USA > Georgia > The Confederate records of the State of Georgia, Vol 2 pt 2 > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
The real objects of the war aimed at from the begin- ning, were and are not so much the deliverance of the African from bondage as the repudiation of the great American doctrine of self-government; the subjugation of the people of these States, and the confiscation of their
645
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
property. To carry out their fell purpose by misleading some simple-minded folks, within their own limits, as well as ours perhaps, they passed in the House of Representa- tives of the Federal Congress a short time since, the famous resolution :
"That as our country and the very existence of the best Government ever instituted by man is imperilled by the most causeless and wicked rebellion, that the only hope of saving the country and preserving the Govern- ment is by the power of the sword, we are for the most vigorous prosecution of the war until the Constitution and laws shall be enforced and obeyed in all parts of the United States; and to that end we oppose any armistice, or intervention, or mediation, or proposition for peace from any quarter, so long as there shall be found a rebel in arms against the Government; and we ignore all party names, lines and issues, and recognize but two parties to this war-patriots and traitors."
Were solemn mockery, perfidious baseness, unmiti- gated hypocrisy, and malignant barbarity ever more con- spieuously combined and presented for the just condem- nation of a right thinking world, than there are in this resolution, passed by the abolition majority in the Lin- coln Congress? Think of the members from Massachu- setts and Vermont, voting for the most vigorous prose- cution of the war, until the Constitution and laws shall be enforced and obeyed in all parts of the United States. Think of the Acts of the Legislature of Massachusetts, passed in 1843 and 1855, still standing upon her statute books, setting at defiance the Constitution and laws. What would become of these States? And what would become of their members themselves, who have upheld and sus-
646
CONFEDERATE RECORDS
tained these violations of the Constitution and laws, which is the chief reason why they now hold their seats by the votes of their constituents, if the war should be so waged? How long would it be before they would ground their arms of rebellion against the provision of the Constitution which they have set at nought, and give it their loyal support? What would become of their President and his cabinet, and all who from the begin- ning of the war and before that time, have been tramp- ling the Constitution under their feet? Were the war waged as they thus declare it to be their purpose to wage it, they would be the first victims of the sword were it first turned as it ought to be, against the first offen- ders. This they know full well. Obedience to the Con- stitution is the last thing they want or intend. Hence the mockery, baseness and hypocrisy of such a declara- tion of purpose. On their part it is a war of most wan- ton and savage aggression on ours it is a war in defence of inalienable rights, in defence of everything for which freemen should live, and for which freemen may well be willing to die.
The inestimable rights of self-government and State sovereignty for which their fathers and our fathers bled and suffered together in the struggle with England for Independence, are the same for which we are now en- gaged in the most unnatural and sanguinary struggle with them. Those rights are as dear to the people of these States as they were to those who achieved them; and on account of the great cost of the achievement, they are now more preciously cherished by those to whom they were bequeathed, and will never be surrendered or abandoned at less sacrifice.
647
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
If no proposition for peace or armistice is to be re- ceived or entertained, so long as we hold arms in our hands to defend ourselves, our homes, our hearthstones, our altars, and our birthright, against such ruthless and worse than vandal invaders, be it so! We deem it due, however, to ourselves, to the civilized world, and to those who shall come after us; to put upon record, what we are fighting for; and to let all know who may now or hereafter feel an interest in knowing the real nature of this conflict ; that the heavy responsibility of such suffer- ing, desolation and carnage, may rest where it rightfully belongs.
It is believed that many of the people of the Northern States labor under the impression that no propositions for peaceful adjustment have ever been made by us.
President Lincoln, in his letter to the "Unconditional Union" meeting at Springfield last summer, stated in substance, that no proposition for a peaceful adjustment of the matters in strife had ever been made to him by those who were in control of the military forces of the Confederate States; but if any should be made, he would entertain and give it his consideration.
This was doubtless said to make the impression, on the minds of those not well informed, that the responsi- bility of the war was with us. This declaration of President Lincoln stands in striking contrast, with that above quoted, from the republican members of the House of Representatives.
