OUR MISSION:
IS IT TO BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE PERPETUATION
OF OUR PRESENT UNION ?
THE QUESTION CONSIDERED
BY THE
LIGHT OF REVEALED RELIGION,
REVIEW
OF THE
POLITICAL OPINIONS OF SOME OF OUR CLERGY.
And the children straggled together within her, and she said : If it be so, why am I thus ?
And she went to enquire of the Lord, and the Lord said unto her: Two nations are in thy
womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels.—Gen : Ch. xxv., v. 22-23.
CHARLESTON, S. C.:
STEAM POWER-PRESS OF WALKER AND JAMES.
1851.
OUR MISSION:
IS IT TO BE ACCOMPLISHED BY TnE PERPETUATION"
OF OUR PRESENT UNION?
THE QUESTION CONSIDERED
BY THE
LIGHT OF REYEALED RELIGION,
IN" A
REVIEW
OF THE
POLITICAL OPINIONS OF SOME OF OUR CLERGY.
And the children struggled together within her, and she said : If it be so, why am I thus ?
And she went to enquire of the Lord, and the Lord said unto her: Two nations are in thy
womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels.—Gen: Oh.xxv., v. 22-23.
CHARLESTON, S. C.:
STEAM POWER-PRESS OF WALKER AND JAMES.
1851.
BISHOP CAPERS ON THE UNION.
Letter to his fellow-citizens of South-Carolina, dated Charleston, Feb. 6, 1861.
Re-published in the " Southern Patriot," 14th March, 1851.
EVILS OF DISUNION.
From the January number of the Southern Presbyterian Review. Published in
the " Southern Patriot," 14th March, 1851.
Sikce the first appearance of the publications mentioned above, the
constant political agitation to which we have been subjected, has utterly
precluded any dispassionate consideration of the topics they discuss.
We seize the present moment of comparative calm, though it prove
but the lull in the tempest, or the temporary inaction of the over¬
wrought powers of the contending parties, to present these pages to the
candid, thoughtful, sincere and religious of every party, both South and
North.
OUR MISSION.
Our Constitution seems thoroughly to have impressed the
public mind with the idea, that the Clergy " are, by their
profession, dedicated to the service of God and the cure of
souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties of
their function 11 to the lesser cares of temporal government.
The open and direct efforts made by some of our most dis¬
tinguished ecclesiastics, to influence the course and action of
the State at the present juncture of our affairs, has therefore
attracted universal attention, and is indeed not the least sig¬
nificant of the signs of the times. Several divines, in re¬
sponse to calls made upon them, have offered their views
upon the momentous question before the people with propri¬
ety and good temper; and some of these have given wise
counsel. But two Reverend gentlemen have made them¬
selves more especially conspicuous by volunteering their
advice. One of these, on the eve of the election for mem¬
bers of the Convention, (but almost too late to affect the
result anywhere else than in the metropolis or at the capitol,)
asserting " his right of citizenship for once in a life-time of
three score years and more," addressed his fellow-citizens of
the State through the daily newspapers under his own signa¬
ture. Another, in reviewing several thanksgiving sermons
preached in New-York, gave expression to his sentiments
through the medium of a religious periodical, intended more
immediately for circulation and influence among the people
of his own denomination : but even before its regular intro¬
duction into its mere appropriate circle, this review, through
the intervention of some mutual friend of the Southern Pres¬
byterian Review and Southern Patriot, found a more conge¬
nial location and wider circulation in the columns of the latter
paper, then just established as the exponent of the principles
of a particular political party. We will not deny that " min¬
isters are men," " are citizens," and fully entitled to their
opinions, and to the expression of their opinions upon all
public affairs : but we may be allowed to doubt the propriety
of the exercise of their clerical influence to effect political
objects by the promulgation of those opinions under their
own signatures or avowed authorship.
6
These divines, judging them by these publications, are as
diverse in their mental characteristics as in their views. The
first is plain and practical; the latter bold and theoretic.
The former says not a word in favor of the Union ; he only
counsels against separate secession at this time, because, in
his opinion, it will separate us from our natural allies—from
those who have common interests and a common honor to
sustain, and will lead to nothing but useless suffering and
the ineffective sacrifice of ourselves and cause. Whether
right or wrong in this, he is in no respect a submissionist, but
would have resistance effectual by the united action of the
Southern States. The prompt and skilful response of a vete¬
ran advocate has, with apparent petulance, but perhaps in
reality with dexterous shrewdness, given a complexion to
this clerical address widely different from its true import:
and v* ith a strange infatuation and blundering misconcep¬
tion, most of the violent journals of our State have accepted
this interpretation; and as though they were bent upon stirr¬
ing up opposition and strife among ourselves, as well as in¬
sulting and driving from our alliance all of our sister South¬
ern States, have for this denounced the revered head of the
largest denomination of Christians within our borders. They
might have been school-fellows, but the Doctor of Divinity
and the Doctor of Laws have learned very different political
creeds, or we greatly mistake them both. He who preferred
schism, to unjust reproach and denunciation, could hardly
hesitate in a choice between disunion, and submission to
gross political wrong. The integrity of his church could not
have been of less value in his eyes than the union of these
States. Let his acts be the commentaries upon his epistle,
and all must perceive he has not counselled that unqualified
submission which his schoolmate advocates. The good
divine plainly shows us his dilemma. He is no constitution¬
al lawyer, and having just returned from regions in which
the politicians had almost persuaded the people, that the
Compromise was no invasion of their constitutional rights,
while at home he found a nearly unanimous opinion the oth¬
er way, he concludes it to be a " mooted point,1' and " not a
settled fact," that the constitution has been violated. Let
him be satisfied (and we trust his good sense and candid
mind for this just conclusion at no distant day) that the
breach of the constitution is " a settled factand he will be
found among the most resolute in opposition to unconstitu¬
tional aggression.
The other divine, the late Professor of Theology in our
State College, has less difficulty on the constitutional ques¬
tion. He seems to admit the aggression, and predicts the
7
consequence. But he is enamoured of the Union, and ap¬
pears to think that God has ordained it not only for the time
past but for all time to come ; and that those who seek to
dissolve it, are striving against his good providence. Hav¬
ing some religious sensibility ourselves, yet conscious of an
earnest desire for the dissolution of the union between the
slaveholding and non-slaveholding States, we have been led
to reflect very seriously upon the Professor's views, and our
reflections have led us to a very different conclusion. And
we propose in no angry spirit, but with perfect good will and
love of the truth, and we trust also in the fear of God, to dis¬
cuss this subject. It is best to let the Professor speak for
himself, and we therefore quote at some length. His lan¬
guage is this :
"For ourselves we cannot calmly contemplate the proba¬
bility of such an event as the dissolution of this great confed¬
eracy. That it can be broken lip without strong convulsions,
without dangers and disasters on all sides, we do not believe
to be possible." "We have always associated the idea of a
high and glorious vocation with the planting of this Republic.
