l77l 7OTH JZ m Duke University Libraries Message of His Conf Pam 12mo #229 1)^063^7 MESSAGE OF HIS EXCELLENCY JOSEPH E, BROW;; TO THE EXTRA SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE, CONVENED MiRCfl IOTA, 1864, Upon the Currency Act ; Secret sessions of Con- gress; The late Coxsckii- in >x Act; The un- CON.STITCTIO.VATITV OF THE ACT SUSPENDING THE PRIVILEGE OF THE V\THT OF HABEAS CORPUS, IN CASES OF ILLEGAL AR- RESTS mad:: by the President ; The CAUSES of the war and manner of conduct- ing it; And the terms upon which PEACE SHOULD BS SOUGHT, &C. HTOX, NISBET, HA . :, SriTE Printer MILt.1 . G.\., -xrC*&BSB&SG PERKINS LIBRARY Dolce University Karc Dook> Tnt r LvJYit.no wlluw..- MESSAGE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, ) . MiLledgeville, Ga., March lOtii 1S64. \ To the Senate and House of Representatives : The patriotic zeal exhibited by you at your late session, for the promotion of the interest and protection of the lib- erties of the country, and the personal kindness and official courtesy which I received at your hands, and for which I renew my thanks, have satisfied me that laying aside all past party names, issues and strifes, your object as legisla- tors is to discharge faithfully your official duties, and to sacrifice all private interests and personal preferences to the public good. In view of these considerations, I feel that I can rely upon your counsels as a tower of strength in time of darkness and gloom. I have therefore convened you that I may have the benefit of your advice and assistance, at this critical juncture in our State and Confederate affairs. TRANSPORTATION OF CORN TO INDIGENT SOLDIERS FAMILIES. Since your adjournment, experience has shown that it is not possible without assistance from the State, which will require further legislation, for the agents of the counties, where there is great scarcity of provisions, to secure trans- portation for the corn purchased in South Western and Middle Georgia, to the places where it is needed. To meet this difficulty, I respectfully recommend the passage of a law, authorizing the Quarter-Master General of this State, or such other officer as the Governor may from time to time designate, under the order of the Governor, to take possession of and control any of the Rail Koads in the State, with their rolling stock, or any other available con- veyance, and require that corn or other provisions for t he- needy or for tiie county agents .for soldiers families, be transported in preference to all other articles or tilings, ex- cepi the troops and the supplies necessary for the support of the armies of the Confederate States, and that the act provide for the payment of just compensation, for the use of such means of transportation, while in possession of the authorized officers of this State — the compensation to be paid out of the money already appropriated as a relief fund, by the agents or persons at whose request the transporta- tion may be furnished. Experience has also proved, that the counties of North Eastern Georgia most remote from the Railroad, cannot ob- tain sufficient means of transportation to carry the corn from the Rail Road to the place of consumption. The scarcity of teams is owing to the fact that their horses have r 67838 4 been taken for cavalry service, and their oxen have been impressed for beet' for tin; army. Finding tli.it tin-re v. likely to be much Buffering in that section tor bread for soldiers' families. 1 ordered the enecgectic Quarter Master sneral of the St;ite, to porehaae teami and wagons, by drafts upon the military fund, and aid those most destitute and most remote from the Rail Road, in the transportation of the corn. If this action is approved by the Legislature, as I trust it will be, the teams now about ready for us n be employed in this service for a portion Or the year. It not approved they will at any time command more in the market than they cost th< State, i! 'net needed lor mili- tary uses. RELIEF FUND ITOB RO&T>IER8' FAMILIJ 3. I am satisfied that the indigent families of soldiers in many of tbe counties ofth , are no1 receiving the benefits to which they are entitled, on account of the neg- lect or mismanagement of the Inferior Courts. Sixmillioi of dollars have hern appropriated for this purpose for the present year.- which, if properly applied, is sufficient topre- atany actual Buffering, Complaints come up constantly ;;t adequate provisions are *T)Ot made lor the needy. In many cases, I have no doubt the?e complaints are well founded. As evidence of the neglect ol part of the Courts, it may be proper to state, that great as the destitution is among those entitled to the fund, the amount due for the last quarter of last year, has not in some cases been applied for. Some Courts have not yet sent in their reports of the number entitled for the present year, so as to enable me to have the calculation made, an 1 the amount due each connty ascertained.; while- many of the countieshnve made no application for any part of the fund appropriated for this year. While the Govt rnor has power to require U\r courts to make repot ts of the disposition made of the fund, in where he s it is being improperly applied, and to withhold paym inta to the courts in such cases; he has no power to compel the courts to do their duty, nor can he take the fund from them and appoint any other person or ■ ■lit to distribute it among those for whom it is intended, [f the conns fail to act, the law makes no other provision for the distribution of the fund, Unless some better plan is adopted, I am the obj cts of the Legislature Avill be very* imperfectly carried out in many i oun- ties, and the needy will not receive the be] the lib- eral provision made for them by the appropria As it may be d provide for I I ive, reliable . a the count u rist the courts, or to take charge o! tl e fund in cat gleet or mismanage- ment by rhern, I resj ectfully suggest that provision should be made for commissioning all such, as otficers of this State, so as to protect them against conscription. It will be impossible to relieve the needy, if our most valuable county agents are taken from the discharge of their impor- tant duties by the enrolling ollicers of the Confederacy.- Provision should also be ma/le for the removal from of- fice, of all Justices of the Inferior Courts, who neglect or refuse to discharge their duties promptly and faithfully. * COTTON PLANTING. Having on former occasions, brought the question of far- ther restriction of cotton planting to the attention of the General Assembly, I l'eel a delicacy in again recurring to that subject. The present prices of provisions and the great importance of securing a continued supply of the necessarie^of life, are my excuse for again earnestly recom- mending that the law he so changed as to make it highly penal for any person to plant or cultivate, in cotton, more than one quarter of an acre to the hand till the end of the war. This additional restraint is not necessary to control the conduct of the more liberal and patriotic portion of our people; but there are those, who lor the purpose of making a little more money, will plant the last seed allowed by law without stopping to enquire whether they thereby endanger the liberties of the people and the independence ol the Confederacy. To control the conduct of this class of persons, and to the extent of our ability to provide against the possible contingency of a failure of supplies in future; I feel it to lie an imperative duty, again to urge upon your considera- tion the importance of the legislation above recommended. ILLEGAL DISTILLATION. ' I beg leave again to call the attention of the General Assembly to the illegal distillation of grain into spirituous liquors. So great are the profits realized by those engaged in this business, that the law is evaded* in every way that ingenuity can devise; and I am satisfied- that the evil can not be effectually suppressed without farther and more stringent legislation. Some -of the Judges have ruled that the act passed at your last session, does not give tlfem au- thority to draw and compel the attendance of a jury out of the regular term time of the Court, to try the question of nuisance, while some public ollicers have shown no disposition to act, for fear of incurring the ill-will of per- sons of wealth and influence, who are engaged in the daily violation of the law. Distillers in some parts of the State, are paying ten dol- lars per bushel for corn to convert ' into whiskey, while soldiers' families and other poor persons are suffering for bread. P67838 I renew the expression of my firm conviction, that the evil can only be effectually suppressed by the seizure of the atill.«. We now need copper ibf I I the State 1; au in r ■ which he has reasonable ground to s pect have been used in violation of the law, and convert them into such material for the Road and implements war. as the State may nee.], and that he he authorized to I the military force" ' J to accomplish tin- ob- ject, and that provision be* made for paying the owner just compensation for such stills wjien seized. I also recom- mend that provision be made for annulling the commission of any civil or military officer ol this State, \\ ho fails to ercise vigilance, i i ' ; to discharge his duty faithfully in tin' executiou of the law against illegal distillation. [MPRESSMENT OF PROVI8ION8, Since your last session, experience has proven that from <]istrn>! of the currency or from other cause, many' planter- have refuse:! in sell corn or other provisions, not necessary for their own use. to State or county agents for the market price when offered, while soldiers' families have heen suf- fering for provisions. [ recommend the enactment of a law authorizing State officers, under the direction of the Governor, to make im- pressments of provisions in all such cases, ari'l providing for the payment of just compensation to the owners of the property impressed. ' si. ,\'. . PING TO 1 ill". ENEMY. The official reports of Federal ollicers are said to show that the enemy now has 50,000 of our slaves employed against us. [ftiiese 50,000 able bodied negroes had been carried into the interior by their owners, when the enemy approached the locality where they were employed, put to work clearing laud and making provisions, should to-day have heen 50,000 stronger and the enemy that much weaker, making a difference oi lOO.QOOin the presenl relative strength oi the parties to the struj When a nemo man worth $1,000 upon the gold has: capes, to the enemy, that Bum ol the aggr< gate wealth of the Slate, upon which she should receive taxes, is lost — one laborer who should be employed in the production of pro- visions is also lost, while one laborer or one more armed man is \AAvn to the Itrength of the enemy. It is therefore unjustifiable and unpatriotic for the owner to keep his negroes within such distance of the enemy's lines, as to make il easy for them to escape. This should not be permitted, and to prevent it in future such laws should he emu led as may he necessary to compel their re- moval by the owner in such case, or to provide for their forfeiture to the Scute. 7 . No man has a right to* use his own property so as to> weaken t)ur strength, •diminish our provision supply and add recruits to the army of the enemy. DESERTION OF OUR CAUSE 15Y REMOVALS WITHIN THE ENEMY'S- LINE. I am informed that a number of persons in the portion of our State, adjoining to East Tennessee, have lately remov- ed with their families within the- lines of the enemy ; and carried with them their movable property. Those persons have never been loyal to the cause of the South ; and they now avail themselves of the earliest opportunity to unite with the enemies of their State. I recommend the enactment of a law, providing for the confiscation of the property of all. such persons; and that all such property be sold, and the proceeds of the sale ap- plied to the payment of damages done to loyal citizens of the same section, whose property has been destroyed, by raids of the enemy, or by tinned bands of tories. I am also informed, that some disloyal persons in'that section, have deserted from our armies ; or avoiding service have left their families behind, and gone over to the enemy, ami are now under arms against us. I am happy to learn that the number of such persons is very small. I recommend the confiscation of the property of this cla§s of persons also,, and in case they have left families behind, that area charge- to the county, that no part of the relief fund be allowed them ; but that they be carried to the enemy's lines, anil turned over to those in whose cause their husbands now serve. I also recommend the enactment of such laws as snail forever disfranchise and decitizenize all persons of both clas- ses, should they attempt to return to this State. THE CURRENCY. The late action of the Congress-of the Confederate States upon the subject of the currency, has rendered further leg- islation necessary in this State, upon that question. It cau •not be denied that this act has seriously embarrassed the fi- nancial system of this Slate, and has shaken the confidence of our.people in' either the justice of the late Congress or its competency to manage our financial affairs. Probably the history of the past furnishes few more striking instances of unsound policy combined with bad faith. The Government issues its Treasury notes for SLOO, and! binds itself, two year- after a treaty of peace between tbe Confederate States ami the United States, to pay the bear- er that sum, and stipulates upon the face of the note, that it is fundable in Confederate States stocks or bonds, ami receivable in payment of all public dues, except export da- ties. The Congress, while the war is still progressing, pas- ses a statute that this bill shall be funded in about forty days or one third of it shall be repudiated, and that a tax often per cent a month shall be paid foxit afterthat time l>y the lml- der, and it shall no longer be receivable in pa] pub- lic dues, and if it is not Ponded by the 1st « » t" January next, the whole debt La repudiated. Did tin* holder take the note, with any Buch expectation ? Was this the contract, and is this the way the government is to keep its taith ? Ifwi rid of the old issues in this way, what guaranty do we give, belter faith, in demption ol the n< in, many of the notes have the express promise on their that they shall In* funded in eight per cent bonds. When 9 The plain import is, and bo Understood by all at the time of their issue, that it may he done at any time before the day fixed on the face- of the note for its payment. Witl what semblance of good faith then does the govern- t, before that time, compel the holder to receive a i'»ur per cent bond or lose the whole debt? and what better is this than repudiation ( "When was it ever before attempted ))y any government, to compel the funding ol almost the entire paper currency of a country, amounting to te\ eight hundred millions of dollars, in forty days? This is certainly a new chapter in financiering. The country expected the imposition of a heavy tax, and .