demanded no new constitution. The discontented States have demanded
nothing but clear, distinct, constitutional rights, rights older than
the Constitution. What do these rebels demand? First, that the people
of the United States shall have an equal right to emigrate and settle
in the Territories with whatever property (including slaves) they
possess. Second, that property in slaves shall be entitled to the same
protection from the government as any other property (leaving the
State the right to prohibit, protect, or abolish slavery within its
limits). Third, that persons committing crimes against slave property
in one State and flying to another shall be given up. Fourth, that
fugitive slaves shall be surrendered. Fifth, that Congress shall pass
laws for the punishment of all persons who shall aid and abet invasion
and insurrection in any other State. . . . . .
You will not regard confederate obligations; you will not regard
constitutional obligations; you will not regard your oaths. What,
then, am I to do? Am I a freeman? Is my State a free State? We are
freemen; we have rights; I have stated them. We have wrongs; I have
recounted them. I have demonstrated that the party now coming into
power has declared us outlaws, and is determined to exclude thousands
of millions of our property from the common territory; that it has
declared us under the ban of the Union, and out of the protection of
the laws of the United States everywhere. They have refused to protect
us from invasion and insurrection by the Federal power, and the
Constitution denies to us, in the Union, the right to raise fleets and
armies for our own defence. All these charges I have proven by the
record; and I put them before the civilized world and demand the
judgment of to-day, of to-morrow, of distant ages, and of Heaven
itself, upon the justice of these causes. I am content, whatever it
be, to peril all in so holy a cause. We have appealed, time and again,
for these constitutional rights. You have refused them. We appeal
again. Restore us those rights as we had them; as your Court adjudges
them to be; just as our people have said they are. Redress these
flagrant wrongs--seen of all men--and it will restore fraternity, and
unity, and peace to us all. Refuse them, and what then? We shall then
ask you, "Let us depart in peace."[18] Refuse that, and you present us
war. We accept it, and, inscribing upon our banners the glorious
words, "Liberty and Equality," we will trust to the blood of the brave
and the God of battles for security and tranquility.
FOOTNOTES:
[17] By permission of the Cassell Publishing Company, N. Y.
[18] All we ask is to be let alone--Jefferson Davis.
OCTAVIA WALTON LE VERT.
~1810=1877.~
MADAME LE VERT, as she is usually styled, was born at Bellevue near
Augusta, Georgia, and was reared in Pensacola, Florida. She was a
granddaughter of George Walton, signer of the Declaration of
Independence, and daughter of George Walton, governor of Florida. She
learned languages easily and conversed well in French, Spanish, and
Italian. LaFayette said of her: "A truly wonderful child! She has been
conversing with intelligence and tact in the purest French. I predict
for her a brilliant career." She gave the name to the capital of
Florida, Tallahassee, a Seminole word meaning "beautiful land." She
spent several seasons in Washington; and she wrote such excellent
accounts of the speeches in Congress, that Calhoun, Webster, and Clay
frequently asked her to read to them their own speeches from her
portfolio.
In 1836 she was married to Dr. Henry S. Le Vert of Mobile and removed
to that city. She travelled in Europe in 1853 and 1855, and her
delightful journal and letters home were afterwards arranged and
published as "Souvenirs of Travel." Their spirit and style make them
charming yet, and they are valuable as pictures of the times.
Her memory is still fragrant as a most gracious and lovely woman, a
brilliant conversationalist, and a queen of society. It is said of her
that her tongue never wounded and that she never had an enemy.
WORKS.
Souvenirs of Travel.
Souvenirs of the War, [unpublished].
Souvenirs of Distinguished People, [unpublished].
TO CADIZ FROM HAVANNA, 1855.
(_From Souvenirs of Travel._)
"O lovely Spain! renowned, romantic land!"
Our last day on board, the good Dominga (our waiting-woman) awakened
us long before the dawn, saying, "Come, Señora, go with me on deck and
see the day arise." We did so and were charmed with the beautiful
scene. At first the sky was "deeply, darkly blue," and the stars were
gleaming with a brightness never seen in more northern regions. Slowly
a gauzy veil seemed wafting over them, and along the east sprang up,
as it were, banners of purple and rose-color, and the intense azure of
the heavens melted into a soft gray hue. Soon streaks of golden light
flashed through it, and the glorious sun came forth, converting the
mirror-like ocean into a sea of radiance, burnished and glittering
like myriads of gems. And this was morning upon the Atlantic!
