The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-02-20

Y
| tuition OF slavery is concerned, and that deere,
| is anDihilation
The people of Sonth Carolina being n nor
ton OF those eight millions of people haC
only 10 ASK themselves, Is our existence worth
4 struggle? Their answer has been submitrer
| 10 You IN The form of an ordinance of ssces
sion. The speaker then Went on TO saw thai
ne saw before him men who had observed all
me records Oh human life, and many who had
been the chief ae Tors in Come of lis greatest
scenes. lie asked them IL thet c6uld offer ar
example like this. South Carolina has 800
Fo citizens and 100000 slaves the former de
strong government decree the determination
OF these soh-No--and then, lie asked, is liberty
or life worth preserving
II" hhd thns very rapidly endeavored &c
group together the causes which induced the
action OF South Caroiina-thcugh he had not
gwen history of half the aggressi6iis Of the
Norih IN this Republic; for from The acces-
SION OF the younger Adams to this hour,
lIieS mad manifested a firm purpose, first 10
restrict the Southern States within a line
Which they prescribed, and then subsidize
! them To destroy them. They Were balfied in
one course Of this; but with that untiring ac-
tlYity which they possess, they turned TO
another. They still held on #lth the fierce
grip Of ararce-with the mad RI &c of fahati-
cism--till ii has pleased God 10 curse them
WIN triumph which has plunged the coun-
try into civil war, and destroyed the fairest
temple of Liberty ever reared by the hands OF
man.
He then presented the other side of the pic
ture. For thirty years. by labor and protest,
by prayer and warning. and by every a tempt
and erefgS which sho could bring to bear had
his State been endea voting 70 avert this ca
tastrophe. In the Federal Jcgisia'fre she
has given to this purpose all her intelligence,
patriotism and virtue. and that she had ali
these 10 give is in proof, because that marble
(pointing to the bust of Calhoun sits in the
hall where the Convention Of Virginia is con-
s9iting upon her honor and her rights. Zap
plIuse
Seeing the waves raging and the storm
rising, Il year ago she sends here Il grave Com
missioner 10 consult with Virginia upon mes
sures of protection. Here he read from the
Journal cf the South Carolina Legislature
the preamble AMI resolution adopted for the
purpose OF addressing appeal To The slave
holding States to concert measures Of united
action, and sending u special Commissioner to
Virginia to express her earnest desire To unite
in measures for common defenee.l
This was year ago. Failing in that pnr-
pose. the people OF South Carolina for tn q
first time in twenty years, joined the political
organizations of the day, still in the hope of
aver:ing the catastrophe, and cast her vote for
tho candidate whom she thought best ca leu
lated 10 promote the welfare OF the country
Bat again failing, she then, quietly and unos-
tentatiously, and without clamor-hav wing
previously asknd her sister States especially
Virginia, TO unit" with her-paSscd this act in
2 few simple words. He then read the South
Carolina Ordinance of Secession Still she
a.
counsel and sympathy and. therefore. he was
here to-day.
Notwithstanding all the wrongs which he
had endelVorrd 10 group before his hearers
his State fhe proceeded throughout the conn
try and throughout ChriStcndOm has been
charged with rash precipitancy Was il rash
precipt1ncy to step out OF the pathway when
.y1G heard the crash of the falling avalanche 4?
