utors and advisers, and when no step was taken by that paper that was not approved by the "Junto"-said,

"No man, no association of men, no state or set of states, has a right to withdraw itself from the Union of its own accord. The same power which knit us together can alone unknit. The same formality which formed the links of the Union is necessary to dissolve it. The majority of states which formed the Union must consent to the withdrawal of any one branch of it. Until that consent has been obtained, any attempt to dissolve the Union or obstruct the efficacy of its constitutional laws is TREASON-TREASON, TO ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES."

THE AUTHOR OF SECESSION.

No, sir! Tho unfading honor, and the crowning glory of originating a measure for the practical destruction of this government, and for the annihilation of the liberties of mankind, were reserved for a disappointed aspirant for the Presidency, who, Lucifer-like, preferred to "reign in hell rather than serve in heaven." The name of Erostratus has been handed down to posterity for centuries past as the destroyer of the Ephesian Temple; in like manner will the name of John C. Calhoun be handed down, for ages to come, as the destroyer of the last great temple of liberty left standing on the globe, provided this rebellion should prove successful.

Mr. Calhoun, who was a most plausible and ambitious, but extremely metaphysical yet popular politician in his own state, disappointed in his reckless cravings for the Presidency, first conceived, in the year 1832, the idea of establishing a separate independence for South Carolina, over which state he held omnipotent sway, and in the control of which none could compete with him for supremacy.

While he proposed this separate action for that state, it was not without hope that other Southern States would come to its aid in the event of an attempt on the part of the general government to enforce obedience to its laws in the revolted state. The pretext then set up for this absurd claim was, the oppression under which it was pretended they were suffering through the practical operation of the protective system, of which Mr. Calhoun himself had been an earnest advocate and efficient champion at an earlier period of his life.

SECESSION IN 1832.

At that day South Carolina had few sympathizers any where, and a very small number only in the South who professed to believe in the right of a state to secede from the Union. But to such an extent had this fever raged in that unfortunate and discontented state, where Mr. Calhoun was idolized, that they proccoded to call a Convention, and actually passed an ordinanco declaring their connection with the government of the United States dissolved, unless the tariff was adjusted to suit their views. General Jackson was then President of the United States, and also a native of South Carolina; and whatever may be said in disparagement of this old chief, it can not be denied that he possessed many very strong and estimable traits of character, among the most prominent of which were a stern, unflinching devotion to the Union, a resolute purpose to prosecute vigorously whatever he undertook, and an iron will that was not to be controlled when his mind was once made up.

GENERAL JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION.

Upon the passage of this Ordinanco of Secession, General Jackson issued his celebrated proclamation, calling upon the

people to retrace their steps, to repudiate the action of their leading men, and return to their allegiance to the government established by their fathers. One passage from this proclamation is here inserted, and is worthy of being stamped indelibly upon the mind and heart of every true friend of his country. General Jackson said,

"No act of violent opposition to the laws has yet been committed, but such a state of things is hourly apprehended; and it is the intent of this instrument to proclaim not only that the duty imposed upon me by the Constitution to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, shall be performed to the extent of the powers already vested in me by law, or of such other as the wisdom of Congress shall desire and intrust to me for that purpose, but to warn the citizens of South Carolina, who have been deluded into an opposition to the laws, of the danger they will incur by obc dience to the illegal and disorganizing ordinance of the Convention. . . . . The laws of the United States must be executed. I have no discretionary power on the subject. My duty is emphatically pronounced in the Constitution. Those who told you that you might peaceably prevent their execution deceived you. They could not have been deceived themselves; they know that a forcible opposition could alone prevent the execution of the laws, and they know that such opposition must be repelled. Their object is disunion. But be not deceived by names. Disunion by armed force is TREASON. Are you ready to incur its guilt? If you are, on the heads of the instigators of the act bo the dreadful consequences; on their heads be the dishonor, but on yours may fall the punishment. On your unhappy state will inevitably fall all the evils of the conflict you force upon the government of your country. It can not accede to the mad project of disunion, of which you would be the

....

first victims. Its first magistrate can not, if he would, avoid the performance of his duty. The consequence must be fearful for you, distressing to your fellow-citizens here, and to the friends of good government throughout the world. Snatch from the archives of your stato the disorganizing cdict of its Convention; bid the members to reassemble and promulgate the decided expressions of your will to remain in the faith which alone can conduct you to safety, prosperity, and honor. Tell them that, compared to disunion, all other evils are light, because that brings with it an accumulation of ills. Declare that you will never take the field unless the star-spangled banner of your country shall float over you; that you will not be stigmatized when dead, and dishonored and scorned while you live, as the authors of the first attack on the Constitution of your country. Its destroyers you can not be. You may disturb its peace; you may interrupt the course of its prosperity; you may cloud its reputation for stability, but its tranquillity will bo restored, its prosperity will return, and the stain upon its national character will bo transferred, and remain an eternal blot on the memory of those who caused the disorder."

This was the language held by this son of South Carolina when his own state was in a condition of revolt against the Union. By the masses of unselfish, honest, patriotic people every where, this proclamation was received with enthusiastic shouts of admiration, while by the selfish, prof ligate, and corrupt politicians, it was received with murmurs of discontent; yet none ventured or dared to stigmatize Jackson as a traitor. The harshest term any Democratic orator or writer applied to him was that he was an "old Federalist." Yet Jackson, twelve years after, went down to his grave the idol of his party. Now contrast all this with the disgusting and nauseating denunciations we

daily read of General Scott for not binding himself to the treasonable designs of the reckless and profligate politicians of this his native state.

PASSAGE OF THE FORCE BILL BY CONGRESS.

General Jackson at the same time appealed to Congress to confer upon him additional powers to crush this rebellious movement on the part of South Carolina; whereupon Congress, without hesitation or delay, passed what has been known as the "Force Bill," by which his power over the whole land and naval forces of the United States was greatly enlarged; and this bill was passed by such overwhelming majorities in both branches of Congress, as to furnish, in the most unmistakable manner, the conclusive fact that the public sentiment was every where in vehement opposition to the ridiculous pretension that the Union, as formed by our fathers, was constructed on the principle of a bombshell (as is this Southern Confederacy), containing the cl ements of its own destruction in its midst, which would sooner or later explode and leave a wreck behind, by recognizing the right of any one or more states, in a fit of passion, excitement, interest, or caprice, to retire from the obligations they had voluntarily entered into, one with the other, and each with all the rest, for their common welfare and general security; but that it was, as it was intended to be, and was declared in express terms by the old Articles of Confederation to be, a permanent and "perpetual Union." The good sense of the country at that day laughed to scorn the preposterous idea that when the framers of the Constitution declared that the object of that instrument was to form "a more perfect Union" than that which was already declared to be "perpetual," they were actually engaged in a work the object of which was to pull down and destroy the fruits.