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®l)c ®ri-U)cchtn Constitutionalist by JAMES GARDNER, JR. I Front the N. O. Delia, 22d inst.] Later fro® Havana.—Execution of the Fifty-one Americans. Havana, Aug. 17, 1851. Eds. Delta : —I regret to inform you that the American prisoners, (silty-one in number.) were executed yesterday, at 12 o’c'ock, M. Some of them were dragged to the place of execution on their faces, and others were seen with their ears cut off. The Spaniards spit in their faces,struck them, and heaped upon them every imaginable species of taunts, insults and abuse, previous to their execution. After the tragedy, the brains of some of the victims were exhibited, and the most brutal acts of barbarity witnessed. The Americans here were not even permitted to give the bodies of these unfortunate victims of Spanish cruelty a decent burial. They were shot like dogs, and their bodies were hauled two miles, and thrown into a hole. The military stole their clothing, hats, boots, and stripped them of every thing, besides inhumanly mutilating their bodies, —cutting off their ears, and fingers. Such was the fate of these heroic martyrs to Cuban Liber ty, and such the scenes which marked their ex ecution ! The prisoners were not allowed to speak to any one after they had been condemned to be shot; but Col. Crittenden asked to be shot unshackled, but was refused. He met his fate bravely—like a real hero and a true soldier. It is with pain and mortification I note the fact that the American Consul evinced so little sym pathy for his unfortunate countrymen. They were confined in the Esperanzasix hours, and he had ample time and opportunity to visit them, had he been so disjiosed—so no excuse can be raised on that score. He was repeatedly called upon and begged to visit them, in order to learn if the,poor fellows had any words to send to their m v’rs, sisters, or friends, in their dying mo rn I but he peremptorily refused to have any thi Jto do with them. Had he desired it, he rotilu have obtained permission to visit them as well as Costa, of New Orleans. He has the watch of one of them, and fourteen letters weie liven him, which they hail addressed to their fiends, at home. Thank God 1 they died like ken—brave and valiant to the last! "The Creoles are charged with cowardice, but wit h what degree of justice, I am not. at present, ■re pared to say. What can they do, when the act that Lopez has but 300 or 100 men inpar y, is taken into consideration ? They have done well. It should be remembered that three thous ind troops are in the field, well officered, armed ind equipped. The fact cannot be ascertained, but it is tlrought )>• some that the prisoners were surprised by su- H-rior numbers of Spanish troops, and surrender d under the promise of pardon, or they would lot have given themselves up without a strug gle. We are watched and hunted here like so many »>gs. Twenty-live hundred resolute men can ake the whole island, and keep it. You must arouse our people, or every Ameri in citizen on this island will die a victim to panish tyranny. There is no safety even for rose who reside here, and their number is small. Is to the Creoles, they cannot do much, unless hey obtain immediate assistance. The charge hat they lack courage, does them great injustice. Vliat can they do in their helpless condition * I’inar del Rio has risen, and Guauazhay has ironounced. But can they hold out!—that is he question. All we want, all we ask for, is •TOO men. With that number Cuban lndepen ence would be established in less than two nontbs. I enclose you a bulletin of the Faro, giving you he names of the unfortunate men, who were cap ured and executed. They had no one to rep esent them. The Consul was afraid of losing iis popularity, and excused himself, when re |uestedto visit the prisoners, on the ground that lie Government had declared them outlaws, and hat they should have remained at home. Yet, le says, he is as anxious as any one to have the sland free! All 1 hojie for is, that the Spaniards will do “me act that will cause our Government to come lown on them. The brutes are becoming very auiy since their success. They call us Indians, leretics, pi rates, thieves, filibusteros, and every liing else that is degrading, and would take our ives, if they dared, and will do it yet, if we are lot veiy cautious. It is unnecessary to say more, as the papers vill furnish y'ou with the particulars of the re ent events on this unhappy island. There are many young men on the steamer, rom whom you can get all the news herein men ioned, confirmed. Ox Board Steamship Cherokee, i Havana, Aug. 16,1801. J E<fa. Della: I write this to send by the mail n-morrow, to inform you of the arrival of the ’amperoata place called Papos, some seventy oiles from this city. On landing, the patriots ad a tight, the result of which was that 430 Ipaniards were killed. A party numbering about ixty,in endeavoring to get around a point of and, in lighters or small boats, to attack a small own, were discovered and