Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-01-03

gest the means proper to be resorted to in
order to susii the rising contest, ressue the
Federal Union from immediate ruin. and
save the South from menaeed destruction,
should be, indeed, the happiest of men; as it
is. / an one of the most unhappy, and most
hopeless 1 am very much inclined to think
that the days Of your national existence are
welLnigh numbered, and that three months
hence, what has been known as the United
States Of Anaerica. will only exist upon the
page of history and in the afectionate recol-
lection of what has been grand and glorious
| in the past. But though thus weighed down
| with discouragement, and almost overwhelm-
ed with despair, 1 united with others of my pa
triotic countrymen, ON last Saturday, in max
| ing one more earnest and energetic effort to
rescue the ship OF State from that fierce and
| fiery vortex which threatens its engulph-
ment. 1 take it for granted that You have
already examined the resolutions adopted by
our Saturdays meeting, and therefore, know
that we concluded to propose the assemblage
| of Southern Conference, in the city of Bal
timore, on tie 18th day of the month Of Feb
ruary, ssto be composed of delegates from
such of the Southern States as shall previous
| to the meeting of said Conference, have in
dicaIed their desire to be represented in that
| body" We had learned that aConference of
| Delegates from what are known as the Dor
der States of the South bad been called. at
the IustaDee Of Vice President Breckenridge.
cd .h.t H. ,,<,.<,--t,<,, f,r TN so,e,,,bfaco IF
| such body had been numerously signed by
| conservative members Of Congress from the
| border States-and we deemed it expedient TO
| cooperate, as far as we could, in move
ment which seemed to have been gotten up
under such excellent auspices, and which, if
properly encouraged, We hoped might even
tuate in the most important public results.
greatly fear the day of meeting is too far
distant, to justify very confident hope as to
the attainment of the end proposed. but it
seemed to be the last chance left us of avoid
ing National disruption, and We, therefore de
termined to do what we deemed, under all the
surrounding circumstances, to be orr duty as
patriots.
You have right TO know what expect
! this Southern Conference to do, and l will
be. therefore, explicit on this point [ do not
expect the delegates to this body to recon-
mend TO the States OF the South, separate State
accession. l shall not discuss the long
mooted question of the constitutiOHaldy of this
remedy of secession, in reference to which L
have never entertained any opinion except
that which was avowed in their lifetime; by
Andrew Jackson, JAS Maids On, Henry Clay,
Daniel Webster and Chief Justice Marshall.
l am free to declare that, in my judgment,
we have reached a period In our National
history when mere doctrilal controversy is
worse than useless. We are are upon the
very edge of revolution, and nothing but the
wisest and the firmest action can save US from
all the horrors of anarchy, confusion and
bloodshed. / know not what Others may eX-
pect the Baltimore Conference to do, but it is
my hope that its members will proceed to
follow out the recommendation of one of our
Saturdays resolutions, and say at once to
our brethren of the non-slav eholding States,
Cranky and plainly, but sOberly and kindly
that the time has come when the authori-
ty of Constitution. which is the bond OF Union
between them, must be recognized or that
Union will inevitably perish; that there
must be no longer acts of State Legislation,
in the form of personal liberty, bills to nullify
and set at naught a solemn and unequivocal
compact written in the Constitution; that
there must be no attempts, covert or open,
by Congressional legislation, to assail or I'M
dermine their domestic institutions; and
that their full and perfect equality under the
Constitution, as co States of the Federal
Union. must be Loyalty acknowledged, and
ia ithfullv respected" | did not deem it
necessary to say to the meeting that adopted
the resolution just cited, that it was an ex-
tract from the recent patriotic letter of Vir-
ginia's most ilustrious living son, VIM. G.
Rives, the disciple of Jefferson, and the con-
fidential friend and biographer of Madison;
but such is the fact, and by way of explain
ing. in more forcible and polished language
than l could be expected to originate, my
views as to what the Baltimore Conference
should further do, l shall lay before you
another golden extract from the same letter,
which reads thus
sThe equal rights of the States in the
common territories of theUniOn; the i'm
munity of their domestic Institutions
from all external interference and con-
troll, direct or indirect. and the surrender
of fugitives from service, are fundamental
PRINCIPLES of the Constitutional compact,
w hich, however clear in theory, are practical
IL denied in various quarters, and Call, there
FORE for new and une1uivocat securl-
ties for their faithful observance. If
these securities are demanded with calm
and dignified but infiexible frmness-not
with bluster and denunciation, | cannot
doubt that they will be yielded by large
majority, if not by all, of our co-States. If
any shall refuse them, by that act of recusan-
cy. they would renOuuce the authority OF the
Constitution itself, and put themselves vir-
tually out of the pale of Union"
Our meeting of last Saturday decided
that the delegates to such Conference as
that proposed would be expected ''to mature
and bring forward such plan of pacifca-
ton and settlement as shall be alike just,
honorable, and satisfactory to all the States
now constituting our National Union; or
that, in the event of the members of said
Conference finding it impracticable to attain
this important object, save thorugh the in
strumentality of a Federal Convention, II is
to be hoped that they would not hesitate to
urge the calling into existence National
Convention with as little delay as possible"
We furthermore resolved that sin order to
allay excitement and remove distrust and
apprehension as to aggressions on the part
of the North, awakened by menaces hereto
fore uttered by prominent Northern states
men, it is expedient, and perhaps indispensa-
BILE necessary, that the Constitution of the
United States should be so amended as to
supply satisfactory solution of the long ag-
i,ated Territorial question, and also to pro-
vide, in clear and unambiguous language,
that said Constitution shall never be hereaf-
ter so amended as to invest Congress with
more power over slavery than it 1t present
-.a-.oc.oe IN tba CtafaS in tho in