is an indication of regard, not for the person, | fathers before us, and as becomes their sons. but for the position which he holds. The To the enemy we leave the base acts of the ascause in which we are engaged is the cause of sassin and incendiary, to them we leave it to the advocacy of rights to which we were born, insult helpless women; to us belongs vengeance those for which our fathers of the Revolution upon man. bled the richest inheritance that ever fell to Now, my friends, I thank you again for this man, and which it is our sacred duty to trans-gratifying manifestation. (Ă voice. "Tell us mit to our children. something of Buena Vista.") a history for ourselves. We do not ask that the past shall shed our lustre upon us, bright as our past has been, for we can achieve our own destiny. Upon us is devolved the high and holy re- Well, my friends, I can only say we will sponsibility of preserving the constitutional lib- make the battle-fields in Virginia another Bueerty of a free government. Those with whom na Vista, and drench with blood more precious we have lately associated have shown them-than that which flowed there. We will make selves so incapable of appreciating the blessings of the glorious institutions they inherited, that they are to-day stripped of the liberty to which they were born. They have allowed an ignorant usurper to trample upon all the prerogatives of citizenship, and to exercise powers never delegated to him; and it has been reserved to your own State, so lately one of the original thirteen, but now, thank God, fully separated from them, to become the theatre of a great central camp, from which will pour forth thousands of brave hearts to roll back the tide of this despotism. Apart from that gratification we may well feel at being separated from such a connection, is the pride that upon you devolves the task of maintaining and defending our new Government. I believe that we shall be able to achieve this noble work, and that the institutions of our fathers will go to our children as safely as they have descended to us. In these Confederate States we observe those relations which have been poetically ascribed to the United States, but which never there had the same reality-States so distinct that each existed as a Sovereign, yet so united that each was wound with the other to constitute a whole; or, as more beautifully expressed, "Distinct as the billows, yet one as the sea." Upon every hill which now overlooks Richmond you have had, and will continue to have, camps containing soldiers from every State in the Confederacy; and to its remotest limits every proud heart beats high with indignation at the thought that the foot of the invader has been set upon the soil of old Virginia. There is not one true son of the South who is not ready to shoulder his musket, to bleed, to die, or to conquer in the cause of liberty here. Beginning under many embarrassments, the result of seventy years of taxation being in the hands of our enemies, we must at first move cautiously. It may be that we shall have to encounter sacrifices; but, my friends, under the smiles of the God of the Just, and filled with the same spirit that animated our fathers, success shall perch on our banners. I am sure you do not expect me to go into any argument upon those questions which, for 25 years, have agitated the country. We have now reached the points where, arguments being exhausted, it only remains for us to stand by our weapons. When the time and occasion serve, we shall smite the smiter with manly arms, as did our We may point to many a field, over which has floated the flag of our country when we were of the United States-upon which Southern soldiers and Southern officers reflected their brave spirits in their deeds of daring; and without intending to cast a shadow upon the courage of any portion of the United States, let me call it to your remembrance, that no man who went from these Confederate States has ever yet, as a general officer, surrendered to an enemy. Pardon me if I do not go into matters of history, and permit me, again, to thank you for this kind manifestation of your regard, to express to you my hearty wishes for the individual prosperity of you all, with the hope that you will all pray to God to crown our cause and our country with success. He then retired from the windows amid prolonged cheers. Calls were then made for ex-Governor Wise, to which, after a short delay, he responded as follows: SPEECH OF EX-GOV, HENRY A. WISE. MY FRIENDS:-You all know that I am a civil soldier only, and that in that capacity I was nearly worn down in the siege of the Virginia Convention. Thank God, however, that with a little rest, some help, and some damage from the doctors, I have been enabled to recruit my exhausted energies. The time of deliberation has given place to the time of action, and I have taken up my bed as an individual, in common with others, to march to Richmond to meet the President of our now separate and independent republic. I am ready to obey his orders, not only with pride, pleasure, and devotion to the cause, and respect to the office he fills, but with respect to the man himself as one who has our fullest confidence. You have to meet a foe with whom you could not live in peace. Your political powers and rights, which were enthroned in that Capitol when you were united with them under the old constitutional bond of the Confederacy, have been annihilated. They have undertaken to annul laws within your own limits that would render your property unsafe within those limits. They have abolitionized | be swept of the Vandals who are now polluting your border, as the disgraced North-west will its atmosphere. show. They have invaded your moral strongholds and the rights of your religion, and have undertaken to teach you what should be the moral duties of men. The band then struck up "Dixie," which was followed by "We may be Happy yet." -N. Y. Express, June 13. Doo. 222. They have invaded the sanctity of your homes and firesides, and endeavored to play master, father, and husband for you in your households; PROCLAMATION OF COL. PORTERFIELD. in a word, they have set themselves up as a petty Providence by which you are in all things to be guided and controlled. But you have always declared