The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1864-09-27

Extract from ALEXANDER II SrE-
VEINS Speech against Secession before
The Georgia Convention in January
ls6l
This step, lSecessionl once taken,
can never be recalled aud an The
baneful consequences that must follow,
will rest oa the convention for all COM
ing time. When We and our posieri.
ty shall see our lovely South desoatcd
by the demon Of war, which This act
Of yours will inevitably invite and call
forth when our green fields OF wa
wing harvests shall be iroddcn down
by the murderous soldiery and fiery
car of war sweeping over our land,
our temples OF justice laid in ashes.
all the horrors Of war upon us, who but
this convention viii be held rcspensl-
ble for il, and who but he that shall
give his vote for this unwise and in.
timed measure, shall lie held to strict
account for this sHicidcal acl by the
present generation, and probably cur
sed and eXecraled by posterity in all
coming time, for the wide and desola-
4 ting ruin that will inevitably follow
this act you how propose to perpetu-
ate
Pause, ! entreat you, and consider
for monet what reasons YOU can
give that will satisfy yourselves in
calmer moments, what reasons you
can give TO your fellow sufferers in
| the calamity that it will bring. What
reasons can you give 10 The nations Of
earth TO justify it I? They viii be the
calm and deliberate Judges in the case
and TO what cause, or one overt act,
can you point on which to rest the
plea of justification !? What right has
the North assailed? What interest of
the South has been invaded What
Justice has been denied, or what claim
founded on justice and right, has been
withheld +? Can any of you today
name one governmental act or wrong,
deliberately and purposely done by the
government at Washington, of which
the South has right to complain |
challenge the answer.
On the other hand let me show the
facts of which | wish you TO Judge;
will only state facts which are clear
and nndeniable, and which now stand
as records auth entic in the history Of
our country. When we of the South
demanded the slave trade, or the inn
portaton of Africans for the culiva-
ton of our lands, did they not yield
the right for 20 yesrsI When we
asked for a three fflhs representation
in Congress for our slaves, was it not
granted /? When we demanded the |
The return of any fugitive from jns-
tice, or the recovery of those persons
owing labor or allegiance, was ii not
Incorporated in the Constitution, and /
again ratified and strengthened in the I
Fugitive Slave law Of 1850? When
we asked that more territory should I
be added that we might spread the in-
sti'ution Of slavery, have they not
yielded to our demands in giving Lou
isiana, Florida and Texas, out Of
which four States have been carved,
and ample territory for four more TO
be added in due time, if you, by this
unwise and impolitlc act,do not destroy
this hope and perhaps by il lose all,
and have your last slave wrenched from
you by stern military rule, as South
America and Mexico were, or by the
yindictiye decree Of universal eman-
cipation, which may reasonably be ex-
pected TO follow.
But what have we TO gain by this
proposed change Of our relation to the
geneIal government We have all
ways had the control Of il, and can yet,
if we remain in il, and are as unit Cd
as we have been. We have had ma
jorily Of Presidents chosen from the
South, as well as the control and man
aeemenl Of most of those chosen from
the North, we have had sixty years Of
Southern Presidents to their twenty
four, thus controlling the Executive de-
partment SO of the Judges Of the
Supreme Court, We have had eigh-
-. C.z.x ,l,o Cnufh auJ Lnf aiayan
from the North. Although nearly
our-fith hs OF the judicial business has
arisen in the free States, yet a major
iiy Of lhe Court has always been from
ibe South. This we have required 10
guard against any Interpretation Of
the Constitution uniaYorable to Us.
In like manner we have been equally
10 guard our interest in the
branch of government.
Ia choosing the presiding President
(pro ten.) Of the Senate we have had
twenty four to their eleven. Speak.
ers Of the House, we have twenty.
Ihree ard they twelve. While the I.
majority Of representives, from their
greater population, have always been
rom tile North, yet we have SO gen 4
orally secured the Speaker, because
be, to a great extent, shapes and con
roIs the legislation Of The country
Nor have we lad less control in :
,vcry other department Of the gener-
Il government. OF Attorney Gener-
lis we have bad fourteen while the |
North have had but five. OF For. .,
ign Ministers we have eigbty-six, and
tav bava bad hnt fftv.Evr Will |