Mr. A. H. Stephens' States of America' have been ushered into existence, to take their place among the nations of the earth; under a temporary or Provisional Government, it is true, but soon to be followed by one of a permanent character, which, while it surrenders none of our ancient rights and liberties, will secure them more perfectly. We trust for peace, security, and domestic tranquillity. That ought to be the object of all Governments. What is the future of this new Government? The fate of this new Republic will depend upon ourselves. Six States only at present constitute it; but six stars yet appear in our constellation and Constitution. The permanent Government may have a greater number than the original thirteen of the original Union, with more than three times their population, wealth, and power. With such a beginning, the prospect of the future presents strong hopes to the patriot's heart for bright prospects in our career; but what the future shall be depends on ourselves and those who come after us. Our Republic, and all Republics, to be permanent and prosperous, must be supported by the virtue, intelligence, and integrity and patriotism of the people. "These are the corner-stones upon which the temple of liberty must be constructed, to stand securely and permanently. Resting our trust upon these, we need fear nothing from without or within, with a climate not surpassed by any on earth. With staples and productions which control the commerce of the world; with institutions, so far as regards our organic and social policy, in strict conformity to nature and the laws of the Creator, whether read in the Book of Inspiration, or the great Book of Manifestations around us, we have all the natural elements essential to attainment in the highest degree of power and glory. These institutions have been much assailed, and it is our mission to vindicate the great truth on which they rest, and with them exhibit the highest type of civilization which it is possible for human society to reach. In doing this, our policy should be marked by a desire to preserve and maintain peace with all States and people. If this cannot be done, let not the fault lie at our own door. While we should make aggressions on none, we should be prepared to repel those made by others, let them come from whatever quarter they may. We ask of others simply to let us alone, and to be permitted to look after our safety, security, and happiness in our own way, without molesting or giving offence to other people. Let, then, peace, fraternity, and liberal commercial relations with all the world, be our motto. With these principles, without envy towards other States in the line of poliy they mark out for themselves, we will invite them to a generous rivalry in all that develops the highest quality of every nation. With the best wishes to you, gentlemen, and to the success of our common Government this day announced, I bid you goodnight." Proceedings of the February 11th, Mr. Stephens accepted the election to the Vice-Presidency of the new Government in the following speech: "I have been notified by the Committee of my election as Vice-President of the Provisional Govern ment of the Confederate States of America. The Committee request that I should make known to this body, in verbal response, my acceptance of the high position to which I have been called. This I now do, in this august presence, before you, Mr. President, before Congress, and before this large concourse of people, under the bright san and bril liant sky which now smile so auspiciously upon us. I take this occasion to return my most profound acknowledgments for this expression of confidence on the part of Congress. There are special reasons why I place an unusually high estimate on it. The considerations which induced me to accept it I need not state. It is sufficient for me to say, that it may be deemed questionable whether any good citizen can refuse to discharge any duty which may be assigned him by his country in the hour of need. It might be expected that I should indulge in some remarks on the state of public affairs, and the dangers which threaten us, and the most advisable measures to be adopted to meet the pressing exigencies. Allow me to say, in the absence of the distinguished gentleman called to the Chief Executive Chair, I think it best to forbear saying anything on such matters. We expect him in a few days-by Wednes day of this week, if not providentially detained-when we will hear from him on these difficult questions; and, I doubt not, we shall cordially and harmoniously concur in the line of policy his superior wisdom and statesmanship will indicate. Meantime, we may very profitably be directing our attention to such mat. ters as providing necessary postal arrangements, making provision for the transfer of the Custom-houses from the jurisdiction of the separate States to the Confederacy, and the imposition of such duties as are necessary to meet the present expected exigencies. The power to raise revenue should be limited A small duty of not to the object of the revenue. exceeding ten per centum upon importations, it is believed, is sufficient. We can also be devoting our attention to a Constitution and permanent Government, stable and durable, which is one of the leading objects of our assembling. I am now ready to take the oath." February 12th, the Chair announced the PROCEEDINGS OF THE MONTGOMERY CONGRESS. 