people or the government of the United States under any circumstances whatever, let the consequences be what they may.

"It is a proposition not to be entertained for a moment, because it would not only destroy the whole fabric of our existing institutions, but would utterly annihilate the possibility of ever establishing any other permanent and fixed government on the North American continent than that of an absolute monarchy or despotism.

"On the other hand, if such right is not recognized, how is civil war, in some shape or other, arising from the obligation to execute the laws, suppress insurrections, and punish treason, to be avoided? for if the right of secession does not exist, then the seceded states arc in a condition of insurrection and treason, the first of which must be put down and the latter punished, according to the law and the Constitution, or else all government is at an end.

"I see but one mode by which, as it appears to me, it is possible to steer clear of both of these calamities, and that is to call a convention of all the states, and so amend the Constitution as to give to such states as desire to discontinue their connection with the present government leave to withdraw, and make the experiment of separate independence; it will not take twelve months to bring them to their senses, and if it will be desirable, they can be admitted again, on condition that they will surrender the absurdity of the right of secession, and behave themselves better for the futuro. This will save the constitutional question, and avert the necessity for civil war at the same time, and likewiso save the necessity of hanging traitors by the thousand, or of having the laws of the country trampled with impunity under foot.

"Let them keep the forts, arsenals, arms, ammunition, revenue cutters, etc., that they have violently, and without the semblance of right, unlawfully scized, but require them to pay for them; and if they are not ready to pay for them in cash, let them bo trusted, but let them settle fair if they never pay; they will be glad to get rid of the expense of keeping them in less than a year, and will ask leave to restore them to their rightful owners; for these forts are the property of the United States, built by and held for the benefit of the United States in common, in which, as long as they constituted a part of the United States, they had a certain interest, as they had in the army, navy, treasury, public lands, and other property of the United States; but the moment they left the United States their right and interest in this property of every description ceased as effectually as if the same number of its citizens had removed from the

United States and settled themselves in Germany or Russia. As no single state is responsible for any part of the debt of the United States, so no single state is entitled to any part of the property of the United States; while, as a constituent part of the government, they are equally bound for all its debts, and equally interested in all its property; but when the obligation to fulfill its contracts, and provide for the payment of its debts, and defend its indebtedness ceases, or is withheld, then they are, to all intents and purposes, aliens to us and to the government, and have forfeited all claims to any share of our honor, our glory, our greatness, our property, and our future destiny.

"The plan, gentlemen, which I have here suggested for the settlement of our difficulties may be objectionable to some, but no plan can be devised that will be acceptable to all; and this appears to me to be the only one by which we can possibly avoid one or the other of two evils, either of which would be calamitous and ruinous in the extreme. If the suggestion should lead to any good results, I shall have reason to thank you for the opportunity you have afforded me of offering it to you, as a feeblo contribution on my part for the preservation of the work of our national Father on the commemoration of the day that Providence gave him to America for the benefit of mankind throughout the world; for without the benefit of his great and illustrious works, he will have lived for nothing."

As serving to show in what regard these letters were received in other and higher quarters, I hope I may stand excused for making use of the following extracts from one of very many similar letters received from different sources and sections of the country, but all from the strongest friends of the Union, and most determined opponents to secession.

"May 20, 1861.

"MY DEAR FRIEND,-Though I seem to be forgotten by you, I can not longer withhold from you the expression of my warmest admiration for your letters to Mr. Bates. Your noble and devoted efforts to spare the effusion of fraternal blood may be lost sight of now amid the wild and mad excitement of this carnival of evil passions, but whatever the result of the civil discord which now distracts our bleeding land may be, coming generations will bless your name for the effort and the sacrifices you have made.

"We are a ruined people. The only interest I have taken in politics for several years past, was produced by the hope of promoting, through you, the best interests of the country. Now that the greatest and best government the world has ever known has been destroyed by wicked,

reckless, and corrupt demagogues, I can do nothing but mourn over this consummation of human folly, until I may be called on to fight for Virginia in a struggle which I had no hand in bringing on.

"I have read your letters to many persons, and all agree in praising them and honoring you. Old Dr. - to whom had read them, told me, with tears in his cycs, that you were one of the last of the true patriots and wise men of the great republic that now exists only in history. Sincerely your friend,

THE PARTICULARS OF MR. BOTTS'S ARREST.

S. C."

After this last effort had failed, and no hope of a peaceful settlement was left, and with no power to resist the storm that was every where sweeping over the land, when the whole Southern country presented the appearance of one vast lunatic asylum turned loose to ravage and destroy whatever crossed their path, I retired to the country with a determination, as no means were left me by which to serve my country, that no human power, no despotic torture, should ever induce me to take part against it in this most unprovoked, uncalled-for, and wicked war. I rarely left my premises; I received a great deal of company under my own roof, but did not seek it elsewhere; yet I never withheld or concealed my opinions from any. These opinions it was supposed were exercising somo influence upon the popular mind; and for the purpose of putting a padlock upon every man's mouth, and thus annihilating all freedom of speech, the Confederate Congress, on the 1st of March, 1862, suspended the writ of habeas corpus and declared martial law, thus conferring absolute and dictatorial power on Mr. Jefferson Davis, perhaps the most unscrupulous despot that has appeared since the days of Nero.