that you would not be subject to this invasion of your rights. Though war was demanded, it was not for you to declare war. But now that the armies of the invader are hovering around the tomb of Washington, where is the Virginian heart that does not beat with a quicker pulsation at this last and boldest desecration of his beloved State? Their hordes are already approaching our metropolis, and extending their folds around our State as does the anaconda around his victim. The call is for action. I rejoice in this war. Who is there that now dares to put on sanctity to depreciate war, or the "horrid glories of war." None. Why? Because it is a war of purification. You want war, fire, blood, to purify you; and the Lord of Hosts has demanded that you should walk through fire and blood. You are called to the fiery baptism, and I call upon you to come up to the altar. Though your pathway be through fire, or through a river of blood, turn not aside. Be in no hurry-no hurry and flurry. Collect yourselves, summon yourselves, elevate yourselves to the high and sacred duty of patriotism. The man who dares to pray, the man who dares to wait until some magic arm is put into his hand; the man who will not go unless he have a Minié, or percussion musket, who will not be content with flint and steel, or even a gun without a lock, is worse than a coward he is a renegade. If he can do no better, go to a blacksmith, take a gun along as a sample, and get him to make you one like it. Get a spear-a lance. Take a lesson from John Brown. Manufacture your blades from old iron, even though it be the tires of your cart-wheels. Get a bit of carriage spring, and grind and burnish it in the shape of a bowie knife, and put it to any sort of a handle, so that it be strong-ash, hickory, oak. But, if possible, get a double-barrelled gun and a dozen rounds of buckshot, and go upon the battle-field with these. If their guns reach further than yours, reduce the distance; meet them foot to foot, eye to eye, body to body, and when you strike a blow, strike home. Your true-blooded Yankee will never stand still in the face of cold steel. Let your aim, therefore, be to get into close quarters, and with a few decided, vigorous movements, always pushing forward, never back, my word for it, the soil of Virginia will THE following proclamation was issued prior to the attack on Phillippa: HEAD-QUARTERS VIRGINIA FORCES, To the People of North-western Virginia: FELLOW-CITIZENS:-I am in your section of Virginia, in obedience to the legally constituted authorities thereof, with the view of protecting this section of the State from invasion by foreign forces and to protect the people in the full enjoyment of their rights-civil, religious, and political. In the performance of my duties, I shall endeavor to exerciso every charitable forbearance, as I have hitherto done. I shall not inquire whether any citizens of Virginia voted for or against the Ordinance of Secession. My only inquiry shall and will be as to who are the enemies of our mother-the Commonwealth of Virginia. My duty impels me now to say to all that the citizens of the Commonwealth will at all times be protected by me and those under my command. Those who array themselves against the State will be treated as her enemies, according to the laws thereof. Virginians! allow me to appeal to you, in the name of our common mother, to stand by the voice of your State, and to defend her against all enemies, and especially to repel invasion from any and every quarter. Those who reside within the State, who invite invasion, or who in any manner assist, aid or abet invaders, will be treated as enemies to Virginia. I trust that no Virginian, whether native-born or adopted, will refuse to defend his State and his brothers against invasion and injury. Virginians! be true, and in due time your common mother will come to your relief. Already many of you have rallied to the support of the honor of your State and the maintenance of your liberties. Will you continuo to be freemen, or will you submit to be slaves? Are you capable of governing yourselves? Will you allow the people of other States to govern you? Have you forgotten the precepts of Madison and Jefferson? Remember that the price of liberty is "eternal vigilance." Virginia has not made war! War has been made upon her and the time-honored principles. Shall she be vindicated in her efforts to maintain the liberties of her people, or shall she bow her head in submission to tyranny and oppression? It seems to me that the true friend of national liberty cannot hesitate. Strike for your State! Strike for your liber ties! Rally! rally at once in defence of your will remain on deposit till the close of hostilirother! G. A. PORTERField, Doc. 223. THE CONFEDERATE POST-OFFICE. ties. These deposits will be charged ten per cent. per annum, and the faith, credit, and public property of the whole Territory are pledged for their security. As we have thus far maintained a neutral position with regard to the difficulties now pending, I would counsel a moderate course. Let our action be on the defensive only; and for the better defence of the CIRCULAR NO. 4, Confederate States of Amer-Territory, I would advise the arming of the ica, Post-Office Department, Montgomery, May Arrapahoes and other tribes of friendly In- 20th, 1861:- Το Your obedient servant, Esq., Postmaster at -N. Y. Herald, June 7. Doo. 224. Doo. 225. CENTRAL COMMITTEE'S ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. HAVING Submitted to you the resolutions of the Convention held at Wheeling, on the 13th instant, with a brief address, we now crave your earnest attention whilst we discuss, yet further, the very grave and important questions submitted for your consideration and action. We are yet freemen, Virginia freemen, in the full possession and enjoyment of the sacred and inalienable rights guaranteed to us by the Bill the Constitution of the United States. In that of Rights and Constitution of our State, and character and under those sanctions we now address you, and it will remain for us in our future action to determine whether wo shall retain them or not. As shown in the resolutions of the Convention already submitted to you, we have been called to pass upon the acts of one of the highest