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PROCEEDINGS

THE MEETING OF DELEGATES

FROM THE

SOUTHERN EIGHTS ASSOCIATIONS

SOUTH CAROLINA.

HELD AT CHARLESTON, MAV, 1851.

COLUMBIA:

PRINTED BY JOHNSTON & CAVIS,

1851.

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MEETING OF DELEGATES

FROM THE

SOUTHERI RIGHTS ASSOCIATIONS

OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

The Delegates from the Southern Rights Associations of South Carolina assembled at Charleston this day, May 6, 1851.

On motion by Gen. J. H. Ad^ms, of Richland, Gen. John Bucha- nan, of Fairfield, was called to the Chair, and Wm. H. Campbell, of Greenville, and Chas. A. Price, of Kershaw, appointed Secretaries.

On motion by Gen. Adams, the Delegates were enrolled by districts.

[The List will be found at the end of the Proceedings.]

Mr. Lyles, of Fairfield, moved that a Committee of Fifteen be ap- pointed to recommend officers and frame rules for the government of the meeting; which was agreed to, and the following gentlemen were designated by the Chair as said committee, viz :

W. S. Lyles, Fairfield; A. C. Spain, Claremont; A. Manigault, P. Delia Torre, St. Philip and St. Michaels; B.Perry, St. Bartholo- mews; A. Q. Dunovant, Chester; J. H. Witherspoon, Lancaster; D. Nance, Newberry ; E. Noble, Abbeville ; P. L. Calhoun, Laurens; Jeremiah Dargan, Darlington; Richard Dozier, Winyah; R. T. Mims, Edgefield ; Dr. Metts, Union ; Thos. Lang, Kershaw.

The Committee, after a short absence, reported by their Chairman, Mr. Ltles, the following gentlemen as officers of the Meeting :

For President. Ex-Gov. J. P. RICHARDSON.

Vice Presidents.

Ex-Gov. W. B. SEABROOK, Hon. J. S. ASHE, Hon. N. L. GRIFFIN, Dr. J. A. SIMPSON.

Col. R. H. GOODWYN, Ex-Gov. B. K. HENNEGAN, Col. W. H. GIST,

Secretaries,

W. H. CAMPBELL, C. A. PRICE, T. B. ERASER,

A. SIMKINS, C. D. MELTON, J. C. WALKER.

The report of the Committee was adopted unanimously ; and the President beirig conducted to the chair, addressed the meeting at some length, and with great power and eloquence, in reference to the causes and the objects of its assemblage.

The committee also reported rules for the government of the Meet- ing, the consideration of which was postponed until to-morrow.

On motion by Mr. H. Peronneau Finley, it was resolved that the daily sessions should be opened with prayer, and the Committee of Ar- rangements were requested to secure the services of clergymen of diflFe- rent denominations for that purpose.

The Rev. Dr. Someks, being present, was called on, and delivered a fervent and impressive prayer.

Hon. JouN E. Caeew. having stated that the Southern Rights As- sociation of Burko county, Ga., had appointed a delegation to visit the Meeting, it was, on his motion, unanimously resolved that a committee be appointed to wait upon the delegation from Georgia, and invite them to seats upon the floor.

The President appointed the following gentlemen as the committee, viz: Hon. John E. Care w, Hon. James Simons, James Rose, Esq., and Col. A. H. Gladden.

The Meeting then adjourned until 10 o'clock, to-morrow morning.

TUESDAY, May 6, 1851.

The Delegates assemWed at 10 o'clock, A. M., pursuant to adjourn- ment, and the session was opened with prayer by the Eev. Dr. Bach- man.

The unfinished business, which was the report of the Committee on Rules, was then taken up, and after a brief discussion the report was agreed to.

Col. Maxcy Gregg then rose and said that the meeting had as- sembled for a very broad and general purpose — that of consultatiof , and the objects to be embraced by it could have no limit except the objects for which the Southern Rights Associations were formed. In deliberative bodies the appointment of committees, to which the va- rious matters brought before them could be referred, to be placed in a shape to be efficiently acted on, was found greatly to facilitate business, and he rose for the purpose of moving the appointment of such a com- mittee. He then sent to the Chair the following resolution :

Resolved, That a committee of 21 members be appointed by the Chair, to prepare and report business to be submitted to this meeting ; and that all propositions which may be introduced in this body shall be referred, without previous debate, to the said committee for consid- eration.

