The southern press., 1851-08-06

parties IN the South, 10 divulgs all the ressonl
ta'se may cavern his course, without baAp pmlug
minister Of ruin, Instead Of useful lAtblic ses
4 want And would never consent to bold o6ic.
ppo4 such conditions that would obliGp me X
4 bec0ne c0ntemptbe in my own estimation; Il
incur the guilt Of defeating my own OF srishet
hopes f0r 6ar deliverance, and subject me to b.
condemned N q fool or knave by every mar
Of f0iueofHment and competent knowledge Of po
litical alEsirs.
am uct, trust, understood to be speaking o.
that social interchange of opinion with frind,
and constituents, which should always be full
and frank. 1t is misfortune that IL cannot bt
more 30. II is only by such intercourse that
the people can truly know where To find any
public man. And submit to all who know me
whether it is one of my faults that do moi
speak with sufficient freedom, whether | have
ever been found waiting to know how the eur
rent was running. In position, am at this time
In minority in South Carolina, and am there
voluntarily; and be assured that if discarded al
home, there is no indemnity to be hoped for
from the federal Union.
You will pardon me, gentlemen, for indulging
in these remarks am not ignorant of, and
cannot be insensible to, certain injurious impu.
tations made against me during an unavoidable
and painful absence from the State, and though,
entertaining no sentiment of revenge, determined
as am, If possible, to stand aoof from the po-
ltical strifes with which we are threatened.
felt it due to myself and thought it might be Of
some advantage to the community, to give some
general view of the principles and views by
which have regulated my public conduct; and
wherein have been found fault with, have
thought it perfectly fair to scrutinize the i'm
puted merits of that class Of politicians who
have been placed in contrast with myself, with
view to nv disparagement. But with these
small griefs am now done, il others are.
To recur, then, to the question--what shall
the convention do! There il no convention ca.
pable of acting now The convention is moi
now in session, but is to meet and act hereafter
The conditions under which it is to act, are
partly within the womb of time. What they
are to be, none but prophet could foresee.
cannot foresee. The legislature did not foresee
nor do the delegates elect to the convention
foresee. In postponing the meeting of the con-
vention, the legislature appears to have looked
to the probability of important developments
intervening OF course it was expected that
such developments would affect the discretion
and decision of the convention. 1t would be
absurd to suppose the contrary.
| Now, what ask on my own beha'e is, that
the freedom and indulgence allowed the convell-
ton may be conceded tome. Icannot foreknow
what it should do. In the day of its action it
will be entitled to my views, and shall have
them freely and fully. But, gentlemen, there are
some reflections proper to be made before hand,
relative to the course of action Of the conven-
ton, and the principles by which it should be
governed. The convention should be considered
free body. II it met tomorrow, it should
of,.
| should it be 80, where it is to meet and act
under unforeseen contingencies. A Legislature
cannot bind convention. 1t can only call a
convention when some matter not within its
wn jurisdiction is deemed of sufficient import
nnce to be submitted to a convention.
The legislature might er ertain an opinion
very confident opinion-that a convention
should do Is and thus But this would not
bind the convention. If it did, why the idle
ceremony of calling one! Why not leave it to
the legislature to act definitely and finally =?
But when say that convention is above the
dictation of any other body Of men, do not
mean that it is supreme over all things. 1t is
not superior to duty. Duty is greater than any
convention, or any people. And what duty is,
wisdom, supported by courage, is alone compe-
tent to prescribe.
And while a convention is supreme over all
branches of government, it ought to stand su-
perior to the interests and vanites and passions
Of individuals. That any mans fame or repu-
ta io1 would be marred by this or that course
Of action, would not bind the convention to alb.
stain from such course. So if a number of
persons have imagined themselves to know be-
fore hand what the convention will do, and have
ventnred to bring it under pledges to the world,
these individuals must not hold the convention
under obligations to save their sensibties
however patriotic, at every hazard, to the public
interest Again, some have undertaken TO as
sert in the most confident manner what is to
take place with the federal government and with
other Southern States, in the event of separate
State action. But if, when the occasion Shall be
at hand, the convention, with better opportuni-
ties of judging, should see things in a wholly
different light, and thereupon should deem il
proper for the State to become better assured
of the condition of affirs within, these persons
must consent to stand convicted of want of
political forecast and not claim as matter of
personal right, to be condemned only upon nc
tual experiment, however disastrou. the expert
ment might prove to the end we all aim at
Nor can / suppose that any member of the con-
vention will consider that any declaration of
purpose made by him, beforehand while can.
pressure Of an election, will rest upon him as a
paramount rule Of action. | should expect of
course, that one placed in such a situation
would find no difficulty in consenting to bear
the little personal Inconvenience and embarrass
ment which the highest ends of patriotism
might require him to bear
We all profess to desire and to aim at CO. ope-
ration most of us, advocate State action, when
no alternative is left. Let the convention, then,
be left free to conform its action to these prin-
ciples, and let us hope and believe that il will
exhibit that firmness and wisdom which befit so
dignifed body, charged with an issue of such
vast moment, both TO our sister States, and to
our common posterity through generations to
come.
In my opinion, the sooner the convention Is
called together the better. Let what in TO be
done, be done A. soon ma possible We say we
are waiting for other States. and yet have held
and still hold convention in terrorem over the
North, to restrain them from any incautious set
that might drive other States into cooperation,
and strengthen the hands and emboiden the
hearts of the friends upon whom we RELY TO