The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-22 00:00:00

THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY_

The following is the Message of Jefferson Davis
,o the Provisional Congress :
GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS,
.. .

It is my pleasing duty to announce to you that
the Constitution framed for the establishment of a
permanent Government for the Confederate States
has been ratified by Conventions in each of those
States in which it was referred. To inaugurate the
Government to its full proportions and upon its own
substantial basis of the popular will it only remains
that elections should be held for the designation of
the officers to administer it.

There is every reason to believe that at no distant
day other States, identified in political principles
and community of interests with these which you
represent, will join this Confederacy, giving to its
typical constellation increased splendour ; to its go-
vernment of free, equal, and sovereign States a
wider sphere of usefulness; and to the friends of
constitutional liberty a greater security for its har-
monious and perpetual existence.
It was not, however, for the purpose of making
this announcement that I have deemed it my duty
to convoke you at an earlier day than that fixed by
yourselves for your meeting. The declaration of
war made against this Confederacy by Abraham
Lincoln, the President of the United States, in his
proclamation issued on the 15th day of the present
month, rendered it necessary, in my judgment, that
you should convene at the earliest practicable mo-
ment to devise measures necessary for the defence
of the country.
The occasion is, indeed, an extraordinary one. It
justifies me in a brief review of the relations here-
tofore existing between us and the States which
now unite in warfare against us, and in a succinct
statement of the events which have resulted in this
warfare ; to the end that mankind may pass intel-
ligent and impartial judgment on its motives and

objects.
During the war waged against Great Britain by
her colonies on this continent a common danger im-
pelled them to a close alliance, and to the formation
of a Confederation by the terms of which the colo-
nies, styling themselves States, entered "severally
into a firm league of friendship with each other for
their common defence, the security of their liberties,
and their mutual and general welfare, binding
themselves to assist each other against all force
offered to or attacks made upon them, or any of
them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or
any other pretence whatever."
In order to guard against any misconstruction of
their compact, the several States made explicit de-
claration, in a distinct article, that "each State re-
tains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence.and
every power, jurisdiction, and right which is not by
this Confederation expressly delegated to the United
States in Congress assembled."
Under this contract of alliance the war of the
Revolution was successfully waged, and resulted in
the treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1783, by
the terms of which the several States were, each by
name, recognized to be independent.
The Articles of Confederation contained a clause
whereby all alterations were prohibited, unless con-
firmed by the Legislatures of every State, after
being agreed to by the Congress ; and, in obedience
to this provision, under the resolution of Congress of
the 21st of February, 1787, the several States ap-
pointed delegates, who attended a Convention " for
the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles
of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and
the several Legislatures such alterations and pro-
visions therein as shall, when agreed to in Con-
gress, and confirmed by the States, render the
Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies
of Government and the preservation of the Union."
It was by the delegates chosen by the several
States, under the resolution just quoted, that the
Constitution of the United States was framed in
1787, and submitted to the several States for ratifi-
cation, as shown by the seventh article, which is in
these words :
"The ratification of the Conventions of nine States
shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Con-
stitution between the States so ratifying the same."
The Constitution of 1787 having, however,
omitted the clause already recited from the articles
of Confederation which provided in explicit terms
that each State retained its sovereignty and inde-
pendence, some alarm was felt in the States when
invited to ratify the Constitution, lest this omission
should be construed into an abandonment of their
cherished principle, and they refused to be satisfied
until amendments were added to the Constitution,
placing beyond any pretence of doubt the
i reserva-
tion by the States of all their sovereign rights and
powers,
expresslyonstitutdelegated to the United
States
theot ien. C
I have italicised certain words in the quotations,
just made, for the purpose of attracting attentioirto
the singular and marked caution with which the
States endeavoured, in every possible form, to ex-
clude the idea that the separate and independent
sovereignty of each State was merged into one com-
mon Government and nation, and the earnest desire
they evinced to impress on the Constitution its true
character—that of a compact between independent
States.
Strange indeed must it appear to the impartial
observer, but it is none the less true, that all these
carefully-worded clauses proved unavailing to pre-
vent the rise and growth in the Northern States of
a political school which has persistently claimed
that the Government thus formed was not a com-
pact between States, but was, in effect, a national
Government, set up above and over the States. An
organisation, created by the States to secure the
blessings of liberty and independence against foreign
aggression, has been gradually perverted into a
machine for their control in their domestic affairs ;
the creature had been exalted above its creators ;
the principals have been made subordinate to the
agent appointed by themselves.
The people of the Southern States, whose almost
exclusive occupation was agriculture,early perceived
a tendency in the Northern States to render the
common government subservient to their own pur-
poses by imposing burdens on commerce as a protec-
tion to their manufacturing and shipping interests.
Long and angry controversy grew out of these at-
tempts, often successful, to benefit one section of the
cßoyusnditenrgyerraeeietansst,ihnegexpense of the other. And the dan-
gera
greaterof disruption
ratratio
tarisinghan the from this cause was en-
hancedwa. by the fact that the Northern population
o immigrationul
aatni
odn ootfh e
ther causal
South.in
tdaeuragnhctetheiratshtehe Northern States gained prepon-
pgloavuesrinbltehaedmvpoince advocacy
epr
yilteyoNa
ft:oot
yield
d.r Congress,
heatdy
s self-interestsen t
to.
any
to listen with impatiencewith
torou rttihgteh
suggestion
uagsgae s
tmi
eaoj majority ya
any
tme rpl eyd haveim ethe ht ed principles
control ; they learned
constitutionalandsouti e
Neore txheerrcoiosmfe ofnhde theircthona t
inaugural
Marchnral last,
h addresse a deliveredssertsa as
a n byax Presidentaxiom
President
whichstitution been corrupted in th
Ihneintpleiloealinnly deems to be undeniable, that the theory
indi
danl all
tcases
hesitatethe
w will ;
of the Constitutionehrieefqumiaregsistthraatte
majority shall govern. ; and in another memorable
instance the same
to liken the relations between a State and the
United States to those which exist between a
county and the State in which it is situated and
e lamentable
and which it was created. This is th amentable
and fundamental error on which rests the policy
that has culminated in his declaration of war
Confederate States,
apingt thew vCsn'

