ATTITUDE OF THE NORTHERN STATES. Senate a copy of any orders issued from the department to the officers commanding the fortifications in South Carolina since November 1st; also, a copy of any plans or recommendations relative to increasing the forces, or otherwise, in the forts and arsenals in Virginia, or in any of the States of the 161 South, by the commanders-in-chief, and if any action or order was issued in pursuance thereof. Laid over. The day was consumed in considering the Pacific Railway bill. Mr. Toombs, therefore, deferred his speech until the Monday's session. CHAPTER V. ATTITUDE OF THE NORTHERN AND BORDER STATES IN JANUARY. THE FIRST BUGLE NOTES OF ALARM. fore 66 Resolved, (if the Assembly concur), That the Governor be and hereby is directed, in the name of the State of New-York, to tender to the President of the United States the services of the militia of the State, to be used in such manner and at such times as the enforce the Constitution and laws of the country. THE revolution had progressed, up to Jan- | compromisingly in favor of the Union as it is, thereuary 1st, with no further protests than came from individuals and meetings of citizens in Northern States. With the convention of the State Legislatures, however, there came a louder and more authoritative testimony to the Union and the laws. State after State President may deem best to preserve the Union and gathered in council, and but one spirit seemed to animate every Free Commonwealththat of a determined resistance to the revolutionary scheme. One after another they came into line, like ponderous frigates, to show their armaments and their sides of steel, with which to uphold the cause of the Constitution and the stability of the Government. The Empire State," vast in her resources, steadfast in her patriotism, loyal in her duty, met the crisis as became her honor. Upon the first day of the Legislature's session Mr. Spinola introduced, and had referred to a Special Committee of Five, January 3d, the following: New York. Whereas, Treason, as defined by the Constitution of the United States, exists in one of the States of the Confederacy, and Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs be and are hereby directed, to inquire into the condition, efficiency, and available strength of the military force of the State and to report to the Senate at the earliest practicable day, what legislation, if any, is necessary to render that branch of government fully effective for any exigency that may arise; and if requisite that the said Committee report a bill to raise $10,000,000 to properly arm the State." Massachusetts. The "Old Bay State" sent forth her clarion notes as soon. Her Legislature assembled January 2d. The President of the Senate said, in his opening address: "While we meet under circumstances auspicious in our own State, a deep agitation pervades other parts of our country, causing every true patriot to feel the greatest anxiety. Disunion is attempted in some States, because, as is alleged, laws have been passed in others contrary to the Constitution of the Unit ed States. Massachusetts is accused of unfaithfulness in this matter in some of her enactments, although she has always been ready to submit to judicial decision, and is so still. She has ever regarded jea lously the liberty of her citizens, and I trust ever will. We cannot falter now without disgrace and dishonor. Whatever action we may take, let us be careful of the rights of others, but faithful to our trusts, that we may return them to our constituents uninjured." The Speaker of the House uttered substantially the same sentiments. Governor Banks delivered his valedictory address, January 3d. He took open and unequivocal ground against secession, saying that the north never would permit the keys of the continent to pass into the hands of an enemy. He urged an attitude of preparation for any emergency. Governor Andrews, the incoming Governor, was even more alive to the crisis than the Legislature. In him the cause of the Union found a worthy sentinel. Pennsylvania. Michigan. government ever devised by the wisdom of Governor Blair, the incoming Governor, was also decided in its tone against secession. The abstract reads:— The "Keystone State" was first, however, in the field. Her Legislature assembled Jan. 1st. Almost immediately upon coming together, Mr. Smith, of Philadelphia, offered in the Senate a resolution and pream-son is ringing in our ears!" The Message of ble, reciting that South Carolina had passed an ordinance nullifying the laws of the United States, and declaring that their allegiance to the Union is dissolved; saying that Penn"He denies that the Personal Liberty Laws have sylvania is willing to pass laws necessary for had the effect to prevent the execution of the Fugithe redress of real grievances of any sister tive Slave law, in a single instance; but, whenever State, if found to exist; proclaims an ardent an appeal has been made to the courts to enforce desire to cultivate