At mid-day there was a cry of _tierra! tierra!_ (land! land!) which
sent a thrill of joy to many hearts. We had seen none, except the
island of Santa Maria (one of the Azores, near which we passed), since
we left the Antilles. We ran on deck, and in a few moments
"Fair Cadiz, rising from the dark blue sea,"
was revealed to our longing eyes. Like a great white dove, with
out-spread wings, resting upon the calm waters, appeared the distant
city. Ah! long shall I remember the delight of that first look upon
lovely Cadiz! The day was exquisite; the air fresh and balmy, and the
sea like a smooth inland lake. Gentle spirits seemed hovering around
to welcome us, while a warm glowing pleasure filled our hearts.
Nearer and nearer we approached, domes, spires, and turrets gradually
rising to view, until the entire outline of the city, with its
snow-white houses and green alamedas, was before us. . . . . . .
Cadiz is a very ancient city. It was founded by the Phoenicians,
hundreds of years before the building of Rome. Upon the coat-of-arms
of the city is the figure of Hercules, by whom the inhabitants say it
was built. Then came the dominion of the Moors, and afterwards the
Spaniards. When America was discovered, a golden prosperity beamed
upon Cadiz, which was lost as soon as the Spanish Possessions in the
New World proclaimed themselves free. It is strictly a commercial
place, and has now only a population of sixty thousand. The city is
upon a rocky point of land, joined to the peninsula by a narrow
isthmus. The sea surrounds it on three sides, beating against the
walls, and often throwing the spray over the ramparts. On the fourth
side it is protected by a strong wall and bridges over the wide ditch.
At night, they are drawn up, thus isolating the town completely. . .
. . .
Leaving the bay, we plunged into the long rolling billows of the
Atlantic, and bade
"Adieu! fair Cadiz, a long adieu!"
then turning the cape, upon which was once the Phoenician
light-house called "the Rock of the Sun," we came to St. Lucar. There
Magellan fitted out the fleet which first circumnavigated the
globe. . . . We passed the mouth of the Rio Tinto, upon which stands
the convent [La Rabida], where Columbus, an outcast and wanderer,
received charity from the kind prior, who interceded with Isabella and
thus forwarded the plans of the great discoverer.
LOUISA SUSANNAH M'CORD.
~1810=1880.~
MRS. M'CORD, daughter of the distinguished statesman, Langdon Cheves
[pron'd Cheeves, in one syllable], was born at Columbia, South
Carolina. She was educated in Philadelphia; and in 1840 she was
married to David James M'Cord, a prominent lawyer of Columbia, at one
time law-partner of Wm. C. Preston. They spent much of their time at
their plantation, "Langsyne," near Fort Motte on the Congaree.
She was a woman of strong character and of commanding intellect as her
writings show. Speaking of her home life, a contemporary says, "Mrs.
M'Cord herself illustrates her views of female life by her own daily
example. She conducts the hospital on her own large plantation,
attends to the personal wants of the negroes, and on one occasion
perfectly set a fracture of a broken arm. Thoroughly accomplished in
the modern languages of Europe, she employs her leisure in the
education of her children." See under _Wm. C. Preston_.
WORKS.
Caius Gracchus: a Tragedy.
"Sophisms of the Protective Policy," from the French.
My Dreams, [poems].
Articles in Magazines.
WOMAN'S DUTY.
(_From Enfranchisement of Woman, in "Southern Quarterly Review,"
April, 1852._)
In every error there is its shadow of truth. Error is but truth turned
awry, or looked at through a wrong medium. As the straightest rod
will, in appearance, curve when one half of it is placed under water,
so God's truths, leaning down to earth, are often distorted to our
view. Woman's condition certainly admits of improvement, (but when
have the strong forgotten to oppress the weak?) . . . Here, as in all
other improvements, the good must be brought about by working with,
not against--by seconding, not opposing--Nature's laws. Woman, seeking
as a woman, may raise her position,--seeking as a man, we repeat, she
but degrades it. . . . . . .
