The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1860-12-12
less can il Afford good reason for . dissola.

ton Of the Union. Es-e-@ r--e-
The most palpable violations of constitu
If tional duty which hare yet been coum;tte
consist in the acts Of different State le9isls
lures to defeat the execution OF the fu oitiy
g slave law. It ought to be remembered, how
. ever that for these acts, neither Congress no
any President can justly be held responsible
Having been passed in violation OF the Fedora
e Constitution. they are therefore null and void
All the courts, both State and national, befor
:, whom the question has arisen, have from tn
2 beginning declared the fugitive slave law to b
r constitutional. The single exception is tina
: of State court in Wisconsin; and this ha
not only been reversed By the proper appel
late tribunal but has met with such universe
reprobation that there can be no danger from
it as a precedent The validity of this law
has been established over and over again BY
the Supreme Couft of the United States witt
; perfect unanimity. 1t is founded upon al
/ express provision of the Constitution, reqnir
ing that fugitive slaves who escape from ser
vice in one State to anotler shall be 'deliver
ed up'' to their masters. Without this pro
vision it is a well-known historical fact that
the Constitution itself could never have beer
adopted by the Convention. In one form Oh
other under the acts Of 1893 and 1850, both
being substantially the same, the fugitive slave
law has beer 1the law Of the land from the
DAYS of Washington until the present moment
Here then, cIlar case is presented, in which
it will be the duty of the next President, as
it has been my own, to act with vigor in exc
cutting this supreme law against the conflicting
enactments of State legislatures. Should he
fail in the performance of this high duty, he
will then have manifeste9Ta 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 ad
vance that he will thus violate his duty p
This would be at war with every principle of
Justice and Of Christian charity. Lei rs wait
for the overt act. The fugitive slave law has
been carried into execution in every contested
case since the commencement of the present
administration though often it is to be re-.
GREETED, with great loss and inconvenience to
the master, and with considerable expense to
| the government Let us trust that the State
legislatures viii repeal their unconstitutional
and obnoxious enactments Unless this shall
be done without unnecessary delay, it is i'm
i possible for any human power TO save the
/ Union. s
The Southern States standing on the basis
of the Constitution have right to demand
this act of justice from the States of the
stitutiou, to which all the States are parties,
will have been wilfully violated by one por-
ton OF them in provision essential to the do
rnestic security and happiness of the remain
der. In that event, the injured States, after
having first used all peaceful and constitution
al means to obtain redress, would be justified
in revolutionary resistance to the Govern
ment Of the Union.
hava n.rpocaJ1r m ,,x-- t., A.
revolutionary resistance, because it has been
claimed within the last few years that anv
State, whenever this shall be It's sovereign will
and pleasure, may seccde from the Union. in
| accordance with the c Institution, and with
out any violation 0C the constitutional rights
of the other members of Ehe Confederacy
| That as each became parties to the Union by
f]the vote of its own people assembled in Con-
vention, SO any one Of them may retire from
the Union in similar manner by the vote OF
such a convention.
In order to justify secession as a eonstitu
tional remedy it must be on the principle that
the Federal Government is a mere voluntary
association Of States, to be dissolved at plea
sure by any one of the contracting parties. If
this be SO, the Confedera " is a rope of sand
to be penetrated and dissolved by the first
adverse wave If public opinisn in any of the |
States. In thfs manner our thirty three |
States may resolve themselves into as many |
petty, Earring, and hostile republics each one |
retiring from the Union, without responsibility,
whenever any sudden excitement might iInpeI |
them to such course. By this process a |
Union might be entirely broken into fragments
in few weeks, which cost our forefathers |
many years of toll, privation, and blood to
establish.
Such principleis wholly inconsistent with
the history as we'll as the character of the /
Federal Constitution. After it was framed.
with the greatest deliberation and care, it was
submitted to conventions Of the people of the
several States for ratification Its provisions
were discussed at length in these bodies,
composed of the first men of the country. Its
opponents conte1ded that it conferred powers
upon the Federal GoNirnment dangerous to
the rights Of the States, whilst its advocates
maintained that under a fair construction of
the instrument there was nd foundation for
such apprehensions. In that mighty struggle
between the first intellects of this or any
other country, it never occurred to any indi-
vidual, either among its opponents or advo-
Gates. to assert, or even to intimate that their
efforts were all vain labor, because the mo.
ment that any State felt herself aggrieved she
might secede from the Union. hat a
crushing argument woaad this have proved
against those who dreaded that the rights of
the States would be endangered by the 4
Constitution. The truth is, that it was not
until many years after the origin of the
Federal Government that such proposition
was first advanced. It was then met and
refuted by the conclusive arguments of Gen.
Jackson, who in his message OF 18th January,
<ha /
of South Carolina to Congress, EMPLOYS the
following language "1he right of the peo-
Pile OF single State to absolye themselves at
will, and without the consent of the other
States, from their most solemn obligations,
and hazard the liberty and happiness of the
millions composing this Udaion, cannot be
Such authority is belicsed to
be utterly repugnant both to the principles
upon which the General Government is con
stituted and to the objects which it was ex-
pressly formed to attain"
1t is not pretended that any clause in the
Constitution gives countenance to such the
DRY. It is altogether founded upon inference,
not from any language contained in the in
strument ITSELF but from the sovereign
character of the several States by which it
was ratified. But is it beyond the power Of
a State, like an individual, to yield portion
Of its sovereign rights to secure the remain
der In the language of Mr.. Madison, who
has been called the father of the Constitution
at was formed by the States-that is, by
the people in each of the States, acting in
their highest sovereign capacity and formed
by the same authority which
formed the State constitution"
Nor els the Government of the United
States, created by the Constitution, less a
Government in the strict sense of the term,
within the sphere of its powers, than the gov
ernments created by the constitutions of the
States are, within their several spheres. 1t {
is like them, organized into legislative, exec
utve, and Judiciary departments 1t operates,
like them, directly on persons and things
and, like them, it has at command physical
force for executing the powers committed to
it,
1t was intended to be perpetual, and not to
be annulled at the pleasure of any one of the
contracting parties The old articles of con- ;
federation were entitled ARTICLES OF Confed
Grafton and Perpetual Union between the 1
States .nasId by the 18th article it is expressly
declared that "the articles OF this Confedera-
ton shall be inviolably observed by every
State, and the Union shall be perpetual
The preamble to the Constitution Of the Uni
TED otateS, having express reference TO the
articles Of Confederation, recites that it was
established 'in order to form a more perfect
unien.'' Aud yet it is commended that
this more perfect union does not include the
essential attribute of perpetuity.
But that the Union was designed to be
perpetual appears conclusively from the nature
and extent Of the powers conferred by the
Constitution on the Federal Government.
These powers embrace the very highest attri-
butes of national sovereignty. They place
both the sword and the purse under its con-
troll Congress has power to make war, and
to make peace to raise and support armies
and navies, and to conclude treaties with
foreign governments. 1t is invested with the
power to coin money, and to regulate the
value thereof and to regulate commerce with
foreign nations, and among the several States