The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-12-06
From the Charleston Merc,t,.u.

FEDERAL RELATIoNs--That portion of the mes
sage Of the Governor which treats of the position
of the State towards the Union, and Of the pre-
paration for whatever emergency the vindicaion
of her own honor and the protection Of the rights
Of her people may produce is Of so much graver
and more pressing interest than the other recon-
mendatons, that it will probably in great degree
overshadow them. We do not anticipate that
the legislature will find time to act on the propos-
ed changes in the school system, the criminal law,
the mode Of granting charters of incorporation,
and other matters, important in themselves, but
not especially pressing. We Judge from what we
have heard, that the Legislature realizes the i'm
port of the great duty it has to perform, and
will give to that the pre-eminent position it de-
| serves We are assured that a high and deter
mined spirit animates that body, and that they
are not below the standard Of their constituents in
! their endeavOr to meet the trial that impends.
They will make no vain buster, no eloquent pro-
misses for posterity to redeem. They will CO. we
believe, to their task with settled determination
to work it out, by wise and sober measures, pac-
ed in their due order, and with no rash ambition
to raise the storm without providing the means Of
breasting It..
The Message is grave and practical on this sub
ject, and whether or not its recommendations are
adopted in all their details, their spirit should be
adhered to. 1t is recognized abroad as all indica-
ton not to be mistaken, that the State is in ear
| nest The Government has already put the same
| construction on the calm attitude Of our people.
| They know it indicates that the decision has
been made, and they also know that the decision,
is not in favor Of submission. The Governor s
message affords one Of the proofs that they un-
derstand the feeling Of South Carolina They
have refused to relinquish the site OF Castle
Pinckney, the pretext that it is necessary to the
defence of Charleston in the event Of foreign
war, but in reality because its guns can be brough
to bear on the city. Another proof ha s just come
to our ear There were twenty thousand stand of
| -, IA tod fata otaJ hara
to be ready to supply the wants Of our militia.
They have all been removed, we understand
and that with such precauton that no suspicion
Of the proceeding was entertained till it was all
over. We put the like Interpretation on the re-
! cent accession Of troops to Fort Moultrie, about
which, Of course, there are plausible stories, the
source Of which we know not. The troops are
here on their way to some point, but not to move
until they are ordered. Troops need rest occa-
sonally, and Texas is a long way off, beside
that, having accepted the ten million dollars
and surrendered the sixty million acres Of land
| the Camanches are no longer considered so dan
gerous as to call for larg force in that quarter
We observe also a movement OF company Of
artillery from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, on
their way, it is said, to Fort Washington, on the
Potomac. 1t is II considerable distance, and they
will probably stop at Charleston, to take in wafer
or get nbbe of fresh bread, and they too will
wait for further orders. 1t seems certain, that in
the course Of a few months, no city on the entire
coast of the United States will be half MS well pre-
pared for defence as Charleston, in case Of a for
eign invasion and should question arise here
under the Fugitive act, the Government will be
enabled to carry out their high and patriotic re-
solves with an efficiency that will astonish the
people Of Boston.
But it is not merely by covertly dsarming the
arsenal and accidentally filling the forts, that the
Administration indicates a full appreciation of the
determination Of South Carolina, and makes
known its own. When at a certain distance from
US, too, and under the shelter Of it's native North
it leaves off pretexts and DISCUSSES, and speaks a
language that is ineligible without comment.
Its organ, the Washington Republic Of last Satur-
day, quotes the important part of Governor Sea-
brooks Message, with introduction, from
which we take the following.
I" II is in vain to deny that Gov. Seabrook
holds language and contemplates results which
look to the overthrow Of our existing form Of gov
eminent. To what extent these sentiments will
find a response in any other OF the Southern
States than South Carolina, remains to be seen.
We believe, as far as any organized or conven-
tonal expression of opinion is concerned, that
South Carolina stands alone in the attitude Of re-
sistance which she presents to the National Gov
eminent. 1.-THE people OF that State shall but
nv out the opinions and sentiments which have
been professed by her leading men, at public festi-
walls and through the channels of official commu-
nication, there is little reason TO doubt that she
will be found, at an early day, in hostile and
reasonable array against the Constitution and
union Of the States. To the duty Of the National
Government, in such ali emergency, it is only ne
cessary for us TO allude. We have no doubt that
it would be faithfully and fearlessly performed.
The cIamors Of a seditious Commonwealth will be
no more regarded than those of seditious indivdu
als and the supremacy Of the law will be vndi-
Gated, at all hazards and under all circumstances,
alike against the vagrant instructions Of mob
or the embattled array Of sovereign State y