On the morning of the 2d, a little before the break of day, I was aroused from my sleep by the assistant provost-marshal-then Captain, but subsequently General Godwyn, at the head of one hundred armed men, who had surrounded my home—was arrested and carried off to a filthy negro jail, where I was imprisoned for eight weeks in solitary confinement, with instructions to my jailers not to permit any one to speak to me, nor I to them. Not even a chair nor a table were furnished me by those who had me arrested, but I was graciously allowed to supply my own necessities and comforts, which I did. This arrest was made during the administration of the "little Jew, Benjamin," as the head of the War Department, who at once forbid all intercourse with my family and friends.

I was the first victim to loyalty in the state. Franklin Stearns, from

his confidence in, his regard for and intimacy with me, was the second; and then came the imprisonment of some hundred and fifty others, to which constant accessions were made, who were all thrown into the same loathsome prison, most of whom were afterward sent to Salisbury, North Carolina, where, from exposure and barbarous cruelty (if possible, surpassing the horrors of Andersonville), some went crazy, many died, and all suffered materially and permanently in health, while their wives and little children were left at home to brood over the wrongs and oppression inflicted, and suffer for the comforts and necessities of life. In the prison where I was confined, these men, far from home, were left with a naked floor for a pallet, a billet of wood for a pillow, and the ceiling for a blanket, while at Salisbury it was even worse, for they were exposed to all the weather, cold rains and burning suns alternately.

But the object was effected by my arrest and imprisonment and that of others: it effectually sealed every man's lips; all were afraid to express their opinions, under the reign of terror and the demands of despotism that had been established in Richmond. Every man felt that his personal liberty and safety required silent submission to the tyranny of the Confederacy.

From this time till near the close of the rebellion, free-born men who had as much interest in the government as Jeff. Davis or any of his satellites, if they spoke at all, talked “with bated breath and whispering humbleness;" many dared not let their nearest neighbors-some even of their own familics and partners in business-know their honest thoughts. I have myself been often told by gentlemen of the first respectability, after listening to my conversation, when they would say it not to be heard by others, "I concur in every word you said, but you are the only man between the Gulf of Mexico and the Potomac who would dare to express such opinions; but if it were known that I said this to you, I would be in Castle Thunder before to-morrow night, while another and another would tako me out each in turn to tell the same thing, but neither daring to let his friend and neighbor know what the other thought."

During all this time, they were not only conscripting but forcing into the hateful ranks of the Confederacy, men of every state and every country, at the point of the bayonet, "to fight the peoples' war for their own freedom and independence," and all this while every Southern press and every secession mouth indulged in the most intemperate and vindictive denunciation of the tyranny and despotism practiced at Washington.

Such was the humiliation, degradation, and punishment awarded to Union men in the South for their loyalty to the United States, by the

very men who are even now permitted, by the misplaced reliance and forbearance on the part of the President, to provide and furnish, to mark and stigmatize, to lord it over the Union men with an iron hand whenever and wherever they can be reached. Of what advantage is it, it may be asked, that the President thinks the loyal men "inherited the estate" as long as he and Congress allow the disinherited to enjoy the income? Why do they not tako steps to put the rightful owners in lawful possession? In about three weeks after my arrest, this corrupt and contemptible little vagabond, Benjamin, who was characterized by the President himself as a "sneaking thief and perjurer," was transferred to the State Department, and Mr. George W. Randolph assumed the duties of the Department of War, and to him I at once addressed the following communication:

MR. BOTTS'S LETTER TO G. W. RANDOLPII IN 1862.

Hon. G. W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War:

M'Daniels's Negro Jail, March 22, 1862.

DEAR SIR,-It is well known to you that I have been uniform in my opposition to the doctrine of sccession, against which I have argued both by writing and speaking for thirty years, as well upon principle as policy. I did all in my power, with pen and tongue, to prevent this state from taking a step that I thought I foresaw, and foretold would lead to her dismemberment, discomfiture, and ruin; but when I found all my efforts fruitless, and the state resolved to secede, I then opened a correspondence with the Attorney General of the United States (Mr. Bates), by which I endeavored to bring about a peaceful solution of the question, urging with all the power and persuasion I could command that Mr. Lincoln should recommend the call of a national convention for the purpose of so amending the Constitution as to give to such states as desired it leave to with draw from the Union, as the only means left of avoiding all the frightful consequences that have since resulted to both parties; but this last effort gave satisfaction to neither party; cach seemed confident of its own strength and power, and cach determined on a fight. This correspondence led to rather an angry quarrel with Mr. Bates, and for it I was cruelly denounced at home. Finding that I was powerless to accomplish any good, and feeling that I had done my duty, and my whole duty, to my country, I determined to retire from the field, and I said to myself and friends, I will now stand aside and leave the consequences to those who have invoked tho,war and to those who will control it. This correspondence with Mr. Bates, and one other letter written about the same time