When this statement was made by President Lincoln it was well known to him that our commissioners, sent
1
648
CONFEDERATE RECORDS
to settle the whole matter in dispute peaceably, were re- fused a hearing! They were not even permitted to pre- sent their terms!
This declaration was also made soon after it was well known, throughout the Confederate States at least, that a distinguished son of this State, who is a high function- ary of the Government at Richmond, had consented as military commissioner, to bear a communication in writ- ing from President Davis, the Commander-in-Chief of our armies, to President Lincoln himself, with authority to confer upon matters therein set forth. The Commis- sioner sent from the head of our armies was not granted an audience, nor was the communication he bore received. That communication, as was afterwards known, related to divers matters connected with the general conduct of the war. Its nature, however, or to what it referred, . President Lincoln did not know, when he refused to re- ceive it. But from what is now known of it, if he had received it, and had heard what terms might have been proposed for the general conduct of the war, it is reason- able to conclude that the discussion of these and kindred topics might have led to some more definite ideas of the aims and objects of the war on both sides, from which the initiative of peaceful adjustment might have sprung, unless his real purpose be, as it is believed to be, nothing short of the conquest and subjugation of these States. His announcement that no offer of terms of adjustment had ever been made to him, is believed to be an artful pretext on his part to cover and hide from the people over whom he is assuming such absolute sway, his deep designs ; first against our liberties and then against theirs.
649
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
How PEACE SHOULD BE SOUGHT.
In view of these difficulties it may be asked, when and how is this war to terminate? It is impossible to say when it may terminate, but it is easy to say how it will end. We do not seek to conquer the Northern people, and if we are true to ourselves they can never conquer us. We do not seek to take from them the right of self-govern- ment, or to govern them without their consent. And they have not force enough to govern us without our con- sent, or to deqrive us of the right to govern ourselves. The blood of hundreds of thousands may yet be spilt, and the war will not still be terminated by force of arms. Negotiation will finally terminate it. The pen of the statesman, more potent than the sword of the warrior, must do what the latter has failed to do.
But I may be asked how negotiations are to commence, when President Lincoln refuses to receive Commissioners sent by us and his Congress resolves to hear no proposi- tion for peace? I reply that, in my opinion, it is our duty to keep it always before the Northern people, and the civilized world, that we are ready to negotiate for peace whenever the people and Government of the North- ern States are prepared to recognize the great funda- mental principles of the Declaration of Independence, maintained by our common ancestry-the right of all self-government and the sovereignty of the States. In my judgment it is the duty of our Government, after each important victory achieved by our gallant and glo- rious armies on the battle field, to make a distinct propo- sition to the Northern Government for peace upon these terms. By doing this, if the proposition is declined by,
650
CONFEDERATE RECORDS
them, we will hold them up constantly in the wrong be- fore their own people and the judgment of mankind. If they refuse to receive the Commissioners who bear the proposition, publish it in the newspapers, and let the conduct of their rulers be known to their own people; and there is reasonable ground to hope that the time may not be far distant when a returning sense of justice and a desire for self-protection against despotism at home will prompt the people of the Northern States to hurl from power those who deny the fundamental principle upon which their own liberties rest, and who can never be satiated with human blood. Let us stand on no deli- cate point of etiquette or diplomatic ceremony. If the proposition is rejected a dozen times, let us tender it again after the next victory-that the world may be reas- sured, from month to month, that we are not responsible for the continuance of this devastation and carnage.
Let it be repeated again and again to the Northern people, that all we ask is that they recognize the great principle upon which their own Government rests,-the sovereignty of the States; and let our own people hold our own Government to a strict account for every en- croachment upon this vital principle.
Herein lies the simple solution of all these troubles.
If there be any doubt, or any question of doubt, as to the sovereign will of any one of all the States of this Confederacy, or of any border State whose institutions are similar to ours, not in the Confederacy, upon the sub- ject of their present or future alliance, let all armed force be withdrawn, and let that sovereign will be fairly expressed at the ballot box by the legal voters of the State, and let all parties abide by the decision.
