The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-01-20


eress as an adiustmcnt she deemed II unWiae
to send delegates 20 . Southern Conveution.
and earnestly appealed TO her sister States 70
desist from their movemsnt Oar state took
iutions came, when your reQuest to South
Carolina to desist came, what took place II
The accession Convention met--tWo-thirds Of
the members OF which favored dlsunson. yet
these two.thirds delivered over their power
TO the minority. Our prominent men had
caavassed the State, Informing the people OF
virginia's course, and when the Convention
met 1t deemed II inexpedient TO secede. Now,
for You seven years. We felt assured that the
wave of fana,icism, surging against our bat
Elements would not be turned back, but would
sweep over our turrets; and the next change
in the drama was the scene at Harper's Fer.
ry. II told us thai We must come back to Vir.
siniS. 1t told US that the wave ha,. swept
over the summit, and We have come to ask IL
YOU will meet us In conference. Can yCu re-
sist i'll We do not press our opinions On you,
excep, as a matter for conference. 1t is right
that ALI parties should have their opinions
We ask for a con ference of the Southern States,
and whatever they determine on, we will
abide. Now, gentlemen, while we present this
request we do not wish You to do what your
judgment does not approve of, and ] proceed
to try to convince you that the course we uyge
is what your judgment will approve.
The Harper's Ferry affair now rises into I'M
portance. In every disease the symptoms do
not appear in their fall violence at once. The
house on fire is first known by the flames
creeping through the crannies of the building
By these we know that the building Is In
flames and it is far better that we should at
once decide whether il can be saved or whether
we shall abandon it. We see Harper's Ferry
as a symptom, and should deal Win II NJ
statesmen deal with such outbreaks on the
BODY polite For my part, it seems, when you
examine all .he circums tances connected with
ii. that He has, ss it appears, set 1t up as a
standard there to show you how far You can
disrec ard these symptoms. 1ti SORT OF Nlle-
ometer, to show tha. the water Is rising, ana II
Won heed il not 1t will overflow the country.
How many men contributed to this attack
How many knew of it's existence! HOW many
were engaged in this plan 10 imbrue their hands
in the blood Of Shareholders! 1t is the object
of statesmen to deal with absolute facts-we
have them, and have certain proof that
there must have been many men IN those
Northern regions of the country who knew
of this intended attack. Who spoke
Who gave notice A single voice, and that
disregarded and the matter broke ia upon US
as Il thunder cloud, and Showed you an ad-
vance of the feeling against the South that no
man could have believed. except for this move
ment What happened after! We see feel
ing of sympathy all over the North. Counsel
coming from distant city-the - Athens" OF
the couutry-to defend the murderer. NOW,
we are not surprised to see men volunteer ~
defend traitors but to see men volunteer to
defend murderers who had plotted the assas-
sinalion of innocent families, is nnheard OF In
the annals of Jurisprudence. Well, you take
these men and bring them to trial. How
Quietly. as you would any other offenders
against YOUR laws You find indications ol
such clarac ter as to force you 10 bring ont the
military power of the State to keep at bay the
sympathizers Of the murderers. And when you
execute them, a voice OF lamentation is heard
rs if Latimer and Ridley were about going te
the stake You hear bells tolled all oveI
the North, and to the discredit OF oul
institutions; (for regard this matter a.
vI.r1a
see offered in one of our State Legislatures
a resolution to adjourn in honor of JohI
Brown, which failed by only three votes.
say these are indications which you canno
nut aside Every village bell tolled was voic
proclaiming to Virginia, this is the feeling
which surrounds US here. We all know tina
familiarity with scenes djvests them OF thel
real character and to man daily stancln
beneath the falls OF Niagara, dare say, In
few weeks be will begin to regard 1t as IN
ordinary passage Of water down a stream
You. in Virginia, have heard SO much OF tn
affair. that it seems to be magnified. Look a
| it from another point,-se 1t across the water
SuDpose that the explosion at that opera nous
| in Paris intended to destroy the Emperor
| had been lauded by every English paper. Sup
| pose it had succeeded, and simultaneousl
| there had appeared III every English paper a
| ayowal of the act. a tOlling OF bells in tn
| English villages and Il motion TO adjourn j
| the English Parliament. Does any man sup
pose that the French nation would nav
| abided that one hOurl Would the Frenc
| armies have stood still moment +
| Vet here we are in the same position
| 1t NAV be said that Louis Napoleon was ty
| rant. that he had seized the sceptre of hi
| country, and he might have been maligned 8
| we are at the North. Does any one suppos
| that the English nation would not have bee
| treated as outlaws by the civilized world J.
The Legislatures of the North in applaudin
| this act are guilty Of its commission, and sho'
that they are willing to take tne same e s.s5. 4.
yelopments. Shortly after this affair too
| place there were elections at the North. an
| every Southern man supposed that tne peop
there would recoil from the acti and at u
New York election we were told that it woul
be shown now that only extreme men Ell
dorsed it, and the people ut the polls woul
| condemn il. 1t turns out that the abolition
lists were strong enough to defeat botn partie
Sill later, in oLgress, we see lUl men votir
in solid column for a man who signed the el
| dorsa,ion Of a book urging revolution at II
| South. and who will make no retraction of Il
act; and though many ballots have taken plae
| and our friends are going from banner
| banner they stand firm, and wait to see II '
will be reduced to submission
Now. gentlemen, I have entered into th
matter to show you that we are obliged to !
view our relations win the NORM. Tnat
this matter pass, hundreds will follow in u
| footsteps of those whom you have driven fro
| | your borders. l have endeavored to ascerta
ii this is the normal condition OF the Northel
body polite, or temporary disease. r
| the one there is a remedy OF one kind, but q
permanent disease requires very difere
E action When this Government was forme
there were seven -slavchOlding States 81
! six siaveholding States. But one OF t
, | Southern States-your Own-Owned that ma
r nificent country in the West. So that t
I non. .slavebolding States had only two Stat
0 | to be added to their border, and we b
all the rest. Maine and Vermont we
/ the only two to be added TO the Nor
r whereas in our portion there were
I the States this side of the Mississippi riy
). not included in the purchase Of Louisiana
4 How happens it that we are now in the n
: nority? AS you are aware, the nrst mo'
J. | ment that divested us of territory was the n
b olutions Of l7sl. Here was read Mr.. jeff
I sons resolutions proposing to cede virgins
a | western possessions, and providing mat !
n voluntary servitude should not exist therei
b Every Southern State refused to adopt
(: | resolutions and on motion of North Carroll
9 the restriction was stricken out. Virginia,
d ceding this territory, expressly PROVIDES u
: every State formed out OF 1t should be eq
with the other States Of the Union. The
a Of cessiou was dated 17S4. The other Sta
= referred TO came into the Union with the Sou
y ern States, and as an act OF concession, C(
gress passed law providing that there shot
n ritory,) provided, always, that fugitive sla,
n might be lawfully reclaimed. Now, t
d law was illegal, because no limitation COZ
. be put on the new States; but 1t was !
n in, and, for Unions sake, Virginia acquiesc
IS This being the case, the result OF the cessl
. was, that we gave up our possession Of Oh
# Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. and mere
j. reserved Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama a
a Mississippi. The North only gave two Stat
O Vermont and Maine and while Virginia a
o the South gave up all the lands in those Sta
9 ceded to the Union, 1t is worthy Of rems
I that the North reserved to herself the right
Il those In her States. We gave up everythi
t they gave up nothing. The sales OF the p'
o Tic lands have amounted to $l50, ,OO0, ,00O,
o which they, as well as we. have reaped
v benefit. Suppose that in these new States