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THE WAR NOT FOR EMANCIPATION:
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NUMBERS ALREADY PUBLISHED.
No. 1.-CHRISTIAN RECREATION AND UNCHRISTIAN AMUSEMENT,
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NO. 2.-MENTAL CULTURE FOR WOMEN, Addresses by Rev. H. W. BiHmcP
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No. 9.-A CHEERFUL TEMPER, a Thanksgiving Discourse, by Rev. WM.
~DAMS, D. D.
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No. 12.-TRAVEL, ITS PLEASURES, ADVANTAGES AND REQUIREMENTS,
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No. 13.-ITALIAN INDEPENDENCE, Addresses by Rev. HENRY WARD BEcrrn,
K.ev. HE.NRY W. BELLOWS, D. D., Rev. Jos. P. T'HOMPSON, D. D., and Prof. O. M.
,I~TeRELL.  Delivered in New York, Feb. 17th, 1860.
Nov 14.-SUCCESS OF OUR REPUBLIC, Oration by Hon. EDWARD EVRr, in
BIoston, July 4th, 1860
Nos. 15 & 16.-(Two in one, 20 cents.) WEBSTER'S SPEECH,  in the United
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No. 20.-THE CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, a paper contributed
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Nos. 21 & 22, (Two in one, 20 cents).-" THE QUESTIONS OF THE DAY." The
,teat oration of EDWARD EVEREr, delivered at the Academy of Music, July 4, 1861.
No. 23.-PROVIDENCE IN THE WAR; A Thanksgiving Discourse, by the Rev.
S. D. BURCHARD, D.D., delivered in New York, November 2Rth, 18616
No. 24.-THE SOUTHERN REBEILION, and the Con,, i, io'T.t,  c -eer. of thIe
Republic for its Suppression.  An Address by the Hon. HEE;'..F,Nt  A, bet.re
the Mercantile Library Association of Brooklyn, November me 1La
No. 25.-THE WAR FOR THE UNION.   An Address,,  W.'.NP..L PI.-::,L,
delivered in New  r:.  ~..  s...t,a,l...   
THE WAIR:
NOT FOR EMA\ANCIPATION OR CONFISCATION.
4 Speech by Ilon. Garrett Daveis, of Kentucky, delivered itl the U.  S. Settae,
January 23, 186'.   ecviscd by the     Aulthor.
Mir. DAVIS commenced speaking on the 22d, upon a resolution expelling Senato:
rrigltt. of Indiana, but gave way for the Senate to go into executive session.  On
the 2";d he finished his very able argument on the resolution, andi conceluded by
dealing with the subject of emancipation in repoy to several Senators,  among
whom were Mr. Sumner, of Massachusetts, atid Mr. Itarlan. of Iowa, to whom  it
will be noticed he makes allt,si,)n.  After iitroduceing the subject, and paying a
high tritule to John Quincy Adams, he spoke as follows:
I AMn for putting down  this rebellion.  I am  for visiting the
leaders with every punishment that can be constitutionally inflicted.
So far as you can hang the leaders, I say, in the name of justice
and of our country, hang them.  So far as you can constitutionally
forfeit their Itroperty-and forfeiting and confiscation are differetit things-forfeit it.  Ill confiscation, the property goes into the
kling's exchequer.   In forfeiture, it may go to the king, and will
go to him, unless there is a different destination expressed; or it
may go to the public, or it may go to individuals.  I say forfeit all
the estate you can constitutionally of those who have taken an
active part in this rebellion; and instead of vesting it in the nation
-in the United States, if that is disagreeable to gentlemen-forfeit
it to the innocent and true and faithful men who have been impoverisled, and whose families have been reduced to penury and wavant
by the ravages of this war.  Let it make atonement to thema.
There is a just retribution-in my judgment a constitutional retribution.  Let that retribution be made.   You may make it in that
form without any violation of the Constitution.
At this point let me put a question to the Senator from Iassachusetts.   While that assembly  of sages and of patriots were
deliberating upon the formation of the Constitution at Philadelphia,
they despaired at one time of being able to accomplish anything,
and were about to separate in despair and give up their country in
hopeless despondency. Franklin advised that they should appeal
to the throne of grace for instruction and light. That appeal was
made, and the fruits were afterward manifested in the adoption of
the Constitution. Suppose that any member of that convention
r.
Iq .- "I, 1.
.'l. I" -    i   "
- -4 
THE WAR: NOT FOR
had proposed to incorporate into the Constitution, in explicit words,
just the powers for which the gentleman now contends, how many
votes ill the convention would such a constitution have obtained?
If it could have passed that ordeal, and had come to be submitted,
as it was directed and advised by the members of the convention
to be submitted, to the people of the States in convention (not in
their State government, not to tlreir legislatures, but to the people
of the States in their power and capacity, sitting in sovereign con ventioni), how many of the States would have approved of a con stitution containing express provisions granting the powers which
the gentleman now claims?  The Constitution never would have
been made.
A few more words, Mr. President, and I have done, and I make
my humble apology to the Senate for having detained it so
long.   The gentleman said that slavery was the cause of this
rebellion.  In my judgment it has many causes.  If the word
"slavery" had never been spoken in the halls of Congress, there
would have been no rebellion, as I think. One of the remote
causes of this rebellion was the acquisition of Texas.  I chanced
to be a member of the other Ilouse when the joint resolution
usurping the treaty-making power was introduced in the House of
RPepresentatives to admit Texas as a State into the Union. A
treaty had been negotiated to that effect a few weeks before by
Mtr. Calhloun, as secretary of state for Mr. Tyler.   The Democratic
party, though they wanted to use Tyler to subvert and overthrow
the party which placed him in power, never intended to make him
their chief, and themselves never confided any power to him.
They determined that he and his administration should never have
the Jeffersonian glory and fame of having added such a province
as Texas to the United States of America.
They therefore voted down that treaty; they would not allow it
.to get a two-third vote in the Senate, which was requisite. In a
few weeks afterward a joint resolution, admitting Texas, a foreign
territory, into the Union, was introduced. I say that no constitution was ever more palpably and flagitiously violated than was the
Constitution of the United States by the introduction and passage
of that resolution.  It is preposterous and absurd to say that Congress, the legislative department of the Government, clothed with
no part or parcel of the treaty-making power, may admit foreign
territory into the United States either as Territory or State. I
voted against it then. It is no precedent to me now. It is such a
56
19 
EMANCIPATION OR CONFISCATION.
monstrous absurdity that I would not give the act the least consideration if a parallel proposition were now to be offered.
What were the fruits of the annexation of Texas? I allude to
that to show how the woof of vice and of crime is interwoven,
and how it progresses. Mexico took exception to that act, and she
marched her army to Corpus Christi, and under Polk's administration that army was met at Palo Alto and at Resaca de la Palma, by
that old son of Mfars, Zachary Taylor, and it was overthrown.
