Mr. PHILLIPS, Chairman of the Committee on Credentials, reported as follows: Resolved, That the following delegates elect, holding certificates of election, are prima facie entitled to seats in the Convention, and that they be admitted accordingly, to-wit: William Baker, for Twentieth District. Henry J. Deal, for Twenty-fifth District. Charles D. Drake, for Twenty-ninth District. H. J. Lindenbower, for Ninteenth District. William J. Duvall, for Twenty-second District. Solomon R. Moxley, for Second District. Claudius B. Walker, for Eighteenth District. Mr. BIRCH. I shall vote against printing any unusual number of this message, and will, as briefly as may be, assign the reasons why. If, in the performance of this duty, it shall be demonstrated that a majority of us are substantially precluded from concurrence with its principal recommendations-committed, indeed, to the exact reverse-we will, of course, permit no mistaken courtesy to still further encourage the agitation which is consuming our constituents whilst but aggravating our complications, but will denote, on the contrary, and at the very threshhold of our session, that, so far as it may depend upon us, "Missouri will remain Missouri still." Sir, such a decision, in my poor judgment, would do more to-day to restore the peace and prosperity of the State than all the partisan and empyrical specifics which have been or which may be proposed-for, as already denoted, they but aggravate the disease they originally engendered, and which they can never, never cure. As the Governor himself, at our first session, so conclusively argued, the troubles of the country came upon it rather in the apprehension of what would happen, than what had then already happened; and it is because the measure he now recommends for our adoption was amongst the agitations we then so mutually forefen led, that I thus respectfully propose to confront it with the language and with the resolves which were common to his constituents and mine-to his arguments and mine, and to his pledges and mine. In doing this, Mr. President, I shall but necessarily forego the too usual preliminary of "want of preparation." From the outgivings of the proclamation which has convened us, and the more recent outgivings of his speech in St. Louis, we could, of course, entertain no doubt in respect to the general character of the message which has been read to us, and came hence prepared to meet it accordingly. I expect to speak of it, therefore, in such manner as has been suggested by the continuous consideration of the causes and tendencies of our complications for the last thirty months-from the time when you and I, sir, [pointing to Judge Orr,] were the first to confront the conspirators of Secession, as I trust we may mutually continue to confront the still viler conspirators of Abolition-be our future what it may. If, in doing this, I shall fail of language the most appropriate wherewith to convey opinions which I have at least deliberately matured, I c [ can, of course, invoke no other forbearance for such shortcomings than, that what may be said even thus imperfectly, may be fairly and dispassionately considered as a whole, and as my best offering at the shrine of a common imperilment. Eschewing all further preliminary, and coming at once to the recommendations which have been addressed to us by the Executive, the conclusion but too painfully obtrudes itself upon my judgment that, so far from embodying anything like a hopeful or a true solution of our unhappy complications, they resolve themselves, not merely into an apology for the aggressions which we all stood once agreed to redress, but counsel us as well to stultification in the present, as to acquiescence and submission in all the future. It is therefore that we dare not be silentfor surely so long as the power of protest remains to the representatives of a once great and glorious State, we should not cease to remonstrate against a line of policy upon which the pledges of a majority of us were just as clear as they were against secession itself. For one, at least, I trust never to forget that the Union which I was elected, if possible, to "restore," was composed of States " "part slave and part free;" and that I was chosen on the same platform, and consequently with just as explicit an understanding as the Governor was, that the industrial institutions of the slave States were to be preserved, as that the Union itself was to be preserved. Indeed, sir, it was almost everywhere declared by the people we are here to represent, that "the Union" of which we have all been wont to think and to speak so reverently could be no other Union-nor can it be. of Missouri at their first great meeting in St. Louis, upon which occasion the eminent citizen whose official message is now before us, made the first and principal speech, and whose well considered resolutions became the party Shibboleth throughout the State, as it was doubtless intended they should be. In my own county they were re-adopted literally, word for word; whilst in others the State over, with comparatively few exceptions, they were either simi respect to fall below that measure of justice to the States, which all concurred must constitute the first step towards a restoration of the Union. It need scarcely be added that, having recently reviewed these primary platforms of the PEOPLE, I am prepared, if necessary, to verify the general statement thus made concerning them. Until then, I shall but read the resolves of the meeting in St. Louis, as sufficiently denoting the platform upon which at least eighty of us were originally elected to our places here, and will not, of course, anticipate any other defection than that which it will become my duty to establish against the Governor himself. Regretting this the more because of the manner in which he has been assailed by the more radical anti-slavery press of the State, it is nevertheless a duty which I dare not