We have thought that we could trace the finger of God in
every stage of its history. We have looked upon it as des¬
tined to be a blessing to mankind. Placed between Europe
and Asia, in the very centre of the earth, with the two great
oceans of the globe acknowledging its dominion, entering
upon its career at the very period of the history of the world
most eminently adapted to accelerate its progress and to dif¬
fuse its influence, it seems to us to be commissioned from the
skies, as the apostle of civilization, liberty, and Christianity,
to all the race of man. We cannot relinquish the idea of
this lofty mission—we have been called to it; and if in our
folly and wickedness we refuse to walk worthily of it, we
may righteously expect, in addition to the ordinary disasters
of revolution, the extraordinary retributions of God. Ours
will be no common punishment, as it will be no common sin,
if instead of obeying the command which requires us to be a
blessing to the world, we exhaust our resources and waste
our advantages in biting and devouring each other. We
cannot sympathize with the light and flippant tone in which
the question of the value of the Union is too often approach¬
ed, as if it were a mere question of ordinary politics. To our
minds it is the most serious, solemn, and momentous, that
can be asked in connection with the earthly interest of man.
To dissolve this Union is to jeopard all tliat our fathers
gained, and to cover in midnight darkness the prospects and
destiny of our own posterity. We tremble at the thought:
and if it must perish, we freely confess that our tears shall
8
bedew its grave : and our hopes for liberty and man be buried
with it."
Now we, as well as the Professor, "have always associa¬
ted the idea of a high and glorious vocation with the plant¬
ing of this Republic." We, too, "have thought we could
trace the finger of God in every stage of its history." And
we, too, have not only " looked upon it as destined to be,",
but as having already been " a blessing to mankind." To
us, too, " it seems to be commissioned from the skies as the
apostle of civilization, liberty, and Christianity, to all the race
of man." Nor can we, any more than he, " relinquish the
idea of this lofty mission," to which we too believe " we have
been called." We can go still further with him, and say,
"to our minds the question of the value of this Union is the
most serious, solemn, and momentous, that can be asked in
connection with the earthly interest of man." Beyond this,
we cannot go with the Professor." " Strong convulsions,
dangers and disasters," may attend the dissolution of this
Union, but that it is impossible to be otherwise, we cannot
perceive ; and although often asserted we have as yet seen
no conclusive argument which justifies the assertion. And
in our humble opinion, the much longer continuance of this
Union, and not its dissolution, will "jeopard all that our
fathers gained, and cover in midnight darkness the prospects
and destiny of our posterity." We do not tremble at the
thought of its dissolution, but the prospect of it is cheering
and encouraging to our contemplation, and we devoutly
believe "its grave" will, in after times, be viewed not as a
sad memorial of death, but as the shed casket of the chrysalis
which had preserved the humbler thing only to prepare and
usher it into a more beauteous form and more active and
joyous life. And when the Professor, after all his declara¬
tions of faith in the providential origin and preservation of
this Republic, and its lofty mission, winds up with that other
declaration that " all his hopes for liberty and man will be
buried with the Union," we are almost shocked at the appa¬
rent impiety.
Can there be any firm and abiding faith in God's provi¬
dential establishment and preservation of this Republic, and
in its " lofty mission," when the mere prospect of a change
in its present form makes the believer tremble; and the con¬
templation of that change makes him utterly despair of the
attainment of the beneficent objects of this providential de¬
sign and care ? Is not this permitting a preconceived opinion
of one's own, to assume the form and force of an inexorable
law, binding and fettering the Almighty arm ? We deem it
much more consistent with such a faith, even when we see
9
the skies lowering, to discern from the signs of the times, it
we may, what changes we are to expect in furtherance and
not frustration of that great design ; to examine again,
whether we have hitherto rightly judged that those forms in
which that design has heretofore been manifesting itself, were
always to endure, or were necessary to its accomplishment,
and whether that which we had been accustomed to consider
the absolute essential and final consummation of that design,
was not in reality but a phase,—a mere outward form or
vesture, which having served its purpose, now worn with
age and rent by the expanding life it had shielded from ex¬
ternal injury, was at length about to be changed for another
and a better. Something of this may have floated through
our minds before, upon the suggestion of the pamphlet enti¬
tled "The Position and Course of the South," but the Pro¬
fessor's vehement mode of stating the converse in the col¬
umns of a religious periodical, and in connexion with the
providential dealings of God with us, has thoroughly rivetted
our attention and led us to a enreful investigation of the sub¬
ject in its religious aspect, and our vague thoughts have
gathered and settled into convictions : and we propose to
show that the design of the Almighty, (as we humbly appre¬
hend it), his holy word and constant dealings with mankind,
would all lead us rather to expect a dissolution of this Union
than its perpetual preservation.
That the Almighty has had some design in planting and
rearing this Republic, all who realize the truth that He gov¬
erns the nations upon earth, setting up one and putting down
another, will readily agree. And as in this government of
the nations the moral agency of man is constantly, and ap¬
parently to us, chiefly employed, it is not only permitted to
us, reverently to enquire from our past history and present
circumstances, viewed in the light of the divine will and
word, what that design is, but it is our duty so to do, that
we may ascertain it if we can, and zealously labor towards
its accomplishment. The furtherance of that design, what¬
ever it is, must be nationally our vocation or mission—indi¬
vidually our highest duty. It is not enough, however, to say,
that, this Republic has been " commissioned from the skies
as the apostle of civilization, liberty, and Christianity to all the
race of man." There must be something more special and
definite in our national mission, if we be thereto providen¬
tially called, as is supposed both by the Professor and our¬
selves. We must be able to present to the world, first, dis¬
tinctive and peculiar principles for the reformation of human
society and government. Next, the form and organism in
and through which these principles can be brought into ac-
10
tual use and employment by the nations of the earth. And
perhaps, last, some reasonable grounds for believing that
these principles and forms of ours were not the discovery
and contrivance of the unaided wisdom of man, but that the
founders of our system were led to it by controlling events;
that it was not their original design, but their urgent neces¬
sity under circumstances arranged by a superior power
which forced its adoption. All this we think can be done.
We will not, however, attempt an elaborate discussion of
these topics, but content ourselves with the suggestion of
some few considerations which seem to us to justify our con¬
clusions.
First of all, let us determine what are the peculiar princi¬
ples we have to propose for the reformation of society and
government. Here we cannot err. Our Declaration of In¬
dependence boldly advanced, and our Constitutions all stead¬
fastly maintain, two cardinal principles entirely at variance
with every other social system, and directly opposed to the
theory of every other government then existing. The first,
the great foundation, is, that all power is originally vested in
the people : and all governments are or should be founded
on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and
happiness. The other rests upon the first. That whenever
any form of government becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute a new government, laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happi¬
ness. These are the elements of our theory of government.
The sovereignty and welfare of the people the source.and
end, and change without limit until the end be attained,—
laying its foundation in the will of the fickle multitude, and
inscribing mutability upon every part. How wild and vision¬
ary, how reckless and anarchical must such principles have
appeared to those who had never realized the idea of sove¬
reignty but in the person of a king upon his throne, with the
gemmed and glittering circle upon his brows; and who
would tremble at the change even of unmeaning forms which
usage had established in association with the regal state.
Yet these are our principles: they convert allegiance into a
metaphor, make patriotism a living virtue, and have their
foundation in the profoundest philosophy. If human society
must be organized and governed by human intellect and hu¬
man will, the aggregate of the intellects of all interested,
must be the highest intellectual power attainable to the end
in view, and the combination of the wills of all affected must
be the most impartial and the most conformable to right and
11
reason, while its energy would be irresistible within its own
limits. A perfect aggregation of the intellects, and perfect
combination of the wills of the whole society to be organ¬
ized and governed, would thus exhibit its highest wisdom in
all its designs, and its utmost power in their execution. The
nearer we can approach to this perfect aggregation and
combination, the nearer we come to the perfection of gov¬
ernment. But as perfection is unattainable by reason of the
impotency and fallibility of our nature, and yet no limit can
be set to our approximation, as we strive to advance towards
it, we must hope for continual progress and of course con¬
template frequent change.
