Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-02-12
Address of EX-PrcKident Tyler TO the
Peace Conferences.

Ter, Of Virginia, on assuming the char as PreS'
ident OF the Peace Conference at Washington,
has been unavoidably crowded out for two or
three days past:
Gentlemen j.: l fear you have committed
great error in appointing me TO the honorable
position you have assigned me- 4 long sepa.
ration from all deliberatiye bodies has render
ed the rules of their proceedings unfamiliar to
Inc, while | should find in my own STATE of
health, variable and tickle as it is, sufficient
reason TO decline the honor of being your pre-
siding officer But, in times like these, one has
but little option lett him. Personal considcra-
tons should weigh but lightly in the balance.
The country is in danger; il is enough; one must
take the place assigned him in the great work
of reconciliation and adjustment
The voice Of Virginia has invited her CO.
States to meet her in council. In theinitiaton
of this government that same voice was heard
and complied with, ant the results Of seventy
odd years have fully attcsted the wisdom of the
decisions then adopted Is the urgency of her
call now less great than it was then Our god
like fathers created we have to preserve
They built up through their wisdom aud pa
trio.ism monuments which have eternizcd their
names. You have before you, gentlemen, u
task equally grand, equally sublime, quite rs
| full Of glory and immortality. You have TO
snatch from ruin great and glorious contedc-
! ration, TO preserve the government, and to ru-
| new and invigorate the Constitution. II you
reach the height Of this great occasion your
chGren's children will rise np and call you
blessed. confess myself to he ambitious Of
sharing in the glory Of accomplishing this
grand and magnificent result. TO have our
Ilal,rS enrolled in the capital, TO bc repeated
By future generations with grateful applause,
this is an honor higher than the mountains,
more enduring than monumental alabaster.
Yes, Eirginias voice, as in the olden time,
has been heard. Her sister States meet her
this day at the council board Vermont is
here, bringing with her the memories of the
past, and rrriYing in the memories OF all her
| Ethan Allen, and his demand for the surrender
Of Ticonderoga, in thc'n Of the Great Jeho-
yah and the American Congress. New Hanp-
shire is here her fame illustrated by mcmora-
bic annals, and still more lately RS the birth
place o.! him who won for himself the name oil
defender Of the Constitution, and who wrote
that letter 10 John Taylor which has been en-
shrned in the hearts Of his countrynen. Mas
SachuSetts is not here. Some member said
she is coming hope So said Mr.. Tyler, and
that she will bring with her her daughter,
Maine. did not believe it could well be that
the voice which in other times was 50 familiar
to her cars bad been addressed to her in vain.
Connecticut is here, and she comes, doubt
not, in the spirit OF Roger Sherman, whose
name, with our very children, has become a
household word, and who was in life the EN-
bodmcn: Of that sound, practical sense which
| ;oG. 81, lau nd nj rf-
vernments Rhode Island the land Of Roger
Williams, is here, one of the two last States,
in her jealousy Of the public property, TO give
in her adhesion to the Constitution, and among
the earliest to hasten to its rescue. The great
Empire State OF New York, represented thus
far by but one delegate, is expected daily IN
fuller force TO join in the great work of healing
the discuntcnts OF the times and restoring the
reign Of lratcrnal feeling. New Jersey IS also
here, with the memories Of the past covering
her all over Trenton and Princeton live lus
mortal in story, the plains Of the last incrim
soncd with the hearts blood Of Firginia'S sons
Among her delegation rejoice TO recognize .
gallant son Of a signer of the immortal Dccla
ration which announced to the world that thiT
teen provinces had become thirteen indepen
dent aud sovereign States. And here, too, is
Delaware, the land of the Bayards and the
Rodneys, whose soil at Brsndywne war
moistened By the blood Of Virsina's youth
full Monroe Here is Maryland, whose
massive columns wheeled into line with those
Of Virginia in the contest for glory, and whose
State. house al Annapolis was the theatre OF :
spectacle Of successful commander, who af
ter libera:ns his country, gladly ungirthed hi'
sword and laid it down upon the altar Of thai
country Then comes Pennsylvania, rich If
revolutionary lore, bringing with her the
deathless names Of Franklin and Morris, and
trust ready to renew from the belfry of lude
pendeuce Hall the chimes Of the old bell which
announced freedom and independence in form
err DAYS. All hail to. North Carolina, with hel
Mecklenburg Declaration in her hand, standing
erect on the ground of her own problty ant
firnness in the cause of the public liberty, ano
represented in her attributes by her Macon
and in this assembly by her distinguished
son at no great distance from inc. Foul
daughters Of Virginia also cluster arount
the council board on the invitation o
their ancient mother-the eldest is kentnc
Ky. whose sons, under that intrepid warrior
Anthony Wayne, gave freedom Of settlement
TO the territory OF her sister Ohio. She extend:
her hand daily and hourly across Ia tcA'
!. ririsre. TO grasp the hand of some one Of kin
dred blood Of the noble States Of indiana ant
Illinois. and Ohio, who have grown up int
powerful States, already grand potent and 81
most imperial. Tennessee is not here, but !:
coming-preventcd from being here only oI
the floods which have swollen her rivers. Whcr
she arrives she will wear the badges on hel
warrior crest OF victories won, in company witt
the great West, on many an ensangulncd PLAIN
and standards torn from the hands OF the con
ouerors at Waterloo. Missouri and Iowa ano
Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota still lingei
behind, but it may be hoped that their hearts
are with US in the great work we have to do.
Gentlemen, the eyes Of the whole country
are turned to this assembly in expectation ane
hope. trust that you may prove yourselvc;
worthy Of the great occasion. Our ancestors
probably committed a bunder in not having
fixed upon every fifth decade for call OF
general convention to amend and reform the
Constitution. On the contrary, they have
made the difficulties next to nsurmountable tc
accomplish amendments to an instrument
which was perfect for five millions of people,
but not wholly so as to thirty millions. Your
patriotism will surmount the difficulties, how.
ever great, if you will accomplish but one
triumph in advance, and that is, 4 triumph
over party. And what is party when com
pared TO the task Of rcscuins ones country
from danger? Do that, and one long, loud
shout of Joy and g!adness will resound through
out the land.
-~<-6D-r~---
The Assault on Fort Sumter.
We find the following account OF the pre-.
partitions being made at Charleston for the u.s.
sault on Fort Sumter in the Charleston cores
pondcnce OF the n Y Evening Post.
spoke in my last at some length of the
organizations at the forts in the harbor, and in.
c:acntally Of the construction OF floating bate
ries. One Of these lies in the East BAY, at the
Palmetto wharf, not far from the foot Of Hazel
street, where this afternoon, visited It. Here
| l. AZ ...,,lt nc ma. ch snruatinns.