In addition to the long-zontinued and deep-seated
resentment felt by the Southern States at the per-
sistent abuse of the powers they had delegated to
the Congress for the purpose of enriching the
manufacturing and shipping classes of the North
at the expense of the South, there has existed
for nearly half a century another subject of discord,
involving interests of such transcendent magnitude
as at all times to create the apprehension in the
minds of many devoted lovers of the Union that its
permanence was impossible.
When the several States delegated certain powers
to the United States Congress s large portion of the
labouring popula' ion consisted of African slaves im-
ported into colonies by the mother country. In 12
out of the 13 States negro slavery existed, and the
right of property in slaves was protected by law.
This property was recognised in the Constitution,
and provision was made against its loss by the
escape of the slave. The increase in the number of
slaves by further importation from Africa was also
secured by a clause forbidding Congress to prohibit
the slave trade anterior to a certain date ; and in
no clause can there be found any delegation of
power to the Congress authorising it in any manner
to legislate to* the prejudice, detriment, or dis-
couragement of the owners of that species of pro-
perty, or excluding it from the protection of the
Government.

The climate and soil of the Northern States soon'
proved unpropitious to the continuance of slave
labour, while the converse was the case at the South.
Under the unrestricted free intercourse between the
two sections, the Northern States consulted their
own interest by selling their slaves tolhe South, and
prohibiting slavery within their limits. The South
were willing purchasers of a preperty suitable to
their wants, and paid the price of. Or acquisition
without harbouring a suspicion 'Oita their quiet
possession was to be disturbed by those who were
inhibited, not only by want of constitutional
authority, but by good faith as vendors, from dis-
quieting a title emanating from them4elves.
As soon, however, as the Northert. States, that
prohibited African slavery within their limits, had
reached a number sufficient to give their represen-
tation a controlling voice in the Cctlgress, a per-
sistent and organised system of hostile measures
against the rights of the owners of slaves in the
Southern States was inaugurated and gradually ex-
tended. A continuous series of measures were devised
and prosecuted for the purpose of repdering inse-
cure the tenure of property in slaves, flinatical orga-
nisations supplied with money by voluntary sub-
scriptions were assiduously engaged in exciting
among the slaves a spirit of discontent, and revolt,
means were furnished for their escam from their
owners, and agents secretly employed t4lentice them
to abscond; the constitutional provision for their
relation to their owners was first evaded, then
openly announced as a conscientious violation of
obligation and religious duty ; men were taught
that it was a merit to elude, disobey, and violently
oppose the execution of the laws enacted to secure
the performance of the promise in the constitutional
compact ; owners of slaves were mobbed and even
murdered in open day, solely for applying to a
magistrate for the arrest of a fugitive slave; the
dogmas of these voluntary organisations soon ob-
tained control of the Legislatures of many of the
Northern States, and laws were passed providing
for the punishment by ruinous fines and long-con-
tinued imprisonment in gaols and penitentiaries of
citizens of the Southern States who should dare to
ask aid of the officers of the law for the recovery of
their property. Emboldened by success, the theatre
of agitation and aggression against the clearly ex-
pressed constitutional rights of the Southern States
was transferred to the Congress; senators and re-
presentatives were sent to the common councils of
the nation, whose chief title to this distinction con-
sisted in the display of a spirit of ultra fanaticism,
and whose business was not " to promote the gene-
ral welfare or insure domesticlranquillity," but to
awaken the bitterest hatred against the citizens of
sister States by violent denunciations of their insti-
tutions; the transaction of public affairs was im-
peded by repeated efforts to usurp powers not dele-
gated by the constitution, for the purpose of im-
pairing the security of property in slaves, and
reducing those States which held slaves to a
condition of inferiority. Finally, a great party
was organised for the ' purpose of obtaining
the administration of the Government with the
avowed object of using its power for the total
exclusion of the Slave States from all participa-
tion in the benefits of the public domain, acquired
by all the States in common, whether by conquest
or purchase; of surrounding them entirely by States
in which slavery should be prohibited ; of thus ren-
dering the property in slaves so insecure as to be
comparatively worthless, and thereby annihilating
in effect property worth thousands of millions of
dollars. This party thus organised succeeded, in
the month of November last, in the election of its
candidate for the Presidency of the United States.
In the meantime, under the mild and genial cli-
mate of the Southern States, and the increasing care
and attention for the wellbeing and comfort of the
labouring class, dictated alike by interest and hu-
manity, the African slaves had augmented in num-
ber from about 600,000, at the date of the adoption
of the constitutional compact, to upwards of four
million. In moral and social condition they had
been elevated from brutal savages into docile, intel-
ligent,
not
tn
od
ncl iyv civilised a g bodilyr agricultural
olratbs
bruetr
with
, an d
csaurpe
fal religious instruction. Under the supervision of
a superior race their labour had been so directed as
not only to allow a gradual and marked ameliora-
tion of their own condition, but to convert hundreds
of thousands of square miles of the wilderness into
cultivated lands, covered with a prosperous people;
towns and cities had sprung into existence, and had
rapidly increased in wealth and population under
the social system of the South ; the white popula-
tion of the Southern slaveholding States had aug-
mented from about 1,260,000, at the date of the
adoption of the Constitution, to more than 8,500,000
in 1860, and the productions of the South in cotton,
rice, sugar, and tobacco, for the full development
and continuance of which the labour of African
slaves was and is indispensable, had swollen to an
amount which formed nearly three-fourths of the
exports of the whole United States, and become ab-
solutely necessary to the wants of civilised man.
With interests of such overwhelming magnitude
imperilled the people of the Southern States were
driven by the conduct of the North to the adoption
of some course of action to avert the danger with
which they were openly menaced. With this view
the Legislature •of the several States invited the
people to select delegates to conventions to be held
for the purpose of determining for themselves what
measures were best adapted to meet so alarming a
crisis in their history.

