Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-01-26

canopy OK the wido heavens that now
spread over the American republic; and
counting the constellation OF fotty-two
s.als tnat glitter in II, forget not We who
OF then. were sown there by measures and
by deeds in which southern States and
southern soldiers took q leading part. and
IN which the patriotism and love of Union
OF tho South never fnltered.
srorssioN.
il the people with such history could
have adopted secession mighty indeed
must have been the propulsion, TO IL.
shall not discuss its policy, for il would be
as vain thing 10 do as 70 discuss that OF
the Revolution of i776. Each revolution
concluded The question that induced il.
Slavery was the cause of our civil war. and
with ne war Its cause persisted. But il
should be the desire Of all 10 understand
each other aud 10 think well of each other
and the mind capable of inst and intelli.
gent reflection should not fail in Judging
the past TO remember the conditions and
views that controlled the southern people
and their leader.
And ere they be regarded lightly. the
mind capable OF just and intelligent reflee.
ton VIII remember that their forefathers
with scarce less attachment 10 the British
tfoVernmont. and with loss conflict of in
1850 "Ns WV Pftttutul, EfCf1iU1
themselves from tho British empire. tear.
ing down ancient institutions, revolution.
izing the very structure Of society, and
giving proud answer TO all accueers in the
new eyangel OF the west that the peope
have aright to alter or abolish government,
whenever it becomes destructive TO their
happiness or safety.
have found nowhere evidence that JEFF
ierson Davis urged secession. though he
N In trthA Al Il
Mississippi after it had been taken. felt
himself bound by his State allegiance
whether he approved or no, and then, like
All MS southern countrymen, did his best
20 make 10 good. Remember that the
Federal Constitution was silent as to seces
SION. that the question was ono of in.
feronco only. and that implications radia.
ted from It's yarIons provisions in all direc-
tons.
If one argued that the very institute OF
government implied perpetuity, as Lin.
coin did in his first inaugural address
another answered that reservation TO tho
States on powers not delegated rebuttcd
IL. another that the Government and the
Constitution had como into being in tina;
free atmosphere which breathed tho de-
claratiOn that they must rest upon tho
consent of the Government, and YET
another answered in Lncon's own Ian.
right to shake of government, and that
this was the right that would liberate
the world"
RIGHT or SUCCESSION NOT DENIED UNTIL RE-
GENTLY
Remember that this right of secession
had never been denied until recent years,
that it had been preached upon the hust-
ings. enunciated in political platforms
proclaimed in the Senate and in the House
of Representatives. embodied in our lite.
nature, taught in schools and colleges. IN.
terwoven with the texts Of Jurisprudence,
and maintained by scholars, statesmen
and constituencies OF all States and SEQ
tions Of the country.
SECESSION AN OPEN QUESTION IN 1851.
Remember, Furthermore. that secession
was an open question 1861. No statute had
ever declared, no executive had ever pro.
claimed, no court had held 1t to be- uncon.
stitutional. The States had declared
themselves TO be free and independ
ent. American sovereignty was hydra
headed. and each State had its owl
statute, defining and pnnishing trea
son against itself No man could have ar
independent citizenship of tho United
States, but could only acquire citizenship
of the Federation by virtue Of citizenship
of one of the States. The eminent domain
of the soil remained in the State; and TO 4
eschoated the property of the intestate ant
heirless dead. Was not this the sovereign
that had the right to command IN thu
last resort?
Tucker had so taught in his commenta
ries on Blackstone. writing from old VII
Harrisburg: so Francis Kawle. the eminent
lawyer who Washington had asked to b'
Attorney General, writing on the CoDstitu
ton in Philadelphia; and so DeIocquevlle
the most acute and profound of foreigl
writers on American Institutions.
NO ARBITEB TO DECIDE THE QUESTION OF Sc
CEssIoN.
Where could an arbiter be found ? There
was no method of invoking the Supreme
Court; it had no jurisdiction to coerce
State or summon it to its bar. Nor coult
its decree be final For it is O maxim o
our jurisprudence uttered by Jefferson. ant
reiterated by Lincoln in his first inaugura
address. that its decisions may be reconsld
cred and reversed aud bind only the
clients.
SECESSION PREACHED AND THREATENED IN AL
sEcTIoys-THE NORTHERN RECORD FOR L
AND AGAINST EXTENSION or THE UNION.
Recall the history of the doctrine forget
not that the first mutterings of secession
had come from the North as early as 179
in opposition to the threatened war witt
England, when the sentiments uttered by
Theodore Dwight in his letter TO Wolcot
were widespread. "Sooncr would ninety
nine out of hundred of our inhabitant
separate from the Union than plunge them
selves into an abyss of misery"
Notification broke out in the South il
1898 led by Jefferson, and again IN 1880 le,
bv Calhoun, but in turn secession or nulli
fcation was preached in and out of Con
gress. in State Legislatures. in mass meet
ings and conventions in 1903, 1917. and II
1874 to 1850, and in each case IN opposition
made by the North to wars or measure
conducted to win the empire and solldit
the structure of the Union.
While Jefferson was annexing louisian
Massachusetts, legislators were declaring
against it as forming new confederac'
to which the States united by the forme
compact were not bound to adhere"
While new States were being admltte'
into tho Union out of its territory and Tn
War of 1912 was being conducted Joslal
Quincy was maintaining the right OF seces
| sion in Congress- the eastern States wer
threatening to exercise that right, and IN
Hartford convention was proinulgatlng I'll
| doctrine.
When Texas was annexed and Jefierso
Davis was III Congress advocating IL MaS
I sachusetts was declaring 1t unconstitu
! tional and that any such "act or admis
sion would have no binding obligation o.
| its people,"
While the Mexican war was beng iough
and the soldier-statesInan OF MISSISSIPPI
was CARRYING the Stars and Stripes IN glor
over the heights of Monterey, ana oleeo
ing under them in the battle shock o
Buena Vista, Abraham Lincoln was d'
nouncing the war as unconstitutional an
northern multitudes were yet appiaudin
the eloauence Of the Ohio orator VINO ma
said in Congress that the Mexicans shoul
welcome our soldiers with bloody hana
to hospitable graves"
CANDID VIEW PROM THE NORTH.
Consider these grave words. wnicn III
hut freshly written in the life OF Webste
by Henry Cabot Lodge, who IS at TINS I'm
| a Republican representative IN Congres
| from the city Of Boston. Mass;
when the Constitution was adopted o
the votes of States at Philadelphia anu az
cepted by votes of States IN, popular col
ventions II was safe to say there was not
man in the country, from Washington an
/ Hamilton on the one side to George Ciir
ton and George Mason on the other, WI
regarded the new system as anytning Du
nm experiment entered upon by the state :.
and from tchtch edcl. and crely sac MAD u
-, 10 ,,o,,,,,yi,, ,ritllynto--d T1Ght tchtch uC