Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1860-12-13

! high duty, he will then have manifested
disregard of the Constitution and laws, to
the great injury of the people of nearly one.
half of the States of the Union. But are
we to presume in advance that he will
thu, violate his duty? This would be at
war with every principle Of justice and Of
Christian Charity. Let us wait for the
overt act. The Fugitive Slave law has
been carried into execution in every con.
tested case since the commencement of the
present Administration though often, it
is to be regretted, with great loss and in.
convenience to the master, and with con.
siderable expense to the government. Let
us trust that the State Legislatures will re-
peal their unconstitutional and obnoxious
enactments. Unless this shall be done
without unnecessary delay, it is impossible
for any human power to save the Union.
The Southern States, standing on the
basis of the Constitution, have Alright to de.
mand this act of justice from the States Of
the North. Should it be refused, then the
Constitution, to which all the States are
parties, will have been wilfully violated by
one portion of them in provision essential
to the domestic security and happiness of
the remainder. In that event, the injured
States, alter having first used all peaceful
and constitutional means to obtain redress,
would be justified in revolutionary resist
ance to the government of the Union.
have purposely confined my remarks tc
revolutionary resistance, because it has
been claimed within the last few years that
any State, whenever this shall be its sover.
eign will and pleasure, may secede from the
Union, in accordance with the Constitution
and without any violation Of the constitu
tional rights of the other members of the
Confederacy. Thatas each became parties
to the Union by the vote of its own people
assembled in Convention, so any one Of
of them may retire from the Union in 8
similar manner, by the vote of such Con
vention.
In order to justify secession as consti
tutional remedy it must be on the principle
that the Federal Government is a mere
voluntary association of States, to be dis
solved at pleasure by any one of the con
tracing parties. If this be SO, the Confed
eracy is rope of sand, to be penetrated
and dissolved by the first adverse wave
of public opinion in any of the States
In this manner our thirty three States may
resolve themselves into as many petty, jar
ring, and hostile Republics each one re-
tiring from the Union, without responsibility
whenever any sudden excitement might
impel them to such course. By this pro-
cess Union might be entirely broken into
fragments in few weeks, which cost oul
forefathers many years of toll, privation, aud
blood to establish.
Such principle is wholly Inconsistent
with the history as we'll as the character o.
the Federal Constitution. After it was
framed with the greatest deliberation anG
care it was submitted to Conventions of the
people of the several States, for ratification
Its provisions were discussed at length, il
these bodies, composed of the first men o.
the country. Its opponents contended tha
it conferred powers upon the Federal Gov
ernment, dangerous to the rights of the
States, whilst its advocates maintained tina
under fair construction of the nstrumen
there was no foundation for such apprehen
sion. In that mighty struggle between th'
first intellects of this or any other country
it never occurred to any individual, eithe
among its opponents or advocates, to assert
or even to init mate, that their efforts were
all vain labor, because the moment that an,
State felt herself aggrieved she might Sc
cede from the Union.
What crushing argument would thi
have proved against those who dreaded tha
the rights of the States would be endan
gered by the Constitution. The truth is
that it was not until many years after th'
origin of the Federal Government, tina
such proposition was first advanced. |
was then met and refuted by the conclusive
arguments o. General Jackson, who in hi
message of 10th January, 1888, transmit
ting the multiplying Ordinance of Soutt
Carolina to Congress, employs the following
language : "The right of the people of
single State to absolve themselves at will
and without the consent of the other State
from their most solemn obligations, an(
hazard the liberty and happiness of th'
millions composing this Union, cannot b.
acknowledged. Such authority is believed
to be utterly repugnant both to the princi
Piles upon which the General Governmen
is constituted, and to the objects which i
was expressly formed to attain"
1t is not pretended that any clause ii
the Constitution gives countenance to sucl
theory. 1t is altogether founded upon in
ference, not from any language contained
in the instrument itself, but from the SOY
ereign character of the several States b,
which it was ratified. But is it beyond th'
power of State, like an individual, tt
yield portion of its sovereign rights tt
secure the remainder? In the language o
Mr.. Madison, who has been called th
father of the Constitution "It was formed
by the States-thatis is, by the people in eacl
of the States, acting in their highest SOY
ereign capacity; and formed consequent.
by the same authority which formed tn
State Constitutions"
"Nor is the Government of the .. State
created by the Constitution, less Govern
ment in the strict sense of the term, within
the sphere of its powers, than the govern
| of h