Here it may be proper to observe that from a
period a
States
of the
early as
theunionl7a9Bpathrteyre hadcmo existed
etuninterirnnapltl theedly
in the majority, based upon the creed that each State
was, in the last resort, the sole judge as well of its
wrongs as of the mode and measure of redress. In-
deed it is obvious that under the law of nations this
principle is an axiom as applied to the relations of
independent sovereign States such as those which
had united themselves under the constitutional com-
pact. The Democratic party in the United States
si n
The g ;
repeated in its successful canvass in 1856 the declara-
tion made in numerous previous political contests,
that it would " faithfully abide by and uphold the
principles laid down in the Kentucky and Virginia
resolutions of 1798, and in the report of Mr. Madi-
son
em-
maindtoo
principles foundationsp tt lls
e thoseV i rg
principles i n ioa
thus t L
itse g e
politicali Legislature t ue
orne 1799creed."tniti
emphatically
constituting
that to which I have already adverted, the
right of each State to judge of and redress the wrongs
of
ain ed which
y it
overwhelming
oil the States of the Union at different elections,
especially in the election of Mr. Jefferson in 1805,
complains.
majorities of the people of
t
Mr. Madison in 1809, and Mr. Pierce in 1852.

In the exercise of a right so ancient, so well estab-
lished, and so necessary for self-preservation, the
people of the Confederate States in their Conven-
which they had
tshey were menaced
the delegation of
strequired
t aetnrhmda determined
they
v thatishould
w tiht
he
wwrevoke
powers to the Federal Government which they had
ratified in their several Conventions. They conse-
all their rights
yrepigansseadndoridnidneapnecnedseresuming
citahsueseionrytcelonnexion with the other States of the Union.
Having done this, they proceeded to form a new
wonhgichthehmayseelvbese,en also ratified by the
by new articles of con-
eodmepraateiton am,
Conventions of the several States, with an approach
to-unallimitY far exceeding that of the Convention
which adopted the Constitution of 1787. They
have organised their new Government in all its de-
partments ; the functions of the executive, legisla-
tive, and judicial magistrates are performed in ac-
cordance with the will of the people, as displayed
I not merely in cheerful acquiescence, but in the en-
thusiastic support of the Government thus esta-
blished by themselves ; and, but for the interference
of the Government of the United States in this legi-
' timate aerate of the right of a people to pelf go-

