Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1861-06-06
Letter from Hon. CassIus Nj. Clay

DREW, Governor and Commander-in-C hef
VIM. ScHoULER. Acknowledgement.
Letter from Hen. Cassius Nj. Clay.
To the Editor Of the London Times:
SIR: Allow me your journal to make few
remarks upon the complications of the United
States of America, winch, l am surprised to
find, are SO little understood this side of the
Atlantic.
l. What are sce fighting .tor?" 1--WE the
people OF the United States OF America" Ito
use the language OF our Constitution are
fighting TO maintain our nationality, and the
principles Of liberty upon which it was founded,
that nationality which Great Britain has
pledged herself, both by past comfy and the
sacred Obligations OF treaty, to respect; those
great principles Of liberty, that all power is
derived firm the consent If the governed
trial by jury, freedom OF speech and The press;
that without iatO tAere is no liberty"--which
we inherited from Great Britain herself, and
Which, having been found TO lie at the base OF
all progress and civilization, we desire 10 per-
petuate for ourselves and The future of all 9TH
er nations. The socalled Confederate States
of America" rebel against us-against our ma
tionalty, and against all the principles of lis
structure. Citizens of the United States-of
the one Government mot of Confederate
States, as they would have the world belietie
but OF "us the people, they propose not
by common legal consent but by arms, TO sew
er our nation into separate independencies
Claiming to "be let alone" they conspre
"e''"si MS seize by force our forts, stores,
ana arms; appropriate to themselves oui
mlnts, moneJ S, and vessels at sea capture
our armies, and threaten even the CAPITAL at
Washington!
The word secession" is used to cover up
treason and delude the nations They stand
to us in the relation Of one ''people," the idea
OF state sovereignty" is utterly delusye. We
gave up the old Confederation 10 avoid lust
such complications as have now occurred
The states are by our constitution deprived
OF all the rights of independent sovereigns,
and the national government acts not through
state organizations, but directly upon the citl-
zens OF the states themselves-to that highest
OF power, the right of life and DEATH The
states cannot Keep an army, or navy, or even
| repel invasion, except when necessity will not
! allow time for national action can make no
| treaty, nor coin money, nor. exercise any of
| the first great essential powers of ''suvereiun-
| ty. In word, they can no more "secede'
from the Union than Scotland or Ireland can
secede from England.
The protested friends of the independence
OF nations and popular rights, they have not
| only overthrow the constitution OF the
| United States, but the constitution of the
| Confederate States" themselves, refusing in
| ec7y case 10 refer their new usurpations to the
votes Of the people, thus making themselves
| doubly traitors to both the states and the ma.
ton. The despotic rulers OF 1000, 600 OF en-
shaved Africans, they presume to extend over
us, the White races OF all nations, the same
desp0lism, by ignoring the political rights of
all but their own class, by restrictions upon
the popular franchise, by the suppression of
the freedom OF speech and OF the press, by
the terrorism OF Lynch law" or tyrannical
snactments, backed by standing armies, to
crush out the independence thought the
lneraucable instincts oi our world wide hu.
maniIy with the atrocious Dogma that negro
slavery is the only basis OF cal conservatism
and progressive civilization, and that the true
solution OF the contest of all time between
labor and capital is that capital should o,on the
tdborer, whether ochtte or black.
The success OF such demands would send
the tide of bafbarism mol only over the mil
lions OF the New World, and the isles of the
Western Ocean, bat roll it back over England
ana emanclpated Europe, and blot out from
history this, the greatest glory of our times
z but can you Suhdue the reUoited states %
OF course we can. The whole seven reyolted
states (2,l73,000) have not as much white non
ulatlon as the single state OF New York
1891, 563) by 100000 people Ii all the
save states were to make common cause, they
h We only 1907 S94 whites, with 1000 O0O
sIaVes' WINE the Union has about 10000, 900
OF homogeneous people, as powerful in peace
anu war as the world has seen. Intelligent,
hafdy, and ''many'sided,' tt cir late apparent
le!llarsy ana weakness was the self possession
Oh conscious strength, When they made up
their minds thtt force was necessary, they
lhoFeu upon Washington with such speed,
numbers and steadiness as is not surpassed in
history. we have the money at a lower rate
VI interest ,iiah ever before, The men, and the
command OF the seas and internal waters. We