and most solemn assemblages known to our system of Government-the representatives of L. W. BLISS' PROCLAMATION. the people of Virginia in Convention assembled. WHEREAS existing exigencies demand imme- We must here correct an error of fatal effect diate and adequate ineasures for the protection and consequence, which meets us at the threshof the financial condition of this Territory, on old of our discussion The Convention of Viraccount of the insurrectionary combinations ginia, which was elected on the 4th of February existing in the States, I, L. W. Bliss, Acting last, and assembled at Richmond on the 18th Governor of Jefferson Territory, do hereby for- of the same month, was not the embodiment bid the transmission by the people of this Ter- of the sovereignty of the people of Virginia. ritory, under any pretext whatever, to the They were not clothed with the powers they Government of the United States, or to any of have assumed to exercise; else could they have the States thereof, any money, bills, drafts, undone the work of our fathers, abolished our gold dust, or other things of value, either in republican form of Government, and re-estabpayment of any debt now due, or hereafter to lished the Crown of Great Britain as our subecome due, or for or on account of any other preme governing power. The act of our Legcause whatever, until the termination of hostil-islature, convening this Convention, expressly ities. In the mean time, however, the citizens of Jefferson Territory are invited to pay the amount of their indebtedness to the citizens of the United States, so fast as it becomes due, into the Treasury of the Territory, where it provided that the distinct question should be submitted to the people of Virginia, whether any ordinance in any manner affecting or changing our relations to the Government of the United States, or the Constitution of our own State, should be referred to the people, or not. By an unusual, unprecedented majority, the people decided, substantially, that no change should be made, either in our allegiance to the Constitution of the United States or in our State Constitution, without having first received the sanction and approval of our people. The second article of our Bill of Rights declares "that all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them." Therefore no act or ordinance of the Convention changing our Government, either State or Federal, can be of any force or effect until the people have, by a free, deliberate, and unconstrained vote, passed upon it; and then only subject to the Constitution of the United States. This leads us to the next, and yet more important question, as to the power, effect, and obligation of the Constitution of the United States. In this address we intend to speak with perfect frankness and candor. Claiming to understand our rights, we know that we are addressing those of equal intelligence, and who, whilst understanding their rights, have the courage and manhood to vindicate and maintain them. The Hon. Jefferson Davis, President of the so-called Confederate States, on the 29th of the last month, sent a message to the Congress at Montgomery, convened in extra session. He has availed himself of this occasion, as the head and chief of the States who have attempted to withdraw themselves from our Federal Union, to "declare the causes which impel them to the separation." He says to the Congress: "The occasion is indeed an extraordinary one. It justifies me in a brief review of the relations heretofore existing between us and the States which now unite in warfare against us, and a succinct statement of the events which have resulted in this warfare; to the end that mankind may pass intelligent and impartial judgment on its motives and objects." When our fathers declared their country's independence, it was not the act of one man; but the instrument bore the signatures of men the story of whose lives is the history of the times in which they lived. This message of Mr. Davis is the authoritative declaration of the Seceding States, and we receive it in the character he has assumed for it. The single, naked proposition upon which rests the whole claim of the right of secession is distinctly stated in the second of the "Articles of Confederation" adopted by the original Thirteen States during the War of the Revolution, as framed by the Delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled, on the 9th of July, 1778. This article is in these words: "Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." This was the vital defect in the articles of Confederation, and on the 21st of February, 1787, the Congress, after declaring the inefficiency of the Federal Union, and the necessity of devising such further provisions as should render the same adequate to the exigencies of the Union, and being satisfied that a Convention was "The most probable means of establishing in these States a firm National Government, resolved that it was expedient that a Convention of Delegates appointed by the several States should be held on the second Monday in May then next, at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, and reporting to Congress and the several Legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the States, render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of Government and the preservation of the Union." The Congress and the patriotic men of that day had become satisfied, from the experience and trials of the Revolutionary War, and the few years which had elapsed subsequent to its close, that the so-called "sovereignty and independence," reserved to the States under the Articles of Confederation, were the fruitful source of all the manifold troubles and difficulties they encountered. They found that their Government was so imperfect as to be inadequate to the great ends of all Governments, as laid down in their Declaration of the 4th of July, 1776, and that it had therefore become their duty "to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them should seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." The Convention which assembled in May, 1787, at Philadelphia, and which immortalized itself in the Constitution of the United States, thoroughly reflected the will of those whom they represented. They