The news & observer., 1901-05-11


ApoIuonlst, the "silver tongued orator !"
the distinguished scholar the bold. un-
compromising foe of the South and Of her
institutions. In a speech delivered at
New Bedford, Mass, on April 9Th, 1851,
just four days before the reduction of
Fort Sumter by the Confederates, he said
Here are a series of States girding the
Gull VINO think their peculiar institu-
tlons require that they should have a
separate goVrnment, They have right
TO declde that question without appealing
70 you or TO me. "A large body Of the
people, sufhcient to make a nation, have
come 10 the conclusion that they will
have government of a certain form.
VINO denies them the right? Standing
with the principles of 1876 behind us, who
can deny them the right? What is the
matter OF few millions of dollars or a
few fcrts? 1t is mere drop in the bucket
of the great national question. 1t is
theirs just as much as ours. / maintain
on the principles Of 1876, that Abraham
Lincoln has no right to a soldier in Fort
Sumter These are the words of Wen
dell Phillips Can language be palmer
or more forcible in support of the belief
and action of the people who united in
establishing the Confederate States?
So as to the right of secession, the New
York Tribune OF November 9th, 1860, said:
"If the Cotton States shall decide that
they can do better out of the Union than
in it, we insist upon letting them go in
peace. The right to secede may be
revolutionary one, but it exists neyerthe-
less. Whenever a considerable section
of our Union shall deliberately resolve to
-l,,,
ures designed to keep it in. We hope
never to live in a republic, whereof one
section is pinned to the residue by bayo-
nets
The feet, mentioned above, for the re-
lief of Fort Sumter sailed about the
9Th of April When this was known a
demand for the surrender of the fort was
made by General Beauregard by direction
of the Confederate authorities at Mont
gomery. This having been refused fire
was opened on the fort on the morning
Of April 18th, and kept UP until the 18th,
when it Capitulated without loss to either
side.
1t has been reiterated ad nauseam, and
much stress laid upon the fact, that the
Confederates fred the. first gun, imply
ing that they therefore were the aggres-
sors in the war.
Very little thought will STOW the ab-
surdity of this inference According to
Constitutional History (HalIam), THE ag-
gressor in a war Chat is he who begins
it, is not he who first uses force, but he
who first renders force necessary"
If man finds a trespasser or a bur
glar on his premises who refuses to leave
when ordered off, he is hardly expected
h
to enforce his rights. The Fed9rals per-
sisted in holding and occupying Confed
crate territory in defiance of all romon-
strances and entreaties, and there was
nothing left but to repel force by force.
Let it ever be remembered that through
out the war from beginning 10 end the
people of the Confederate States were
merely defending themselves ana resisting
invasion, a wicked and cruel invasion
unjust and without warrant.
The fall of Sumter produced the ferce5t
excitement throughout the North. Rca-
son was thrown to the winds and it was
determined in the ridiculous iargon CT
those and later days, to subdue the re-
bellion, as it was called, at any cess.
On the 18th of April, 1861, the following
telegram was received at Raleigh from the
W dI DCpdl lIIGuI 1T w cShIuS Iou.
'Gov. John w. Ellis:
call made on yen by tonight's mail
for two regiments of military for imme-
diate service.
SIMON CAMERON,
Secretary of War"
So North Carolina was to be required
to make war upon her sister Southern
States. But they reckoned without their
host Instantly the reply went back, Doid,
spirited, patriotic:
Simon Cameron, Secretary of War:
''Your dispatch is received, and if gen.
uine which it's extraordinary character
leads me to doubt, l have to say in reply
that / regard the levy of troops made
by the Administration, for the purpose
of subjugating the States of the South,
as in violation of the Constitution, and
as a gross usurpation of power. can
be no party to this wicked viola tion of
the laws of the country, and to tbs war
upon the liberties of a free people. You
can get no troops from North Carolina.
will reply more in detail when J receive
your call.
"JOHN w. ELLIS,
Governor of North Carolina"
A terrible crisis was upon the country,
but there was no hesitation. AS one man
the whole State responded to a Froclama
tion of the Governor calling for troops for
defense, and for supplies Of all kinds.
Military companies were formed every
where, and a camp of instruction, Camp
Ellis, was established at Raleigh where
they were organized and drilled.
There was no longer any division among
the people, no doubt whatever as to their
intent Whatever may have been deemed
advisable as to secession previously, there
was but one mind now, as to coercion, and
especially as to the requirement that
North Carolina should be a party to it,
against which we protested with our ut
most energy and resisted with our utmost
ability. Let that be borne in mind. With
us it was not so much an assertion of the
right Of secession though that we did
not deny as an emphatic denial of the
right of coercion.
On the 18th of April Gov. Ellis issued
his proclamation summoning the Legis
lature to meet on the first of May in
extra session. In this proclamation, as
in his reply 10 Cameron, and in his sub
sequent message to the Legislature, he
dWeIls especiaIly and earnestly upon the [