What did Polk do?  He sent a message to Congress declaring that
American blood had been shed upon American soil, and asking
Congress to repel the invasion. It is a historical and a geographical
fact, as demonstrable as such facts can be, that Corpus Christi
never had been any part of Texas until it was usurped after the
battle of San Jacinto; that when Texas was one of the Mexican
states, and one of the Spanish provinces, it had never been any
part of Texas. What did Congress do? It recognized the war.
I voted against the war, and I denounced the position of the President that American blood had been shed upon American soil as a
falsehood; and I think that I conclusively proved it to be so in a
speech that I made upon the subject in the House of Representatives.
What then took place?  As a continuation of that line of policy,
I say, came the war with Mexico. I voted against recognizing
that war. I voted against it not only for the reason I have stated,
but for another reason. I knew that the result of the war would
be the acquisition of more territory; and that whenever we got
more territory, this apple of discord, this perpetual, this accursed
question of negro slavery would again be thrown in to divide and
to distract the people. I then went out of Congress, and now
have returned. If I had been present in 1821 I might have voted
against the Missouri compromise; it is probable I should have done
so; but after it had been passed, and had given peace and quiet to
tlh land for a generation, I was utterly opposed to its disturbance;
and if I had been a member of either House of Congress in 1854,
I should have voted, and I should have exerted myself to preserve
that compromise inviolate. When Kansas was sought to be admitted, and the Lecompton constitution was pressed upon Congress
for adoption, I investigated the subject, and I admitted and believed
and said publicly and boldly that it was a most outrageous and
palpable fraud; and if I had been here in 1858 I should have voted
against the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton constitution.
Mr. President, I am here as the humblest member of this body;
57 
but I am here not as a factionist, not as a party man. I belong to
no party. I am too old; my remaining years on earth are too few
for me ever to expect to wear another party collar. I am here to
vote, and to do what I deem to be right upon every question, upon
every measure, as it comes  up in this House, according to the
lights of my information and of my  reason.   I am  utterly opposed to this emancipation.   Oh! in the name of our country, as
gentlemen hope to restore this Union, to crush out this rebellion,
to bring the traitors to justice and to condign punishment, let them
suspend until that consummation any policy or measures which
introduce discord.  Until this war closes in triumphant success, in
the glorious reconstruction of the Union, in the assertion of the
ma,jesty of the Constitution and the laws, let us have unity and
peace among all men who want to bring about these results.
I was pained, and inexpressibly pained, the other day, when my
new but most respected friend from Iowa (AIr. I/arlan) signified
his willingness to put arms in the hands of the slaves.  When that
is done, I would say to my friend that all hope of the reconstruction of this Union is gone-gone forever. Oh! you do not know
what horrors such a measure might produce. Recur to your early
reading; examine again in our Library the history of the insurrection in San Domingo, with all its blood and atrocities, the reading
of which makes human nature shudder. I have seen men refugees
from the servile insurrection of Sanl Domingo, and the living,
glowing, horrid colors in which they painted those scenes to me,
haunt my memory to this day.  Read the accounts of the alarm
produced in Richmond many, many years ago by the meditated
insurrection by the slave Gabriel; trace the limited, but bloody
and frightful course of the more recent servile revolt in Southalapton. But a few days since, when England seemed to choose
this time of our division and civil war to pick a quarrel with us,
both the mother country and Canada sent out a rally cry to the
fugitive slaves in her provinces to form themselves into companies
and regiments to take part in a war against this country, in invading the United States, and, no doubt, particularly the slave States.
When they come as invaders, with arms in their hands, and address to their kindred and their race, who are enslaved by us,
words of passion and hate and vengeance, and put arms into their
lhands, it will be like letting the young tiger taste of blood.  When
he gets the taste, his savage fury will soon know no bounds, and
he will glut every infernal passion.
THE WAR: NOT FOR
58
I 
IEMANCIPATION OR CONFISCATION.
Sir, I am acquainted with the negro race. I have been born in
the same family with them.  I have grown up with them.  I have
played with them.  They have shared with me my joys and my
sorrows.  I have shared with them theirs.  I own slaves now.
Next to my wife and my children, I would defend my slaves, and
would guard them from every wrong; and that is the universal
sentiment of the slaveholders in my State.   I wish you would
come among us and see the institution there.  My slaves are not
for sale.  There is no money that would buy my faithful and contented slaves; and they are all so, so far as I know. I have not
seen a slave chastised for twenty years; and it is a rare occurrence
that you hear of it in my State. They are clothed well, they are
fed well, they are housed well, they have every attention of the
most skillful physicians that the members of the white famnily
have. Yes, and in the midst of cholera and pestilence and death,
their owners stand by them and share the malaria and the infection with them.  I have seen it done again and again.  If it was
not egotism, I would say that I have performed that part myself,
without any regard to consequences or the peril of my life, and I
would do it forever.
The perpetual agitation of the slave question is what has brought
on this rebellion. I admit that slavery has been one of the causes;
a remote cause, but a pretty powerful one. The cotton States, by
their slave labor, have become wealthy, and many of their planters
have princely revenues-from $50,000 to $100,000 a year. This
wealth has begot pride and insolence and ambition, and these points
of the Southern character have been displayed most insultingly in
the halls of Congress. I admit it all. But in these Southern States,
and among these planters, are some of the truest gentlemen, in the
highest sense of the word, that I have ever known, and some of
the purest patriots. I admit, however, that, as a class, the wealthy
cetton-growers are insolent; they are proud; they are domineering; they are ambitious. They have monopolized the Government
in its honors for forty or fifty years, with few interruptions. When
they saw the scepter about to depart from them in the election of
Lincoln, sooner than give up office, and the spoils of office, in their
mad and wicked ambition they determined to disrupt the old Confederation and to erect a new one, where they would have undisputed power.  I am for meeting them in that unholy purpose of
theirs.  I want them met in battle array. Whenever they send an
army in the field, I want that army met and overthrown.
59 
TIIE WAR: NOT FOR
They had some reason to complain of a few old women and
fanatical preachers and madmen in the Northern States, who were
always agitating this question; but nine out of ten of the Northern people were sound upon the subject.  They were opposed to
the extension of slavery, and I do not condemn them for that; but
they were willing to accord to the slaveholder and to the slave
States all their constitutional rights.
I think that the last Congress made a great mistake in not
accepting Mr. Crittenden's compromise.  It would have left the
cotton States without a pretext by which they could have deluded
and misled the masses of the people. The last letter that Old
Hickory wrote-and there is a gentleman now in this body who
has it in his possession-said that the tariff was only a pretext for
the disturbance in the form of nullification in 1832-'33; that they
meditated treason and a separate Southern empire or confederation; that they only seized that as the pretext for making their
outbreak, and that they would next seize upon the slave question
as another pretext. They have done so.
