L. Yancey, Jefferson Davis, Robert Toombs C. S. Senator Iverson, U. S. Senator Benjamin, U. S. Senator Wigfall, U. S. Senator Clingman, U. S. Senator Clay, Jr., and Messrs. Mason, Wise and Hunter, of Virginia. The DramaUnfolding. By the middle of November the progress of the vention bill was adopted-December 6th be- Virginia's Protest. movement was perceptible, as will be indicat-less before the growing feeling against any ared by the dispatches of the 15th, viz. :— Gov. Moore, of Alabama, awaits the election of Lincoln by the electoral college, on the fifth of December, before calling a State Convention. He will issue his call on the 6th of December, fixing election if delegates for the 24th. The Convention assembles 7th January, 1861. The Convention will be composed of one hundred members. From the indications given in private correspondence from leading men in each county, at least seventy-five members of the Convention will be for unconditional disunion. MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. The leading men of all parties had a conference to-day, and unanimously agreed to a State Convention. They recommend resistance, the time and mode to be settled by the Convention. Good feeling prevailed. TALLAHASSE, Fla. "Florida is with the gallant Palmetto flag," said a dispatch from Governor Perry, of that State, to Governor Gist, of South Carolina. RICHMOND, Va. Governor Letcher has called an extra session of the Legislature for the 7th of January, to take into consideration the condition of public affairs, and determine calmly and wisely what action is necessary in this emergency. South Carolina Acts. rangement with the North. In Virginia, although the disunion sentiment largely prevailed, the disinclination to precipitate steps was so strong as to call forth such protests as the following, from the Alexandria Gazette, against the course of South Carolina: "Throwing aside the question of Constitutional right to secede at all, there is something due to comity, to neighborhood associations, to propriety. No man has a 'right,' by setting fire to his own house, to endanger the house of his neighbor. Virginia, in this Union, or out of it as a sovereign, and as potential as South Carolina, and has her own interests to look after, her own rights to be secured, her own feelings to be respected-and she will demand this from South Carolina, just as much as she would from any other State in the present United States. It would seem as if in the course now pursued, fearing the conservative action of Virginia, and not desiring, in truth, a United South,' certain Cotton States were for going off by themselves, for the mere sake of 'forming a Cotton Confederacy,' totally irrespective of other Southern States which do not recognize Cotton as their King, and totally regardless of any interests or any views but their own. It used to be a "United South!" It was for "Virginia and the other frontier States may as November 10th, in the well at once understand their position with the CotSouth Carolina Legislature, ton States. They are not expected to aid the Cotton States in protecting themselves and redeeming their important action was had liberties. They will practically aid the Northern A bill was reported for the immediate enStates in attempting to obtain in the South an acquirolment of 10,000 volunteers. November 21st escence in the rule of Abolitionists at Washington. was fixed as a day of humiliation, fasting The Southern States, however, will disregard their and prayer. The resignations of Messrs. Ham-counsels. They want no conference but in the conmond and Chestnut, United States Senators, vention which will assemble to frame the Constitu were accepted "enthusiastically." The Con- tion, and complete the organization of a Southern ACTION OF GOVERNORS AND LEGISLATURES. Confederacy. They intend to secede from the Union, and construct a Union amongst themselves, and will be glad to find Virginia and the other Border States in counsel with them, after this great Revolution. But if these value their own dignity,or respect our wishes, let them keep aloof from us until they are prepared to dissolve their connection with the pre 85 Terms of Settlement to be proposed. The conservative element in the South, it was hoped, would rally around a proposition of this kind; but, no concerted sympathy was expressed, and all hopes of the proposed Conference were abandoned at an early sent Union, and to unite their destinies with that of day. Under the influence of an ever-increasing sentiment for disunion and "further indethe other Southern States. If they will not be our friends, let them not be our enemies, by unsolicited pendence," the Unionists in Alabama, Georand undesired efforts under whatever amiable pre- gia, and Mississippi were soon left in the text-of preserving an abolished Union, to subject small minority. The immediate Secessionists us to the sectional despotism of a consolidated gov-began at length to speak of them derisively ernment under the control of abolitionists at Wash- as "submissionists," began to use them disington. The day for new guarantees is gone. Henceforth we are two peoples." courteously at first, but soon proceeded to intimidate by threats. Before South CaroThe Conference demanded by Virginia lina had actually seceded, in the cotton growlooked to a united effort before Congress, and ing States a strong Unionist was regarded as all action for secession was to be withheld an enemy to the South, and was treated with until after the failure to obtain from Con- such opposition as made it impolitic for a gress the necessary guarantees. It was un- citizen to speak his sentiments if they were derstood by her leading men that the Repub-averse to precipitate action. It was given licans in Congress would patiently and will-out, and became the generally received opiningly consider plans for compromise, and Virginia, if she could stay the revolution before it passed beyond the actual point of secession, had fair hopes of still preserving the Union. The programme determined upon by the Virginia leaders embraced, first, a repeal of the statutes nullifying the Fugitive Slave law by those States which have passed such statutes, with a guarantee of a faithful enforcement of that law in the future; second, a