-ill patriotic citizens wen- prepared to pay it cheerfully at any reasonable sacrifice; but repudiation and had faith were not expected, and the authors of it cannot he held guilt- less. The expiring Congress took the precaution to discuss this measure in secret Bession : bo that the individual act of the representative could not reach bis constituents, and none could be annoyed during its consideration by the murmurs of public disapprobation being echoed hack iiytotho Legis* . lative Hall. And to make assurance doubly sure, they fixed* the day for the assembling of their bug at a time too late to remedy the evil, or afford adequate redress for the wrong. These $ecrei sessions <>! Congress arc becoming a blighting curse to the count rv. They are used as a convenient iikwIo of covering up from the people, such acts or expressions of their representatives as will not bear investigation in the light ol day. Almost every net of usurpation of pdwer, or of bad faith, has been conceived, brought forth and nurtur- ed, in tecret session. If I mistake not, the British Parliament, never discussed .1 single measure in secret session during the whole period of the Crimean War. Jmt if it is neces- sary to discuss a few important military measures, such as may relate to the movement of armies. &c., in secret ses- sion, it does not follow that discussions of questions pertain- ing to the currency, the suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus, and the like, should all be conducted in secret ses- sion. The people should require all such measures to be discussed with open doors, and the press should have the liberty of reporting and freely criticising the acts of our public servants. la this way the rejection of the popular will back, upon the representative, would generally cause the defeat of such unsound measures, as those which are now fastened upon the country in defiance of the will of the people. But dismissing the past and looking to the future, the inquiry presented for our consideration is, how shall the State authorities act in the management of the finances of the State? . As the Confederate States Treasury notes con- Btitute.the currency of the country, the State has been ob- liged to receive and pay them out, and she must continue to do so. as long as they remain the only circulating medi- um. The present Legislature has very wisely adopted the policy, in the present depreciated condition of the currency, of collecting by taxation a sufficient sum in currency, to pay the current appropriations of the State Government, instead of adding them to the debt of the State to be paid in future upon the gold basis. If the State issues her own bonds and puts them upon the market, or if she issues her own Treasury notes redeemable at a future day in her bonds, she adds the amount so issued to her permanent indebted- ness, and defeats the policy of paying as she goes, as her own bonds or notes would then be out, and could not be redeemed with the Confederate notes when received into her Treasury. If the State receives in payment of taxes the present Confederate Treasury notes, they will be reduced in amount one-third by act of Congress after 1st April. next, and the State receiving them at par pays a Confederate Tax of 38| per cent upon all monies that pass through her Treasury. This of course cannot be submitted to. The repudiation policy of Congress, seems therefore to have left us but one alternative, and that is to receive and pay out only such issues of Confederate notes, as under the acts of Congress pass at par, without the deduction of ooi or any other per cent J3ut as we are obliged to have funds before the time when the new issues of Confederate notes can go into circulation, the question presented is, how shall we supply the Treasury in the mean time? In my judg- ment the proper plan will be to issue State Treasury notes, payable on the 25th day of December next at the Treasury, and in each of the more important cities of this State, in Confederate Treasury notes, of such issue as may be made after 1st April next, to be used as circulating medium. This enables the State to anticipate the new issues, and use them in advance of their circulation by Confederate au- thority. The new Georgia Treasury notes of this issue, would be just as good as the new issue of Confederate notes ; because payable in them; and would be as current, 10 in payment of debts. The act shouTd provide that all tax- es hereafter flue the State for this year, shall be payabh the Con (('derate Treasury the nevt issue, and that they shall !»•• deposited in the Treasury when collected, to •redeem the Si ryable in them. The act should alsu provide chat the State notea shall be returned, and the Confederate notea received in place of them within three months after they are due, or thai the State will no longer be liable for their payment. This would prevent holders from laying them away, and refusing i<> bring them in for payment when due, according to the lerms of the com' As the State tax is not due until next fall, there witl be an abundanl supply of the new Confederate notes in circula- tion by that time, to obviate all difficulty in obtaining them by our people to pay the tax. I recommend the passage ol a joint resolution authorizing the < lovernor to have funded in t he Bix per cent bonds, pro- vided for by the act of < !ongress, all ( loniederate notes which may remain in the Treasury, or may be in the hands of any of the financial agents of the State, alter the first day of April next, ami to sell and dispose of such bonds at their .market value in currency, wh'ch can be made available in payments to he made hy the .Treasury, and CO credit the Treasurer with any losses that may accrue by reason of the failure of the bonds to bring par in the market. ORPHANS' ESI \ i ES. On account of the present depreciated valueof the Con- federate securities, I recommend the repeal ol the law which authorizes Executors, Ad mi nisi rators and Trustees to ii the funds of those whom they represent in these securities. As the law stands, it enables unscrupulous fiduciary 8{ to perpetrate frauds upon innocent orphans, and other help- less, persons represented by them, and in effect compels or- phans, and those represented by trustees, to invest their whole est ites in government bonds, which no other cl required to do. FURLOUGHS REFUSED. <>n the :J7i!i of February, when I issued my Proclama- tion, calling von into extra Bession, I telegraphed the Sec- ret. i iv ol War. and a$ked that furloughs be granted to mem- bers in military service, to attend the session, and received a reply stating that it had "been concluded not to grant furloughs to attend the session,*' that, ' olliccrs 80 sihiated are entitled to resign and may so elect." I regret this determination of the Confederate govern- ment, as it places mir gallant officers who have been elec- ted by the people to represent them, and to whom, as well as their predecessors similarly situated, furloughs were nev- er before denied, in a position where it costs them their commissions to attempt to discharge their duties as Ri prc- sentatives of the people. 11 TIIIS. NSW MILITIA ORGANIZATION 'AND CONSCRIPTION. Siuee your adjournment in December, the Adjutant and Inspector General, under my direction, has done al! in his power to press forward the organization of the militia of the State, in conformity to the act passed for that purpose? arid 1 have the pleasure to state, that the enrollments are generally made, except in a tew localities, where proximity to the enemy has prevented it ; and the organizations will soon be > completed. At this Btagein our proceedings, we are met with formi- dable obstacles, thrown in our way by the late act of Con- gress, whirh subjects those between 17 and <50 to enroll- ment as Conscripts, for Confederate service. This act of Congress proposes to take from the State, as was done on a former occasion, her entire military force, who belong to the active list, and to leave her without a force,in the differ- ent counties, sufficient to execute her laws or suppress ser- vile insurrection. • Our Supreme Court has ruled, that the Confederate gov- ernment h;is the power to raise armies by conscription, but it has not decided that it also has the power to enroll the whole population of the State who remain at home, so as to place the whole people under the military control of the Confederate government, and thereby take from the State* all command over their own citizens, to execute their own laws, and place the internal police regulations of the States in the hands of the President. It is one thing to ''raise 'armies", and another, and quite a different thing, to put the whole population at home under military law., and "compel every man to obtain a military detail, upon such terms as the central government' may dictate, and to carry a military pass in his pocket while he- cultivates his farm, or attends • to his other necessary avocations at home. Neither g, planter nor an overseer engaged upon the farm, nor a blacksmith making agricultural implements, nor a miller grinding for the people at home, belongs to, or con- stitutes any part of the armies of the Confederacy; and there is not the shadow of Constitutional power, vested in the Confederate government, for co ascribing and putting these classes, and others engaged in home pursuits, under military rule, while rhey remain at home to discharge these duties. If eonscriptipn were constitutional as a means of ■raising armies hv the Confederate government, it could not i • « % ill be constitutional to conscribe those not actually needed, and to be employed in the army, and the constitutional power to "raise armies", could never carry with it the, power in Congress to conscribe the whole people, who are not needed for the armies, but are left at home, because more useful there, and place them under military government atid com- pel them to get military details to plough in their fields* shoe their farm horses, or to go to mill. Ift Conscription earned to this extent, is the eiseBce of mil- itary despotism : placing all ciril rights in a state of sub- ordinatioo ti> military powar, and potting theperaooal free- dom of each individual, in civil life, at the will of the chief of the military power. But it may be said that coascrip- tion may i > ■: upon one class bb legally aa another, and that all cl equally Bubject to i ia undoubtedly true It' the government lias a right to conscribe at all, it baa a right to conacribe persona of all classes, till it has 1 enough to supply its armies. But it has no right to go farther and, conscribe all. who arc, by ita own consent, to remain at home to make supplies. Ii it considers supplied necessary, somebody must make them, and those who do it, being mi part of the army, should be exempt from conscrip- tion, and the annoyance of military dictation while engaged in civil, and not military pursuits. If all between*! 7 and 50 are to be enrolled and placed in constant military service, we must conquer the enemy while we are, consuming our present crop of provisions, or we are ruined ; as it will be impossible for the old men over -30, and the hoys under 17, to make supplies enough to feed our armiesand people another year. I think every practi- cal man in the Confederacy who knows anything about our agricultural interests and resources, will readily admit this. It', on the other hand, it is not the intention to put tin between 1*3 am! IS and between 4~> and 50, into service, as solditrs, hut to leave them at home to produce supplies, and Occasionally to do police and other dut ies. within the State. which properly belong to I he militia of a State ; or m oth- er words, if it is the intention simply to take the control of them from the State, so as to deprive her of all power, and leave her without sufficient force to execute her own laws, oi- suppress servile insurrection, and place the whole mili- tia of the State, not needed for constant service, in the Con- federate armies, under the control of the President, while engaged in their civil pursuits, the act is unconstitutional and oppressive, and ought not to he executed. If the act is executed in this State, it deprives her of her Whole iKt'in militia, as OongreSS has so shaped it as to in- clude the identical persons embraced in the act passed at your late session, and to transfer the control of them all from the State to the Confederate government . The Slate has already enrolled these persons under the solemn act of her Legislat ure, for her owu defense, and it is a question for you to determine, whether the necessities of the State, her sovereignty and dignity, and justice to those who are to be affected by the act, do not forbid that she should permit her organization to be broken up, and her means of self-preservation to be taken out of her hands. If this is done, what will be our condition ? I prefer to an- 13 swer by adopting the language of the present able and pa- triotic Governor of Virginia : "A sovereign State without a soldier, and without the dignity of strength — stripped of all her men, and with only the form and pageantry of power — would indeed be nothing more than a wretched depen- dency, to which I should grieve to see our proud old Com- monwealth reduced.'' I may be reminded that the enemy has three times as many white men,^ble to bear arms, as we have, and that it 18 necessary to take all between the ages above mentioned, 01" we cannot keep as many men in the field as he does. If the result depended upon our ability to do this, we must necessarily fail. But. fortunately tor us, this is not the case. While they have the advantage in numbers, we have other advantages which, if properly improved, they can never overcome. We are- tin; invaded parry, in the right, struggling for all we have, and for all that we ex- pect our posterity to inherit. This gives us great moral advantage over a more powerful enemy, who^as the inva- ders, are in the wrong, and are fighting for conquest and power. We have the inner and shorter lines of defense, while they have the longer and much more difficult ones. For instance, if we desire to reinforce Dalton from Wil- mington, Charleston, Savannah, and Mobile, or to reinforce either of those points from Dalton, we can do so by throw- ing trjops rapidly over a short line from one point to the other. W the enemy wishes to reinforce Charleston or Chat- tanooga from Washington or New Orleans, he must throw his troops a long distance around, almost upon the circum- ference of a circle, while we meet them with our reinforce- ments by throwing them across the diameter of a semi- circle. This difference in our favor is as great as four to one. and enables us, if our troops are properly handled, to repel their assaults with little more than one-fourth their number. In consideration of these and numerous other advantages which an invade,l people, united and determined to be free, always lias, it is not wise policy for us to undertake to keep in the field as large a number as the enemy has. It is the duty of those in authority in a country, engaged in a war which calls for all the resources at command, to consider well what proportion of the whole population can safely be kept under arms. In our present condition, sur- rounded by : , and our ports blockaded, so that we can place but little dependence apon 1; » i ■ : • i ^ > i supplies, we are obliged to keep a sufficient number of men in the agri- cultural fields, to make supplies for our troops under arms and their families at home, or we must ultimately fail. The policy which wop. Id compel all our men to go to the military field, and leave our farms uncultivated and our workshops vacant, would be the most fatal and unwise that 14 could be adopted. In that ca*e, the enemy need only avoid battle and continue the war till we consume the supplies now on hand, ami we would be completely in their power. Then' is a certain proportion of a people in our condi- tion who can remain under arms, and the balance of the population at home can support them. So long B8 that proportion has not been reached, more may be safely taken; but when it is reached, every man taken from the Geld of production, and placed at a consumer in the military field, makes us that much weaker; and if we go far beyond the iroportion, failure and rain are inevitable, as the army must f«oon disband, when it can do longer be supplied with the Decessariea of life. There is reason to fear that those in authority have not made sale calculations upon this point, and that they do not fully appreciate the incalculable im- portance of the agricultural interests