The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-12-26
MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
Richmond, Dec. 16, 1850

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
Richmond, Dec. 16, 1850
To the General AssemblyofM STATE of VUgUia:
GENTLEMEN: herewith transmit to you pre-
amble and resolutions passed by the Convention
of Indiana assembled to revise the Constitution
of that State and the report and resolutions of a
like Convention Of the State Of Maryland The
spirit in which they are conceived must be re-
garded as favorable omen, and they excite the
hope that the feelings of bitterness and dissenson
which pervade the Confederacy may yet pass
harmlessly away There are, indeed, portentous
manifestations Of deep discomfort at the South ;
and these have been heightened and infiamed by
the course recently pursued in Vermont. The
Legislature of that State has virtually by statute
annuled the law of Congress for the recapture
Of fugitive slaves, which alone induced the South
ern States to acquiesce in the late Compromise
measures. Vermont has thus inflicted upon the
whole South at once an injury and en- Insult To
neither can we with honor, or self-respect, submit.
There must he a distinct, immediate, and final
settlement of the question of slavery between the
slavehodng and the non-slavehoding States. Ii
the present agitation is continued, the Union will
inevitably be destroyed. If this element Of dis
cord be removed, cause Of feud remains to
| leopard the permanence of our Confederation. No
honorable means should be left untried to restore
and perpetuate tranquility. For this we should
| exhaust every measure OF .cOncllatlOu ana IOr-
bearance. We can SC freely pay too much for the
restoration of that fraterna harmony which is the
| life blood of our federate organization and which
alone can for any length of time preserve the
| Union. In discharge Of the duty which the South
| owes to herself and her citizens, she must main
tain, at all hazards, and at any cost, her honor
her equality, her independence, and her essential
rights In proof of her devotion to the Union,
she must be prepared to sacrifice all else to her
sense of patriotism.
The late action of Vermont demands an in
slant settlement Of the issue which has so long
distracted the country. The recent action of In
diana seems to indicate that the time is propitious
for its amcable decision. For the restoration of
complete and effectual harmony, would sugg st
a measure in which the patriots of all sections,
and all who reverence and are willing to abide by
| the Constitution, may cooperate
| would recommend the adoption by the Legis-
lature of resolutions inviting al the States of the
Union to unite in sending delegates to represent
the whole people in general Convention, which
ought to assemble at an early period not later
than May-at Baltimore, or some other conven-
lent central point, for the purpose Of bringing to
an end all sectional controversies relative to
slavery To secure that end the principles which
should govern the action of the Convention ought
| to be announced in the resolutions by which it is
called All should be invited to unite in this
movement who are in favor Of the perpetuation
| of the Union. and who to attain this result, are
in favor of the fugitive slave bill, honestly and
cordially enforced--who are opposed to its repeal
| or essential modification, and who are adverse to
any further agitation of the slavery question, ci-
| Their in Congress or in the States. With this the
South will be content-less than this can only
| eventuate in the dissolution of the Union. Such
action of such Convention, if successful aud fully
sustained by the non slaveholding States would
satisfy and quiet the South if unsuccessful, it
would prove that the friends Of order and the
| Union are impotent to control the fanatical pas
| sions which are now urging on speedy dissolu-
ton 1t is measure which addresses itself to no
particular party and refers TO political organi-
zation but asks the cordial support of every true
patriot in all sections Of widely-extended Re-
public and which alone seems adequate to redress
or avert the terrible evils under which the country
I uov ,abors, CT of which AZ 10 sTprsasnsi,s'
| To render this measure effectual, and 10 relieve
the deliberations Of the convention from the
trammes by which it might otherwise be embar-
rassed | would further recommend that such res
| olutions be accompanied with the sincere and
| earnest appeal Of the State Of virginia spe king
through her Legislature to her sister States Of the
| South, entreating them to postpone any extreme
action in relation to present difficulties until the
result Of the deliberations of such convention
| could be known. The restrictive measures which
the Legislature may adopt might be made depen-
dant for their continuation upon the ultimate
action Of this convention.
By the adoption Of this course, il appears to
me, the Union might be preserved and perpetual
cd in fraternal harmony, or the South enabled to
present united and unbroken front to the as
saults Of fsnatical adversaries. The first must
be the sanguine hope Of all lovers of freedom and
their country the last must be the sole refuge Of
Southern independence, only when all brighter
hopes are proved by this last effort to be futile
and vain The motto of the South must be, as IL
has been, Union, IL we can-independence, IL we
must.
have the honor to be, very respectfully, your
obedient servant, JONI b. FLoIp.
The message and accompanying documents
were referred to a select committee which the
Speaker will announce hereafter. On motion Of
MIR Martz, 5000 extra copies Of the message were
ordered to be printed
The Governor should at once apply to the
Commissioner of Patents for this novel invention
for establishing "Psace and H-,-r-mony" Ia
some OF the State Constitutions, Virtue, Inte'ii-
gence, and Religion, are declared TO be essential
to the existence Of true Republication one
other, absolutely necessary element Is omitted
from the category-Commsn Sssss. II the people