concession that the Constitution authorizes the carrying of slaves into the common territory, and consequent protection for slave property therein; and, third, that neither Congress nor the Executive shall interfere with slavery in the States or Territories, except for its protection in the latter when necessary. ion, that "in view of the increasing power of the Disunionists in the South, the conservatives of that quarter, headed by Henry S. Foote of Mississippi, Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, Isaac E. Morse of Louisiana, Gen. Sam Houston of Texas, George W. Jones of Tennessee, the Hon. John M. Botts, Timothy Rives, and William C: Rives of Virginia, Albert Rust of Arkansas, and James Guthrie of Kentucky, intend issuing a manifesto, assuring the conservative people of the Free States that in no event will the constitutional election of Mr. Lincoln be regarded as a cause for breaking up the Union, unless he should attack the rights of the South." But, if such an address ever was contemplated or proposed, it never was published. Whereas, The present crisis in national affairs, in the judgment of this General Assembly, demands resistance; and Whereas, It is the privilege of the people to determine the mode, measure, and time of such resistance: therefore, The General Assembly enacts that the Governor issue his proclamation, ordering the election on the 2d of January. Its powers were defined in the fourth section of the bill, which read:-"Said Convention, when assembled, may consider all grievances impairing or affecting the equality of rights of the people of Georgia as members of the United States, and determine the mode, measure, and time of redress." 'Whereas, In consequence of the appointment of Electors, a majority of whom are known to be favor. able to the election of sectional candidates as President and Vice-President of the United States, whose principles and views are believed (by a large portion of the Southern States) to be in direct hostility to their constitutional rights and interests, and in consequence thereof great excitement prevails in the public mind, and prudence requires that the representatives of the people of this Commonwealth should take into consideration the condition of public affairs, and determine, calmly and wisely, what action is necessary in this emergency, therefore, I, John Letcher, Governor, by virtue of the authority gates of the two Houses of the General Assembly of aforesaid, do hereby require the Senators and Dele the Commonwealth to convene at the Capitol, in the city of Richmond, on Monday, the 7th day of January, A. D. 1861, at 12 o'clock, M., to legislate upon such subjects as they may deem necessary and pro His proclamation | per." "Whereas, The people of the Non-Slaveholding States have in various forms, declared purposes hostile to the institutions of the Slaveholding States, and the State Governments of nearly all the Northern States have evinced a settled purpose to evade their constitutional obligations, and disregard their oaths in carrying on this war on the rights and institutions of Southern States; and "Whereas, The recent election of Messrs. Lincoln and Hamlin demonstrates that those who neither reverence the Constitution, obey the laws, nor regard their oaths, have now the power to elect to the highest offices in the Confederacy men who sympathize with them in all their mad zeal to destroy the peace, property and prosperity of the Southern section, and who will use the powers of the Federal Government to defeat all the purposes for which it was formed; and "Whereas, The dearest rights of the people depend for protection, under our Constitution, on the fidelity to their oaths of those who administer the Govern This was accompanied by an announcement in the Dispatch, of Richmond, to the effect that the State could efficiently arm 25,000 troops. The editor further stated that she had at least sixty bronze and rifled field pieces and howitzers. "A contract has been made for 3,000 shells and shrapnells, in addition to those purchased with the Parrott Five hundred barrels of Dupont powguns. der has been purchased and stored in magazines built for the purpose. The model of a new Virginia musket is determined on. Other warlike preparations are also in progress." The Dispatch, referring to the Governor's call, and the crisis which the Legislature would have to meet, said: 66 By the time they meet, the crisis will be sufficiently developed, no doubt, to demand some action on the part of Virginia. She will then find, very probably, that the question for her to debate is ripe. Ten days have very much changed the appearance of things. The signs from the South leave little room to hope that the Union will long remain unbroken. If there is a possibility of preserving it, or of prevailing upon States which may secede to rejoin the Union, we cannot long postpone deliberation upon the means by which either is to be done. There may be yet another question for Virginia, and that is, if secession cannot be avoided, and the Seceding States cannot be induced to return, what course is left her to pursue? It is probable that Governor Letcher will renew his proposition to the last Legislature for a Convention of the States, under the fifth article of the Constitution, to consider the state of THE GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY'S VIEWS. 