The power of these principles had often been conspicuous
in pure democracy; a form of government which has pro¬
duced the highest achievements of the human intellect, the
most extraordinary exhibitions of the power of the human
will, and illustrious examples of devoted patriotism : but
which is nevertheless only suited to small communities, sub¬
ject to sudden and violent changes, and liable, under the
impulses of human passion, to tyrannous acts of power.
How to adapt these principles to larger territories, to control
their impulsive action and employ all their energies to the
maintenance of a sedate and enduring liberty, is the problem
we have undertaken to solve in political science.
We have next, therefore, to determine the form and or¬
ganism in and through which these principles can be brought
into actual employment by other nations, for this seems es¬
sential to the idea of a mission. We of course expect to
find these in our own system ; and however complex in ap¬
pearance, it will be found upon examination the simplest
method which could be devised for the attainment of the
ends in view.
One of the most prominent features of our system is the
written constitution ; in which the foundation and frame of
the government is laid and planned, citizenship ascertained
and assured, organic rules prescribed, necessary powers dis¬
tributed to different classes of agents, their rights, privileges
and duties defined, and such forms and usages directed as to
preserve decorum, restrain impulse, and make lawful authori¬
ty cognizable by plain and authentic tokens. This is re¬
garded as the symbol of the supreme will, wisdom, and
authority of the whole people: and security for its observ¬
ance is generally taken of every one entrusted with office or
power, in the form of a solemn oath ; the pledge of his fealty
to its principles; and yet even in that Constitution will be
found some cautious but clearly defined mode by which itself
may be changed.
12
All our Constitutions contain certain characteristics and
provisions which may be considered essentials. The impos¬
sibility of convening together all the citizens of a large terri¬
tory, for consultation or action about public affairs, naturally
and necessarily leads to delegation and representation. The
power and authority of the whole is delegated to certain
individuals for certain purposes for fixed periods, which indi¬
viduals for those purposes and periods represent the whole
people. The executive, judicial, and legislative, is invariably
each entrusted to different classes of agents totally distinct,
and more or less independent of each other. As executive
and judicial delegates at all times act for and represent the
whole, there is in general no restriction upon their selection,
but they are chosen from the whole community. In the le¬
gislative department a different rule is observed. Each dele¬
gate is chosen from one of a certain number of election dis¬
tricts into which the whole territory is divided off, so that
while the whole assembly of delegates represents the whole
people, each several portion of territory has one or more
distinct representatives more immediately concerned for the
welfare of the inhabitants of that portion by which he was
chosen and directly accountable to them; so that the legis¬
lative body is rendered sensitive to the interests of every
part. This legislative body, to insure mature deliberation
and resist impulse, is always resolved into two houses, di¬
versely constituted, and sitting apart from each others thus
serving as mutual checks, the concurrence of both being ne¬
cessary to make laws. To secure the fidelity of the dele¬
gates and make the laws truly speak the mind and will of
the whole, frequent elections are held, whereby the people
give their judgment upon them, confirming by acquiescence
or repealing by changing their representatives. The decla¬
ration of the inviolability of certain rights, such as the trial by
jury, freedom of speech and of the press, usually concludes
the Constitution.
But the great and distinctive peculiarity of our system is
the uniort of the Stages : that extraordinary combination of
governments against the experience of many centuries
(though not without a divinely constituted precedent) by
which in all our relations to the rest of the world, we are one,
while within ourselves we are many separate and independ¬
ent States. Not a mere confederacy, such as the world had
often seen before, but a confederated government, in which
the only integral parts are States, with equal voice, whether
great or small, in all questions touching our foreign relations,
whose citizens are nevertheless allowed as citizens of their
respective States a direct representation in the cpunsels, and
13
subjected to the direct authority of this confederated govern¬
ment. For many years this confederated government ena¬
bled us to preserve peace at home and to maintain respect
abroad for our power, and uniform justice and moderation.
For while securing greater stability to our own political in¬
stitutions, by the division of power between distinct and inde¬
pendent governments, whose zealous guardianship of their
own rights respectively, made them watchful of the en¬
croachments of either: it happily also enabled us to observe
in general a prudent and peaceful policy in our intercourse
with other nations, by gathering popular sentiment within
lesser bounds, around different centres of interest and feel¬
ing, and not in one wide ocean whose unstable element could
be driven by the influence of any irritating occurrence or
unhappy collision with a foreign power into one swelling
and resistless wave of popular passion. For such waves
must rise under such influence in every consolidated popular
government, and sooner or later bury under their waters law
and constitution and liberty itself.
Herein is the true value of this union to the earthly inter¬
est of man—the preservation and exhibition of a republican
form of government capable of extension over large territo¬
ries, carrying on the most intimate and extensive commerce
with all nations, and securing respect from foreign friends,
safety from foreign foes, and the enjoyment of the utmost
limit of civil and religious liberty at home. For more than
sixty years this union has upheld in the face of all the mon¬
archies of the world, a government founded on purely
democratic principles ; not merely existing by sufferance, but
challenging their attention, and day by day increasing in
population, wealth and power ; and in this increase far sur¬
passing all other nations of times past or present. The
model has been before mankind long enough to be carefully
studied and thoroughly comprehended. It has maintained
and illustrated the verity of the principles, and the power
and capacity of the form of republicanism which- we pro¬
pound to the whole human race for acceptance and imitation.
Such are our principles, and such our system. Are they
the discovery and contrivance of the unaided wisdom of
man ? The Father of his Country, the most conspicuous of
all who fought and labored to this end, when our form of
government had been completed, took occasion to declare in
his inaugural address, as first President of the Republic, that
" No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the in¬
visible hand which conducts the affairs of men, more than
the people of the United States. Every step by which they
have advanced to the character "of an independent nation
14
seems to have been distinguished by some token of providen¬
tial agency ; and in the important revolution just accom¬
plished in the system of their united government, the tranquil
deliberations, and voluntary consent of so many distinct com¬
munities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be com¬
pared with the means by which most governments have been
established, without some return of pious gratitude, along
with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which
the past seem to presage." If the chief actor could say that
such "reflections had forced themselves too strongly on his
mind to be suppressed " on lhat occasion, we may certainly
confess our faith to be the same.
It is certain that those who first settled upon the territories
of these States had no idea of founding independent govern¬
ments. They had no higher aim than to establish colonies
under the protection of the mother country. They held their
lands, their rights and privileges, under royal charters, and
these perhaps suggested to their descendants the idea of
written Constitutions. They claimed and desired no larger
liberty than was enjoyed by other British subjects—they
severed their connexion with their brethren, because they
could not be content with less. Although many of them had
fled from religious persecutions at home, few brought with
them any clear conception of religious liberty. The pilgrim
fathers hardly tolerated any dissent from their creeds and
forms of faith and worship, and continued the union of
Church and State until long after the revolution. The Qua¬
kers sought an exclusive dwelling place in Pennsylvania.
