Norwalk Gazette, Tuesday, January 8, 1833 · page 2

'said Proclamiition of the Prcsideiit, have

— calling upon the citizens thereof to re-

. tcrly inconsistent with the existence of a

- oriior be requested,forthwiili, to isvuc his

' as to the true character of the govern-
_ merit under which they live, and the par-

. lent and unlawful measures contempla-

_ the guilt of RonsLLioN.

. tional government” which is not..“a com
_ pact between Sovereign Statcs”—“tliat

—empire,—“one and indivisiblo,” and un-

3

E: -3,." ......._..- -- .—. -
PRQCLAMATION,
B3/"the Governm of South Carolina.

\Vur.ui:As, the President of the United
States hath issued his l’roclamation con-
cerning an “()iiniN.iNci-‘. on THE PEOPLE
or Soirru CAuoi.iNii, to niillify certain
acts oftlic Congress oftlic ‘U iiited-States,”
living “di.it.ics and iniposts for the pro-
tcctioii of domesticmaiiuliicturcs,”

And \ViiEiu:.-is, the Legislatiii'e of S.
Carolina n‘ow,in session, taking into coii-
sidcration the matters contained in the

adopted a Preamble and Resolution to
the following elfoct, viz : _
“\Viit»:iii~:.ii-, the President of the U_I!l-
ted States has issued his Pi'oclaINalHm
denouncing the proccodings'of this State,

nouiice their primary allegiance, and
threatening them ivitli military coercion,
unwarranted by the constitution, and at-

frce State, be it tlicrefore,
Resolved, That his exccllency the Gov-

Proclamation warning the good people
of this State against the attempt of the
President of the United States to seduce
them from their allegiance, cxliortiiig
them to disregard his vain mciiaccs,
and to be prepared to sustain the digni-
t.y, and protect the liberty oftlie State,
against the arbitrary measures proposed
by the President.” ,

Now I, Riiiicivr Y. II/\Yi\'E, Governor
of South Carolina, in obedience to the
said Resolution, do hereby issue this my
Proclamation,soleniiil y warning the good
people oftliis State against the danger-
ous and pernicious doctrine promulgated
in the said Proclamation of the president,
as calculated to niisload their judgments

amount obligations which they owe to
the State, and manifestly intended to se-
duce them from their allegiance, and by
drawing them to the support of the vio-

tcd by the I’residcnt, to involve them in
1 would ear-
nestly admonish them to beware of the
specious but false doctrines by_which it is
now attempted to be shown that the sev-
eral states have not retained their entire‘
sovereignty, that “the allegiance of their
citizens was transl'errcd in the _/irst in-
stance to the government of the United
States,” that “.a State cannot be said to
be sovereign and independent whose cit-
izens owc obedience to laws not made by
it :” -that “even under the royal govern-
ment, we had no separate‘ character,”
that the Constitution has created a “na-

[1 State has NO RIGHT TO sxor-:DE”—-in a
word, that ours is :1 NATIONAL GOVERN-
MENT, in which the people of all the
States are represeiitcd, and by which we
are constituted “onc pcople”—-and that
“ouri'eprcsentativos in Congress are all
representatives of the United States, and
not of the particular States from which
they come”—doctrincs which uproot the
very foundation of our political system—
annihilate the rights of the Statcs-and
utterly destroy the liberties of the citizen.

It requires no reasoning to show that
the bare statement of these propositions
demonstrate, that such a Government as
is here described, has not a single feature
of a coufcdcrated republic. It is in
truth an accurate delineation, drawn
with a boldliand, of a great consolidated

der whatever specious form its powers
may be masked, it is in fact the worst of
all despotism, in which the spirit of an
arbitrary government is sufi'ered to per-
vade its institutions professing to be free.
Such was not the Government for which
our fathers fought and bled, and offered
up their lives and fortunes as a willing
sacrifice. Such was not the Govern-
ment which the great and patriotic men
who called the Union into being in the
pleuitude of their wisdom framed. Such
was not the Government which the fatli-
ers of the republican faith, led on by the
Apostle of American Liberty, promulga-
ted and successfully mantaincd in 1798,
and by which they produced the great
political revolution effected at that auspi-

cious era. To a_Government based- on

such principles, South Carolina has not

been a voluntary party, and to _ such a

Government she never will give her as-

sent.