Mr. President, both sides have sinned, North and South, the
extreme men. I could live by these gentlemen who surround me
as neighbors, holding my slaves, and they opposed to the institution.  I would do it in the most perfect security, and they would
do it without infringing on any of my rights.  I know they would;
but it is not so with the extreme men; I am afraid it is not so
with the gentleman from Massachusetts, to whom  I have been
addressing some of my remarks.   I would fain hope it was so,
and I shall rejoice to find that I am nmistaken.  But what say some
of these extreme Northern men about slavery and about the
Constitution? Here is what one says:
"The Constitution is a covenant with death and an agreement with hell."-T140
Liberator-.
".No union with slaveholders." —Ibid.
'  There is proscription, without condition, inexorable and forever.
No union with slaveholders."  It is that fanatical sentiment that
has brought many of them to curse and to execrate the memory
of Washington, as well as of the Constitution. IIere is what another of them has sai;d:
"The anti-slavery party had hoped fo)r and planned disunion because it would
lead to the development of mankind  and the elevation of the black man."- fIecodell P'hilliPs.
Phillips gives his sympathies, as the gentleman from Indiana
gives his, to the Southern confederation, and he says "the South
60 
EMANCIPATION or CONFISCATION.
deserved to succeed because she had exhibited better statesmanship
and more capacity for control." The Abolitionists subscribe to a
memorial to Congress that contains this prayer:
" That amid the varied events which are constantly occurring, and whiich will
more and more occur during the momentous strug_le in which we are engaged,
such measures may be adopted as will insure emancipation."
That is the great end and object for which many of these fanatics
contend; it is not the re-establishment of the Constitution. I
want the Constitution re.established as Washington made it.  In
attempting to put down this rebellion and to prevent a revolution,
I do not want Congress itself to inaugurate and consummate a
revolution. No, Mr. President, let Congress do its duty in this
war faithfully, fearlessly. The people are doing theirs; they have
come up to the rescue of the imperiled capital and Government as
no people ever came up before. Yea, from the east to the west,
especially in the free States, they are as one man. Kentucky has
been invaded. The Confederate government has avowed that it
will have Kentucky and Maryland and Missouri.  They proclaimed,
when they invaded Kentucky, that Kentucky was necessary to the
Southern confederation, and they would have it at the cost of
blood and of conquest. I am for meeting them, not only with
sword, but with sword and shield, and I am for fighting them to
extermination until we beat them back, having profaned so outrageously our soil. Our brothers of the northwestern States, and
of the extreme northwestern States, have come to our rescue with
a generosity and a devotion and a brotherhood that fill us with
admiration and gratitude. Never, oh! never were there more
welcome visitants to any country. They have seen us; they have
seen our institutions; we have seen them; we have become better
acquainted with each other, and we have learned to esteem each
other more truthfully and correctly.  They are beginning to marry
our daughters, and we will send our sons to marry their daughters,
and let us establish a union of hearts and a union of hands that
will last forever.
Whly, Mr. President, Kentucky has almost peopled the northwestern States, especially Indiana and Illinois. I have no doubt
that one fourth of the people of Indiana are either native-born
Kentuckians or the sons and daughters of native-born Kentuckians.
They are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.  When you offer
to the Union men of Kentucky the choice, whether they will
remain united forever with Indiana and Ohio and Illinois, or go
with Georgia and South Carolina and Florida, they will answer,
61 
" A thousand fold will we be united rather with the Nortliwest than
w-itli those distant States.
They have proved their truth to the Union; they have proved
their sympathy and their kindred to us.  When they were -young,
Kentucky sent forth its chivalry, and shled its blood inI thleir defense.  In HIarmner's and St. Clair's campaigns the unbroken wilderness was made red with the best blood of Kentucky.  At Til))ecanoe, in 1811, Indiana received firom Kentucky the same oblation.
In the war of 1812, Ohio, Indiana, and Miclltigan all had Kentucky
blood poured out as water to drive the savage foe, both British and
Indian, from their borders; and never, never was there a call upon
Kentucky, that her true and brave sons did not go to the defense
of their common country in these sister States.  We felt thlat these
States owed us something; but oh! how nobly and truthfiully and
fully are they paying the debt.  I have seen mothers and daughters,
fathers and sons-the whole population assembled all througlh llmy
portion of Kentuckly to meet and to greet these collling' hosts fr'om
Ohio and Indiana, to protect their Government, andl to protect
that State which had protected them in bygone days.  And  oh!
wlhat meetings they were, whlat anl outpouring of the heart and of
all its truest and best sympathlies! I have been in their camps, I
have mingled wn-ith their officers, I have conversed with their soldliers, I have  mldressed their regiments; they have elected me
honorary member of their regiments.  I know your Cills and your
~iortons, your Harrises, your Ileckers, foreigners and natives, who
are commanders of tlhese regiinetits.  I know that they have as
nine to one expressed to me that their purpose, and their only
purpose iin waging this -war, was the restoration of the Tnliion and
the vindication of tlhe Government, and not to war upon slavery.
Thus wr-ites one of them  firom thle camp at Glenn's Fork, Pulaski
Countyt, and no doubt this gallant soni of Indiana was in the late
b~ard-fougtt battle there.
"As an Indiinian, and a memlcber of thle iarmny of the Union, I can not fail to
expr-ss my satisfaction at the just.il conser-vative course of the Louisville  /ouzri,(tl on the slavery question.  Indiana is not fl'itiig for the emaliie,pation  of the
slav-es, but fir the restoration of law and order. When that shlall have been
accormplished, our mission is edoled.
"Out of the otfflicers and soldiers of tlhe Tenth  Indiana, I (1d, not know of one
Ab)olitionist.  If Congress would legislate for the benefit of' ic/it~ ile)2 and let the
negro alone, it would be better."
And oh! how much better it would be!  That is the instinct of
truth and patriotism, of mind and heart; and that utterance nine
tenths of tl-he soldiery of the Northwest speak and will speak for
TIIE'WAR: NOT FOR
612 
EMAXI-CIPATION  Or  CONFISCATION.                  03
ever.  If, sir, you had proposed your measure before this grand
and all-conquering army had been collected together, and told them
it was to be a war upon slavery, you would never have hlad one
fourth of the host in the field that you have.  When a party wins
power, the'best way to preserve it is to use it in moderation, and
esl)ecially within the Constitution.  Fanaticism  and passion and
excitement never did and never will wisely legislate for or govern
any country.  Senators, you are supposed to act, not fiom passion
and a desire of vengeance and to punish, but firom reason and
patriotism, and righl-t and truth, and eternal justice.  If you act
upon these principles, and allay the swelling passions as they rise
in your bosoms, I am not afraid to trust you.
