Year: 1861

stitutions; we never wished to interfere with
them at all. We rested upon the great
principle, that each State should govern it.
self; that they should govern themselves as
they pleased, and let us govern ourselves as
we please. This was the position of the
South, and We made the same appeal to
them for years; and only when this party
came to maturity, and when SO many States
openly disregarded the Constitution, when
they got the government in their hands, it
was then the South thought it necessary to
look out new safeguards for security. II
was then she resumed her sovereign pow
ers. It was then she became satisfied that
the people of the North would not fulfill
their portion of the obligation, and even
then We believed it would be better for
them and us to live on together, each aud
all doing their duty. We said We would
even try it, and even then sent Commits.
sioners to them with the olive branch of
peace. Our overtures we're disregarded,
and hence this war. .-.-...- .....-. T..


But the point present to you is that we
stand now where our revolutionary fathers
stood. All we ask is to be permitted to
govern ourselves as we please; and for one,
I declare to you to day, you may think of
it as you please, the people of the South
may decide it as they please, but as for one,
l would never surrender this principle,
though every valley from here to the Poto.
mac should run with Southern blood, and
every hill to be bleached with Southern
bones. Tremendous applause Home,
fresides, life, friends and luxuries, are dear,
but there is something dearer to true man
than life, and home, and all. It is honor
and independence. IApplause.] Let the
enemy, therefore, make his calculations as
wide and as broad as be pleases. I say eve
Try true Southern heart is impressed with
the magnitude of the responsibility that now
rests upon us; and let every man be nerved
to meet that responsibility and at every cost.
Our fathers pledged life, honor and fortune
for this principle, and I know we are not
the degenerate sons,. nor are We the degen'
crate daughters Of the noble matrons of that
day, that would sacrifice, lose, or surrender
these principles at less cost .-..


The men are ample the means to sup
port them is the subject upon which am
to address you, and how is the money to be
raised. War, I tell you, costs blood as well
as treasure. Have We the meansY Can We
cope with the North that is the question.
We have not less than four thousand mil.
lions of taxable property within the Confed
crate States, upon the last minimum esti'
mate. At last years rates, we therefore
could raise from one hundred millions tc
two hundred millions, for years to come,
and yet survive. The wealth of nations,
the ability of. nations to sustain war, de-
pends not so much upon its taxable proper
ty as its productive capital. 1t is to the lat
ter we must look for the means and ability
to sustain the war, for in times of war, gen.
orally all business is interrupted. In this
particular of productive capital, perhaps
there is no people in the world more favor
ed under heaven, and for which we ought
to be grateful, not boastful, and it is one
of those blessings for which we should re-
turn thanks. No nation in the world, with
the same population, has such continuous
annual productive capital. I have not sta
ted the wealth of the North, but it is moi
my purpose to detract from it. They were
a people of wealth. Most of it, however
came from their connection and trade with
us. They were an ingenious and manufac
turing people. We are an agricultural
people. Their interests and ours are al


blended together. Our prosperity enabled
them to become prosperous, and their State:
grew up by our trade and commerce.. Mos
of their wealth, when you come to estimate
it and look at it, was nothing but profits
derived from our trade. Cut off that trade


Most of the wealth of the State of N. Yorl
and that State alone is estimated to b.
worth four hundred millions of dollars (tha


is the taxable property of the State of New
rk)-and in what does it consist? Close
up the harbor; cut off manufactures Wha
does it consist in ? Bricks and mortar
nothing else. And if the war lasts as lons
as the siege of Troy, in what will thei


wealth consist? 1t will disappear; for the
bricks and mortar will be worth no more
unless there are tenants, and the profits de
rived from their labor, than the bricks ane
mortar in the arid plains of Babylon.


Sixty one millions of New England capi


tai consisted alone in cotton manufacture


and cotton spindles. These factories lool
to us for our raw materials. This capita
is now literally paralysed ; it is dead capital


and will be as long as this war lasts. O


their nominal products l do not now speak


Woollens, hats, shoes or silks, or every va


riety of dress I see before me, from th'
crowns of the heads of the fair ladies to th'
soles of their feet, all nearly all, are sup
piled by the North, and there are clever
millions of annual product from the SALE
of cotton goods alone. All this will be Gu


of, and other things will be equally cut off


The great difference between the Nortf
and the South to carry on the war-ant
this say to you in prospect of a long war
for I wish our people to see the full magni


tude, and to feel the full responsibility tina


rests upon us in it, and to see our response


bility to meet it's this The North sole
us some two hundred and fifty millions an


nually. This was their riches !; hence came
their wealth hence grew their cities. Thei