upon tiie importations to raise a sufficient
um for governmental expenses. Her people
would not submit to such excessive taxation
in favor of importers. Hence the Northern
government would be forced to direct taxation
for its maintenance. Direct taxation to the
extent required, with the existing heavy
debts of her States, (nearly $250,000,009),
would produce revolution among her own
people. She would not tax cotton, for that
is necessary for her factories. Indeed, her
manufactories would be broken down by En
glish competition, and the loss of the South
ern markets for her fabrics.
The North would find it difficult to feed her
people. Many of the poorer classes would
become like the peasants of Europe, ye i
like the serfs of Russia. They would rise up
in their numerical strenglh, and the despera”
tion of poverty and want, and sack the meat
and flour houses of the rich. They would do
it. They would handle the shining gold
against the will of the banker. Agrarianism
and anarchy would prevail until substituted
by monarchy or despotism No! the North
could not invade the South. We do not ap
peal to Southern men to assert their independ
ence merely because the North is unable to
•oerce them. We say, if war should come
let it come. Brave men might fall on both
sides, yea, many brave men and valuable
citizens; but enough of our Northern inva
ders would find their last resting places on
Southern soil to induce the rest to go back
and look Southward as to aland of vengeance.
Freomen will not stop to calculate the evils of
war when they must be slaves or fight.
“Greeting, and at Slch a Time.”
At the meeting held in Savannah on
■Wednesday night last, Col. Henry R. Jackson
accepted the nominalion in behalf of Capt.
John W. Anderson, and Col. Aug. Seaborn
Jones. The item, peculiarly gratifying to us
is the following, which we copy from the offi
cial proceedings:
“In conclusion, Col. Jackson alluded to
tho fact that Riohmond had been the first
to pledge her delegation to inmusdiato and
separate State action, and culled for throe
hearty cheers for Richmond county, which
wero given.” j
Valedictory.
Five months ago, at the earnest solicitation**
of many friends of the Breckinridge and Lane
party, wc commenced the hazardous experi
ment of establishing the fourth daily paper in
Augusta, designed solely to be devoted to tlie
advancement of the cause of True Democracy.
Kor reasons in which the public will not be
interested, our Proprietorship iu the paper
ceases.
We desire to return our thanks to many
personal and political friends for their efforts
in our behalf. W e return our acknowledg
ments also to our brethren of the press gene
rally, and to the citizens of Augusta, sub
scribers and advertisers.
To our successors in the Proprietorship of
the True Democrat, to its Editors and attaches,
we wish mnch prosperity, and a patronage
commensurate with its deserts. In the hands
of those who have abundant means to make
it a permanent journal, and conducted ed
itorially by capable and efficient men, Aay it
continue to extend its influence and its cir
culation, and flourish to a ripe old age.
J. V. Kennickell.
J. W. Taylor.
M. J. Divine.
C.reat Meeting Monday Night.
We had time, only, to allude briefly in
our last weex’s issue, io the imposing
assemblage of our citizens at the City Hall
on Monday night. Sucli a meeting to nomi
nate candidates for any purpose was never
before held in tliis city. The calls of busi
ness and the temptations of firesides, on an
inclement evening, were iusulficient to keep
the people at home. Tlie citizens went to
the Hall in throngs. All seemed to feel that
it was no ordinary occasion. Richmond
county, in primary meeting, i>a> to ijlter hei.
voice for submission or resistance to an or
ganized tyranny, existing with the pale of
the Union. See the official proceedings in
another column. Read the resolutions which
were unanimously adopted. They show that
the citizens of Richmond are not willing to
walk down to the self-destroyer’s doom. It
was not the voice of hasty passion, but, of
well-unit tired reflection and stern determi
nation. Let not the Union skeptic abroad,
imagine that the immense assemblage was
composed of young America alone. The old
were there as well as the young, not to check
the wrestle of the latter but to direct it with
wisdom.
There was much division of sentiment as
to who should be put in nomination as can
didates for the Convention. It Was impossi
ble to gratify the wishes of all. A patriotic
disposition was manifested to y iold individual
preferances to tlie general will, which, doubt
less, was equally participated in by aspirants
and tlieir friends.
This great meeting have put in nomination
a ticket strong in ability and in the confi
dence of the people. The Hon. George W.