The records of our history do, indeed,
aflbrd the prototypcoftliese scntiinents,
which is to be found in the recorded opin-
ions of those, who, when the Constitu-
tion was framed, were in favor ofa “firm
National Government,” in which the
States should stand in the same relation
to the Union that the colonies did to-
wards the mother country. The Jom-.
rials of the Convention and the secret
history of the debates, will shew that this
party did propose to secure the Federal
Government an absolute supremacy ‘over
the'States, by ‘giving them a negative
upon their laws, but the some history al-
so teaches that all those propositions were
rejected, and a Federal Government was
finallypestablishcd, recognizing the sove-
reignty of the States,arid leaving the con-
stitutional compact on the footing of all
other compacts between “parties having
no common superior.”

' It is the natural and necessary conse-
quence of the principles thus authorita-
tively. announced by the President, as
ponstituting the very basis of our polit-
“ml 9Y9l°ms that the Fdernl Gov'm’t is
unlimited and supreme; being the ex-

powers, the laws of Congress saiictioiicd

by the Executive and the -l.U<llCl_0l")'i

w‘lictlicr passed in direct virjlatlnll Of tlw

Constitution and riglits ofthc States, or

not, are “the supreme law of the lttlltl ”

Hence it is that the Presiilent _olivinu.-sly

(~,mis'idc:'s the word.-', “miiilit in pitisiiiiiice

oftlie coustiti,itioii” as more osurplussngc;

mid [ljcrcf0|'C wlii-ii ho professes to reciti-
the provi:.=ioii of the Coiistitiit.iou on this-
suliji-ct, he states that our “.s'ociul com-
7,,-u:1iiii:xp_iess terms (lL‘(.‘li'l|'C.*l that the
laws of flu: U/zitmi Stains, its Coiistiiition,
and the Treaties in.-ido llll(l('l‘ it are the
suprenic law of llIl'. land,” and speaks
llirougliout. of “the cx-ilicit .siipi'ciiiacy
givi.-ii to the l{l\\'S ofth-o Union -overtliosc
bf the Statcs”—-as if a law of Coiigress
was itself supreine, while it was iieei-.-:sa-
ry to the validity ofa treaty that it should
be made in ])l|l'$Ut”lflCt‘. oftlic Constitution.
Sucli,liowcvcr, is not the provision of the
Constitiition, Tliat iiistruinent express-
ly provides that “the eoiistitiitioii, and
laws oftlic United States Io’/iic/i sliull be
mrzz/c in pursuance t/uzrco isliall be the su-
preme law oftlic land, any thing in the
coiistitiil.ion or law of any State to the
contrary notwitlistanding.”

Ilcre it will be seen that a law offloa-
gresir, as such, can have no validity, iiii-
loss made in pursuance of tlic coii:;t.itu-
tion.” An uncoiistitiitioiial act is there-
foi'o null mid void, and the only point
that can arise in this case is whether, to
the General Govcrmnciit, or any depart-
ment thereof, has been cxclu.-sivcly rcscr
vcd the right to decide authoritatively
fortlic States this question of coii.=st.itii-
tioiiality. lftliis be so, t.o which oftlie
departnionts, it may be asked. is this
right offinaljudgmeiit given? if it be
to Congress, then is Congress not only
elevated above the other deparltncnts of
the Federal Government, but it is put a-
bove the constitution itself. This how-
cvei', the President himself has publicly
and solciuiily denied, claiming and exor-
cising, as is known to allthc world—tlie
right to rsfusc to execute acts ofCongress
and solemn treaties, even after they had
received the sanction of every depart-
ment of the Federal Government.