Maryland for along time, applied a religious test to all who
sought her offices : and even in our own State the Church of
England was established with somewhat of an arrogant and
intolerant spirit. Between the first settlement of the colonies
and their independence, we were tutored in our rights, our
duty to maintain them, and the practicability of maintaining
them against arbitrary power, by two successful revolutions
in the mother country; the great principles of which had
thoroughly imbued the minds of our lawyers, politicians, and
educated men. These principles were always identified with
our struggle, and constantly applied to the illustration of our
rights and the justification of our course in resisting the
claims of the king and parliament. Accustomed to self-
reliance by our distance from the parent country, and the
many conflicts in which we had sustained ourselves against
savage foes with our own arms alone, we seem in all res¬
pects to have been specially planted here, nourishedveduca¬
ted, anj trained to our revolutionary success. Nothing like
a design to erect a distinct nationality, or to form republics,
15
can be traced in our history, until long continued usurpations
goaded us to revolt, and the fatuitous tyranny of British
rulers drove us to assert our independence ; then our neces¬
sities compelled us to create free governments or live in
anarchy.
The form, too, in which we moulded our government,
seems providential. No one has ever suggested it to have
been an imitation of any other, and yet it had a clear type
in that which was enjoyed by the chosen people of God,
until they desired to be like other nations, and God " gave
them a king in his anger." Like that chosen people we at
first appeared upon the theatre of the world unlike other na¬
tions. Twelve original tribes of unequal size and power in¬
creased to thirteen by the subdivision of one of them before
their independent existence, formed their several States.
Twelve original colonies also increased to thirteen by the
subdivision of one of them (Carolina) during their colonial
condition, declared their independence as thirteen States.
While these coincidences may attract the serious attention
of some and only amuse others, the similarity of political or¬
ganization of this confederacy and the Israelites, is an his¬
torical fact, however unobserved. To be sure that we do
not indulge a novel conceit, we will pourtray the Constitu¬
tion of Israel in the language of anothor, who lived, and
wrote, and published, and died long before the first concep¬
tion of our independence had entered into the heart of man,
or a vision of our present condition had flitted before his
fancy. Dr. Croxall, in one of his works published in Lon¬
don, 1735, entitled " Scripture Politics," " being a view of the
original constitution and subsequent revolutions in the gov¬
ernment, religious and civil, of that people, out of whom the
Saviour of the world was to arise ; as it is contained in the
Bible ;" speaking of the government of Israel, says:
"Upon examining into particulars, we find that this gov¬
ernment was of a three-fold nature. The first being that
which took in and related to the whole twelve tribes in gen¬
eral ; within which, as it were like another wheel, there
moved a second, which was that of every particular tribe ;
and within that again was included a third ; which was that
of every one of those cities belonging to each tribe. The
first and principal of these was to consist of the prince, or
highest magistrate, the elders, judges, and counsellors of
the states of the whole nation. The second branch of their
constitution had one president, or chief, who was called the
head of the tribe ; and again, several others who were heads
of houses or families ; but all of them inferior and subject to
16
the head of the tribe. The third branch was of the follow¬
ing nature. Every city had a senate, or common council of
its own ; who had the hearing and determination of all cases
relating to themselves : as likewise a chief magistrate who
presided in all their public assemblies and looked after the
execution of justice. In time of war, all matters thereunto
relating were managed by the chief president and grand
council of the nation ; the several heads of the tribes and
families, and the chief magistrates of the several cities act¬
ing likewise in such stations as were severally allotted them."
To this general view we will add but one remark of our
own, and that is, that the perpetual distinctness and inde¬
pendence of the several tribes or states was so jealously pre¬
served, that although of the same nation, they were forbid
to intermarry with each other, in any case where the conse¬
quence might be that the citizen of one tribe should acquire
an inheritance in the territory of another tribe. Nor let it be
supposed that the Israelites were less free because their gov¬
ernment differed from ours in some respects. They chose
their own rulers in all their cities and tribes, and held popu¬
lar assemblies. And travellers even of the present day inform
us that the patriarchal governments among the Arabs allow
the enjoyment of as large a share of individual liberty as is
possessed in any other country. Indeed, we are led to be¬
lieve, from their history, that the Israelites before the institu¬
tion of monarchy among them, enjoyed the largest liberty.
Nor was our union or confederated government the free
choice of our revolutionary fathers, but rather their stern ne¬
cessity. The Weakness of the several States forced them to
depend upon each other, while frequent disagreements under
a mere confederacy, made them realize the danger of con¬
tests among themselves. Many of the most talented of our
statesmen had little or no faith in this untried experiment,
and would have preferred a limited monarchy: nor perhaps
did these altogether abandon this hope until the election of
Jefferson firmly established our republicanism. The idea of
forming a government with sovereign powers, and yet with¬
out inherent sovereignty, however monstrous some may still
affect to believe it, was as familiar to our people of that day
as government itself. Every colony had exercised such dele¬
gated sovereign powers throughout its whole provincial his¬
tory. In all our charters we find abundant, grants of such
powers to proprietary governments. Our statesmen of that
era therefore had no difficulty in the conception of a confede¬
rated government clothed with sovereign powers by the
grants of sovereigns, and yet without sovereignty itself.
17
It was this clear conception which made the formation of the
Union possible. No State at that time would have been will¬
ing to have delegated what it might not again resume at
pleasure.
Thus, it appears to us, we have some reason for the belief
that the people who came hither and founded our colonies,
and then reared them into States, were as providentially
called to their work, as was Noah to the preservation of
human life ; and that the formation and completion of the
Union was as much the result of providential direction,
as was the construction of the ark : and in it we passed
through the great deluge of war and revolution, which soon
after swept over every other portion of Christendom, bearing
in safety above its angry waves the principles of our republi¬
canism; which we believe are ultimately to re-construct the
social condition of the inhabitants of this globe. After such
a declaration, our desire to dissolve the Union now, may
appear inconsistent, if not impious. But there is in reality
neither impiety nor inconsistency in the wish ; and it would
be a mere misconception to suppose either. Noah and his
family were not to dwell in the ark forever. They had gone
into it in faith ; they came forth of it with thanksgiving. It
had served the purpose of Divine appointment when it rest¬
ed on Ararat; to have continued within it u after the face of
the ground was dry" would have been distrust of God's
power and promises, and rebellion against his command¬
ment. As the tenants of the ark were not preserved for
themselves alone, but to increase and multiply and replenish
the earth, so are we to spread that republicanism which has
been so wonderfully preserved amongst us, throughout all
nations. And this we conceive to be the true idea of our
" lofty mission. How shall we accomplish it? The same
Power which preserved us, has led us onward almost against
our will, and we humbly believe still leads us on towards its
accomplishment.