The resolution was adopted, and in pursuance thereof the Chair ap- pointed the following gentlemen as the committee :

Maxcy Grregg, Richland; D. F. Jamison, Orangeburg; Jas. Jones, Edgefield ; H. Peronneau Finley and P. Delia Torre, St. Philip and St. Michael; Jno. S. Palmer, St. Stephens; Jas. Chesnut, jr., Kershaw; J. A. Bradley, Chester; F. D. Richardson, Sumter; J. A. Calhoun, Abbeville ; T. B. Haynes worth, Darlington ; Gr. Manigault, Prince George Winyaw ; B. K. Hennegan, Marion ; J. S. Maner, St. Peters ; J. G. W. Duncan, Barnwell; W. H. Gist, Union; W.B.Wilson, York ; J. H. Williams, Newberry ; R. A. Maxwell, Anderson; J. D. Wright, Laurens ; Tandy Walker, Greenville.

Mr. John D. Wright, of Laurens, submitted the following pream- ble and resolutions ; which were referred to the Standing Committee :

Whereas a crisis has arrived in the history of our country, calling for some decisive action on the part of the friends of the South :

1. Resolved, That conciliation is a virtue, and co-operation desira- ble ; but that, if need be, separate State action is the rightful remedy, to which, or to any eff'ectual measure of resistance by the Constitutional Convention, we pledge our all.

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2. Resolved, That more effectually to secure the co-operation de- sired, a State Southern Rights Association be organized by this Con- vention, to be composed of Delegates from each Association in this State, which shall meet semi-annually at Coluftibia.

3. Resolved, That each Southern Rights Association in the State be requested to call a meeting of their members as early as practicable, and ascertain the names and number of members over the age of 17 and under 40, and all over the age of 40, and keep a roll of the same separately, to be reported to the State Association semi-annually.

4. Resolved, That the President of this Convention appoint a com- mittee of , to prepare an Address to the Southern Rights Asso- ciations of the other States, inviting them to meet us in Convention, at , on the — day of .

Mr. E. Rhett, from the St. Helena Association, submitted a resolu- tion that the Associations should be called in their alphabetical order, to enable the members to submit their propositions for the considera- tion of the Meeting ; which was agreed to.

The delegations were then called over in alphabetical order, and the following propositions were submitted and referred to the Standing Committee of Twenty-one :

By Hon. J. L. Orr, of Anderson :

Resolved, That the State Convention called at the late session of the Legislature of South Carolina, in our opinion, should be assembled by order of the next Legislature ; that we have implicit confidence in the wisdom, fidelity and patriotism, of the delegates elect-, and pledge ourselves to sustain the final action of the Convention ; and that we consider it inexpedient to dictate or suggest to the members thereof the mode and measure of redress for the many grievances inflicted on us by the Federal Government.

Major J. D. Allen, of Barnwell, submitted a preamble and resolu- tions ; which, on his suggestion, without being read, were referred to the committee.

By Mr. McCall, of Fairfield, the following resolutions : [adopted by the Southern Rights Association of Fairfield District.]

Resolved, That in the opinion of this Meeting the right of a State to secede is not an open question.

Resolved, That in the opinion of this Meeting the State Convention should take decisive action on the question before its final adjourn- ment.

Mr. Price, of Kershaw, submitted resolutions; which, without being read, were referred.

By Mr. Maniqault, of Prince George Winyaw :

Resolved, That although the co-operation of the neighboring States be desirable, it is not indispensable for our relief from the burden of a usurping and tyrannical Government.

By Mr. Edmund Rhett, from the St. Helena Association :

Resolved, That in the opinion of this Convention the institutions of South Carolina are no longer safe under the Constitution, nor in the Union.

2. That the concert of the Southern States in any systematic and decisive resistance to tbe power of the General Government has been hitherto sought in vain.

3. That the only effective call upon the South must be by the appeal of a practical issue.

4. That the committee to whom these resolutions are referred be instructed, in the name of the Convention, to memorialize the Legisla- ture of the State to convene the State Convention at the earliest period practicable, after the 1st of February, 1852, for the purpose of decla- ring South Carolina an independent State.

By Mr. Fickling,' in behalf of the Southern Rights Association of St. Lukes :

1. Resolved, That the right of secession is one of the sovereign rights of the States composing the Confederacy of States known as the United States of America, to be exercised by any State at its dis- cretion.