vernment, peace, happiness, and prosperity would
now smile on our land.
smi
be
lnet
for
dm p. e osp
el
ae
rhe ae s
h!aae(l,
That peace is ardently desired by this Govern-
nyou
aans
si feems tbe
Ide
di ni
ne vFeerbyr
upaorsy-
laq when, prior even to the inauguration of the
Chief Magistrate yOra had elected, you passed a re-
solution expressive of your desire for the appoint.
ment of commissioners to be sent to the Govern-
ment o f the United States, " for the purpose of ne-
gotiating frieTadly relations between that Govern-
ment and the Confederate States of America, and
for the settlement of all questions of disagreement
between the two Governments upon principles of
right, justice, equity, and good faith."
It was my pleasure, as well as my duty, to co-
operate with you in this work of peace. Indeed, in
my address to you on taking the oath of office, and
before receiving from you the communication of
this resolution, I had said, "as a necessity, not a
choice, we have resorted to the remedy of separa-
tion, and henceforth our energies must be directed
'to the conduct of our own affairs and the perpetuity
of the Confederacy which we have formed. If a
just perception of mutual interest shall permit us
peaceably to pursue our separate political career,
my most earliest desire will have been fulfilled."
It was in furtherance of these accordant
views of the Congress and the Executive that
I made choice of three discreet, able,
and distinguished citizens, who repaired to
Washington. Aided by their cordial co-operation,
and that of the Secretary of State, every effort
compatible with self-respect and the dignity of the
Confederacy was exhausted before I allowed myself
to yield to the conviction that the Government of
the United States was determined to attempt the
conquest of this people, rind that our cherished hopes
of peace were unattainable.

On the arrival of our Commissioners in Washing-
ton on the sth of March they postponed, at the sug-
gestion of a friendly intermediary, doing more than
giving in formal notice of their arrival. This was
done with a view to afford time to the President,
who had just been inaugurated, for the discharge
of other pressing official duties in the organisation
of his Administration, before engaging his atten-
tion in the object of their mission. It was not until
the 12th of the month that they officially addressed
the Secretary of State, informing him of the pur-
pose of their arrival, and stating in the language
of their instructions their wish to make to the
Government of the United States overtures for the
opening of negotiations, assuring the Government
of the United States that the President, Congress,
and people of the Confederate States earnestly desire
a peaceful solution of these great questions ; that it
is neither their interest nor their wish to make any
demand which is not founded on strict justice, nor
do any act to injure their late confederates.
To this communication no formal reply was re-
ceived until April 8. During the interval the Com-
missioners had consented to waive all questions of
form. With the firm resolve to avoid war if pos-
sible, they went so far even as to hold, during that
long period, unofficial intercourse, through an in-
termediary, whose high position and character in-
spired the hope of success, and through whom con-
stant assurances were received from the Government
of the United States of peaceful intentions of the de-
termination to evacuate Fort Sumter, and further
that no measure changing the existing status pre-
judicially to the Confederate States, especially at
Fort Pickens, was in contemplation, but that in the
event of any hange of intention on the subject notice
would be given to the Commissioners. The crooked
paths of diplomacy can scarcely furnish an example
so wanting in courtesy, in candour and directness,
as was the course of the United States Government
towards our Commissioners in Washington. For
proof of this I refer to the annexed documents
marked --, taken in connexion with other facts
which I now prOceed to relate.
Early in April the attention of the whole coun-
try, as well as that of our Commissioners, was at-
tracted to extraordinary preparations for an exten-
sive military and naval expedition in New York
and other Northern ports. These preparations, com-
menced in secrecy for an expedition whose destina-
tion was concealed, only became known when
nearly completed, and on the sth, Gth, and 7th of
April transports and vessels of war, with troops,
munitions,and military supplies sailed from Northern
ports bound southwards. Alarmed by so extraordi-
nary a demonstration, the Commissioners requested
the delivery of an answer to their official communi-
cation of the 12th of March, and thereupon received,
on the Bth of April, a reply dated on the 15th of
the previous month, from which it appears that
during the whole interval, while the Commissioners
were receiving assurances calculated to inspire hopes
of the success of their mission, the Secretary of
State and the President of the United States had
already determined to hold no intercourse with
them whatever—to refuse even to listen to any pro-
posals they had to make, and had profited by the
delay created by their own selfishness in order to
prepare secretly the means for effective hostile
operations.
That these assurances were given has been vir-
tually confessed by the Government of the United
States, by its sending a messenger to Charleston to
e
striking proof of the absence of good faith in the con-
no of itsf s
uppuprlpyoi sneg toF
ours:
Sumterforce if. o pNp
no s en
id.) irne
idgtuisvcietnontfeotnthitcei:Government of the United States towards
this Confederacy can be required than is contained in
the circumstances which accompanied this notice.
According to the usual course of navigation, the
vessels composing the expedition designed for the
relief of Fort Sumter might be expected to reach
Charleston harbour on the 9th of April ; yet, with
our Commissioners actually in Washington, de-
tained under assurances that notice should be given
of any military movement, the notice was not ad-
dressed to them, but a messenger was sent to Charles-
ton to give the notice to the Governor of South Ca-
rolina, and the notice was so given at a late hour on
the Bth of April, the eve of the very day on which
the fleet might be expected to arrive. That this
manoeuvre failed in its purpose was not the fault of
those who contrived it. A heavy tempest delayed
the arrival of the expedition, and gave time to the
commander of our forces at Charleston to ask and
receive the instructions of this Government. Even
then, under all the provocation incident to the con-
temptuous refusal to listen to our Commissioners
and the tortuous course of the Government of the
United States, I was sincerely anxious to avoid the
effusion of blood, and directed a proposal to be
made to the commander of Fort Sumter, who had
avowed himself to be nearly out of provisions, that
we would abstain from directing our fire on Fort
Sumter if he would promise not to open fire on our
forces unless first attacked. This proposal was re-
fused, and the conclusion was reached that the
design of the United States was to place the be-
sieging force at Charleston between the simultane-
ous fire of the fleet and the fort. There remained,
therefore, no alternative but to direct that the fort
should at once be reduced. This order was executed
by General Beauregard, with the skill and success
which were naturally to be expected from the well-
known character of that gallant officer; and al-
though the bombardment lasted but 33 hours, our
flag did not wave over its battered walls until after
the appearance of the hostile fleet off Charleston.
Fortunately, not a life was lost on our side, and we
were gratified in being spared the necessity of a use-
less effusion of blood by the prudent caution of the
officers who commanded the fleet, in abstaining from
the evidently futile effort to enter the harbour for
the relief of Major Anderson. I refer to the report
of the Secretary of War, and the papers which ac-
company it, for further details of the brilliant affair.
In this connexion I cannot refrain from a well-de-
served tribute to the noble State, the eminent sol-
dierly qualities of whose people were so conspicuously
displayed in the port of Charleston. For months
they had been irritated by the spectacle of a for-
tress held within their principal harbour, as a
standing menace against their peace and indepen-
dence. Built in part with their own money, its
custody confided with their own consent to an
agent who held no power over them other than
such as they had themselves delegated for their
own benefit, intended to be used by that agent for
their own protection against foreign attack, they
saw it held with persistent tenacity as a means of
offence against them by the very Government
which they had established for their protection.
They had beleaguered it for months—felt entire
confidence in their power to capture it—yet yielded
to the requirements of discipline, curbed their im-
patience, submitted without complaint to the un-
accustomed hardships, labours, and privations of
a protracted siege; and when at length their
patience was rewarded by the signal for attack
and success had crowned their steady and
gallant conduct—even in the very moment
of triumph—they evinced a chivalrous re-
gard for the feelings of the brave but unfortu-
nate officer who had been compelled to lower hie
flag. All manifestations of exultation were checked
in his presence. Their commanding General, with
theirvercordialnnien t,
re
farparnreodvaflroamnaimtphoesinlnLe7 terms that
tcat:
could wound the sensibilities of the commander of
the fort. He was permitted to retire with the
honour's of war—to salute 144 flag: to depart freely