That the Executive possesses this riglit
ofdcciding finally and exclusively as to
the validity of acts ofCongress, will hard-
ly be pretendi:d,und that it belongs to the
Judiciary, except so far as it may be ne-
cessary to the decision of questions
which may incidentally come before
them, in “cases oflaw and equity,” has
been denied by none more strongly than
the President himself, who on a memor-
ablc occasion refused to acknowledge
the binding authority of the Federal
Court, and claimed for himself and has
exercised the right ofeiiforciiig the laws,

so tnixed up together, that it is found _im-
possible l0‘(ll"¢lW the line of‘ discrimina-

,-avo] rho tl|1’(:fltlS.” South Carolina in-

her position,
United States is a compact betiveen sove—”
reign States--—tliat. it crc:_ites a confeder-

nted republic, not having it single feature

of natioiiiility iii its fotlntlttilull--llI.'It.lll0

peopleoftlic several States as distinct
political cominiiiiitios i°.titil‘ierl the consti-

nition, each State aetiiig for itself, and

biiidingits own citizens, and not those

ofanybtlier State, the act of ratification

declaring it to be binding. _on the States
so i'atifyiiig~tlic States are its autliors,
their power Cl‘(‘.zll1Ct'l ll2~—.l.i!Oll' voice cloth-
ed it with autliority—-llic gore-l'=ImCUl.
which it formed, is composed of their a-
geiits,and tlieUnioii of which it is the
bond is a Union of States and not of in-
dividuals— that as regards the foiiiidatiou
and extent of its power, the government
oftlio United States is strictly what its
name implies, a Federal Government-
that tho States are as sovereign now as
they were prior to their eiiteriug tnto the
coiiipact—tliat the Federal constitution
is a confederation in the nature ofa trea-
ty*—_or an alliance by which so many
Sovereign States agreed to exercise their
sovereign powers conjoi/itly upon certain
objects of cxteriial concern in which
they are equally interested, such as war,
peace, commerce, Foreign Negotiation,
and Indian trade; and upon all other
subjects ofcivil government, they were to
exercise their sovereignty s('para!cl_i/.

For the convenient conjoint exercise
of the Sovereignty of the States, there
must of necessity be some common agen-
cy or functionary. This agency -is the
l“cdcral Government. It represents the
confederated States, and executes their
joint will, as expressed in the compact.
The powers oftliis governmcnt_arc whol-
ly derivative. It possesses no more in-
'herent sovereigntv,th-an a_n incorporated
town, or any other great corporate body
—it is a political corporation, and like all
corporations, it looksfor its powers to an
exterior source. That source is the
States. , ’ ‘ '

South Carolina claims thatby the Dec-
l.'iration of Independence, she becomes
and has ever since continued a free,
sovereign, and Independent State.

That as a Sovereign State she has the
inliercnt power, to do all those acts,
which by the law of nations, any Prince
or Potei-itatc may of right do. That
like all independent States, she neither

not accordingto their judgment, but“his
own understanding of them.” And yet
when it serves the purpose of bringing o-
dium upon South Carolina, “his native
state," the President has uoliesitatioii in
regarding the attempt of a State to re—-
lease licrse.lf from the coatroul of the
Federal Judiciary,
her sovereign rights, asia violation of the
constitution.

It is unnecessary to enter into an cla-
borate examination of the subject. It
surely cannot admit of a doubt that by
the Declaration of Independence, the
several Colonies became “free, sovereign,
and independent States,” and our polit-
cal history, will abundantly shew that in
every subsequent change in their condi-
tion up to the formation of our present
constitution, the States preserved their
sovereignt". The discovery of this new
feature in our systcm,tliat‘tlie States ox-
ist only as mcuibors of the Union-that
bcfore the Declaration oflndcpcndence,
we were known. only as “United Colo-
nies” and that even under the articles
of confederation, the States were consid-
ered as forming “collectively one nation”
—-without any right of refusing to sub-
mit to “any decision of Congress”—was
reserved to the President and his imme-
diate prcdt cessor. To the latter .“be-
longs the invention, and upon the former,
will unfortunately fall the evils of redu-
cing it to practice.”

