Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-12-06
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

iup. the couatrg has been emfnently pros
perous Ia all is material interests. The
general health has been excellenti our har-
vests have been abundant, ana plenty
smiles throughout the land. Our com
merce and manufactures nave peen Pt ,
euted with energy and industry, anu lAas
Welded fair and ample returns; IN short,
40 nation in the tide Of time has ever pre-
scented spectacle ofgreater material pros
perity than We have done, until within a
Wv recent perIod. Why is 1t then that
discomfort now extensively prevails, and
Tie Union o. the States, which lie the
source of ali these blessings, is threatened
with destruction, The long continued and
incorporate interference OF the Northern
people with the question OF slavery 10 the
southern States, has at length produced
us natural effects. The different sections
OF the Union are now arrayed against
each other, and the time has arrived, so
much dreaded by the Father Of bis
country when hostile geographical parties
have been formed / have long fore
seen and Often foreWarned my eoun-
trymen Of the now impending danger.
This does not proceed solely from the
claim on that part Of Congress or the Ter
ritorial Legislatures to excinde slavery
from the Territories, nor from the efforts
Of different States 70 defeat the execution
OF the Fugitive Slave Law. All or any of
these evils might have been endured by
the south, without danger to the Union,
as OtheH have beel, in the hope that time
aud rejection might apply the remedy.
The immediate peril arises, not so much
from these causes IS from the fact that the
violent agitation Of the slavery question
throughout the North for the last quarter
OF a century, has as length produced It's
malign influence on the slaves, and infpiF-
81, 81
Hence q sense of security no longer exists
around tn: family altar. This feeling Of
peace at home has given place to apprehen-
siOns OF seTElle instruction. Many
matron throughout the South returns at
night In dread of what may befal herself
and her children before the morning.
Should this apprehension of domestic dan
ger, whether real or imaginary, extend ana
Intensity itself until L shall pervade
the masses Of the Southern peo-
Vie, disunion viii become inevitable.
Eelfpreseryation Is the first law ofnafure,
and has been implanted in the heart ofman
by his Creator Tor the wisest purpose, and
no political union, however fraught with
blessings and benefits in all other respects,
cen long continue III the necessary cOnse-
ouence pe 70 render the homes and the fire
sides Of nearly half the parties to IL habitu-
ally and hOpelessly insecure. Sooner or
later, the bonds Of such union must be
severed. lt Is my conviction that this IA
tai period has not yet arrived, and my prayer
10 Cod Is, that He would preserve the Con-
stitution and the Union throughout all
generations. But let Us take warning in
time, and remove the cause of danger. II
cannot be denied that for fYe-and-tw enty
years the agitation at the North against
slavery in the South, has been ineessant.-
IL 1885 pictorial handbills and imflamma-
tory appesls were circulated extensively
throughout the South, of q charactertO ex-
cite the passions OF the slaves, and in the
language ofGeneral jackson, 20 stimulate
LheIn to Instruction, and produce al the
horrors of a seryile war. This agitation
has ever since been continued by The pub
JIG press, by the proceedings of State and
County Conventions, and by Abolition ser
mons and lectures. and the time OF Con
gress has been occupied in violent speeches
on this never ending subject, and appeals IN
pamphlet and other forms, Endorsed by dis
Iing1Ished names, have been sent forth from
this central point and spread broadcast over
the Union. How easy would il be for the
American people TO settle the slavery ques-
tion forever, aud 10 restore peace and har-
mony 10 this distracted country. They alone
can do IT, All that is necessary 10 accom-
phsh the object, and all for which the slave
States have ever commended, is 10 be lei
alone, and permitted to manage their domeS-
TIC institutions 10 their own way, as sOYer-
eign states. They, and they alone, are re-
Epousible before God and the world for the
slavery existing among them. For this the
people Of the North are not responsible, and
have no more right 20 interfere than with
similar institutions ia Russia or in Brazil
Upon their good sense and patriotic forbear-
ance confess / still greatly rely. Without
their aid It is beyond the power Of any Pres
