The southern press., 1850-10-09
THE SOUTHERN PRESS.
WASHINGTON CITY.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER ., 1850.
Tho Right Of Secession.

Tho Right Of Secession
We owe M apology to an intelligent subscri-
Der of ours in Kentucky, for not complying
sooner with his request, to publish the acts Of
The States which in ratifying the Federal Con-
stitution, reserved the right Of secession. The
delay has been caused by the pressure of en-
gagements resulting from the recent important
measures Of Congress and its close.
The following is from the ratifying act Of the
Virginia Convention
We, the delegates of the people Of Virginia,
duly elected, in pursuance OF Recommendation
from the General Assembly, now met in conye.,-
ton, having fully and freely investigated and
discussed the proceedings Of the Federal Con
ventiOn, and being prepared, as well as the most
mature deIiberation hath enabled us, to decide
thereon, do, in the name and in behalf Of the
1 people of Virginia, declare an1 make known, that
the powers gained under the Constitution being
derived from The people Of the United States,
4 may be resumed by them, nhensoerer The same
shall be perperted 10 their injury or oppression,
I'd that every pooer moi granled lhereby remains
rith them and at their s0iH That, therefore, no
right OF any denomination can be cancelled,
abridged, restraincd, or modified, bv the Con
gress by the Senate or House Of Represe ta-
tives, acting in my capacity; by the President,
or any department or officer Of the United
States"
! Tho New York ratification contains the fol-
lowing: @
| "We, the delegates of the people Of the State
Of New York, duly elected and met in conyen-
ton, having maturely considered the Consttu-
ton for the United States OF America" and
having also seriously and deliberately considered
| the present situation Of the United States, do
declare and make known, that all power is origi-
nally vested in, and consequently derived from,
the people, and that government is instituted by
them for their common interest, protection and
security" thai the poacers IF gorernnisnl may
be rcassumsd by The. people, lohsnerer IL shall be-
come necessary for their Happiness"
| Rhode Island made similar reservation
! If there is any political principle more pccu-
liarly ard essentially American than any other,
it is that the people have at all times right to
amend to alter or to abolish their form of gov
ernment. This principle was asserted in the
declaration of our independence the dissolu-
| ton of our Union with Great Britain. It WAS
asserted in forming the Confederation. 1t was
asserted in dissolvng that Confederation, and in
adopting the present Constitution, and lest It
might afterwards be called in question, the States
Of Virginia, New York and Rhode Island, took
care to re-affirm it as condition to the raifca-
ton Of the Federal Constitution, and as such it
enured at once to all the other parties to that
Instrument since they all acceded as equals
certainly perfect equals so far as the reserved
powers are concerned. @
It has been contended however, that by the
word people, is meant the whole people of the
United States as q unit, or majority of them.
, This however, is at war with every net of our
political history. We did not declare our inde-
pendencc as one people, but as the people of
thirteen distinct communities each acting for it,
lf,and not one ofthem bound by the acts Of the
Others nor of all Others together The motion
was made in the Continental Congress for
declaration Of Independence, BY the Virginia dele
CATION, acting under instructions from the Vr- |
ginia Assembly and it was not adopted until the
representatives Of each and all the Colonies con-
cured 43ie
| When the Articles of Confederation were
adopted, they received successfully the assent Of
every State, and bound no State until its assent
was given Rythese articles Union was formed,
and one of them, the thirteenth, provided that
they should not be changed without the assent
Of every State comprising the Confederation--
And the same article declared that {. the Union
shall be perpetual" Yet the Government Of the
Confederation, like that of the existing Union,
was found unsatisfactory in practice. And aftor
propositions had been made by Congress to the
States, and by some Of them to Congress, with
out effect Virginia took the lead and appointed
Commissioners to meet similar delegates from
such other States. as were willing to confer to-
gether to change thai system.
| Five States only, at first, took part in this
movement, viz: New York, New Jersey, Penn
sylvania, Delaware, and Virginia. and thei
commissioners met ut Annapolis, in September
1856. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island and North Carolina also appointed com
missioncrs, but none of them attended TIL,
Annapolis Convention reported its proceeding
to the States it represented, and proposed an
other Convention, which was held ut Phiadel
phia, where delegates from twelve Of the State
attended. They adopted plan Of Constitt
ton, which was signed by thirty-nine mem
be;s out of sixty-fve who attended Ha
Of the Massachusetts delegation, a majority
the New York, Virginia, and Georgia deleg,
tons refused to sign it. Such was the want
unanimity then. Not one of the delegation,
which assembled at this Convention was autho
lied to form new Constitution, or to secel
from the then Union Of the STATES. Yet the
did both. Such men as Gen. Washington, ia
Madison, Ben. franklin, Alexander Hamilto
John Rutledge and the Pinckneys, resolved
do both. The articles Of Confederation stip,
lated for a perpetual rnion, and required a,
amendment OF these articles to be ratified
every State. And the articles of the Confede