South Carolina holds the principles
now promulgated by the president (as
they must always be held by all who
claim to be supporters of the rights of
the states) “as contradicted by the letter
of the constitution-—unauthorizod by its
spirit-——inconsistcnt with every principle
on which it was foundou'—d_estructive of
all the objects for which it was framed”
-—utterly incompatible with the very ex-
istence of the States-_--and absolutely fa-
tal to the rights and liberties of the peo-
ple. South Carolina has so solemnly
and repeatedly expressed to C angress
and the Woi'ld the principles which she
believes to constitute the very pillars of
the constitution, that it is deemed unne-
cessary to do iuore at this time than bare-
lyto present a sum mary of those great fun-
damental truths, which she believes can
never be’ subverted without the inevitable
dcfitruction of the liberties of the people
and 0f the Union itself. South Carolina
has never claimed (as is asserted by the
Pfcsldemsl the right of “repealing at
pleasure, all the revenue laws of the Uh-
ion,” much less the right of “repealing
the .C0ll.Sliltllll0l] Itself, and layvs passed
to give it effect -which have ,m,,,,. 5,36,,
allegrd . to be nnconstitutiona.l.” She
claims only the right to judge of infrac-
tions of the constitutional compact in
violation of the reserved rights of ,the
Stato, and of arresting the progress of
usurpation within her own limits, and
when, as in the Tariffs of l828, and 1832,
revenue and protection—constitiitioiial

Cluflivc judge of the extent of its own

Q

in a matter affecting"

lias,nor ought she to suffer, any other re-
straint upon her sovereign will and pleas-
|urc, than those high moral obligations,
under which all Princes and States are
ibound before God and man to pcrfiirm
‘ltlicir solemn pledges. The iiievitablc
,conclusion from what has been said
' therefore is, that as in all cases of com-
I - .
pact between Independent Sovereigns,
where from the very nature of things,
. there can beino common judge or umpire,
each sovereign has a right “to judge as
~well of infractions, as of the mode and
measure of redress,” so in the present
lcontrovcrsy, between South Carolina
and the Federal Governme, it belongs
solely to her by her delegates in solemn
Convention assembled, to decide wheth-
er the federal compact be violated, and
what remedy the State ought to pursue.
South Carolina therefore cannot, and
will not yield to'any department of the
Federal Government, a right which on-
ters iiito the essence of all sovereignty,
and without which, it would become a
baiible and a name.”
Such are the doctrines which South
' Carolina has through her Convention
solemnly promulgated to the world, and
by them she will stand or fall : such were
the principles promulgated by Virginia
in ’9S, and which then received the sanc-
tion oftliose great men, whose recorded
sentiments have come down to us as a
light to our feet and a lamp to our path.
It is Virginia and not South Carolina,
who speaks when it is said that she “views
the powers of the Federal Government,
as resulting from the compact, to wli-iclt
flic States are parties, as limited by the
plain sense and intention of the instru-
ment constituting that compact-as no
further valid than they are authorized
by the grants cnuinoratcd in that com-
pact; and that in case of a deliberate,
palpable and -dangerous exercise of oth-
or powers, not granted by the said com-
pact, tlie states who are parties thereto,
have the right, and are in duty bound,
to interpose, for arresting the progress of
the evil and for maintaining within their
respective limits,tlie “authorities, rights
aml liberties, appertaining to them.”
It is Kentucky who declared in ’99,
speaking in the explicit language of
Thomas Jctfersoii, that “the principles
and construction contended for by mem-
bers of the State Legislature [the very
same now maintained by the President]
that the general government isjthe exclu-