37 the country, and see if some measure cannot be taken, which will restore harmony to the Union and protect the rights and equality of the States from fanaticism and radicalism." Governor Moore, of Louisiana, yielding to the pressure of the State, issued his call, (November 19th,) for the Convention of the Legislature, December 10th. Aabama Governor's Views. Governor Moore, of Alabama, in answer to inquiries of leading citizens of the State in regard to his views, answered by an elaborate paper, under date of November 14th, taking the ground that secession was not only a right-but a necessity. He took the position that the President had no power, under the Constitution, to coerce a state, saying:-" If a State withdraws from the Union, the Federal Government has no power, under the Constitution, to use the military force against her, for there is no law to enforce the submission of a sovereign State, nor would such a withdrawal be either an insurrection or an invasion." This view of the want of power in the Executive to coerce a State, we may add, was that quite generally entertained at the South, and it is certain the precipitate Secessionists regarded that fact as one so important, that their wish was to get out of the Union before Mr. Lincoln came into power, not knowing to what extent he might resort to force against them. Mr. Buchanan, it was felt and understood, would not attempt coercion, let the result be what it might. Governor Moore's address added:"We should remember that Alabama must act and decide the great question of resistance or submission for herself. No other State has the right or the power to decide it for her. She may, and should, consult with other Slaveholding States to secure concert of action, but still she must decide the question for herself, and co-operate afterward. The Governor of Ken tucky's Views. be governed by a party who entertain the most "To South Carolina, and such other States as may wish to secede from the Union, I would say: The geography of this country will not admit of a division; the mouth and sources of the Mississippi River cannot be separated without the horrors of civil war. We cannot sustain you in this movement merely on account of the election of Lincoln. Do not precipitate us, by premature action, into a revolution or civil war, the consequences of which will be most frightful to all of us. It may yet be avoided. There is still hope, faint though it be. Kentucky is a border State, and has suffered more than all of you. She claims that, standing upon the same sound platform, you will sympathize with her, and stand by her, and not desert her in her exposed, that her voice, and the voice of reason, and moderaperilous, border position. She has a right to claim tion, and patriotism, shall be heard and heeded by you. If you secede, your Representatives will go out of Congress, and leave us at the mercy of a Black Republican Government. Mr. Lincoln will have no check. He can appoint his Cabinet and have it confirmed. The Congress will then be Republican, and he will be able to pass such laws as he may suggest. The Supreme Court will be powerless to protect us. We implore you to stand by us, and by our friends in the Free States, and let us all, the bold, the true, and just men in the Free and the Slave States, with a united front stand by each other, by our principles, by our rights, our equality, our honor, and by the Union under the Constitution. I believe this is the only way to save it, and we can do it." "The contemplated Convention will not be the place for the timid or the rash. It should be composed of men of wisdom and experience-men who have the capacity to determine what the honor of the State The Arkansas Legislature met Nov. 13th, and the security of her people demand; and patriot- but Governor Conway did not, in his message, ism and moral courage sufficient to carry out the dic-refer to the National troubles. His silence was variously construed, but it was understood that the people of the State were op tates of their honest judgments. “What will the intelligent and patriotic people of On the 14th of November, Mr. Alexander and never will consent to affiliate with, or submit to H. Stephens, afterwards Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy, made a speech at Millidgeville, Georgia, declaring against secession because of Mr. Lincoln's election, but approving the call for a Convention to act, saying that his fortune should be cast with that of Georgia. He plead in eloquent terms the cause of the Union, and thought Georgia safer and more prosperous in than out of it. Mr. Toombs, who was present, frequently interrupted Mr. Stephens to show his own disunion sentiments. As the members of the THE MOBILE DECLARATION OF CAUSES. The Presidential election has resulted in the triumph of sectionalism over the supporters of law, order and the Constitution. Anti-Slavery fanaticism has lifted to the Chief Magistracy a man pledged to carry on a relentless war of aggression upon the rights and equality of fifteen States of the Union. In the pause after the battle, and before the enemy takes possession of the Government, it behooves us to consider what our safety demands, to look the danger in the face, and in the spirit of men who, Georgia Legislature were present, the speech knowing their rights, dare to maintain them at any and all hazards. The gravity of the occasion admonishes us neither to magnify nor under-estimate the hazard of our po The question is, can the honor, dignity, and equality of the Southern States, and the rights of their citizens, be preserved by remaining in the Union? Are we not constrained to choose between a dis graceful submission, and a separation from those who persistently and defiantly violate the covenants of our fathers? The following brief but truthful history of the Black Republican party, its acts and purposes, af fords an answer to these questions: It claims to abolish Slavery in the districts, forts, arsenals, dockyards, and other places ceded to the United States. To abolish the inter-State Slavetrade, and thus cut off the Northern Slave States from their profits of production, and the Southern of their resources of supply of labor. was heralded at the North as evidence of a It claims to forbid all equality and competition of settlement in the common Territories, by the citizens of Slave States. It repels all further admission of new Slave States. It has nullified the Slave act in the majority of the Free States. It has denied the extradition of murderers, and marauders, and other felons. It has concealed and shielded the murderer of masters or owners in pursuit of fugitive slaves. It has refused to prevent or punish by State authority the spoiliation of slave property; but, on the contrary, it has made it a criminal offense in the citizens of several States to obey the laws of the Union for the protection of slave property. It has advocated negro equality, and made it the ground of positive legislation hostile to the Southern States. It opposes protection to slave property on the high seas, and has justified piracy itself in the case of the Creole. It has kept in, our midst emissaries of incendiarişm |