1 ffDIBP
Tctvborough, ( Edgecombe County, X. C.J Saturday, May 4, 1833.
Vol. IX No 315.
The "Xorth Carolina Free Press,"
BY GEORGE HOWARD,
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CIS
LKTTER FROM MR. CALHOUN.
The citizens of Edgefield village, S. C. having
invited Mr. Calhoun to a public dinner, the fol
lowing is his reply declining the invitation:
Fori Hilly March 21th, 1R33.
Gentlemen I have been honored by
your note of the 18th inst. inviting rne in
behalf of my friends in the vicinity of
Edgefield, to partake of a public dinner,
to be given at such time as would suit
my convenience.
In declining to accept this testimony
of the approval of my public conduct, in
the trying scenes through which 1 have
so lately passed, I am governed by the
course to which I have adhered through
out the arduous and noble struggle,
which this State has maintained in the
cause of liberty and the Constitution, for
so many years, and not from any indif
ference to the honor intended, nor want
of respect for those who have tendered it,
in a manner so kind, and with an appro
bation so warm and flattering, as to com
mand my most profound gratitude.
Foreseeing from the commencement
of this controversy, that the part, which
a sense of duty compelled me tu take,
would, from the position 1 occupied, ex
pose the State, as well as mvself, to the
imputation of false and unworthy motives,
and thereby tend to weaken the sacred
cause, for which she contended, I deem
ed it ray duty, in order to obviate, as far
as practicable, such effect, to decline ac
cepting all such testimonials of the pub
lic approval of my course, as has been of
fered me. This originating in a sense o;
mamed, but secession, the last resort of
an oppressed Stale, but which, like some
powerful but dangerous medicine, cannot
be prescribed till the disease has become
more dangerous than the remedy, and
when the life of the patient, with or with
out, is almost despaired of. Nor let any
one suppose that 1 have staled the facts
mo strongly, in saying that we have suc
cessfully asserted our doctrines. To
these assertions must be attributed the
recent adjustment of the tarifF, which,
whatever objections there may be to
some of the details, there can be no divi
sion of opinion on the point, that the
principle for which the Stale contended,
i hat the duties ought to be imposed for
revenue, and that no more ought to be
raised than the economical wants of the
government may demand, is openly and
explicitly acknowledged by the govern
ment. Time, it is true, has been liberal-
ly allowed for the gradual termination of
tiic system, in order to avoid the shock
.i.wt l,w,.w..i !...!!..! .J .. .. I 1 i
.iwu n;??t;a ui nujiviuuais, wincii neeessa-
rily follow all sudden transitions, even
from an erroneous to a correct principle
of legislation; but 1 feel 1 hazard little in
asserting, that the system will expire at
the appointed time, never more to be re
vived. For this ffreat result, vmi nwe
O "7 J
little to me, or any other individual. It
is the work of the State the truth nf
the docirines for which she contended,
and the firm and heroic zeal with which
she I las been sustained by her sons, in
asserting them; and by none more so
than by those of Ldgehcld, a district
which has distinguished itself among the
roremosi tor us union and promptitude in
this greal contest. It is, I repeat, to the
noble resolve of her sons, to prefer the
Constitution and liberty to life itself, to
which, under L rovidenee, we are to attri
bute this success of our righteous cause.
But let us not deceive ourselves by
supposing that the danger is past. We
have but checked the disease. If one
evil has been remedied, another has suc
ceeded; the force act in the place of the
protective system; a measure striking di
rectly at the fundamental principle of the
Constitution, and deliberately passed to
place on the statute book, and thereby to
give legal sanction to a theory of the
- I.. i. 4... -t. . . ..