 

who formed the instrument being sove-
reign and independent, have the lmqueg-

and,tliat a nullification by those sovc
Ttngnties, of all nnautliori.s'erl acts clam;
1031167‘ colour of that mstrumont, is the

crty himself who has coiisecrutcd these
tion-—-slie has no alteriiative, but to con- principles, _ _.
sitter the wliole as a system, nuconstitn- the American people,
tionul in its character, and t0 lvflve It '0 l p _ _ _‘ __
those who have “woven the web, to un- ed-—"‘tl‘iat to the C(lllStlIlllltll'l:J.l compact,
I
sists, and she appeals to tho_wliolc polit- . ” “ ‘ ‘ ‘
ical liistory ofour country, in support of itsi,-ll the other party, that t It} .1 out
“that the constitution oftlie being parties to the compact are solely on-

sive judge of the extent of the powers del- “lg” °“P“°lt}'v it f°llf’“'-‘3 0f nccessltyv
ogatcd to it, stop nmhine. short of des_ that there can be rio tribunal above their
pot15m__5ince the disc,.eti5,,Of thoscwho authority, to decide in the last resort,
administer the government, and not the Whether the °°mP°ct made bYll‘°m 139 Vi‘
constitution. would be the measure of °,lat°d‘ ““dv°°"5°‘l“e“tlY»ll“’t “the Pa?‘
their powe,.s_ That the Several States ties to it, they must themselves decide-

be of suflicicnt magnitude to require their
tionable right to judge of the infraction, "'te"l’°5't‘°”‘”

ral States thenit is clear that the discre-

tion in the hand writing of Mr.

It is the great Apostle of Ainefican lib-

and left them as a legacy to
recorded by his own
land. It is by him that we are instruct-
‘each State acceded as a State, and is an
iitegral party, its co states torming as to

tliorizcd to judge in tlic last resort of
. o 1
the powers exercised under it; (.-on-
grcss being not a party but merely the
creature of the compact ;” that it becomes

ted aml consequently unlimited power,
in no man or body ofineii, upon earth ;
tliatwlicrc powers are assumcdwbicli have
not been delegated [the very case now
before us] a iiullificatioii of the act is the
rightful remedy; that every State has a
natural right in Cases not-withiiitlie coin-
pact [cmms non fo:r.lcv'is] to nullify of
their own autliority, all assumption of
power by others within their limits, and
that without this right they would be un-
der the dominion absolute and unlimited,
of \\’ll0l])S()CVOr might exercise the right
of judgment for them,” and that in case
of acts being passed by Congress “so pal-
pably against the Jonstitution as to a-
inmiiit to an uiidisguisod declaration, that
the compact is not meant to he the meas-
ure oftlie powers oftlie General Govern-
ment, but that it will proceed to exercise
over the States all powers wliatsoover, it
would be the duty oftlic States to declare
the acts voirl and ofno force. and that
each sl.-ould talrc measures of Iris own for
providing that neither such acts, nor any
other of the General Government not
plainly and intentionally authorized by
the Constitution, shall be exercised with-
in their respective territories.”

It is on these great and essential truths
that SoutliCarolinalias now acted. Jud
giiig for herself as a sovereign State, she
has pronounced the Protecting System,
in all its branches, to be a “gross, delib-
erate, aiid palpable violation of the Con-
stitutional coiupact ;" and having ex-
hausted cvery other means of redress,
she has inethe exercise of her sovereign
rights as one ofthe parties to that coin-
pact, and in the performance of a high
and sacred duty, interposed for arrestiiig
the evil of usurpation, within her own
limits-by declaring these acts to be
“null, void, and no law, and takingineas-
ures of li_cr own, that they shall not be
enforced within her limits.”

South Carolina has not’ “assumed”
what c’ld be considered as at all doubtful,
when shcasscrts “that the acts in ques-
tion, were in reality intended for the pro-
tection of manufactiirc-s;” that tlicir“op-
oration is unequal ;” that “the amount
received by them, is greater than is re-
quircd by the wants of the government;
and finaily, “that the proceeds are to be
applied to objects unauthorised by the
constitution.” These facts are notorious
---tliesc objects openly avowed. The
President, without instituting any inqui-
sition into motives, has himself discov-
oied, and publicly denounced them; and
his oflicer of finance is even now devising
measures intended, as we are told, to cor-
rect thcse ackiiowledged abuses.