in this struggle. We are able to keep constantly under arms two hundred thousand effective men, and to support and maintain that force, by cur own resources and productions, lor twenty years to come. No power nor State can ever he conquered so long as it can maintain that number of good troops. W the enemy should bring a million against us, let us remem- ber, that there is BUCfa B thing as whipping the fight with- out lighting it; and. avoiding pitched battles and unnecessa- ry collisions, let us give this vast force time to melt away under the heat of summer and the snows of winter, as did Xerxes' army in Greece, and Napoleon's in Russia, and the enemy's resources and strength will exhaust when so prod- igally used, much more rapidly than ours when properly economised; In properly economising our strength and husbanding our resources, lie our best hope of - Instead of making constant new drafts upon the agricul- tural and mechanical labor of the country for recruits for the army, to swell our numbers beyond our present muster rolls, which must prove our ruin if our provisions fail, 1 respectfully submit that it would be wiser to yut tin hoops the army, and leave men enough at home to support them. In oth( r words, compel the thousands ol j oi ng offi- cers in gold lace and brass buttons, who are eonstanl ly seen crowding our railroads and hotels, many of whom can sel- dom be tound at their posts, and thousands of straggling soldiers who are absent without leave, or by the favoritism of officers, Whose names are On the pay rolls, and who are not producers at home, to remain at their places in the army. This is justice alike to the country, to the tax-payer-, to the gallant officers who stand firmly at the post of duty, and the gallant soldiers who seldom or never get furloughs, but are always in the thickest of the fight. When they are en- during and Buffering so much, why should the favorites of power and those of their comrades who seek to avoid duty a,nd danger, be countenanced or tolerated at home, while their names stand upon the muster rolls ? :i5 If all who are able for duty, and wjio are now nominally in service drawing pay from the Government, are compelled to do their duty faithfully, there will be no need of com- pelling men over'45 to leave their homes, or of disbanding the State militia to place more men under the President's control. CONFLICT WITH THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT. But it may be saia that an attempt to maintain ttye rights of the State will produce conflict with the Confederate Gov- ernment. I am aware that there are those who, from mo- tives not necessary to be here mentioned, are ever ready to raise the cry of conflict, and to criticise and condemn the action of Georgia, in every case where her constituted au- thorities protest against the encroachments of the central power, and seek to maintain her dignity and sovereignty as a State, and the constitutional rights and liberties of her people. Those who are unfriendly to State sovereignty, and desire to consolidate all power in the hands of the Confederate Government, hoping to promote their undertaking by ope- rating upon the fears of the timid, after each new aggres- sion upon the constitutional rights of the States, fijl the newspaper presses with the cry of conflict, and warn the people to beware of those who seek to maintain their con- stitutional rights, as agitators or partisans who may embar- rass the Confederate Government in the prosecution of the war. Let not the people be deceived by this false clamor. It is the same cry of conflict which the Lincoln Government raised against all who defended the rights of the Southern States against its tyranny. It is the cry which the usur- pers of power have ever raised against those who rebuke their encroachments and refuse to yield to their aggres- sions. When did Georgia embarrass the Confederate Govern- ment in any mutter pertaining to the vigorous prosecution of the war? When did she fail to furnish more than her full quota of troops, when she was called upon as a State by the proper Confederate authority? An<4 when did her gallant suns ever quail before the enemy, or fail nobly to illustrate her character upon the battle held ? i<\w can not only repel the attacks of her enemies on the field of deadly conflict, but she can as proudly repel the assaults of those who, ready to bend the knee to power for position and patronage, set themselves up to criticise her conduct; and she can confidently challenge them topointto a single instance in which she has failed to fill a requisition for troops made upon her through the regular constitution- al channel. To the very last requisition made, she respon- ded with over double the number required. She stands ready at all times to do her whole duty to the 16 cause and to (he Confederacy, > » 1 1 r while she does this, she will never cease to require that her constitutional right! be respected, and the liberties of her people preserved. While the deprecates all conflict with the ('<<■ Govern- ment, if to require these be ' , the conflict will never did til! the object is attained. "For freed i > BequenthM by b ■ ■..■!■ won. " will be emblazoned jn letters of living light upon her proud banners, until State sovereignty and constitutional liberty, as well as Confederate indej endi i tablished. i ll i: II LDEA8 COR] i cannol withhold the expression of the deep m tioii I feel at the late action of Congress, in attempt;: icnd the privilege ol the < I « i i * • confer u| ident powers expressly denied to him l»y tli- Constitution of the Confederate Mates. Underprc- which our whole people ki exi>t in i er may have been the motives, our t, and .-it the ol the Execu- tive, flas Btruck ;i feil blow ot the liberties of theSe Sti The ( "onstitutioo of the ( lonfederate Stairs declares that, " Tiit- privilegeof the writ o(.7iabeas corpus shall not be bus- pendeo, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.*' The power to suspend the habeas corpus at all, is derived, not from express ami direct delegation, bul from implication only, and an implication ran never be raised in opposition to an express restriction. In case of any conflict between the two, an implied power must always yield to express restrictions bpon its exercise. The pOwer to suspend the privilege < > 1 the writ of habeat corpus derived l>v implication, must therefore be always lim- ited by the oppress declaration in the Constitution that : •'The right of the people to be secure in their pcrs*ms t •s. papere, t and effects, against unreasonable Bt arches and seizures shall not be violated', and tio warrants shall \ but upon probable cause, supported by oath or offirmatiotii and particularly describing the place to be searcheoljtnnd the persons or things to be seized," and the further declaration that, "no person shall be deprived ot life, liberty or proper- ty, without due process of law.*' And that, "In all criminal pi the accused shall enjoy the rigl i of a spcedv&nd public trial by an impartial jitty ol the State or District wl I crime shall have been commit- which district shall have been previously ascertained ivv, and to be informed of the nature and cause < I the ; to be Confronted with the vi .inst lulu ; to pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor ; and 3 tan CO of 'counsel for his defense." 17 Thus it is an express guaranty of the Constitution, that the " persons" of the people shall be secure, and " no war- rants shall issue," but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation" particularly describing " the persons to be seized;" that, "no person shall be deprived of liberty, ^with- out due process of law", and that, 'in '^all criminal prose- cutions" the accused shall enjoy the right of a speedy and 'public trial, by an impartial jury." The Constitution also defines the powers of the Execu- tive, which are limited to those delegated, among which there is no one, authorizing him to issue warran ts or order arrests of persons not in actual military service ; or to sit as a judge in any case, to try any person for a criminal offense, or to appoint any court or tribunal to do it, not provided for in the Constitution, as part of the judiciary. The power to issue warrants and try persons under criminal accusations are judicial powers, which belong, under the Constitution, exclusively to the judiciary and not to the Executive. His power to order arrests, as Commander-in-Chief, is strictly a military power, and is confined to the arrest of 'persons subject to military power, as to the arrest of persons in the army or navy of the Confederate States; or in the Militia, when in the actual service of the Confederate States, and does not extend to any persons in civil life, unless they be fol- lowers of the camp, or within the lines ot the army. This is clear from that provision of the Constitution which de- clares, that, " No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or other- wise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictmcjit of a grand jury, execept in cases arising in the land or naval for- ces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public -danger." But even here, the power of the President as Commander-in-Chief, is not absolute, as his powers and duties, in ordering arrests of persons, in the land or navat forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, are clearly defined by the rules and artu les of war, prescribed bv Con- gress. Any warrant issued by the President, or any arrest made by him, or under his order, of any person in civil life and not subject to military command, is illegal, and in plain nidation of the Constitution ; as it is impossible for Congress, by implication, to coftfer upon the President the right to exercise powers of arrest, expressly forbidden to him by the Constitution. Any effort, on the part of Congress, to do this, is but an attempt to revive the odious practice of or- dering political arrests, or issuing letters de cachet by royal prerogative, so long since renounced by our English ances- tors ; and the denial of the right of the constitutional judi- ciary to investigate such cases, and the provision forcreating a court appointed by the Executive, and changeable at his will, to take jurisdiction of the same, are in violation of the great principles of Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, the 2 18 kaibdai corpus act, and the Constitution of the Confederate ,uon which botli English and American liberty rest ; ana are but an attempt to revive the odious Star- Chamber court of England, which, in the hands of wicked kimrs. was a8ed for tyranical purposes, by the crown, un- til it was finally abolished by act of parliament, of L6th . which went into operation on the fire L641. • This set has ever rince been regarded as ol the great bnlwarksol English liberty; and as it "d by the English Parliament to secure our English tu- tors against the very same character of arbitrary an which the late act of Congress is intended to authorise the President to make, 1 append Ja copy of it to this message, with the same italics and small capital letters, which are used in the printed Copy in the book from which it is taken. Jt. will be seen that the court of " Star-Chamber. " which was the instrument in the hands of the English king, for investigating his illegal arrests and carrying out his arbitrary decrees, was much more respectable, on account of the character, learning and ability of its members, than the Confederate Star-Chamber, or court of u proper officers," which the act of Congress gives the President power to ap- point, to investigate his illegal arrests. I am aware of no instance in which the British king has ordered the arrest of any person in civil life, in any other manner than by judicial warrant, issued by the established courts of the realm, and in which he has suspended, or at- tempted to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas cor- j>i/y. since the Bill of Rights and act of settlement passed in L689. To attempt this in L864 would cost the present reigning Queen no less price than her crown. The only suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas cotpus, known to our Constitution, and compatible with the provisions already stated, goes to the simple extent of pre- venting the release, under it, ot'persuns whose .uresis have been ordered under constitutional warrants from judicial authority. To this extent the Constitution allows the sus- pension, in case <>| rebellion or invasion, in order that the accused may be certainly and safely held for trial; but Con- gress has no right, under pretext of exercising this power, to authorize the President to make illegal arrests, prohibited by the Constitution ; and when Congress has attempted to confer such powers on the President, if he should order such illegal arnests, it would be the imperative duty of the judges, who have solemnly sworn to support the Constitu- tion, to disregard such unconstitutional legislation, and grant relief to persons so illegally imprisoned ; and it would be the duty of the Legislative and Executive depart- ments of the States to sustain and protect the judiciary in the discharge of this obligation. By an examination of the act ofCougress, now under 19 consideration, it will be seen that it is not an act to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in case of warrants issued by judicial authority ; but the main purpose of the act seems to be to authorize the President to issue war- rants, supported by neither oat/- nor affirmation, and to make arrests of persons not in military service, upon charges of a nature proper for investigation in the judicial tribunals on- ly, arid to prevent the Courts from inquiring into such ar- rests, or granting relief against such illegal usurpations of power* which are in direct and palpable violation of the Constitution. The act enumerates more than twenty different causes of arrest, most of which are cognizable, and tryable only in the judicial tribunals established by the Constitution ; and for which no uarranls can legally issue for the arrest of per- sons in civil life, by any power except the judiciary, and then only upon probable cause, supported by oath or affir- mation, particularly describing the persons to be seized; such as "treason" ''treasonable efforts or combinations to sub- vert the Government of the Confederate States," "conspira- cies to overthrow the Government," or " conspiracies to re- sist the lawful authority of the Confederate States," giv- ing the enemy " aid and comfort", " attempts to incite servile insurrection," " the burning of bridges," "Railroad," or "Telegraph lines," "harboring deserters," and "other of- fences against the laws of the Confederate States," &c, &c. And as if to place the usurpation of power beyond doubt or cavil, the act expressly declares that the "suspension shall apply only to the case of persons, arrested or detained by the Presidenlt'the Secretary of War, or the General offi- cer commanding the Trans Mississippi Military Department, by authority and under the control of the President," in the cases enumerated in the act, most of which are exclusively of judicial cognizance, and in which cases the President has not the shadow of Constitutional authority to issue warrants or order arrests, but is actually prohibited by the Constitution from doing so. This then is not an act to suspend the privilege of the writ ol /' rptttt in the manner authorized by implica- tion by the Constitution ; but it is an act to authorize the President to make illegal and unconstitutional arrests, in cases which the Constitut on gives to the judiciary, an I denies to the Executive ; and to prohibit all judicial interference for the relief ol the citizen, when tyranized over by illegal arrest, under letters de cachet issued by Executive authori- ty. Instead of the legality of the