Each can labour, each can strive, lovingly and earnestly, in her own
sphere. "Life is real! Life is earnest!" Not less for her than for
man. She has no right to bury her talent beneath silks or ribands,
frippery or flowers; nor yet has she the right, because she fancies
not her task, to grasp at another's, which is, or which she imagines
is, easier. This is baby play. "Life is real! Life is earnest!" Let
woman so read it--let woman so learn it--and she has no need to make
her influence felt by a stump speech, or a vote at the polls; she has
no need for the exercise of her intellect (and woman, we grant, may
have a great, a longing, a hungering intellect, equal to man's) to be
gratified with a seat in Congress, or a scuffle for the ambiguous
honour of the Presidency.
Even at her own fire-side, may she find duties enough, cares enough,
troubles enough, thought enough, wisdom enough, to fit a martyr for
the stake, a philosopher for life, or a saint for heaven.
There are, there have been, and there will be, in every age, great
hero-souls in woman's form, as well as man's. It imports little
whether history notes them. The hero-soul aims at its certain duty,
heroically meeting it, whether glory or shame, worship or contumely,
follow its accomplishment. Laud and merit is due to such performance.
_Fulfill_ thy destiny; _oppose_ it not. Herein lies thy track. Keep
it. Nature's sign-posts are within thee, and it were well for thee to
learn to read them. . . . .
Many women--even, we grant, the majority of women--throw themselves
away upon follies. So, however, do men; and this, perhaps, as a
necessary consequence, for woman is the mother of the man. Woman has
allowed herself to be, alternately, made the toy and the slave of man;
but this rather through her folly than her nature. Not wholly _her_
folly, either. _Her_ folly and _man's_ folly have made the vices and
the punishment of both.
Woman has certainly not her true place, and this place she as
certainly should seek to gain. We have said that every error has its
shadow of truth, and, so far, the [Woman's Rights] conventionists are
right. But, alas! how wide astray are they groping from their goal!
Woman has not her true place, because she--because man--has not yet
learned the full extent and importance of her mission. These
innovators would seek to restore, by driving her entirely from that
mission; as though some unlucky pedestrian, shoved from the security
of the side-walk, should in his consternation seek to remedy matters,
by rushing into the thickest thoroughfare of hoofs and wheels. Woman
will reach the greatest height of which she is capable--the greatest,
perhaps, of which humanity is capable--not by becoming man, but by
becoming, more than ever, woman. By perfecting herself, she perfects
mankind.
JOSEPH G. BALDWIN.
~ca. 1811=1864.~
JOSEPH G. BALDWIN was born in Virginia but early removed to Sumter
County, Alabama, and was a jurist and writer of much influence and
popularity in that State. He removed later to California, where in
1857 he became judge of the Supreme Court and in 1863 Chief-Justice of
the State. His writings are mainly clever and humorous sketches of the
bar and of the communities in which he practised. He said the "flush
times" of Alabama did not compare in any degree with those of
California which he described in an article to the "Southern Literary
Messenger." His "Party Leaders" are able papers on Jefferson,
Hamilton, Jackson, Clay, and John Randolph.
WORKS.
Flush Times in Alabama and Mississippi.
Party Leaders.
Humorous Legal Sketches.
VIRGINIANS IN A NEW COUNTRY.
(_From Flush Times in Alabama and Mississippi, published in "Southern
Literary Messenger."_)
The disposition to be proud and vain of one's country, and to boast of
it, is a natural feeling; but, with a Virginian, it is a passion. It
inheres in him even as the flavor of a York river oyster in that
bivalve, and no distance of deportation, and no trimmings of a
gracious prosperity, and no pickling in the sharp acids of adversity,
can destroy it. It is a part of the Virginia character--just as the
flavor is a distinctive part of the oyster--"which cannot, save by
annihilating, die." It is no use talking about it--the thing may be
right, or wrong;--like Falstaff's victims at Gadshill, it is past
praying for: it is a sort of cocoa grass that has got into the soil,
and has so matted over it, and so _fibred_ through it, as to have
become a part of it; at least there is no telling which is the grass
and which the soil; and certainly it is useless labor to try to root
it out. You may destroy the soil, but you can't root out the grass.
Patriotism with the Virginian is a noun personal. It is the Virginian
himself and something over. He loves Virginia _per se_ and _propter
se_: he loves her for herself and for himself--because _she is_
Virginia, and--everything else beside. He loves to talk about her: out
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. It makes no odds
where he goes, he carries Virginia with him; not in the entirety
always--but the little spot he comes from is Virginia--as Swedenborg
says the smallest part of the brain is an abridgment of all of it.