run down by the- Spanish steamer Habanera, which took some ilty-two of them prisoners. They were brought to this city, and shot this morning at 10 o'clock, without judge or jury. You will receive by this mail a printed list of their names. Forty of them were Americans, and twelve were foreigners. Their execution was the most inhuman butchery that ever took place in any country—the soldiers having to fire five rounds, and then to bayonet them, and knock them on the head with the butts »f their muskets. After which, they were dragged lown the hills and thrown into wagons, with their heads hanging out. Their clothes, caps, iats and shoes, were taken by the crowd, and tarried as trophies through the city. Now for my own trouble. Mr. Kennedy, of four city, in company with myself and seven teen df our passengers, went on shore this morn ing, Ind having procured nine cabs, or rather volahtes, rode out about three miles, to a place called Bishop's Garden. On our return, the horse attached to the carriage occupied by myself and Mr. Myers, of Mississippi, in the rear of the par ty, suddenly balked and stopped. After coaxing him to go, and finding him no go, I got out, and was forcing him to go ahead, when, suddenly, a Spanish officer came up and ordered the driver to drive us to the prison. In vain did we ask what was our crime. No one could, or at least would speak a word of English. The head officer not being in at the time, we were escorted from one prison to another, through nearly all of the pub lic streets of Havana, with two soldiers on each side, and a crowd w’hich increased as we pro gressed, following us, crying out, “Pirates! 1 ’ “Pa triots! "Americans!” &c. At last the offiers who had paraded us, receiv- I t f, n hom the main prison to conduct us bi'* the Captain General’s headquarters, to which place the crowd, about five hundred strong, fol lowed us, hooting at us as we passed. On ar at the Governor’s, we were placed be- WrZ ® e u° f iJr° d T n sold >ers. After wait uHabout a half hour, he arrived and heard the »ge which the officer made against us, which that we had made various signs—such as y'i"S our fingers across our throats—and fur re’ that we had drawn pistols and knives on 1 asked for an interpreter, and after learn charges, told the Captain General that f V u td s P°* £en Spanish scoundrel was a JtK “ e then ordered his men to release us, wnqn was done forthwith, and we walked out, I feeling much lighter, and breathing much freer, | as, at one time. I assure you, 1 thought the Moro Castle was our doom. p We had walked but about three blocks from the place of our release, when we were again ar rested by the same officer, who threatened to keep ns safe, unless we would give him money. Three gentlemen, Spaniards—the only ones of that caste that I have seen in this city since I have been here—one of whom spoke a little En glish—told us that if those officers got a chance at us they would most assuredly stick a knife in us, and that the sooner we got to our friends the - better it would be for us; and, further, two of them said they would pilot me a short distance out of their way. I felt a little shy of them, as they had deceived me before, yet I thought it best to trust to luck. I had gone hut a short distance when they again arrested me, I then used mv physical strength, knocked them down, ran off, and finally got on board the boat. My companion, however, was not so successful, as he was retak en, and is not yet released. I forgot, however, to say that at the first prison they searched us, and stole from me a small pen knife, which I shall hold the city responsible for. The city is all commotion, and the people are down in the mouth. You can put this in your paper with my name attached, if you deem it worthy of a place in your columns. You can rely upon its correctness. Yours respectfully. EENJ BUTMAN, of N. Orleans. The following is a list of the names of those shot: Col. W. S. Crittenden, Capt. Frederick S. Sewer, Capt. Victor Kerr, Lieut. Jas. Brandt, Lieut. J. O. Bryce, Lieut. Thos. C. James, Sur geon John Fisher, Capt. T. B. Veacey, Surgeon K. A. Forniquet; Sergeant J“. Whiterens, Ser geant A. M. Cotehett, Sergeant G. M. Green, Sergeant S. Salmon, E. T. Collins. James Stan ton. Soldiers, N. H. Fisher, Win. Chilling, G. A. Cook, S. O. Jones, jVf. H. Ball, C. C. Wm. Smith, A. Ross, P. Brourke, John Christides. William H. Holmes, Samuel Mills, Edward Rulman, Wiliam Little. George W. Arnold, R. J. Wregy, Robt. Cantley, John G. Sanka. Wm. Niseman. Serg’nt. Napoleon Collins, Ailj’t. R. C. Standford, Thos. Harnatt, A. Torres Hernandez, Patrick Dillon, Alex. MeHcer, Thomas Hearsey. Great Meeting of the Friends of Cuba. An immense gathering of our citizens, collect ed last evening in Lafayette Square; to express thefr disgust at the act of unparalleil barbarism perpetrated by the Spanish authorities in Cuba, againsta few of the brave followers, of Gen. Lopez, who were made prisoners by the Spaniards in the chances »f war. The vast multitude was addressed by