But,.3lr. President, these fanatics, these political and social
demons —your Greeleys, your Chleevers, your Phillipses, and your
Garrisons-that come here, like spirits fiom the infernal regions,
to bring anothler pandemonium  into our councils, to violate the
Constitution, to walk to the destruction of slavery over all its
broken fiaginents, and to oppose Lincoln, as honest and as pure a
man as lives, because hle does not go with them in their extreme
opposition to slavery —whlat oulght to be done with them? Tlhe
utterances which I have read to you  they have dared to give in
this city.  They have desecrated the Smithsonian Institution to the
utterance of such sentiments.  If secessionists or those who syrapatlize withl them had made the samne utterances, they would have
been sent, and properly sent, to Fort Lafayette or to Fort WAarren.
What should you do withl these monsters?  I will tell you what I
would do with them; that horrid monster, Greeley, and tlhose other
monsters, who are howling over this city like famishled wolves after
slavery-lthat slavery which was established by the Constitution
and by Washington.  What should be done with them?  If I had
the power, I would take them  withl the worst "secesh," and  I
Would hang them in pairs.  [Sensation.]  I wish before God  that
I could inflict that punishment upon them.  It would not be too
severe.  They are the agitators; they are disunionists; they are
the madmen who are willing to call up all the infernal passions and
all the horrors of servile war, and to disregard utterly the Constitution, and march triumphantly over its broken, disjected fragnienlts to attain their unholy purposes, and I am too fearful that
the honorable gentleman from  Massachlusetts sympathizes  with
them.
MJr. President, I most humbly ask the pardon of the Senate for 
(;4 TIIE WAR: NOT FOR EMANCIPATION OR CONFISCATION.
this desultory, lengthy, and discursive discourse. I trust I have
wounded the feelings of no gentleman. It was not my purpose to
do so; it was far from my purpose. I want the Union restored.
If it is to be restored, it is by the instrumentality of the President
of the United States. In his integrity and patriotism and truth I
place implicit confidence.:He is a moderate man in his principles.
He is a just man. He is a wise man. If he were left to his own
counsels, to the suggestions of his own reason, to the impulses of
his own heart, if he had a little more of the stern and iron element
of a Clay or an "Old Hickory," and would act out his own will,
and repress the men whose pestilent counsels distract him and
neutralize his efforts to bring this war to a speedy and to a triumphant close, I think that he would act his part more ndbly andl
with more success.  So far as I am  concerned, he has my confidence and my respect.  I can clothe him with no power by my
vote to carry on this war vigorously and successfully, within the
Constitution, that I will witlhhold from him.  I want the aid of
Black Republicans and Republicans and Democrats and all, in this
holy work. I care not what laurels and honors and hopes of
future cmolument and office any man may win.
I admiired, beyond measure almost, the dead hero Lyon.   In my
judgment, he showed himself more of a warrior than any man
who has yet exhibited himself in the field during this struggle.
The moment that he detected the purposes of Camp Jackson at
St. Louis, he moved upon it and captured it and aIll of its hosts.
When the traitor Jackson, the disloyal governor of Missouri, issued
his treasonable proclamation, and fled toward Booneville, the
active, the dauntless, and the military Lyon was after him with his
army, and overtook and dispersed his hosts to the wind.  IIe and
Sigel, a foreigner, but a warrior, himself a man of military education, a genius naturally, met the foe at Carthage, and fought a
s,all battle, but one of the most perfect battles, in my judgment,
of which history gives any record. Then the enemy returned in
a vast host to Springfield.  With an inferior army, Lyon and Sigel
met them again. Two regiments were at Rolla that ought to have
been sent to reinforce them, but they were not sent; if they had
been, our arms might have won the day.  Lyon, to save the cause
of his country and of Missouri, made the battle.  He rushed into
the thickest of the fight, and he fell a voluntary martyr to his
country's cause, and then Sigel made one of the most masterly retreats that I have read of.  I wish that that dead hero was now
6 
AFRICAN SLAVERPY.
alive, again to marshlal our armies to victory and to help to deliver
the country from its imperiled condition.:Mr. President, let any
warrior come who has capacity to bring it to a close or to contribute materially to its success, I care not what his politics, I give
him my faith, my support, my admiration, my gratitudo, and so
will my State, or the Union portion of it.  We want the assistance
of everybody, of every Union man to bring this war to a close,
and we trusted, before I left home, and I still trust, that these discordant questions, these measures which must divide us, will be
left unattempted, at least until the war has crushed out the most
wicked and infamous rebellion that ever was made in the tide of
time.
AFRICAN SLAVERY,
TIIHE CORNER-STONE OF THE SOUTIIERN
CONFEDERACY.
A  Speech by lon. Alexander IL Stephens,  Vice-President of the Confederate
States of A?nerica, delivered at the Atheneum, Savannah, Jlarch 22, 1861.
The Mayor, who presided, introduced the speaker with a few pertinent remarks,
and Mr. Stephens was greeted with deafening rounds of applause, after which he
spoke as follows:
Mp.. M~AYOtI  AND GENTLEMEN OF TITE COMIMITTEE, -AND FELLOWCITIZEN,s-For this reception, you will please accept my most prolound and sincere thanks.   The complimnent is doubtless intended
as much, or more perhaps, in honor of the occasion, and my ptil)lic position in connection with the great events now crowding
upon us, than to me  personally and individually.  It is, however,
none the less appreciated on that account. We are in the midst
of one of the greatest epochs in our history. The last ninety days
will mark one of the most muemorable eras in the history of modern
civilization.
[There was a general call from the outside of the building for the speaker to go
out; that there were more outside than in. The Mayor rose and requested silence
at the doors; said Mr. Stepllhens's health would not permit him to speak in the
65
4
-4 
6(3         AFI'IC-AN SLAVEPY:  TIlE CORNER-STONE
open air.  Mr. Stephens sail he would leave it to the audience whether lie should
lroceed indoors or ont. There was a general cry indoors, as the ladies-a large
inumber of whom were present-could not hear outside.  Mr. Stephens said thlat
tlhe accommolation of tle ladies wotuld determine thle question. and lie would proceed where hlie  as.   t this point the uproar and clamorouitside weregreater still
f,r thle speake-r to go (,it on the stepls.  This was quieted by Col. I,awtonl, ('ol.'oreman, Judige Jackson, n-iiid r. J. W. Owens, going Out and stating the facts of the
case to the dense mass of men, women, ind( children who  were outside, an,.
entertaining them in short, bI-ief speeches, Mr. Stephens all this time quietly sitting
down until the furor stubsidcd.]