arrest being examined in the judicial tribunals appointed by the Constitution, it is to be exam in d in the Confederate Star Chamber; that is, by officers appointed by the President. Why say that the * 'President shall cause proper officers to investigate" the legali- 20 tf of arrests ordered by him ? Why not permit the Judges, whose constitutional right and duty it is to do it 1 We are witnessing with too much indifference assump- tion! of power by the Confederate Government which in ordinary times would arouse the whole country to in nant rebuke and Btern resistance. History teaches us that Bubmissioa to one encroachment upon oonssitutional liber- ty is always followed by another ; and we should not for- that important rights, yielded to those in power, with- out rebuke or protest, are never recovered by the people without revolution. If this act is acquiesed in, the President, the Secretary of War, and the commander of the Trans Mississippi de- partment nodes the control of the President, each baa the power conferred by CSongress, to imprison who r he chooses; a::d it is only necessary to allege that it is dune on account of "treasonable efforts" or q\ "conspiracies to • the lawful authority of the Confederate Stal lor "giving aid and comfort to the enemy," or other of the causi ■ -t enumerati d in tin' Statute, and have a sub- altern to tile bis affidavit accordingly, after tfu arrest if a writ of habeas corpus is sued out, and no Court dare in- quire into the cause of the imprisonment. The Statute makes the President and not the courts the judge oi the sufficiency of the cause for his own acts. Either of you or any other citizen of Georgia, may at any moment (as Mr. Vallandigham was in Ohio) be dragged from your homes at midnight by armed force, and imprisoned at the will of the President, upon the pretext that you have been guilty of some offense of the character above named, and no court known to our judicial y can inquire into the wrong or grant relief. When such bold strides towards military despotism and absolute authority, are taken, by those in whom we have confided, and who have been placed in high official position to guard and protect constitutional and personal liberty, it. is the duty of every patriotic citizen to sound the alarm, and of the State Legislatures to say, in thunder tones, to those who assume tO govern US by absolute power, that there is a point beyond which freemen will not pern.it encroachments to go. The Legislatures of the respective States are looked to as the guardians of the rights of those whom they represent, and it is theirduty to meet such dangerous encroachments up- on the liberties of the people, promptly, and express their unqualified condemnation, and to instruct their Senators, and request their Representatives to repeal this most mon- strous act, or resign a trust, which, by permitting it to re- main on the statute book, they abuse, to the injury ot those who have honored them with their confidence in this trying period of our history. I earnestly recommend that the Leg- ai islature of this State take prompt action upon this subject, and stamp the act with the seal of their indignant rebuke. Can the President no longer trust the judiciary with the exercise of the legitimate powers conferred upon it by the Constitution and laws ? In what instance have the grave and dignified Judges proved disloyal or untrue to our cause? When have they embarrassed the government, by turning loose traitors, skulkers or spies? Have they not, in every instance, given thn Government the benefit of their doubts in sustaining its action, though they might thereby seem to encroach upon the rights of the States, and for a time de- ny substantial justice to the people? Then why this im- plied censure upon them? What justification exists now for this most monstrous deed, which did not exist during the first or second year of the war, unless it be found in the fact, that those in power have found the people ready to submit to every encroach- ment, rather than make an issue with the Government, while we are at war with the enemy, and have, on that ac- count, been emboldened to take the step which is intended to make the President as absolute in his power of arrest and imprisonment, as the Czar of all the Russias ? What re- ception would the members of Congress, from the different States, have met in 1861, had they returned to their con- stituents and informed them that they had suspended the habeas corpus, and given the President the power to impris- on the people of these States, with no restraint upon Ins sovereign will ? Why is liberty less sacred now than it was in lSGl? And what will we have gained when we have achieved our Independence of th.3 Northern States, if in our effort to do so, we have permitted our form of government to be subverted, and have lost Constitutional liberty at home ? The hope of the country now rests in the new Congress, soon to assemble. They must maintain our liberties against encroachment, and wipe this, and all such stains, from the statute book, or the Sun of liberty will soon set in darkness and blood. Let the constituted authorities of each State, send up to their Representatives, wheu they assemble in Congress, an unqualified demand for prompt redress ; or a return of the commissions which they hold from their respective States. Tin: causes of the war, how conducted, and who respon- sible. Cruel, bloody, desolating war is still waged against us by our relentless enemies, who, disregarding the laws of nations and the rules of civilized warfare, whenever either interferes with their fanatical objects or their interest, have in numer- ous instances been guilty of worse than savage cruelty. They have done all in their power to burn our cities, when unable by their skill and valor to occupy them ; and to turn innocent women and children, who may have escaped death 2-J by the shells thrown among thorn, without previous notice, into the estitute of homes, food sod clothing. Theyhave devastated out country, wherever their unhal- ed feet have trod our soili burning and destroying facto- ries, mills, agricultural impl and other valuable property. Ihey have cruelly treated mir son's while in captivity, and in violation of a cartel upon, have refused to ex- change them with us. for their iiw ii soldiers, unless we would consent! against the laws of nations, to exchange our si i as belligerents, when induced or forced by them, to take up arms against us. They have done all i:: their power to incite our slaves to insurrection and murder, and when unable to seduce them from their loyalty, have, when they occupied our country, Compelled them to engage in war against us. They have robbed us of out negro women and children who were comfortable contented and happy with their owners, and under pretext of extraordinary philanthropy, have in the name of liberty congregated thousands of them together in places where they could have neither the com- forts nor the necessaries ol life, there neglected and de- spised to die by pestilence and hunger. In numerous instances their brutal soldiers have violated the persons of our innocent ami helpless woinen:"and hare desecrated the graves of our ancestors and polluted and de- tiled the altars which we have dedicated to I he worship of the living God. In addition to these and other enormith-s hundreds of thousands of valuable lives, both North and South, have been sacrificed, causing the shriek of the mother, the wail of the widow and the cry of the orphan to ascend to Heav- en from almost every hearthstone in all the broad land once known as the United States. Such is but a faint picture of the devastation, cruelty ami bloodshed which have marked this struggle. War in is most mitigated form, when conducted accord- ing to the rules established by the most enlightened and civilized nations, is a terrible BCOUrge and cannot exist with- out the most enormous guill resting upon the heads of those who hate without just cause brought it upon the in- nocent and helpless people who are its unfortunate victims; Guilt may rest in unequal degrees in a struggle like this upon both parties, but both cannot he innocent. Where then rests this crushing load of guilt r While I trust I shall be able to show that it rests not upon the people nor rulers of the South, I do not claim' that it rested at the commencement of the struggle upon the whole people of the North. There was a large intelligent and patriotic portion of the people of the Northern States, led by such men as 23 Pierce, Douglas, Vallandingham, Bright, Voorhies, Pugh, Seymour, Wood and many other honored names, who did all in their power to rebuke and stay the Wicked reckless fanaticism which precipitated the two sections into this terrible conflict. With such men as these in power we might have lived together in the Union perpetually. In addition to the strength of the Democratic party in the North, there were a large number of persons whose ed- ucation had brought them into sympathy with the so called Republican, or in other words the old federal, consolidation party, who would never have followed the wicked leaders of that party who used the slavery question as an hobby upon which to ride into power, and who to-day stand be- fore Heaven and earth guilty of shedding the blood of hun- dreds of thousands and destroying the brightest hopes of posterity, had they known the true objects of their lead- ers and the results which must follow the triumph of their policy at the ballot box. The moral guilt of this war rested then in its incipiency neither upon the people of the South nor upon the Demo- cratic party of the North, or upon that part of the Repub- lican party who were deluded and deceived. But it rested upon the heads of the wicked leaders of the Republican party, who had refused to be bound by the compacts of the Constitution made by our common ancestry. These men when in power in the respective States of the North ar- rayed themselves in open hostility against an important provision of the Constitution, for the security of clearly ex- pressed and unquestionable rights of the people of the Southern States. » Many of the more fanatical of them denounced the Con- stitution, because of its protection of the property of the slaveholder, as a "covenant with death and a league with Hell," aud refusing to be bound by it, declared that a "higher law" was the rule of their conduct, and appealed to the Bible as that "higher law." But when the precepts of God in favor of slavery were found in both the old and the new testament, they repudiated the Bible and its Di- vine Author and declared for an anti-Slavery Bible and an anti-Slavery God. The abolition party having when in power, in their re- spective States, set at naught that part of the Constitution which guarantees protection to the rights and property of the Southern people, and having by fraud aud misrepresen- tation obtained possession of the federal government, the Southern people in self-defence were compelled to leave the Union in which their rights were no longer respected. Having destroyed the Union by their wicked acts and their bad faith, these, leaders rallied a majority of the people of the North to their support, with a promise to restore it again by force. Monstrous paradox ! that a Union which 24 was formed upon a compact between sovereign States, be- ing eminently a creature of consent, is to be upheld by / But monstrous as it is, the war springs ostensibly from this source — tins is its origin, its bouI and its life, so far at shadow of pretext lor it can l>e found. In their mad effort to restore by force a Union which they have destroyed, and to save themselves from the just vengeance which awaited them t<»r their crimes, the abolition leaders in power I •d up the continent with a Maze of war which royed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of proper- ty, and hundreds of thout valuable lives, and loaded posterity with a deb; which must cause wretchedness and poverty for generations to some. And all for what? That fanaticism mighl triumph over constitutional liberty achieved by the great men of 1776, and that ambitious men mighl have place and power. In their efforts to de- stroy our liberties the people of the North, if successful, would inevitably lose their own by overturning, as the] now attempting to do, the great principles of Republican- ism upon which constitutional liberty rests. The govern- ment in the hands of the abolition administration is HOW a absolute as that of Russia, Unoffending citizens are seized in their beds al night by armed force, and dragged to dungeons and incarci the will of the tyrant, because they have dared to si for constitutional liberty and to protest against military despotism. The Habeas Corpus that great bulwark of liberty, with- out which no people can be secure in their lives persons or property, which cost the English several bloody wars and which was finally wrung from the-crown by the sturdy Barons and people at the point of the bayonet ; which has ever been the bi.asi oi' every American patriot, and which I pray God may never, under pretext of military necessity , be yielded to encroachments by the people of the Sooth, has been trampled under foot by the Government at Wash- ington which imprison- at its pleasure whomsot ver it will. The freedom of the ballot box has also her; \ ed, and the elections have Ik en carried by the overawing in- fluence of military force. Under pretext of keeping men enough in the field fo subdue the South. President Lincoln takes care to keep enough to hold the North in subjection also, to imprison or exile those who attempt to sustain their ancient, rights liberties and usages, and to drive from the ballot box those who are not subservient to bis will or enough of them to enable his party to carry the elections. Can an intelli- gent Northern Conservative man contemplate this stale oi things without exclaiming, whither are we drifting V What will we gain by the subjugation of the South if in our at- tempt to do it we must lose our own liberties and rivet 9* upon ourselves and our posterity the chains of military despotism ? How long a people once free will submit to the despot- ism of such a government, the future must develop. One thing is certain, while those who now rule remain in power in Washington, the people of the Sovereign States of Ameri- ca can never adjust their dillicultios. But war, bloodshed, devastation and increased indebtedness, must be the inevi- table result. There must be a change of administration and more moderate councils prevail in the Northern States, before we can ever have peace. While subjugation, abo- lition and confiscation are the terms offered by the Federal Government, the Southern people will resist, as long as the patriotic voice of woman can stimulate^ Guerilla band, or a single armed soldier to deeds of daring in defence of liberty and home. I have said, the South is not the guilty party in this dreadful carnage, and I think it not inappropriate that the reasons should be often repeated at the bar of an intelli- gent public opinion, that our own people and the world should have "line upon line," "precept upon precept," "here a little and there a little," "in season and out of season," as some may snppuse, to show the true nature of this contest — the principles involved — the objects of the war on our side, as well as that of the enemy, that all right minded men everywhere may see and understand, that this contest is not of our seeking, and that we have had no wish or desire to injure those who war against us, ex- cept so far as has been necessary for the protection and preservation of ourselves. Our sole object from the be- ginning has been to defend, maintain and preserve our an- cient usages, customs, liberties and institutions, as achieved and established by our ancestors in the revolution of 1776. That Revolution was undertaken to establish two great rights — State Sovereignty — and self government. Upon these the Declaration of Independence was predicated, and they were the Corner Stone upon which the Constitution rested. The denial of these two great principles cost Great Britian her American Colonies which had so long been her pride. And the denial of them by the Govern- ment at Washington, if persisted in, must cost the people of the United Stutes the liberties of themselves and their pos- terity. These are the pillars upon which the temple of Constitutional liberty stands, and if the Northern people in their mad effort to destroy the Sovereignty of the Southern States, and take from our people the rights of self-govern- ment, should be able, with the strength of an ancient Sampson, to lay hold upon the pillars and overturn the edi- fice, they must necessarily be crushed beneath its ruins, as the destruction of State Sovereignty and the right of self- government in the Southern States, by the agency of the 26 ernment, necessarily involves the like destruc- tion in the Northern Si do people can maintain je rights for thenaselves who will Bfaed the blcod of their neighbors to destroy them in other*. It is impossible for half the States ofa Confederacy, if they assist the central eminent to destroy ihe rights and liberties <>l the other half, to maintain their own rights and liberties the central power) alter it has crushed their C i The two LMv.it truths announced l>v Mr. Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence, and concurred in by all the great men ol the revolution were. 1st, "That Governments derive their just powers from the content of the Governed. 11 2nd, "That these United Oolonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent State*. 11 We are not to understand by the first great truth, that each individual member of the aggregate mass composing the State, must give his consent before he can be justly governed ; or that the consent of each, or a particular class of individuals in a State is necessary. By the "governed" is evidently here meant communities and bodies of men ca- pable of organizing and maintaining government. The "consent of the governed," refers to the aggregate will of the community or State in its organized form, and ex- pressed through its legitimate and properly constituted or- gans. In elaborating this great truth, Mr. Jefferson, in the Dec- laration of Independence, says, that governments are insti- tuted among men to secure certain "inalienable rights," that "among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of hap- piness;" "that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to al- ter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, lay- ing its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers iu .such form, as CO them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. 5 ' According to this great fundamental principle, the , v erign State* of America, North and South, can only be governed by their own consent, and whenever the Govern- ment to which they have given their consent, becomes de- structive of the greal ends for which it was formed, they have a perfect rfghl t» "abolish it" by withdrawing their consent from it, as the Colonies did from the British Gov- ernment, and to form a "new Government," with its foun- dations laid On such principles, and its powers organized in .such form as to them shall seem most likely to etfect their safety and happiness."' Upon the application, to the pres- ent controversy, of this great principle, to which the North- ern States are firmly committed as the Southern States, Georgia can proudly challenge New York to trial before the the bar of enlightened public opinion, and impartial history must write the verdict in h er favor, and t riumphant- ly vindicate her action in the course she has pursued. 27 Not only the Sovereign States of America have hereto- fore recognized this great truth, but it has been recognized by the able and enlightened Emperor of the French, who owes his present elevation to the "consent of the governed." He was called to the Presidency by the free suffrage or consent of the French people, and when he assumed the imperial title, he again submitted the question to the "gov- erned" at the ballot box, and they gave their "consent." At the recent treaty of peace with the Emperor of Aus- tria, he ceded an Austrian province to France, and Napo- leon refused to "govern it," till the people at the ballot box gave "their consent" that he should do so. The Northern States of America are to-day, through the agency of the despotism at Washington, waging a bloody war upon the Southern States,, to crush out this great American principle, announced, and maintained in a seven yeais war, by our common ancestry, after it had won the approbation of the ablest and most enlightened Sovereign of Europe. In discussing this great principle, I can but remark, how strange is the contrast between the conduct of the Empe- ror Napoleon, and that of President Lincoln. Napoleon re- fuses to govern a province till a majority of the people at the ballot box has given their consent. Lincoln, after having done all in his power to destroy the freedom and purity of the ballot box, announces in his late proclamation his determi- nation to govern the Sovereign States of the South by force, and to recognize and maintain as the government of these States, not those who at the ballot box can obtain the "consent of the governed," or of a majority of the people, but those who can obtain the consent of one tenth of the people of the State. Knowing that he can never govern these States with "the consent of the governed," he tram- ples the declaration of Independence, under his feet, and pro- claims to the world, that he will govern these States, not by the "consent of the governed", but by military power, 60 soon as he can find one tenth of the governed humiliated enough to give their consent. But the world must be struck with the absurdity of the pretext upon which he bases this extraordinary pretension. He says, in substance, the Constitution requires him to guarantee to each State a republican form of government. And for the purpose of carrying out this provision of the Constitution, he proclaims that, so soon as one tenth of the people of each of the seceded States shall be found abject enough to take an oath to support his unconstitutional acts, and at the same time to support the Constitution, and shall do this monstrous deed, he will permit them to organize a State Government, and will recognize them as the Govern- ment of the State, and their officers as the regularly consti- tuted authorities of the State. These he will aid in putting 2S down, driving out, expelling and exterminating, the other tenths, if they r exterminate nin&4en(hs! And this to be dour under the guise or professed object of guaranteeing republicanism ! What would Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Hancock, or even Ham- ilton, have said to this kind ol republicanism? What say conservative Northern statesmen of the present day, if permitted to speak ? Does such a government as this de- rive its just powers from the '•consent of the governed?" [si i their understanding of the republican government, which the United Stales is to guarantee to each State 1 li bo, what guaranty have they lor the freedom of their pos- terity ? li the government at Washington guarantees Buch republicanism as this to Georgia in L864, what may be her ranty to Ohio and other Western States in 1874 V The absurdity of such a position, on constitutional prin- ciples or views, is too glaring lor comment. When such terms are offered to them, well may the people of these States be nerved to defend their rights and liberties at eve- ry hazard, under every privation, and to the last extrem- But I must notice the other great truth promulgated in the declaration of 1 ndepemlenct — "that these United Col- onies, are, and ot .right ought to he free and independent Sua < teorge the Third denied this great truth in L776, and sent his armies into Virginia, the Carolina*, and ( Seorgia, to crush out its advocates and maintain over the people a govern- ment which did J. (it derive its j>< avers' from the "consent of the governed." President Lincoln, in 1861, has made war upon t'he same States and their Confederates, to crush out the same doctrine by armed force. Yet he has none of the apparent justification before the world that the British King had. The colonies had been planted, nurtured and governed by (.teat Britain. As States, they had never been independent and never claimed to be. This claim was set up for the first time in the declaration of Independence. Under these circumstances, there was some reason why the British Crown should resist it. Hut th« great truth pro- claimed was more powerful than the armies and navy of Great Britain. On the 4th of July, 1770, our fathers made this declara- tion of the freedom and independence of the States. The revolution was fought upon this declaration, and on the 3d day of September 17S3, in the treaty of peace, •'His Brit- anic Majesty, acknowledges the said United States, to-wit : New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Pro- vidence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 29 Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Caro- lina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to be free, sovereign and independent States ; that he treats with them as such," &c. On and after that day Georgia stood before the world, clad in all the habiliments, and possessed of all the attri- butes of sovereignty. When did Georgia lose this sover- eignty ? Was it by virtue of her previous compact with her sister States ? Certainly not. The Articles of Confederationl>etween the colonies, du- ring the struggle, set forth the objects to be attained, and the nature of the bond between the parties to it, and the separate sovereignty of each of the States a party to it, was expressly reserved. Was it when she, with the other States, formed the Constitution in 17S7 ? Clearly not. The Con- stitution was a compact between the thirteen States, each of which had been recognized separately, by name, by the British K^ng, as a free sovereign and independent State. The objects and purposes for which the federal govern- ment was formed, were distinctly specified and were all set forth in the compact. The government created by it was limited in its powers by the grant, with an express reserva- tion of all powers not delegated. The great attribute of separate State Sovereignty was not delegated. In this particu- lar, there was no change from the Articles of Confedera- tion; Sovereignly was still reserved, and abided with the States respectively. This more "perfect Union," was bas- ed upon the assumption that it was for the best interest of all the States to enter into it with the additional grant of powers and guarantees — each State being bound as a sover- eign to perform and discharge to the others all the new ob- ligations of the compact, it was so submitted to the peo- ple of the States respectively, and so acceded to by them. The States Jid not part with their separate sovereignty by the adoption of the Constitution. In that instrument all the powers delegated are specifically mentioned. Sovereign- ty, the greatest of all political powers, the source from which all others emanate, is not amongst those mentioned. It could not have been parted with except by grant, either expressed or clearly implied. The most degrading act a State can do is to lay down or surrender her sovereignty. In- deed it can not be done except by deed or grant. The sur- render is not to be found in the Constitution amongst the expressly granted powers. It cannot be amongst those granted by implication ; for by the terms of the compact none are granted by implication except such as are inciden- tal to, or necessary and proper to execute those that are ex- pressly granted. The incident can never be greater than the object — and if nothing in the powers expressly granted amounts to sovereignty, that which is the greatest of all powers, can not follow or be carried after a lesser one, as an incident by implication — and then to put the matter at rest 30 forever, it is expressly declared, that the powers, not delega- ted, arc reserved to the States respectively or to the peonle. Sofefsignty, the greet leurce of ;ill power, therefore was left with the Stair- by the compact, left where King left it, ami left where it bat ever since remained, and will remain forever if tin- people of t are true to them- selves ami trim to the great principles which their forefath- ers achieved at Mich cost v \ \ } \ l anil treasure in the war of L776. The constitution \vas only the written ' or bond, between the sovereign States, in which th< ts were all plainly expressed, ami each State as a sovereign pledged its faith to its State*, to observe ami keep thes ■ cove- nants. So long as each did this, all were bound by the com- pact. But it is a rule as well known and a-- universally re- cognized in savage as in civilized life — as well understood and as generally acquiesced in between sovereign States, as between private individuals, that when one party to a con- tract refuses to be bound by it, ami to conform to its re- quirements, the other party is released from further compli ance. Without entering into an argument to show the manner in which the Northern States had perverted the contract, and warped its terms to suit their own interest, in the en- actment and enforcement of tariff laws for the protection of their industry at the expense of the South, and iu the en- actment of internal improvement laws, coast navigation laws, fishery laws, Are., 4c, which were intended to enrich them at the expense of the people of the South, 1 need cite but a single instance of open, avowed, self-confessed, and even boasted, violation of the compact by the Northern States, to prove that the Southern States were released and discharged from further obligation to the Northern States, by every known rule of law, morality, or comity. One of the express covenants in the written bond, to which the Northern States subscribed, and without which, as is (dearly seen by reference to the debates in the Conven- tion which formed the ( '(institution, (he South* rn States nev- er would have agreed to or formed the compact, was in these words : "No person held to service or labor in o e, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in cousequence ill ;mv law or regulation therein be discharged from such ser- vice or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the par - ty to whom such Bervioe or labor may be due." Massachusetts and other abolition States, utterly repudi- ated, annulled and set at naught this provision of the Con- stitution; and refused either to execute it or to permit the constituted authorities of the United States to cany it out, within their limits. This shameful violation,by Massachusetts, of her plight- ed faith to Georgia, and this refusal to be bound by the 31 parts of the Constitution, which she regarded burdensome to her, and unacceptable to her people, released Georgia, according to every principle of international law, from fur- ther compliance on her part. In other words, the Consti- tution was the bond of Union between Georgia and Massa- chusetts and when Massachusetts refused longer to be bound by the Constitution, she thereby dissolved the union between her and Georgia. It is truthfully said in the declaration of Independence, that "experience hath shown, that mankind are more dis- posed to suller while evils are sufl'erable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are ac- customed." So it was with Georgia and her Southern sis- ters in this case. Though Massachusetts and other North- ern States, by their taithless acts and repudiation of the compact, had