Cols. Field and Wheat, who spoke in impassioned strains of the character of those of their friends who had been sacrificed on the altars of Spanish cruelty. They expatiated on the sncredness of the cause of liberty in which they fell, and ex pressed their willingness to s|>end' and be spent for Cuba and the Cubans. Judge Walker being loudly called for, addres sed the crowd, counselling them to observe the calm and dignified demeanor of freemen, having, as they had, a great wrong to avenge,—an in sult to wipe out. Acts of individual violence and passion would only weaken a feeling which ought to be concentrated and irresistible. The patriots must be helped—>braVely, substantially, effectually, and a monument for those who have fallen, must be erected in the lovely isle for whose liberties they fell.. The speakers were often interrupted by loud outbursts of applause, which showed a nnited ness of feeling, and a determinatfon 'to act, on the part of the hearers, which could not be readi ly silenced or put down. The following resolutions were then read to the meeting, and unanimously adopted, after which the crowd quietly dispersed: Resolved , That, as American citizens, we pledge ourselves to avenge the slaughtered vic tims of Spanish barbarism, who wete murdered in cold bfood by the minions of despotism in Havana, on tlie 16th of-August, instant. Resolved , That the murder of these men, uri derthe circumstances, is the most infamous deed of the age, and should place its perpetrators and abetters beyond the pale of humanity or mercy. Resolved, That we deplore the loss of the gal lant young men who risked thejr lives and ail in the sacred cause of human liberty, and tender our sympathy to their afflicted relatives and friends. Resolved , That Concha has shown himself to be the most dastardly and blood-thirsty villian of the ige, whom it is thednty of {ill mankind to pursue with their hatred and vengeance, until his own life shall expiate those of his murdered victims. Resolved, That all the aiders and abettors in New' Orleans, of the barbarous dynasty of Spain in Cuba, should be treated by all Americans w'itli scorn, contempt, and that hostility due to allies of such a cause, accursed, as it must be, by God and man. Resolved , That we will aid the patriot cause in the. Island of Cuba, at any and every sacrifice, and with all the means in our power. Resolved , ’l*hat, as from the slaughter of Alamo and Goliad, sprung with renewed vigor the germ of Texan liberty, so shall that of the gallant Crittenden and his brave companions, impart new strength and vigor to the Tree of Cuban In dependence. The Excesses of Yesterday and Last Night. We regret that the exciting news received yesterday-morning from Cuba, produced such a feeling of popular indignation among our citi zens, that acts of violence were done by them, which in their 11 sober second thoughts,” they will themselves condemn. The first object on which popular vengeance was wreaked, was the printing office of that villainous Spanish sheet, “ La Union ” which, for months past, has been casting forth its toad-like venom on the Ameri can character and name. The types were cast into the streets, the press was torn down, carried away in triumph, and broken; and the paper for a prospective edition, was scattered to the winds. No violence was used on the persons of any of the inmates of the printing office. The next attack was made on the cigar shop of B. Gonzales, at the corner of Gravier and St. Charles streets. This attack was provoked on the part of Gonzales, who declared to a young gen tleman of the city, that all the accounts of an in surrrection in Cuba were wholly false. On this, words arose, and Gonzales moved to get a pistol. Mr. M., the young gentleman on this, drew his pistol and warned the Spaniard that if he stirred, it was at his peril. Another Spaniard came to the rescue of his friend, and he was also kept at bay by Mr. M. A crowd now rushed in from the street, and committed some few excesses, but were even tually quieted and the shop was shut up. In about an hour, Gonzales opened his door, and, armed with a dagger and a dirk, he dared any one to attack him. His foolish banter was met by a volley of brickbats, after which he made a rush through the crowd severely stabbing two men, who opposed his way. He ran in the po lice office and thereby obtained protection from the vengeance of the pursuers, but his shop was now re-entered by the crowd, and its contents were cast into the streets. An American flag flung forth by a lady, from an tipper window saved other portions of the building from vio lence. All this was done during the course of the af ternoon. In the evening the “ Jenny Lind Sa loon,” at the corner of St. Charles and Perdido AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 185I‘. i streets, shared the fate of the Gonzales cigar shop. It was rumored that other Spanish coffee houses would be attacked, but the crowds de sisted, on the protestations of the parties that they favored the cause of