2. Resolved, That a crisis has arrived which imperatively demands the exercise of that right by the State of South Carolina.

3. Resolved, That in postponing the exercise of this, even for a limit- ed period, this State is actuated by a spirit of conciliation, and a de- sire to afford to the other Southern States an opportunity for co-opera- tion.

4. Resolved, That so soon as it shall appear that there is no rea- sonable hope of co-operation on the part of any other Southern State, the interests and the honor of South Carolina imperatively demand that she shall forthwith proceed to withdraw herself from the Union.

5. Resolved, That this Convention can see no possible reason for postponing the action of this State beyond the month of January next,

Mr. Badger, of the York Association, submitted the following :

Resolved, Action.

Mr. A. J. White moved that a committee of nine be appointed to make suitable arrangements for the accommodation of the Meeting; which was adopted, and the Chair appointed the following gentlemen the commit- tee:

s-

A. J. White, John C. Walker, .Wm. Blanding, J. F. Poppenheim, Robt. W. Hare, A. Manigault, J. M. Caldwell, Wm. E. Martin, Geo. N. Reynolds.

Mr. Gregg moved that when the meeting adjourned, it should be «ntil 4 P. M., which was agreed to; and then, on his motion, the meeting adjourned.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

The meeting was called to order by the President, pursuant to ad- journment, at 4 o'clock.

Mr. G. A. Trenholm stated that he had in his possession a letter from Hon. Langdon Cheves, addressed to the meeting, which he asked permission to have read. This was agreed to, and the letter was read by Mr. Trenholm, as follows :

Plantation, (Ogeechee,) 1st May, 1851.

My dear Sir : I have been appointed a Delegate of the Southern Rights Association of St. Philips and St. Michaels, and also of the Indian Land Association of York District, to the Convention to be held in your city on Monday next ; and it was my wish and intention to have attended the Convention in obedience to these calls, but 1 cannot (do so without neglecting private business of my own of importance, which admits of no delay, and which cannot be well accomplished without my personal attention. This business, however pressing and important, should have been superseded by the public call, if I could have believed that my attendance at the Convention could be of any material importance ; but I am well satisfied that it could not, My general views of the grievances of the South, and of the subversion of the Constitution of the United States, are fully known to the public, and will weigh for what they are worth, as eti'ectually as if I were again to declare them.

The object of the Convention I understand to be, to declare whe- ther, in the opinion of the Convention, South Carolina ought to secede from the Union alone, and without the concurrent action of any other of the Southern States. My opinion on the propriety of the separate action of one Southern State, and particularly of South Carolina, has been long known. There is no man in the country who feels more sensibly than I do the danger, the dishonor, the infamy of the condi- tion of the South. No man is more entirely convinced of the justice^

the constitutional right, and the political expediency of the withdrawal of the Southern States from that Union by which they are enthralled, and which cannot fail, while it subsists, to bring on them further and future danger, oppression and infamy. I am satisfied that history fur- nishes no example of such disreputable submission as that which they now exhibit. The philosophy of liberty is jealousy. The proper ac- tion of patriotism is the earliest possible resistance to the slightest encroachment on the public rights. The lovers of liberty snuff the tainted breeze of tyranny in the distant gale, and do not wait for the overwhelming power of the storm. But we tamely endure the full blast of the injuries and insults so profusely poured upon us. .We hug our chains with something approaching to fondness, and submit to be governed by our bitter enemies ; and yet it is only necessary to will it to rend those chains, and to be " redeemed, regenerated and disenthralled." As a citizen of the South, I feel humiliated into the very dust. Yet I am not of opinion that South Carolina should se- cede alone. Nor do I think thus on account of the dangers it may provoke, or the sacrifices it may require. No dangers and no sacri- fices can be too great in such a cause. But one State of the South cannot stand alone in the midst of her sister States. These States form one family in interest, in blood, in feeling, and in endearing social and historical relations and recollections ; and such ties ought not to be broken but by dire necessity. South Carolina, I know, has been grossly slandered and vilified for what no dispassionate man can say is rash or unwise. She has done no more than proclaim the Southern wrongs, and who can deny them, and to express a desire to unite with her sister States in resisting them. She will be wrong, however, Iq my poor opinion, if she separate alone from them in her measures of resistance. But it may be said they have not proposed to do what the honor and interest of all require to be done to redeem the charac- ter and to sustain the rights of the South. It is most true aad deeply to be lamented ; but we are but one member of this large family, and have no right to dictate authoritatively to the other members of the family. We must wait upon them, and entreat them to move. We should use no language of irritation. We must look with forbearance on their tardiness :

" Be to their faults a little blind,

He to their virtues very kind,

And put a padlock on the mind," as to the past.