651
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
Let each State have, and freely exercise, the right to determine its own destiny in its own way. This is all that we have been struggling for from the beginning. It is a principle that secures "rights, inestimable to freemen, and formidable to tyrants only."
Let both Governments adopt this mode of settlement, which was bequeathed to them by the great men of the Revolution, and which has since been adopted by the Em- peror Napoleon as the only just mode for the Government of the States, or even provinces; and the ballot box will soon achieve what the sword cannot accomplish-restore peace to the country and uphold the great doctrines of State sovereignty and Constitutional liberty.
If it is a question of strife, whether Kentucky or Maryland, or any other State, shall cast her lot with the United States, or the Confederate States, there is no mode of settling it so justly, with so little cost and with so much satisfaction to her own people, as to withdraw all military force from her limits and leave the decision, not to the sword, but to the ballot box. If she should decide for herself to abolish slavery and go with the North, the Confederate Government can have no just cause for com- plaint, for that Government had its origin in the great doctrine that all its just "powers are derived from the consent of the governed," and we have no right to insist on Governing a sovereign State, against her will. But if she should decide to retain her institutions and go with the South, as we doubt not she will, when the question is fairly submitted to her people at the polls, the Lincoln Government must acquiesce, or it must repudiate and trample upon the very essential principles on which it was founded and which were carried out in practice by
652
CONFEDERATE RECORDS
the fathers of the Republic, for the first half century of its existence.
What Southern men can object to this mode of settle- ment? It is all that South Carolina, Virginia or Georgia claimed when she seceded from the Union. It is all that either has at any time claimed, and all that either can ever justly claim. And what friend of Southern Inde- pendence fears the result? What has the abolition Gov- ernment done, to cause the people of any Southern State to desire to reverse her decision, and return ingloriously to its embrace. Are we afraid the people of any seceded State will desire to place the State back in the abolition Union under the Lincoln despotism, after it has devas- tated their fields, laid waste their country, burned their cities, slaughtered their sons and degraded their daugh- ters? There is no reason for such fear.
But I may be told that Mr. Lincoln has repudiated this principle in advance, and that it is idle again to ten- der a settlement upon these terms. This is no reason why we should withhold the repeated renewal of the proposition. Let it be made again and again, till the mass of the Northern people understand it, and Mr. Lin- coln cannot continue to stand before them and the world, stained with the blood of their sons, their husbands, and their fathers, and insist, when a proposition so fair is constantly tendered, that thousands of new victims shall still continue to bleed, to gratify his abolition fanaticism, satisfy his revenge and serve his ambition to govern these States, upon the decision of onc-tenth of the people in his favor, against the other nine-tenths. Let the Northern and Southern mind be brought to contemplate this sub- ject in all its magnitude ; and while there may be extreme
653
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
men on the Northern side, satisfied with nothing less than the subjugation of the South, and the confiscation of cur property, and like extremists on the Southern side, whose morbid sensibilities are shocked at the mention of negotia- tion, or the renewal of an offer by us for a settlement upon any terms; I cannot doubt that the cool-headed, thinking men on both sides of the line, who are devoted to the great principles of self-government and State sov- ereignty, including the scar-covered veterans of the Army, will finally settle down upon this as the true solu- tion of the great problem, which now embarrasses so many millions of people and will find the higher truth between the two extremes.
If, upon the sober second thought, the public senti- ment North, sustains the policy of Mr. Lincoln when he proposes, by the power of the sword, to place the great doctrines of the Declaration of Independence and the Con- stitution of his country under his feet, and proclaims his purpose to govern these States by Military power, when he shall have obtained the consent of one-tenth of the gov- erned; how can the same publie sentiment condemn him, if at the head of his vast armies he shall proclaim him- self Emperor of the whole country, and submit the question to the vote of the Northern people, and when he has obtained, as he could easily do, the vote of one- tenth in his favor, he shall insist on his right to govern them, as their legitimate sovereign? If he is right in principle in the one case, he would unquestionably be right in the other. If he may rightfully continue the war against the South to sustain the one, why may he not as rightfully turn his armies against the North to establish the other?
