The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-05-09

tos organization Vt tia Military Hall, Went
woFthrsk at o'clock this afternoon. A large
nsmber Of delegates had arrived up to Saturday
evening, and il il believed that there will be de-
legations from every association in tho State
The importance Of the convention has been re-
eogaixed abroad, and general interest attract
ed to Its session, ~ il here were to BE- looked
for the opinions and determination of South
Carolina on the greatest issue that has been
made since the revolution. We have u letter
from Burke county, Ga. of the both April, stat
lag that the Southern Rights Association Of
that county were to convene on Saturday last,
to appoint COMMITTEES Of visitation to be pres
ent during the deliberations Of The Carolina con-
vention OF Associations" They will, We are
sure, meet with warm welcome.
This convention, VIZ feel deeply convinced,
may be the instrument Of great good. Not only
every part OF the State will bs represented, but
the men Of weight, and experience, and force,
have been selected to degree that ensures to
the body ss great an amount Of ability as has,
PER apps, ever been gathered in one assemblage
Of South Carolina representatives. Hence, if
its deliberations shall be 30 directed as to CON-
blne the moral and intellectual power of all, or
great msjority Of its members, the effect upon
public opinion elsewhere, and still more, upon
the feelings, self.confdence and hopeful deter
minati0n Of the State, will be great and lasting.
We do not mean to say that it rests with this
body to determine the precise time and mode OF
redress which the StAte will adopt. This has
been committed, under all the solemn forms Of
Law. TO convention of the people, and this as
scmbly could not, IL it would, decide the ques.
lions that have been committed to that final ar
bitter nor do we presume there will be any dis
position to assume the functions Of that august
body, and decide for it what shall be the course
of the State.
But short of this, there is great field which
il can rightly and protitably occupy. The State
convention itself-are we to have that, and at
the time which the spirit of the act OF the last
legislature, and the expectations OF tbs people,
have plainly indicated! The object Of that con-
vention,-is it not to obtain redress for the
wrongs that have been inflicted on us, and to
persevers till this great object is fully achieved
The convention Of associations may well take
these questions into consideration, and give them
an emphatic answer The State convention
needs but this place to stand on, and the assur-
ances Of the loyal devotion of the people, to do
anne iustice to the high trusts devolved upon
il. live arc not safe in its hands, then we are
not safe in our own keeping, and need no more
to talk Of liberty and independence.
There is another matter which approaches
stilI more nearly to the original object Of the
Southern Rights Associations; we mean sys-
tematic organization, that shall put US in COM
munication with our friends throughout the
South. When we speak Of cooperation, We
must not be- understood to indulge, Or seek to
encourage expectations Of the support OF South
Carolina by other States, as States. 1t is in
deed possible, but there is no reason to rest
upon Il a. an element Of calculation. But we
have powerful bodies of true friends in all the
South, who only await the action of South Ca
rolina to exhibit life and force that may speed
Nv make them the leaders and representatives
Of the popular sentiment. These have every
claim to the attention of the convention. They
are engaged in the same cause with US; they
have the same interests at stake; they have the
same convictions, and the same determination
to defend to the last extremity, the rights, in
stitutions, and well-being of the saveholdlng
States. We cannot separate from them, and
have every motive to draw close the bonds OF
sympathy and intelligence between them and
ourselves For this purpose, no agency couid
be more effective than that Of the Southern
Rights Associations, 80 improved as to give II
the utmost activity and efficiency Of which it is
capable. To perfect this machinery is one OF
the most important objects to which the atten-
ton of this convention can be directed, and we
trust it will be early put into such train rs to
insure a full consideration of all the means ne
cessary TO its accomplishment. While we rely
on South Carolina for the defence of her own
cause, and maintain that whether with many
friends, or with few, or with none but her own
aons, her course must be onward, and the issue
with the federal government be decisvely made
and settled-we vet feel that no proper efforts
should be spared to place our State in perfect
communication with the true friends OF the
South everywhere, and to give them the oppor
tunity of doing for US, what in the like clrcum
stances, we should desire to do for them.
We copy below letter from Mr.. Calhoun,
never before published, which has not a few
points of interest II was written in answer to
an invitation to be present in Charleston at q
public meeting in l847, when it was proposed
e. give form to this idea Of Southern Rights
Associations. The meeting did not take place
at the time but Mr.. Calhoun shows how fully
alive he was to the power and usefulness Of
such combinations, generally extended through
the South, and acting in concert. But wha
most impressed us in this letter, was the pro
phetic history, recorded in few brief sentences
Of the subsequent pretended adjustment of the
slavery question, and the effects of that measure
upon the North ard South respectivel y-causine
in the one section an increase of arrogance, bit
terness, and active aggression in the other,
torpor of public sentiment, feeling Of fanciec
security, and fatal return to the petty jealons
les, divisions, and interests that form the tissue
of local politics. The following is the letter;
FoRr Hill, Sept. %, lS47.
DEAR SIR IL regret exceedingly, that it viii
not possibly be in my power to meet the wishes
Of the executive committee, which has associ
ated 70 resist aggressions upon the property anc
rights Of the slaveholding States, by attending
the meeting of the citizens Of Charleston, to b.
held on the 18th October next, for consultation
70 organize an association throughout the South
ern States, aud the adoption of such other meas
ures As may be deemed necessary for thei
safety NV numerous engagements will full,
engross every moment Of leisure in the shor
interval between this and my departure fol
Washington.
take the profoundest interest in the objects
Of the meeting. am under deep and solemn
conviction, that the time has arrived when W.
must meet and pat down the abolition move