North Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1850-1852, 1851-05-17
prsnr.ulrIoNs.


ibern States. without dishonor and ruin; and that
il is necessary to relieve hetselfherefrom whe'h-
err with or without the cooperation OF other SOUTH
ern States.
2, ResoIred That concert of action with one
mr. more of our sister States of the South, whether
through the proposed Southern Congress, or in
any other manner, is an object worth many sac
ri6ces. but not the sacrifice involved in submission.
8. ResoLved, That we hold the right of seces-
sim 10 be essential 10 the sovereignty and free.
dom of the States of this Confederacy; and that
the denial of that right would furnish to an in.
jured State the strongest additional cause for lis
exercise .. ..-....
a. Resolved, That this meeting looks with con-
fidence and hope to the convention of the people,
to exert the sovereign power Of the State in defence
of its rights at the earliest practicable period and
in the most effectual manner; and TO the Leglsla-
ture, to adopt the most speedy and etiectua meas
ures towards the same end.
ADDRESS.
Having met to take counsel together, and hav-
mo agreed upou that couIse which we think II
rioht and necessary TO pursue, we wish to lay be-
FIRE vou the considerations by which we have been
eroveyned with that frankness which respect
for Won and our desire to merit your good opinion,
require.
I'VE regard the position of the southern States
in this Confederacy as degraded and ruInous. l ne
manifest tendency of those systematic aggressons
which they have suffered for many years past, is
10 subvert the institution of slavery. fthose acts
of hostile domination, which have been rendered
more insulting by mockery of language, under
the term of Compromise. were hnal in their ma
ture and were not 10 be followed by any further
aqqressions, we should still regard them rs out
raGes, to which sovereign States, possessing the
spirit of freedom, ought never to submit. But
those measures only form part of system, grad
ually commenced, steadily carried forward, gath
ering strength from development, and proceeding
with fatal momentum TO lis end. That end Is The
abolition of negro slavery in the southern States
and the lowe ring Of the free white population of
the South to the same level with that Aquarium rab
BILE, which, already strong and dangerous, seems
destined, before very long, to be the controlling
power in the northern States. We see no remedy
and no safety for the South in the present Union
But we know that in this we differ from very
many citizens Of the other southern Slates spirited
ard intelligent, having the same Interests, and SUI
fering under the same wrongs, with ourselves, and
who cherish the hope that the rig hts OF the South
NAV be vndicated and secured without dSSolVIng
the existing Confederacy. La this difference 1t
does not become US to assume to dictate, and we
hope to stand free from the charge. Up to this
time the citizens Of South Carolina, aware that
peculiarly of political position, arising from past
events rendered certain reserve on their part pru-
dent and proper, have studiously avoided every
thing which might look like assuming the lead
in the defence of southern rights. They desired
to act because they believed that safety and honor
required action but they hoped that they might
find leaders in other States whom they might fol-
low in defence of the common cause. When the
ancient Commonwealth of Virginia. the proper
leadt of the South declared her determination TO
all haz ard md tn tha last
tile measures then threatened, South Carolina,
with all alacrity, stood ready 10 support Virginia
in carrying ont her high resolution. When Geor-
gia-whose former resistance to Federal usurpa-
ton, under her heroic statesman Troup, gave prom
Use o. unfinching irmness in any contest in which
she might engage-proclaimed her determination
to make stand for the rights Of the South, South
Carolina rejoiced at the prospect of rallyng under
the banner of Georgia. And when her young
and gallant sister, Mississippi, proposed the wise
measure of a Southern Convention, for the pur
pose Of endeavoring to unite the southern States in
maintaining their constitutional rights, and the
same time preserving, if possible, the existing u
MON, South Carolina heartily entered into this
measure; and she has carried out the recommen-
dation of the convention so assembled at the in.
stance OF Mississippi, by providing for the election
of delegates to a Southern Congress, 10 whose
meeting she still looks with anxious interest
In all these proceedings we think that the ci-
zens of South Carolina have evinced all proper
anxiety to avoid the appearance of arrogance or
diciaon, 10 act in concert with the citizens of the
other southern States. and to do nothing separate
ly or precipitalely. And now, strongly as we have
expressed our belief that there is no hope for the
South in the existing Union, we are prepared to
give trial, fairly and in good faith to any effec
tual plan which may be proposed by any sister
State Of the South for obtaining redress for the
past and security for the future, without dissou
ton Of the existing Union. if there be possibii
~ OF such consumnIatinn
But we find ourselves forced 10 consider the nj.
terror question, what we TO do if we find that
there is no reasonable hope of the cooperation of
any other southern Stale in any efflctual plan OF
relief and the alternative is presented 10 us of sub
hitting or acting by ourselves. And reluctant as
we are to separate ourselves from our natural
friends and allies, we have made I'D our minds
We cannot submit We know that South Caro-
lima entered this Confedcracy as a SOVEREIGN and
independent State, and that, having been wronqed
she has the perfect right TO withdraw from it
ier sons must exercise the ri and meet the con-
sequences II no other State will join US in re-
lieVIng ourselves from the wrongs already infllcr.
ed, we see no hope in waiting for new outragrs
to arouse higher spirit of resistance The new
ontrages, we are we'll convinced, will come in due
time; but I'VE feel no assurance that the spirit of
the vassa will rise in proportion to the ndignities
neaped upon his head. On the contrary, we see
that the South has already borne what it would no,
ior a moment have submitted to ten years ago. and
what the North would not then have ventured IN
perPetrate We are not willing to try The exnc.
rlment how longn will be before our s0iri, is com.
ptetely broken, by gradually and continually WELD
ing to slow, and gradual bnt unceasing enc roach.