friendly relations with sis- that law, it has been done in good faith. He invites ter States; avows adhesion to the doctrines of judicial scrutiny into the legislation of the State, and Jackson's proclamation; is willing to conis willing to abide by the result, but is not willing that the State should be humiliated by compliance tribute men and money for the preservation with the demand to repeal these laws, accompanied of the Union; a copy of the resolutions, auby threats of violence and war. He concludes by thenticated under the seal of the Common-recommending that, at an early day, the Legislature wealth, to be sent to the President, and Gov-make it manifest to Representatives in Congress ernors of States. This was referred to a Committee of Five, which entered, at once, upon duty. Gov. Packer's Message was delivered January 2d. It was proudly Union in its tone--declaring secession to be rebellion, which, if unsuccessful, would be punishable as treason. He said that Pennsylvania was devoted to the Union and would follow the stars and stripes through every peril, adding, in conclusion: "But, before assuming the responsibilities that are foreshadowed, it is the solemn duty of Pennsylvania to remove every just cause of complaint so that she can stand before high Heaven without fear and without reproach; and then she was ready to devote her lives an fortunes to the best form of and to the country, that Michigan is loyal to the Union, the Constitution and the laws, and will defend them to the uttermost, and to proffer to the President of the United States the whole military force of the State for that purpose." Maine. Then came tidings from the forests of Maine. The Legislature of that State convened January 2d. Governor Washburne's message ably reviewed the history of the Slavery question, declaring that the authors of the Government designed that the institution should perish, and that the dogma of its right of extension and protection was only of recent invention. "Slavery was the child of municipal law-local, sectional, not ATTITUDE OF THE BORDER STATES. national. If there is one fact that stands out stronger, clearer, and more indisputable than any other in our history, it is this. There is the record-it cannot be blotted out-it cannot be burned out it remains forever." Adverting to the Personal Liberty laws he said, they are designed as beneficent and necessary provisions, to prevent kidnapping or illegal removal, and to bring their line of action into entire harmony with the line of Constitutional power and obligation, laid ⚫ down by the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Prigg vs. the State of Pennsylvania. If, however, such laws are unconstitutional, repeal them; allow no stain on the faith and devotion of the State to the Constitution and the rights of the States. As to the concessions demanded by the South, he said: "The concessions, for the most part, which are now demanded from the Free States, as the terms upon which the people of this country are to be allowed to govern themselves, under the Constitution, are wholly inadmissible, not merely that they are objectionable in themselves, but because they have been made on such terms. To grant them would be to establish a precedent of incalculable mischief and danger, through which would be wrought, at no distant period, a practical subversion of the Constitution, and a transfer of the Government from the hands of the many to the power of the few." Of secession he said :-* "There is no such right in the Constitution; the President cannot permit it; Congress cannot grant it; the States cannot concede it; and only by the people of the States, through a change of the Constitution, can it be conferred. The laws, then, must be executed, or this, the best, because the freest and most benificent Government that the world has ever seen, is destroyed." He gave the State's pledge to support the cause of the Union, with all its power, resources and moral strength. Maryland. Governor Hicks, under date of January 6th, published an address to the citizens of Maryland, setting forth his reasons for refusing to convene the Legislature. Among other things he said: "That Maryland is a conservative Southern State all know who know anything of her people or her history. The business and agricultural classes planters, merchants, mechanics, and laboring menthose who have a real stake in the community, who 163 would be forced to pay the taxes and do the fighting, are the persons who should be heard in preference to excited politicians, many of whom, having nothing to lose from the destruction of the Government, may hope to derive some gain from the ruin of the State. Such men will naturally urge you to pull down the pillars of this accursed Union,' which their allies at the North have denominated a covenant with hell.' The people of Maryland, if left to themselves, would decide, with scarcely an exception, that there is nothing in the present causes of complaint to justify immediate