839 Proceedings of the Congress. Committees the most important of which were filled as follows: "On Foreign Affairs: Messrs. Rhett, of S. C.; Nisbett, of Ga.; Perkins, of La.; Walker, of Ala.; and Keitt, of S. C. “On Finance: Messrs. Toombs, of Ga.; Barnwell, of S. C.; Kenner, of La.; Barry, of Miss.; and McRae, of Ala. · On Commercial Affairs: Messrs. Memminger, of S. C.; Crawford, of Ga.; Morton, of Fla.; Curry, of Ala.; and Delcouet, of La. "On the Judiciary: Messrs. Clayton, of Miss.; Withers, of S. C.; Hale, of Ala.; T. R. Cobb, of Ga.; and Harris, of Miss. "On Naval Affairs: Messrs. Conrad, of La.; Chesnut, of S. C.; Smith, of Ala.; Wright, of Ga.; and Owens, of Fla. "On Military Affairs: Messrs. Barton, of Ga.; Miles, of S. C.; Sparrow, of La.; Kenan, of Ga.; and Anderson, of Fla. “On Postal Affairs: Messrs. Chilton, of Ala.; Hill, of Ga.; Boyce, of S. C.; Harrison, of Miss.; and Curry, of S. C." Mr. Stephens was inaugurated, and took the following oath : "You do solemnly swear that you will faithfully execute the office of Vice-President of the Confederate States of America, and will, to the best of your ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution there of so help you God." The Confederacy assumed charge of the question of the seized arsenals, forts, &c., in the adoption of a resolution which read: 66 Resolved, That this Government takes under its charge the questions and difficulties now existing between the sovereign States of this Confederacy and the Government of the United States, relating to the occupation of forts, arsenals, navy-yards, and other public establishments, and that the President of this Congress be directed to communicate this resolution to the Governors of the States." This threw all responsibility of the 'conduct of affairs in Charleston harbor on the central authorities, and South Carolina ceased to be sovereign. The resolution was as authoritative and imperative as the mandate of the Czar. Governor Pickens became thenceforward one of the lesser lights-so fleeting was the term of South Carolina's independence.* *The Mercury, of Charleston, grew exceedingly irritated over this early assumption of supreme power by the Congress. It declared South Carolina still supreme in the matter of Fort Sumter, in these energetic terms: "What remains but for the Executive of South Carolina to take the fort? The authorities of the Confederation have nothing to do with it unless the State is incapable of resisting these aggressions, and needs assistance. After two efforts to obtain peaceable possession of Fort Sumter, and a submission for two months to the insolent military domination, in our bay, of a handful of men, the honor of the State requires that no further intervention, from any quarter, should be tolerated, and that this fort should be taken, and taken by South Carolina alone. By any other course, it appears to us, unless all the positions of the Governor are false, the State must be disgraced." The Mercurial party was thus hatching rebellion against the new Government. The State, it was evident, was so chronically distempered as to be irascible under any extraneous control. Proceedings of the Congress. revolutionary times it is de- | 14th, when Mr. Boyce pre sirable to make as little change as possible in those things to which the people have been accus Proceedings of the Congress. sented to Congress a flag remitted by a lady "who resides in the picturesque town of Winnes tomed. We should respect even their preju- | borough, Fairfield District, S. C.—a lady of dices. The flag of the United States remains yet the emblem of the former glory, strength, and power of the nation. We, as well as the Northern Confederacy, have an interest in its past history. True, sir, it is but a sentiment; but the feelings which hallow that emblem are not those merely of custom or habit, but they are the result of aspiration. That flag is an idol of the heart, around which cluster the memories of the past, which time never can efface nor cause to grow dim. * * Sir, let us preserve it as far as we can. Let us continue to hallow it in our memory, and still pray that, The gentleman speaks of the victories achieved in Mexico under the flag of the United States. True, sir, but I feel more pride in stating that the Palmetto Regiment was there, and bathed its own State flag in the blood of many of its members and officers, and the warm heart of the gallant Colonel of their regiment, the chivalrous Butler, beat its last pulsation there. [Applause.] That flag, that State flag, is dearer to my heart than the flag of the United States, for it was under that flag that the battle of Fort Moultrie was fought; it was under that flag that the battles of Eutaw, Kings Mountain, and Cowpens were fought; and I have always, sir, been one of those who thought there was an over-estimate placed on the glories of the flag of the United States. Why, sir, most of the great battles of the Revolution were not fought under it, but under the separate State flags, before the recognition of the United States by the nations