The people of our Southern sisters are a brave people, whoso fath- ers fought for liberty, who themselves were born and nurtured in the enjoyment of it, and who, therefore, know the value of it. It cannot

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bo believed that such a people will long consent to be governed other- wise than by a government in wliich they shall enjoy equal rights, equal power, and equal honors. They have been deceived and betray- ed. They must and will hearken to other counsellors than those to whom they have hitherto listened. The, South must ai^d will rouse from its slumbers, and mainly rely upon the Democracy of the coun- try. The Democratic party once already, under the guidance of Jef- ferson, in 1798, saved the South from the ambition and toils of Fede- ralism. We now contend against the same people, but with these differences : The leading Federalists were then high, honorable, able men, who were ambitious to govern you, but whose ambition was no- ble, and, therefore, scarce a crime, though dangerous to the true prin- ciples of our Union. These men have gone down to the grave, or have been proscribed and discarded by their unworthy associates — men with more than their ambition, but none of their virtues or talents. The great object of the old Federalists was a strong, but honest Gov- ernment. That of their successors is an anarchical tyranny, regard- less of the provisions of the Constitution for the security of Southern rights, and animated by the principles of abolition, and the phrcnsy of fanaticism. Let the Democratic party, then, which rallied under the wise guidance and foresight of Jefferson, and saved the South, again put forth its strength. It embraces the great power of the Southern States. Even the Whigs. of the South are Democrats, though in a false position, in which accident has placed them, and, freed of that, they will appear under their old flag. The Whig party is now no longer that of which they were members. It was a party founded on the details of the politics of the day, on the comparatively small mea- sures of the moment, and upon the candidates for Federal offices* The present moment is one of life or death to the South, and that party is not now contending for these old objects, but to conquer the South, and to abolish her most important and valuable institutions. If there are Whigs at the South who will still adhere to them, tbey are few and can be spared. We shall be strong enough, if true to ourselves, without them. It is only necessary that the Democratic party act vigorously, zealously and perseveringly, and the principles of the South will be triumphant. If we have souls in our bosoms, can it be otherwise ?

The consummation so devoutly wished may not be accomplished in a day or a year ; but let the party of the South persevere, and the result is inevitable. This will be true of Virginia and Georgia, as well as of other States. Let no one believe that the recent acts of these States truly express the will and determination of the people of these

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States. They will take new counsel, and finally be governed by their old principles. Let the question be distinctly put, at the polls, to the people, whether they will submit to the present subversion of their rights, and the present degradation of the Southern people, and I think the result is not questionable. The question is really one be- tween the South and the North, and whether we shall be governed ab- solutely, now and forever, by a people whose avowed objects are to an- nihilate us.

I have finally, my dear sir, to ask the favor of yoii to communicate this letter to the Convention, if you be a member of it, which I be- lieve you are ; or, if not, to engage some other hand to do so. My object is to show to those who appointed me that their delegate, though unable personally to attend the Convention, has not been wholly un- mindful of his duty to them.

I am, my dear sir, with great respect and esteem, your obedient servant,

LANODON CHEVES.

Gr. A. Trenholm, Esq., Charleston, S. C.

P. S. Since writing the above, I have seen it intimated that thsi Convention will be called upon to act much more largely than was at first suggested, upon the difficult questions between the South and the General Government. If it shall do so, I have no doubt the action will be unfortunate. It will, among other evils, divide the people of the State into parlies, instead of presenting that unanimity which now does it so much credit, and will probably, under future contingen- cies, give it much strength. The great activity and zeal of South Carolina have destroyed her moral and political influence. That zeal and activity were not eondemnable in themselves, but, under actual circumstances, were impolitic. It was slanderously called ambition, and a desire to dictate, and excited the jealousy of other States. Measures, right and proper and patriotic, were condemned simply because they came from South Carolina; and every dastard has jus- tified his recreancy under this prejudiced and slanderous condemna- tion. If South Carolina be wise, she will wait upon her sister States yet a long while. Let her be prepared to act, but leave other States time to deliberate and determine for themselves. Great changes must take place in the sentiments of the Southern people, or history is a fiction, and the nature of man has changed. Let South Carolina be prepared to join other States ; but she cannot go foremost without in- juring her own and the common cause.

