Year: 1861

stltutlon of the United States is bot oU 1"Sf gooernnents deyiue Mer poscer from the eo'sem ot hose mho haue Me right Co make me yo0efnnaem. The social organization oi .iie country deternaines and yfres Me r;gAt as to those who shall make governments. ana tne'r consent alone is necessary to es. tahilsh a just government. Then ;t ;s ev;. oen' that the policy determined on by the fepuhiicans Is in direct conflict with the constitution and the policy heretofore pur sued in the United States.

 " The hxed and determined policy of the Nofth'ls not only in direct conflict with the constitution but it would uproot and de- Stroy' not only the best interest but the whole sociai organization of society at the | oo'.th' From such an odous and dangerous policy the North could recede: but 10 it the south cannot submit To submit would ruin all her political prosperity hereafter; it would degrade the South in her own esti- nation, and in the estimation of all man. k1hd. It IS useless for any man to contend that tl's IS not the issue now upon us.

 Nothing Is more astonishing than at thls enlightened day any considerable num- Der ei learned men should have established a party upon the doctrine that all men are born free and equal, or ought to be free and equal All intelligent men know that all nens aiaesn sno.-aornsoi.her4freeao or canal. bnt. know that allemen are born unequal. So the truth then is, that all men are born m. equal. No two men of the same race ever were born equal, or ever were exactly eoual Tn all things during their lives. So that any party shoul,l ever have been established upon the most ridiculous absurditv ever penned by.man is astonishing. It shows that fanaticism is equal to any absurdity. One man Is born with one hand another with two, one with one eye, another with two; one with strong and vigorous physi- cal and mental organization, another with a weak physical and mental organization. Providence in the organization of men has created them unequal for the wisest of all pnrposes-for social order and government, which could not exist if all men were equal. For the very accommodation of the laws of nature, Providence has made all things uneqnal-mountains and vallies, hills and plains, big rivers and little rivers, are all unequal. Examine thousand trees of the forest of the same species and none are exactly equal. And there are others of different species, still more unequal. View hundred plants of the garden of the same species, and none are exactly equal. You have but to glance at ten men, and you see at once that they are not in all things, men, tally and physically, equal. This very in. equality will indicate their position in the social organization. Place the negro and the white man together, and the physical and mental organization indicates their position in society. Yet with these and thousands of other facts of like kind, and the still more important fact that the negro under the most favorable and advantageous circumstances, has shown himself incapable ot seli-government, what hope have you oi ever being able to live in peace and har mony with party that would, under the circumstances, inangUrate a party with such foolish and desperate policy-a party that could make such desperate ri k as to endanger, ruin. murder and kill millions of white men, under the fanatical hope O, Lettering the condition cf the negro? A State will be justified in the opinions of all good men, in taking any step fol her safety, and that would have tendency to paralvze the power of so despcratea q party; and to prevent such catastrophe to the institu- tlons of the South as would be likely to follow such reckless policy.

 Constitutions and laws are matlc to pro- tect the weak against the strong, the few against the many, and whenever they fail to answer this end, they become nullity "a to the purposes for which they were ere ated. ln the North they have inaugurated the majority rule, and under this rule and general welfare" clause in the constiu- ton. they may do whatever their fanaticism may dictate as to the general welfore. And by thus perverting the constitution from the purposes for which it was made. inc south Is left in a hopeless minority, ana n helpless condition, unless the strong arm of the people Is interposed in defence. With these surrounding circumstances. and the compact broken, the South is forced from an inevitable necessity to act for herself.

 then spoke of the great question of the age, the position of the races, but as there was nothing under this head of secession or co-oparation, shall not write it out.

 As to convention, from what had been sand before and the surrounding circum. stances, It seemed to be an inevitable ne. cesslty. The present government, as it ex- lsts under the constitution, is but a , reck of its past greatness. It no longer exists with public sentiment to give it that vital force and vlgor necessary to government. With all its power and patronage, if it has lost that vitality, there is no reasonable hope that 1t will ever regain it, unless it could be reconstructed, and even that idea seems hopeless when we recollect that our enemies are too much flushed with a powerful victory to back out directly.- Such an instance was not to be found in history. 1t was not at all likely that a party, which had the folly to establish such policy would have the magnanimity to concede our rights, and nothing less would 9 do; 1t was question of life or death with us' we could not now give one inch, de- cislve stand was our only hope. The com pact had not only been broken. the noqna chd'fa of human rights despoiled, and de- secrated, but the temple of liberty had been torn down. There was nothing left for those to admire who delighted to honor the Union and the constitution as it once existed.

 The crisis has produced an alarm. and all the southern states are taking steps to protect themselves, put their States in or. der for the impending danger that over shadows our once happy country-acting

 m such manner as to be ready to form government for their mutual protection It was folly for Arkansas to stand idly by while the tempest rages, and do nothing to protect herself against the coming storm. Her peculiar condition required her to act and have convention immediately. A convention did not necessarily involve secession, it might lead to that, but it could not do so without the consent of the neo. pie The convention fresh from the people