Cuban liberty. While these scenes were being enacted, the Spanish Consul’s sign was torn down from his office and burnt, and a headless effigy of the Consul was borne by an indignant crowd, through the principal streets of the city. It was rumored that the American Consul at Havana would be treated to a like mark of respect to-night. We shall see what we shall see. Capture of the Fifty. We heard, yesterday, that the Fifty Patriots who were so inhumanly butchered in Havana, were captured by the upsetting of two rafts, on which they were proceeding to get in the rear of the Spanish army. These rafts, we learn, w'ere run into by a Spanish steamer, and the men being thus thrown into the water, were taken one by one. The following letters from that gallant young Creole hero, Victor Kerr, are among the last which he ever wrote. They were written in a bold and muscular style of chirography, aud will sufficiently refute the unfounded rumors touching their tenor, put into circulation yesterday by the enemies of Cuban liberty: To His Wife. My Dear Felicia: Adieu, nry dear wife; this is the last letter that you will receive from your Victor. In one hour I shall be no more. Embrace all of my friends for me. Never mar ry again; it is my desire. My adieus to my sis ters and brothers. Again, a last adieu. I die like a soldier. Your husband, victor kerr, August 16,1851 —6 o’clock. To his Friends. My dear Friends: I leave you forever, and I go to the other world. Lam prisoner in Havana, and in an hour I Shall have ceased to exist. My dearest friends, think often of me. I die wor thy of a Creolejwo’thy of a Louisianan, and of a Kerr. My dearest friends, adieu for the k»B6 time. . Your devoted friend, victor kerr. To N. Larose,H. Bouligny, Leon Fazende,Wil liam G. Vincent, Felix Arroyo. August 16, 1851-Mtl o’clock. AUGUSTA, GA. THURSDAY MORNING, AUGUST 28. “ Fair, Liberal and Just." Mr. Cobb says that the Compromise is fain liberal and just. The New York Express says: “ We do not believe that after the South has practically lost five measures of the Compromise, that they will let tlie North repeal the sixth, the only one that gives them any thing at all, and that one too solemnly guarantied by the CoustitutionP There it is, right out, plain and flat-footed, in the New Yofk Express. That’s what we have said all along. The South has practically lost five measures. If that is true, and the South got, in the Fugitive Slave bill, nothing more than is guarantied to her by the Constitution, what did she gain? That is the question, WHAT DID SHE GAIN ? It is the plainest case that was ever submitted to a free-people, since GoA Al mighty said, “ Let there be light.” We have lost every thing and gained nothing, and yet some of our would-be Governors, Vice Presidents, Senators, Speakers of the House of Representa tives, Foreign Ministers, &c., tell us that we have got a fair, liberal, just and honorable settlement!! The North is clothed in purple and fine linen— the SpHth has on a ragged coat, with half a tail, and out at the elbows, and yet we are told that we make as decent an appearance as the North. Is not this trifling with the public intelligence? The people must be won over by treating them as idiots! A triumph must he won at the ex pense of the public intelligence ! . Two men are equally interested in a large es tate. One gets the lands, the fine house, all the money, &c.; the other gets nothing —dines at his kind neighbor 1 !, if he dines at all, and has not a hole to creep into, like the fox, but lays his head as chance may permit. Would it riot he adding insult to injury to go up to this man and say to him, “ Sir, the settlement between you and the other party, is wise, liberal and just ” ? Would it not be doubly preposterous to ask him for his vote, while administering such consolation as this ? If he could be coaxed to admit that he was fairly treated and to vote for such a man, it might safely be said of him he would die like an ass. The people of the South' are routed, cheated, degraded, and then asked to vote for those who stand sponsers for the infamous deeds by which -it was done. Even in Kentucky, where Cas sius M. Clay run as the emancipation candidate for Governor, Gen. Leslie Combs, one of the most popular Whigs in the State, was beat for Congress, with a majority of over eighteen hun dred to back him. We shall not cease to hope . for similar results irt Georgia, till the people themselves give fruits at which to blush. Ap pearances, for nearly a year past, have been ominous of evil. There is some show of reason in a people’s yielding public virtue to pecuniary interests. No people ought to do that, but the human mind can contemplate no picture more debasing than that of a sacrifice of public virtue, with no pros pect of gain—indeed with every prospect of pe cuniary, social and political prostration, to fol low, as the direct and necessary consequence of that sacrifice. There are labyrinths of difficulty into which we might get by necessity, to'be extricated from which would