There has been, I think, another error in the management of our

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great controversy, (not peculiar to South Carolina.) We have had too many Conventions. Such assemblages are proper, and only pro- per, on great occasions, when the sense of the people is doubtful. In almost all, if not all, other occasions, the organized power of Govern- ment is the safest ground of reliance; It is parti-jularly so in this case, which is a case of usurpation and tyranny on the part of the General Government; and our wise ancestors, with great jealousy, re- served and secured the independence of the States as a proper power to control the ambition of the Federal Government when it might arise ; and our great error and misfortune has been, that we have al- lowed the State Governments to be virtually nullified by not calling them early and vigorously into action. A concert between the State Governments is the great want of the South at this time, and this great object will best be attained by the Legislative and Executive functionaries of their respective Governments. The letter was then ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. Gregg, from the Select Committee of Twenty-one, submitted the following Resolutions, as expressive of the sentiments of the meet- ing, and an Address to the Southern Rights Associations of the South- ern States.

RESOLUTIONS.

1. Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the State of South Carolina cannot submit to the wrongs and aggressions which have been perpetrated by the Federal Government and the Northern States without dishonor and ruin ; and that it is necessary to relieve herself therefrom, whether with or without the co-operation of other Southern States.

2. Resolved, That concert of action with one or more of our sis- ter States of the South, whether through the proposed Southern Con- gress, or in any other manner, is an object worth many sacrifices, but not the sacrifice involved in submission.

3. Resolved, That we hold the right of secession to be essential to the sovereignty and freedom of the States of this Confederacy; and that the denial of that right would furnish to an injured State the strongest additional cause for its exercise.

4. Resolved, That this meeting looks with confidence and hope to the Convention of the People, to exert the sovereign power of the State in defence of its rights, at the earliest practicable period, and in the most effectual manner; and to the Legislature, to adopt the most speedy and effectual measures towards the same end.

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ADDRESS

From the Delegates of the Southern Hights Associations of South Carolina, assembled in Charleston, to the Southern Bights Associ- ations of the other Southern States :

Having met to take counsel together, and having agreed upon that course which we think it right and necessary to pursue, we wish to lay before you the considerations by which we have been governed, with that frankness which our respect for you, and our desire to merit your good opinion, require.

We regard the position of the Southern States in this Confederacy as degraded and ruinous. The manifest tendency of those systematic aggressions which they have suffered for many years past is to sub- vert the institution of slavery. If those acts of hostile domination, which have been rendered more insulting by mockery of language, under the terra of a compromise, were final in their nature, and were not to be followed by any further aggressions, we should still regard them as outrages, to which sovereign States, possessing the spirit of freedom, ought never to submit. But those measures only form part of a system, gradually commenced, steadily carried forward, gathering strength from development, and proceeding with fatal momentum to its end. That end is the abolition of negro slavery in the Southern States, and the lowering of the free white population of the South to the same level with that agrarian rabble, which, already strong and dangerous, seems destined, before very long, to be the controlling power in the Northern States. We see no remedy and no safety for the South in the present Union. But we know that in this we differ trom very many citizens of the other Southern States, spirited and in- felligent, having the same interests, and suffering under the same wrongs with ourselves, and who cherish the hope that the rights of the South may be vindicated and secured without dissolving the existing Confederacy. In this difference it does not become us to assume to dictate, and we hope to stand free from that charge. Up to this time the citizens of South Carolina, aware that peculiarity of political posi- tion, arising from past events, rendered a certain reserve on their part prudent and proper, have studiously avoided every thing which might look like assuming the lead in the defence of Southern rights. They desired to act, because they believed that safety and honor required action ; but they hoped that they might find leaders in other States, whom they might follow ia defence of the common cause. When the

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ancient commonwealth of Virginia, the proper leader of the South, declared her determination to resist, at all hazards and to the last ex- tremity, hostile measures then threatened. South Carolina, with all alacrity, stood ready to support Virginia in carrying out her high re- solution. When Georgia — whose former resistance to Federal usur- pation, under her heroic statesman Troup, gave promise of unflinch- ing firmness in any contest in which she might engage — proclaimed her determination to make a stand for the rights of the South, South Carolina rejoiced at the prospect of rallying under the banner of Geor- gia. And when her young and gallant sister, Mississippi, proposed the wise measure of a Southern Convention, for the purpose of en- deavoring to unite the Southern States in maintaining their constitu- tional rights, and at the same time preserving, if possible, the existing Union, South Carolina heartily entered into this measure ; and she has carried out the recommendation of the Convention so assembled at the instance of Mississippi, by providing for the election of dele- gates to a Southern Congress, to whose meeting she still looks with anxious interest.

