The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1861-01-02
ADDRE ESS
Of Hon. W. L. Harris before the Geor-
gia Legislature. =

Mr.. President, and gentlemen of tie Senate
and House Of Representatives Of Ga.
am profoundly sensible of the delicate
and important duty imposed upon me, by the
courtesy of this public reception.
Under different circumstances, it would
have afforded me great pleasure, as a native
Georgian-reared and educated Oh her soil
TO express to You fully, the views which pre-
vail in my adopted State, in relation to the
great measures of deliyerance anG5 relief from
the principles and policy oflhe new Adrtsnis-
| tration, which are there in progress
| | cannot consent, however, upon the very
| heel of your arduous and exciting session, to
avail myself of your respectful courtesy to the
| State have the honor to represent, as well
as your personal kindness to her humble re-
preventative, to prolong the discussion of
| subject which, however important and absorb
ing, has, doubtless, been already exhausted
in your hearing by some Of the first intcllects
of your State, if not Of the nation.
| beg, therefore, to refer you to the action of
Mississippi already submitted to your Exc
cutive-to ask for her the sympathy and CO.
operation she seeks for the common good, and
briefly to suggest to you some of the motives
which influence her conduct.
L am uStSN b5 ICSDlublUtl lTOtH
which | derive my mission to inform the
State of Georgia, that Mississippi has passed
an act calling a convention OF her people, "to
consider the present threatening relations Of
the Northern and Southern sections of the
Contederacy-aggraUated by the recent cleo
ton ofa President, upon principles of hostility
to the States of the South 4; and to express the
earnest hope of Mississippi, that this State will
cooperate with her in the adoption ofeficient
measures for their common defence and safety
1t will be remembered, that the violation OF
our constitutional rights, which has caused such
universal dissatisfaction in the South, is not of
recent dass Ten years since, this Union was
rocked from centre to circumference, by the
very same outrages Of which we now COM
plain, only now "aggravated' by the recent
election. Nothing but her devotion to the
Union our Fathers made, induced the South,
then, to yield to a compromise, in which Mr.
Clay rightly said, we had yielded everything
but our honor. We had then in Mississippi
a warm contest, which finally ended in reluc-
tant acquescence in the Compromise measures.
The North pledged anew her faith to yield to
US our constitutional rights in relation to slave
property. They are now, and have been ever
since that act denied to us, until her broken
faith and impudent threats, had become al
most insufferable before the late election.
There were three candidates presented t,f
the North by Southern men, all of whom re-
presented the last degree Of conservatism,
and concession, which their respective parties
were willing to yield, to appease the fanati-
csm of the North. Some Of them were deem
ed sound, in the South, on the slavery ques-
ton, and none of them suited our ultra men
And yet the North rejected them all and
their united voice, both before and since their
overwhelming triumph in this election, has
been more defiant and more intolerant than
ever before. They have demanded, and now
demand, equality between the white and me-
gro races, under our Constitution equality in
representation, equality in the right Of suffrage,
equality in the honors and emoluments of
office, equality in the social circle equality in
the rights of matrmony. The cry has been,
and now is, "that slavery must cease, or
American liberty must perish, :" that "the sue
cess Of Black Republicanism is the triumph Of
anti slavery" "a revolution in the tendencies
of the government that must be carried out"
To-day our government stands totally reno
Eationized, in its main features, and our Consti
tuition broken and overturned, The new ad-
ministration, which has effected this revoiu-
ton, only awaits the 4th of March for the in
auguration of the new government, the new
principles. and the new policy, upon the success
of which they have proclaimed freedom to the
slave, but eternal degration for you and for
US.
No revolution was ever more complete,
though bloodless, if you will tamely submit to
the destruction of that Constitution and that
Union our fathers made.
Our fathers made this government for the
white man, rejecting the negro, as an ignorant,
inferior, barbarian race, incapable of selfgov-
ernment, and not, therefore, entitled to be as
sociated with the white man upon terms of
civil, political, or social equality.
This new administration comes into power,
under the solemn pledge to overturn and
strike down this great feature Of our Union,
without which it would never have been form
ed, and to substitute in its stead their new
theory of the universal equality of the black
and white races.
Our fathers secured to us, by our Constitu-
tional Union now beng overturned by this
Black Republican rule, protection to life, liber-
ty and property, all oVer the Union, and wher-
ever its flag was unfurled, whether on land
or see.
Under this wretched, lawless spirit and
policy, now usurping the control of that gov
ernment, citizens Of the South have been de-
prived of their property, and for attempting to
seek the redress promised by the compromise
laws, have lost their liberty and their lives
Equality of rights secured to white men,
in equal sovereign States, is among the most
prominent features of the Constitution under
which we have SO long lived.
This equality has been denied us in the
South for years in the common territories,
while the North has virtually distributed
them as bounties to abolition fanatics and for
eigners, for their brigand service in aiding in
our exclusion.
Our Constitution, in unmistakable language
guarantees the return of our fugitive slaves.
Congress has recognized her duty in this re-
spect by enacting proper laws for the enforce
ment OF this right.
And yet these laws have been continually
nullitied, and the solemn pledge OF the Com
promise of 1850, by which the North came
under renewed obligations to enforce them
has been faithlessly disregarded, and the gov
ernment and its officers set at defiance.
Who now expects these rebels against the
laws passed by their own consent and procure,
msnt-rebels against justice and common hon.