Year: 1866

| objections made to her restoration to the


benefits and privileges of the Union. She


was once member of the Union and enjoyed
to the full extent her constitutional rights.
She entered into that compact of States by
the free AID volentary act of her people, and
she had no reserved right to secede there
| from at her own will and pleasure. A con-
trary doctrine would be perfectly suicidal to
any government formed by confederation
| of States.


The Articles of Confederation had proved
| by short experience to be Il complete failure
in uniting, harmonizing and strengthening
the various States that composed that form
of government The wisdom of our fore
fathers had been enlarged and matured by
the experiences of the revolution, and they
plainly saw that the new republic could not
he permanent, prosperous and powerful
without a stong Constitutional bond of
Union. With the eye of political prnphcsy
they looked down the distant future, they saw
the difficulties and dangers that were in the
way of the nations prosperity andgreat-
ness. and they with confidence and hope es-
tablished the Constitution, to make perfect
Union. Their object was to make Il perpet-
ual Union, and no reasonable man can be-
lieve that they incorporated in the Constitu-
ton the principle of secession, the very seeds
of death.


have always believed that the doctrine
of secession was wrong, and any attempt to
carry it out Il hi gh political crime. The
right of revolution is inherent in the people
in every form of government, but the exer-
else Of that right can only be justified when
the people are suffering from intolerable
grievances and unwarranted oppression. The
recent rebellion was an effort to carry out
the doctrine of secession, and was never
claimed by our leaders as an attempted revo-
luton, as they we'll knew that it could not be
justified before the world. for the constitu-
ton was observed. the laws were faithfully
administered, and the Southern people en-
iioycd an excess Of happiness, wealth and
liberty.


a large majority of the people of North
Carolina were opposed both to secession and
revolution as they loved the government of
their fathers with an ar(lor of patriotism
which was eXcelled by no other people. A
combination of circumstances which could
not be controlled forced North Carolina into
the rebellion 1 will not now enulneratc
these circumstances. as they are matters OF
public history, but l venture the assertion
that there is no State, l care not how loyal
it may claim to be, that would have acted
differently under the same condition of
things. There are stern laws of necessity
which neither States nor individuals can
successfully resist. Selt-preservation is the
first great law that nature teaches TO man,
and States if true to themselves will obey it.


The storm of rebellion had risen in the
surrounding States, and if North Carolina
had resisted, she would have been the first
victim of its fury Civil war would have
filled the land with conhagration and slaugh-
ter and the devastating armies of both sec
tions would have made her place of smoul-
dering ruins.


North Carolina, by her act of rebellion,
did not dissolve her connection with the
Union. This was the position OF President
Lincoln, and it was maintained by his ad-
ministration during the progress of the re-
belion This was the rallying CRY that
gathered the immense masses of the North
ern army. The object of the South was to
destroy the Union-the object of the North


was to maintain it; and the North was sue
cessful, and the Union was preserved
North Carolina is still in the Union, but she
does not occupy the same position the
loyal States, for the rebellion has Temporal
rly restricted her privileges and paralyzed
her powers, and she can be properly held in
that condition, until her people, by act and
spirit, have shown themselves truly loyal ;
and then she ought to be restored to all her
rights 1t is well-established principle in
the law of nations, as laid down by Vattel,
in his learned and elegant treatise on that
subject, that it is the paramount duty of
government to preserve itself from destruc-
ton, and when that is done, as as pos
sihle, restore all Of its parts to full vigor.-
As soon as North Carolina establishes the
fact of the true loyalty of her people, it is
the bounden duty of the Federal govern
mcnt to accord to them all the rights and
privileges of the Constitution and the Union.
also believe that it is the duty of the GOV
ernment to crush out every veStige of scces-
sion and disloyalty. The Union of the
States must be preserved! The peace, pros
perity and happiness of this great nation,
and the sacred principles of human liberty
depend upon it. 1t must be alike defended
against the attacks of secession and the
spirit of morbid fanaticism. The Union
will not be preserved. and its operation will
not be perfect until all the States are re-
stored to the blessings and privileges of the
Constitution, as equality of rights among
the several States is the fundamental princi-
pie of our system of government Our form
of government may well be compared to the
Solar system. In that system, the Sun
trolls the planets, and keeps them in their
appropriate orbits. Without this control
ling influence, they would wander in wild
confusion and darkness amidst the limitless
fields of space, and rush on to inevitable
ruin. But Omnipotent Wisdom established
perfect system, and by infallible laws the
Sun and planets exert upon each other their
proper powers and influences, and every
thing moves on IN order, harmony and beau
ty. If the Sun were to swallow up the
planets, or the planets were to leave their
orbits, the whole system would be deranged,
and the human mind cannot even conjecture
the fatal consequences.


The wisdom of our ancestors established
central government among the States to form
a "nsore perfect U7aion." They withheld
from this central government powers which
would enable it to swallow up the States
but they invested it with powers sufficient
to control the States within their proper
spheres. Amy act which tends to destroy
the just and harmonious equilibrium of the
government, is revolutionary and dangerous.
The General Government is possessed of
limited and delegated powers, and cannot
constitutionally usurp or interfere with the
reserved rights of the States. The true States
rights doctrine is, strict construction of
the Constitution. and rigid enforcement of
the delegated powers of the General Govern
ment. Consolidation is almost as dangerous
to liberty as disunion. for il leads to despot-
ism, while the other leads to anarchy. The
advocates of either of those doctrines are
alike unfaithfuf to their constitutional obi
cations. Now that the rebellion is crushed,