To such a mission it would seem indispensable that we
should engage in commercial intercourse with the other na¬
tions of the earth, upon such terms of equality and security
as might insure success and admit of a full participation in
and contribution to the general civilization of man. Not
long after our system had been completed, and our confede¬
rated government had been put into successful operation,
assuring peace at home, and giving confidence in our united
strength, all the nations of Europe became embroiled in
fierce wars, while we remained at peace with all. Our neu¬
tral position, firmly maintained, invited—tetnpted—almost
forced us into an active and lucrative commerce with all
2
18
these nations; the rich returns of which soon brought us
capital, stimulated enterprise, encouraged industry, and
made us a commercial people. In the midst of this prospe¬
rous career, just as our republicanism had been thoroughly
established by the final overthrow of the monarchical party,
we found ourselves in a most extraordinary condition. At
peace with all the world, while the rest of Christendom was
in arms, our neutrality appeared to give common offence to
all the belligerents, who seemed to vie with each other in
distressing ar:d harrassing our commerce. We were sum¬
moned, as if by all, to assert and maintain neutral rights and
the freedom of the seas. Peaceful from the predominance
of agricultural interests among us, and more than doubtful
of our ability to sustain a conflict with any of the maritime
powers of Europe, we resorted to every expedient short of
war, in order to resent these aggressions; even subjecting
•our commerce to still further embarrassments, in the hope of
affecting the interests of the wrong-doers, and thus bringing
them to a sense of justice. At length as if specially sent to
stir up the hearts of our people to the contest, our ancient
adversary, the most potent maritime power on the earth,
perpetrated the most wanton and insulting outrage upon our
national flag. Longer forbearance became impossible, and
we were forced to engage in that second war of independ¬
ence as it has been called, which that great statesman, Sir
Robert Peel, described in comparing it with the war of the
revolution, as " that greater struggle " between the two na¬
tions. Although the character of the outrage which pro¬
voked this war, naturally suggested the propriety if not the
necessity of making it a naval contest, the renown of the
British navy seemed to repress even the hope of successes
upon the ocean, and our ships of war were kept in port,
while our proud foe was left in the full enjoyment of her
boasted dominion over the seas. We were spell-bound, until
one bold adventurer, as if specially called, went forth with¬
out orders, if not against orders, and met upon the wide
waters an equal foe self-directed like himself. The meeting
—the conflict—the result—were all alike wonderful, thrilling,
and decisive. Those two ships were settling in the solitude
of the mighty deep, a question as momentous to the world
as had ever arrayed hostile armies against each other on any
battle field of earth. We were not contending for mastery,
or dominion, or glory, but for the peaceful use of the great
highway for all nations ; for unrestricted intercourse among
all the inhabitants of the globe. The American frigate tri¬
umphed—the seas no longer had a mistress—the ocean no
longer owned a queen—but every wave was free.
19
1 he happy issue of this war essentially changed our con¬
dition and national position. We no longer trembled for our
own safety. Our independence was entirely assured—our
republican institutions confirmed in our own confidence and
affections, and their power conspicuously displayed to other
nations, for whom we had become the champion of the seas.
Like the descendants of Noah, when they had ventured from
the bleak and rugged mountains into the genial and fertile
plain, we had only to increase and multiply ; the whole world
was open to us and to our mission. Like them, too, after a
few years of peace and prosperity, we began to receive
warnings to separate and form distinct nations. The first of
these warnings was given upon the application of Missouri
for admission as a State, when a distinct and unfading line
of demarcation was drawn between the two great sections
of this confederacy. Mandate after mandate has since been
given to us to the same effect, in many sectional collisions,
but more especially in the contest for the annexation of
Texas, and finally and peremptorily in the last great con¬
troversy about the admission of California. Nevertheless
most of our distinguished statesmen are still laboring most
assiduously to preserve this Union and consolidate its power.
We have referred to the descendants of Noah in the plain
for a similitude. That portion of the history of our race, as
given to us in the Bible, is full of instruction,—but the man¬
ner in which Josephus tells it is so apt to our purpose and
our argument, we cannot forbear transcribing a considerable
portion of it. •
In his "Antiquities of the Jews," (we quota Whiston's, p.
16,) Josephus says; "Now the plain in which they first
dwelt was called Shunar. God also commanded them to
send colonies abroad for the thorough peopling of the earth,
that they might not raise seditions among themselves, but
might cultivate a great part of the earth and enjoy its fruits
after a plentiful manner. But they were so ill instructed that
they did not obey God ; for which reason they fell into ca-
lamities, and were made sensible by experience of what sin
they had been guilty : For when they flourished with a nu¬
merous youth, God admonished them again to send out colo¬
nies ; but they imagining that the prosperity they enjoyed
was not derived from the favour of God, but supposing that
their own power was the proper cause of the plentiful condi¬
tion they were in, did not obey him. Nay, they added to
this their disobedience to the divine will, the suspicion that
they were therefore ordered to send out separate colonies,
that being divided asunder they might the more easily be
oppressed, JNTow it was Nlmrod who excited them to such
20
an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of
Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of
hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it
was through His means they were happy, but to believe that
it was their own courage which procured that happiness.
He also gradually changed the government into tyranny,
seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God,
but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his
power."
In the religious aspect of the subject now under our con¬
sideration, this passage from Josephus is most striking. We
have here portrayed in simple language man's proud reli¬
ance upon his own wisdom and power in organizing his
social order, so as to present a defiant strength even to the
will of the Omnipotent—his ascription of all his present pros¬
perity to his own courage and intelligence—his weak fear of
being divided and scattered over the earth, forgetting that
overruling providence which had but lately preserved him
from the great water-floods which otherwise must have
overwhelmed him—and finally, the introduction of tyranny
to consolidate a power which should become the object of
faith in the place of the Lord his God.
It was for a long time the universally received opinion, and
until recently the unquestioned dogma of all political parties
in our country, that the Union of these States, in the present
form, was essential to the preservation of republicanism
among them. No political skepticism was considered so
deserving of anathemas as a doubt of its benefits or its perpe¬
tuity. Our fathers transferred their allegiance, as a senti¬
ment, from the Crown of Great Britain to the Union of these
States; and finally worshipped it as a political idol. Them¬
selves, even then not quite escaped from their own monarchi¬
cal prejudices, venturing upon a new political organization,
sensible of the weakness of the separate States then in their
infancy, and aware that every effort would be made to breed
discord among them, by those who were less jealous of their
independence, than apprehensive of the success of their politi¬
cal theory ; our fathers were naturally induced to consider
the Union as of inestimable value. They contemplated it,
too, with complacency, as the work of their own hands, as
the manifestation of their own wisdom, and beholding its
benign influence in their day, fondly imagined that it must
at all times forever after be the best for their descendants,
and therefore trained their children to believe it so, and
taught them to pray and say esto perpetua. This Union,
which our fathers commended to us, has, we believe, already
accomplished all its purposes : it was, and probably will ever
21
remain, the greatest of political achievements, in its concep¬
tion as well as in its completion; and viewed only as the
emanation of the human mind will be an enduring monu¬
ment of the wisdom, prudence, temperance, and sagacity of
the generation which devised and accomplished it. If the
Union we now seek to dissolve were the same which they
had formed, we still would not impugn their judgment. ' It
was not for that generation any more than for those who
preceded them, or us who have followed them, to grasp the
whole of the future. The period intervening between them
and us, was to them a distant prospect, vague and dim, al¬
though gilded with bright ^anticipations ; to us it is a clear
and well drawn map, with every course and line delineated.
They looked towards it with hope, we look upon it with expe¬
rience ; and with less of wisdom we may pronounce a sound¬
er opinion. " Is there a doubt (says Washington in 1796)
whether a common government can embrace so large a
sphere ? Let experience solve it.'1 " It is well worth a fair
and full experiment.'''' We do not say the experiment has
failed ; but we do say, that the Union we would dissolve, is
no more like that our fathers formed, than the tower of Ba¬
bel was like the ark.
Let us consider this, not in reference to party strifes or
occurrent causes of irritation, (which should only be regard¬
ed as they seem apt for illustration), but with the true spirit
of philosophical enquiry after great political truths. The
great glory of our fathers, was not that they founded and
put into successful operation a particular government which
we have since enjoyed : but that they developed democratic
principles into practical use among mankind through a pecu¬
liar form of government, to the adoption of which we have
endeavored to show they were providentially led: that is,
through a government formed out of confederate sovereign
republican States, Consolidated democratic governments
had always been, and whether great or small, must inevita¬
bly from the nature of man forever be, tempestuous seas of
human passion, whose waves must rise in ceaseless agitation.