dissolved the union existing between the States, the Southern States did not declare the dissolution ; hoping that a returning sense of justice, on the part of the Northern States, might cause them again to observe their constitutional obligations. So far from this being the case, they construed our forbearance into a consciousness of our weakness and inability to protect ourselves, aud they or- ganized a grest sectional party, whose political creed was founded in injustice to the South, and whose public declar- ations and acts sustained the action of Massachusetts and the other faithless States. This party, whose creed was avowed hostility to the rights of the South, triumphed in the election for President in 1860. The election of a federal Executive by a section- al party, upon a platform of avowed hostility to the con- stitutional rights of the South, to carry out in the Federal administration the doctrines of Massachusetts and other faithless States, left no further ground for hope that the rights of the South would longer be respected by the Nor- thern States, which had, not only the Executive, but a ma- jority of the Congress. The people of the Southern States, each sovereign State acting for itself, then met in convention, and, in the most nn manner known to our form of government, resum- ed the exercise of the powers which they had delegated to the common agent, now faithless to the trust reposed in it. The right of Georgia, as a member to the original com- pact, to do this, is too clear for successful denial. Aud the right of Alabama and the other States, which had been ad- mitted into the Union since the adoption of the Constitu- tion, is equally incontrovertable ; as each new State came into the Union as a sovereign, upon an equal footing in all respects whatever with the original parties to the com- pact. The Confederate States can therefore with confidence submit their acts to the judgment of mankind ; while with 32 a clear conscience th< A to a just <"'d to maintain them i" their course. They r true to the compact of the Union, so lone: ;is they remained mem ben of it — their obligations under it wei ■ - v. r faithfully performed, and* no breach of it was ever laid at their doof, or truly charged against them. In i 5 their undoubted right to withdraw from the Union, win tvenant had been bro- ken by the Northern States, theysoughi 1 1 * » war — do strife. They simply withdrew from further connection with Belf-confesspa, faithless Confederates. They offered do injury to them — threatened non< — proposed none — in- tended none. If their previous union with the Southern States liad been advantageous to them, and cur withdrawal affected their inti uriously, they ought to have been truer 10 their obligations. They had no ju to com- plain of us* the breach of the Compacl was by themselves — the vital cord of the union v. ed by their own hands. A the withdrawal of the I . the >n, if those v iss dereliction of duty had caused it. had recousidered their own acts, and offered new assu- rances for better faith in future, the question would have been fairly and justly put to the 3 ■ . in their reign capacity to determine; whether in view of their past and future interest and safety, they should renew the union with them or not; and upon what terms, and guar- antees; and if they had found it to be their interest to do so, upon any terms that might have beer, agreed upon; on the principle assumed at the beginning, that it was for the best interest of all the States, to bo bound by some Com- pact of union, with a Central Government of limited pow- ers; each State faithfully performing its obligations; they would doubtless have consented to it. But if they had found it to be their interest not to do it, they would not, and ouu r ht not to have done it. For the first law of nature as applicable to States and communities, as to individuals, is selt-protectioo and Belf-preservation. Possiblv a new government might have been formed at that time, upon the basis of the Germanic Confederation; with a guaranty of the complete sovereignty of all the sep- arate Stales; and with a central agent or government, of more limited powers than the old one; which would have been as useful for d. 'fence against foreign aggression; and much less dangerous to the Sovereignty and the existence of the States, than the eld one, when in the hands of abolition leaders, had proved itselt to be. The length of tine for which the Germanic Confederation has existed, has proved, that its strength lies h. what might have been considered its weakness — the separate Sover- eignty of the individual members; and the very limited powers of the Central Government. 33 In taking the step which they were forced to do, the. Southern States were careful not to provoke a conflict of arms, or any sorious misunderstanding with the States that adhered to the government at> Washington, as long rs it was possible to avoid it. Commissioners were sent to Washington to settle and adjust all matters relating to their, past connection, or joint interests and obligations, justly, honorably and peaceably. Our Commissioners were not received — they were denied the privilege of an audience — they were not heard. Rut they were indirectly trifled with, lied to, and misled by duplicity as infamous as that prac- ticed by Philip of Spain towards the peace Commissioners sent by Elizabeth of England. They were detained and deceived with private assurances of a prospect of a peace- 1 ful settlement : while the most extensive preparations were being made for war and subjugation. When they discover- ed this they withdrew, and the government at Washington continued its vigorous preparations to reinforce its garrisons, ami hold the possession of our Forts, and to send armies to invade our territory. Having completed his preparations for war and refuse. 1 to hear any propositions for a peaceful adjustment of our difficulties, President Lincoln issued his proclamation de- claring Georgia and the. other seceded States to be in rcbcl- ?um, and sent forth his armies of invasion. In rebellion against whom or what ? As sovereign States have no common arbiter, to whose decision they can appeal when they are unable to settle their differences amicably, they often resort to the sword as the arbiter, and as sover- eignty is always in dignity the equal of sovereignty, and a sovereign can know no superior to which allegiance is due, one sovereign may be at war with another, but one can never be in rebellion against another. To say that the sovereign State of Georgia is in rebellion against the sovereign State of Rhode Island, is as much an absurdity as it would be to say that the sovereign State of Russia was in rebellion against the sovereign State of Great Britain in their late war. They were at war with each other; but neither was in rebellion against the other, nor indeed could be, for neither owed any allegiance to the oth- er. Nor could one of the Sovereign States be in rebellion against the government of the United States. That gov- ernment was the creature of the States, by which it was created, and they had tie 1 same power to destroy it at pleas- ure which they had to make it. It was their common agent with limited powers, and the States by which the agency was created had the undoubted right when it abused these powers to withdraw them. Suppose by mutual con- sent all the States in the Union had met in convention, each in its separate sovereign capacity, and had withdrawn all 3 . the delegated powers fro?;i the federal government, and all t h«> States had refuted to send Senators or Representatives to Congress, or to elect a Pr< -id. nr ; will any Bane mao question their right or deny that Mich action 01 tin- States would have destroyed the federal government ? 4 It" so the federal government was the creature of the States and could exist only at their pleasure. It lived and breathed only by their consent, [f all tho parties to the compact, bad the right by mutual consent to resume the powers delegated by them to the common agent : why had not part ot them the right to do bo, when the others violated the compact — re- ed to be bound longer by its obi j and thereby released their copartners ¥ The very fact that the States — by which it was formed, could at any time by mutual consent, disband and destroy the federal government, shows that it had no original inherent sovereignty <>r jurisdiction. As the creature of the Stales it had only BUCh powers and jurisdictions as they gave it, and it held what it had at their pleasure. If therefore a state withdrew from the Confed- eracy without just cause, it was a question for the other sovereign States to consider whal should be their future re- lations towards it ; but it was a question of which the fed- eral government had not the shadow of jurisdiction. So long as Georgia remained in the Inion, if her citizens had refused to obey such laws of Congress as it bad constitu- tional jurisdiction to pass, they might have been in rebel- lion against the federal government ; because they resisted the authority over them, which Georgia had delegated to that government and which with her consent it still poo- led. 1 Jut if Georgia lor just cause, of which she was the judge, chose to withdraw from the Union and resume the attributes of sovereignty, which she had delegated to the United Slates Government, her citizens could no longer be subject to the laws of the Union, and no longer guilt rebels if they did not obey them. . It could be as justly said that the principal who has del- ted certain limited [towers to his agent in the transaction of his business, which be has afterwards withdrawn on ac- count of their abuse by the agent, is in rebellion against the agent; <>r thai the n in rebellion against his ser- vant; or the landlord against his tenant ; because he has withdrawn certain privileges for a time allowed i hem, as that Georgia is in rebellion, against her former agent the .'.eminent of the I 'nihd Stales. These 1 understand to be tin indamental doctrines of our republican form ot government, so ably expounded in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798 and 17!)!), which have ever since been a text book of the true republi- can party of the- Tinted States. Departure from these principles has destroyed the federal government, and been the prolific cause of all our woes. Out of this departure 35 has sprung the doctrine of loyalty and disloyalty of the States to the federal government ; from which comes osten- sibly this war against us; which is itself «t war with the first principles of American constitutional liberty. It in- volves the interests, the future safety and welfare of those States now deemed loyal, as well as those pronounced dis- loyal. It is the doctrine of absolutism revived in its worst form. It strikes down the essential principles of self-gov- ernment, ever held so sacred in our past history, and to which all the States were indebted for their unparalleled career, in grwoth, prosperity and greatness, so long as those principles were adhered to and maintained inviolate. If carried out and established, its end can be nothing but centralism and despotism. It and its fatal corollary — the policy of forcing sovereign States to the discharge of their assumed constitutional obligations, were foreshadowed by President Lincoln in his inaugural address. Now, at the time of the delivery of'that inaugural address, it was well known to him that the faithless States above alluded to, and to whose votes in the electoral college he was indebted for his election, had for years been in open, avowed and determined violation, of their constitutional obligations. This he well knew, and he also knew that the seceded States had withdrawn from the Union, because of this breach of faith on the part of the abolition States j and other anticipated violations, more dangerous, threaten- ed from the same quarter. Yet without a word of rebuke, censure, or remonstrance, with them, for their most flagrant disloyalty to the constitution, and their disregard of their most sacred obligations under it, he then threatened and now wages war against us, on the ground of our disloyalty, in seeking new sale-guards for our security, when the old ones failed. And the people of those very States, whose disloyal bands had severed the ties of the Union — breaking one of the essential parts of the compact, have been, and are, his most furious myrmidons, in this most wicked and unjust crusade against us, with the view to compel the peo- ple of these so outraged States, to return to the discharge of their constitutional obligations ! It may be gravely doubted, if the history of the world can furnish an instance of grosser perfidy or more shameful wrong. But while the war is thus waged, professedly under the paradoxical pretext of restoring the Union, that was a creature of consent, by force ; and of upholding the Con- stitution by coercing sovereign States ; yet its real objects, as appears more obviously every day, are by no means so paradoxical. The Union under the Constitution as it was, each and every State being bound faithfully to perform and discharge its duties, and obligations, and the central gov- ernment confining itself within the sphere of its limited powers, is what the authors, projectors, and controllers, of 86 this war never wanted, and never intended, and do not now intend to maintain. Whatever du%rences of opinion may have existed at the cm.' nt. among our own people ae to the polu saion, or the obj< the federal government, all doubt has be< a dispelled by the Abolition Proclamation of President Lincoln, and h stion. Maddened by abolition fanaticism, and deadly bate for the wli of the South, lie wages war not for the restoration ol m-rnot for the support ol istitution, i the abolition of slavery and the aubjugation. and aa be doubt- desires ultin irmination, of the anglo-Korman in the Southern States. Dearly beloved by him a* by love them, than by Puritanic hate for the Cavaliers, the Hug Iris!:, w! the veins of the white population of the South* Jin: era] h,, i never reverse the lav hich must b • d »ne, bel ire the the whit Bought for them l,v thi achieved, would r< suit In thei turn to barbarism, and their ultimate extermination I the soil, wh ire mosl of them were horn, and were com- fortable and cou tented, under the guardian care of the white race, before the wicked crusade was commi need. What have been the abolition achievements of the ad- ministration? The mosl that has been claimed by then?, is, that they have taken from their owners, ami set free; J 00,000 negroes. What has this eost the white race of the North and .South '( More than half a million of white men slain, or wrecked in health, beyond the hope of recovery, ami an expenditure of not perhaps less than four thousand millions of dollars. What will it cost at this rate to liberate nearly 4,000,000 more of slaves? Northern accounts of the sickness, suffering and death, which have, under North- ern treatment, carried offso large a proportion oftho* free, ought to convince the most fanatical, of the cruel inju- ry they are inflicting upon the poor helpless African. The real objects of the war aimed at, from the beginning, were, and are m.t SO much the deliverance of the African from bondage, as the repudiation ofthe great American doc- trine of self-government, the subjugation of the people pf these States, and the confiscation <»l their property. To car- ry out their fell purpose by misleading some simple mind- ed folks, within their own limits, as well as ours, perhaps, they passed, in the House of Representatives ofthe Federal Congress, a short time since, the famous resolution : •• That as oar country, and the very existence ol' the best 'government ever instituted by man, is imperilled by the most causeless and wicked rebellion, that the only hope of saving the country, and preserving this