Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: September 21, 1864

Cloudy and somber.

We have authentic intelligence of the defeat of our forces under Gen. Early, near Winchester. Two generals, Rhodes and Godwin, were killed. We lost some guns, and heavily in killed and wounded. The enemy have Winchester, and Early has retreated, bringing off his trains, however. This has caused the croakers to raise a new howl against the President, for they know not what.

Mr. Clapman, our disbursing clerk (appointed under Secretary Randolph), proposed, to-day, to several in his office—jestingly, they supposed—revolution, and installing Gen. Lee as Dictator. It may be a jest to some, but others mean in earnest.

I look for other and more disastrous defeats, unless the speculators are demolished, and the wealthy class put in the ranks. Many of the privates in our armies are fast becoming what is termed machine soldiers, and will ere long cease to fight well having nothing to fight for. Alas, the chivalry have fallen! The lagging land proprietors and slave-owners (as the Yankees shrewdly predicted) want to be captains, etc. or speculators. The poor will not long fight for their oppressors, the money-changers, extortioners, etc., whose bribes keep them out of the service.

Mr. Foote openly advocates a convention; and says the other States will have one certainly: and if Virginia declines to unite in it, she will be “left out in the cold.” This is said of him; I have not heard him say it. But I believe a convention in any State or States, if our disasters continue, will lead to reconstruction, if McClellan be elected. If emancipation, confiscation, etc. be insisted on, the war will never terminate but in final separation.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 288-9

Senatorial Canvass in Illinois, August 27, 1858

LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS AT OTTAWA.

[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]

CHICAGO, August 27, 1858.

After Mr. Douglas spoke at Peoria on the 8th, he proceeded to Lacon, where, on the next day, he made the discovery that all the Presidents, naming them in order from Washington to Buchanan, had endorsed the principles of the Dred Scott Decision by refusing to grant passports to negroes to travel in foreign countries. After which, he reposed his wearied virtue for one day, to prepare for the extreme of mendacity, which he reached on Saturday at Ottawa. There, most aptly, he illustrated the Latin proverb— “Andas omnia perpeti, ruat per retitum nefas”¹ — and there he strode so deeply into the mire of falsification that extrication is impossible. But more of this further on.

At Lewiston, in Fulton county, on the 17th, Mr. Lincoln held one of his largest meetings and spoke for two hours and a half. At this place he tore from Douglas the mantle of Henry Clay, under which the senator had been strutting and hoping to hide the wickedness of his pretenses. Mr. Lincoln read largely from Clay’s writings and speeches, wherein he contends for the ultimate emancipation of the slave, and said that he would claim no support from the old line Whigs unless he could show that he stood upon the ground occupied by that great statesman. He further said that he believed Mr. Douglas was the only man of prominence before the country who had never declared, to friend or enemy, whether he believed slavery to be right or wrong. His speeches, to be sure, leave the hearer to infer that he did not desire slavery to be introduced into Illinois, but he indicates that no moral consideration would prevail with him against the exercise of slave-ownership, provided there was more money in working a negro that in working a horse. It was in this speech that Mr. Lincoln uttered an eloquent and impressive apostrophe into the Declaration of Independence, which ranks him at once among the foremost orators of the land. I give you a brief extract from the correspondent of the Press and Tribune:

“These communities, the thirteen colonies, by their representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the whole world of men; ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’” This was their majestic interpretation of the economy of the Universe. This was their lofty, and wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures.  Applause.  Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the whole great family of man. In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped with the Devine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows. They grasped not only the whole race of man then living, but they reached forward and seized upon the farthest posterity. They erected a beacon to guide their children and their children's children, and the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth in other ages. Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers began—so that truth, and justice, and mercy, and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land; so that no man would hereafter dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was being built. Loud cheers.

“Now, my countrymen (Mr. Lincoln continued with great earnestness,) if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if you have listened to suggestions which would take away from its grandeur, and mutilate the fair symmetry of its proportions; if you have been inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our charter of liberty, let me entreat you to come back. Return to the fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the Revolution. Think nothing of me—take no thought for the political fate of any man whomsoever—but come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence. You may do anything with me you choose, if you will but heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat me for the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death. While pretending no indifference to earthly honors, I do claim to be actuated in this contest by something higher than an anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and insignificant thought for any man's success. It is nothing; I am nothing; Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy that immortal emblem of Humanity—the Declaration of American Independence.”

Reports from various localities indicate that the Fillmore Americans and Old Lane Whigs are coming to the support of Mr. Lincoln, to put down the agitator and demagogue, who, on the other hand, is appealing to them for their votes. It is not to be disguised that Mr. Douglas has the [illegible] faith of the masses of the democratic party; whether it be abiding is another question. Once he had the ear of the federal administration; now he has lost it, and it is the object of unceasing opposition from that quarter. Then he could rally his lieges and hold them because he had rewards to bestow; now his promises are beggarly and unproductive. Thrift no longer follows fawning upon him. The Buchanan men do not warm towards him yet, and they are not likely to although it is said a joint and special commission has gone to Washington to plead with the unrelenting Executive.

Saturday, the 21st, was the day of the first discussion between Lincoln and Douglas. It was held at Ottawa, a city of about 9,000 inhabitants, on the line of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad and the Illinois canal, and the junction of the Fox and Illinois rivers. I arrived late the night before at Ottawa, and was accommodated with a sofa at the hotel. The city was already even full. Saturday was a pleasant, but warm day, and Ottawa was deluged in dust. By wagon, by rail, by canal, the people poured in, till Ottawa was one mass of active life. Men, women and children, old and young, the dwellers on the broad prairies, had turned their backs upon the plough, and had come to listen to these champions of the two parties. Military companies were out; martial music sounded, and salutes of artillery thundered in the air. [Eager] marshals in partisan sashes rode furiously about the streets. Peddlers were crying their wares at the corners, and excited groups of politicians were canvassing and quarrelling everywhere. And still they came, the crowd swelling constantly in its proportions and growing more eager and more hungry, perhaps more thirsty. Though every precaution was taken against this latter evil. About noon the rival processions were formed, and paraded the streets amid the cheers of the people. Mr. Lincoln was met at the depot by an immense crowd, who escorted him to the residence of the mayor, with banners flying and mottoes waving their unfaltering attachment to him and to his cause. The Douglas turnout, though plentifully interspersed with the Hibernian element, was less noisy, and thus matters were arranged for the after-dinner demonstration in the Court House square, where the stand was erected, and where, under the blazing sun unprotected by shade trees, and unprovided with seats, the audience was expected to congregate and listen to the champions.

Two men presenting wider contrasts could hardly be found as the representatives of the two great parties. Everybody knows Douglas, a short, thickset, burly man, with large round head, heavy hair, dark complexion, and fierce bull-dog bark. Strong in his own real power, and skilled by a thousand conflicts in all the strategy of a hand-to-hand or a general fight. Of towering ambition, restless in his determined desire for notoriety, proud, defiant, arrogant, audacious, unscrupulous, “Little Dug” ascended the platform and looked out imprudently and carelessly on the immense throng which surged and struggled before him. A native of Vermont, reared on a soil where no slave ever stood, trained to hard manual labor and schooled in early hardships, he came to Illinois a teacher, and from one post to another had risen to his present eminence. Forgetful of the ancestral hatred of slavery to which he was the heir, he had come to be a holder of slaves and to owe much of his fame to his continued subservience to southern influence.

The other—Lincoln—is a native of Kentucky, and of poor white parentage; and from his cradle has felt the blighting influence of the dark and cruel shadow which rendered labor dishonorable, and kept the poor in poverty, while it advanced the rich in their possessions. Reared in poverty and the humblest aspirations, he left his native state, crossed the line into Illinois, and began his career of honorable toil. At first a laborer, splitting rails for a living—deficient in education, and applying himself even to the rudiments of knowledge—he, too, felt the expanding power of his American manhood, and began to  achieve the greatness to which he has succeeded, With great difficulty struggling through the tedious formularies of legal lore, he was admitted to the bar and rapidly made his way to the front ranks of his profession. Honored by the people with office, he is still the same honest and reliable man. He volunteers in the Black Hawk war, and does the state good service in its sorest need. In every relation of his life, socially and to the state, Mr. Lincoln has been always the pure and honest man. In physique he is the opposite to Douglas. Built on the Kentucky type, he is very tall, slender and angular, awkward even, in gate and attitude. His face is sharp, large-featured and unprepossessing. His eyes are deep set, under heavy brows; his forehead is high and retreating, and his hair is dark and heavy. In repose, I must confess that “Long Abe’s” appearance is not comely. But stir him up, and the fire of his genius plays on every feature. His eye glows and sparkles, every lineament, now so ill-formed, grows brilliant and expressive, and you have before you a man of rare power and of strong magnetic influence. He takes the people every time, and there is no getting away from his sturdy good sense, his unaffected sincerity, and the unceasing play of his good humor, which accompanies his close logic and smoothes the way to conviction. Listening to him on Saturday, calmly and unprejudiced, I was convinced that he has no superior as a stump speaker. He is clear, concise and logical; his language is eloquent and at perfect command. He is altogether a more fluent speaker than Douglas, and in all the arts of debate fully his equal. The Republicans of Illinois have chosen a champion worthy of their heartiest support and fully equipped for the conflict with the great “squatter Sovereign.”

