Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-06-02
VARIETY.
Letter from A. H Stephens.


CnNwYoHpvuLE GA, May 9th, lSG0.-
Gcntlcmcn Your letter Of the 9TH Instant
WAS received last night, and [ promptly re.
spond to your call as clearly aud fully as a.
heavy pross of business engagements wi. per- /,
nit i shall cndcaror to h" nc less pointed
and explicit than candid. You do not in my
Judgment ovcr-cstmato the Importance of the
questions now pressing upon the public mind,
growing out of the disruption of the Charles
ton Convention. While | was not g atty
surprised at that result considering the Gle
ncnts Of it's composition, and the general dis
temper of the times still, deeply regret it,
and with you look with intense interest to the
consequences. What is done cannot be un
done or amended; that must remain irrcyoco
bic 1t would, therefore, be US useless as !
uugracious to indulge in any reflections as to
whose fault the rupture was owing to. Per. !
haps, and most probably, undue excitement
and heat of passion, in pursuit of particular
ends connected with the elevation or over
throw of particular rivals for prcfesmcnt, more
than any strong desire, guided by cool judg
ment SO necessary on such occasions to adj
vance the public good, was the real cause of
the rupture BE that as it may, however,
what is now to be done, and what is the prop
er course to be taken To my mind the
course seems to bG clear.
4 State Convention should be called at an
carly day--and that Convention should con
slider the whole subject calmly and dispassion-
atcly, with & the sober second Thought" and
determine whether to send Representation
to ,Richmoul OF to Baltimore. The correct
determination of this question, as view it,
will depend upon another; and that is, whcth-
ecr the doctrine of non-intcrvention by Con-
gross, with slavery in the Territories, ought to
be adhered to or abandoned by the Sonth :
This is u very grave and serious question, ana
ought not to be decided raShly yor'ntcmpcrate-
w. No such small matters as the promotion
OF this or that individual, however worthy OIL
unworthy, ought to enter into its considcra-
tise. IL is great subject of public policy
affecting the vast interests of the present and
The future 1t may be unnecessary, and en-
tircly useless, for me to obtrudc my vlewsupor
Ahis question, in advance of the meeting o
such Convention, upon whom its decision may
primarily dcvolvc. | cannot however, com
ssly with your request, without doing so to
limited extent at least. This shall do, Ii
the first place, then, | assume, as an un
questioned and unquestionuble fact, that non
intcrycntop, as stated has been for man
year. received, recognized and acted upon, a
Ghe settled doctrine of the South. by nor
intervention, mean the principle that Con
gross shall pass no law upon the subject
sl,vcry in the Territories, esther for aGaln'
it, in any uay-that they shall not intertc'
oract upon it all-or, in the express words
Mr. Calhoun, the great Southern leader, tn
Congress shall g leave the Uhole subject whe
Ehc Constitution and the great principles
self-govcrnmcnt place 1T" This has be-
cmincntly Southern doctrine. 1T was Il
nounccd by MIR. Calhoun, in his speech,
- ., Of -I,nC 1S4S. nn
after two years of discussion, was adopted
the basis of the adjustment finally made
1850 1t was the demand of the South, ?
forth by the South, and, since its cstabi"
mcnt, has been again and again affirmed
re-a(lirmed as the settled policy of the Sou
by party Conventions and State lcgislatur
insoyery form that people can give authori
tive expression to their will and wishes. j
cannot now be matter of dispute. 1t is his
ry. as indcllibly fixed upon the record as
fact that the COLONY of Georgia was settled I
dor tho auepioos of Oslcthorpe or that war
the American Revolution WAS fought in
sistancc to the unjust cum vi pumei
part of the British Parliament.
| refer to this matter,of history conncc
with the subject under consideration, bar
as starting point-to show how we stand
relation to it. 1t is not a new question.
has been up before, and whcthcf rlSht9
wrongyit has been dccided-dccided and
tied lust as the South asked that it should
not, however, without great effort am
prolonged struggle. The question now
shalP the South abandon her own position
that decision and settlement? This is
question virtually presented by the actor
the sccctcrs from the Charleston Cqpyen,
and the grounds upon which they based Il
action; or stated in other words, it amo'
to this whether the Southern States, a
all that has taken place on the subject, she
now reverse their previous course, and dem
Congressional Intervention for the protcc
of slavery in the Territories, as condltio
their remaining longer in the Union
/ take it for granted that it you'd be col
cred by all as the most mischlevous foil
make the demand unless we intend to |
the issue to its ultimate and legitimate res
Shall the South, then, make this dcman
Congress, and when made, in case OF fal
to obtain it, shall she seccdc from the U
as portion of her Delegates, (some undo
structions, aud some from their own free
seeded from the Convention, on their ia
to get it granted there
Thus stands the naked question, as l
derstand it, presented by the action OF tn
ceders, in it's full dimensions--its lor
breadth and depth, in all its magnitude.
1t is presented not to the Democratic ]
alone; it is true Convention of that ]
n 81 b,,t - &c rrasnnte1 4,