with all his command, and was escorted to the ves-
sel in which he embarked with the highest marks
of respect from those against whom his guns had
been so recently directed. Not only does every event.
connected with the siege reflect the highest honour
on South Carolina, but the forbearance of her peo-
ple and of this Government front making any harsh
use of a victory obtained under circumstances of
such peculiar provocation attests to the fullest ex-
tent the absence of any purpose beyond securing
their own tranquillity, and the sincere desire to
avoid the calamities of war.
Scarcely had the President of the Unites States
received intelligence of the failure of the scheme
which he had devised for the reinforcement of Fort
Sumter when he issued the declaration of war
against this Confederacy which has prompted me to
convoke you. In this extraordinary production that
high functionary affects total ignorance of the exist-
ence of an independent Government, which possess-
ing the entire and enthusiastic devotion of its people
is exercising its functions without question over
seven sovereign States, over more than 5,000,000
of people, and over a territory whose area exceeds
half-a-million of square miles. He terms sovereign
States "combinations too powerful to be suppressed
by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or
by the powers vested in the marshals by law." He
calls for an army of 75,000 men to act us a posse
comitatus in aid of the process of the courts of jus-
tice in States where no courts exist whose man-
dates and decrees are not cheerfully obeyed and
respected by a willing people. He avows that" the
first service to be assigned to the forces called out"
will be, not to execute the process of courts, but to
capture forts and strongholds situated within the
admitted limits of this Confederacy, and garri-
soned by its troops ; and declares that " this
effort" is intended " to maintain the perpetuity of
popular government." He concludes by command-
ing " the persons composing the combinations afore-
said—to wit, the 5,000,000 inhabitants of these
States—" to retire peaceably to their respective
abodes within 20 days."
Apparently contradictory as are the terms of this
singular document, one point was unmistakably
evident. The President of the United States called
for an army of 75,000 men, whose first service was
to be to capture our forts. It was a plain declara-
tion of war, which I was not at liberty to disregard
because of my knowledge that under the Constitu-
tion of the United States the President was usurp-
ing a power granted exclusively to the Congress.
He is the sole organ of communication between that
country and foreign Powers. The law of nations did
not permit me to question the authority of the Exe
cutive of a foreign nation to declare war against this
Confederacy. Although I might have refrained from
taking active measures for our defence if the States
of the Union had all imitated the action of Virginia,
North Carolina, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee,
and Missouri, by denouncing the call for troops
as a constitutional usurpation of power to which
they refused to respond, I was not at liberty to dis-
regard the fact that many of the States seemed quite
content to submit to the exercise of the power
assumed by the President of the United States, and
were actively engaged in levying troops to be used
for the purpose indicated in the proclamation.
Deprived of the aid of Congress at the moment, I
was under the necessity of confining my action to
a call on the States for volunteers for the common
defence, in accordance with the authority you had
confided to me before your adjouriment. I deemed
it proper further to issue proclamation inviting
application from persons disposed to aid our defence
in private armed vessels on the high seas, to the end
that preparations might be made for the immediate
issue of letters of marque and reprisal, which you
alone under the Constitution have power to
grant. I entertain no doubt you will concur
with me in the opinion that, in the absence
of a fleet of public vessels, it will be eminently
expedient to supply their place by private
armed vessels, so happily styled by the publicists
of the United States "the militia of the sea," and
so often and justly relied on by them as an efficient
and admirable instrument of defensive warfare. I
earnestly recommend the immediate passage of a
law authorising me to accept the numerous pro-
posals already received.
I cannot close this review of the acts of the Go-
vernment of the United States without referring to
a proclamation issued by their President, under
date of 19th inst., in which, after declaring that an
insurrection has broken out in this Confederacy
against the Government of flu, TTrcitorl Rtntoia, hn
announces a blockade of all the ports of these
States, and threatens to punish as pirates all per-
sons who shall molest any vessel of the United
States under letters of marque by this Government.
Notwithstanding the authenticity of this procla-
mation, you will concur with me that it is hard to
believe it could have emanated from a President of
the United States. Its announcement of a mere
paper blockade is so manifestly a violation of the
law of nations that it would seem incredible that it
could have been issued by authority. But con-
ceding this to be the case so far as the Executive is
concerned, it will be difficult to satisfy the people
of those States that their late confederates will
sanction its declarations, will determine to ignore
the usages of civilised nations, and will inaugurate
a war of extermination on both sides by treating
as pirates open enemies acting under the authority
of commissions issued by an organised Government.
If such proclamation was issued, it could only have
been published under the sudden influence of
passion, and we may rest assured mankind will be
spared the horrors of the conflict it seems to invite.