of the world." remarkable intelligence, whose path through life has been illustrated by all those virtues which adorn the female character." The letter remitting the flag was represented as “full of authentic fire. It is worthy of Rome in her best days, and might well have been read in the Roman Senate on that disastrous day when the victorious banner of the great Carthaginian was visible from Mount Aventine. And,” the enthusiastic speaker said, "I may add, sir, that as long as our women are impelled by these sublime sentiments, and our mountains yield the metals out of which weapons are forged, the lustrous stars of our unyielding Confederacy will never pale their glorious fires, though baffled oppression may threaten with its impotent sword, or, more dangerous still, seek to beguile with the Syren song of conciliation." Mr. Boyce's grandiloquence was followed by the reading of a letter from a Mrs. Ladd, giving her three sons to the cause, and thanking God that she was a Woman of the South. Flags were presented by Messrs. Stephens, Toombs, and Walker. All these candidates for National adoption were referred to the proper Committee. The secret seal was lifted slightly on the 14th, by a resolution-permitting the Judiciary Committee "to print such matters as they may desire to lay before Congress." This same liberty was extended also to any of the Standing Committees, so far as to allow the printing of any matter which they might deem requisite for the uses of the Committees. The inauguration of President Davis was fixed for Monday, February 18th, and a suitable Committee appointed to attend the President. An Act was adopted in secret session this day (February 15th) to continue in office the officers of customs, and providing for the payment of the customs to the Mr. Brooke withdrew his resolution, "at Confederaté authorities. The proceedings the suggestion of a friend." of the open session of the Congress, February The Flag question came up again, February 16th, were unimportant. CHAPTER XXIV. PROCEEDINGS OF CONGRESS CONTINUED. WITHDRAWAL OF LOUISIANA MEMBERS. TENTH WEEK. THE SPEECHES OF SLIDEL, WINTER BENJAMIN, CLINGMAN, ANDREW JOHNSON, HENRY Petitions. Slidell's Valedictory. national law as of political and geographical affinities and of mutual pecuniary interests, recognize the right of the inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley and its tributaries to its free navigation. We will guarantee to them a free interchange of all agricultural productions, without imposts, tax-duty, or toll of any kind; the free transit from foreign countries of every species of merchandise, subject only to such regulations as may be absolutely necessary for the protection of any normal system we may establish, and for purposes of police. THE Senate proceedings | which we have been compelled of Monday, February 4th, to seize in self-defence, if it were particularly interest- should appear that our share in ing from the withdrawal speeches of the Lou- such expenditure has been greater than in other isiana Senators, and by the elaborate disunion sections; and, above all, we shall, as well from the argument of Mr. Clingman, of North Caro- dictates of natural justice and the principles of interlina. Mr. Crittenden presented several important memorials and petitions from citizens of Louisville, Kentucky, of New Albany, Indiana, from citizens of Michigan, New York, Maryland, &c., praying the passage of his resolutions, or for some compromise. Chandler, of Michigan, presented two petitions from citizens of Bay County, of that State, protesting against the alteration of the Constitution. Other petitions were presented by Messrs. Bigler and Fessenden, also praying for compromise. Wilson, of Massachusetts, introduced a resolution calling upon the President for information concerning the seizures in Louisiana. To its introduction Bigler objected, when it laid over under the rules. Slidell's Valedictory. Mr. Slidell, of Louisiana, sent to the Secretary's desk a copy of the Louisiana Ordinance of Secession, which he had read. He then addressed the Senate quite at length, defending the course of the Seceding States. His argument, in many respects, was an able one, and his declarations were somewhat novel on points of interest involved. Among other things, he said: "We will adopt all laws not locally inapplicable or incompatible with our new relations; we will recognize the obligations of all existing treaties those respecting the African slave-trade included. We shall be prepared to assume our just proportion of the national debt; to account for the cost of all the forts and other property of the United States, "We must be prepared to resist coercion, whether attempted by avowed enemies, or by a hand heretofore supposed friendly, by open war, or under the more insidious, and, therefore, more dangerous pretext of enforcing the laws, protecting public property, and collecting the revenues. We shall not cavil about words, nor discuss legal and technical distinctions; we shall consider the one as equivalent to the other, and shall be prepared to act accordingly. Utroque arbitrio parati. You will find us ready to meet you with the outstretched hand of fellowship, or in the mailed panoply of war, as