By previous arrangement, Mr. Douglas was to open in a speech of one hour, Mr. Lincoln was to respond in a speech of an hour and a half, and Mr. Douglas was to conclude in another half hour. The square was filled with people, and when the cannon and the music had been quieted, Mr. Douglas commenced. He began by referring to the attitude of the Whig and Democratic parties prior to the spring of 1854, claiming that up to that time they stood on the same platform with regard to the Slavery question. He said that in the session of 1853-4 he introduced the Kansas bill, in accordance with the principles of the compromise of 1850, and endorsed by the Wig and Democratic National Conventions of 1852. In 1854, after the passage of this bill, he said that Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Trumbull entered into a league to deliver up, bound hand and foot to the Abolitionists, the old Whigs and the old Democrats—in consideration whereof, Mr. Lincoln was to have Shield’s place, and Mr. Trumbull was to have his own. (A screw subsequently became loose, and the programme of substitution was changed.) In pursuance of this plan, the parties met at Springfield in 1854, to perfect arrangements. There they, Mr. Lincoln included, passed a certain series of abominable resolutions, one of which he would read, and to which Mr. Lincoln, and his party were [committed]. He then proceeded to discuss Mr. Lincoln’s position in regard to negro equality, to the evident satisfaction of the Hibernian body guard, who were made to believe that Mr. Lincoln was aching to place the African in high places of the land, and to fold him to his arms in a fraternal embrace. Recurring them to his doctrine of popular sovereignty, he lauded it as the great element of our growth and prosperity, and closed with a spread-eagle eulogium upon the democratic party. Mr. Douglas was often interrupted with light applause, but, on the hole, it was not a very enthusiastic demonstration.

Then the tall form of “Long Abe” loomed above the heads on the stage, the signal for a fanatic expression of applause. Mr. Lincoln replied seriatim to Mr. Douglas’s charges, denying the conspiracy with Trumbull entirely, stating that at that time he was opposed to the formation of a new party, and that he had no hand in the preparation of the Springfield resolutions. On the subject of negro equality, he read from a speech of his in 1854, and which he said Mr. Douglas heard, and on that record he was prepared to stand.

Mr. Lincoln closed, and Douglas came forward, evidently under much excitement. He took advantage of his last half hour, and rose to such a pitch of arrogance and audacity as is seldom witnessed. With brazen front and lungs of iron, with a recklessness peculiarly his own, he launched forth a bold and defiant speech, which his retainers applauded to the echo. The charges of his first speech he re-affirmed with an unblushing effrontery, denounced Trumbull and Lincoln in unstinted terms, passed the lie around the circle, shook his long locks, grew red in the face, stentorian in voice, declared that Buchanan was a most excellent man, and scouted at the idea of Mr. Lincoln’s having any reputation for veracity. When he concluded, he was followed to his quarters by part of the crowd. The rest gathered about the stand, cheering Lincoln, and when he descended, he was seized by his enthusiastic friends, and in spite of his struggles, borne in triumph to the hotel, on the shoulders of half a dozen men, at once a novel exhibition of the freedom of western politics and the exuberance of western feeling.

I said, near the commencement of this letter, that Mr. Douglas waded very deeply into the mire of mendacity at Ottawa. The full vindication of this charge, and the proof of his singular madness, is furnished in the Chicago Press and Tribune of this morning, to whose excellent phonographic report of the Ottawa meeting. I have been indebted for the completion of the brief notes which I took at the time. I can do no better than give you the proof, in the words of the journal to which I refer. “At the meeting in Ottawa, on Saturday, the senator read a series of radical resolutions, which he assured his hearers were passed by a Republican State Convention in 1854, at Springfield; that the constituted the platform of the party at that day, and that they represented the views of his distinguished competitor, who, he said, took part in the proceedings of which the resolutions were a share. The resolutions were frauds and forgeries from first to last. No such series was ever presented to, hence never adopted by, any State Republican Convention in Illinois! And in making the assertion Mr. Douglas knee that he basely, maliciously and willfully LIED. He not only lied circumstantially and wickedly; but be spent the first part of his speech in elaborating the lie with which he set out, and the entire latter part, in giving the lie application and effect. The resolutions which he read were adopted by one house meeting at Aurora, in Kane county, with which Mr. Lincoln had nothing to do, which he was not near, which he possibly never heard of except though the public prints.”

There the senator stands, branded and convicted of a deliberate fraud, gibbeted before the public. I confess I was prepared for this exhibition. I knew that Douglas’s life as a politician was one great [illegible] vocation, that he had experienced incessant “changes of heart,” and that his position in [illegible] campaign was only a trap and a lure to another and falser position in the next. But I could hardly expect that he would coolly stand up and read a printed resolution as genuine, where he must have known that he was deliberately submitting a false and fraudulent record. Yet, he it is that goes over the states saying “you lie,” and infamous liar,” to Trumbull and Lincoln. This exposure of the Press and Tribune takes the very heart and core out of Douglas’s Ottawa speech. It to the very bone, and leaves only a hollow and baseless frame behind, “were words, “mouthfuls of spoken wind,” a figure with swollen features, and windmill arms beating the air, with violent but [imbecile] gesticulation. The very audacity of this charge gave Douglas this seeming advantage; that it put Lincoln on the explanatory and defensive, in regard to a series of resolutions which, whether passed at a one horse meeting in Kane county” or at Springfield, he could know nothing about it, as he had no hand in making them, and it is asking too much, to require a politician to have at his tongue’s end all the resolutions of four year old conventions. Lincoln will overhaul Douglas for this cheat, at Freeport, on Friday, when they meet again. The senator’s friends came home in jubilant spirits on Saturday, but they are crest fallen to-day, and doubtful of the implicit faith they have heretofore reposed in him. Douglas is unchanged. Perhaps the wise men of the East, that counseled the Republicans of Illinois to sustain him, are still regretful that their arrangements were not carried out.

After the Ottawa meeting was concluded on Saturday, Hon. Owen Lovejoy addressed the Republicans in the evening. Thrusting aside the assaults in his own party, he dashed headlong at the enemy and carried the war into the democratic party. “from grave to gay, from lively to severe,” he proceeded boldly and eloquently to arraign that party at the popular bar, and to convict it of its errors, crimes and inconsistencies. It was a great speech, and finished up admirably the performances of the day. There was then a torchlight procession. By the moonlight thousands wended their way home, and quiet began to reign in Ottawa.

Senator Trumbull is on the stump in the central and southern part of the state. He speaks at Alton on Wednesday, and at Springfield on Saturday. Douglas speaks at Galena on Wednesday and meets Lincoln at Freeport of Friday.

Douglas is in a quandary in regard to popular sovereignty and Dred Scott. At some places he tells his audiences that the decision is not binding where it conflicts with his specific. His reporter for he carries one about with him—omits this part of the performance from the bills.

Yours, &c.,

BAYOU.

_______________

¹ This was in italicized and hard to make out, but I believe I got it right as when I put in into Google Translate I got the translation as: “You go through everything, rush through the net of evil”

SOURCE,  The New York Eveing Post, New York, New York, Friday August 27, 1858, p. 1

Constitution Of Missouri,* July 19, 1820

We, the people of Missouri, inhabiting the limits hereinafter designated, by our representatives in convention assembled at Saint Louis, on Monday, the 12th day of June, 1820, do mutually agree to form and establish a free and independent republic, by the name of the “State of Missouri,” and for the government thereof do ordain and establish this constitution:

ARTICLE I.

OF BOUNDARIES. We do declare, establish, ratify, and confirm the following as the permanent boundaries of said State, that is to say: Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi River, on the parallel of thirty-six degrees of north latitude; thence west along the said parallel of latitude to Saint François River; thence up and following the course of that river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the parallel of latitude of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes; thence west along the same to a point where the said parallel is intersected by a meridian-line passing through the middle of the mouth of the Kansas River, where the same empties into the Missouri River; thence from the point aforesaid north, along the said meridian-line, to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines, making the said line correspond with the Indian boundary-line; thence east from the point of intersection last aforesaid, along the said parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel of the main fork of the said river Des Moines; thence down and along the middle of the main channel of the said river Des Moines to the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi River; thence due east to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River; thence down and following the course of the Mississippi River, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the place of beginning.

ARTICLE II.

OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.

The powers of government shall be divided into three distinct departments, each of which shall be confided to a separate magistracy; and no person charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of those departments shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.

ARTICLE III.

OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER.

SECTION 1. The legislative power shall be vested in a general assembly, which shall consist of a senate and of a house of representatives.