MI. Stepllhens rose and  sa,id- When perfect  quiet is restored I
s           hla ll                 proceed. I can  not speak as l ong a s  tl ere is any no'se or
confusion.                             I slall take my  time.  I  feel a s t hough I could sljend
the inight wvit yoo, if                     necessary.  [Loud  applause.]   I very muchl
r e gre t that every one h-lo  desires can             not hear what I have to
s       ay, not that I ha-ce any display to make, o           r a niytliiitg very eitertaiing to )present; but stiuchl views as I hliave to give I wisi al l,
not only in this city, but in this State, and throiughiout our' Confederated PRepibl)lic, couild hear, wlo lIave a desire to hlear thleln.
I  was  rema   king tlat  -Oe wece passingl   tlhrough  one of  the
gceatest r  evolutions in thie annals of thie  world.   Seven States
hlave, i- itli,t tile last tlhree montlhs, tltrowni off an old governmient,
and foirmed a ntew.   This revolution has been  signally lmarkled, up
to this tii,te,  )y the fiact of its hlavitng beenI accompilislled witliotit
tlie loss of t single dr(lol) of blood.   [Tpplause.]'lhis new coIstitution, Ol  )1111l of government, constitutes tihe subject to wlhich
your attenitioin w-ill be partly invited.
In reference to it, I inake this first general remark: It amply
seciures all oar ancielut righits, frianchises, and privileges.   All tlhe
great lprinlciples of Magna Cliarta are retaiined in it.  No citizen is
depri-ed of litf, liberty, or property  biut by the judgment of llis
)peers, under tlie l-ts of thle land.   Tite great prillcip)le of religious
libetrty, w-hlibh was tIe hlonor aaid pride of the old Constitution, is
still maititained and seclured.    \ll tihe essentials of tihe old Constituition, whieli l hove  eiideatecl it to the  liearts of tlhe Aiteiricati
Ioople, hlitve been prIeserved and perpetuated.  L[;\pl)ltuse.]   Solme
clhatages have been itatde; of tlese I shiall speak presently.   Soime
of tlhese I sihoild have prefelred not to hlave becen made, but these
1iehilaI)s mi-eet  tire  cordial  ai))Irobationi  of  a  majority  of  thlis
aud(ienrce, if not otil overwlielilinrg  la,tjority of tlJe peopi(le of tlhe
Coiifederacy.   Of themt, tieiteorc, I will lnot ssenk.   Itlt othler
illmportlint chianges  do titeet itty co(rdial  appl)obttiot.   Tlihey foirml
great imlirovet:.ents on the old Constitition.   So, takling tile wlole
new Constitution, I hlave no hesitancy in giving it is may jttdgment
thait it is decidedly better thIan thle old.   [ALpllause.]   Allow me
I 
OF TIIE SOUTIIERN CONiFEDER.ACY.
briefly to allude to some of these imil)rovemients.  Tlie question
of building up class interests, or fostering one branch of industry
to the prejudice of another, under the exercise of the revenue
power, iwhich gave us so much trouble under the old Constitution,
is put at rest tforever under the new.   We allow the imposition
of no duty with a view of giving advantag,es to one class of per sons, in any trade or business, over those of another.  All, under
our system, stand upon  the same  broad principles of perfect
equality.  Honest labor and enterprise are left firee and unre stricted in wN-latever pursuit they may be engaged.   This subject
came well ni,lgh causing a rupture of the old Union, under the lead
of the gallant Palmetto State, which lies on our border, in 1833.
This old thorn of the tariff, whliclh occasioned the cause of so
much irritation in the old body politic, is removed forever firom
the new.  [Applause.]   Again, the subject of internal iml)rovemnents, under the power of Congress to regulate commerce, is put
at rest under our system.  Tlheo power claimed by construction
un(ler the old Constitutionl was, at least, a doubtful  onie-it rested
s,)lely upon construlction.   We, of thle South, genei -tlly alat fi'orn
considerations of constitutional  principles, opposed  its exercise
upon grounds of expediency and justice.   Notwithlstanding tl-is
opposition, millions of money  in the common Treasury had been
dr'awn for such purIposes.  Our opposition sptrung firom no hostility
to comzmerce, or all necessary aids for facilitating it.  WVithl us it
was simnply a question upon ic,omn the burden  shlould fall.  In
Georgia, for instance, ve had done as much  for the cause of internal improvements as any other portion of the country, accoi'ding to population and means.   We  have stretched out lines of
railroads firom tlhe seaboard to the mountains; dug (dowNi  the hills
and filled up the valleys at a cost of not less than $25,000,000.
All this was done to open up an outlet for our products of the intcior, and those to the west of us, to reach the marts of the
-world.   No  State was in greater need of such  facilities than
Georg,ia, but -we had not askled that these works should be made
b)y appropriations out of the commron Treasury.  The cost of the
griadhag, the  superstructurie, and equipments of our rioads was
borne by those who entered upon the enterprise.  Nay, more, not
oIly the cost of the iron, no sinall item in the alggregate cost, was
boriiie in the same way, but we were compelled to pay into the
common Treasury several millions of dollars for tlhe privilege of
importing' the iron after the price was paid for it abroad.  What
67 
8 A AP ICAN SLAVERY: TiTE CORNER-STONE
justice was there in taking this money, which our people paid
into the  common  Treasury  on  the  importation  of our  iron,
and applying it to the improvement of rivers and harbors elsewhere?
The true principle is, to subject commerce of every locality to
whlatever burdens may be necessary to facilitate it.  If Charleston
harbor needs improvement, let the commerce of Charleston bear
the burden. If the mouth of the Savannah River has to be cleared
out, let the sea-going navigation which is benefited by it bear the
burden. So with the mouths of the Alabama and Mississippi rivers.  Just as the products of the interior, our cotton, wheat, corn,
and other articles have to bear the necessary rates of freight over
our railroads to reach the seas.  This is again the broad principle
of perfect equality and justice. [Applause.] And it is specially
held forth and established in our new Constitution.
Another feature to which I will allude is, that the new Constitution provides that cabinet ministers and heads of departments
shall have the privilege of seats upon the floor of the Senate and
Ihouse of Representatives-shall have the right to participate in the
debates and discussions upon the various subjects of administration. I should have preferred that this provisionl should have gone
further, and allowed the President to select his constitutional advisers from the Senate and IIouse of Representatives.  That would
have conformed entirely to the practice in the British Parliament,
+wl' 1   in my judgment, is one of the wisest provisions in the Britishl Parliament.  It is the only feature that saves that government.
It is that which gives it stability in its facility to change its administration.  Ours. as it is, is a great approximation to the right
principle.
Under the old Constitution a secretary of the Treasury, for instance, had no opportunity, save by his annual reports, of present,ng any scheme or plan of finance or other matter. Ile had no
opportunity of explaining, expounding, enforcing, or defending his
views of policy; his only resort was through the medium of an
organ. In the British Parliament the premier brings in his budget,
and stands before the nation responsible for its every item.  If it is
indefensible, he falls before the attacks upon it, as hle ought to.
This will now be the case to a limited extent under our system.
