, 1861-06-10

~A~AAN
.ercourse with foreign nations, to oppose the
.nfhcritJ Of the government. To d. any one
Of these things Is to secede, for It would ba
physically impossible to do any one of them
without secession It Wonld have been pue-
rile for the ConstitHtion to SAY formally to
each State, "Thou shalt not secede-" The
being the supreme 1nw, being:
perpetual, and having expressly forbidden to-
the States these 1ct2 without which secession
10 an impossibilisy, would have bsen wanting
Ii dignity had it used such superAous phrAss
olcgy. "This Constitution is supreme, What
evef laws aHtate may enact, says the organic
Law. Was It necessary to add, eand no State
shall enact q INV Of secession 7" 20 add to :
great statute, in which the sovereign !authori-
u Of the land declares it, will, q phtase such
IS " and be 1t further enacted that the eaid laT
fhsll not be violated" would scarcely seem to
streegthen the atatute. It Was accordingly
enncted that new States might be admitted;
but 70 permission was given for State to So
cede.: 4 peaceful revolution Ia con
ceiyable in the case Of the United States. Tho
esme power which established tho Constitu-
tion may justly destroy It, The people Of tho
whole lsnd may meet, By delegates, In . great
national convention, as they did In 1857, and
declare that the Constitution no longer ans-
we1s The purpose for which 1t Wns ordered;
that It 10 longer can secure the blessings Of
liberty for the people In present and future
generations, and that It l. therefore for ever
abolished.
- When that project hss been submitted again
to the people voting in their primary assem-
bllea, not Influenced by fraud or force, the
revolution Is laHfully accomplished, and the
Union Is no more Such = Aproceealng Is con
ccivab]e, although attended With innnmarable
difficulties and dangers. But these are not 20
ect'cn Of the seeding atates have pluaged the
country. The division of the national domain
ard ether property, the navigation and police
Of the great riyeM, the arrangement md furti
1c&tion ot frontiers, the transit Of the isthmus,
the mouth Of the Mississippi, the control Of
tho Gulf Of Me1ico-these are significant
r1rases which have IN appalling sound; for
The seeds OF war. In any separation, however
accomplished, thcso difficulties must be dealt
with !; hnt there would ecem lees hope Of
srr1rirg at peaceful settlement Of them,
Low that the action Of tie seeding states has
been 90 precipitste and lawlese. For single
state, orc after another, to resume those tnnc'
t!ous Of sovereignty which It had uncondition-
ally aEdicated when It's people ratified the
ccnstitutton of l7o7-to seize forts, arsenals,
custom. houses, post-ofices, mints and other
yalusble property Of the Union, paid for by
the treasure Of the UnioI-Was not the exer-
eiae Of legal function, but It Was rebellion,
treason and plunder.
~ 10 sllEu6G tltAk Gu&AHlAutu 1uVNiu li40
difficulty In understanding TINT the United
Saates government 70 nation among the nar
tionB Of tho earth; q constituted authority,
which may be oSerthroRn By vio1ence, ae may
be the fate Of any stnte, whether kingdom or
republic, hut which Is false to tie people If 1t
does not its best to presrrve them from the
borTcrs OF anarchy, oven at the cost Of blood.
The limited States" happens to be plural
title, hut the commonwealth thus designated
IL unit, eep{urIbus unun." The Union alone
Ia clothed With Imperial attributes the Union
alone holds the pnrse sud the sword, regulates
foreign intercourse, Imposes taxes Oh foreign
commerce, makes Wsr and concludes peace
the Union alone, aud the President is com,
maEder-fn- chief Of all No state can keep
troops OF fleets. What nau In the civllized
world has not heard OF the United States
What MN In England can tell the names Of al
the individual states? And yet, With hardly
asupc1fc1al examination Of orr history and
our constitution, men talk glbly about con,
right Of ! state 10 ceeedea pleasure, not know n
iug that b. admitting such loose phraseo1ogJ
snd euch imaginary rights, we ehon1d violate
the first principles Of our political orgauiz2
tion, should ny in the lace Of our history
should tremplo under foot the teachings o
Jay, Hamilton, Washington, MsIsh2l, Msdi
Eon, Dane, Kent, Story and Webster, and, &C
ceptipg only the dcgmas Of Mr. Cllhoua as IN
fali1blc, surrender for ever our national law
and our national existence. -:
Engl1ebmen themselves live In united en-
pire; but II the kingdom Of Scotland shout'
eecede, shou1d seize an the national property
forts, arsenals and public treasure on ita sol
10 Louis Napoleon, the Emperor Of Austria
and other powers, Issue 1nyitatlons to alr th
piratea OF the world to prey upon Engl15I
commerce, screening their piracy from punish
| meut by the banner OF Scotland, and sAoul
| announce It's intention Of p1anting that tla:
| nFon Buckingham Palace, It is probable TINT
blow or two would bo struck to defend til
! national. honor and the national existence
| without fear that the civil var would be- d.