secession; and yet, against our judgments and solemn convictions of duty, we are to be precipitated into this revolution, because South Carolina thinks differently. The men who have embarked in this scheme to convene the Legislature will spare no pains to carry their point. The whole plan of ope rations in the event of the assembling of the Legis lature is, as I have been informed, already marked out, the list of Ambassadors who are to visit the other States is agreed on, and the resolutions which they hope will be passed by the Legislature, fully committing this State to Secession, are said to be already prepared." Hon. Henry Winter Davis, member of the United States House of Representatives, from Baltimore, published an Address to his constituents, January 2d. It was a powerful appeal against the calling of the Legislature. He also opposed the calling of the proposed "Border State Convention," to assemble in Baltimore. Every project which was extraconstitutional was, therefore, unconstitutional. The whole people and all the States must act to give a Convention validity. He still hoped for settlement by compromise. The Virginia Legislature assembled, in extra session, January 7th. Gov. Letcher's message was condemnatory of immediate secession; he proposed that all Constitutional remedies be exhausted before committing the State to the step of withdrawing from the Union. His scheme of settlement was thus stated :— Virginia. "He opposes a State Convention at this time, and suggests, first, that a Commission of two of the most discreet statesmen visit the Legislatures of the States which have passed Personal Liberty bills and insist on their unconditional repeal, except the New England States; second, we must have proper and effective guarantees for the protection of Slavery in the District of Columbia; third, our equality in the States and Territories must be fully recognized, and the rights of person and property adequately protected and secured; that we must be permitted to pass through the Free States and Territories unmolested, and if a slave be abducted, the State where it is lost must pay its value; fourth, like guarantees that the transmission of slaves between the Slaveholding States by land or water shall not be interfered with; fifth, the passage and enforcement of right laws for the punishment of such persons in the Free States as organize, or aid and abet in any mode whatsoever, in organizing companies with a view to assail the Slaveholding States, and to incite the slaves to insurrection; sixth, the General Government to be deprived of the power of appointing to local offices in the Slaveholding States persons hostile to their institutions or inimical to their rights." Notwithstanding this "moderate view" of the Governor, the Legislature, like new converts, was rife for hasty action. Prior to its assemblage, a bill calling a Convention, February 18th, had been prepared, and was introduced as one of the first measures of the session. Also, the question of military defense was quickly referred to a Special Committee. A resolution to appropriate ten millions of dollars for defense was referred with little opposition to the same committee, which, it was understood, would report affirmatively in two or three days. A joint resolution was introduced on the 9th to appoint a commission to the President to represent that, "in the judgment of the General Assembly of Virginia any additional display of military power in the North will jeopardize the tranquility of the Republic; and that the evacuation of Fort Sumter is the first step that should be taken to restore harmony and peace." It would appear that the Legislature was fully up to the revolutionary point. Could that body have acted on the question, so wild was its zeal for the repudiation of its ancient honor that the ordinance of secession would have received its engrossing seal by January 10th. Treason, and the infamous programme of treason, were betrayed in almost every act considered by the Legislature. The Northern and Western members were almost powerless before the effrontery and madness of the members from the Southern and Eastern sections of the State. The glitter of a New Dominion was before their eyes, in which the prestige and renown of the Old Dominion | should be restored-in which wealth would crown every owner of slaves-in which manufactures and commerce would teem from her shores and upon her streams-while Washington, deserted as a capital, would give its magnificent buildings to be "consecrated to the Genius of Southern Institutions." The wise counsels of Amos Kendall, the clear mac logic and sturdy faith of John Minor Botts, the rights and wishes of the Union men from beyond the Blue Ridge and along the Potoc-all were as powerless before the baleful breath of Floyd, Mason, and Henry A. Wise, as the guide over the wide desert before the fierce sirocco. If the State became a battlefield, and her fair estates were laid desolate, she courted her fate by the willing abasement