Sec. 2. The house of representatives shall consist of members to be chosen every second year, by the qualified electors of the several counties. Each county shall have at least one representative; but the whole number of representatives shall never exceed one hundred.

SEC. 3. No person shall be a member of the house of representatives who shall not have attained the age of twenty-four years; who shall not be a free white male citizen of the United States; who shall not have been an inhabitant of this State two years, and of the county which he represents one year next before his election, if such county shall have been so long established; but if not, then of the county or counties from which the same shall have been taken; and who shall not, moreover, have paid a State or county tax.

SEC. 4. The general assembly at their first session, and in the years one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two and one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, respectively, and every fourth year thereafter, shall cause an enumeration of the inhabitants of this state to be made; and at the first session after such enumeration shall apportion the number of representatives among the several counties, according to the number of free white male inhabitants therein.

SEC. 5: The senators shall be chosen by the qualified electors for the term of four years. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years; who shall not be a free white male citizen of the United States; who shall not have been an inhabitant of this State four years, and of the district which he may be chosen to represent one year before his election, if such district shall have been so long established; but if not, then of the district or districts from which the same shall have been taken; and who shall not, moreover, have paid a State or county tax.

SEC. 6. The senate shall consist of not less than fourteen nor more than thirty-three members; for the election of whom the State shall be divided into convenient districts, which may be altered from time to time, and new districts established, as public convenience may require, and the senators shall be apportioned among the several districts according to the number of free white male inhabitants in each: Provided, That when a senatorial district shall be composed of two or more counties, the counties of which such district consists shall not be entirely separated by any county belonging to another district; and no county shall be divided in forming a district.

SEC. 7. At the first session of the general assembly, the senators shall be divided by lot, as equally as may be, into two classes. The seats of the first class shall be vacated at the end of the second year, and the seats of the second class at the end of the fourth year; so that one-half of the senators shall be chosen every second year.

Sec. 8. After the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, all general elections shall commence on the first Monday in August, and shall be held biennially; and the electors, in all cases, except of treason, felony, or breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during their continuance at elections, and in going to and returning from the same.

SEC. 9. The governor shall issue writs of election to fill up such vacancies as may occur in either house of the general assembly.

Sec. 10. Every free white male citizen of the United States, who shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, and who shall have resided in this State one year before an election, the last three months whereof shall have been in the county or district in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed a qualified elector of all elective offices: Provided, That no soldier, seaman, or marine in the Regular Army or Navy of the United States shall be entitled to vote at any election in this State.

SEC. 11. No judge of any court of law or equity, secretary of state, attorney-general, State auditor, State or county treasurer, register, or recorder, clerk of any court of record, sheriff, coroner, member of Congress, nor other person holding any lucrative office under the United States or this State, militia officers, justices of the peace, and postmasters excepted, shall be eligible to either house of the general assembly.

SEC. 12. No person who now is or hereafter may be a collector or holder of public money, nor any assistant or deputy of such collector or holder of public money, shall be eligible to either house of the general assembly, nor to any office of profit or trust until he shall have accounted for and paid all sums for which he may be accountable.

SEC. 13. No person while he continues to exercise the functions of a bishop, priest, clergyman, or teacher of any religious persuasion, denomination, society, or sect whatsoever, shall be eligible to either house of the general assembly; nor shall he be appointed to any office of profit within the State, the office of justice of the peace excepted.

SEC. 14. The general assembly shall have power to exclude from every office of honor, trust, or profit, within the State, and from the right of suffrage, all persons convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime.

Sec. 15. Every person who shall be convicted of having, directly or indirectly, given or offered any bribe to procure his election or appointment, shall be disqualified for any office of honor, trust, or profit under this State; and any person who shall give or offer any bribe to procure the election or appointment of any person, shall, on conviction thereof, be disqualified for an elector, or for any office of honor, trust, or profit under this State, for ten years after such conviction.

SEC. 16. No senator or representative shall, during the term for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office under this State which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased, during his continuance in office, except to such offices as shall be filled by elections of the people.

SEC. 17. Each house shall appoint its own officers, and shall judge of the qualifications, elections, and returns of its own members. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members in such manner, and under such penalties, as each house may provide.

Sec. 18. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings; punish its members for disorderly behavior; and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected, expel a member; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same cause. They shall each, from time to time, publish a journal of their proceedings, except such parts as may, in their opinion, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays on any question shall be entered on the journal, at the desire of any two members.

Sec. 19. The doors of each house, and of committee of the whole, shall be kept open, except in cases which may require secrecy; and each house may punish, by fine or imprisonment, any person, not a member, who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house, by any disorderly or contemptuous behavior in their presence, during their session: Provided, That such fine shall not exceed three hundred dollars, and such imprisonment shall not exceed forty-eight hours for one offence.

SEC. 20. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days at any one time, nor to any other place than to that in which the two houses may be sitting.

SEC. 21. Bills may originate in either house, and may be altered, amended, or rejected by the other; and every bill shall be read on three different days in each house, unless two-thirds of the house where the same is depending shall dispense with this rule; and every bill, having passed both houses, shall be signed by the speaker of the house of representatives and by the president of the senate.

SEC. 22. When any officer, civil or military, shall be appointed by the joint or concurrent vote of both houses, or by the separate vote of either house of the general assembly, the votes shall be publicly given, viva voce, and entered on the journals. The whole list of members shall be called, and the names of absentees shall be noted and published with the journal.

SEC. 23. Senators and representatives shall, in all cases, except of treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the general assembly, and for fifteen days next before the commencement and after the termination of each session; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

SEC. 24. The members of the general assembly shall severally receive from the public treasury a compensation for their services, which may, from time to time, be increased or diminished by law; but no alteration, increasing or tending to increase the compensation of members, shall take effect during the session at which such alteration shall be made.

Sec. 25: The general assembly shall direct by law in what manner, and in what courts, suits may be brought against the State.

SEC. 26. The general assembly shall not have power to pass laws,

1. For the emancipation of slaves without the consent of their owners; or without paying them, before such emancipation, a full equivalent for such slaves so emancipated; and,

2. To prevent bona-fide immigrants to this State, or actual settlers therein, from bringing from any of the United States, or from any of their Territories, such persons as may there be deemed to be slaves, so long as any persons of the same description are allowed to be held as slaves by the laws of this state.

They shall have power to pass laws

1. To prohibit the introduction into this State of any slaves who may have committed any high crime in any other State or Territory;

2. To prohibit the introduction of any slave for the purpose of speculation, or as an article of trade or merchandise;

3. To prohibit the introduction of any slave, or the offspring of any slave, who heretofore may have been, or who hereafter may be, imported from any foreign country into the United States, or any Territory thereof, in contravention of any existing statute of the United States; and,

4. To permit the owners of slaves to emancipate them, saving the right of creditors, where the person so emancipating will give security that the slave so emancipated shall not become a public charge.

It shall be their duty, as soon as may be, to pass such laws as may be necessary,

1. To prevent free negroes end mulattoes from coming to and settling in this state, under any pretext whatsoever; and,

2. To oblige the owners of slaves to treat them with humanity, and to abstain from all injuries to them extending to life or limb.

SEC. 27. In prosecutions for crimes, slaves shall not be deprived of an impartial trial by jury, and a slave convicted of a capital offence shall suffer the same degree of punishment, and no other, that would be inflicted on a white person for a like offence; and courts of justice, before whom slaves shall be tried, shall assign them counsel for their defence.

SEC. 28. Any person who shall maliciously deprive of life or dismember a slave, shall suffer such punishment as would be inflicted for the like offence if it were committed on a free white person.

SEC. 29. The governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, attorney-general, and all judges of the courts of law and equity, shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office; but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under this State. The party impeached, whether convicted or acquitted, shall, nevertheless, be liable to be indicted, tried, and punished according to law.

SEC. 30. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate; and, when sitting for that purpose, the senators shall be on oath or affirmation to do justice according to law and evidence. When the governor shall be tried, the presiding judge of the supreme court shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the senators present.

SEC. 31. A State treasurer shall be biennially appointed by joint vote of the two houses of the general assembly, who shall keep his office at the seat of government. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and an accurate account of the receipts and expenditures of the public money shall be annually published.

SEC. 32. The appointment of all officers, not otherwise directed by this constitution, shall be made in such manner as may be prescribed by law; and all officers, both civil and military, under the authority of this state, shall, before entering on the duties of their respective offices, take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, and to demean themselves faithfully in office.

SEC. 33. The general assembly shall meet on the third Monday in September next; on the first Monday in November, eighteen hundred and twenty-one; on the first Monday in November, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, and thereafter the general assembly shall meet once in every two years, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in November, unless a different day shall be appointed by law.

SEC. 34. No county now established shall ever be reduced, by the establishment of new counties, to less than twenty miles square; nor shall any county hereafter be established which shall contain less than four hundred square miles.