"_Coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt_," was made for a
Virginian. He never gets acclimated elsewhere; he never loses
citizenship to the old Home. The right of expatriation is a pure
abstraction to him. He may breathe in Alabama, but he lives in
Virginia. His treasure is there and his heart also. If he looks at the
Delta of the Mississippi, it reminds him of James River "low grounds;"
if he sees the vast prairies of Texas, it is a memorial of the meadows
of the Valley. Richmond is the centre of attraction, the _dépôt_ of
all that is grand, great, good, and glorious. "It is the Kentucky of a
place," which the preacher described Heaven to be to the Kentucky
congregation.
Those who came many years ago from the borough towns, especially from
the vicinity of Williamsburg, exceed, in attachment to their
birthplace, if possible, the _émigrés_ from the metropolis. It is
refreshing in these coster monger times, to hear them speak of
it;--they remember it when the old burg was the seat of fashion,
taste, refinement, hospitality, wealth, wit, and all social graces:
when genius threw its spell over the public assemblages and illumined
the halls of justice, and when beauty brightened the social hour with
her unmatched and matchless brilliancy.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON STEPHENS.
~1812=1883.~
ALEXANDER HAMILTON STEPHENS was born near Crawfordville, Georgia, and
received an early and excellent education in his father's private
school and at the University of Georgia. The cost of his tuition here
was advanced by some friends, and he repaid it as soon as he began to
earn money. He taught for a year in the family of Dr. Le Conte, father
of the distinguished scientists, John and Joseph Le Conte, now of the
University of California.
He pursued his law studies alone and passed an unusually brilliant
examination. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1836, and to
Congress in 1843, where he served until 1858. He then retired to
country life at his home, "Liberty Hall." But in 1861 he was elected
Vice-President of the Confederate States. After the war he was made
prisoner and confined for some months at Fort Warren near Boston. He
spent several years in literary work and established a newspaper at
Atlanta, called the "Sun."
He was of small stature and delicate health, and met with one or two
severe accidents. His career is a wonderful illustration of the power
of the mind over the body. An amusing incident is told of him in
regard to his size. He was attending a political convention in
Charleston as one of the chief delegates; and one evening, with
several other prominent men, he was on the porch of the hotel lying on
a bench, talking with his companions who were standing about him. The
hotel-keeper coming out saw the gentlemen standing, and bustling up,
said, "Get up, my son, and let these gentlemen be seated." Mr.
Stephens at once arose and his friends burst out laughing; they
explained the situation to the hotel-keeper who was profuse in his
apologies.
An instance of his remarkable bravery is the affair with Judge Cone.
This gentleman considered himself insulted by a remark of Mr. Stephens
and demanded a retraction. After accepting an explanation, he still
insisted on a retraction, and Mr. Stephens refused to make it. Judge
Cone, a tall and powerful man, then drew a knife on him and holding
him down on the floor, cried out, "Retract, or I'll cut you to
pieces." "_Never!_" answered Stephens, "_cut!_" and caught the
descending knife in his right hand. Friends interposed; Judge Cone
apologized, and they afterwards became reconciled.
Mr. Stephens was elected to the United States Senate, 1874 and 1876:
he was governor of Georgia when he died. See his Life by R. M.
Johnston and W. H. Browne.
WORKS.
War between the States.
School History of the United States.
History of the United States.
Speeches.
LAWS OF GOVERNMENT.
(_From History of the United States._[19])
The chief end of all States, or the "_Esprit des Lois_," as
Montesquieu maintains, should be the security to each member of the
community of all "those absolute rights which are vested in them by
the immutable laws of nature."
Many writers maintain that the individuals upon entering into
society, give up or surrender a portion of their natural rights. This
seems to be a manifest error. No person has any natural right whatever
to hurt or injure another. The object of society and government is to
prevent and redress injuries of this sort; for, in a state of nature,
without a restraining power of government, the strong would viciously
impose upon the weak.
Another erroneous dogma pretty generally taught is, that the object of
governments should be to confer the greatest benefit upon the greatest
number of its constituent members. The true doctrine is, the object
should be to confer the greatest possible good upon every member,
without any detriment or injury to a single one.
SKETCH IN THE SENATE, FEB. 5, 1850.