For the details of the administration of the
different departments, I refer to the reports of the
Secretaries which accompany this Message.
The State Department has furnished the neces-
sary instructions for three Commissioners who have
been sent to England, France, Russia, and Bel-
gium, since your adjournment, to ask four recogni-
tion as a member of the family of nations, and to
make with each of those Powers treaties of amity
and commerce. Further steps will be taken to
enter into like negotiations with the other European
.Powers in pursuance of your resolution passed at
the last session. Sufficient time has not yet elapsed
since the departure of these Commissioners for the
receipt of any intelligence from them. As I deem
it desirable that Commissioners, or diplomatic
agents, should also be sent at an early period to
the independent American Powers south of our
Confederacy, with all of whom it is our interest and
earnest wish to maintain the most cordial and
Having been officially notified by the public friendlyautho-
pmoaskei.na the n relations,ecess necessary ry suggestedapprop ria
ttihoen s e xfopre
tdhieantcypuorf-
rities of the State of Virginia that she had with-
drawn from the Union, and desired to maintain the
closest politicalrelations with us which it was pos-
sible at this time to establish, I commissioned Hou.
A. H. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate
States, to represent this Government at Richmond.
I am happy to inform you that he has concluded a
Convention with the State of Virginia, by which
that honoured commonwealth, so long and so justly
distinguished among her sister States, and so dear
to the hearts of thousands of her children in the
Confederate States, has united her power and her
fortunes with ours and become one of us. This
Convention, together with the ordinance of Vir-
ginia adopting the Provisional Constitution of the
Confederacy, will be laid before you for your con-
stitutional action. I have satisfactory assurances
from other of our late confederates, that they are on
the point of adopting similar measures, and I can-
not doubt that ere you shall have:been many weeks
in session, the whole of the slave-holding States of
the late Union will respond to the call of honour
and affection, and by uniting their fortunes with
ours, promote our common interests and secure our
common safety.
In the Treasury Department regulations have
been devised and put into execution for carrying
out the policy indicated in your legislation on the
subject of the navigation of the Mississippi river, as
taowellhnfeam callnoaors more
fawto
hrsaaitsnnhgealBdnesrrbwoe icollection
code:poweeoutdasso:ualit o f revenue
Free transit has been secured for vessels and mer-
chandise passing through the Confederate States,
and delay and inconvenience have been avoided as
far as possible in organising the revenue service for_
the various railways entering our tecristiost As
i
fast as experience shall indicate the Prrfoe subscription
Tdrotu d
forts, b e
en o the
improvement in these regulations, no
ec_sarohleseapmnia-d
spared to free commerce from all unn "
barrassments and obstructions.
an, proposals were
Under your act authorisingfoario,
unn
bs tsc Citizens,
rui sp,tiion
issued inviting subscriptions e
becomewasi necessary
development of the.
United States to invade
and wage war
blockade our R 9
duced me to
to raise mean .. . .larger amount to defray
,pouses of maintaining our independence and
the •
should be ane-
it
Ichille'e our°
fine made
a isnlcui tilPnha, condition.dlec°eoamProPPoprt,uetaosroi. President
t off the
repelling invasion. I invite your special attention
Government,
e p
tt eo d
.. It
cwivsgi llletll.fir
now
oon entireooufr
waysa go
ehren
ms uebnjte,ewt ,i
tahn and
for the supply of the Treasury, will
easury,
be presented to
you in, a separate COMLAIIiMign•