In all these proceedings we think that the citizens of South Caro- lina have evinced all proper anxiety to avoid the appearance of arro- gance or dictation, to act in concert with the citizens of the other Southern States, and to do nothing separately or precipitately. And now, strongly as we have expressed our belief that there is no hope for the South in the existing Union, we are prepared to give a trial, fairly and in good faith, to any effectual plan which may be proposed by any sister State of the South, for obtaining redress for the past and security for the future, without a dissolution of the existing Union, if there be a possibility of such a consummation.

But we find ourselves forced to consider the ulterior question, what we are to do, if we find that there is no reasonable hope of the co- operation of any other Southern State in any effectual plan of relief, and the alternative is presented to us, of submitting or acting by ourselves. And, reluctant as we are to separate ourselves from our natural friends and allies, we have made up our minds. We cannot submit We know that South Carolina entered this Confederacy as a sovereign and inde- pendent State, and that, having been wronged, she has the perfect right to withdraw from it. Iler sons must exercise the right and meet the consequences. If no other State will join us in relieving our- selves from the wrongs already inflicted, we see no hope in waiting for new outrages to arouse a higher spirit of resistance. The new out- rages, we are well convinced, will come in due time ; but we feel no assurance that the spirit of the vassal will rise in proportion to the

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indignities heaped upon his head. On the contrary, we see that the South has already borne what it would not for a moment have submit- ted to ten years ago, and what the North would not then have ven- tured to perpetrate. We are not willing to try the experiment how long it will be before our spirit is completely broken, by gradually and continually yielding to slow and gradual, but unceasing encroach- ments. And if the exercise of the right of secession is to be follow- ed by the attempt on the part of the Government of this Confedera- cy to subjugate South Carolina, it is better that we should meet that attempt while we still have some spirit and some power of resistance left. If we are to submit to the condition of a conquered people, we think it less dishonorable not to do so until we have first been con- quered. And if any thing could add to the necessity which we be- lieve exists for a withdrawal from the existing Union, it would be the denial of the right of secession. For the denial of that right indi- cates of itself extreme danger. The right of secession has heretofore, and in better days, been regarded as unquestionable by all Southern politicians, with the exception of an inconsiderable number of con- solidationists. And if ever that right can be denied without arousing the whole South to sustain it, the South will be ripe for the most miserable fate which has ever befallen any people. It will then, as a permanent sectional minority, have no defence against the tyranny of a Government combining all the vices of the corruptest democracy and the most oppressive foreign despotism.

We know the consequences which will follow a failure in our effort to maintain our liberty. We see clearly that a triumphant exertion of the power of the Federal Government, in subjugating a State, will vastly increase that power, and greatly accelerate the change, already far advanced, of our federative system into a consolidated central despotism. We see, also, that South Carolina will not suffer the con- sequences of this change alone, but that the rest of the Southern States must suffer in an equal degree. They will have no safeguard against the Central Government, strengthened by crushing opposition, and rendered, by triumphant force, what our Northern enemies have long been endeavoring to make it by fraudulent usurpation — the su- preme Government of a consolidated nation. The sovereignty of one Southern State cannot be destroyed, without the loss of their sover- eignty by all the others. We are aware of the responsibility of doing an act which may hasten these consequences. We feel the respect which we owe to States having a common interest, threatened by a common danger, but not equally persuaded with ourselves of the ne- cessity of action. And nothing would induce us to take, without their

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concurrence, a course which is to involve them in its consequences, but a thorough conviction of the necessity which urges us, and of our right to 'do so,

Addressing citizens of Southern States, associated to maintain the rights of the South, we cannot imagine it to be necessary to argue about the right of secession. We hold it to be the great State right, without which all others are nugatory and incapable of being enforced ; and your position assures us that your faith cannot be different from ours.