It is a vain‘ and idle dispute about
words,to ask wlietlier this right of a State
Interposition may be most properly
styled a constitutional, a sovereign right.
In calling this right constitutional, it
could never have been intended to claim
it as a right granted by,or derivcdfrom the
constitution,but it is claimed as consistent
with its genius,its letter,andspirit;it being
not only distinctly understood, at the time
of ratifying the constitution, but express-
ly provided for, in the instrument itself,
that all sovereign rights, not agreed to
be exercised conjointly, should be exer-
ted separately by the States. Virginia
declared, in reference to the right asser-
ted in the Resoliitiens of ’9S, above quo-
ted, eveii aftcrliaving fully and accurate-
ly re-examined and re-considered these
Resolutions, “that she found it to be her
indispensable duty to adhere to the same,
as founded in truth, as consonant with the
constitution, and as conducive to its wel-
fare,” and Mr. Madison himself, asserted
them to be perfectly “constitutional and
conclusive.”

It is wliollyimmaterial, however, by
what name this right may be called, for
if the constitution be “a compact to
which the States are parties,” if “acts of
the Federal Government are no further
valid than they are authorized by the
grants enumerated in that compact,”
then we have the authority of Mr. Mad-
ison himself for the inevitable conclusion
that it is “a plain principle illustrated
bycommon practice, and essential to the
nature of compacts, that when resort can
be had to no tribunal superior to the au-
iliority of the parties, the parties them-
selves must be the rightful judge in the
last resort,whetlicr the bargain made, has
been pursued or violated.” The consti-
tution, continues Mr. Madison, “was for-
med by the sanction of the States, given
by each in its own sovereign capacity :
the States then being parties to the con-
stitutional compact, and in their sove-

iii the last resort, such questions as may

If this right» does not exist in the Seller

‘ The original driiuglit of the Kentucky Resolu

and unconstitutional objects, have been

 

""’.i5.'7"f'-"l ‘I'cmr.(lv/.”

publislicd by his grandson.

Jefferson, lately

eign nation or Indian tribe.”
section of that Act, it is provided that a 1lIastor.
“whenever the laws of the United States already taken hcrstand against the usur-

power. from its own will.”
\Vc hold it to be impossib
argument. that the several States as sove-

soss the power, in cases of “gross, delib-
erate and palpable violation 0f “'9 C011-
stitution, t.o judge each for itself as well
of the infraction as the mode and meas-
iiro of redress,” oroiirs is aConsoli(IatcrI
Govrrimzryit “ with limitation ofpowcrs,"
--a submission to which Mr. Jelfersoii
has solemnly proiiouiiced to be a greater
evil than disunion itself. If, to borrow
the language of Madison's i'cport, “the
deliberate exercise of dangerous powers
palpably withlield by the constitution,
could notjustify the p:irIies'to it, in inter
posing even so tiir as to arrest the prog-
rcss of t/cc coil, and thereby to preserve
the Constituflon itself, as well as to pro-
vidc for the safety oftlie parties to it,tlierc
would be an end to all relief from usurped
power, and a direct subversion to the
iights specified or recognized under all
the State Constitution as well as a plain
denial of the fundamental principle on
which our independence itself was de-
clared.” P