SEC. 35. Within five years after the adoption of this constitution, all the statute laws of a general nature, both civil and criminal, shall be revised, digested, and promulgated, in such manner as the general assembly shall direct, and a like revision, digest, and promulgation shall be made at the expiration of every subsequent period of ten years.

SEC. 36. The style of the laws of this State shall be, “Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Missouri."

ARTICLE IV.

OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER.

SECTION 1. The supreme executive power shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled “The governor of the State of Missouri.”

SEC. 2. The governor shall be at least thirty-five years of age, and a natural-born citizen of the United States, or a citizen at the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, or an inhabitant of that part of Louisiana now. included in the State of Missouri at the time of the cession thereof from France to the United States, and shall have been a resident of the same at least four years next before his election.

SEC. 3. The governor shall hold his office for four years, and until a successor be duly appointed and qualified. He shall be elected in the manner following: At the time and place of voting for members of the house of representatives, the qualified electors shall vote for a governor; and when two or more persons have an equal number of votes, and a higher number than any person, the election shall be decided between them by a joint vote of both houses of the general assembly, at their next session.

SEC. 4. The governor shall be ineligible for the next four years after the expiration of his term of service.

SEC. 5. The governor shall be commander-in-chief of the militia and navy of the State, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States; but he need not command in person, unless advised so to do by a resolution of the general assembly.

SEC. 6. The governor shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures; and, except in cases of impeachment, to grant reprieves and pardons.

SEC. 7. The governor shall, from time to time, give to the general assembly information relative to the state of the government, and shall recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall deem necessary and expedient. On extraordinary occasions he may convene the general assembly by proclamation, and shall state to them the purposes for which they are convened.

SEC. 8. The governor shall take care that the laws be distributed and faithfully executed; and he shall be a conservator of the peace throughout the State.

SEC. 9. When any office shall become vacant, the governor shall appoint a person to fill such vacancy, who shall continue in office until a successor be duly appointed and qualified according to law.

SEC. 10. Every bill which shall have been passed by both houses of the general assembly shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor for his approbation. If he approve, he shall sign it; if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it shall have originated, and the house shall cause the objections to be entered at large on its journals, and shall proceed to reconsider the bill. If, after such reconsideration, a majority of all the members elected to that house shall agree to pass the same, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall be in like manner reconsidered, and if approved by a majority of all the members elected to that house, it shall become a law. In all such cases the votes of both houses shall be taken by yeas and nays; the names of the members voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall become a law, in like manner as if the governor had signed it; unless the general assembly, by its adjournment, shall prevent its return, in which case it shall not become a law.

SEC. 11. Every resolution to which the concurrence of the senate and house of representatives may be necessary, except on cases of adjournment, shall be presented to the governor, and before the same shall take effect shall be proceeded upon in the same manner as in the case of a bill.

SEC. 12. There shall be an auditor of public accounts, whom the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint. He shall continue in office four years, and shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by law, shall be kept at the seat of government,

SEC. 13. The governor shall, at stated times, receive for his services an adequate salary, to be fixed by law, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during his continuance in office, and which shall never be less than two thousand dollars annually.

SEC. 14. There shall be a lieutenant-governor, who shall be elected at the same time, in the same manner, for the same term, and shall possess the same qualifications as the governor. The electors shall distinguish for whom they vote as governor and for whom as lieutenant-governor.

SEC. 15. The lieutenant-governor shall, by virtue of his office, be president of the senate. In committee of the whole he may debate on all questions; and, when there is an equal division, he shall give the casting vote in senate, and also in joint votes of both houses.

SEC. 16. When the office of governor shall become vacant, by death, resignation, absence from the State, removal from office, refusal to qualify, impeachment, or otherwise, the lieutenant-governor, or, in case of like disability on his part, the president of the senate pro tempore, or, if there be no president of the senate pro tempore, the speaker of the house of representatives shall possess all the powers and discharge all the duties of governor, and shall receive for his services the like compensation, until such vacancy be filled, or the governor so absent or impeached shall return or be acquitted.

SEC. 17. Whenever the office of governor shall become vacant, by death, resignation, removal from office, or otherwise, the lieutenant-governor, or other person exercising the powers of governor for the time being, shall, as soon as may be, cause an election to be held to fill such vacancy, giving three months' previous notice thereof; and the person elected shall not thereby be rendered ineligible to the office of governor for the next succeeding term. Nevertheless, if such vacancy shall happen within eighteen months of the end of the term for which the late governor shall have been elected, the same shall not be filled.

SEC. 18. The lieutenant-governor, or president of the senate pro tempore, while presiding in the senate, shall receive the same compensation as shall be allowed to the speaker of the house of representatives.

SEC. 19. The returns of all elections of governor and lieutenant-governor shall be made to the secretary of state, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 20. Contested elections of governor and lieutenant-governor shall be decided by joint vote of both houses of the general assembly, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 21. There shall be a secretary of state, whom the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint. He shall hold his office four years, unless sooner removed on impeachment. He shall keep a register of all the official acts and proceedings of the governor, and, when necessary, shall attest them; and he shall lay the same, together with all papers relative thereto, before either house of the general assembly, whenever required so to do; and shall perform such other duties as may be enjoined on him by law.

SEC. 22. The secretary of state shall, as soon as may be, procure a seal of state, with such emblems and devices as shall be directed by law, which shall not be subject to change. It shall be called “The Great Seal of the State of Missouri;” shall be kept by the secretary of state; and all official acts of the governor, his approbation of the laws excepted, shall be thereby authenticated.

SEC. 23. There shall be appointed in each county a sheriff and coroner, who, until the general assembly shall otherwise provide, shall be elected by the qualified electors, at the time and place of electing representatives. They shall serve for two years, and until a successor be duly appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed for misdemeanor in office, and shall be ineligible four years in any term of eight years. The sheriff and coroner shall each give security for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. Whenever a county shall be hereafter established, the governor shall appoint a sheriff and coroner therein, who shall each continue in office until the next succeeding general election, and until a successor shall be duly qualified.

SEC. 24. When vacancies happen in the office of sheriff or coroner, they shall be filled by appointment of the governor; and the persons so appointed shall continue in office until successors shall be duly qualified, and shall not be thereby rendered ineligible for the next succeeding term.

SEC. 25. In all elections of sheriff and coroner, when two or more persons have an equal number of votes, and a higher number than any other person, the circuit courts of the counties respectively shall give the casting vote; and all contested elections for the said offices shall be decided by the circuit courts respectively, in such manner as the general assembly may by law prescribe.

ARTICLE V.

OF THE JUDICIAL POWER.

SECTION 1. The judicial powers, as to matter of law and equity, shall be vested in a supreme court, in a chancellor, in circuit courts, and in such inferior tribunals as the general assembly may from time to time ordain and establish.

SEC. 2. The supreme court, except in cases otherwise directed by this constitution, shall have appellate jurisdiction only, which shall be coextensive with the State, under the restrictions and limitations in this constitution provided.

SEC. 3. The supreme court shall have a general superintending control over all inferior courts of law. It shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto, certiorari, and other original remedial writs, and to hear and determine the same.

SEC. 4. The supreme court shall consist of three judges, any two of whom shall be a quorum; and the said judges shall be conservators of the peace throughout the State.

SEC. 5. The State shall be divided into convenient districts, not to exceed four; in each of which the supreme court shall hold two sessions annually, at such places as the general assembly shall appoint; and, when sitting in either district, it shall exercise jurisdiction over causes originating in that district only: Provided, however, That the general assembly may, at any time hereafter, direct by law that the said court shall be held at one place only.

SEC. 6. The circuit court shall have jurisdiction over all criminal cases which shall not be otherwise provided for by law; and exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil cases which shall not be cognizable before justices of the peace, until otherwise directed by the general assembly. It shall hold its terms in such place in each county as may be by law directed

SEC. 7. The State shall be divided into convenient circuits, for each of which a judge shall be appointed, who, after his appointment, shall reside, and be a conservator of the peace, within the circuit for which he shall be appointed.

SEC. 8. The circuit courts shall exercise a superintending control over all such inferior tribunals as the general assembly may establish, and over justices of the peace in each county in their respective circuits.

SEC. 9. The jurisdiction of the court of chancery shall be coextensive with the State, and the times and places of holding its sessions shall be regulated in the same manner as those of the supreme court.

SEC. 10. The court of chancery shall have original and appellate jurisdiction in all matters of equity, and a general control over executors, administrators, guardians, and minors, subject to appeal, in all cases, to the supreme court, under such limitations as the general assembly may by law provide.

SEC. 11. Until the general assembly shall deem it expedient to establish inferior courts of chancery, the circuit courts shall have jurisdiction in matters of equity, subject to appeal to the court of chancery, in such manner and under such restrictions as shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 12. Inferior tribunals shall be established in each county for the transaction of all county business, for appointing guardians, for granting letters-testamentary and of administration, and for settling the accounts of executors, administrators, and guardians.

