The southern press., 1850-09-05
Letter from ex-Gov. Bagby of Alabama.

Letter from ex-Gov. Bagby OF Alabama.
We find the following letter from this distin-
guished citizen of Alabama, to the committee of
the Montgomery meeting, in the papers Of that
place. II will be seen that he covers the point,
and utters the sentiments of true Southerner
and patriot, derirous of preserving the Union if
possible, but honor under any contingency.
MONTGOMERY, July 3Oth, 1850.
Gentlemen: Ihave the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your favor of the Oath inst inviting me
to attend Mass meeting ut Clayton, on Monday
next, and have delayed answering until the
present moment in the hope that might be able
to attend. Finding it impossible to do so, can
only express 10 you my hearty wish for success
in the great cause in which you are engaged,
for the maintainance of Southern rights and the
principles of the Constitution. TO my mind,
this question has long since assumed definite
shape. From the moment read the report Of
the Committee of Thirteen, became convinced,
that there was no alternative for the South but
to submit to exclusion from all the territory ac-
qured from Mexico, OF to resist. II is perfectly
idle for us TO be discussing The relative merit Of
different plans Of compromise, ,ohen IS perfectly
certain to my mind that aoeare not TO get the dene-
I'll of any compromise at alL--unlesS, indeed, thai
can be called a compromise, By which one party
takes all, and The other gets nothing. And 1t is
humilinting that our adversaries, not content
with deprving us of our rights, should expect
to succeed in hoodwinking our understandings
into the bargain.
Five years ago, said that the agitation of the
question of domestic slavery was not the work
of religious fanatics alone, but was great po-
litical movement on the part of the free States,
to divide the public mind and to establish parties
founded on geographical and sectional lines;
and with Il view to avert the evils, resulting
from it, earnestly recommended in my annual
message to the legislature Of Alabama, the hold
ing of n convention of the slaveholding States.
The idea was not original with me. General
Washington in that imperishable legacy, his
farewell address to his countrymen, had pointed
to it with the ccarness of Il sunbeam, ms one of
the means by which ambitious men could re-
sort, in order to get possession Of the powers,
of the government, and possibly to overturn our
once free and glorious institution. Mr.. Jeffer-
SOB, the great apostle of Republicanism, and
the champion of freedom, detected the same
spirit in the Missouri Compromise. What was
then prophecy, seen only in the distance by those
mighty intellects, is now matter of history.
The evil is upon us, and the question is wha IS
best TO be dane My ansuer to that question is,
preserre the Union IF we can bit maintain our
rights and our honor any hov. Although have
no hope or expectation that Congress will do
anyInlflg WIN ,Wncn we OuBnt W DC SaLiSueu,
think it best to await the termination of the
present session. Should the matters in contro-
versy between the North and the South, be sa-
tisfuctoriy adjusted, so much the better-if they
should not, let the Southern States assemble in
convention, and determine what honor, interest
and equality, in the scale of existence, demand
at their hand. In the meantime permit me most
earnestly to impress on you the necessity of a
more perfect organization Let a committee be
appointed in every country to correspond with
their fellow citizens in other counties and in
other States. Let the people in the different
Congressional districts, reaffirm the appoint
lnent of delegates made by the Legislature or
make them themselves, but by all means see
that their delegation is complete. Let not the
inpidious cry Of uisunionist factionists, and
alarists, deter you from your duty to that section
Of The Union IN which your children hare been
Graded, and your ancestors are entonbed. Re
member that eternal vigilance is the price Of
liberty" If by a resolute and manly course
YOU should avert the evils which now threaten
us, you will secure to yourselves the most glo-
rious of all recollectons, that Of having saved
the institutions of your country from shipwreck
on the shoals of ambition and fanaticsn-or
failing in that that you are determined not to
surrender them without struggle worthy the
descendants of glorious ancestry.
am your fellow citizen,
A. P. BAGBY.
To Messrs. Henry D. Clayton, and others.