Constitutions and the interposition of representative legisla¬
tive bodies, may serve to smooth the surface by giving op¬
pression the form of law, but whenever the community hap¬
pens to be stirred with questions arising out of their foreign
relations, so that parties can assume to be the State, and
denounce each other as its enemies, the deep ground swell
of popular impulse will always lift the wave of tyrannous
hate high enough to overwhelm the minority. There will be
no stability in laws, no candour in judicial proceedings, no
security for freedom in discussion, no enjoyment of rational
22
liberty. In a confederated government of sovereign Statesr
while the States retain their sovereignty the hands of those
who would be oppressors are enfeebled by the division of
power, and those who are threatened with oppression are
furnished with ready means of resistance. But is there no
limit for such a government, either in the number of its States
or the extent of territory they occupy ? Reason and Nature
answer at once that there must be. It is obvious to the least
reflection that there must be some proportion or relation of the
power of the several States to the whole, which should be
constantly preserved in order to secure the vital principle of
this form of government. Our fathers formed a union of
thirteen States in a territory of less than a million of square
miles, contemplating the addition perhaps of nine or ten more
States within the same territory, confessedly as an experi¬
ment. We now have thirty-one States in a territory three
times as large, looking forward to the addition of as many
more. As we multiply States we diminish the relative im¬
portance and influence of each upon the whole, until ulti¬
mately the proper balance of power will be destroyed. A
mob of States will prove but little better than a mob of indi¬
viduals. Each becomes insignificant in itself, while it helps
to swell the unruly mass. Do we not see that this is now
the case with us ? Each one of thirteen States had a certain
power to keep the whole in check. No one of thirty-one
States has any power whatever to restrain the rest, if united
in a determination to do her wrong. Some of our States, it
is true, even at the present time, from their size and position,
might successfully, or at least with probability of success,
oppose the whole. But this, so far from protecting the
smaller States, rather makes them inferiors, at all times sub¬
jected to the unequal power and preponderating influence of
these great States. Look at the effect already produced upon
our Senate by this increase of States. Once the most digni¬
fied legislative body which could be assembled, what is it
now ? A mere bear-garden, where untamed brutes collect
to play their wild games for political victories—where deadly
weapons are relied on for arbitrament in deadly personal
feuds—where the mere brawler is as conspicuous as the ac¬
complished debater, and the bully as influential as the pro¬
found statesmen. Will time and multiplication of States
produce any change for the better/ We cannot hope it.
But even in reference to our extent, we believe the preser¬
vation of the Union as it is, is no longer possible or desirable
for ourselves or for mankind. We say it is neither possible
nor desirable to ourselves to continue the Union with its pre¬
sent territory, covering an area of more than three millions
23
of square miles : but little less than the whole of Europe.-
We hold it to be beyond the power and stretch of human
wisdom to administer the affairs of any government, justly
and prosperously, with due regard to the peace, safety, and
happiness of all the people inhabiting such a territory. The
very configuration of the earth is a protest against it. No
portion can be measured off upon the temperate zones of
equal extent which will not certainly and necessarily em¬
brace so great a diversity of soil, climate, products, and posi¬
tion, and therefore so great a contrariety of interests incident
to its physical geography, as to baffle all statesmanship. It
is the eternal ordinance and provision of the All-wise Crea¬
tor—his perpetual reiteration of the command given at Shinar
to all the generations of man, to form distinct nations. And
this we feel day by day to be a practical truth. The inter¬
ests of the cotton States and of the manufacturing States are
not only variant but contrariant. The cotton or plantation
States are interested to preserve a free trade with all nations,
chiefly, that the manufacturers of the other States may be
compelled to meet foreign manufacturers in the markets of
the plantation States, ip fair competition. The manufactu¬
rers everywhere, on the other hand, are interested in destroy¬
ing the monopoly in the product of cotton, enjoyed by the
plantation States, by raising up rivals, and thus driving the
cotton States to compete with other producers of the same
article. What is the result ? The plantation States cordial¬
ly unite with the present policy of Great Britain to extend
and unfetter trade, and seek to establish with her a direct
commerce. The Northern States as cordially unite with
Great Britain in colonizing Liberia, hoping there to produce
cotton and raise up rivals to the cotton States. A foreign
nation, intent on her own advantage, whose language is ours,
whose subtle power assumes the tempting form of some
great virtue, and thus finds easy access to the unsuspicious
ears of our people through our own free press, is thus in
semi-alliance with each section of our Confederacy against
the other, to direct our policy to its own peculiar objects.
Such contrarieties of interest in different nations would only
tend to peace by the perception of their mutual dependence ;
but existing sectionally in a popular government of such
wide extent as this, leads inevitably to injustice and oppres¬
sion. The plantation States only insist upon the enjoyment
of their natural advantages; while the Northern States seek
through the legislation of the confederated government to
despoil them of the rich benefits bestowed upon them by the
Creator. Success attended the efforts of the manufacturers
in the first case, and unequal tariffs advanced the prosperity
24
and accelerated the growth of the Northern section, while
the progress of the South was checked and the development
of its native resources to wealth and power greatly retarded.
The commercial interest of the North has however now
become too powerful to yield entirely to the interest", of the
manufacturer, and tariffs cannot be quietly enjoyed. But
the commercial spirit is rather conciliated by the present
effort to procure the aid of the confederate government in the
attempt to rear up a rival nation of an inferior race in a bar¬
barous country, where it is supposed our great staple may
be so cheaply produced as to reduce its value permanently,
and possibly to render the labor engaged amongst us in its
cultivation utterly valueless. In short, to dry up the main¬
spring of Southern prosperity. If the establishment of the
Ebony line of steamers has not this for its main object, it
will certainly tend most directly to its accomplishment.
Can such vital sectional antagonism be reconciled or fairly
and advantageously adjusted under one common popular
government 1 It is not possible : the interest of each section
is the interest of a nation. When has such a territory ever
been united under any other than an absolute government.
The Assyrian or the Persian did not extend his empire over
so large a space of earth.' the Turk may have held dominion
over as much, ruling it with reference only to the interest
and glory of a race of conquerors and their unlimited mon¬
arch. The empire of Rome, under her republican and impe¬
rial forms alike, regarded the interests of the eternal city
alone. The Russian Autocrat is solitary in his will and
sway over a territory greater perhaps, but less diversified in
climate than ours. And if our realm is held together, it must
be by a central despotism which must govern with a view to
the dominant sectional interest, and not even with the impar¬
tial selfishness of a single despot, who for his own glory
might consult the welfare of every portion of his dominions.
If good government under our system be impossible, from
mere physical causes, how can the Union be any longer desi¬
rable.