Nor can we regard it as necessary any further to discuss the wrongs which have been inflicted on the Southern States. They may be de- nied by those who shut their eyes to them, but you do not belong to that class. Southern and State Rights men may differ as to the ne- cessity of exercising the right of secession at a particular time, on ac- count of those wrongs. But as certainly as the right exists, each State must possess the right of judging for herself as to the occasion and time for its exercise. If South Carolina decides that honor and safety require her to secede, she has the right to leave the Confedera- cy peaceably and without molestation. If the act of secession is not permitted to be peaceable, it will be from usurpation of power by the Federal Grovernment, not from the nature of the act performed by South Carolina. Accustomed as we have been to violations of the Constitution, and of the rights of the Southern States by the Federal Government, we have to look forward to the probability of another outrage by that Government, in the attempt to force the State to re- main in the Union. We suppose the attempt will be made, if the other Southern States permit it. Those States must decide for them- selves whether they will permit it. South Carolina must decide for herself whether it is necessary to secede. Her sister States of the South will have no right to complain that she forces them into a po- sition where they must either interpose to prevent her subjugation, or, by consenting to it, abandon their own sovereignty, and lay them- selves at the mercy of a despotic power. In seceding, South Carolina will simply do an act which all Southern men, who believe in the ex- istence of State rights at all, must admit that she has a perfect right to do, and which she regards as absolutely necessary. She will be acting on her sacred right. She will be acting as she would have to act if none of the other Southern States were in existence, and she were the only object of aggression by the Northern States and the Federal Government. She is not answerable for the usurpations and injustice which may be committed against her. And for her sister States of the South to ask of her to refrain from an exercise of right

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which she regards as indispensable for self-preservation, would be an interference with her free action of a far different character from any with which she can be charged towards them. Sovereigns are equals. In seceding alone, South Carolina would be placing her sister States of the South under no constraint. If they should find themselves in a position of constraint, it would come from the action of the Federal Government, not of South Carolina. But if they should insist upon her refraining from the exercise of her right, and submitting to a con- dition which she regards as intolerable, they would make themselves parties with the Federal Grovernment, in placing an unjustifiable con- straint upon a sovereign and an equal.

We wish that the necessity for separate action by South Carolina, which we have contemplated, may be averted. We confide in the gallant spirits whom we address. There may be some hope of the as- sembling of a Southern Congress, to devise measures of redress and relief, upon which some of the injured States may unite. We have heretofore bi^en willing to sacrifice much for Southern Union. We still are. We do not desire to lead, but to follow. Propose any ef- fectual measures for vindicating our comiron rights, and providing for our common safety, and we will heartily unite with you in carrying them out. W-e should regret most deeply to incur the censure of friends, with whom we have the strongest desire to act in concert. But we feel a deep conviction that we have not acted heretofore with any precipitation, and that we are in the right in the determination which we have formed. The self-abasement of submission appears to us unworthy of men still pretending to be free. The gloomy prospect of inevitable ruin to follow submission, appears to us more formidable than any dangers to be encountered in contending alone, against what- ever odds, for our rights. We have come to the deliberate conclusion, that if it be our fate to be left alone in the struggle, alone we must vindicate our liberty by secession.

Mr. GrKEGG stated that the Committee would report upon the other matters referred to them, and especially in reference to the more per- fect organization of the Southern Bights Associations, to-morrow.

On motion of Gen. J. H. Adams, the Resolutions and Address were ordered to lie on the table, and were made the special order of the day for to-morrow at 10 o'clock, and ordered to be printed.

On motion by Mr. Adams, the letter of Mr. Chevks was also or- dered to be printed.

On motion by Mr. Gkegg, the meeting then adjourned until 10 o'clock to-morrow.

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WEDNESDAY, Mayl, 1851.

The delegates met pursuant to adjournment.

Prayers were offered by the Rev. Dr. Hanckkl.

Mr. W, Pjeronneau Finley, on behalf of the minority of the Committee of Twenty-one, submitted the following report, which was read :

The undersigned, the minority of the Committee of Twenty-one, dissenting, as they are constrained to do, from the report of the ma- jority of the Committee, as involving a departure from the proper ob- jects of this meeting, and prematurely making issues not called for by the present occasion, beg leave to recommend, as a substitute for said report, the resolution submitted by a delegate from Anderson, amended so as to read as follows :

Resolved, That feeling entire confidence in the constitutional organs of our State Government, and the wisdom and fidelity of the Conven- tion elected under the act passed at the last session of the Legisla- ture, we are perfectly willing to leave to them the mode and measure of redress for the wrongs we have sufl'ered from the Federal Govern- ment, as well as the time of its application ; and, without indicating or suggesting the course it behooves them to pursue, we hereby pledge ourselves to abide by their action, whether the same shall be for seces- sion from the Union with or without the co-operation of the other Southern States. W. PERONNEAU FINLEY,

JAMES CHESNUT,jr. P. DELLA TORRE.