vunsiiiuiiuij, uuciiy uuMiie 10 mat enter
duty, has been in strict accordance with
my feelings. Having no personal object jtained by us, and, 1 may add, almost the
in view, 1 have looked singly to an honest
and faithful discharge of what 1 believed
to be my duty, regardless of the effects
on my future prospects, or even on the
standing I may have acquired by past ser
vices with a large portion of my fellow
citizens, with whom it has and still conti
nues to be my misfortune to differ, in re
ference to the public interest, at this im
portant crisis. The reason which has
heretofore governed my conduct, must
still continue to influence me. The
struggle to preserve the liberty and Con
stitution of the country, and to arrest the
corrupt and dangerous tendency of the
government, so far from being over, is
not more than fairly commenced. In
making this assertion, I do not intend to
say that we have not gained alreadv an
important advantage. Commencing the
contest, as the State did, alone, and un
der so many disadvantages against i
system apparently so immoveably estab
lished and sustained by so large a major
ity and so powerful an interest; opposed
and denounced both by the administra
tion and the opposition to come off not
only without defeat, but with decided
success is indeed a triumph. In spite of
all those difficulties, we have upheld and
successfully asserted our doctrines, and
proved by actual experience, that the re
jected and reviled right of nullification is
not, as its opponents asserted, revolution
or disunion, but is that high, peaceable
and efficient remedy, that great conserv
ative principle of the system, which we
claim it to be, and as it has proved, that,
too, after all the usual remedies had fail
ed, nud when, without it none other re-
entire South. I rest not this assertion on
inference. What I slate was openly a
vowed in debate, and among others by its
eading advocate, the distinguished Sen
ater from Massachusetts, who conceded
that if the theory be true, that the Con
stitution is a compact, formed by the pea
pie of the several fctates, as distinct sove
reign communities,, and is binding be
tween them as such, then would the bill
be, as we have asserted it to be, directly
opposed to the fundamental principles of
the Constitution, and utterly subversive
of that instrument; and that the bill could
be vindicated only on the opposite view,
which he maintained, and on which he
advocated its passage, the view which re
garded the people of these States as one
nation, and ihc government as possessing
the exclusive right of interpreting, in the
last resort, its own powers; and thu
practically substituting for the Constitu
tion the will of the majority, with the
right of assuming at discretion whatever
powers it might think proper, and to en
force their exercise,. However oppressive
and unconstitutional, at the point of the
bayonet, or even with the noose of a hal
ter. Such now is our Constitution as at
tempted to be established by an existing
law of the land; and such will be the
Constitution in fact, should this odious bil
not be resisted, till it be erased from the
statute book. If it.be not resisted if by
our acnuiescence, the principles on whic
it rests be practically established, then
will there be an end to our constitutiona
and limited government, and, with it, to
liberty and the Constitution, for to expect
to preserve either, under such a govern
ment, would be one of the vainest
thoughts that ever entered into the ima
gination of man.
The theory of our Constitution, which
is thus attempted to be established by
law a theory which denies that the Con
stitution is a compact between the States,
and which traces all its powers to a ma
jority of the American people, or in oth
er words, which denies the federal cha
racter of the government, and asserts
that it is a consolidated system, is of re
cent origin, avowed for the first time but
three years since, and first officially pro
claimed and asserted within the last few
months. There was a party, it is said,
in the Convention which framed the Con
stitution, in favor of consolidation; but it
is a fact perfectly established by the jour
nals of its proceedings, that they were
defeated in that design; and from the dis
solution of that body till the time stated,
all parties, the federal as well as the re
publican, professed, at least, to believe
that ours was a federal system of govern
ment; to use the language of Fisher
Ames, one of the most zealous and dis
tinguished of the former party, "a repub
lic of States arrayed in a federal Union."
1 he dangerous heresy, of which the odi
ous force bill is the first fruit, after hav
ing been thus suppressed in the Convert
tion, was revived, under the belief that it
was the certain and effectual means of
fixing on the country forever the unequal,
unjust, and unconstitutional system
which so long oppressed the staple States,
and is now placed among the acts of the
government for future use; like fetters
brged and fitted to the limbs of the States,
and hung up to be used, as occasion may
icreafter require. If it be permitted to
remain there quiclly, the time will come
when it will certainly be employed for
the use intended; and we may rest assu
red, that an army of fifty thousand bayo
nets, encamped in the midst of the staple
States, would not half so certainly sub
ect them to the will of a lawless, un
checked, and unrestrained majority, who
would not fail to wage a war under the
color of legislation on their property and
irospenty, more oppressive and morede
grading, than would be a tribute exacted
by actual force.