It has been well said by a writer on Physical Geography,
" social country overmatches entirely geographical country.1'
And if our mere geographical diversities thus forbid our long¬
er union under one government with any reasonable hope of
equal justice and general prosperity, how much clearer is the
prohibition read in the absolute contrariety of our social or¬
ganizations. Do we not uncharitably condemn the Northern
masses for their exhibitions of intense hostility to our de¬
mands upon them for recognition of our right to extend the
area of slavery and to require their assistance in its mainte-
25
nance by the delivery of fugitives ? It is undoubtedly our
right under the Constitution to make these demands upon
them, and we must insist upon their compliance at all ha¬
zards, or be cramped, cribbed up, confined, and robbed ; and
it is undoubtedly their duty to comply with these demands
■so long as we are united under this Constitution, because it
is so written there; but these JN orthern masses feel that this
is an unnatural covenant, a bond against nature. Their ab¬
horrence of all connexion with slavery is the direct result of
our political principles upon them : they never can understand
the true relation between the master and the slave in this
Southern country, or realize the condition of the latter as it
really is. These we see and know, and therefore can pre¬
serve the sentiment of liberty and equality among ourselves,
and hold our slaves with consciences void of offence towards
God and man; and realize that the African race are better
governed here than anywhere else in the world ; with more
justice and kindness; a d that precisely because their masters
are free and equal among themselves, and appreciating the
value of liberty, are a law unto themselves, while they admin¬
ister laws to their slaves ; that in fact African slavery with us
is the primitive partiarchal form of government; administered
always by a patriarch of a superior race, politically trained
to respect right and law, and to love justice and mercy.
The hostile sentiment at the North is a natural one, and we
will not condemn it. How else can their people preserve
the sentiment of liberty, than by portraying to themselves
the horrors of slavery ? In all their pictures the master is
the stern inexorable tyrant—the slave, the meek, submissive
subject of his tyranny. How can they help to sympathize
with the slave, and hate the master? They cannot but feel
the Constitution which binds them to deliver up the fugitive,
an unnatural covenant, a bond against nature. There is a
law written in the hearts of every people from their whole
course of thought, and education, and life, whose characters
first traced in childhood and graven in maturer years become
ineffaceable, and supreme above all compacts and constitu¬
tions. Governments must be built upon it, they cannot, sub¬
vert or obliterate it. The higher law doctrine of Mr. Sew¬
ard is immoral only because he insists upon the claims of
the North to all the benefits of the compact, while he refuses
to recognize the rights of the South, the other party to it.
The moral sense of all men revolts at such gross injustice.
The true injunction of the higher law, which all men must
admit, is plainly this : Cancel the bond—annul the cove¬
nant tear up the charter. If honestly guided to its le¬
gitimate object, this hostile sentiment of the North would
26
have led directly to the dissolution of the Union ; but the in¬
terests of the wealthy and the aspirations of the ambitious,
would both have suffered by such a consummation, and
therefore ingenious contrivances, called Compromises, have
been resorted to, to preserve these interests and indulge these
aspirations by the preservation of this union. Such Compro¬
mises running counter to the settled popular sentiment of a
large section of the Confederacy, never can be and never
ought to be enforced. In the name of republicanism we pro¬
test against its enforcement by Ihe power of the sword, and
if the mercenary soldiery of the regular army ever should be
used for this purpose against the people of Boston, or of any
other Northern city, we devoutly pray for their utter discom¬
fiture.
Injurious as is this non-observance of the terms of the com¬
pact by the North to the South, growing out of this antago¬
nism of the fundamental principles of their respective social
organizations, there is still a more pregnant danger in it to
our Southern institutions. All of our ambitious men who
may hereafter secure positions in the counsels of the Confed¬
eracy, promising the least chance of success in the competi¬
tion for its more exalted offices, must necessarily court the
favor of the Northern section, where the greater political
power has already been concentrated. Even if they should
attain their distinctions by the advocacy of Southern rights,
they will be allured from their allegiance to us by their de¬
sire to conciliate Northern support, and while they seem to
maintain these rights will effectually undermine them, by
strenuously endeavoring to persuade us that their extent is
no greater than what that hostile Northern sentiment may
allow them to advocate. They will persuade themselves,
and strive to persuade us that we cannot maintain our insti¬
tutions without the aid of this Union ; and will labor to make
us content ourselves with a bare toleration of them on the
part of the North, anu imitating the example of the great
Compromiser, urge us to contemplate the ultimate extinc¬
tion of slavery as a thing inevitable and even desirable ; and
thus sap the foundations of our whole system by creating an
apprehension of its instability. This is no idle fancy, but
sober truth. There are such men amongst us already, and
they are our most dangerous and subtle enemies, and soon will
transfer the contest now raging between the North and the
South to our own borders. They even now lie in wait to
seize the first favorable opportunity to array those amongst
us who do not own slaves against those who do. We can
not much longer enjoy for any great length of time peace
and security even at home, much less prosperity, and con¬
tinue in this Union.
27
The utter impracticability of the good government of dis¬
tinct peoples, diverse in their social characteristics, is most
*aptly illustrated in the history of that freest, greatest, and
wisest of monarchies, Great Britain. • There lies Ireland,
side by side with the English isle. The same in climate,
soil, products, and insular position; a narrow sea only divid¬
ing them. Alike in language and every physical interest,
diverse only in social organization : and that in a much less
degree than the slaveholding from the non-slaveholding
States of this Confederacy. For more than a century, the
wisdom of the most experienced and profoundest statesmen
of successive generations has been exercised with sincerity
and zeal to make Ireland happy and prosperous ; yet utterly
in vain. She still sits in her misery, a stumbling block in the
way of every English Ministry. And yet no other possible
rsason for this can be suggested than the diversity of the
secial organizations of the people from whom the rulers are
chosen, and that of the people they attempt to govern.
Henceforth our rulers must come from that section where
our inslitutions are odious, and from the fundamental princi¬
ple of our government the popular sentiment there must con¬
trol those rulers. Let us not read this history in vain. We
cannot read it aright, and maintain that this Union is any
longer desirable. But now when the conflict between the
social systems of the North and the South bears such a por¬
tentous aspect, let us recognize in it the final command from
the Most High to separate from each other and form distinct
nations, lest we also " fall into calamities, and be made sensi¬
ble by experience of what sin we have been guilty."
This we believe to be our duty, not only to ourselves, and
for ourselves, but for the great interests of the whole human
family—for the final development of our republican experi¬
ment—the end and consummation of our " lofty mission."
As we have before said, there seems to have been an almost
universal opinion among all our political parties that the
preservation of this present Union was essential to the preser¬
vation of our republicanism. But is this true? Why can¬
not these States be separated now into two distinct Confede¬
racies or Unions, each preserving its republicanism ? It
cannot be because these Confederacies would be too weak to
maintain themselves in the presence of European powers ;
for our own experience has already demonstrated that a Re¬
public of not half the power of either of them, while the form
of government was new to our people, with a lurking predi¬
lection of many of our purest patriots still in favor of mon¬
archy, could be erected and sustained, and grow in strength
and influence in the face of all these nations.
28
It cannot be, because two nations cannot dwell together in
peace within so large a space, for there is Europe before our
eyes not much more extensive, and how many distinct peo¬
ples occupy it, touching each other on every side, yet culti¬
vating science and the arts, enjoying commerce and inter¬
course, and advancing in civilization. Those who can fore¬
see nothing but strife and contention and warfare between
two such Confederacies, must believe that there is something
inherent in republicanism which forbids the peaceful occupa¬
tion of adjacent territory. But if republicanism be thus bel¬
ligerent, above all other forms of government, it cannot be a
blessing but a curse to the world. For both Holy Writ and
all the providences of God to man plainly declare that He
will have the earth a dwelling-place for many diverse nations.