require'all the wisdom, patriotism and courage which a people could command; but it is awful to contemplate their getting into such a condition by self-delusion, and the artful sophistries of selfish politicians, who see in themr selves stars of the first magnitude, and in the people their deluded worshippers. We shall not mince these matters to please even the people! The man who flatters the people to their injury, is a despicable demagogue, unfit to be a repository of power. We say, then, that the people are also censurable, who will not examine facts and judge for themselves. • The people of Georgia, in mass, ought to see the im position and cheatery of the Compromise, as plain ly as the New York Express sees it. Thousands of them do see it, and will act upon it. If popu lar leaders were to tell some people that an ele phant was a rat, they would believe it. With such, argument is vain. You might as well talk to a corpse. To a man who will examine facts, it would be as decorous to tell him that an ele phant was a rat, as that the late Compromise was, to the South, fair, liberal and just! Let the people examine and think for them selves. Northern Sympathy for the Blacks. The people of Indiana have adopted a new constitution. At their late election, they ratified the following, and made it a part of that consti tution S' We, of the South, are rogues, man-steal ers, antfetseals, dealers in the pound of flesh, and deservrfte be execrated by all mankind, because of our fHtarchal institution; and yet the friends of the in liberty-loving Ohio, have adopt ed the tdmving as a part of their fundamental law. 'ffi' It exhibits fully their hollow hypocricy, and the unprincipled character of their crusade against the South. They will permit no negro, or mu latto, to settle in Ohio, and yet would turn them loose upon us in a pent up and limited region. They hold us up to the scorn and hatred of the whole world for inhumanity; and mercy dies an endless death, in their sriuls, before their words of condemnation have fairly escaped their lying lips. “ Sec. 1. No negro or mulatto shall come into or this State, after the adoption of this “Sjic, 2. All contracts made with any negro or mulfßto coming into this State, contrary to the foregoing section, shall be void; and all persons who shsJl employ, or otherwise encourage such negro or mulatto to remain in the State, shall be filled in anjr sum of not less than ten dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. “Sec. 3. An fines which may be collected for a violation of the provisions of this article, or any law which may hereafter be passed for the purpose of carrying the same into execution, shall be set apart and appropriated for the colo nization »f such negroes and mulattoes. and their descendants, as may be in the State at the adop tion of this Constitution, and may be willing to emigrate. “Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall pass Uw« iKo provtoiona oC 4hia tvrtiele.'' It may he aad has been said, that there are peculiar reasons for such a decision in Ohio. The New York Tribune says, alluding to the above: “ We cannot doubt that the same proposition, in like manner submitted to a direct and naked popular vote, would prevail in nearly every free State of the Union.” There is the testimony of the ablest and most widely extended free soil paper published in the Northern States. How hypocritical and prepos terous the grief of these people, at the wrongs done the poor Africans! There is more real re gard for the well being, the comfort and happi ness of the negro race, in the bosom of a single Southern slaveholder, than exists in the public bosom of the entire State of Ohio. Considering their professions there, they act more like sava ges than civilized people. What would become of the black race if these people were to be the arbiters of their fate? They malignantly de nounce us and proscribe the negro in the same breath. Their love for him is an ostracising ty ranny, and their love for the South, a betraying and deadly hiss. That Letter. The Southern Recorder is quite clamerous for the publication of Mr. Cobb’s letter to the Ma con Committee by the Southern Rights papers, it insists that as those papers have been calling for Mr. Cobb’s tuppreued letter to the Cenvention, therefore, they are under obligations to accept the letter to the Macon Committee as a full response, and say nothing more about the suppressed letter- The editor of the Southern Recorder is some what mistaken if he supposes that either'the Southern Rights editors or the people of Georgia are tu be put off in that way. They want the mpprcevd letter, and they will not be satisfied with any thing tharler. Produce that tetter Mr. Cobb, and gentlemen of the Consolidation Union party, or acknowledge that it contains senti ments that you are afraid for the people to see. The people want to see the letter Mr. Cobb wrote to the Toonjbs Convention, which Mr. Toombs put in his breeches pocket, and conclu ded that it would not do to publish. Mr. Cobb