Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-02-22

JOIN tne North, anu WEat VIII Occome q
Jout In that say, you will ind yoursel
much lower than YOU stand now. NO douo
the North will now make fine promises, bu
when YOU arc once in, they will give you bu
little quarter They sill hate you and YOU
institutions as much as they d., now, and trea
you accordingly. Suppose they elevated Sum
ncr to the Presidency? Suppose they elevated
Fred. Douglas, your escaped slave, to the Pres
idcncy! And there are hundreds Of thousand,
at the North who would do this for the pur
pose Of humating and Insulting the South
What would DC your position in such ar
event? say give mr pesll!ence and famine
sooner than that
As regaIG; The African slave trade, We haze
done what VIC could to cXpel the Illusion which
is SAID 10 deter some tilnid persons from mi
ling with us. Our State has given her voice
against it, and So Las abaua, and finally tliC
Convention at Montgomery has placed the ban
upon it by a Constitutional provision. Suppose
We reopen the African slave trade, what would
he the resuilY Why, We would be soon
drowned in black pool we would be literally
overwhelmed with black population. II YOU
open il! where are you going 10 stop? There
is no barrier TO it but that Of interest, and that
will never be = barrier until there will be
more Slarcs than we want. But 20 down to
Montgomery aud wc will stipula;e with you,
ard satisfy you, have no doubt, upon that,
as upon all other questions What danger is
there in your going with this Confcdcracy =
You will have, with the other border States, i
population Of eight millions, while we will have
only five. What danger is there thon with
such preponderance in your favor?
heard another objection urged to your
joining us and that is, tha; we held out 4
threat in The way OF provision in our
Constitution that Congress shall have power
to stop tia interstate slavo trade. | do not
hesitate 10 say 10 yon, tha. in my opinion. j:
you do not join us but join the North, tina.
provision wcud be put i'll tnrce. ! think that
these States would do all in their power 10
! keep the border States slave States II would
! be Il mere instinct Of selfprcservation to du
| that, and think that it would be done But
is this 10 be regarded as threat held out 10
deter you from joining The North? You might
Us well say that provision in respect 10 tax
is threat against you.
After meeting the objection urged against
! the seeding States for seeding without con-
srltation with the border States, with the ar
gument Of necessity, he closed with an expires
sion OF thanks to the Convention, and submit
ted the Ordinance Of Secession passed by Gsor.
! gia, winch vas read BY the Clerk
On motion of Mr.. WN B. PkEsroN the Or
! dlnarcc was laid on the table and ordered to
be printed.
; Mr.. Pnrs7oS then moved the further cxccu,
ton Of the special order be postponed till to-
morrow, Tuesday, al - O'Clock. The motion
was agreed to.
Mr. EARLY offered the following resolution.
winch was adopted:
Resolved, That tho resolution adopted on
Saturday, IN regard to tickets Of admission for
this day be renewed for tomorrow.
On motion of Mr.. STABLES, the Convention
then adjourned
SITTH DAT.
RICHMOND, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY l9Tu, 1851.
The Convention met to day and u o'clock,
M
Prayer by the Rev. Mr.. Petcrkin.
Mr.. WE BALLARD PREsToN moved that the
execution Of the unfinished order Of the day
be proceeded with; whereuPon,
The President (Mr. JASSgY) said: have
the honor 70 Introduce TO you the Hon. JOHN S.
Preston, the Commissioner from South Caro-.
lima.
Mr. pG.sToN then came forward md said:
.M. President and Gentlemen Of Fiqyin;u:
hnvc had the honor to present you sir, and
this ConsraLion my credentials, as Commits
Siuner from the Government of South Carolina
and, upon your reception Of these credentials
am instructed by NY Government to lay
before YOU the causes which induced the
State OF South Carolina TO Withdraw frcm the
Union. ard tho people Of South Carolina TO re-
su.nn the powers which they had delegated to
the Government: Of The United States Of Ame
ric1.
In performing this duty, gentlemen, I aIp
not instructed by my Government, nor is it
my intention 10 cndearnr to make Gefjre you
N argument in proof Of the right Of secession
Ny State in It's sovereign capacity, assumed
that rielt, and ny ministry here is only 10 lay
belurc YOU those reasons which she dcrrned
sufficient to enforce upon her the necessity Of
,cxercsinG that right. The very learned and
comprehensive argument OF M countrymcn
from Georgia and Mississippi, confne me into
very rarrow scope OF statement In laying
these causes before ycu, it will be quite sufi.
Gent as preliminary to this statement, that
| should submit for your consideration few
historical facts bearing upon the relations Of
these States to each other, and 10 the late Fe.
drrnl Government Of the United States.
i, will he recollcctcd by all that the British
Colonies cf North America, sa"c BY contiguity
of territory, held no nearer political Union with
each other than they did with the Colonies un.
der tho same Government at remote parts Of
the empire. They had common Union, and
a common sovereignty in the Grown Of Great
Britain. But when that Union was dissolved.
each colony was rcmitted 10 its own ministry
as perfectly as if it was separated from the
otler by the oceans of the empire. But being
orjnint territory, and having common interests,
and having identical grievances against the
mother county, The people Of these colonies
met together consulted with each other at va
rious times for a long series OF years. and IN
various forms, but, as you may remember, most
generally, IN the form Of Congress OF lndc-
pendent powers. They began their conflict with
the mother Government each for itself, and
the battles Of Lexington, Of Bunker Hill,
of Fort Moultric in the colony of South
Curolna, and tn" battle Of the Great Bridge
in tho colcny Of Vjrgnia-all occurred be-
fore their common Declaration OF. lndcpen-
dence on the 4lh Of July, nc. The Colonies,
then in Congress, made joint declaration OF
their freedom from Great Britain, of their inde-
pcndencc and Of their sovereignty.
AS You may remember, gentlemen-for am
no" reclIing what IS present 70 your memory,
with :iew to bring it TO your consideration,
trusting as may rect- it you may dsco7esr,
what has been certainly running through the
minds Of my people for years past-hndlng,
that, individually, they could not carry on this
contrs. for independence and sovereignty, they
united in certain articles which a'e known
as the Articles Ct Confederation. In these
articles there is the reitcration Of the ori.
ginal declaration of the sovereignty and in.
dependence of the parts Of it. al! rights, oil
powers, all jurisdiction therein delegated pro-
luce no limitation upon the ultimate and dis
cretionsry sovereignty Of the parts OF it.
Under these considerations, and with these
reservations, they prosecuted the war with the
mother country successfullyi and when that
country recognized their success and their IN
dependence, She did so not by the positive recoS-
niuon Of the agency Of this Confederation, but