forego, either in justice to myself or to others who concurred with me in investing him with executive influence and authority, and who feel, of course, that his real delinquency consists, not in his declension to conform to the imperious behests of the radicals, but in having permitted himself to be swerved at all from the record upon which we made him the pro-slavery GoVERNOR of a pro-slavery STATE. By reference to the law under which we became invested with the "residuary sovereignty of the State," it will be seen that it was made our especial duty "to consider the exist-larly re-adopted, or not so varied as in any ing relations between the Government of the United States, the people and Government of the different States, and the Government and people of the State of Missouri; and to adopt such measures for vindicating the sovereignty of the State and the protection of its institutions as shall appear to be demanded." I have not, of course, alluded to this specific designation of our duties for any other purpose than that of denoting what was uppermost in the mind of the Legislature, and subsequently in that of the people, when thus investing us with the supreme authority of the State. That the masses everywhere appreciated the responsibility of their action in delegating to us the right to do whatever they could do-in confiding to ninety-nine men the authority to do whatever could be rightfully done by one hundred and seventy thousand men-was demonstrated in the dignified earnestness and anxiety of their action throughout the State. Commencing in its great commercial metropolis, even before the Legislature had finally passed the law for our election, such assemblies of men as everywhere attended the preliminary Conventions, and subsequently the public discussions of the questions and interests which were regarded as most prominently in issue, were probably never witnessed by the oldest member of this body; certainly not during my humble participation in public affairs, and that (there can be no immodesty in adding) has covered the period since Andrew Jackson and the patriotism of his day took cognizance of the grievances and anxieties of the South, in the memorable compromise of 1832, to the period when Lincoln and the partisans of his school refused all just compromise, and thus precipitated upon the country the calamities of the present fratricidal war. Of course, I hold myself ready to produce the most direct and irrefragable testimony to sustain this statement should it be in any respect gainsaid or criticised; but, for the present, pass on. First, then, of the St. Louis resolutions, which were published in the Republican of the 13th of January-copied into the country papers throughout the State-and which read as follows: "Resolved, 1. That we are warmly attached to the Government under which we live; that we recognize the Federal Union as the great preservative of our liberties; that under it we have, by God's providence, prospered beyond all other people, and even beyond the expectations of our patriot sires, who established it as the best means of perpetuating the blessings which they so gallantly fought for and gained. 2. That under this Government we are re I have alluded to the action of the Union men spected abroad, prosperous at home, and fast taking our true position as the leading nation tions, and revive everywhere the love for our of the earth. 3. That we do not recognize, as a necessity, any conflict between the institutions of the people of this great country; but, on the contrary, we see in our widely extended territory, our varieties of climate, soil, productions, domestic institutions, modes of industry, and even modes of thought, only the grounds for a more perfect Union. In this variety we see nature's great laws pervading all extent, and a necessary characteristic of every great people and widely extended empire. 4. Valuing as we do thus highly the American Union, we should regard its dissolution as eminently disastrous to our country, and as tending to injure the cause of rational liberty throughout the world. 5. That as our fathers denounced, so we denounce as hostile to the Union the formation of all parties upon purely sectional bases; and while the temporary ascendancy and triumph of such parties is not, of itself, sufficient cause for the dissolution of the Union and overthrow of the Government, yet it is sufficient cause for us to give, as we now give, earnest and solemn warning that the Union cannot continue unless all our constitutional rights are secured against encroachments. 6. That the possession of slave property is a constitutional right, and, as such, ought to be ever recognized by the Federal Government; that if the Federal Government shall fail and refuse to secure this right, the Southern States should be found united in its defence, in which event Missouri will share the common duties and common danger of the South. 7. That the discord prevailing for forty years between the people of the Northern and Southern States, touching the relation of the Federal Government to slavery, affords sufficient reason for all sections of the Union to require a clear and final settlement of all matters in dispute, by amendments to the Constitution, so that the slavery question may never again disturb the public peace or impair the national harmony. 8. That we have ever reposed faith in the virtue, intelligence and justice of the American people, and now give it as our opinion, that if time and opportunity be given, they will, when freed from the pernicious influence of mere politicians and demagogues, gladly and cordially agree to such terms of adjustment of our troubles as will secure to all the States equality in the Union, and re-establish fraternal relations between the people of the different sec glorious Union; and we cordially approve of the principles of adjustment contained in what are known as the Crittenden propositions, and believe that a settlement upon such a basis should and will be satisfactory to all parts of the country; and we give it as our unhesitating opinion, that if opportunity for a direct vote on the propositions be given, the people, or their representatives elected for that purpose in Convention by overwhelming majorities in all parts of the Union, would be found to favor their adoption; and, in our opinion, the country can only be saved from the horrors of civil war by the adoption of some such measure of compromise. 