SEC. 13. The governor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint the judges of the superior court, the judges of the circuit courts, and the chancellor, each of whom shall hold his office during good behavior, and shall receive for his services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during his continuance in office, and which shall not be less than two thousand dollars annually.

SEC. 14. No person shall be appointed a judge of the supreme court, nor of a circuit court, nor chancellor, before he shall have attained to the age of thirty years, nor shall any person continue to exercise the duties of any of said offices after he shall have attained to the age of sixty-five years.

SEC. 15. The courts respectively shall appoint their clerks, who shall hold their offices during good behavior. For any misdemeanor in office they shall be liable to be tried and removed by the supreme court, in such manner as the general assembly shall by law provide.

SEC. 16. Any judge of the supreme court, or of the circuit court, or the chancellor, may be removed from office on the address of two-thirds of each house of the general assembly to the governor for that purpose, but each house shall state on its respective journal the cause for which it shall wish the removal of such judge or chancellor, and give him notice thereof, and he shall have the right to be heard in his defence in such manner as the general assembly shall by law direct; but no judge or chancellor shall be removed in this manner for any cause for which he might have been impeached.

SEC. 17. In each county there shall be appointed as many justices of the peace as the public good may be thought to require. Their powers and duties and their duration in office shall be regulated by law.

SEC. 18. An attorney-general shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate. He shall remain in office four years, and shall perform such duties as shall be required of him by law.

SEC. 19. All writs and process shall run and all prosecutions shall be conducted in the name of the State of Missouri; all writs shall be tested by the clerk of the court from which they shall be issued, and all indictments shall conclude, “against the peace and dignity of the State.”

ARTICLE VI.

OF EDUCATION.

SECTION 1. Schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged in this State; and the general assembly shall take measures to preserve from waste or damage such lands as have been, or hereafter may be, granted by the United States for the use of schools within each township in this State, and shall apply the funds which may arise from such lands in strict conformity to the object of the grant; and one school or more shall be established in each township as soon as practicable and necessary, where the poor shall be taught gratis.

SEC. 2. The general assembly shall take measures for the improvement of such lands as have been, or hereafter may be, granted by the United States to this State for the support of a seminary of learning, and the funds accruing from such lands, by rent or lease, or in any other manner, or which may be obtained from any other source, for the purposes aforesaid, shall be and remain a permanent fund to support a university for the promotion of literature and of the arts and sciences, and it shall be the duty of the general assembly, as soon as may be, to provide effectual means for the improvement and permanent security of the funds and endowments of such institution.

ARTICLE VII.

OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT.

Internal improvement shall forever be encouraged by the government of this state, and it shall be the duty of the general assembly, as soon as may be, to make provision by law for ascertaining the most proper objects of improvement, in relation both to roads and navigable waters; and it shall also be their duty to provide by law for a systematic and economical application of the funds appropriated to these objects.

ARTICLE VIII.

OF BANKS.

The general assembly may incorporate one banking company, and no more, to be in operation at the same time.

The bank to be incorporated may have any number of branches not to exceed five, to be established by law, and not more than one branch shall be established at any one session of the general assembly. The capital stock of the bank to be incorporated shall never exceed five millions of dollars, at least one-half of which shall be reserved for the use of the State.

ARTICLE IX.

OF THE MILITIA.

SECTION 1. Field-officers and company-officers shall be elected by the persons subject to militia duty within their respective command. Brigadiers-general shall be elected by the field-officers of their respective brigades, and majors-general by the brigadiers and field-officers of their respective divisions, until otherwise directed by law.

SEC. 2. General and field officers shall appoint their officers of the staff.

SEC. 3. The governor shall appoint an adjutant-general, and all other militia officers whose appointments are not otherwise provided for in this constitution.

ARTICLE X.

OF MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

SECTION 1. The general assembly of this State shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil of the United States, nor with any regulation Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States, nor shall lands belonging to persons residing out of the limits of this state ever be taxed higher than the lands belonging to persons residing within this state.

SEC. 2. The State shall have concurrent jurisdiction on the river Mississippi, and on every other river bordering on the said State, so far as the said river shall form a common boundary to the said State and any other State or States, now or hereafter to be formed, and bounded by the same; and the said river Mississippi, and the navigable rivers and waters leading into the same, whether bordering on or within this State, shall be common highways, and forever free to the citizens of this State and of the United States, without any tax, duty, impost, or toll thereof imposed by the State.

ARTICLE XI.

OF THE PERMANENT SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.

SECTION 1. The general assembly, at their first session, shall appoint five commissioners for the purpose of selecting a place for the permanent seat of government, whose duty it shall be to select four sections of the land of the United States which shall not have been exposed to public sale.

SEC. 2. If the commissioners believe the four sections of land, so by them to be selected, be not a suitable and proper situation for the permanent seat of government, they shall select such other place as they deem most proper for that purpose, and report the same to the general assembly at the time of making their report, provided for in the first section of this article: Provided, That no place shall be selected which is not situated on the bank of the Missouri River, and within forty miles of the mouth of the river Osage.

SEC. 3. If the general assembly determine that the four sections of land which may be selected by authority of the first section of this article be a suitable and proper place for the permanent seat of government, the said commissioners shall lay out a town thereon, under the direction of the general assembly; but if the general assembly deem it most expedient to fix the permanent seat of government at the place to be selected by authority of the second section of this article, they shall so determine, and in that event shall authorize the said commissioners to purchase any quantity of land, not exceeding six hundred and forty acres, which may be necessary for the purpose aforesaid; and the place so selected shall be the permanent seat of government of this State from and after the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.

SEC. 4. The general assembly, in selecting the above-mentioned commissioners, shall choose one from each extreme part of the State, and one from the centre, and it shall require the concurrence of at least three of the commissioners to decide upon any part of the duties assigned them.

ARTICLE XII.

MODE OF AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION.

The general assembly may at any time propose such amendments to this constitution as two-thirds of each house shall deem expedient; which shall be published in all the newspapers published in this State three several times, at least twelve months before the next general election; and if, at the first session of the general assembly after such general election, two-thirds of each house shall, by yeas and nays, ratify such proposed amendments, they shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as parts of this constitution: Provided, That such proposed amendments shall be read on three several days, in each house, as well when the same are proposed as when they are finally ratified.

ARTICLE XIII.

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.

That the general, great, and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized and established, we declare

SECTION 1. That all political power is vested in, and derived from, the people.

SEC. 2. That the people of this State have the inherent, sole, and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof, and of altering and abolishing their constitution and form of government whenever it may be necessary to their safety and happiness.

SEC. 3. That the people have the right peaceably to assemble for their common good, and to apply to those vested with the powers of government for redress of grievances by petition or remonstrance; and that their right to bear arms in defence of themselves and of the State cannot be questioned.

SEC. 4. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; that no man can be compelled to erect, support, or attend any place of worship, or to maintain any minister of the gospel or teacher of religion; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person can ever be hurt, molested, or restrained in his religious profession or sentiments, if he do not disturb others in their religious worship.

SEC. 5. That no person, on account of his religious opinions, can be rendered ineligible to any office of trust or profit under this State; that no preference can ever be given by law to any sect or mode of worship; and that no religious corporation can ever be established in this State.

SEC. 6. That all elections shall be free and equal.

SEC. 7. That courts of justice ought to be open to every person, and certain remedy afforded for every injury to person, property, or character; and that right and justice ought to be administered without sale, denial, or delay; and that no private property ought to be taken or applied to public use without just compensation.

SEC. 8. That the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.

SEC. 9. That in all criminal prosecutions, the accused has the right to be heard by himself and his counsel; to demand the nature and cause of accusations; to have compulsory process for witnesses in his favor; to meet the witnesses against him face to face; and, in prosecutions on presentment or indictment, to a speedy trial, by an impartial jury of the vicinage; that the accused cannot be compelled to give evidence against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property but by the judgment of bis peers, or the law of the land.

SEC. 10. That no person, after having been once acquitted by a jury, can, for the same offence, be again put in jeopardy of life or limb; but if in any criminal prosecution the jury be divided in opinion at the end of the term, the court before which the trial shall be had may, in its discretion, discharge the jury, and commit or bail the accused for trial at the next term of such court.

SEC. 11. That all persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital ofFences, when the proof is evident or the presumption great; and the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus cannot be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it

SEC. 12. That excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

SEC. 13. That the people ought to be secure in their persons, papers, houses, and effects from unreasonable searches and seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or to seize any person or thing, can issue without describing the place to be searched, or the person or thing to be seized, as nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation.

SEC. 14. 'That no person can, for an indictable offence, be proceeded against criminally, by information, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service, in time of war or public danger, or by leave of the court, for oppression or misdemeanor in office.