of her degenerate leaders before the wheels of South Carolina's chariot of fire. Tennessee. The Tennessee Legislature came together January 7th. The Governor's Message advised that the question of calling a Convention be submitted to the people. He thought the remedy for present evils to exist only in constitutional amendments. In event of their non-passage, Tennessee, he asserted, must maintain her equality in, or independence out of, the Union. He recommended the organization of the State military, and the immediate purchase of arms. Central and Eastern sections of the State, it was certain, were truly loyal to the Union, but it soon became apparent that a few men were to lead the State into the vortex of disunion, against the will of her best citizens. Ohio. The Governor Dennison, of Ohio, addressed the Legislature of that State, January 8th. His position was one of stern purpose to sustain the cause of the Constitution and the Union. In his Message he uttered these words:— "We desire most ardently the restoration of affection and harmony to all its parts. We desire that every citizen of the whole country may look to this grateful respect and attachment. But we cannot yield, even to kind feelings, the cause of the Constitution, the true glory of the country, and the great trust which we hold in our hands for succeeding ages. If the Constitution cannot be maintained without meeting these scenes of commotion and con Government with no other sentiments but those of ATTITUDE OF THE BORDER We test, however unwelcome, they must come. in attempting to maintain the cause. We are tied to Relying on the patriotism of the people, and on Divine aid, for the protection of the Union, Ohio calmly awaited the exigencies of the future. The Legislature immediately set about perfecting its military organization, and, at an early moment, provided "its mil lions for defence." Missouri. The Legislature of Missouri convened December 31st. The Commissioner of Alabama addressed the members, on the evening of Dec 29th, preaching his secession heresies to a patient but not pliant audience. January 3d, the retiring Governor, Stewart, sent in his message. Its tone was decidedly belligerent toward the North, but he deprecated secession. It was no remedy for the evils under which Missouri suffered. The abstract of his message read:— "Missouri will hold to the Union so long as it is worth the effort to preserve it. She cannot be frightened by the past unfriendly legislation of the North, nor dragooned into secession by the restrictive The incoming Governor, Jackson, delivered his Inaugural Message January 4th. In him the Secessionists found a pliant instrument, and it became evident to all that his purpose was to link the State to the car of revolution. He advised to call a Convention of Southern States to propose terms of settlement with the North; also, to call a State Convention, to consider State action in the crisis. The Legislature of Delaware came together January 2d, when it was addressed by the Commissioner from Mississippi, who proposed to the members the adoption of a plan of cooperation with the Slave States. The reception tendered this missionary Delaware. of secession may be inferred from the following resolutions, which passed both Houses the same day (January 2d) :"Resolved, That having extended to the Hon. H. Dickenson, Commissioner from Mississippi, the cour of the Confederacy, as well as to the State he repre tesy due him as a representative of a sovereign State sents, we deem it proper, and due to ourselves and the people of Delaware, to express our unqualified disapproval of the remedy for the existing difficulties suggested by the resolutions of the Legislature of Mississippi." The people and the Legislature were true to the Union, and the Governor was also regarded as loyal. In his Message, he said: "The cause of all the trouble is the persistent war of the Abolitionists upon more than two billions of property; a war waged from pulpits, rostrums, and the schools, by press and people-all teaching that legislation of the extreme South. The Governor de-assembled Jan. 7th. Gov- ernor Wood declared firm Illinois. which the national faith is founded; appeals to the ly for the Union and the maintenance of the laws. In view of the necessity of all the States to hold themselves blameless in the unhappy division existing among their Southern confederates, he said: great conservative masses of the people to put down selfish and designing politicians, to avert the threatened evils, and closes with a strong recommendation to adopt all proper measures for our rights; condemns this resort to separation; protests against hasty and unwise action, and records his unalterable devotion to the Union, so long as it can be made the protector of equal rights." "If grievances to any portion of our Confederation have arisen within the Union, let them be redressed within the Union. If unconstitutional laws trench. ing upon the guaranteed rights of any of our sister |