9. That, holding these views, we are not prepared to abandon the Union, with all its biessings, while any hope of adjustment remains; until then we will maintain our place in the Union, and contend for and demand our equal and constitutional rights, and will not be content with less. 10. That in the opinion of this meeting the employment of the military forces of the Goverument to enforce submission from the citizens of the seceding States will inevitably plunge the country in civil war, and will imminently endanger, if it do not entirely extinguish, all hopes of a settlement of the fearful issues now pending before the country. We therefore earnestly entreat, as well the Federal Government as the seceding States, to withhold and stay the arm of military power, and on no pretext whatever to bring on the nation the horrors of civil war, until the people themselves can take such action as our troubles demand. 11. That the people of Missouri should meet in convention for the purpose of taking action in the present state of the nation's affairs, at the same time to protect the union of the States and the rights and authority of this State under the Constitution; and to secure a consummation so devoutly to be wished, Missouri should consult with her sister States, that by united action those fraternal feelings which fanatics at both North and South have turned into bitterness and wrath be again restored, and mutual affection control all passion and redress all grievances. 12. That in the call of a Convention, representation should be in proportion to population as near as may be, and that the final action of the Convention should be submitted to the people for their approval and ratification at the polls." the "Crittenden Proposition," as a fair basis for the adjustment of all the real differences between the Free and the Slave States. The names of the officers of the meeting are a fair index of the character and respectability of the many thousands who were present, and heart and hand in the work. We refer to the proceedings, in another column, for an account of what was done and of the incidents of the day. The resolutions embody, beyond all question, the sentiments of the people of this city, and on the declarations and principles here pre Would it be possible, Mr. President, within the same compass, to compress a more intelligent denunciation of the "irrepressible conflict," which has but naturally continued to refuse all compromise? a more "earnest and solemn warning" of the conditions upon which alone it was hoped the Union might be restored and "continued?" or a more respectful, yet emphatic, annunciation on the part of the people of this State, in view of the possible contingencies of the future now, alas! but too depressingly realized? Of the meeting which adopted these resolutions, on the 12th of Jan-sented St. Louis and Missouri will go before uary, 1861, the St. Louis Republican, in its the country." succeeding issue, speaks through its reportorial and editorial columns as follows: BY THE REPORTER. "St. Louis witnessed, Saturday, an uncommon spectacle. Such an exhibition of interest in the fate of the country and of our institutions was never seen, we venture to say, in the whole great West before. It was a substantial declaration of fealty to the American Union of our fathers, so long as it can be administered upon principles of impartial equity and fairness to all sections alike. It displayed a determination upon the part of the solid, intelligent men of St. Louis to maintain the Constitution of the United States in every guarantee that it gives to the people of the Southern States and to those of the Northern States. It was an effort designed to reinstate in the breasts of all peace-loving, conservative citizens that warm and earnest devotion to the glorious Confederacy constructed by the wisdom and patriotism of our ancestors, which has heretofore thrilled in unison the hearts of fraternal countrymen. There was nothing of the "spread eagle" style of sentiment indulged in; but the demonstration was one grounded, as was too plain, upon a common sense of danger to the republic, and a common conviction of the necessity for cordial action upon the part of all true lovers of our national glory. As such, we shall look to see that it may have a beneficial influence abroad in staying the uplifted hand, and in bringing the Government back to the course of its early promise." BY THE EDITOR. "Never was such a meeting assembled in this city as was seen at the Courthouse yesterday, to declare the sentiments of St. Louis city and county on the great issues before the country to assert their loyalty to the Union, and, at the same time, to take position in favor of And Missouri did "go before the country" upon them. Under the auspices and endorsement of such names as Gamble and Paschall, (to say nothing of others equally respectable, but perhaps less prominent representatives of the public sentiment,) the flag thus unfurled at the St. Louis meeting was everywhere caught up and carried as a light and guide to the true Union manhood of the State, reasserting as it did the lofty teachings of the political school of '98, that "the Rights of the States and the Union of the States must stand or fall together " It may be necessary, however, as well for the more ample vindication of those of us who breathed upon Governor Gamble the executive authority under which he has thus addressed