government, is by 37 the power of the sword, we are for the most vigorous pros- ecution of the war, until the Constitution and laws shall be enforced and obeyed, in all parts of the United States; and to that end we oppose any armistice, or intervention, or mediation, or proposition for pace, from any quarter-, so long as there shall be lound a rebel in arms against the govern- ment, and we ignore all party names, lines and issues, and recognize hut two parties to this war — patriots and traitors." Were solemn mockery, perfidious baseness, unmitigated hypocrisy, and malignant barbarity, ever more conspicuous- ly combined, and presented for the just condemnation of a right thinking world, than they are in this resolution/pas- sed hy the abolition majority in the Lincoln Congress? Think of the members from Massachusetts and Vermont, voting for the most vigorous prosecution of the war, until the Constitution and Jaws shall be enforced ami obeyed, in all parts of the United States. Think of the acts of the Leg- islature of Massachusetts, passed in 1843 and 1855, still standing upon her statute book, setting at defiance the Con- slitution and laws. What would become of these States, And what would become of their members themselves, who have upheld and sustained these violations of the Constitu- tion and laws, which is the chief reason why they now hold> their seats, by the votes of their constituents, if the war should be so waged ? How long would it be before they would ground their arms of rebellion against the provision of the Constitution which they have set at naught, and give it their loyal support? What would become of their Pres- ident and his cabinet, and all, who from the beginning of the v/ar, and before that time, have been trampling the Consti- tution under their feet '( Were the war waged, as they thus declare it to be their purpose to wage it, they would be t\io first victims of the sword, were it tirst turned, as it ought to be, against the first offenders. This they know full well. Obedience to the Constitution, is the last thing they want or intend. Jlence the mockery, baseness, and hypocrisy, of such a declaration of purpose. On their part, it is a war of most wanton and savage aggression ; on ours, it is a war in defence of inalienable rights, in defence of everything for which freemen should live, and for which freemen may well be willing to die. The inestimable rights of self-government, and State Sov- ereignty, for which their fathers, and our fathers, bled and Buffered together, in the struggle with England for Indepen- dence, are the same for which we are now engaged in this most unnatural and sanguinary struggle with them. Those rights an; as dear to the people of these States, as they were to those who achieved them ; and on account of the great cost of the achierement, they are the more preciously cher- ished by those to whom they were bequeathed, and will never be surrendered or abandoned at less sacrifice. If no proposition for peace or armistice is to be received, or entertained, bo long as we hold arms in our hands, t<> de- fend ourselves, our homes, our hearthstones, our altars, ami our birthright, against such ruthless, and worse than vandal invaders, be it so ! We deem it due, however, to selves, to the civilized world, and to those who shall come after us, to put upon record, what we are fighting tor; ;hii1 to let ;ill know, who may now <»r In reafter, feel an interest in knowing, the real nature <>f this conflict, that the heavy responsibility, of such Buffering, desolation, and carnage, may rest where it rightfully beloi It is believed that many ol the people of the Northern States labor under the impression, that no propositions peaceful adjustment have ever been made by us. President Lincoln, in his letter to the "Uoconditio Union" meeting at Springfield last summer, stated in Bub- stance, that no proposition for a peaceful adjustment, of the matters in strife, had ever been made to him by those who were in control of the military forces of the Confederate States; but if any such should be made, he would enter- tain and give it his consideration. This was doubtless.said to make the impression on the minds of those not well informed, that the responsibility oi the war was with us. This declaration of President Lin- coln stands in striking contrast with that above quotod, from the republican members of the House of Representa- tives. When this statement was made by President Lincoln, it was well known to him that our commissioners, sent to settle the whole matter in dispute peaceably,were refused a hearing! They were not even permitted to present their terms ! This declaration was also made soon after it was well known, throughout the Confederate States at least, that a distinguished son of this State, who is a high functionary of the government at Richmond, had consented, as military commissioner, to hear a communication in writing from President Davis, the Commander-in-Chief of our armies, to President Lincoln himself, with authority to confer up- on matters therein set forth. This Commissioner, sent from the head of our armies, was not granted an audience, nor was the communication he bore received. That communi- cation, as was afterwards known, related to divers matters connected with the general conduct of the war. Its nature however, or to what it referred, President Lincoln did not know when he refused to receive it. But from what is now known of it, if he had received it, and had heard what terms might have been proposed, for the general conduct of the war, it is reasonable to conclude, that the discussion of these, and kindred topics, might have led to some more definite ideas of the aims and objects of the war, on both 39 sides, from which the initiative of peaceful adjustment might have sprung, unless his real purpose be, as it is be- lieved to be, nothing short of the conquest, and subjugation of these States. His announcement, that no offer of terms of adjustment had ever been mule to him, is believed to be au artful pretext on his part to cover, and hide, from the people, over whom he is assuming such absolute sway, his deep designs, first against our liberties, and then against theirs. HOW PEACE SHOULD BE SOUGHT. In view of these difficulties, it may be asked, when and how is this war to terminate ? It is impossible to say when it may terminate ; but it is easy to say how it will end. "We do not seek to conquer the Northern people, and if we are true to ourselves they can never conquer us. We do not seek to take from them the right of self-government, or to gpvern them without their consent. And they have not force enough to govern us without our consent ; or to de- prive us of the right to govern ourselves The blood of hundreds of thousands may yet be spilt, and the war will not still be terminated by force of arms. Negotiation mil finally terminate it. The pen of the Statesman, more po- tent than the sword of the warrior, must do what the lat- ter Iias failed to do. But I may be asked, how negotiations are to commence, when President Lincoln refuses to receive commissioners sent by us ; and his Congress resolves to hear no proposi- tion for peace? I reply, that in my opinion, it is our duty to keen it always before the Northern people and the civil- ized world, that we are ready to negotiate for peace, when- ever the people and government of the Northern States are prepared to recognize the great fundamental principles of the declaration of Independence, maintained by our com- mon ancestry — the right of ail self-government and the sovereign- ty of the Stales. In my judgment it is the duty of our gov- ernment, after each important victory achieved by our gal- lant and glorious armies on the battle field, to make a dis- tinct proposition to the Northern government for peace, upon these terms. By doing this, if the proposition is de- clined by them, we will hold them up constantly in the wrong, before their own people and the judgment of man- kind. If they refuse to receive the commissioners who bear the proposition, publish it in the newspapers ; and let the conduct of their rulers be known to the people ; and there is reasonable ground to hope that the time may not be far distant when a returning sense of justice, and a desire for self-protection against despotism at home, will prompt the people of the Northern States to hurl from power those who deny the fundamental principle upon which their own liberties rest, and who can never be satiated with human blood. Let us stand on no delicate point of etiquette or 40 diplomatic ceremony. If the proposition 18 rejected a d< time*, let us tender it again alter the next victory : that the world may be reassured from month to month tliar we are noi responsible for the continuance of this devastation and carnage. Let it l>e repeated again and again, to the Northern j pie, that all we ask, is that they recognize the great princi- ple upon which their own government rests, — tin sovereign' ty <>f' the States: and let our awn people hold our own ■_ ermnent to a strict account for every encroachment niton this vital principle. Heroin lies the simple solution of all these troub i !: there be any doubt, or any question of doubt, as to the reign will of any one of all tl - of this Confede- racy ,or of any border State w , titutions are similar to ours, not in the Confederacy, upon the Bubject oftheirprea- ent or future alliance, let all armed force be withdrawn : and let that sovereign will he fairly expressed at the ballot box, .by the legal voters of the State: and let all pai abide by the decision. Let each Slate have and freely exercise, the right to de- termine its own destiny, in its own way. This is all that we have been struggling for from the beginning; It is i principle that secures " rights, inestimable to freemen, and formidable to tyrants only." Let both governments adopt this mode of eettlem< whiidi was bequeathed to them by the .meat men ol the Rev- olution ; and which has since been adopted by the Kmper- er Napoleon at the only jast mode for the government of • s, or even provinces, and the ballot box will soon achieve what the sword cannot accomplish — restore peace to the country; and uphold the great doctrines of State ereignty and constitutional liberty. It it is a question ol strife, whether Kentucky or Mary- land, or any other State, shall cast her lot with the United States, or the Confederate States, theie is no mode of set- tling il so justly, with so little cost, and with SO much sat- isfaction to hemw n people, as to w ithdraw all Military force from her limits, and have the decision, not to the BWOrd, but to the ballot box. [f she shouM decide for herself to abol- ish slavery and go with the North, the Confederate govern- ment can have no just cause of complaint, for that govern- ment had its origin in the doctrine that all itsjust " powers are derived from the consent ol the governed", and we have no right to insist on governing a sovereign State, against her will. But if she should dvclAc to retain her institu- tions and go with the Soul h, as w e doubt not she will, when the question is fairly submitted to her people at the polls, the Lincoln government must acquiesce, or it must repudi- ate, and trample upon, the very essential principles on which it was founded, and which were carried out in prac- 41 tice by the fathers of the Republic, for the first half century of its existence. • What Southern man can object to this mode of settle- ment? It is all that South Carolina, Virginia or Georgia claimed when she seceded from the Union. It is all that eith- er has at any time claimed and all that either ever can justly claim. And what friend of Southern Independence fears the result? What has the Abolition government done to cause the people of any Southern State to desire to reverse her decision and return ingloriously to its embrace? Are we afraid the people of any seceded State, will desire to place the State back in the Abolition union, under the Lincoln despotism, after it has devastated their fields, laid waste their country, burned their cities, slaughtered their sons and degraded their daughters ? There is no reaspn for such fear. But I may be totd that Mr. Lincoln has repudiated this principle in advance, and that it is idle again to tender a settlement upon these terms. This is no reason why we should withhold the repeated renewal of the proposition. Let it be made again and again till the mass of the North- ern people understand it : and Mr. Lincoln can not contin- ue to stand before them and the world, stained with the blood of their sons, their husbands and their fathers, and insist, when a proposition so lair is constantly tendered, that thousands of new victims shall still continue to bleed, to gratify bis abolition fanaticism, satisfy his revenge, and serve hi-, ambition to govern these States upon the decis- ion of one tenth of the people in his favor, against the oth- er niiu hurt*. Let the Northern and Southern mind De brought to contemplate this subject in all its magnitude; and while there may be extreme men on the Northern side, satisfied with uoflhiug less rhan the subjugation of the South, and the confiscation of our properly: and like extremists on the Southern side, whose morbid sensibilities are shock- ed at the mention of negotiation, or the renewal of an offer by US for 8 settlement upon any terms ; I cannot doubt that the cool-headed thinking men on both sides of the line, who are devoted to the great principles of self government and State sovereignty, including the sear-covered veterans of the army, will finally settle down upon this as the true solution of tin 1 great problem which now embarrasses so many mil- lions of people, and will find the higher truth between the two extremes. If, upon the sober second thought, the public seniiment North sustains the policy of Mr. Lincoln, when he proposes by the power of the sword to place the great doctrines of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of his country under his feet, and proclaims his purpose to govern these States by military power, when he shall have obtained the consent of one tenth of the governed; how can 4-2 the samp public sentiment condemn him, if. at the bead of irmiea he shall proclaim himself Emperor of the whole country ; and submit tin' question to the vote of the Northern people, and when be hai obtained, as he could ea- sily do, the vote ol "iir tenth in his favor, he shall insist his right to govern them as their legitimate sovereign? If he is righ! in principle in the one case, he would unquestion- ably be right in the ether. If be may rightfully continue ilic war against the South to sustain the one, why may he not as rightfully turn his armies against the North to estab- lish the oilier { But the timid among us may Bay*, how arc we to meet and repel his armies, il Mr. Lincoln shall continue to reject ■ terms, and shall be sustained by the sentiment of the North I as he claims not only the right to govern us, but he claims the right to take from us all that we have. The answer is plain. Let every man do his duty ; and let - a people place our trust in Gtod, and we shall certain- ly repel bis assaults, and achieve our [ndependence : and it true to ourselves and to posterity, we shall maintain our Constitutional liberty also. The achievement of our Inde- pendence is s great object ; but not greater than the pres- ervation of Constitutional liberty. * The good man cannot read the late proclamation of Mr. Lincoln, without being struck with the resemblance between it, and a similar one, issued sever. .! thousand years ago, by Ben-haded, king of Syria. That wicked king, denied in oth- ers the right of Self-government ; and vaunting himself in numbers, and putting his trust in chariots and lueses, he in- vaded Israel, and beseiged Samaria with an overwhelming force. When the king of [s/ael, with a small