ident, no matter what may be his own polit-
zeal procliyities, TO restore pence and har-
mOBy among the States Wisely limited
aud restrained as is his power under our
Constitution and laws, he alone can accom-
Plish but Little for good or for evil on such
n momentOus question And this brings metO
observe that the election of any one Of our fell
low citizens 20 She office of President, does
not Of itself afford just cause for desolving
the Union. This is more especially true If
MS election has been effected by mere plu
TElity, and not q majority Of the people, and
has resulted from transient and temporary
causes, which may probably never again Oc-
cur. In order 10 justify a resort 10 reyolu-
JiOUary Teslstence, the Federal Government
must be guilty Of deliberate, palpable and
dangerous exercise Of powers not granted
BY the Constitution. The late Presidential
election, however, has been held in stric,
then, can the. result justify revolution, to
destroy this very Constitution Reason,
justice, a regard for the Constitution, all re-
oUire that We shall wait for some overt and
dangerous oct on the part of the President
elect before resoTtlng TO such remedy Il
is said, however that the antecedents Of the
President elect have been sufficient TO justify
the fears Of The South, that he will attempt
- invade their Constitutional rights but are
inns nf MT IN
she future sufficient 20 justify the immediate
destruction OF the nublest system OF Gov
srumeut ever devised by m0rtals. From the
very nature Of his Office, and It's high re-
sponsiblHtes, he must necessarily be con
servauve. lhe stern duty, of administer
ing the vast and complicated councils Of this
Government, affords in itself u guarantee
that be will rot attempt any violation Of a
clear Con.ttuu0nal right
After all, he Is no more than the chief
executive officer OF the Government. His
province Is not TO make, but execute, its
laws; ami il IL Il remarkable TACT I'm our
history that, Notwithstanding the repeat,
ell stiJrts Of the anti slavery party, no
such act hss ever passed Congress, unless
We nav lavorably except the Missouri
Compromise, impairing, in the slightest
degree, the rights Of the South to their
property 10 slaves; and It may also be OBJ
served, Judging from present Indications,
Ehat no probability exists of the passage
Of such an act by majority Of both
Houses either IN the present or the next
Congress. Surely, under these ciTcum-
stances, we ought 10 be restrained from
present action by the pTecept of Him who
smoke as never man spake, that sufficient
unto the day Is the evil thereof" The
Gay Of evil may never come, unless we
shall rashly bring IL upon ourselves. lt is
ALLEGED as one cause for immediate seces-
sion that the Southern States are denied
equal rights with the other States in the
common Territories. But by what au-
thority are these denledt Not by Con-
Sress, which has never passed, and /
believe never viii pass, any act 70
exclude slavery from these Territories;
aud certainly not by the Supreme Court,
which has sOlomnly decided that slaves
are property, aud like all other prop
sriy, their owners have the right 10 take
them into the common Territories, and
hold them there under the protection oithe
constitution. SO far, then, as Congress is
concerned, the objection is not to anything
they have already done, but to what they
NAV do hereafter. 1t viii surely be admit
red that this apprehension of future dan
ger is no good reason for an immediate
dissolution OF the Union. IL is true that
the Territorial Legislature Of Kansas, on
The 23d Of February, 1850, passed IN great
haste, an act over the veto ofthe Governor,
declaring that slavery is and shall be for
ever prohibited in the Territory. Such an
act, however, plainly violating the rights
Of property secured by the Constitution,
will surely be declared void by the Judi
CRY whenever il shall be presented in
legal form. Only three days after my in
nuguration, the Supreme Court Of the Uni
Iod States solemnly Rdjudged that this
power did not exist in Territorial Legis-
1lture. Yet such has been the factions
1emrer OF the times, that the correctness
Ci this decision has been extensively i'm |
Vugned before the people, and the cues
Tion has given rise TO angry political con-
hiCts throughout the country. These who |
have appealed from this Judgment of our |
Highest constitutional tribunal 10 popu- /
lar assemblies, would, II they could, in /
vGsta Territorial Legislature with power 10 |
GuDul the sacred rights Of property. This |
T-FVrRT OF d .gnpr.zz i pNnrpSely forbidden Il