may write as many and as long letters as his ingenuity may suggest, but as long as that sup pressed letter remains hid, the people will sus pect that there is a trick on foot to cheat them out of their votes. Discussion between McDonald and Oobb. We will publish in our next the gratifying ac count,furnished us by an eye witness, of the dis cussion at Marrietta, between the two candidates for Governor. The writer says: “Let our opponents boast as much as they please, we are perfectly satisfied with the re sult.” _ is our painful task to announce the death of Martin M. Dye, Esq., who departed this life at Madison, on the 26th instant, af ter protracted illness. He was for many years a well known and highly esteemed citizen of this community, during a portion of which time he occupied the honorable position of Mayor of the city of Augusta. A year or two since he moved to Savannah, where he was engaged in business, under the firm of Dye & Shumake, at the time of his death. He was an honorable merchant, a good citi zen, a benevolent man and a pious Christian. ' He was universally beloved and respected. - < - 1 . A Small Mistake. In Georgia 53 papers are published, 4 being monthly, 40 weekly, 4 tri-weekly, and 5 daily. Os these, 16 are democratic; 8 whig, 1 indepen dent, 4 literary, 2 medical, I agricultural, 4 reli gious, I Union, 1 neutral,and the character of the rest not stated. The largest circulation is that of the Augusta Sentinel, 5600 copies. Tne Temperance Banner, in Greene county, has 5000; the Angusta Constitutionalist,Southern Cultiva tor, Macon Telegraph and Macon Messenger have each about 300. We copy the above paragraph from the Mem phis (Tenn) Enquirer, in order to correct a mis take, in reference to the circulation of our paper. Probably a mistake was made in the omission of a cipher, in putting the number at 300. Our circulation is over ten tuousand, by which it I will be seen that it is much the largest in the State. The Constitutionalist, prior to its uuion with the Republic, had a circulation considerably exceeding 3000. Its circulation had for several years been above the last named figure. It is now probably greater than that of apy other paper in the Southern States. The following letter received by us a few days since, is from one of the most respectable and intelligent citizens of Rabun comity: “Clayton, Rabun County, July 25. We poll, in this county, abo]ftt3so votes, and Mr. Cobb will get 200 to majority will not vary much Irqm-100 votwß<..Send us some documents to prove the fire-aflkp were in favor of disunion last year—they denySt up here.” - Mr. Editor, the above is clipjl&ff from the Union Banner, edited at Macon. I am unable to say how, or from whom theeditofs'flfthe Banner re ceived their misrepresentation.of the vote of the people of this county (Rabun.) The gentleman) (whoever he is,) says out of about 350 votes in this county, that Mr. Cobb will get about one hundred majority. I greatly differ with the disruptionist, (for I know no true Southern Rights man would have give such an estimate.) and given a true and uft prejudeed opinion of the election ir. Octobor. I think that Mr. Cobb will get from 50 to 100 votes in the county, which will leave Judge McDonald 150 to 250 majority. I think I have good grounds to infer 1 that Mr., McDonald wits get largely the majority, from the fact that the usual Whig vote of the county is about fifty, and even some of the Whigs will not vote for Cobh. But I suppose there are a few dirt-eating De mocrats that will vote for him, which will give him about the average Whig vote of the county. Mr. Cobb in hi§ former elections, has always got largely the majority in Rabun : but the true old Democrats are getting their eyes open since Mr. Cobh has become one of the firm of Toombs, Stephens 8c Co. We are not unapprised that Mr. Cobb has turned traitor to the South, and therefore we are going for the old Democratic friend of the South and preserver the Union, (Charles J. McDonald.) Enough on this sub ject at present. I just wished to inform you and the public, that we are friends to the South and preservers of the Union. Justice in the Mountains. Clayton, August 19th, 185!. (communicated.) To John Scottt, H r m, W. Sturges, S. Randolph, Alex. McKenzie, and S. P. Davis, Esqrs. Gentlemen :—As a candidate soliciting the suffrages of the people, I fully recognize yoiir right to know the principles and policy which, if I am elected, would control me in legislating for the interest of the country; and I will, there fore,proceed to answer such questions as you have been pleased to propound to roe, in ac cordance with the opinions I entertain, and to the best of my abilities, and if in answering any question I fail to make myself, fully understood, please call my attention to it, and I will try again, for I do not believe in the doctrine of con structive answers. You will, I hope, excuse me for giving you iny reasons for the answers made to certain of your questions. I have also taken the liberty of an swering the third pertinent question in the only manner I could, to placfe myself in the position I desire to occupy before the country. To have ap swerwl it either in the negative or affirmative would not have given you my opinion correctly on this subject. In answer to your first pertinent question, viz: under existing circumstances, are you for or against the union of the States. Ans. —l am lor the Union. 