Our heads of departments can speak for themselves and the administration, in behalf of its entire policy, without resorting to
the indirect and highly objectionable medium of a newspaper.  It
't 
OF THE SOUTIIERN CONFFEDERACY.
is to be greatly hoped that under our system we shall never have
what is known as a government organ.  [Rapturous applause.]
[A noise again arose fiom the clamor of the crowd outside, who
wislhed to hear Mr. Stephens, and for some moments interrupted
him. Thile Mayor rose and called on the police to preserve order.
Quiet being restored, Mr. S. proceeded.]
Another change in the Constitution relates to the length of the
tenure of the Presidential office. In the new Constitution it is six
years instead of four, and the President rendered ineligible for re election.  This is certainly a decidedly conservative change.  It will
remove from the incumbent all temptation to use his office or exert
the powers confided to him for any objects of personal ambition.
The only incentive to that higher ambition which should move
and actuate one holding such high trusts in his hands will be the
good of the people, the advancement, prosperity, happiness, safety,
honor, and true glory of the Confederacy.   [Applause.]
But not to be tedious in enumerating the numerous changes for
the better, allow me  to allude to one other-though last, not
least: The new Constitution has put at rest, fJ'orcver, all agitating
questions relating to our peculiar instituLtion-Afi'ican slavery as it
exists amnong us-the proper statuts of thle negro in our form of civilization.  This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and
l)reseit revolution.  Jefikrson, in lhis forecast, had anticipated this,
as the "rock upon which the old Union would split."  lie was
right.  What was conjecture with him is now a realized fact.  Ilut
iwhnether hlie fully comprehended the great truth upon which that
rock stood and staizds, may be doubted.  The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of
the formation of the old Constitution were, that the enslavement
of the African wa,s in violation of'the laws of nature; that it was
wrong in pprinxcile, socially, morally, and politically.  It was an
evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion
of the men of that day was that, somehow or other, in the order
of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away.
This idea, though not incorporated in the Constitution, was the
prevailing idea at the time.  The Constitution, it is true, secured
every essential guaranty to the institution while it should last, and
hence no argument can be justly used against the constitutional
guaranties thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the
day.  Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong.  They
rested upon the assumption of the equality of races.  This was an
69 
70   AFRIC.AN SLAERPY: TIIE CORNER,-STOXE
error'. It  was a sandy foundation, and the idea of a government
built upon it; whenl the "stormi came  and the wind blew, it
fjll."
Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea;
its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great truth
that the negro is not equal to the whlite man.   That slaverysubordination to the superior race-is his natural and moral condition.  [Applause.]
This, our newv government, is the first in the history of the
vworld based upon this great physical, philosophlical, and moral
truth.  This truth has been slow in the process of its developmient, like all other truths in the various departments of science.
It has been so even aminong us.  3{any who hear me, perhaps, can
recollect well that this truth  was not generally admitted  even
w-ithin their day.  The errors of thie past generation still clung to
many. as late as twenty years ago.  Thlose at the North Awho still
cling to tlle e errors, withl a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics.  All fanaticism springs from an aberration of
tlhe nind-from a defect in reasoniing.  It is a species of insanity.
One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions fiom  fancied or erroneous
premises; so with the anti slavery fanatics; their conclusions are
right, if their premises are.  They assume that the negro is equal,
ind hlence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights
with the white man.  If their premise were correct, thlleir conclusion would be log,,ical and just; but their premise being wrong,
their whole argumrent falls.  I recollect once of hlaving heard a
gentleman from one of the Northern States, of great power and
ability, announce in the ltouse of PIepresentatives, with imnposing
effect, that we of the South would be compelled, ultimately, to
yield upon this subject of slavery; that it was as impossible to war
successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or
mechanics.  That the principle would  ultimately prevail.  That
we, in ma,intaining slavery as it exists with us, were warring against
a I)principle, a principle founded in nature, the principle of the equal ity of man.   The reply I made to him  was, that upon his own
grounds we should succeed, and that lie and his associates in their
crusades against our institutions, would ultimately fail.  The truth
announced that it was as impossible to war successfully agt,ainst a
princil)le in politics as in physics and mechanics, I admitted, but
told him that it -was hlie and those actiing with him who were war 
OF TIlE SOUTIIERN CONFEDERACY.
ring against a principle.  They were attempting to miake things
equal whilch the Creator had made unequal.
In the conflict thlus far, success has been on our side, complete
thlioughout the length and breadth of the Confederate States.  It is
upon this, as I have stated, our social fabric is firmly planted, and I
can not permit myself to doubt tl)he ultimate success of a full rccogni tion of this principle throughoutthe civilized and enligh,tened world.
As I have stated, tlhe truth of this principle may be slowv in de velopment, as all truths are, and ever have been, in the various
branches of science.  It was so withl the principles announced  by
Galileo; it was so witl-h Adam Smith and his principles of political
economy.  It was so with Ilarvey and his theory of the circulation
of the blood.  It is stated tlhat not a single one of the medical profession, living at the time of the announcement of the trutlis made
by lhimn, admitted them.  Now, they are universally acknowledg(ed.
May we not, therefore, look withl confidence to the ultimate universal acknowled,gment of the truthls upon which our systemrn rests?
It is tlhe first government ever instituted upon princip)les in strict
contorinitv to nature, and the ordination of Providence, in furnishing the materials of human society.   Many governments have been
founded upon tlhe principle of the enslavement of certaLin classes;
br.t thlle classes thlus enslaved were of the same race an!d in violation
of tlhe laws of nature.  Our system commits no such violation of
nature's laws.  The negro by nature, or by tlhe e.curse against Canaan, is fitted for that condition whichl he occupies in our sy-stem.
The architect, in the construction of buildings, lays the foundation
withl proper materials-the granite-tlhen comes thlle brick or the
marble.  The substratum of our society is made of the material
fitted by nature for it, and by expqrience we know that it is best
not only for the superior, but for the inferior race that it should be
so.  It is, indeed, in conlformity with the ordinance of tlhe Creator.
It % not for us to inquire into the wisdom of His ordinances or to
question them.  For Ijis own purposes Hle has made one race to
differ fiomn another, as  ie has made "one star to differ fioln another in glory."
The  igreat oljects of humnanity are best attained, when  confolrmd to Ilis lawrs and decrees, in the fo)rlmation of goverinienits
as well as in all things else.  Our Confederacy is founded upon
principles in strict conformity witli these laws.  This stone whlichl
was rejected by the first builders, " is become the chief stone of the
corner" in our new edlifice.  [Applause.]
71 
2    AFRICAN SLAVFERY: TIE CORNER-STONE
I have been asked, what of the future?  It has been apprehended by some that we would have arrayed against us the civilized world.  I care not who or how many they may be, when we
stand upon the eternal principles of truth we are obliged and must
triumnph. [Immense applause.]