It does not become the dignity of a
sovereign State, to notice in the spirit
which might be considered as belonging
to the occasion, the unwarrantnble impu-
cations in which the President has thought
proper to indulge, in relation to South
Carolina,the proceedings of her citizens
and constituted authorities. He has
noticed, only to give it coiiiitciiai{ce,tliat
miserable slander which imputes the
noble stand that our people have taken
in defence of their rights and liberjics, to a
faction instigated by the efforts of a few
ambitions leaders who have got up an
excitement for their own personal ag-
graiidizcment. The motives and char-
acters of those who have been subjected
to those unfounded imputations, are be-
yond the reach of the President of the
United States. The sacrifices they have
made, and diflicultics and trials through
which they may have yet to pass, will
leave no doubt as to disinterested motives
and noble impulses of patriotism and hon-
or by which they are actuated. Could
they have been induced to separate their
oivn personal interest from those of the
people of South Carolina, and have con-
sented to abandon their duty to'the State,
no one knows better than the President
himself, that they might have been lion-
ored with the highest manefcstations of
piiblio regard, and perhaps instead of
being the objects of vituperation, might
even now have been basking in the sun-
sliine of Executive favor. This topic is
alluded to,me1'cl yfor the purpose of guard -
ing the people ofour sister States against
the fatal delusion that South Carolina
has assumed her‘ present position under
the influence of a temporary excitement ;
and to worn them that it has been the
result of the slow but steady progress of
public opiuioii for the last ten years ; that
it is the act of the people themselves,
taken in conformity with the spirit of
resolutions repeatedly adopted in their
primary assemblies; and the solemn de-
terminatio,n of the Legislature, publicly
announced more than two years ago.

The whole argument, so far as it is de-
signed at this time to enter into it, is now
disposed of ; and it is necessary to advert
to some passages in the Proclamation
which cannot be passed over in silence.
The president distinctly intimates that it
is his determination to exert the right of
putting down the opposition of S.Carolina
to the Tariff, by force of arms. He he.
lieves himself invested with power to do
this under that provision of the constitu-
tion which directs him “to take care that
the laws be faithfully executed.” Now if
by this it was only meant to be asserted
that under the laws "of Congress now in
force, the President would feel himself
bound to aid the civil tribunals in the man-
ner therein prescribed, supposing such
laws to be constitutional, no just excep-
tion could bc taken to this assertion of
Executive duty. But if, as is manifest-
ly intended, the President sets up the
claim to judge for himself iiiwlnit manner
the laws are to be enforced, and feels l1im-
self at liberty to call forth the militia, and
even the military and naval forces of the
Union, against the State of S. Carolina,
lier constituted authorities and citizens,
then it is clear that he assumes a power
not only not conferred on the Executive
by the constitution, but which belongs to
no despot upon earth exercising a less un-
limited autliorityvtlian the Autoerat of all

 

tion of Congress, and not the Constitu- shall be Opposed, 0!: the excciitioo thereof
hm,’ would he the measure of their pow- obstructed in any State‘, by combinations
ors, and this, says Mr. Jefferson, would t _ _ . _
amount to the “seizing of ‘the rights ot' diuary course of Judicial proceedings", or
the Stati.-s and consolidating them in the by the powers vested in the marshals by
luinds of the General Governmciit with this Act, it shall be lawful for the Presi-
la power assumed to bind the States not dent of the United States to call forth the
only in cases made federal, but in all ca- militia of such State, or of any other state
ses wliatsoever ; which would be to sur- or states, as may be necessary to suppress
render the form of Government we have such coinbiuations, and to=,canse the laws
ohoseii, to live’ under one ‘deriving its to _bo duly executed." .

oo powerful to be suppressed by the or-

Tlic words here used, though they

. L . ,
le to resist the might be supposed to be very comple-
hensive in their import, are restrained by
asovereign State to submit to undclcga- reign parties to the compact, must pos- those which follow. By the next section

it is declared that “whenever it may be
necessary in thi-judgment of the President
to use the Military force hereby directed
to be called forth, the President sliall
fortliwitli, by Proclamation command szteli
insurg.--nts to disperse and retire peacallly
to their respective abodc_s within a limit-
ed time.”Oii reading these two quotations
toga-ther, it is manifest that they relate-‘
entirely to combinations of iiidividuals
acting of themselves without any lawful
authority. The constituted authorities
acting under the laws of the State, and
its citizens yielding obedience to its coni-
mands, caiiiiot possibly be considered
as a mere mob forming couibiiiations
against the authority and laws of the Un-
ion, to be dispersed by an Executive

