The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1860-12-12
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
fstzov.eitisens Of tie Senate and House o,


5 Fsl7o,c-citiz Of tie Senate and House {
| Representatives
throughout the year since our last meetin
e the country has been eminently prosperous i
!. all its material interests. The general healt
: has been excellent our harTests hare bee
abundant, and plenty smiles throughout th
land Our commerce and manufactures hav
been prosecuted with energy and industry
and have Welded fair and ample returns. Il
short no nation in the tide of time has eve
presented q spectacle of greater material pros
} nerity than we have done until within very
recent period.
WHY is il. then, that discomfort now 81
extensively prevails, and the Onion of thu
States. (which is the source Of all these bless
ings. is threatened with destruction The
long continued and intemperate interference
of the Northern people with the question O
slavery in the Southern States has at length
produced its natural effects. the different
sections Of the Union are now arFayed against
each other and the time has arrived, so much
dreaded by the Father of his Country, when
hostile geographical parties have been formed
have long foreseen and often forewarned nv
countrymen of the now impending danger
This does not proceed solely fIpm the claim
on the part of Congress or the territorial leg
islatures to exclude slavery from the Terrific
ries, nor from the efforts of different States to
/ defeat the execution of the fugitive slave law.
| All or any of these evils might have been en-
dured by the South without danger to the
Union, (as others have been,) in the hope that
time and reflection might apply the remedy
The immediate peril arises not SO much from
these causes as from the fact that the inces-
SAINT and violent agitation of the slavery aues-
ton throughout the North for tho last quarter
of century, has at length produced its ma
! lign influence on the slaves and inspired them
with vague notions of freedom. Hencts
sense of security no longer exists around the
family altar This feeling of peace at home
has given place toapprehensions of servle in
surreeton. Many matron throughout the
South retires at night in dread OF what may
befalI herself and he children before the morn
| ing. Should -ssNe prehensiao Of domestic
/ danger, whether real or imaginary extend and
intensity itself until it shall peryade the mass
es Of the Southern people, then disunion will
beLSrne inevitable. Self-preservation is the
| first law of nature, and has been implanted in
| the heart of man by his Creator for the wisest
| purpose and no political union, however
! fraught with blessings and benefits in all 9th
er respects, can long continue, if the necessary
consequence be to render the homes and the
fresides of nearly half the parties to it habit
,lally and hopelessly insecure. Sooner or la
ter the bonds of such Union must be sever
ed. 1t is my conviction that this fatal period
has not yet arrived; and my prayer to God
is that lie would preserve the Constitution
and the Union throughout all generations.
But let us take warning in time and remove
the cause Of danger. 1t cannot be denied that
for five and twenty years, the agitation at
the North against slavery in the South has
been incessant. In 1885 pictorial hand-bills,
and infiammatory appeals, were circulated ex-
tensiveiy throughout the South, of charac-
ter to excite the passions of the slaves; and, in
the language Of General jackson, ''to stimu-
late them TO instruction, and produce all the
horrors of seryile war; This agitation has
ever since been continued by the public press,
by the proceedings of State and county con-
ventions, and by abolition sermons and lee
lures. The time Of Congress has been occu-
pied in y;alent speeches on this never-ending
subject; and appeals in pamphlet and other
forms, endorsed by distinguished names have
been sent forth rom this central point and
spread broadcast eger the Union.
How easy would it be for the american
peopleto settle the slavery questiois forever,
and to restore peace and harmony to 1f;ais dis
tracted country. Ffn
They, and theyzalone, can do it. AliaiAat
is necessary to accomplish the object, and sill
for which the slave States have ever conteni-
ed, is to be let alone, and permitted to manage |
their domestic institutions in their own way.
As sovereign States, they, and they alone, are
responsible before God and the world for the |
slavery existing among them For this, the !
people of the North are not more responsible, |
and have no more right to interfere, than with |
similar institutions in Russia or in BRAZIL |
Upon their good sense aud patriotic forbear- |
ance confess still greatly rely Without |
their aid, it is beyond the power of any Presi-
dent, no matter what may be his own political |
proclivities, to restore peace and harmony
among the States. Wfsgiy limited and re- 4
strained as is his power, under our Constitu-
ton and laws, he alone can accomplish hut
little, for good or for evil, on such momen-
tous question.
And this brings me to observe that the |
election of any one OF our fellow-citizens to
the office of President does not of itself af- !
ford just cause for dissolying the Union This
is more especially tfue if his election has
been effected by mere Plurality, and not
majority, of the people. and has resulted from
transient and temporary causes, which may
probably never again occur. In order to JUS
tify resort to revolutionary resistance, the
Federal Government must be guilty of "a de-
liberate palpable, and dangerous exercise of
powers not granted by the Constitution. The
late presidential election, however, has been
held in strict conformity with its express pro-
visions. How, then, can the result justify
a revolution to destroy this very Constitution?
Reason, justice, regard foFshe Constitution,
all require that we shall wsft for some overt
and dangerous act on the partof the Presi-
dent elect before resorting dsuch remedy.
1t is said, however, that the antecedents of
the President elect have been sufficient to JUS
tify the fears of the South that he will at
tempt to invade their constitutional rights
But are such apnFehensionsn contingent dan
ger in the future sufficient I'd justify the i'm
mediate destruction OF the noblest system of
government ever devised by mortals From
the very. nature of his office, and its high re-
sponsibiities he must necessarily be copserVa-
tive. The stern duty of administering the
vast and complicated concerns OF talAs Govern
ment affords in itsalf guargestaf that he will
not attempt any violation Ola clear constitu-
tional right. After all, he is no more Than the
chief executive officer Of the Government
His province is not to make, but to execute
the laws; and it is a remarkable fact in our
history, that, Notwithstanding the repeated eff
forts OF the anti slavery party, no single act
has ever passed Congress, unless we may pos
sibly except the Missouri Compromise, I'M
pairing, in the slightest degree, the rights of
the South to their propertyin slaves. And
it may also be observed, Judging from present
indications, thas no probability exists OF the
passage OF such an act, By majority OF both
Houses, either in the present or the next Con-
gress. Surely, under these circumstances we
ought to be restrained from present action by
the precept Of Him who spake as never man
spoke, that Sufficient unto the day Is the evil
thereof" The day of evil may never come,
unless we shall rashly bringit upon ourselves
1t IS alleged as one cause for immediate Sc
cession that the Southern States are denied
equal rights with the otherStates in the com
mon Territories. But by what authority are
these denied Not by Congress-, which has
never passed, and believe never will pass,
any act to exclude slavery fromshese Terri
tories; and certainly not by the Supreme
Court, which has solemnlydecided that slaves
are property, and, like all other property. their
owners have a right to take them into the
common Territories and bold them theftsun-
der the protection of the Constitution.
So far, then, as CONGRESS is concerned, the
objection is not to anything they have already
done, but to what they pay do hereafter. 1t
will surely be admitted lhat this apprehension
Of future dangers is no god reason for an inn
mediate dissolution of tie Union. 1t is true
that the territorial legislature of Kaesas, on
the 23d of February, 1860, passed in great
haste an act over the vao of the governor, de-
claring that slavery island shall be, forever
however, plainly violating the rights of prop
erty secured by the Constitution, will surely
be declared void by thijudiciary whenever it
shall be presented in alegal form.
Only three days aftG my Inauguration the
Supreme Court Of tie United States solelnnly
adjudged that this power did not exist in a ter
ritorial legislature. "a such has been the fac
stious temper of the tites that the correctness