-
654
CONFEDERATE RECORDS
But the timid among us may say, how are we to meet and repel his armies, if Mr. Lincoln shall continue to reject these terms, and shall be sustained by the senti- ment of the North, as he claims not only the right to govern us, but he claims the right to take from us all that we have.
The answer is plain. Let every man do his duty; and let us as a people place our trust in God, and we shall certainly repel his assaults and achieve our Inde- pendence, and if true to ourselves and to posterity, we shall maintain our Constitutional liberty also. The achievement of our Independence is a great object; but not greater than the preservation of Constitutional lib- erty.
The good man cannot read the late proclamation of Mr. Lincoln without being struck with resemblance between it and a similar one issued several thousand years ago, by Ben-hadad, King of Syria. That wicked King denied in others the right of self-government and vaunting himself in numbers, and putting his trust in chariots and horses, he invaded Israel, and beseiged Sa- maria with an overwhelming force. When the King of Israel, with a small band, resisted his entrance into the city, the Syrian King sent him this message: "Thou shalt deliver me thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; yet I will send my servants unto thee tomorrow, about this time, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put in their hands and take it away." The King of Israel consulted the Elders, after receiving this arrogant mes-
655
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
sage and replied: "This thing I may not do." Ben- hadad, enraged at this reply, and confident of his strength, sent back and said:
"The Gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice, for handfuls, for all the people that follow me." The King of Israel answered and said: "Tell him, let not him that girdeth on his har- ness, boast himself as he that putteth it off."
The result was that the small band of Israelites, guided by Jehovah, attacked the Syrian armies and routed them with great slaughter; and upon a second trial of strength, the Syrian armies were destroyed and their King made captive.
When Mr. Lincoln, following the example of this wicked King, and relying upon his chariots and his horse- men, and his vast armies to sustain a cause equally unjust, proclaims to us that all we have is his, and that he will send his servants, whose numbers are overwhelm- · ing, with arms in their hands to take it, and threatens vengeance if we resist; let us-"Tell him, let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off." The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. God is the judge, he putteth down one and setteth up another."
Not doubting the justice of our cause, let us stand in our allotted places, and in the name of Him who rules the hosts of Heaven, and the armies of Earth, let us continue to strike, for Liberty and Independence, and our efforts will ultimately be crowned with triumphant success.
JOSEPH E. BROWN.
656
CONFEDERATE RECORDS
*ACT OF SIXTEENTH CHARLES I, CHAPTER 10. THIS WENT INTO OPERATION 1st August, 1641.
An Act for regulating the privy council, and for tak- · ing away the Court commonly called the Star-Chamber.
Whereas, by the Great Charter many times confirmed in parliament, it is enacted, That no freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold or lib- erties, or free customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or other- wise destroyed; and that the King will not pass upon him, or condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.
(2.) And by another statute made in the fifth year of the reign of King Edward, it is enacted, that no man shall be attached by any accusation, nor forejudged of life, or limb, nor his lands, tenements, goods nor chattels seized into the King's hands, against the form of the GREAT CHARTER and the LAW OF THE LAND;
(3.) And by another statute made in the five and twentieth year of the reign of the same King Edward the Third, it is accorded, assented, and established, that none shall be taken by petition, or suggestion made to the King, or to his council, unless it be by indictment or 'pre- sentment of good and lawful people of the same neighbor- hood, where such deeds be done, in due manner, or by process made by writ original at the common law; and that none be put out of his franchise, or freehold, unless he he duly brought in to answer, and forejudged of the same by the course of the law: And if anything be done against the same, it shall be redressed, and holden for none.
657
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
(4.) And by another statute made in the eigth and twentieth year of the reign of the same King Edward the Third, it is, amongst other things, enacted, That no man, of what estate or condition soever he be, shall be put out of his lands and tenements, nor taken, nor im- prisoned, nor disinherited, without being brought in to answer by DUE PROCESS OF LAW.