Thousands of people who begin to understand these truths are
not yet completely out of the shell. They do not see them in their
length and breadth. We hear much of the civilization and Christianization of the barbarous tribes of Africa. In my judgment,
those ends will never be attained, but by first teaching them the
lesson taught to Adam, that "in the sweat of thy brow shalt thou
eat bread" [applause], and teaching them to work, and feed, and
clothe themselves.  But to pass on: some have propounded tlhe
inquiry, whether it is practicable for us to go on with the Confederacy without further accessions?   hlave we the means and
ability to maintain nationality among the powers of the earth?
On this point I would barely say, that as anxiously as we all have
been and are for the Border States, with institutions similar with
ours, to join us, still we are abundantly able to maintain our position, even if they should ultimately makle up their minds not to
cast their destiny with ours.  That they ultimately will join usbe compelled to do it-is my confident belief, but we can get on
very well without them, even if they should not.
We have all the essential elements of a hi,lgh national career.
The idea has been given out at the North, and even in the Border
States, that we are too small and too weak to maintain a separate
nationality.  This is a great mistake.  In extent of territory we
embrace 564,000 square miles and upward. This is upward of
200,000 square miles more than was included within the limits of
the original thirteen States. It is an area of country more than
double the territory of France or the Austrian Empire.  France,
in round numbers, has but 212,000 square miles.  Austria, in
round numbers, has 24S,000 square miles.  Ours is greater than
both combined.  It is greater than all France, Spain, Portugal, and
Great Britain, including England, Ireland, and Scotland together.
In population we have upward of eight millions, according to the
census of 1860; this includes white and blackl-.  The entire population, including white and black, of the original thirteen States,
was less than 4,000,000 in 1790, and still less in'76, when the independence of our fathers was achieved.  If they, with a less population, dared maintain their independence against the greatest 
OF TIIE SOUTIIERN CONFFDERACY
power on earth, shall we have any apprehension of maintaining
ours now?
In point of material wealth and resources we are greatly in
advance of them. The taxable property of the Confederate States
can not be less than $22,000,000,000. This, I think, I venture but
little in saying, may be considered as five times more than the
colonies possessed at the time they achieved their independence.
Georgia alone possessed last year, according to the report of our
Controller-General, $672,000,000 of taxable property. The debts
of the seven Confederate States sum up, in the aggregate, less than
$18,000,000; while the existing debts of the other of the late
United States sum up, in the aggregate, the enormous amount of
$174,000,000. This is without taking into the account the heavy
city debts, corporation debts, and railroad debts, which press, and
will continue to press, a heavy incubus upon the resources of those
States.  These debts, added to others, make a sum total not much
under $500,000,000.  With such an area of territory-with such
an amount of population-with a climate and soil unsurpassed by
any on the face of the earth-with such resources already at our
command-with productions which control the commerce of the
world, who can entertain any apprehensions as to our success,
whethler othersjoin us or not?
It is true, I believe, I state but the coiimmon sentiiment, wlienii I
declare my earnest desire that the Border States should join us.
The differences of opinion that existed among us anterior to secession related more to the policy in securing that result by cooperation than from any difference upon the ultimate security we
all looked to in common.
These differences of opinion were more in reference to policy
than principle, and as Mir. Jefferson said in his inaugural, in 1801,
after the heated contest preceding his election, there milght be diffe;ences in opinion without differences in principle, and that all,
to some extent, had been Federalists and all Republicans; so it
may now be said of us, that whatever differences of opinion as to
the best policy in having a co-operation witlh our border sister
Slave States, if the worst come to the worst, that as we were all
co-operationists, we are now all for independence, whether they
come or not. [Continued applause.]
In this connection I take this occasion to state that I was not
without grave and serious apprehension, that if the worst came to
the worst, and cutting loose from the old government would be
73 
AFRICA.N SLAVERY: TIIE COPRNER-STONE
the only remedy for our safety and security, it would be attended
withl much more serious ills than it has been as yet.   Thus ifar we
have seen none of those incidents which usually attend revolutions.
No such material as such convulsions usually throw up has been
seen.  Wisdom, prudence, and patriotism have marked every step
of our progress thus far.  This augurs well for the future, and it is
a matter of sincere gratification to me, that I am enabled to make
the declaration of the men I met in the Congress at MIontgomery
(I may be pardoned for saying this), an abler, wiser-a more conservative, deliberate, determined, resolute, and patriotic body of
men I never met in my life.  [Great applause.]  Their works speak
for them; the Provisional Government speaks for them; the Constitution of the permanent Government will be a lasting monuient of their worth, merit, and statesmanship.  [Applause.]
But to return to the question of the future.  lWhat is to be the
result of this revolution?
WA-ill everything, commenced so well, continue as it has begun?
In reply to this anxious inquiry, I can only say it all depends upon
ourselves.  A young man starting out in life on his majority, with
health, talent, and ability, under a favoring Providence, may be
said to be the archlitect of his own fortunes. lhis destinies are in
his own hands.  lie may make for himself a name of honor or dishonor, according to his own acts. If he plants himself upon truth,
integrity, honor, and  uprightness, with  industry, patience,  and
energy, he can not fail of success.  So it is with us; we are a
young Republic, just entering upon the arena of nations; we will
be the archlitect of our own fortunes. Our destiny, under Providence, is in our owvn hands.  WAVitlh wisdomrn, prudence, and statesinanshlip on the part of our public men, and intelligence, virtue,
and patriotism on the part of the people, success, to the full mieasures of our most sanguine hopes, may be looked for.  Put if we
becomie divided-if schisms  arise-if dissensions spring tp-if
factions are engendere(l —if party spirit, nourished by unholy personal ambition, shall rear its hydra head, I have no good to proplhesy for you.  WAithlout intelligence, virtue, integrity, and patriotismn on the part of  the people,  no republic or representative
government can be durable or stable.
WAe have intelligesce, and virtue, and patriotism. All that is
required is to cultivate and perpetuate these. Intelligence will not
do without virtue.  France was a nation of philosophers.  These
philosophlers became Jacobins.  They lacked that virtue, that de
I 
OF TIIE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY.
votion to moral principle, and that patriotism which is essential to
good government.   Organized upon principles of perfect justice
and right-seeking amity and friendship with all other powers-I
see no obstacle in the way of our upward and onward progress.
Our growth, by accessions firom other States, will depend greatly
upon whether we present to the world, as I trust we shall, a better government than that to which they belong.  If we do this,
-North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas can not hesitate long;
neither can Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri.   They will necessarily gravitate to us by an imperious law.  We made ample provision in our Constitution for the admission of other States; it is
more guarded, and wisely so, I think, than the old Constitution on
the same subject, but not too guarded to receive them as fast as it
may be proper. Looking to the distant future, and, perhaps, not
very distant either, it is not beyond the range of possibility, and
even probability, that all the great States of the Northwest shall
gravitate this way as well as Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, etc.  Should they do so, our doors are wide enough to receive them, but not until they are ready to assimilate with us in
principle.