framed that Constitution in the name and on behalf of the people of the United States, and not of the several States, as separate and distinct sovereignties. In the debates had in that Convention, on the formation of the Constitution, the following language was used by that distinguished son of Virginia, James Madison: "Some contend that States are sovereign, when in fact they are only political societies. There is a gradation of power in all societies from the lowest corporation to the highest sov ereign. The States never possessed the essential rights of sovereignty. These were always vested in Congress. Their voting as States in Congress is no evidence of sovereignty. The State of Maryland voted by counties, did this make the counties sovereign? The States at present are only great corporations, having the power of making by-laws, and these are effectual only if they are not contradictory to the Gen eral Confederation." In the memorable preamble to that Constitu- | with her, as a bright star in the constellation tion they declare as follows: of a glorious and united country." "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." It was the act of the people and not of the States. George Washington, the President of the Convention, in communicating to the Congress the Constitution which had been thus framed, in his letter of the 17th of September, 1787, uses this most remarkable and significant language: "It is obviously impracticable, in the Federal Government of these States, to secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each and yet provide for the interest and safety of all." This Constitution was not submitted to the States for ratification, but to the people of the several States in Conventions assembled. On the 25th of June, 1788, the Convention of Virginia, by their ordinance assenting to and ratifying that Constitution, declared and made known: "That the powers granted under the Constitution, being derived from the people of the United States, may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression, and that every power not granted thereby remains with them and at their will." We still hold to the great political truths our fathers have taught us. Our National Government is not a mere league between sovereign States, which each may revoke at its pleasure, but the solemn act of the people of the several States, which they alone can revoke. "That we have lived happily under the great Government of the United States, and if that Government has oppressed us by any of its acts, legislative, executive, or judicial, during its existence, we do not know it." Such, we are well persuaded, must be the declaration of every calm, deliberate, and conscientious citizen. How, then, can we approve and ratify the ordinance of secession? As if nothing should be wanting to arouse and excite our most determined opposition, the manner of its adoption, the circumstances which preceded it, the unjustifiable acts of aggression and warfare against the Government of the United States, committed prior even to the attempted disruption of the Union, and the still more flagrant outrage upon our rights and liberties, in the passage of the ordinance annexing our State to the Confederate States, and the introduction of the armed soldiers of that Confederacy for the avowed purpose of making war upon the United States, all combine to strengthen and confirm our solemn determination not to submit to such violation of our rights secured to us by the Constitutions of both Virginia and the United States. We will maintain inviolate our fealty and allegiance to both. There is and can be no conflict in this double allegiance. The ordinances of the Convention intended to withdraw our State from the United States and annex her to the Confederate States, are unconstitutional, null, and void; and the acts of the Governor and his subordinates, so far as they are intended to execute those ordinances, are mere usurpations of power, unwarranted by the Constitution and laws of our State. To show conclusively how far the existing authorities of our State Government have compromised her honor and dignity and abused the trust and confidence of her people, we make the following extract from the message of the Hon. Jefferson Davis, to which we have before We do not deny the right of revolution; on the contrary, we maintain and vindicate it. Whenever a Government, in its administration, is destructive of the legitimate ends of all Gov-referred: ernments, "it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it;" but in so doing the people must be consulted, and they will ever take care that the Government they have established shall not be changed for light and transient causes. Nothing has occurred to warrant or justify the change in our Government proposed by the ordinances of our Convention. Adopting the language of our fellow-citizens of the county of Berkeley, at their late mass meeting, we can truthfully declare: "That we have never yet agreed to break our allegiance to that Constitution which was signed by George Washington, framed by James Madison, administered by Jefferson, judicially expounded by John Marshall, protected by Jackson, defended by Webster, and lived for by Clay." "Having been officially notified by the public authorities of the State of Virginia that she had withdrawn from the Union, and desired to maintain the closest political relations with us which it was possible at this time to establish, I commissioned the Hon. Alex. II. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate States, to represent its Government at Richmond. I am happy to inform you that he has concluded a convention with the State of Virginia by which that honored Commonwealth, so long and justly distinguished among her sister States, and so dear to the hearts of thousands of her children in the Confederate States, has united her power and her fortunes with ours, and become one of us." The fourteenth article of the Bill of Rights of our State is in these words: "That we have never known Virginia save "That the people have a right to uniform as a State in the United States; and all our government; and therefore that no governfeelings of State pride are indelibly associated | ment separate from or independent of the gov |