.Tn the two States just named, the gentlemen can-
finned. as judges declined to accept the appoint-
ment, and no nominations have yet been made to
fill the vacancies. I refer you to the report of the
Attorney-General, and concur in his recommenda-
tion for immediate legislation, especially on the
subject of patent rights. Early provision should be
made to secure to the subjects of foreign nations the
full enjoyment of their property in valuable inven-
tions, and to extend to our own citizens protection,
not only for their own inventions, but for such as
be
eay assigned havesttehp7ceotrbeetfbeaoynrrycapes,eosrifsrgolvenngesuad
rlD:toriot,n
althem,ien
enemies.
n eys hereafter
a . veTrha and
applications
Patent-office
f patents,business
although
his a mucho
confined mor e
caleeodnvfeoyrsexten-
siveiinderufnudl le
under th
importantorganisation
nmi
s aottnhi
month,
rut,
oshfha
oadwbi
bureauen egn
th eo fnecessity
anticipated.epeaetse,
snittys
.If'
for
re
the law exclusively to citizens of our Confederacy,
ogr a
is documents,ed
andvolunteer,his report andand accom-
panyingp provi-
sional, n v
information con-
e several acts
of Congress, their organisation and distribution ;
also an account of the expenditures already de,
and further estimates for the fiscal year ending
Feb. 18, 1862, rendered necessary by recent events.
I refer to his report also for a full history of the
occurrences in Charleston Harbour prior to and
thesieorTnnhpai con-
cerning
including the bombardment and reduction of Fort
Sumter, and of the measures subsequently taken
for the common defence, on receiving intelligence
of the declaration of war against us made by the
President of the United States. There are now in
the field at Charleston, Pensacola, Forts Morgan,
Jackson, St. Philip, and Pulaski 19,000 men, and
16,000 are now en route for Virginia. It is proposed
to organise and hold in readiness for action, in view
of the present exigencies of the country, an army
of 100,000 men. If further force should be needed
the wisdom and patriotism of Congress will be con-
fidently appealed to for authority to call into the
field additional numbers of our noble•spirited volun-
teers, who are constantly tendering service far in.
excess of our wants.

The operations of the Navy Department have
been necessarily restricted by the fact that sufficient
time has not yet elapsed for the purchase or con-
struction of more than a limited number of vessels
adapted to the public service. Two vessels pur-
chased have been named the Sumter and Macrae,
and are now being prepared for sea at New Orleans
with all possible despatch. Contracts have also
been made at that city with two different establish-
ments for the casting of ordnance, cannon, shot,
and shell, with the view to encourage the manu-
facture of these articles, so indispensable for our
defence, at as_ many points within our territory as
possible.

I call your attention to the recommendation of
the Secretary for the establishment of a magazine
and laboratory for preparation of ordnance stores,
and the necessary appropriation for that purpose.
Hitherto such stores have usually been prepared
at the navy yards, and no appropriation was made
at your last Session for this object.
The Secretary also calls attention to the fact that
no provision has been made for the payment of invalid
pensions to our own citizens. Many of these per-
sons are advanced in life, they have no means of
support, and by the secession of these States have
been deprived of their claim against the Govern-
ment of the United States. I recommend the ap-
propriation of the sum necessary to pay these pen-
sioners, as well as those of the army, whose claims
can scarcely exceed 70,000 doll. per annum.
The Postmaster- General has already succeeded in
organising his department to such an extent as to
be in readiness to assume the direction of our postal
affairs on the occurrence of the contingency con-
templated by the Act of March 15, 1861, or even
sooner if desired by Congress. The various books
and circulars have been prepared and measures
taken to secure supplies of blanks, postage stamps,
stamped envelopes, mail-bags, locks, keys, &c. He
presents a detailed classification and arrangement
of his clerical force, and asks for its increase. An
auditor of the Treasury for this department is neces-
sary, and a plan is submitted for the organisation
of his bureau. The great number and magnitude
of the accounts of this department require an in-
crease of the clerical force in the accounting branch
in the Treasury. The revenues of this department
are collected and disbursed in modes peculiar to
itself, and require a special bureau to secure a pro-
per accountability in the administration of its
finances.

