Tennessee has done, (God bless her!) by the exercise of the elective franchise, by going to the ballot-box under a new set of leaders, repudiate and put down those men who have carried these States out and usurped a government over their heads. I trust in God that the old flag of the Union will never be struck. I hope it may long wave, and that we may long hear the national air sung :

"The star-spangled banner, long may it wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."

Long may we hear Hail Columbia, that good old national air; long may we hear, and never repudiate, the old tune of Yankee Doodle! Long may wave that gallant old flag which went through the Revolution, and which was borne by Tennessee and Kentucky at the battle of New Orleans. And in the language of another, while it was thus proudly and gallantly unfurled as the emblem of the Union, the Goddess of Liberty hovered around, when "the rockets' red glare" went forth through the heavens, indicating that the battle was raging, and the voice of the old chief could be heard rising above the din of the storm, urging his gallant men on to the stern encounter, and watched the issue as the conflict grew fierce, and the result was doubtful; but when, at length, victory perched upon your standard, it was then, from the plains of New Orleans, that the Goddess made her loftiest flight, and proclaimed victory in strains of exultation. Will Tennessee ever desert the grave of him who bore it in triumph, or desert the flag that he waved with success? No, never! she was in the Union before some of these States were spoken into existence; and she intends to remain in, and insist upon-as she has the confident belief that she shall getall her constitutional rights and protection in the Union, and under the Constitution of the country. [Applause in the galleries.]

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Fitch in the chair): It will become the unpleasant but imperative duty of the Chair to clear the galleries.

MR. JOHNSON, of Tennessee: I have done.

[The applause was renewed, and was louder and more general than before. Hisses were succeeded by applause, and cheers were given and reiterated, with "three cheers more for JOHNSON, of Tennessee."]

SECESSION OF TENNESSEE.

The following documents are alluded to in Chapter XV.:

AN ACT TO SUBMIT TO A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That immediately after the passage of this Act, the Governor of this State shall, by proclamation, direct the sheriffs of the several counties in this State to open and hold an election at the various voting precincts in their respective counties on the 8th day of June, 1861; that the said Sheriffs, or, in the absence of the Sheriffs, the Coroner of the county, shall immediately advertise the election contemplated by this Act; that said Sheriffs appoint a deputy to hold said election for each voting precinct, and the said deputy appoint three judges and two clerks for each precinct, and if no officer shall, from any cause, attend any voting precinct to open and hold said election, then any Justice of the Peace, or, in the absence of Justice of the Peace, any respectable freeholder may appoint an officer, judges and clerks to open and hold said election. Said officers, judges, and clerks, shall be sworn as now required by law, and who, after being so sworn, shall open and hold an election, open and close at the time of day and in the manner now required by law in elections for members to the General Assembly.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That at said clection the following declaration shall be submitted to a vote of the qualified voters of the State of Tennessee, for their ratification or rejection:

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND ORDINANCE DISSOLVING THE FEDERAL RELATION BETWEEN THE STATE OF TENNESSEE AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

First: We, the people of the State of Tennessee, waiving an expression of opinion as to the abstract doctrine of Secession, but asserting the right as a free and independent people to alter, reform or abolish our form of Government in such manner as we think proper, do ordain and declare that all the laws and ordinances by which the State of Tennessee became a member of the Federal Union of the United States of America are hereby abrogated and annulled, and that all obligations on our part be withdrawn therefrom; and we do hereby resume all the rights, functions and powers which by any of said laws and ordinances were conveyed to the Government of the United States, and absolve ourselves from all the obligations, re

straints and duties incurred thereto; and do hereby henceforth become a free, sovereign and independent State

Second: We furthermore declare and ordain, that Article 10, Sections 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, which requires members of the General Assembly, and all officers, civil and military, to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, be and the same are hereby abrogated and annulled, and all parts of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee making citizenship of the United States a qualification for office, and recognizing the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of this State, are in like manner abrogated and annulled.

Third: We furthermore ordain and declare, that all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or under any act of Congress passed in pursuance thereof, or under any laws of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force, and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed.

SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That said election shall be by ballot, that those voting for the Declaration and Ordinance shall have written or printed on their ballots "Separation," and those voting against it shall have written or printed on their ballots "No Separation." That the clerks holding said election shall keep regular scrolls of the voters, as now required by law in the election of members to the General Assembly; that the clerks and judges shall certify the same, with the number of votes for "Separation," and the number of votes for "No Separation," and file one of the original scrolls with the clerk of the County Court; that upon comparing the vote by the Governor in the office of the Secretary of State, which shall be at least by the 24th day of June, 1861, and may be sooner if the returns are all received by the Governor, if a majority of the votes polled shall be for "Separation," the Governor shall, by his proclamation, make it known, and delare all connection by the State of Tennessee with the Federal Union dissolved, and that Tennessee is a free, independent Government, free from all obligations to, or connection with the Federal Governmenl; and that the Governor shall cause "the vote by counties" to be published, the number for "Separation," and the number for "No Separation," whether a majority vote for "Separation" or "No Separation."

SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That in the election to be held under the provisions of this act, upon the Declaration submitted to the people, all volunteers and other persons connected with the service of this State, qualified to vote for members of the Legislature in the counties where they reside, shall be entitled to vote in any county in

the State where they may be in active service, or under orders, or on parole, at the time of said election; and all other voters, shall vote in the county where they reside, as now required by law in voting for members of the General Assembly.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That at the same time, and under the rules and regulations prescribed for the election hereinbefore ordered, the following ordinance shall be submitted to the popular vote. To wit:

AN ORDINANCE for the adoption of the Constitution of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America.

We, the people of Tennessee, solemnly impressed by the perils that surround us, do hereby adopt and ratify the Constitution of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, ordained and established at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 8th day of February, 1861, to be in force during the existence thereof, or until such time as we may supersede it, by the adoption of a permanent Constitution.

SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That those in favor of the adoption of said Provisional Constitution, and thereby securing to Tennessee equal representation in the deliberations and councils of the Confedcrate States, shall have written or printed on their ballots the word "Representation ;" opposed, the words "No Representation."

SEC. 7. Be it further eracted, That, in the event the people shall adopt the Constitution of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States at the election herein ordered, it shall be the duty of the Governor forthwith to issue writs of election for delegates to represent the State of Tennessee in the said Provisional Government. That the State shall be represented by as many delegates as it was entitled to members of Congress to the recent Congress of the United States of America, who shall be elected from the several Congressional Districts as now established by law, in the mode and manner now prescribed for the election of members of Congress of the United States.

SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.

W. C. WHITTHORNE, Speaker of House of Rep.
B. L. STOVALL, Speaker of the Senate.

Passed May 6, 1861.

EXTRACT FROM AN ADDRESS OF A JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE LEGISLATURE OF TENNESSEE.

When this body met, it determined to sit with closed doors. We are aware that this mode of legislation is objected to by some. It is

the first time in the history of the State that the rule has been adopted because in that history no case has occurred to call forth its exercise. The proceedings of the convention that framed the Declaration of Independence were in secret. The Convention that framed the Constitution of the United States, held its secret sessions, and the Senate of the United States not unfrequently sit with closed doors. Those who have taken no occasion to condemn us, may be purer than those who framed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States; but we very much doubt whether they will have greater hold upon public confidence. But the reasons for our course are our best justification; the country was excited, and the public demands imperious. We desired to legislate uninfluenced and unretarded by the crowds that would otherwise have attended our deliberations; but still more than this, the western portion of Tennessee was in an exposed condition, with no military defense whatever; the towns and counties bordering on the Mississippi river were liable to be assailed at any hour by the armed forces collected at Cairo, and we desired that no act of legislation on our part should form the pretext for such an invasion, so long as it could be avoided. Our fellow-citizens of West Tennessee, and of Arkansas, are laboring night and day to erect batteries on the river to prevent a descent of the enemy. A duty that we owed to them and to the cause of humanity demanded that we should not make our action known till the latest possible moment. If some desired light while we were at work we equally desirous to save the blood and property of Tennesseeans. Our doors have now been thrown open, the journals will be published-every vote is recorded, and he must be a fault-finder indeed who will complain after hearing the reasons that prompted our actions.

We have briefly touched the principal subjects that engaged the attention of the legislature. Tennessee has taken her position and has proudly determined to throw her banners to the breeze, and will give her strength to the sacred cause of freedom for the white man of the South.

R. G. PAYNE,
EDMUND J. WOOD,
S. S. STANTON,

J. A. MINNIS,
G. GANTT,
W. W. GUY,

ROBT. B. HURT.
BENJ. J. LEA,
JOSEPH G. PICKETT.

CALL FOR A CONVENTION OF THE PEOPLE OF EASTERN TENNESSEE.

The undersigned, a portion of the people of East Tennessee, disapproving of the hasty and inconsiderate action of our General Assembly, and sincerely desirous to do, in the midst of the troubles which