SEC. 15. That treason against the State can consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort; that no person can be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on his own confession in open court; that no person can be attainted of treason or felony by the general assembly; that no conviction can work corruption of blood, or forfeiture of estate; that the estates of such persons as may destroy their own lives shall descend or vest as in cases of natural death; and when any person shall be killed by casualty, there ought to be no forfeiture by reason thereof.

SEC. 16. That the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and that every person may freely speak, write, and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; that in all prosecutions for libels the truth thereof may be given in evidence, and the jury may determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court.

SEC. 17. That no ex post facto law, nor law impairing the obligation of contracts, or retrospective in its operations, can be passed; nor can the person of a debtor be imprisoned for debt after he shall have surrendered his property for the benefit of his creditors in such manner as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 18. That no person who is religiously scrupulous of bearing arms can be compelled to do so, but may be compelled to pay an equivalent for military service, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law; and that no priest, preacher of the gospel, or teacher of any religious persuasion or sect, regularly ordained as such, be subject to militia duty, or compelled to bear arms.

SEC. 19. That all property, subject to taxation in this State, shall be taxed in proportion to its value.

SEC. 20. That no title of nobility, hereditary emolument, privilege, or distinction shall be granted; nor any office created, the duration of which shall be longer than the good behavior of the officer appointed to fill the same.

SEC. 21. That emigration from this State cannot be prohibited.

SEC. 22. That the military is, and in all cases and at all times shail be, in strict subordination to the civil power ; that no soldier can, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in such manner as may be prescribed by law; nor can any appropriation for the support of any army be made for a longer period than two years.

SCHEDULE.

SECTION 1. That no inconvenience may arise from the change of government, we declare, that all writs, actions, prosecutions, judgments, claims, and contracts of individuals and of bodies-corporate shall continue as if no change had taken place; and all process which may, before the third Monday in September next, be issued under the authority of the Territory of Missouri shall be as valid as if issued in the name of the State.

SEC. 2. All laws now in force in the Territory of Missouri, which are not repugnant to this constitution, shall remain in force until they expire by their own limitations, or be altered or repealed by the general assembly.

SEC. 3. All fines, penalties, forfeitures, and escheats, accruing to the Territory of Missouri, shall accrue to the use of the State.

SEC. 4. All recognizances heretofore taken, or which may be taken before the third Monday in September next, shall remain valid, and shall pass over to and may be prosecuted in the name of the State; and all bonds executed to the governor of the Territory, or to any other officer or court, in his official capacity, shall pass over to the governor, or other proper State authority, and to their successors in office, for the uses therein respectively expressed, and may be sued for and recovered accordingly. All criminal prosecutions and penal actions which have arisen, or which may arise before the third Monday in September next, and which shall then be depending, shall be prosecuted to judgment and execution in the name of the State. All actions at law which now are, or which, on the third Monday in September next, may be depending in any of the courts of record in the Territory of Missouri may be commenced in or transferred to any court of record of the State which shall have jurisdiction of the subject matter thereof; and all suits in equity may, in like manner, be commenced in or transferred to the court of chancery.

SEC. 5. All officers, civil and military, now holding commissions under the authority of the United States, or of the Territory of Missouri, shall continue to hold and exercise their respective offices until they shall be superseded under the authority of the State; and all such officers holding commissions under the authority of the Territory of Missouri shall receive the same compensation which they hitherto received, in proportion to the time they shall be so employed.

SEC. 6. The first meeting of the general assembly shall be at Saint Louis, with power to adjourn to any other place; and the general assembly, at the first session thereof, shall fix the seat of government until the first day of October, eighteen hundred and twenty-six; and the first session of the general assembly shall have power to fix the compensation of the members thereof; anything in the constitution to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 7. Until the first enumeration shall be made, as directed in this constitution, the county of Howard shall be entitled to eight representatives, the county of Cooper to four representatives, the county of Montgomery to two representatives, the county of Lincoln to one representative, the county of Pike to two representatives, the county of Saint Charles to three representatives, the county of Saint Louis to six representatives, the county of Jefferson to one representative, the county of Washington to two representatives, the county of Saint Genevieve to four representatives, the county of Cape Girardeau to four representatives, the county of New Madrid to two representatives, the county of Madison to one representative, the county of Wayne to one representative, and that part of the county of Saint Lawrence situated within this State, shall attach to and form part of the county of Wayne until otherwise provided by law, and the sheriff of the county of Wayne shall appoint the judges of the first election, and the place of holding the same, in the part thus attached; and any person who shall have resided within the limits of this State five months previous to the adoption of this constitution, and who shall be otherwise qualified as prescribed in the third section of the third article thereof, shall be eligible to the house of representatives, anything in this constitution to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 8. For the first election of senators, the State shall be divided into districts, and the apportionment shall be as follows, that is to say, the counties of Howard and Cooper shall compose one district and elect four senators, the counties of Montgomery and Franklin shall compose one district and elect one senator, the county of Saint Charles shall compose one district and elect one senator, the counties of Lincoln and Pike shall compose one district and elect one senator, the county of Saint Louis shall compose one district and elect two senators, the counties of Washington and Jefferson shall compose one district and elect one senator, the county of Saint Genevieve shall compose one district and elect one senator, the counties of Madison and Wayne shall compose one district and elect one senator, the counties of Cape Girardeau and New Madrid shall compose one district and elect two senators; and in all cases where a senatorial district consists of more than one county, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the county second named in that district to certify the returns of the senatorial election within their proper county to the clerk of the county first named, within five days after he shall have received the same; and any person who shall have resided within the limits of this State five months previous to the adoption of this constitution, and who shall be otherwise qualified as prescribed in the fifth section of the third article thereof, shall be eligible to the senate of this State, anything in this constitution to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 9. The president of the convention shall issue writs of election to the sheriffs of the several counties, or in case of vacancy to the coroners, requiring them to cause an election to be held on the fourth Monday in August next, for a governor, a lieutenant-governor, a Representative in the Congress of the United States, for the residue of the Sixteenth Congress, a Representative for the Seventeenth Congress, senators and representatives for the general assembly, sheriffs and coroners, and the returns of all township elections, held in pursuance thereof, shall be made to the clerks of the proper county within five days after the day of election; and any person who shall reside within the limits of this State at the time of the adoption of this constitution, and who shall be otherwise qualified as prescribed in the tenth section of the third article thereof, shall be deemed a qualified elector, anything in this constitution to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 10. The elections shall be conducted according to the existing laws of the Missouri Territory. The clerks of the circuit courts of the several counties shall certify the returns of the election of governor and lieutenant-governor, and transmit the same to the speaker of the house of representatives, at the temporary seat of government, in such time that they may be received on the third Monday of September next. As soon as the general assembly shall be organized, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president pro tempore of the senate, shall, in the presence of both houses, examine the returns, and declare who are duly elected to fill those offices; and if any two or more persons shall have an equal number of votes, and a higher number than any other person, the general assembly shall determine the election in the manner herein provided; and the returns of the election for members of Congress shall be made to the secretary of the State within thirty days after the day of election.

SEC. 11. The oaths of office, herein directed to be taken, may be administered by any judge or justice of the peace, until the general assembly shall otherwise direct.

SEC. 12. Until a seal of the State be provided, the governor may use his private seal.

DAVID BARTON, President.

W. G. PETTUS, Secretary.

_______________

* This constitution was framed by a convention which met at Saint Louis June 12, 1820, and completed its labors July 19, 1820. It was ratified by the people at the ensuing election.

SOURCES: Benjamin Perley Poore, Compiler, The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the United States, Part 2, p. 1104-17

The Darien [Georgia] Resolutions, January 18, 1775

IN THE DARIEN COMMITTEE,        

Thursday, January 18, 1775.

When the most valuable privileges of a people are invaded, not only by open violence, but by every kind of fraud, sophistry, and cunning, it behooves very individual to be on his guard, and every member of society, like beacons in a country surrounded by enemies, to give the alarm, not only when their liberties in general are attacked, but separately, lest a precedent in one may affect the whole; and to enable the collective wisdom of such people to judge of its consequences, and how far their respective grievances concern all, or should be opposed, to preserve their necessary union.

Every laudable attempt of this kind by the good people of this Colony, in a Constitutional manner, hath been hitherto frustrated by the influence and authority of men in office, and their numerous dependents, and in every other natural and just way, by the various arts they have put in practice.