2nd Question. —Do you favor as an ulterior ob ject, a reversal of the decision of the people of Georgia upon the compromise measures so so lemnly made in Convention, Ans. —l do n6t. For in this instance the sov ereign powdr was exercised by those who alone possess it, to-wit: The people. They in Con vention assembled, decided, that although they did not whoHy approve of those measures, yet they would abide by them, and although I may have differed with them in that opinion, I am a State Rights man, and according to my own doc trine, bound to submit; and yet I hold, that an other Convention would have the power to an nul or reverse the action of the last. Bat I can not see why we should desire to reverse the ac tion of that Convention. What could we gain by it ? Would it enable us to drive Northern fa natics from, our Legislative Halls? Would it 'check the course pf a reckless majority in their scheme of self-aggrafidizement ? Would it take from Avarice and Ambition the scales of Justice and put them in the hands of Wisdom and Vir tue? Would it place within, our gift, one of those easy chairs of State in which the patriot, who would fight our battles might rest his wea ried Kmhs ? No, it would do none of these things. Then why reverse it ? But you may ask: would not our public men listen to a remonstrance com ing from such a source ? I answer: not if it did not coincide with their views. They are deaj to every thing which does not pander to their aihbition. They can hear as a storm the shouts of majorities who proclaim their elevation, to - power; but the wail of a down-trodden minori ty would pass as the morning zephyr. You ask what mode and manner of redress do I propose for past grievances ? I know of none which would be certian to re dress our. grievances. I can only suggest to you a probable mode; and that is, for those who do not “wholly approve of the compromise mea sures” to refuse, by their votes, to place any man in power who believe that they are wise, liberal and just. This is a constitutional and pestceable mode at least, and as we cannot be injured by the experiment, I propose to you to try it on the first. Monday in October next. Your next question: Do you hold the doctrine, that a State may rightfully and properly dissolve her connection with the Federal Government at pleasure, with or without cause ? new series - vol: vi. no. m; ! I hold this doctrine, to-wit: That a State may (its morar obligations not considered) dissolve its connection with the* General Government at ! pleasure. But that it would be proper for her to do so mtliout cause , I do not believe. Your fourth question: . Do you believe that Congress, by the recen - enactments, known ps the compromise measures, , robbed the Southern 'States of all their*inlerest in I the territory acquired from Mexico, and imposed upon them, as condition of their remaining in the Union, degradation and inequality ? , r _ 1 I cannot say whether we were robbed, juggled l or bought out of it I know that we obtained * from Mexico three hundred million of acres of territory; but Ido not know that these is a sin , gle Southern slaveholder settled on any part of it , with his slaves: nor do I believe he could do so . with safety to his property. That there are . thousands of Northern men settled ondt/no one j pretends to doubt, and they had the privilege of , carrying with them all their moveable property , Brass Clocks, Wooden Nutmegs, and Horn Gun Flints included, and the General Government protects their property; and yet the Constitu , tion purports to have been lormed to establish justice and promote the general welfare. Now I ■ cannot perceive that the parties have equal pri vileges—so there must be inequality. Now as to the degradation. The Georgia Convention said , ikdid not wholly appfove the comprotJffse mea -1 sures. They could not have considered them , just. If they had, they would have fully ap } proved them, and in submitting to injustice, we surely did not exalt ourselves. , *yv.. Below you have mv answers to your question* 5 in relation to the theory of government. What relation does a State bear to the General * Government, and in the act' of ratifying the Constitution of the United States was State sov ereignty merged into that of the common gov ernment? ; Ans.