But, as formidable as would be this
measure, if acquiesced in, it may be easi
y overthrown, if promptly and spiritedly
opposed; which, I may add, would do
more to restore the Constitution and re
brm the government, than any other con
ceivable event. 1 found my belief, as to
the facility with which it may be over
thrown, if properly opposed, on the cha-j
racter of the measure itself, its palpable
unconstitutionality, in many particulars;
its dangerous tendency; its novelty; the
daring assumptions on one side, and de
nial of facts on the other, as necessary to
sustain it; Me absence or any direct and
powerful pecuniary interest (as in the
protective system) to support it; but
above all, on the deep conviction which
the weaker portion of the Union must
shortly feel, if it does not already, of a
concert of sentiment and action, not on
ly to arrest the measures in question, but
to guard against a recurreuce of similar
danger.
Another, and an important advantage,
in this contest, will also result froth the
character of the measure. It will effec
tually separate the real from the pretend
ed friends of State rights; a class that
has done the cause of constitutional liber
ty more injury, than the most open and
bitter opponents. 1 o advocate or sup
port the measure, is to be a consolida
tionist, in the strongest and mostodious
sense, by whatever profession accompa
nied; and of course all who advocate and
suonort it, will forfeit all claims to be
ranked among the friends of State rights.
Looking to the effects which must fol
low its overthrow, we shall have much to
animate us in the contest. The point at
issue is not, whether this or that particular
policy of the general government be right
or wrong, but whether the general gov
ernment be a consolidated government "of
unrestricted powers, or a Federal Re
public of States with limited powers; an
ssue tor tne tirst time presented, and on
the decision of which depends the liberty
and the Constitution of the country, and,
may and, the very existence ot the Sou
thern States. Let us not forget, in this
great contest, that we are acting, in main
taining the rights of the States, in our ap
propriate sphere of political duties; and
and that the due performance is not only
essential to our security, but to the pre
servation of our system of government.
On maintaining the balance between
the delegated and reserved powers, as
established in the Constitution, the suc
cess and duration of our novel and com
plex, but beautiful and perfect system of
government, obviously depends. Expe
rience has now shewn where the pres
sure and benefit of that unequal money
ed action, which necessarily results from
the fiscal operations of all governments,
in a greater or less degree, fall. We
now know that the pressure must be
ours, as the weaker party, at least in the
present condition of the country. To
those who profit by this unequal money
ed action, may be safely confided the
defence of the delegated powers; uid the
passage of the force bill, as well ns ibo
history of the last sixteen years, clearly
demonstrates that there will be no1 lack
of zeal, on their part, in the discharge of
that duty. To us belongs the defence of
the reserved powers; and if we but per
form that high duty with the same zeal
on our part, the balance will be preserv
ed, and the system be safe. In thi con
diet between the two powers, the patron
age of the general government will ne
cessarily be on the side of the stronger
party, who will be in authority; and let
us constantly bear in mind, thai this
great advantage cannot be countervailed,
but by maintaining, in full force and au
thority, the reserved powers and. the
sovereignty of the States. Nur let us
forget, that if the general government
and the delegated authority represent
our power and majesty, that the sove
reignty of the States & the reserved pow
ers constitute the citadel of our liberty.
In this action and re-action of our sys
tem, between the two, let us not repine)
at the part allotted us. If it has its dis
advantages, it has also its advantages.
What we lose, in a moneyed point of
view, will be more than compensated in
a moral and political point of view, if we
but properly discharge our duty to our
country and ourselves. To restrict the
general government to its proper sphere;
to guard against the approaches of cor
ruption; to correct that tendency to des
potic rule, so natural to governments of
every description; these are the high du
ties assigned to us, to perform which, the
highest qualities, intellectual and moral,
are required; but which, if faithfully per
formed, will certainly be followed by their
acquisition an acquisition, in whatever
light regarded, 'worth more than tho
wealth of the world.
With great respect, T am, &c.
J. C. CALHOUN. .
M. Laborde, J. Terry, and Jl. P. Car
roll, Esqs. Committee.
87s A boy named Zeba Wilbur, recent
ly hung himself in his father's blacksmith
shop, in Baynham, Mass. He was dis
covered and liberated just as his spirit
was on the confines of the eternal world.
On being questioned as to the reason of
his hanging himself, he replied, that he
had heard so much about pegple's hang
ing themselves, that he was anxious to
know how it felt.
tt?An assassin was hung at New Or
leans on the 9th ult. named Sante
ro, who confessed to have committed
seventeen murders.