New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1861-10-18

X e NE q {, *

4
Breckinridge, wherein that gentleman resigns his
seat in the United States Senate, and avows his
.parpose to shoulder his musket in defence Of Ken
ncky, and help to drive the Federal invaders from
the State. Is. M zs4sas
The address is aslong and eloquent one, and Mr..
Breckenridge, for the FIRST time, we believe, de-
clares the old Union perpetuay dissolved. He
tells the people of Kentucky that they no longer
belong to the Union, because such a thing has
ceased to exist nasmuch as it is impossible to en-
force the provisions Of the Constitution and even
sif IL were, those provisions have been annnlled,
.disregarded and set aside by the substitution Of
military despotism for constitutional law =
Upon this point we quote from the address as
follows sas ss I'd Mo- .,g& s.s
Everywhere the civil has given way to the mill
tary power. The fortresses of the country are
filed with victims seized without warrant of law
and ignorant of the cause of their imprisonment,
The legislators Of States and other public. officers
are seized while in the discharge Of tsseir official
duties, taken beyond the limits Of their respective
States and imprisoned in the forts Of the Federal
Government. A subsergient Congress rati6es the
usurpations Of the President, and proceeds to COM
plete the destruction of the Constitution History
will declare that the annals of Legislation do not
contain laws SO Infamous as those enacted at the
last session. They sweep away every vestige OF
public and personal liberty, while they contiscate
people. In the House Of Representatives it was
declared that the South should be reduced to sab
ject submission, sor their institutions be over
thrown; In the Senate i was sad that; If neces-
/ sary, the South should be depopulated, and re-
peopled from the North, and eminent Senator
/ expressed desire that the President should be
/ made dictator. This was sup erfuoas, since.they
had already efethed him with dietaturIl powers.
4 In the mfdstof these proceedings no plea for the
Constitution is listened to in the North; here and
there a few heroic voices are eebly heard protest
Ing against the progress Of despotism, but for the
NEST part, beyond the military lines, amobs and
+ anarchy rule the hour. The great mass of the
Northern people seem anxious to surrender every
safeguardo of freedom; they eagerly offer to the
fGoyefnment what no European monarch would
dare to demand. The President and his generals
are unable to pickup the liberties of the people as
rapidly as they are thrown at their feet The
world will view with aInazement this sudden and
total efthrow of Constitution which, il respect
ed might have been the boast and safeguard of
| the United States for many generations When
historian comes to investigate the of this
result, he will record the fact that no department
Of the Federal Government has ever exhibited a,
| ease Of aggression by the Southern States upon
their Northern associates, and he will trace the
/ ismemberment to the ignorance or disregard,
upon tile part of the lattsr, OF the true principles
ora Gonfederac to long continued and fragrant
Fi0latiens2of the Constitution, to aVariGe, fanat
eisth and general corruption Against all these
Rsurpadons protested in your name, in the pres
of their authors, and at the seat oftheir pow
4 Il
meet in council with the usurpers. IL
E All tits is as true as Gospel, and well said The
question is, however, not as to the facts Of the
case. for they have been determined long ago. but
what Kentucky will do in the premises. VIII she
adhere to her policy Of voting money and contrib
uting men to crush the, South, or will she retreat
from that position and be neutral will she come
ont actively on the side Of the South?
out Of the Union. He declares, in plain terms.
that the powers delegated by her to the Federal
Government have reverted, and that she now ex-
ists as an Independent Commo nwealth.p He then
declares that she is at liberty to join either the
North or the South, Or she may pose herself on
her own centre and be neutral. The South will
respect the neutrality Of Kentucky if she chooses
to be neutral. and did respect it so long as it was
respectfully the North, and even longer. She
will respect it now if the North will But it is a
mystery to us how the people of that State can
consent to be neutral in such contest as this If
they believe with Mr.. Breekinridge, as he thinks
large majority Of them do, that all constitutions
and laws have been overturned by the North, and
that the war is a war Of subjugation on one side
and resistance on the other, we do not see how
they can stand idly by, and shelter themselves I'M
-I}' ..-s 81
We are sorry to believe that Mr.. Breckenridge
has oEelrated the sentiment Of resistance in Ken
lucky. He says the Legislature has betrayed the
people. We should be, glad, tsor the AXE of the
people, if this were SO; but it is rare thing for
Legislators to nisrepresent their constituents. The
popular will in this country is a-powerful. There
are few who would dare to msrepresent it in a
matter Of such Importance as this. The Legisa-
trtpa
and purposes Of the North were fully developed,
but the candidates in favor of resistance were al
most everywhere, overwhelmingly defeated. Near
" all Of Kentuckys members of Congress, SO late
as July and August, voted men and money to Lin
coin, and ne have yet to hear that any consider
able number Of their constituents disapprove the
act. one-haf, if even one third Of theapeople Of
kentucky were in favor Of resistance, does any one
suppose they would submit to see an ex- Governor
their State marched through the streets OF Louis
vile pinioned prisoner, and sent off to a distant
fort Does any one suppose that Mr.. Breckenridge
himself, an OK. Vice President of the Union, would
have to abandon his family and home to avoid the
same treatment, and save himself from incarcer-
afion2 ~: $3.50 o. sff,22 FPS aat -
Z But we need not pursue the subject. In the
name of the South and the Southern cause We
thank Mt. breckenridge for this manly and eloquent
appeal, but if the people Of Kentucky are not
already aroused to resistance We fear they would
not be, though one should rise, from the dead
We conclude with the following passages from the
Address, which are eloquent of the Indignation Mr.
Bfeckinfidge feels regarding the treatment of his
State, and which it is strange indeed that every
other ctizenof Kentucky does not feelin common
with him !: 500 s
q Every day foreign armed bands are making
seizures aneng the people Hundreds of citizens,
old and young, venerable magistrates whose lives
nave been distinguished blythe love OF the people.
have been compelled TO fly from their homes and
families TO escape Imprisonment and exile at the
hands of Northern and German soldiers, under the
orders of Mr.. Lincoln and his military suborduats
While yet holding an important political trust con-
fded By Kentucky, was compelled to leave nv
home and family Of, suffer Imprisonment and exile
it ID asked why Ibid not meet the arrest and seek
a trial, my answer is, that would have Welcomed
an arrestto be followed by a Judge and jury, but
you well know i could not have secured these con-
stfutional rights, would have been transported
Beyond the State, to anguish in some Federal
fortress during the pleasure of tho oppressor.
Witness the fate Of Mofehead and his Kentucky
associates tn their distant and gloomy prison. 4
Inc case OF the gentleman just mentioned is an
example OF many others, and it meets every ee-
ment ~ definition of despatsill. Ii it should oc-
cur IN England il would be righted, or it would
oyefturn the British Empire He is a citizen and
native OF Kentucky, as a member of the Lepisia.