The report was ordered to be printed, and made the order of the day immediately after the pending special order should be disposed of. The order of the day, being the report of the Committee of Twen- ty-one, was taken up, and Col Gregg, the Chairman of the Commit- tee, addressed the meeting in its support.

He was followed by R. A. Gantt, Esq., of Barnwell, and Gen. J. H. Adams, of Richland, on the same side; and by Hon. A. P. Butlek and Hon. James L. Orr in opposition.

The meeting then took a recess until 4 o'clock.

AFTERNOON SESSION. The discussion was resumed by Hon. W. F. Colcock in support of the recommendations of the Committee, who was followed by Hon. R. W. Barnwell in opposition. John A. Calhoun, Esq., next addressed the meeting in support of the Report and Resolutions.

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Col. A, P. Hayne then moved an adjournment ; but withdrew it at the request of Gen. J. H. Adams, who submitted a resolution that the debate on*the report of the Committee should close, and the ques- tion be taken, at 9 o'clock to-morrow evening ; which was adopted.

The meeting then adjourned until 10 o'clock to-morrow morning.

THURSDAY, May 8, 1851. The meeting was opened at 10 o'clock with prayer by the Rev. Dr.

GiLMAN.

Mr. Gregg, from the Committee of Twenty-one, made a supple- mentary report, which was laid on the table, and ordered to be printed.

Mr. Gregg then. moved to reconsider the Resolution adopted yes- terday for closing debate at 9 P. M., which was agreed to ; and it was so amended as to provide for the closing of the debate at three o'clock this afternoon.

The order of the day being the reports of the Committee of Twen- ty-one, and of the minority of that Committee, was then taken up.

Col. A. P. Hayne addressed the meeting at length in support of the minority report.

Ex- Gov. W, B. Seabrook followed in strong support of the re- commendations of the report of the Committee.

Hon. Joseph A. Black followed in a brief and forcible argument on the same side.

Mr. L. S. Badger, of the " Hornet's Nest," (N. C.,) in some eloquent remarks, returned his thanks for the terms of respect and kindness in which North Carolina had been so frequently alluded to in the meeting.

Mr. J. B. McCall, in some brief remarks, advocated the adoption of the report of the Committee.

Mr. Gregg, the Chairman of the Committee §f Twenty- one, closed the debate, by reviewing and replying to the various arguments that had been urged against the report of the Committee.

The meeting: then took a recess until 4 o'clock.

AFTERNOON SESSION

The Resolutions and Address of the Committee of Twenty- ons were then taken up ; when

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lion. J. L. Our moved the resolution reported by the minority as a substitute, as follows :

Resolved, That feeling entire confidence in the constitutional organs of our State Government, and the wisdom and fidelity of the Conven- tion elected under the act passed at the last session of the Legisla- ture, we are perfectly willing to leave to them the mode and measure of redress for the wrongs we have suffered from the Federal Govern- ment, as well as the time of its application ; and, without indicating or suggesting the course it behooves them to pursue, we hereby pledge ourselves to abide by their action, whether the same shall be for se- cession from the Union with or without the co-operation of the other Southern States.

The motion was rejected by an overwhelming majority.

The resolutions of the Committee were then taken up, and were voted on separately, as follows :

1. Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting the State of South Carolina cannot submit to the wrongs and aggressions which have been perpetrated by the Federal Government and the Northern States without dishonor and ruin ; and that it is necessary to relieve herself therefrom, whether with or without the co-operation of other Southern States.

This resolution was adopted with but very few dissenting voices.

2. Resolved, That concert of action with one or more of our sister States of the South, whether through the proposed Southern Congress, or in any other manner, is an object worth many sacrifices, but not the sacrifice involved in submission.

Adopted unanimously, and ordered to be so entered on the journal.

3. Resolved, That we hold the right of secession to be essential to the sovereignty and freedom of the States of this Confederacy, and that the denial of that right would furnish to an injured State the strongest additional cause for its exercise.

Adopted unanimously, and