The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-05-03


and patient consideration of the case, in
1857 the decision Of the court was pro
nounced in an elaborate and exhaustive
opinion delivered by Chief Justice Taney,
man eminent as lawyer, great as .
statesman, and stainless In his moral rep
utation.
THE RIGHT OF SECESSION
The right of secession-that subject
which, beyond all others, ignorance, pre-
judice and political rancor have combined
to cloud with mis-statements and misap-
prehenslons-is question easily to be
determined in the light of what has
already been established with regard to
the history and principles of the constitu-
tion. 1t is not something standing apart
by itself-a factious creation, outside of
and antagonistic to the constitution-as
might be imagined by one deriving his
ideas from the political literature most
current OF late years. So far frosF ssang
against the constitution or incon,t@e BILE
with it, we contend that, if the fight to
secede is not prohibited to the States, and
no power to prevent it expressly delega-
ted to the United States, it remains as
referred to the States or the people, from
whom all the powers of the general gov
ernment were derived
The compact between the States which
formed the Union was in nature of part
nership between individuals without lin
itation of time.
With regard to the right of secession
and the wrong of coercion, down to the
formation of the Confederate government,
the one was distinctly admitted, the other
still more distinctly disavowed and repu-
dated by many of the leaders of public
opinion in the North of both parties
indeed, anv purpose Of direct coertion was
disclaimed by nearly all. If presented at
all, it was in the delusive and ambiguous
gulse of the execution of the laws" and
protection of public property
The New York 7ribune-the leading
organ of the party which triumphed in
the election of ls6O--had said soon after
the result of that election was ascertained,
with reference to secession n -" We hold,
with Jefferson, to the inalienable right Of
communities to alter or abolish forms of
government that have become oppressive
or injurious and if the cotton States
shall decide that they can do better out
of the Union than in it, we insist on let
ting them 60 in peace. The right to
secede may be revolutionary right, but
it exists, nevertheless and we do not see
how one party can have a right to do
what another party has right to pre-
vent. We must ever resist the asserted
right of any State to remain in the Union
and nullify or defy the laws thereof; to
withdraw from the Union is quite another
matter. And, whenever a considerable
section of our Union shall deliberately
resolve to go out, we shall resist all coer-
sive measures designed to keep her in =
We hope never to live in republic
whereof one section is pinned to the resi-
due by bayonets."
HIS ESTIMATE OF SOUTHERN GENERALS.
Davis enters into detailed discussion
of his differences with General Joseph f.
Johnston, whose military abilities he
passes over slightingly. OF Lee, Sidney
Johnston and Stonewall Jackson he says:
When General Albert Sidney Johnston
reached Richmond he called upon me, and
for several days at various intervals we
conversed with the freedom and conf
dence belonging to the close friendship
years. Consequent upon a remark made
by me he asked to what duty would as
sign him, and when answered to serve in
the West, he expressed his pleasure at
service In that section, but inquired how
he was to raise his command, and for the
first time learnrd that he had been nomi-
mated and confirmed as general in the
army of the confederacy.
The third, General Robert E. Lee, had
been commissioned by the State of Vir-
ginia as major-general and commander of
her army When that army was trans
ferred, after the accession of Virginia to
the Confederate States, he was nominated
to be brigadier-general in the Confederate
army, but was left, for obvious reasons,
in command of the forces in Virginia.
After the seat of the government was re-
moved from Montgomery to Richmond
the course Of events on the Southern At
lantic coast induced me to direct General
Lee to repair thither. Before leaving he
said that while he was serving in Virgin
ia he had never thought it needful to in
quire about his rank; but now, when
about to go into other States, and to meet
officers with whom he had not been pre-
viously connected, be would like to be
informed on that point. Under recent
laws authorizing appointments to higher
grades than that of his first commission,
he had been appointed a full general but
so wholly had his heart and mind been
consecrated to the public service that he
had not remembered, if he ever knew, of
his advancement.
In November, 1861, reports became
current that the enemy were concentra-
ting troops west of the Valley of She
nandoah, with q view to descent upon
it. That vigilant, enterprising and pat
riotic soldier, General 7. ]. Jackson,
whose steadiness under FIRE at the battle
of Manassas had procured for him the
soubriquet of " Stonewall," was then on
duty as district commander of the She
nandoah Valley.
He was West Virginian, and, though
he had not acquired the fame which sub
sequently she'd such lustre upon his name,
he possessed a well deserved confidence
amoug the people of that region. Ever
watchful and daring in the discharge of
any duty, he was intensely anxious to
guard his beloved mountains Of Virginia.
This, stimulating his devotion to the gen
eral welfare Of the Confederaey, induced
him to desire to march against the enemy,
who had captured Romney. On the goth
Of November, 1861, he wrote to the war
department proposing an expedition to
ROmney in Western Virginia. Il was