you may will it. Elect between these alternatives. “You may ignore the principles of our immortal Declaration of Independence; you may attempt to of enforcing your laws or collecting your revenue, reduce us to subjection; or you may, under color blockade our ports. This will be war, and we shall meet it with different, but equally efficient, weapons. We will not permit the introduction or consumption of any of your manufactures; every sea will swarm with our volunteer militia of the ocean, with the striped bunting floating over their heads, for we do not mean to give up that flag without a bloody struggle-it is ours as much as yours; and although for a time more stars may shine on | Government only existed. Slidell's Valedictory. your banner, our children, if not for the present, if not for the future; but if we need ships and men for privateering, we shall be amply supplied from the same sources as now almost exclusively furnish the means for carrying on, with unexampled vigor, the African slave-trade-New York and New England. Your mercantile marine must either sail under foreign flags or rot at your wharves. "But, pretermitting these remedies, we will pass to another equally efficacious. Every civilized nation now is governed in its foreign relations by the rule of recognizing Governments de facto.' You alone invoke the doctrine of the 'de jure,' or divine right of lording it over an unwilling people strong enough to maintain their power within their own limits. How long, think you, will the great Naval Powers of Europe permit you to impede their free intercourse with their best customers for their various fabrics, and to stop the supplies of the great staple which is the most important basis of their manufacturing industry, by a mere paper blockade? You were, with all the wealth and resources of this once great Confederacy, but a fourth or fifth rate naval power, with capacities, it is true, for a large, and, in a just quarrel, almost indefinite expansion. What will you be when not only emasculated by the withdrawal of fifteen States, but warred upon by them with active and inveterate hostility?" His argument was directed to a justification of the course pursued by his people. He asserted that the revolution was a movement of the people, and not a scheme of leaders; that it was not a long-contemplated conspiracy, but a public expression of a prevalent popular feeling. "We are told that the laws must be enforced; that the revenues must be collected; that the South is in rebellion without cause, and that her citizens are traitors. "Rebellion! The very word is a confession, an avowal of tyranny, outrage, and oppression. It is taken from the despot's code, and has no terror for other than slavish souls. When, sir, did millions of people rise as a single man, rise in organized, deliberate, unimpassioned rebellion against justice, truth, and honor? Well did a great Englishman exclaim upon a similar occasion: "You might as well tell us that they rebelled against the light of heaven; that they rejected the fruits of the earth. Men do not war against their benefactors; they are not mad enough to repel the instincts of sell-preservation. I pronounce, fearlessly, that no intelligent people ever rose, or ever will rise, against a sincere, rational, and benevolent Infatuation authority. No people were ever born blind. is not a law of human nature. When there is a revolt by a free people, with the common consent of all classes of society, there must be a criminal against whom that revolt is aimed.' You will enforce the laws. You want to know if we love a Government; if you love any authority to collect revenue; to bring tribute from an unwilling people? Sir, humanity desponds, and all the inspiring hopes of her progressive improvement vanish into empty air at the reflections which crowd upon the mind at hearing repeated, with aggravated enor mity, the sentiments against which a Chatham launched his indignant thunders a century ago. The very words of Lord North are repeated here in debate, not as quotations, but as the spontaneous out. pourings of a spirit the counterpart of theirs. "In Lord North's speech on the destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor, he said: Mr. Benjamin followed, Benjamin's Farewell. delivering his valedictory. His former speech [given on pages 150-51] expounded his views on the rights of States. On the present occasion he reaffirmed those opinions, and referred to the fact that it was said whatever rights might accrue to the old States, Louisiana, purchased by the Government, could not plead any "original independence." He assumed that the State and its people were not a piece of property over which the Government could exercise the jurisdiction of "And thereupon he proposed to close the port of bargain and sale; that they were only parts Boston, just as the Representatives of Massachu of a whole domain, for which, and by which, | setts now propose to close the port of Charleston, "We are no longer to dispute between legislation and tax ation; but we are now only to consider whether or not we have any authority there. It is very clear we have none, if we suffer the property of our subjects to be destroyed. We must punish, control, or yield to them." |