We, therefore, the representatives of the extensive district of Darien, in the Colony of Georgia, being now assembled in Congress by the authority and free choice of the inhabitants of the said district, now freed from their fetters, do resolve

First, That the unparalleled moderation, the decent, but firm and manly conduct of the loyal and brave people of Boston and Massachusetts Bay, to preserve their liberty, deserve not only the applause and thanks of all Americans, but also the imitation of all mankind. But to avoid needless repetition, we acquiesce and join in all the resolutions passed by the Grand American Congress in Philadelphia, last October. We thank them for their sage counsel and advice, and most heartily and cheerfully accede to the association entered into by them, as the wisest and most moderate measure that could be adopted in our present circumstances to reconcile and firmly unite Great Britain and the colonies, so indispensably necessary to each other, by the surest and best basis, mutual interest. But as the wisest counsels upon earth are liable to the errors of humanity, and notwithstanding our reverence and partiality for that august Assembly, we beg leave to differ from them in opinion, charging the unjust measures of the present and preceding ministry to a person qualified rather for a private than a public station; and as the resentment of his countrymen on a former occasion was raised by the illiberal and unjust abuse of them indiscriminately, for the faults of that man, we humbly presume the renewing it at this time, on so little foundation, at least impolitic, being confident that every member of that late wise, patriotic, and truly honourable Congress, from a principle of candour and justice, will rather commend than blame our honest and well-meant freedom.

Second, That in shutting up our land offices, with the intention of raising our quit-rents, and setting up our lands at public sale, representations of the Crown tract have not been duly considered and attended to in all its consequences to this vast continent; that it is a principal part of the unjust system of politics adopted by the present ministry to subject and enslave us, and evidently proceeds from an ungenerous jealousy of the colonies, to prevent as much as possible the population of America, and the relief of the poor and distressed in Great Britain, and elsewhere, for whom a kind Providence has opened a new world from the merciless oppressors, when the old is overcome with such monsters.

That monopolizing our lands into few hands, is forming and encouraging petty tyrants to lord it over us, or to reside in any other part of the world in extravagance, luxury, and folly, by the fruit of our labour and industry. Such oppressors neither we nor our fathers were able to bear, and it drove us to the wilderness, and that all encouragement should be given to the poor of every nation by every generous American.

Third, That ministerial mandates, under the name of instructions, preventing the legal representatives of the people to enact laws suiting their own respective situations and circumstances, are a general grievance, and more especially to this young colony, where our internal police is not yet well settled; and as a proof of the intention of these restrictions, when time and opportunity offer, we point out particularly, amongst many others of like nature, the not suffering us to limit the term of our Assembly, or passing a quit-rent law to ascertain and fix the most valuable part of our property.

Fourth, That an over proportion of officers for the number of inhabitants, and paying the salaries from Britain, so much cast up to us by Court parasites, and for which we are so often charged with ingratitude, are, in truth, real and great grievances, rendering them insolent and regardless of their conduct, being independent of the people, who should support them according to their usefulness and behaviour, and for whose benefit and conveniency alone they were originally intended. That besides these exorbitant salaries, which enable them all to act by deputies, whilst they wallow in luxury themselves, their combining to raise their exorbitant and illegal fees and perquisites by various acts upon the subject to an alarming height, are more dangerous to our liberties than a regular army, having the means of corruption so much in their power, the danger of which is exemplified in the present unhappy state of our brethren and fellow-subjects in Great Britain. To prevent, therefore, as much as in us lies, these direful effects, we do resolve never to choose any person in public office, his deputy, deputies, or any expectant, to represent us in Assembly, or in any other public place in our election, hoping the example will be followed throughout this colony, and in all America.

Fifth. To show the world that we are not influenced by any contracted or interested motives, but a general philanthropy for all mankind, of whatever climate, language, or complexion, we hereby declare our disapprobation and abhorrence of the unnatural practice of slavery in America (however the uncultivated state of our country, or other specious arguments may plead for it)—a practice founded in injustice and cruelty, and highly dangerous to our liberties (as well as lives), debasing part of our fellow-creatures below men, and corrupting the virtue and morals of the rest; and is laying the basis of that liberty we contend for (and which we pray the Almighty to continue to the latest posterity) upon a very wrong foundation. We therefore resolve at al times to use our utmost endeavors for the manumission of our slaves in this Colony, upon the most safe and equitable footing for the masters and themselves.

Sixth, That we do hereby choose Messrs. to represent us for this district in the Provincial Congress at Savannah, the 18th instant, or at any other time and place appointed hereafter, for the space of one year from this day, and that a copy of these resolutions be given them, as expressing the sense of this district of public grievances, which will serve for their direction and instructions; and it is further our desire that our said deputies shall use their endeavours to send two delegates to the General Continental Congress, to be held at Philadelphia next May.

ASSOCIATION.

Being persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depend, under God, on the firm union of the inhabitants in its vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its safety, and convinced of the necessity of preventing the anarchy and confusion which attend the dissolution of the powers of governments, we, the freemen, freeholders, and inhabitants of the Province of Georgia, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the Ministry to raise à revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, do in the most solemn manner resolve never to become slaves, and do associate, under all the ties of religion, honor, and love of country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution whatever may be recommended by the Continental Congress or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention that shall be appointed for the purpose of preserving our Constitution, and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America on Constitutional principles, which we most ardently desire, can be obtained; and that we will in all things follow the advice of our General Committee to be appointed, respecting the purposes aforesaid-the preservation of peace and good order and the safety of individuals and private property.

Signed by

Lach’n Mcintosh,

Geo. Threadcraft,

Charles Mcdonald,

John Mcintosh,

Raymond Demere,

Jiles Moore,

Samuel Mocleland,

Richard Cooper,

Seth Mocollugh,

Isaac Hall,

Thomas King,

John Roland,

P. Shuttleworth,

Josep. Slobe,

James Newson,

A. D. Cuthbert,

John Hall,

Jno. Mccullugh, Sen.,

Peter Sallers, Jun.,

James Clark,

Jno. Witherspoon, Jun'r,

Jno. Witherspoon,

Jno. Fulton,

Samuel Fulton,

Isaao Cuthbert,

Jno. Mccolluga, Jun'r,

Wm. Mccollugh,

R. Shuttleworth,

John Mccleland,

SOURCES: George White, Historical Collections of Georgia, p.554-6; Daniel Reaves Goodloe, The Birth of the Republic, p. 340-2; Peter Force, American Archives: Fourth Series, Volume 1, p. 1135-7

John C. Calhoun: Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions, delivered in the Senate, February 6, 1837

If the time of the Senate permitted, I would feel it to be my duty to call for the reading of the mass of petitions on the table, in order that we might know what language they hold towards the slaveholding States and their institutions; but as it will not, I have selected, indiscriminately from the pile, two; one from those in manuscript, and the other from the printed, and without knowing their contents will call for the reading of them, so that we may judge, by them, of the character of the whole.

[Here the Secretary, on the call of Mr. Calhoun, read the two petitions.]

Such is the language held towards us and ours. The peculiar institution of the South—that, on the maintenance of which the very existence of the slaveholding States depends, is pronounced to be sinful and odious, in the sight of God and man; and this with a systematic design of rendering us hateful in the eyes of the world—with a view to a general crusade against us and our institutions. This, too, in the legislative halls of the Union; created by these confederated States, for the better protection of their peace, their safety, and their respective institutions;—and yet, we, the representatives of twelve of these sovereign States against whom this deadly war is waged, are expected to sit here in silence, hearing ourselves and our constituents day after day denounced, without uttering a word; for if we but open our lips, the charge of agitation is resounded on all sides, and we are held up as seeking to aggravate the evil which we resist. Every reflecting mind must see in all this a state of things deeply and dangerously diseased.

I do not belong to the school which holds that aggression is to be met by concession. Mine is the

opposite creed, which teaches that encroachments must be met at the beginning, and that those who act on the opposite principle are prepared to become slaves. In this case, in particular, I hold concession or compromise to be fatal. If we concede an inch, concession would follow concession—compromise would follow compromise, until our ranks would be so broken that effectual resistance would be impossible. We must meet the enemy on the frontier, with a fixed determination of maintaining our position at every hazard. Consent to receive these insulting petitions, and the next demand will be that they be referred to a committee in order that they may be deliberated and acted upon. At the last session we were modestly asked to receive them, simply to lay them on the table, without any view to ulterior action. I then told the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Buchanan), who so strongly urged that course in the Senate, that it was a position that could not be maintained; as the argument in favor of acting on the petitions if we were bound to receive, could not be resisted. I then said, that the next step would be to refer the petition to a committee, and I already see indications that such is now the intention. If we yield, that will be followed by another, and we will thus proceed, step by step, to the final consummation of the object of these petitions. We are now told that the most effectual mode of arresting the progress of abolition is, to reason it down; and with this view it is urged that the petitions ought to be referred to a committee. That is the very ground which was taken at the last session in the other House, but instead of arresting its progress it has since advanced more rapidly than ever. The most unquestionable right may be rendered doubtful, if once admitted to be a subject of controversy, and that would be the case in the present instance. The subject is beyond the jurisdiction of Congress—they have no right to touch it in any shape or form, or to make it the subject of deliberation or discussion.