nounced Is wicked and ftatrlcidaL Yet
| would be difficult to chow that the State {
florsdn, for example. Spanish PROVING!
| purchased for national purposes some fort
yeass ago By the United States Governmcr
ed with naEy yards for national uses at n
t1Gual expense Of many moro millions, an
| numbering at this moment 4 population {
| only SO,DG0Whfte meD, ahould be more entitle
to 1etume Its original oyere1gnty than the ~
Gent kingdom Of William the Lion and Robel
Bruce: Z
he terms Of the treaty between En9lan
and Scotland were perpetual, and 90 Is th
Constitution Of the United Ststes.' The Unite
Empire may be destroyed By revolution Al
war, and 50. may the United State5; but
1 peaceful and legal ACKNOWLEDGMENT without
consent Of = majority Of tie whole people
But It Is sometimes said that The Aneric,
/ Republic originated in secession from Il
mother country, ard that it Ia unreasonab
Ct the Union to resist the seeding movclne1
| On The ptrt Of the pCW cQntederacy. But 1t {
tappers that the one csse suggests the 9th.
only By the association Of contrast. Tho thi
teen colonies did Eot intend to secede fro
the Brttish empire They: Esra: forced in1
the mother country, such as no English q
mtutstradon at tho present day can be In
eined capable OF adopting. Those Eu2lis,
men IN America were loyal to the crown; b1
they exercised the right which cls-At1antic
transatlantic Englishmen. have. always exc
l. Taxed without being represented, aud insul
cd by measures taken Il, enforce the odiou
but not Go1bitant i,npcst7, they did not 8
eede, nor dec1are their Independence On Il
contrary, they made every effort
. avert such canclnslnn.. In tho wor'
ofhthe '.foreet born Demozthenas y.
e, Lord Byroa called the, great VI
gfnisn, Ps:1lck. HenrF-1Tho Ame1icsl
: petittoned,, xenonstrstsd, ): cast* theaaselg,
!, St the foot Of the throne, and imp1ored its Il
opposition to arrest the tJr&nnical hands
. the ministers and Parliament. But their pei
;. upn4 were slEhted, their ramonetrancea pr
cured only additional violence aud insult; a1
they were apnrned with contempt from Il
fc9t Of the throne" e: ~ s.
H.. The "Boeton massacre. the Boston POI
/ Th11, the Boaton nteA party,'' the battle Of lie
j icgtos, the Eatt1e Of Bunker's Hll,we
, events which 1org preceded the tamous Dec
! ration Of Independence: It. Was not till Il
{ :co1onfsts felt the redress for grievances "
impossible that they took the Ire7ocab1a ct,
s1d renounced their allegiance to the crov
Inc revolution had come at Last; they b
nee1 forced into It, hut they. knew, that It Y
TeTolut1on, and TINT hey vera acttng at t
l peril Of their llveA "Wo must be uranimo
: IN this husineEs,n gaid Hnncock: "1emu
=: ~ hang togefher.n ,t.Yes;n replied FraukII
t /. "oE else We ahau hang separate1y.,'-.: -
:, ! = lhe r1sk Incurred bJ tho colonists wa4 Ont
! nous, but the injury to the mother count
r. Was comparatively slight. They Went o
= INTO darkness and Danger themselves, but t
Hdash empire Ess not thrown into an4rc
: BY their secession. -. -. =: :
9 adopted hy the South. The prompt aeceasi
. election Of Q President over tho candidsi
Q. Veted for, bI their people, WIS tho redress
7. edFaEce OF grievances which they may, (,
sonably or unteaaonably, havo expected, b
4 which had not yet- occurred There is
!. high authority Of ,fha Vice President Of
u" Southern ConfedGracy, who, declared 4 We
Q alter. the election Of Mr.. Lincoln, that
. election VIA not 4 causa for secession, a
8 thst there Was no certainly that he Wot
. have either the:poEer or tho inclination
r. invade the Constitutional rights Of the Sou
In the free States It was held that the reso