had been a declaration of secession here, our
State would have become a scene of civil war
such as has torn Virginia into fragments?
At this day 25,000 men of Virginia have gone
out as soldiers under one Government, and
something like 150,000 men into the armies
on the other side. Such has been the case in
every State in the South West. Those States
only have escaped, which have been so
far removed from the scene of conflict, and
which have been so permeated with the spirit
of revolution, that the minority did not feel
themselves able to make resistance.
I do not mean to be understood to say that
the majority of the people of the South are in
favor of this Government. I don't believe
any such humbug. But I will say that there
were enough of them to have made, as they
actually have made, a civil war inside the
limits of five or six slave States, and it was
nothing in the world hut the extreme dis-
tance which prevented a like scene of conflict
in one or two others.
So I say that this whole doctrine of the
right of revolution amounts to nothing.—
Under a republican government, it must de-
pend upon how far they trespass upon other
people's rights in making their revolution,
for other people's rights are as sacred as
theirs, and if those other people happen to
have more power than they have, all that the
right of revolution will amount to will be
the right to make a fight and get whipped at
the end of it,
I shall conclude what I have to say, re-
ferring merely to one authority. I only wish
to read a small portion of the history of the
State, as a proof that the people that went
before us, did not entertain such very differ-
ent views from «hat we do; and that in point
of fact the differences of opinion that have
grown up in regard to Ibis question are per-
haps quite as much the result of difference of
feeling, purpose and desire, as upon any mat-
ter of logical deduction or philosophical ar-
gument, I wish to read the resolutions of
the General Assembly of Maryland of Febru-
ary 26, 1832, in regard to the condition of
South Carolina, for the purpose of showing
that an arbitrament exists under our form of
government:
" Resolved by the General Assembly of Ma-
ryland, That in expressing our opinion upon
the Ordinance of Nullification and the recent
proceedings of South Carolina, it is our duty
to declare our opinions firmly upon the prin-
ciples assailed, and to expostulate mildly and
affectionately with her,
"Resolved, That we hold these principles
to be incontrovertible, that the Government
of the United States was adopted by the peo-
ple of the different States, and established
'in order to form a more perfect union, estab-
lish justice, assure domestic tranquillity, pro-
vide for the common defence, promote the
general welfare, and secure the blessings of |
liberty to ourselves and our posterity,' that it
possesses all the purposes for which it was in-
stituted, that it is irreconcilable with the ob-
jects and purposes for which the Constitution
was adopted, to suppose that it contains in
itself the principles of its own destruction, or
has failed to endue the Government created
by it with the essential power of self-preser-
vation, That it is not in the power of any
one State to annul an act of the General
Government as void or unconstitutional.
" That the power of deciding controversies
among the different States, or between the
General Government ana the States, is reposed
in the federal judiciary, and that it is an act
of usurpation for any State to arrogate to
herself jurisdiction in such cases.
"That the Supreme Court is the only tri-
bunal having conclusive jurisdiction in cases
involving the constitutionality of the acts of
the General Government.
" That whenever a State is aggrieved by the
constitutional acts of the General Govern-
ment, the 5th article of the Constitution pre-
scribes the remedy, declaring that 'the Con-
gress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amend-
ments to this Constitution, or on the applica-
tion of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the
several States, shall call a convention for
proposing amendments, which, in either case,
shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as
part of this Constitution, when ratified by
the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several
States, or by conventions in three-fourths
thereof, as the one or the other mode of rati-
fication may be proposed by Congress.'
"That the right to annul a law of the
General Government assumed by one State,
is incompatible with the existence of the
Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of
the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit,
inconsistent with every principle on which
it was founded, and destructive of the great
objects for which it was formed,
"That our fellow-citizens of South Caroli-
na, who remain faithful to the Constitution
and laws of the United States, are entitled to
the protection of the General Government,
both for their property and their persons.
" That if any State, regardless of the con-
stitutional remedies which are afforded for
every grievance and oppression, should at-
tempt to withdraw from the Union, it is the
right and duty of the General Government
to protect itself, and the other States from
the fatal consequences of any such attempt."
That is to whip her back if she is out, and
to keep her from going if she is not quite out.
If any body can put any other interpretation
upon it I shall be glad to hear it.
"Further resolved, That the Ordinance of
Nullification of South Carolina is calculated
to mislead her citizens from the true character
of the Federal Government, and the just alle-
giance which they owe to that Government. |