treat them would be a gross and palpable
violation of the sovereign authority of
the State, and an offence punishable crim-
inally in her own Courts. VVhetlicr the
late proclamation of the President was
intended as a compliance with the provis-
ions of this act, does not very clearly ap-
pear. But ifso, it can only be consider-
ed as directed against the State, since the
laws of the United States have certainly
not been forcibly obstructed by combina-
nation ofany sort, and it is certainly wor-
thy of observation that the command ex-
tended to the people is not that they
should clispcrsc but that they should re-as’-
semble in Convention and repeal the ob-
noxious Ordinance.
The power of the President, so far as
this subject is embraced, in relation to
the army is exactly co-extensive with
that over the militia. By the lst section
of act of3il of March, 1807, it is express-
ly providod,tliat in all cases of “obstruc-
tion to the laws of the U. S. or of any
individual State, where it is lawful forthe
President to call forth the militia for the
purpose of causing the laws to be duly
executed, it shall be lawful for him to em-
ploy for the same purpose,sncli part of the
land or naval force of tl_ic United States
as nmy be necessary, having first observ-
ed all the prcrequisites of the law in
that respect.” Here then is seen, that
unless the President is i'esolvcd to disre-
gard all constitutional obligations and to
trample the laws of his country under his
feet, he lias_no authority whatever to use
force against the State of S. Carolina,and
should he attempt to do so, the patriotic
citizens of this State know too well their
own ‘rights, and have too'sacrcd a regard
to their duties, to hesitate one moment,
in repelling invasion, come from what
quarter it may.
The President has intimated in his
Proclamation that a s‘anding Army is
about to be raised to carry secession into
effect. South Carolina desires that her
true position shall be clearly understood
both at home and abroad. Her object is
not “disunion”--she has raised no “stand-
ing Array,” and if driven to repel inva-
sion or resist aggression, she will do so by
the strong arms and stout hearts of her
citizens. South Carolina has solemly
proclaimed her purpose; that purpose is
the vindication of her riglits. She has
professed a sincere attachment to the
Union ; and that to the utmost of her
power she will endeavor to preserve it,
“ but believes that for this end, it is her
duty to watch over and oppose any infrac-
tion of those principles which constitute
the only basis of that Union, because a
faiilifiil observance of them can alone
secure its existence; that she venerates
the constitution and -will protect and de-
fend, it “ against every aggression either
foreign or domestic,” but above all, that
she estimates as beyond all price her lib-
erty, which is unalterably determined
never to surrender, ' while she has the
power to maintain it.”

The President denies in the most pos-
itive terms, the right ofa State under any
circumstaiices,to secede from the Union,
and puts this denial on the ground “that
from the time the States parted with so
many powers as to constitute jointly with
the other States a single nation, they can-
not from that period possess any right to
secede.” VVhat then remains of those
“ rights of the States” for which the
President professes so “high ii rever-
ence T’ In what do they consist’! And
by what tenure are they held? The
uncontrolled will of the federal gover-
ment. Like any other petty ‘corpora-

the Russias ; an authority, which, if sub- tion, the States may exert‘, such powers
mitted to, would at once reduce the free and such only as may be permitted by
people of these United States to a state of their superiors.
the most abject and degraded slavery. these limits, oven afederalofiicerwill set
But the President has no power whatso- at naught their decrees, repca1_tll|fll_' 50l-
ever to execute the laws except in the émn or_dinanccs—pro.claim their citizens
mode and manner prescribed by the laws, to be "ii/‘aitors,and reduce them to subjec-
themselves. On looking into tlicsd laws, tion by militaryforce; andlfs dflllefl t0
it will be seen that he has no shadow or desperation, they should seek arefuge in
semblance of authority to execute any of secession,they are to be told that theyhave
the threats which he has thrown out bound themselves to those who have per-
against the good people of S. Carolina. petrated or promotedthcse enormities, in
The Act of ‘.28th February, 1795, gives t
the President authority to call forth the
Militia in case of an invasion “by a for- then indeed would the days of our liberty
By the 2d be numbered, and the public will have

When they step beyond

he iron bonds of a “Perpetual Union.”
If these principles could be establislied

If South Carolina had not

Procliimation, and any attempt so to-