Was it rash prectpiiancy to seek Il shelter
when YOU heard the Kissing Uf the coming tenn
-HlOn6 ri uf nor,
you? Was il rash cipitancy to raise vonr
hands 10 protect your heart? Applause /
Never since Liberty came 10 be an institution
among men, have people borne more patient
", !oTborue more patiently. than the peoule
OF the Southern States with their relations
of confederation with the North As long
a. Ii wore the form of silly flna tfciSm or
prurient philanthropy, we did not com
tial taxation, save with on" convuisiyp strug-
gle we Dor" il patiently. Even the violations
OF the Constitution, the robbery of orr prop
erty, the murder of our citizens and every
species OF fraud, ali We're borne, and we con
tinued TO give them our blood and our treasure
TO build up the grand edifice and maint tain the
power OF that Republic. When all that mad
fan3tiCiSm could invent was hurled agaiust
us. we gave them our blood and sweat, offered
them our hands and called them brothers -
This was no fancy picture. Every one who
heard him could attest its truth. But when
at las t the mad ftnatiCisrn in its thirst for
rapinc, had seized the Constitution itself aud
distorted It to ensure our ruin, then to delay
longer seemed 10 MS NOT only base co~9rtice,
but absolute faulty. [Applause.l In South
Ca roliuG. N least, we felt that if a son of a
SonJn Carolina sire could give counsel to such
submission as this, there was not a hill from
EntaW TO the C0wpens but would haye fallen
to crush him for his base ingra titude. RE
neWed applause g
He had referred particularly to his State,
because she was much spoken Of though not
much praised III her career. He WAS here
a Commissioner from those peope-certainly
not as their eulogist. They had sent him here
because he had always with some pride claim
ed to have sprung from tLis soil, and because
they thought he would Il a plain story OF
their wrongs.
Never had Il mighty drama been opened with
purer moral subIimity than had been mani
tested IN this revolution in which we We're
now engaged. Scarcely had the decree of our
subsection been borne 10 their ears on the
Northern breeze, when, as If from the very
cayerns OF the earth, was heard the voice Of
the people of South Carolina. shouting back
'' Resistance to the Death - The Legislature
caught that spirit, and with one voice only
proclaimed " ResiStan to the death ~ The
people of the State in sovereign counsel as
you are now, with one voice and one only
ordained - Resista TO the death ~
And now there Is not in the borders of
that little State, man from 16 to 60, who
is not armed and ready for Resistance TO the
DEATH [Applause.1 We are very small
we are very, very weak ; but if now or in after
time that fiery storm shall fall and consume
us If, then, the pilgrim of Liberty from this
land shall search beneath the ruins OF Charles
ton, he shall find the sentinel standing ut the
sea gate.
The speaker prayed his hearers not to be-
lieve or be persuaded that III taking the stem
OF secession, his people had been f0rgetful Of
those things SO cherished here forgetful OF
the great and haiiowed past, or reckless of
their duty as citizens. 1t is that they have a
of the greatness of the past that has
~ - &c l. M.
paused and raised the cur tain with their own
hands, and gazed back upon the great and hal
lowed past-upon that temple in which they
had thought Liberty would forever find a
shrine; that temple which WASHINGTON and
his great compatriots had built for them
and their children to dwell III forever
hat temple which they had deemed the Pal
Iadium of human right; that refuge of the
PATRIOTS hope all over the world. They
paused, and with reverence and piety gazed
back on all these things. Yet with their own
hands they had dragged them down to the
earth, and with their feet trampled on them.
J ct they We're not appalled,, for their conf
ience was in the God Of Justice and in the
God OF Truth. They Were ready to drop the
curtain, and move onward in the path Of du-
" and OF honor They were no shouting
iAoerty was not painted strumpet
lrazg1hg herself through the streets
hey We're calm, grave, celebrating rel-
sious people. They were lighting for Liberty.
: htti.s ioi 'h'ir iathtfs graves ; and In this
hight Tor days and weeks his little State stood
llone-that little state, around whose border
The guns fired at her capital might almost be
leard--so small, 50 weak, so Few, they began
ne iighi alone against the millions, and had
Millions been piled upon millions in this
1siit they would have triumphe The God
n whom they trust, cares for Liberty and for
Justice. But they were now 10 longer alone
Florida, Alabama Georgia, Mississippi. Lon
siana, came 10 their side; and now, young |
Texas had raised her giant form and m 5raheS |
o the right of the column, to frame this con- |
edera ted sovereignty And whenever a Vir-
inian spoke, his voice was listened 10. be- |
auSe ii was known he spoke in the tongue of |