The process of disintegration in the old Union may be expected
to go on with almost absolute certainty.  We are now the nucleus
of a growing power, which, if we are true to ourselves, our destiny, and high mission, will become the controlling power on this
continent. To what extent accession will go on in the process of
time, or where it will end, the future will determine.  So far as it
concerns States of the old Union, they will be upon no such principle of reconstruction as now spoken of, but upon qeoiganization
and new assimilation.  LLoud applause.]  Suchl are some of the
glimpses of the future as I catch them.
But at first we must necessarily meet with the inconveniences,
and difficulties, and embarrassments incident to all changes of
government. These will be felt in our postal affairs and changes
in the chlannel of trade. These inconveniences, it is to be hoped,
will be but temporary, and must be borne with patience and foi'bearance.
As to whether we shall have war with our late confederates, or
whether all matters of differences between us shall be amicably
settled, I can only say that the prospect for a peaceful adjustment
is better, so far as I am informed, than it has been.
The prospect of war is at least not so threatening as it has been.
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76   AFRICAN SLANERPY: TIlE CORNER-STONE
The idea of coercion shadowed forth in President Lincoln's Inaugural seems not to be followed up thus far so vigorously as was
expected. Fort Sumter, it is believed, will soon be evacuated.
Wvhat course will be pursued toward Fort Pickens and the other
forts on the Gulf, is not so well understood. It is to be greatly
desired that all of them should be surrendered. Our object is
Peace, not only with the North, but with the world. All matters
relating to the public property, public liabilities of the Unii6n
when we were members of it, we are ready and willing to adjust
and settle, upon the principles of right, equality and good faith.
War can be of no more benefit to the North than to us.  The idea
of coercing us, or subjugating us, is utterly preposterous. Whether
the intention of evacuating Fort Sumter is to be received as an
evidence of a desire for a peaceful solution of our difficulties with
the United States, or the result of necessity, I will not undertake
to say.   I would fain hope the former.  Rumors  are afloat,
however, that it is the result of necessity. All I can say to you,
therefore, on that point is, keep your armor bright and your
powder dry. [Enthusiastic applause.]
The surest way to secure peace is to show your ability to maintain your rights. The principles and position of the present
Administration of the United States-the Republican  partypresent some puzzling questions. While it is a fixed principle with
them never to allow the increase of a foot of slave territory, they
seem to be equally determined not to part with an inch "of the
accursed soil." Notwithstanding their clamor against the institution, they seem to be equally opposed to getting more, or letting
go what they have got.  They were ready to fight on the accession
of Texas, and are equally ready to fight now on her secession.
Why is this?  How can this strange paradox be accounted for?
There seems to be but one rational solution, and that is, notwithtanding their professions of humanity, they are disinclined to give
up the benefits they derive from slave labor. Their philanthropy
yields to their interest. The idea of enforcing the laws has but
one object, and that is a collection of the taxes raised by slave
labor to swell the fund necessary to meet their heavy appropriations. The spoils is what they are after, though they come from
the labor of the slave. [Continued applause.]
Mr. Stephens reviewed at some length the extravagance and
profligacy of appropriations by the Congress of the United States
for several years past, and in this connection took occasion to 
OF TIIE SOUTIIERN CCNFEDERACY.
allude to another one of the great improvements in our new Con   stitution, which is a clause prohibiting Congress fi'om appropriat   ing any money fiom the Treasury except by a two-thirds vote,
unless it be for some object which the Executive may say is neces   sary to carry on the Government.
When it is thus asked for and estimated, he continued, the ma   j(ority may appropriate.  This was a new feature.
Our fathers had guarded the assessmnent of taxes by insisting
that representation and taxation should go together. This was
inherited from the mother country-England.  It was one of the
principles upon which the Revolution had been fought.   Our
fathers also provided in the old Constitution that all appropriation
bills should originate in the Representative branch of Congress;
but our new Constitution went a step further, and guarded not
only the pockets of the people, but also the public money, after it
was taken from their pockets.
ie alluded to the difficulties and embarrassments which seemed
to surround the question of a peaceful solution of the controversy
with the old Government. hIow can it be done? is perplexing
many minds. The President seems to think that he can not recog   nize our independence, nor can he, with and by the advice of the
Senate, do so. The Constitution makes no such provision. A
general convention of all the States has been suggested by some.
Without proposing to solve the difficulty, he barely made the fol   lowing suggestions:
That as the admission of States by Congress under the Consti   tution was an act of legislation, and in the nature of a contract or
compact between the States admitted and the others admitting,
why should not this contract or compact be regarded as of like
character with all other civil contracts-liable to be rescinded by
mutual agreement of both parties?  The  seceding States  have
rescinded it on their part. Whly can not the whole question be
settled, if the North desire peace, simply by the Congress, in both
branches, with the concurrence of the President, giving their con   sent to the separation, and a recognition of our independence?
This he merely offered as a suggestion, as one of the ways in whichli
it might be done with much less violence to constructions of the
Constitution than many other acts of that Government. [Ap   plause.] The difficulty has to be solved in some way or other   this may be regarded as a fixed fact.
Several other points were alluded to by Mr. S., particularly as to
77 
AFRICAN SLA%.'ERY.
the policy of the new Government toward fore'gn nations and our
commercial relations with them.  Free trade, as far as practicable,
would be the policy of this Government.   No higher duties would
be imposed on foreign importation than would be necessary to
support the Government upon the strictest economy.
In olden times the olive branch was considered the emblem of
peace. AVe will send to the nations of the earth another and fuar
more potential emblem of the same-the COTTON PLANT.   The
present duties were levied with a view of meeting the present
necessities and exigencies, in preparation for war, if need be; blut
if we had peace-and he hoped we mighlt-and trade should
resume its proper course, a duty of ten per cent. upon foreign
importations, it was thought, might be sufficient to meet the
expenditures of the Government. If some articles should be left
on the free list, as they now are, such as breadstuffs, etc., then, of
course, duties upon others would lhave to be higher-but in no
event to an extent t, embarrass trade and coimmerce.  I-e concluded in an earnest appeal for union and harmonoiy, oni the part of
all the people, in support of the common cause, in which we are
all enlisted, and upon the issues of which such great consequences
depend.
If, said he, we are true to ourselves, true to our cause, true to
our destiny, true to our high mission, in presenting to the world
the highest type of civilization ever exhibited by man, there will
be found in our lexicon no such word as Fail.
MSr. Stephens took his seat amid a burst of enthusiasm and applause such as the Atheneuin has never displayed within its walls
within "the recollection of the oldest inhabitant."
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