I call your attention to the additional legislation
required for this
for changes in the law fixing the rates of post-
age on newspapers, periodicals, and sealed packages
of certain kinds, and specially to the recommenda-
tion of the Secretary, in which I concur, that you
provide at once for the assumption by him of the
control of our entire postal service.
In the military organization of the States provi-
sion is made for brigadier and major-generals, but
in the army of the Confederate States the highest
grade is that of brigadier-general. Hence it will
no doubt sometimes occur that where troops of the
Confederacy do duty with the militia, the general
selected for the command and possessed of the views
and purposes of this Government will be superseded
by an officer of the militia not having the same ad-
vantages. To avoid this contingency in the least
objectionable manner, I recommend that additional
rank be given to the General of the Confederate
army, and concurring in the policy of having but
one grade of generals in the army of the Confe-
deracy I recommend that the law of its organization
be amended, so that the grade be that of general.
To secure a thorough military education it is
deemed essential that offices should enter upon the
study of their profession at an early period of life
and have elementary instructions in a military
school. Until such school shall be established it is
recommended that cadets be appointed and attached
to companies until they shall have attained the age
and have acquired the knowledge to fit them for the
duties of lieutenants.

I also call your attention to an omission in the
law organizing the army, in relation to military
chaplains, and recommend that provision be made
for their appointment.
In conclusion, I congratulate you on the fact that
in every portion of our country there has been ex-
hibited the most patriotic devotion to our common
cause. Transportation companies have freely ten-
dered the use of their lines for troops and supplies.
The presidents of the railroads of the Confederacy,
in company with others who control lines of com-
munication with States that we hope soon to greet
as sisters, assembled in convention in this city, and
not only reduced largely the rates heretofore de-
manded for mail service and conveyance of troops
and munitions, but voluntarily proffered to receive
their compensations at these reduced rates in the
bonds of the Confederacy, for the purpose of leaving
all the resources of the Government at its disposal
for common defence. Requisitions for troops have
been met with such alacrity that the numbers ten-
dering their services have in every instance greatly
exceeded the demand. Alen of the highest official
and social position are serving as volunteers in the
ranks. The gravity of age and the zeal of youth
rival each other in the desire to be foremost in the
public defence, and, though at no other point than
the one heretofore noticed have they been stimu-
lated by the excitement incidental to actual engage-
menta and the hope of distinction for indiTgoupsi
achievement, they have borne what. for new
co fonrt of active
is the Severest ordeal—patient toil 4
vigil, and all the exposure and
dis in
such as to
service—with a resolution and fortitudeeh highest
command approbation and justify the
valour shall be
expec-
tation of their conduct when activea
Tbeherefia Ce.
required in place of steady e d
and nresolved cannot shrink
Providence cheers us with
A people thus unitedi
they nuLY
) from any sacrifice whit:a
h reasonable doubt of their
make, nor can therehowever long and severe may be the
ealyds offorgrain which
final success, ination to maintain their birth_
test of their determination be calla
equality, as trust
freedom and a which it
right of fr
duty to transmit undiminished
is their firstto their
posterity. e cdo constant
a nt
to
A bounteous the ro-
wise ~..____
the sickle
„ire assurance of the amplest supply of food for man,
while the corn, cotton, and other staple productions
of our soil afford
abundant proof that up to this
period the season has been propitious.
We feel that our •
cause is just and holy ; we pro-
test solemnly in the face of mankind that we desire
peace at any sacrifice save that of honour and inde-
wi'n
woiftahbinunad
jaenwt cwroopeks;
pendence ; we seek no conquest, no aggrandisement,
no concession of any kind on the States with which
we were lately confederated; all we ask is to be
let alone ; that those who never held power over us
should not now attempt our subjugation by arms.
This we will, this we must resist to the direst ex-
tremity. The moment this pretension is abandoned
the sword will drop from our grasp, and we shall
be ready to enter into treaties of amity and com-
merce that cannot but be mutually beneficial. So
long as this pretension is maintained, with a firm
reliance on that Divine power which covers with its
protection the just cause, we will continue to strug-
gle for our inherent right to freedom, independence,
and self-government.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Montgomery, Apxil 29.