Crawford, who lias served his State and
country with distinguished ability and pat
riotism, is called from his retirement to aid
in weaving a Southern bond of Union rich
and peaceful and enduring, to protect and
bless a people of common sympathies and in
terests. Dr. I.l*. Garvin and John Pliinizy,
Esq , are citizens of sterling integrity and
intelligence, in whom unbounded confidence
can lie placed by those whose dearest inter
ests will for a time be under their care and
keeping. No one can object that those inter
ests will be exposed by tlie wildness and way
wardness of youthful indiscretion. All three
have passed the meridian of life, and have
had varied experience in the cares and toils
ot business. Our candidates are before the
people. They are the approved standard
bearers ol the friends of Southern honor and
freedom and they will be triumphantly circl
ed to sit in the grand Council which will re
clothe the noble old Commonwealth of Geor
gia with the glorious robes of all her original
sovereignty.
—• —• .
Kflbrtsto Settle the IDffifiJjHjV/,
or the
in the present controversy.
that a caucus of Southern Senators was held
ou the Bih instant, but we caiinol see how
they could do aught to save the Union.—
Hence we were not surprised to learn that
they adjourned without accomplishing any
thing, or concurring in any plan of settle
ment. Doubtless all hopes of compromise
paled before the burning brand of degrada
tion which tho North holds up in the election
of Lincoln, and will apply to the South if she
submits to ids inauguration and governmcni.
Mr. Lincoln was elected upon a single idea —
hostility to the institution of slavery. TJM S ,
determination to destroy it was the universnj j
sentiment of his supporters. That spirit 1
blazed like the flame of a furnace. Anti- j
slaveryism was the combustible material that
put the Northern mind on fire.
What, then, if Mr. Lincoln should utter a
few conciliatory words ? Cun the-people of
the South repose confidence in them ? Are the
people of the South blind, that they cannot see
the ruse by which they are to he entrap
ped ? Throughout the campaign, the Black
Republicans held up Mr. Lincoln as the dead
ly foe of slavery. He was represented as the
valiant, faithful, uncompromising champion
of their principle—opposition to the institu
tion. They told us
Ho would not flatter Neptuno for his Trident;
Nor Jove for his power to thunder.
We should remember that there is a throne
behind the throne. Though clothed with the
trappings of the Presidential office, Lincoln
would not dare to shake off his bondage to the
demon of fanaticism if lie were disposed to
do it. lie will he its slave even if he shall
desire to shake oft’ its chains. “All the
States,” said he, must be either free or slave.”
They cannot exist halffree and half slave. Has
not Mr. Lincoln persisted in referring en
quirers to his former declarations as the in
dices of his future policy. We do not say it
is impossible for the Union to be saved, but
we do say it is impossible for it to be done by
any propositions, from the North, which
can be satisfactory to the South, ‘without the
most complete stultification of the former
They would have to eat their own long reit
erated words—forswear all their principles
and become tho red-hot enemies and and?
nouneers of tlicir own hellish doctrines. It
is scarcely possible they will do this. Ws
trust that Southern men will hold no Con
gressional caucuses to build bridges for the
Black Republicans to walk across the chasm
which they have dug for themselves and the
Union. They could not be trusted with new
oaths upon their lips when those which so
lately escaped them were impiously violated
in the name of God. Black Republicanism
may soften its mien—Lincoln may steal some
thing of the glow of virtue—but it wilf be
only to deceive the South and prepare beg for
a predetermined sacrifice. Southern /con
tentment, for a time, will be degredationj and
submission, under deceitful promises, will b
eventual ruin.
“Get behind me, Satan” should Be tha
auswer of Southern men.
One More. J
Vie notice one more banner, suipended
across Broadway, it extends from Globe
Hotel to tho corner opposite, thestorßofPouL
i.ain, Jennings & Cos. It measures l thirteon
by twenty feet, and is the handiwork of Mr.
J. G. Cofon. The following is a discription
of the banner;
GEORGIA,
TIIK EMPIRE STATE OP THE SOUTH.
A Cotton Plant,
around which
is coiled
a Rattlesnake
Has resumed her Sovereignty.
! N o Submission,
The rattlesnake which is coiled around the
Cotton Plaut, has eight rattles, and ono but
ton. Is the button for Cuba ?
Sudden Death.
It is with unfeigned regret that wo record
tho death of Mr. Crombe, Mail Agent
on the route from Augusta to Columbia. Mr.;
Crombe left this city on Thursday, i n appa-i
rent good health, but died on Friday night at
liis home in Orangeburg District, g’ .CJ Ho
was a good man and a faithful agent, t
; Southern Rights,