—They bear the same relation as creator and creature, or to be more plain, 1 will illustrate by a simile. I will suppose the 31 States to be 1 represented by thirty-one lights, and the General Government by a wfdl burnished reflector, so r placed as to reflect each one of these lights upon , all the others. This you my opinion as well as lam able to da*' In this comparison you will readily perceive, that each State, although enjoying the reflected light of the other thirty retains all of its own* The General Govern ment reflecting, combined the light of the whole thirty-one, yet not possessing one ray of its own. I do not believe that the sovereignty of a State , was ever merged into that of the General Gov ernment. On the contiary, I believe it y>is ful . ly recognized in that clause of the- Constitution establishing the Senate. Upon what other grounds could the States of Delaware and Rhode Island * claim an equal power in the Government with r New York and Virginia ? They could not have claimed thiss equality oh V ground of equality of-population, and sntely not of their immensity 1 of territory. Each State, in entering into tha ■ compact, pledged herself-to her sister States, to > do and perform, or to desist from the doing of cer , "tain things therein specified? ; Honor and good faith to her sister States re > quire that each State should fulfil the efigage ’ ments entered into so long as she remains united with them; but a failure on the part of her sis ter States to comply with the articles of agree ment. annuls the bond and leaves the State free to act as her interest may dictate. I do not (lelieve, that q State can direst itself of its sov ereignty by an act of its own : nor do I believe she can be divested of it unless you drive her Representatives from the Halls of Congress— conquer her people and partition her territory (Poland like) among the neighboring States. You aak where is lodged the ultimate power to decide upon the constitutionality of the laws? I believe in the people of the States, and the peo ple of each State may decide for themselves whether in a given case the General Government transcends its powers. I know of no other pow er to whom it might appeal. A State would not appeal to Congress, (admitting its power.) This would be a partial tribunal, for the case would have been pre-judged. Ido not believe, that the Supreme Court, could, under the Constitution ex ercise jurisdiction; for in the clause in that instru ment establishing this tribunal, it especially de clares who shall be parties to controversies,and al though many are enumerated between whom she may decide, I cannot find that of the Fed , eral Government and a State mentioned as parties in controversy over whom said Court might hold jurisdiction. But do not misunderstand me. If there should be a law- passed by Congress agree ably to the mode pointed out by the Constitution and a State or number of States in their highest council assembled, should decide it to be uncon stitutional, I do not contend that it would render the law void in such State or States. On the contrary, it would have all the binding power of any other law upon such State or States, so long as they remained in the Union, for I hold that a State ts bound in honor and good faith to submit to all the rules and regulations which a majority of her sister States piay adopt for their govern ment, so long as she remains united with them. As it may. save you the trouble of again calling on me, permit me, gentlemen, while on this sub! ject, to give you my opinion on a new mode, at least (to tnej of testing the constitutionality or justice of a measure. The mode is simply to have thfe views of a majority, and if they decide the measure just or constitutional, it is so; and the supporters of this new doctrine vindicate it by asserting that this is a Republican form of go vernment where majorities should or ought to rule. Now- add to this the doctrine, that a State has not the right to peaceably withdraw from the Union, and does it not make a splendid consoli dation. I would not be surprised to hear that spme far-seeing Yankee had gone to manufactu ring Block Cockades. Let me show yon, by comparison, some of the effects of such a govern ment. England, Ireland and Scotland are united States, under a consolidated government, where majorities are supreme. Ireland is in a minori ty m the Parliament of the Union. Do we not all know that she has been degraded and op pressed for; more than a century by the majorities; and when she raised her voice and asked, as a boon, to be allowed to peaceably withdraw from the Union, wliat did the majority reply ? “ Se cession is the end of a Rope,’’ and they sent fif ty thousand bayonets to ensure the application. I ask, gentlemen., are (here any among us, who are willing to jeopardize their liberties by vest ing in our common government such a power as this ? Deny the right of a State to secede—ad mit the power of the General Government to co erce her if she should do so, and you have the same precisely. Now, if I did, or could be made I to believe, that this was the kind of Union which exists between these States, I would like Ham I ;no not like him, but like Peter the Her mit, i would clothe my body in sack-cloth, gird up my loins, put a liberty cap on my head, and preach a crusade against it. Yours respectfully, JOHN T. BROWN,