In opposition to this view it is urged that Congress is bound by the constitution to receive petitions in every case and on every subject, whether within its constitutional competency or not. I hold the doctrine to be absurd, and do solemnly believe, that it would be as easy to prove that it has the right to abolish slavery, as that it is bound to receive petitions for that purpose. The very existence of the rule that requires a question to be put on the reception of petitions, is conclusive to show that there is no such obligation. It has been a standing rule from the commencement of the Government, and clearly shows the sense of those who formed the constitution on this point. The question on the reception would be absurd, if, as is contended, we are bound to receive ; but I do not intend to argue the question; I discussed it fully at the last session, and the arguments then advanced neither have been nor can be answered.

As widely as this incendiary spirit has spread, it has not yet infected this body, or the great mass of the intelligent and business portion of the North; but unless it be speedily stopped, it will spread and work upwards till it brings the two great sections of the Union into deadly conflict. This is not a new impression with me. Several years since, in a discussion with one of the Senators from Massachusetts (Mr. Webster), before this fell spirit had showed itself, I then predicted that the doctrine of the proclamation and the Force Bill,—that this Government had a right, in the last resort, to determine the extent of its own powers, and enforce its decision at the point of the bayonet, which was so warmly maintained by that Senator, would at no distant day arouse the dormant spirit of abolitionism. I told him that the doctrine was tantamount to the assumption of unlimited power on the part of the Government, and that such would be the impression on the public mind in a large portion of the Union. The consequence would be inevitable. A large portion of the Northern States believed slavery to be a sin, and would consider it as an obligation of conscience to abolish it if they should feel themselves in any degree responsible for its continuance,—and that this doctrine would necessarily lead to the belief of such responsibility. I then predicted that it would commence as it has with this fanatical portion of society, and that they would begin their operations on the ignorant, the weak, the young, and the thoughtless,—and gradually extend upwards till they would become strong enough to obtain political control, when he and others holding the highest stations in society, would, however reluctant, be compelled to yield to their doctrines, or be driven into obscurity. But four years have since elapsed, and all this is already in a course of regular fulfilment.

Standing at the point of time at which we have now arrived, it will not be more difficult to trace the course of future events now than it was then. They who imagine that the spirit now abroad in the North, will die away of itself without a shock or convulsion, have formed a very inadequate conception of its real character; it will continue to rise and spread, unless prompt and efficient measures to stay its progress be adopted. Already it has taken possession of the pulpit, of the schools, and, to a considerable extent, of the press; those great instruments by which the mind of the rising generation will be formed.

However sound the great body of the non-slaveholding States are at present, in the course of a few years they will be succeeded by those who will have been taught to hate the people and institutions of nearly one-half of this Union, with a hatred more deadly than one hostile nation ever entertained towards another. It is easy to see the end. Ву the necessary course of events, if left to themselves, we must become, finally, two people. It is impossible under the deadly hatred which must spring up between the two great sections, if the present causes are permitted to operate unchecked, that we should continue under the same political system. The conflicting elements would burst the Union asunder, powerful as are the links which hold it together. Abolition and the Union cannot co-exist. As the friend of the Union I openly proclaim it—and the sooner it is known the better. The former may now be controlled, but in a short time it will be beyond the power of man to arrest the course of events. We of the South will not, cannot surrender our institutions. To maintain the existing relations between the two races, inhabiting that section of the Union, is indispensable to the peace and happiness of both. It cannot be subverted without drenching the country in blood, and extirpating one or the other of the races.

Be it good or bad, it has grown up with our society and institutions, and is so interwoven with them, that to destroy it would be to destroy us as a people. But let me not be understood as admitting, even by implication, that the existing relations between the two races in the slaveholding States is an evil: — far otherwise; I hold it to be a good, as it has thus far proved itself to be to both, and will continue to prove so if not disturbed by the fell spirit of abolition. I appeal to facts. Never before has the black race of Central Africa, from the dawn of history to the present day, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but morally and intellectually. It came among us in a low, degraded, and savage condition, and in the course of a few generations it has grown up under the fostering care of our institutions, reviled as they have been, to its present comparatively civilized condition. This, with the rapid increase of numbers, is conclusive proof of the general happiness of the race, in spite of all the exaggerated tales to the contrary.

In the mean time, the white or European race has not degenerated. It has kept pace with its brethren in other sections of the Union where slavery does not exist. It is odious to make comparison; but I appeal to all sides whether the South is not equal in virtue, intelligence, patriotism, courage, disinterestedness, and all the high qualities which adorn our nature. I ask whether we have not contributed our full share of talents and political wisdom in forming and sustaining this political fabric; and whether we have not constantly inclined most strongly to the side of liberty, and been the first to see and first to resist the encroachments of power.

In one thing only are we inferior—the arts of gain; we acknowledge that we are less wealthy than the Northern section of this Union, but I trace this mainly to the fiscal action of this Government, which has extracted much from, and spent little among us. Had it been the reverse,—if the exaction had been from the other section, and the expenditure with us, this point of superiority would not be against us now, it was not at the formation of this Government.

But I take higher ground. I hold that in the present state of civilization, where two races of different origin, and distinguished by color, and other physical differences, as well as intellectual, are brought together, the relation now existing in the slaveholding States between the two, is, instead of an evil, a good—a positive good. I feel myself called upon to speak freely upon the subject where the honor and interests of those I represent are involved. I hold then, that there never has yet existed a wealthy and civilized society in which one portion of the community did not, in point of fact, live on the labor of the other. Broad and general as is this assertion, it is fully borne out by history. This is not the proper occasion, but if it were, it would not be difficult to trace the various devices by which the wealth of all civilized communities has been so unequally divided, and to show by what means so small a share has been allotted to those by whose labor it was produced, and so large a share given to the nonproducing classes. The devices are almost innumerable, from the brute force and gross superstition of ancient times, to the subtle and artful fiscal contrivances of modern. I might well challenge a comparison between them and the more direct, simple, and patriarchal mode by which the labor of the African race is, among us, commanded by the European. I may say with truth, that in few countries so much is left to the share of the laborer, and so little exacted from him, or where there is more kind attention paid to him in sickness or infirmities of age. Compare his condition with the tenants of the poor houses in the more civilized portions of Europe—look at the sick, and the old and infirm slave, on one hand, in the midst of his family and friends, under the kind superintending care of his master and mistress, and compare it with the forlorn and wretched condition of the pauper in the poor house. But I will not dwell on this aspect of the question; I turn to the political; and here I fearlessly assert that the existing relation between the two races in the South, against which these blind fanatics are waging war, forms the most solid and durable foundation on which to rear free and stable political institutions. It is useless to disguise the fact. There is and always has been in an advanced stage of wealth and civilization, a conflict between labor and capital. The condition of society in the South exempts us from the disorders and dangers resulting from this conflict; and which explains why it is that the political condition of the slaveholding States has been so much more stable and quiet than that of the North. The advantages of the former, in this respect, will become more and more manifest if left undisturbed by interference from without, as the country advances in wealth and numbers. We have, in fact, but just entered that condition of society where the strength and durability of our political institutions are to be tested; and I venture nothing in predicting that the experience of the next generation will fully test how vastly more favorable our condition of society is to that of other sections for free and stable institutions, provided we are not disturbed by the interference of others, or shall have sufficient intelligence and spirit to resist promptly and successfully such interference. It rests with ourselves to meet and repel them. I look not for aid to this Government, or to the other States; not but there are kind feelings towards us on the part of the great body of the non-slaveholding States; but as kind as their feelings may be, we may rest assured that no political party in those States will risk their ascendency for our safety. If we do not defend ourselves none will defend us; if we yield we will be more and more pressed as we recede; and if we submit we will be trampled under foot. Be assured that emancipation itself would not satisfy these fanatics:—that gained, the next step would be to raise the negroes to a social and political equality with the whites; and that being effected, we would soon find the present condition of the two races reversed. They and their northern allies would be the masters, and we the slaves; the condition of the white race in the British West India Islands, bad as it is, would be happiness to ours. There the mother country is interested in sustaining the supremacy of the European race. It is true that the authority of the former master is destroyed, but the African will there still be a slave, not to individuals but to the community, forced to labor, not by the authority of the overseer, but by the bayonet of the soldiery and the rod of the civil magistrate.

Surrounded as the slaveholding States are with such imminent perils, I rejoice to think that our means of defence are ample, if we shall prove to have the intelligence and spirit to see and apply them before it is too late. All we want is concert, to lay aside all party differences, and unite with zeal and energy in repelling approaching dangers. Let there be concert of action, and we shall find ample means of security without resorting to secession or disunion. I speak with full knowledge and a thorough examination of the subject, and for one, see my way clearly. One thing alarms me—the eager pursuit of gain which overspreads the land, and which absorbs every faculty of the mind and every feeling of the heart. Of all passions avarice is the most blind and compromising—the last to see and the first to yield to danger. I dare not hope that any thing I can say will arouse the South to a due sense of danger; I fear it is beyond the power of mortal voice to awaken it in time from the fatal security into which it has fallen.

SOURCE: Richard Crallé, Editor, The Works of John C. Calhoun: Volume 2: Speeches delivered in the House of Representatives, and the Senate of the United States, p. 625-33