us, as to demonstrate the inexcusable sedition of the more radical articles which have recently appeared against him, that I should still further advert to the circumstances under which he came amongst us, and to the record which he so well maintained whilst continuing to participate in our deliberations. In doing this it may, of course, be trusted that the earnestness with which I co-operated with him so long as even the most enlarged charity could overlook the divergences which have at length culminated in the message before us, will protect me as well from the imputation of capriciousness as from all personal resentment --for if the country shall be satisfied with such reasons as may be given for his almost total change of position, or if there be those who console themselves that "whilst the letter killeth, the spirit giveth life," be it even so. My duty will be discharged in having demonstrated to those who conferred upon me the power to choose a Governor for them, that I had at least the strongest reasons to be satisfied that he would wield his executive influence in a direction exactly opposite to that in which it has of late been wielded in respect to the institution of slavery, which, as has been sufficiently shown already, we were elected and sworn to protect, and hence neither to endanger it ourselves, or permit it to be endangered by others. the Union action throughout the State, was not participated in by the Republican partyits leaders having publicly advised their associates to have nothing to do with it. The handbill which was put forth for that purpose is copied into the proceedings of the meeting, and is as follows: "UNION MEETING-TO THE REPUBLICANS! "As it seems to be the determination of those who called the Union meeting to-day to take narrower ground in support of the Union of the States than that which the Republicans of this city have already assumed, we have judged it expedient to advise the Republicans NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MEETING TO-DAY, but to maintain the position already assumed in favor of the UNION under all circumstances. "FRANK P. BLAIR. S. T. GLOVER, This open declension of General Blair and his party of that day to participate in the proceedings of a meeting which was designed to promote a compromise of our unhappy complications, and thereby restore the Union, was of course but too readily accounted for in the fact that, as a representative of the same party in Congress, he had been most active in the endorsement and circulation of Helper's “Im Passing over the record of events in St. Louis, from the 12th of January to the 3d of February, it is seen from the published report of the proceedings which I hold in my hand, that on that day two Conventions were held in that city-one under the name of the "Constitutional Union Convention," and the other in the name of a party coeval with the long-accepted interpretation of that instrument, and which will but naturally continue to defend it against all assailants. Pardon me, Mr. President, if I deem it unnecessary to repeat the name of that old historic party, or to otherwise speak its eulogy and hence pass on. Of the ticket, which it seems to have been the purpose of these joint Conventions to present to the consideration of the St. Louis district, it appears that the selection of eight delegates was accorded to the Democratic Convention, while the remaining seven (of whom Governor Gamble became one,) were to be nominated by the "Constitutional Convention." (Men were allowed to call themselves "Constitutional Union men" then. How is it now?) It further appears from the report of the proceed ings in the Republican, that the Convention "unanimously adopted a series of resolutions, founded on the declarations of the mass meet-pending Crisis "—had stood against the Criting of the 12th of January;" and that "upon motion and conference with the Democratic Convention, it was resolved that the ticket nominated be styled THE CONSTITUTIONAL TICKET." It of course detracted nothing from the significance or the strength of the sixth resolution, that the redundant lines in which it was concluded were omitted in the general abridgment of the platform, as worked over by the Convention at Library Hall. The declaration still remaining that the Southern States should be found united in defence of an institution which we have been convened to do away with, I will at least anticipate no attempt to impair my argument by technicalities of that nature, but will stand ready to meet it should such a course of defence be unexpect edly resorted to, after what I shall bring for tenden compromise, and had proclaimed in his speech at Philadelphia that "the real contest" in the then Presidential election "was not merely the exclusion of slavery from the Territories," but "the ultimate and permanent predomtnance of one or the other of the opposing principles of freedom and slavery!" The advice, therefore, that a party which stood committed to an extreme thus radical and "irrepressible," should stand aloof from a meeting which had been gotten up for the purpose of compromising such extremes, was but naturally accepted as demarking anew the line which had grown up, and has since continued to separate the real friends of the Union ("part slave and part free,") from those who affect to have found at length a military pretext for dispensing with even the disguises of the past, and for boldly avowing the total extermination To a still more accurate understanding of of slavery as a "military necessity." To what the political aspects of the issues thus inaugu- extent this radical theory pervaded the ticket rated, it is perhaps necessary to state that this which was subsequently gotten up in St. Louis, St. Louis meeting of the 12th of January, which (and upon which, for purposes then well unwas but appropriately accepted as the basis of | derstood, the name of Governor Gamble was ward in addition. |