(5.) And by another statute made in the two and fortieth year of the reign of the said King Edward the Third, it is enacted, That no man be put to answer with- out presentment before justice or matter of record, or by due process and writ original, according to the OLD LAW of the land: And if anything be done to the con- trary, it shall be void in law and holden for error.
(6.) And by another statute in the sixth and thirtieth year of the reign of the same King Edward the Third, it is amongst other things, Enacted, That all pleas, which shall be pleaded in any courts, before any of the King's justices, or in his other places or before any of his other ministers, or in the courts and places of any other lords within this realm, shall be entered and enrolled in Latin.
(7.) And whereas by the statute made in the third year of King Henry the Seventh, power is given to the Chancellor, the Lord Treasurer of England, for the time being, and the keeper of the King's Privy seal, or two of them, calling unto them a bishop, and a temporal lord of the King's most honorable council, and the two chief justices of the King's bench, and common pleas for the time being, or other two justices in their absence, to pro- ceed as in that Act is expressed for the punishment of some particular offences therein mentioned.
658
CONFEDERATE RECORDS
(S.) And by the statute made in the one and twen- tieth year of King Henry the Eighth, the president of the council associated to join with the Lord Chancellor, and other judges in the said statute of the third of Henry . the Seventh mentioned.
(9.) But the said judges have not kept themselves to the points limited by the said statute, but have under- taken to punish where no law doth warrant, and to make decrees for things, having no such authority, and to inflict heavier punishments, than by any law is warranted.
2. And forasmuch as all matters examinable or de- terminable before the said judges or in the court com- monly called the star-chamber, may have their proper remedy and redress, and their due punishment and cor- rection by the common law of the land, and in the ordi- nary course of justice elsewhere. (2) And forasmuch as the reasons and motives, inducing the erection and continuance of that court do now cease. (3.) And the proceedings, censures, and decrees of that court, have by experience been found to be an intolerable burthen to the subject, and the means to introduce an arbitrary power and government. (4) And forasmuch as the council table hath of late times assumed unto itself, a power to intermeddle in civil and matters only of private interest between party and party; and have ADVEN- TURED to determine of the estates and liberties of the subjects, contrary to the LAWS of the LAND and the Rights and Privileges of the subject, by which great and manifold mischiefs and inconveniences have arisen and happened, and much uncertainty, by means of such pro- ceedings, hath been conceived concerning men's rights
4.
659
STATE PAPERS OF GOVERNOR JOS. E. BROWN
and estates; for settling whereof and Preventing the like in time to come.
3. Be it ordained and Enacted by the authority of this present parliament, That the said court commonly called the star-chamber, and all jurisdictions, power and authority, belonging unto, or exercised in the same court, or by any of the judges, officers, or ministers thereof, be from the first day of August, in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred and forty-one, CLEARLY and ABSOLUTELY dissolved, taken away, and deter- mined. (2) And that from the said first day of August neither the lord chancellor or keeper of the Great seal of England, the lord treasurer of England, the keeper of the King's Privy seal, or president of the council, nor any bishop, temporal lord, privy counsellor or judge, or justice whatsoever, shall have any power or anthority to hear, examine or determine any matter or thing what- soever, in said court, commonly called the Star-Cham- ber, or to make, pronounce, or deliver any judgment, sen- tence, order or decree; or to any judicial or ministerial act in the said court. (3) And that all and every Act and Acts of parliament, and all and every article, clause, and sentence in them, and every one of them, by which any jurisdiction, power or authority, is given, limited or appointed unto the said court, commonly called the Star- Chamber, or unto all, or any of the judges, officers. or ministers thereof, or for any proceedings to be had or made in question, examined or determined there, shall for so much as concerneth the said court of Star-Cham- ber, and the power and authority thereby given unto it. be from the first day of August REPEALED and ABSO- LUTELY REVOKED and made void.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.