The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1861-06-14
" RelNlliouS StatcS.v

lllSltIl - llOl tiIlttilliAlttI WIKI llIt ltltd
Of rcbclllouj provinces and rcyolting col
ontcs but the term rebellious States is
novel and Of recent coinage. 4 State is
a community endowed with the attributes
Of sovereignty, one Of which is the right
to make aUd ummske treaties, to form
and di-Eolyo alliances, to enter into and
withdraw from Conroderation3, to dispose
Of its own destiny. 4 province is boy
under age, State Is n man over twenty
one. That Virginia is state, that South
Carolina is n state, tha: Louisiana is a
State, there is no man iool-hardy enough
10 deny; and that q Stale is superior to q
colony in the very attribute Of sovereign
ty, which conveys the power to dispose of
its own destiny, cannot be disputed by
any man who admits the force of reason,
logic, settled law or public opinion. The
very fact the Southern States constituting
the Confedcracy arc States, settles the
whole question OF their power to dispose
ofthcir own destiuics, including that of
withdrawing from as well as entering into
u Union. There has been q difference of
opinion among statesmen, whether the
right unlcr which this power Of with
drawal from the late Union is exercised i
constitutional or eXtra-constitutional
whether the act by which the States en-
tered into the Union is reyocGb!e in con-
stitutional form; but all admit that the
right of withdrawal exists in virtue oS the
sovereignty Of the States, whether the act
bedocmcd constitutional orrevolutionary.
The London Times shows its appreciation
| of the whole case Of the South, when it
charaoterizcs our secession as the Gct OF
constituted States retiring from Yolun-
tary contcdtracy."
Tie epithot "rebollious States" is,
/ therefore, contradiction III terms. There
may be rebelious citizens, rebollious PROV
inccs, rebeliious colonies, rebellious dis
tricts, but such thing as rebellious
| State there cannot be. When Stal9 takes
action, it is its SorcTsgny which moves,
and that sovereignty knows no superior
authority against which it can be in re-
| belion. Its action may be morally wrong,
full il may be in violation Of treaties; in
revocation Of compacts of confederation
in contlaycntion OF moral and interna-
tional law; it may be provocative fjus-
! tiiiable warand righteous hostilties, in re-
| taliltion; but il cannot be rebelIious.---
| There i3 no superior beneath the skies,
against which a Siaie can Be in revolt or
rebellion. 1t may do wicked thing, and
may bring upon itself the penalties due
to outrage and wrong; but it cannot COM
nit rebellion. When, therefore, the
Northeyn journals speak of the Southern
as "rebcIIous States" they at once dis.
close their ignorance of public law and
their imbecile malice as enemies. OF all
the missiles that can be employed in war,
cpithcts are the most impotent and the
most harmless
The longer the hostile section prose
cutos this war, the more and more open
their eyes will become TO the folly Of their
! theory, that it is but rebellion they are
dealing with. Their own acts belle their
theory. Whoever heard of two hundred
and fifty thousand soldiers being required
to quiet mob or suppress revolt? Sure
| ly, when insurrection reaches such pro-
J digious proportions, 1t would be better at
once to call il war. Besides, it is not an
uprising oft populace, but of great fam
! ily of States. Who ever heard OF Il revolt
OF States-of eleven "rebellious States,
| three others vibrating in the balance?'
| 1t might us well be sai6 that England is
in rebellion against Ireland ! that Spain
is about TO be annexed to San Domingo ;
or any thing else as preposterous, as to
say that eleven Southern States can take
care of their own destinies only in the
character of rebels. Europe rejects the
monsuous proposition; all reas ~ and
precedent repuliate it. or necessity, Eu-
rope IS obliged TO recognize the Contede-
rate States as a sovereign " belligercnt
power"
COUNTERFEIT NoTEs.--A new ten-Gollar
note on the Merchants and Mechanics
Bank of Wheeling has made its appear
!, anc in tho city. Look out for it. 1t is
a dangerous counterfeit and well calculat-
ed to deceive lWceliug hteil,9o'cw.
J Ray The New York Tribune says there
aro~at least three hundred officers in the
Lincoln army and ravy who viii betray
the cause the first opportunity,