(_From Johnston and Browne's Life of Stephens._[20])
[Illustration: ~University of Alabama.~]
Millard Fillmore, occupying the conspicuous seat erected for the
second officer of the Government. . . . His countenance is open and
bland, his chest full. His eye is bright, blue, and intelligent; his
hair thick and slightly gray. His personal appearance is striking; and
no one can look at him without feeling conscious that he is a man far
above the average. On his right, near the aisle leading to the front
door, sits Cass with hands folded in his lap . . . .; his
sleepy-looking eyes occasionally glancing at the galleries, and then
at the crowd pressing in below. Benton sits in his well-known place,
leaning back in his chair, and giving all who desire it a full view of
his person. One vacant seat is seen not far off on the same side of
the House. A vacant seat in such a crowd excites the attention of all.
"Whose seat is that?" goes in whispers around. "It's Calhoun's--not
well enough to be out yet."--"Who is that sitting by Cass?" says
one.--"That is Buchanan,--come all the way from home to hear
Clay."--"What thin-visaged man is that standing over yonder and
constantly moving?"-- . . . "That is Ritchie of the _Union_."--"Who is
that walking down the aisle with that uncouth coat and all that hair
about his chin? Did you ever see such a swaggerer? _He_ can't be a
Senator."--"That is Sam Houston."--"But where is Webster? I don't see
him."--"He is in the Supreme Court, where he has a case to argue
to-day."--See Corwin, and Badger, and Berrien, and Dawson, all near
Clay; all of them quiet while Clay pursues his writing. On the
opposite side, Butler, and Foote, and Clemens, and Douglas.
After the carriage of the motion of Mr. Mangum to proceed to the
consideration of the order of the day, Mr. Clay folds his papers and
puts them in his desk, and after the business is announced, rises
gracefully and majestically. Instantaneously there is general
applause, which Mr. Clay seems not to notice. The noise within is
heard without, and the great crowd raised such a shout that Mr. Clay
had to pause until the officers went out and cleared all the
entrances, and then he began. He spoke on that day two hours and
fifteen minutes. The speech was reported in the _Globe_ word for word
as he uttered it. I never saw such a report before. His voice was
good, his enunciation clear and distinct, his action firm, his
strength far surpassing my expectation. He had the riveted gaze of the
multitude the whole time. When he concluded, an immense throng of
friends, both men and women came up to congratulate and to _kiss_ him.
_March 31st._--The Angel of Death has just passed by, and his shadow
is seen lingering upon the startled countenances of all. A great man
has just fallen,--Calhoun! His race is ended. His restless and fiery
spirit sleeps in that deep and long repose which awaits all the
living. He died this morning about seven o'clock. Peace to his ashes!
His name will long be remembered in the history of this country. He
has closed his career at a most eventful period of that history, and
perhaps it is most fortunate for his fame that he died just at this
time.
TRUE COURAGE.
(_From a Speech, 1855._)
I am afraid of nothing on earth, or above the earth, or under the
earth, but to do wrong. The path of duty I shall endeavor to travel,
fearing no evil, and dreading no consequences. I would rather be
defeated in a good cause than to triumph in a bad one. I would not
give a fig for a man who would shrink from the discharge of duty for
fear of defeat.
FOOTNOTES:
[19] By permission of the National Publishing Co., Philadelphia.
[20] By permission of authors, and publishers, J. B. Lippincott Co.,
Philadelphia.
ALEXANDER BEAUFORT MEEK.
~1814=1865.~
ALEXANDER BEAUFORT MEEK was born at Columbia, South Carolina, was
educated at the University of Alabama, and began life as a lawyer and
editor in Tuscaloosa, then capital of Alabama. He was a lieutenant in
the Seminole War. He was a judge, a member of the State Legislature
and Speaker of the House, and father of the public school system of
the state. His later years were devoted to literary pursuits and he
stands high as an orator, poet, and historian.
WORKS.
Red Eagle, [a poem].
Romantic Passages in South-Western History.
History of Alabama, [unfinished].
Songs and Poems of the South.
Pilgrims of Mt. Vernon, [unfinished poem].
The story of the Indian Chief, Red Eagle, or Weatherford, is one of
the most interesting traditions of our country. Judge Meek's writings
teem with the romantic and marvellous incidents of the early history
of Alabama, such as De Soto's march to the Mississippi, the Battle of
Mauville and defeat of the great Indian King, Tuscaloosa, or Black
Warrior, the Canoe-Fight of Dale, or Sam Thlucco, as the Indians
called him ("Big Sam"), and the attack on Fort Mims.
RED EAGLE, OR WEATHERFORD.
(_From Romantic Passages in South-Western History._)