If our mission be to republicanize the world, it must be effect¬
ed either by converting other nations from their present forms
to ours, or by absorbing and merging all others into this
Union. If this republicanism is to carry with it in its conver¬
sion of other nations, nothing but animosity and war among
them, our whole mission is one of tumult and disorder and
mischief. If on the other hand it can only be peacefully
extended to other nations by absorbing them into this Union,
until the whole world becomes one nation, then our work
would seem to be a repetition of the impious attempt, made
in the plains of Shinar. Those who thus believe, make re¬
publicanism rest not on the will of the Supreme, but on the
power of this Union, as the contrivance of man; if so, it must
come to naught.
Many of those who profess to be anxious for the preser¬
vation of this Union for the sake of liberty, really desire
to see erected a great colossal power whose prospective
splendor and magnificence captivate their imagination.
" Go to," say they, " let us build us a city and a tower
whose top may reach unto heaven ; and let us make us a
name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the
whole earth." Not with brick and slime upon a plain, but
with powerful States for their materials, upon a whole conti¬
nent as a base, they would build a tower of human strength
and pride, whose head may reach unto heaven, its shadow
cover the earth, and before which the world must do hom¬
age. But the sentence will again go forth, " Behold the
people is one, and they have all one language : and this they
begin to do : and now nothing will be restrained from them
which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down and
there confound their language that they may not understand
one another's speech." It has already gone forth, and the
restlessness of the people, both North and South, cannot be
29
restrained from shaking the foundations of such a structure,
until it topples down. Though our language is still the
same, all our feelings, opinions, principles, and sentiments,
have of late become absolutely discordant, and that because
we are unnaturally linked together against the plain dictates
of our physical and moral necessities, which require distinct
and independent nationalities : and while ever we remain
under the same government, these discordant elements will
be constantly jarring against each other. Separate, and
there will be no longer cause for contention, and harmony
may be restored. The North can then no longer intermed¬
dle with our social organization. Thev will no longer be
called upon to aid in sustaining it, they will feel that they are
no longer responsible for it. It will be left entirely to our
own wisdom and power to preserve our institutions, and to
our own philanthropy to perfect them. It is not only the
law of nations, which will protect us from the interference of
other nations, for that we know is of small obligation unless
its judgments be pronounced by the cannon's mouth : but it
is the law of the Supreme. " When the Most High divided
to the nations their inheritance, and separated the sons of
Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to " his
own good pleasure, and within those bounds he hath ever
restrained them. However he may choose to mark these
divisions, by mountain chains or mighty rivers, low hills or
gentle streams, the wide desert or the imaginary line, he
curbs and restrains their people by his resistless law within
their proper limits, and prevents the habitual interference of
one people with the domestic order of another, as he confines
vast oceans within their shores, and bids their proud waves,
even when tempest-tossed, break and be staid, as well where
nothing but unstable sands oppose, as where the solid rock
rears its prouder barrier. We urge his will for our separa¬
tion ; we rest upon his law for our preservation.
And why need we anticipate contention and strife between
two such nations. Speaking the same language, accustomed
to the same civil laws, and inhabiting a region whose organic
structure, its systems of oceans, lakes and rivers, its moun¬
tains, plains, and valleys, clearly define boundaries, yet invite
to the most intimate and friendly intercourse ; each nation
could best provide for and promote its own especial interests
and prosperity 5 while constant intellectual communion could
be kept up not only among the rulers but among the people
of both. And stronger than all would be the bond of their
common republicanism, knitting them together in close alli¬
ance against the intrusions and aggressions of all other
nations. Nor are we terrified by the distant prospect, so dis-
30
tressing to the vision of the Professor, that we should be ulti¬
mately split into many different Confederacies. The portion
of the earth we occupy is sufficient for the formation and
support of many nations of size and power to be self-sustain¬
ing, and perhaps the best interests of man might be subserv¬
ed by confining nationalities to limited territories, so that the
human intellect may be fully competent to the entire com¬
prehension of the interests of the people, and human wisdom
and prudence equal to the most judicious and prosperous ad¬
ministration of their affairs ; while their limited power must
dispose them to peace as necessary for their own preserva¬
tion. We therefore look forward with hope and pleasant
anticipation to the time when these United States shall have
been peacefully resolved into two great nations, even at the
hazard of their ultimate resolution, in the far future, into
many as their interests and their increased population may
direct them in wisdom, under God's good providence ; which
we trust will also enable them to preserve and improve their
republicanism, and also to combine by intimate alliance, in a
truly glorious American system of nations, to insure peace
among themselves, and secure perfect safety from all other
adversaries.
Then would the world see indeed the true value of our re¬
publicanism, arid our present Union be revered as the mother
of nations, when these two great Republics, prudently direct¬
ing their own affairs, jealously guarding their own independ¬
ence, while respecting the rights and even regarding the in¬
terests of each other, and in all things recognizing brother¬
hood and cultivating the most friendly relations, proclaimed
their determination to unite in maintaining that republican¬
ism on this continent, against all the despotic governments of
the earth ; and illustrated its peculiar fitness for the inhabi¬
tants of the globe in the peacefulness, and security, and good
will with which these nations dwelt together. This is a pros¬
pect for the human race more joyous and more glorious than
all the gorgeous thrones and glittering splendors of all the
mighty empires which have spread their sway over many
conquered peoples. This we regard as the final development
of our political principles ; the great design and end of our
" lofty mission" ; more high and holy than the spread of this
Union to the universal domination of the globe. We are
now called fearlessly to enter upon it, with a firm faith and
trust in the power of God, whose providence leads us onward
to this consummation of his beneficent design towards the
children of men.
If our form of government has been providentially institu¬
ted, as we believe it has been, for the benefit of ail mankind,
31
if our mission be to spread it among all people,—then is
our mission incomplete until we have exhibited it in this
aspect to the world, and all the arguments usually urged
against the formation of distinct Confederacies out of these
United States, must also force us to the conclusion that it
never can be accomplished—in fact that the very mission
which the Reverend Professor recognizes as ours, is utterly
frustrate already. For where else upon this globe than here,
within our own territory, can a system of distinct confederate
republics be formed to carry out this great idea, with any rea¬
sonable hope of a successful issue? Surely, if with our con¬
firmed republicanism, our experience in conducting its pro¬
cesses, our long habitude of acquiescence in its practical
operations ; in short, if we who have lived this republicanism
for more than sixty years cannot work out this magnificent
problem, then is its solution impossible, and the earth can
never enjoy its realization as a principle of life among the
other nations; our whole experiment, so far as mankind in
general are concerned, must be admitted to be a notorious
and monstrous failure. But we hope for a different result,
and devoutly pray for the peaceful resolution of this Union,
at no distant day, into two great Confederacies, pledged and
bound to each other to preserve their republicanism forever.
As we cannot hope that the patience of any one who at¬
tempts the perusal of these pages could endure their exten¬
sion, we must, for the present at least, omit to notice the other
portions of the Professor's article, although we have some¬
what to say upon the subject there discussed. We have ad¬
dressed ourselves chiefly, if not exclusively, to those who
admit that there is a supreme ruler of the universe, and re¬
ceive the Bible as the revelation of his will. If we have
succeeded in awakening them to a serious consideration of
the subject in its religious aspect, and to a careful observa¬
tion of the signs of the times, by the light of God s holy word,
we have accomplished our design. They may at first, per¬
haps, see nothing but crudities or false analogies in our
views, yet ultimately come with us to the conclusion that
the indications of God's providence towards us are, that He
will dissolve the present Union, not in frustration, but in fur¬
therance of our great mission.