hand, resisted his entrance into the city, the Syrian king sent him this message : " Thou shall deliver me-thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children : yet I will send my ser- vants unto thee to-morrow, about this time ; and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put in their hands and take it away." The king oi Israel consulted the Elders, after receiving this arroganl message, and replied : '• This thing I may not do." Ben-hadad, en ra- ged at this reply, and confident of his strength, sent back and said : "The Gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Sa- maria shall suffice, for handfuls, for all the people that fol- low mo.'' The king of Lrael answered and said : "Tell him, Jet not him that gtrdeth on his harness, boast himself as he that putteth ito£" The result was, that the small band of Israelites guided by Jehovah, attacked the Syrian armies and routed them with great slaughter, and upon a second trial of strength, 43 the Syrian armies were destroyed and their king made cap- tive. When Mr. Lincoln, following the example of this- wick- ed king, and relying upon his chariots, and his horsemen, and his vast armies, to sustain a cause equally unjust, proclaims to us, that all we have is his, and that he will send his ser- vants, whose numbers are overwhelming, with arms in their hand* to take it, and threatens vengeance if we resist, let us — " Tell him, let not him that girdethon his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off." "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." " God is the judge, he putteth down one and settetli up another." Not doubting the justice of our cause, let us stand in our allotted places; and in the name of Him who rules the hosts of Heaven, and the armies of Earth, let us contiue to strike for liberty and independence, and our efforts will ultimately be crowned with triumphant success. JOSEPH E. BROWN. APPENDIX. ACT OF SIXTEENTH CHARLES I, CHAPTER 10. This went into operation 1st August, 1641. An Act for the regulating of th-3 privy council, and for taking away the£ourt commonly called the Star-Chamber. WHEKEA.sby t|y? Great Charter many times confirmed in par- liament, it is enacted, That no freeman shall he taken or impris- oned, or disseized of his freehold or liberties, or. ft ee customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or otherwise destroyed ; and that the king will not pass upon him, or condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. (2.) And by another statute made in the fifth year of the reign of King Edward, it is enacted, that no man shall be attached by any accusation, nor forejudged of life, or limb, nor his lands, tenements, goods nor chattels seized into the Kilter's hands, against the form of the GREAT CHARTER and the LAW r OE THE Land ; (:).) And by another statute made in the five and twen- tieth year of the reign of the same King Edward the Third, it is accorded, assented, and established, that none shall be taken by petition, or suggestion made to the King, or to his council, unless it be by indictment er presentment of good and lawful people of the same neighborhood, where such deeds be done, in due manner, or by process made by writ original at the com- mon law ; and that none be put out of his franchise, or fret hold, unless he be duly brought in to answer, and forejudged of the same by the course of the law: And if anything be done against the same, it shall be redressed, and ho/dm for none. (4) And by another statute made in the eight and twentieth year of the reign of the same King Edward the Third, it is, •15 amo:ii. r >t Other tl i. That no man, of what estate i LAW. And by another Btatute made in the two and fortieth year ol the reign of thesaid King Edward the Third, it is enac- That no man be put I er without presentment be- or matter of record, or by due process and writ . nccording to the <»i.l> LAW of the land: And it' anj thing be done to 1 he contrary, it shall be void in law and holden for error. (<>) And by another statute in the six and thirtieth year ol the reign of the same King Edward the Third, it is, amongsi other things, Enacted, That all pleas, which shall be pleaded in any courts, before any of the King's justices, or in his other places or befon it his other ministers, or in the courts and places of any other lords .within this realm, shall be entered add enrolled in Latin. (7) And whereas by the statute made in the third year of King Henry the Seventh, power is given to the Chancellor, the lord treasurer of England, for the time be- ing, am! the keeper ol the King's Privy seal, or tu them, calling unto them a bishop, and a temporal lord of the King' 8 most honorable council, and the two Chiel jus- - of the King's bench, and common pleas for the time being, or other two justices in their absence, to proceed as in thai act is expressed, for the punisbmenjajpf some particu- lar offences therein mentioned. (^) AsjPby the statute made in the one and twentieth year oi King Henry the Eighth, the president of the council associated to join with the lord chancellor, and other judges in the said Btatute of the third of Henry the Seventh mentb d. (9) Bu1 the said judges have not kept, themselves to the points limited by the Baid statute, but have undertaken to punish where mi Inn- doth warranty and to make decrees for things, having no such authority, and to inflict heavier punishmonts, //<'■•• a hi/ law is warranted. 2. Am! forasmuch as all matters examinable or determin- able before the said judges or in the court commonly called the suir-cLiniilii i '•, may have their proper remedy and redress, and their due punishment and correction by the common law of the land, and in the ordinary course of justice elsewhere. (2) And forasmuch as the reasous and motives, inducing the erection and continuance of that court do now cease. (•'•) And the proceedings, Censures, and decrees ol' that court, have by experience been found to bean intolerable burthen to the subject* and the means to introduce an arbitrary V0U> er and government. (4) And tor as much as the council ta- ble hath of late times assumed unto itself, a power to inter- meddle in civil and matters only of private interest between party and party; and have ADVENTURED to determine of the estates and liberties of the subjects, contrary to Otr LAWS of 4-5 th* LAND, and the Rights and Privileges of the subject, by which great and manifold mischiefs and inconveniences have arisen and happened, and much incertainty, by means of such proceedings, hath been conceived concerning men's rights and estates ; for settling whereof and Preventing the like in time to come, 3. Be it ordained and Enacted by the authority of this pres- ent parliament, That the said court commonly called the star-chamber, and all jurisdictions, power and authority, be- longing unto, or exercised in the saipe court, or by any the judges, officers, or ministers thereof, be from the first day of August, in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred forty and one, CLEARLY and ABSOLUTELY dissolved, taken auxi.y, and determined. (2) And that from the said first day of Augusj; neither the lord chancellor or keep- er of the Great seal of England, the lord treasurer of Eng- land, the keeper of the King's Privy seal, or president of the council, nor any bishop, temporal lord, privy counsel- lor or judge, or justice whatsoever, shall have any power •or authority to hear, examine or determine any matter or thing whatsoever, in the said court, commonly called the Scar-Chamber, or to make, pronounce, or deliver any judg- ment, sentence, order or decree ; or to do any judicial or ministerial act in the said court. (3) And that all and eve- ry act and acts of parliament, and all and every article, clause, and sentence in them, and every of them, bv which any jurisdiction, power or authority is given, limited or ap- pointed unto the said court, commonly called the Star- Cham her, or unto all, or any of the judges, officers, or min- isters thereof, or for any proceedings to be had or made in the said court, or for any matter or thing to be drawn into (question, examined or determined there, shall for so much as concerneth the said court of Star-Chambe.r, and the pow- er and authority thereby given unto it, be from the fust day of Augvst REPEALED and ABSOLUTELY REVOK- ED and made void. 4. And be it likewise Enacted, That the like jurisdiction now used and exercised in the court, before the president and council in the marches of Wales; (2) And also in the court,. before the president and council established in the northern ports; (3) And also in the court commonly called the court of the duchy of Lancaster, held before the chan- cellor and council of that court; (4) And also in the court of Exchequer of the county palatine of Chester, held before the chamberlain and council of that court ; (•>) The like juris- diction being exercised there, shall, from the said first day of Angus! our thousand six hundred forty-one, be also RE- PEALED, and ABSOLUTELY REVOKED, and mait VOID ; any law, prescription, custom or usage, or the said stat- ute made in (he third year of King Henry the Seventh, or the 16 statute made in the one and ticenticth of Henry the Eighth, or any act or acts of parliament htretofon had or made, to the con- trary thereof', in any trifle notwithstanding. (0) AND THAT PROM HENCEF< »i.' Ill N< > court, council or PLACE OP JUDICATURE, SHALL BE ERECTED, ORDAINED, CONSTITUTED OR APPOINTED WITHIN THIS REALM OF England, OR DOMINION OF Wain, WHICH SHALL HAVE, 1 SE, OR EXERCISE THE SAME, OB THE LIKE JURISDICTION, AS IS OR HATH BEEN USED, PRACTICEaOB EXERCISED IM THE SAID »URTOF Star-Chamt . ■'k Be it likewise declared, and Enacted by the authority of this present parliament, That neither hi* MAJESTY, NOR his l'KIYY COUNCIL, HAVE, or OUGHT TO HAVE any jurisdiction, power or authority, by English bill, pe- tition, articles, libels, or any other ARBITRARY WAV \\ IIATSi >K\ ER, to examine or draw into <>n, determine orditpon of the lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods or chattels of ami o/'thr subjects of this kingdom ; bufthat th> • ht to be tried, ami determined in tiki ordinary courts of justice and by the ordinary course of law. G. And 1 > e it further provided ami enacted, that if any lord chancellor or keeper of the Great seal oi England ; lordtn urer, keeper of the king's privy seal, president of the coun- cil, bishop, temporal lord, privy counsellor, judge or justice whatsoever, shall offend, or do anything contrary to the pur port, true intent, and meaning of this law, then he or they for such offencej&r/etf the sum FIVE HUNDRED I'< M'NDS of lawful money of England, untaany party grieved, his ex- ecutors or administrators, who .shall really prosecute for the same, and first obtain judgment thereupon to be recovered in any Court of record at Westminister, by action of debt, bill, plaint, or infur matron, wherein no essoigo, protection, wa- ger of law, aid prayer, privilege, injunction or order of re- strain:, shall !■■ in a.w WHS prayed, granted or allowed, nor any more than one imparlance. (2) And it any person, against whom, any such judgment or recovery shall be had as aforesaid, shall, alter Buch judgment or recovery, offend again, in the same, then he or they lor such offence shall forfeit the sum of ONE THOUSAND POUNDS ot lawful money ot England, unto any party grieved, his . xecutors or administrators; who shall really prosecute for the same, ami first obtain judgment thereupon, to be recovered in any court, of record at Westminister, hy action of deht, hill, plaint, or information, itowhich no essoigo, protection, wager of law, aid prayer, privilege, injunction or order of restraint, shall be IX ANY WISE prayed, granted or allowed; nor any more than one imparlance. (3) And if any person, against whom any such second judgment or recovery shall be had as aforesaid, shall after such judgment of recovery offend again in the same kind, and shall be thereof duly convicted by in- 47 dictment, information, or any other lawful way or mean* ™* fl C r\l^ S ° l \ S ° convicted ^all be from thenceforth JJlfeABLLD, and become, by virtue of this act INCAPA- BLE, ipso facto, to bear las m >d their said office and offices resncc- hohj. (4) And shall he likewise disabled to make any £S grant, conveyance, or other disposition, of any of his lands, n'ne- ments, hereditaments, goods or chattels ; or to' ma/re a n y benefit of any gifts , convey anchor legacy, to- his own use. 7. And every person so qfenditig, shall likewise forfeit and loose to tin party grieved, by anything done, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this law, his trible damages, which he shall sustain and be put unto, by means or occasion of any such act, or thing done ; the same to be recovered in any of 1ms Majesty's courts of record at Westminister, by ac- tion of debt, bill, plaint, or information, wnerein no essoin protection, wager of law. aid prayer, privilege, injunction, or order of restraint, shall be IN ANY WISE prayed, granted or allowed, nor any more than one imparlance. 8. And be it also provided and enacted, That if'anv per- son shall hereafter be committed, restrained of his liberty or suffer imprisonment, by the order ordeeree of any such court ol STAR-CHAMBEB, or other court aforesaid, now, or at any time hereafter, having, or pretending to have, the same, or like jurisdiction, power or authority, to commit or imprison as aforesaid; (9) Or by the command or warrant of the kings Majesty, his heirs and successors in their own person : or by the command or warrant of the council-board; or of any of the lords, or others of h/s Mopstifs priry council ; (:j) That in every such case, every person so committed, restrained of his liberty, or suffering imprisonment, upon demands or motion made by his counsel, or other employed by him for that eur- pose, unto the Judges of the court of king's bench, or com- mon pleas, m open court, shall, without delay, upon any pretence whatsoever, for the ordinary fees usually paid for the same, have forthwith granted unto him a Wlit of habeas corpus, to be directed generally unto all and eveiv sheriff gaoler, minister, officer, or other person,- in whose custody the person committed or restrained, shall be. (4) \nd the sheriffs, gaoler, minister, officer, or other person, in whose custody the person so committed or restrained shall be,shall at the return of the said writ and according to the command thereof, upon due and convenient notice thereof, given unto him, at the charge of the party who requireth orprosecuteth such writ, and upon security by his own bond given, to nay the charge of carrying back the prisoner, if be shall he re- manded by the court to which he shall be brought ; as in like cases hath been used ; such charges of bringing up, and carrying back the prisoner, to he always ordered by the court if any diffeitnce shall arise thereabout ; bring or cause to be brought, the body of the said party so committed or restrain- ed, unto and before the Judges or justices of the said court, B, in open court. (6 shall then likewise certify the true route of such, hit i imprisonment, a&d thereupon the court, within three ; be hcrcq/)a I, or- dained, constituted, or appoii aforesaid; and to the rants and directions ol the council-board, and to the eaai- mitment* restraint* and imjrrisonments of any person or persons, made, commanded or awarded by the king $ Majesty , hsslunt* In their own iter son, or by the lords, and othm ilir imvy council'^ and every <>n< of them. And lastly, provided and bej d, That no person or ons shall Ik- sued, impleaded, molested oi troubled, for anv offence ngainst this pn Bent act, unlessthe party sup] edtohavi ill be. sued, or impleaded for the same, within, »/•« years, at the most, after soon time, wherein the said offence snail be committed. Hollinger P H8.5 Mill Run F3-1955 \