Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1862-09-15

GOV. z. B. VANCE,

Ts11aw.C z1TKENa Called by the voice
az fAs peapae al Nasta Carolina, With An
nnAnsMSv unparalleled ia he history Of
cur State 10 assume the powers Of Chief
Magistrate III tae midst Of revolution and
war I eAa bnt isel oppressed by q sense Of
the great weight Of responsibility which
The oatAs af Office just administered by our
respected Chsef Juatiee, impOse. Indeed,
tAera Is much before 1ae, and the path of
my dniy must lead through any thing but
pleasant fields and beside still waters. To
hold tha helm daring this great stOrm-to
manage Our increasing public liabilities
10 search out she talent and worth of the
country, and bring it into the service of
tho State--tO elsthe, eqnip and organize
our troops, and to do Justice to merit on
The Geld, night well sppall the statesman
with hair grown white in the public ser
vice. 70 confess my inability, and to say
that l enter upon the task with trembling,
would not be 3 customary afectation, but
the simple truth. But, you will bear me
witness, that l sought not the position. l
preferred that place in our armies which
! held, as the one in which could proba-
bly, best serve my country. l could but
say, however, that | would be content
with the peoples will, and would serve
wherever their voice should assign me-
and here have | been assigned. In return
Tor this great expression Of confidence, |
can promise only that / bring a will and
determination TO the performance Of my
duties which no one can surpass.
Fellow citizens, we have but the one,
great and all-absorbing theme. The war
which We are fighting for our liberties and
independence, is indeed the sea which re-
ceives our every stream of thought. How
it was produced, whether it could safely
have been avoided, and upon whose shout
ders rest the blame, it we're worse than
idle mow to enquire. At the proper time
it was discussed, and every argument, pro
and con, was given to the people. SUI
fee it to say, that it was forced upon us
by q dominant and encroaching majority,
and is evidently but the pent up fires OF
f~anatical hatred which have been accumu-
lating in the North for forty years. The
government Of the United States was a
great confederation of independent COM
munities, held together by a written com
pact called the constitution. Of this in
strament the very life and soul was the
great axiom " that all governments derive
their Just powers from the consent of the
governed" To this the ancestors Of those
who are now shedding our blood, togeth.
'er with your forefathers, assented on the
4 thief az che hey a ! sEsk sAs aassltgggzaaagE ri III
lives, their fortunes and their sacred non
or to maintain it, has rendered thei1
names immortal.
When Abraham Lincoln was elected BY
the votes of the North only, embracing
among his supporters all of the tierc,
and f~anatical enemies of slavery on tn
continent, several of these independen
States which were slave-holding, refuse,
their consent" to an administrator
which threatened to destroy them. We
in North Carolina, after fair debate, re-
solved to wait and see, and to trust We
awhile longer to the safeguards of the Con
stitution. In the meantime, we implore'
the North to offer no violence, but to a
low the people to resist secession by tn
only constitutional means given them
discussion and public opinion. Man
Southern States followed our example,
While thus honestly engaged, the mas
was thrown off, and our souls were sickel
ed with a proclamation from the Presi
dent, calling for rs, 900 men to slaughtt
our Southern States into a " consent"
proportionste share of these troops W
demanded Of North Carolina, who we
thus required, in defiance of the fir
principles of liberty, to step across Il
State liSe, and, hand in hand with Il
SCUM of Northern cities and the refuse
degradation, to cut the threats of our k
dred and friends
Then, and not till then, did controVel
cease in North Carolina. Her sons a
, her daughters, of all shades of politi
opinion, from the mountain tops to the
e~rlasting tides of the sea, shocked by
INDUSTRIOUS proposition, with a wondr'
unanimity, came forward to resist the d.
potic step. The delegates of her PEG
IN convention assembled, without one
seuting voice, ordained our separat
from a government which had thus
one blow subverted the chief ends Of
creation and even before this, thousa
Of our %citizens had seized their arms
were rushing to the border to make 2
the patriotic resolve.
This is a brief history of our separat
from the government of the United Sta
1t was not a within or sudden freak,
the deliberate judgment Of our people
ANY other course would have involved
deepest degradation, the vilest disho
and the direst calamity. We also &C.