406 



GEOEG1A. 



on his part, so far as appears from Ms message, 

 necessarily precludes my acceptance of the invitation 

 thus tendered. 



In communicating this intention to Gen. Sherman, 

 you may also say to him that, if he is of opinion that 

 there is any prospect of our agreeing upon any terms 

 of adjustment to be submitted to the action of our 

 respective Governments, even though he has no 

 power to act in advance in the premises, and will 

 make this known to me in some formal and authori- 

 tative manner (being so desirous for peace himself as 

 you represent him to have expressed himself), I 

 would most cheerfully and willingly, with the con- 

 sent of our authorities, accede to his request thus 

 manifested, and enter with all the earnestness of my 

 nature upon the responsible and arduous task of re- 

 storing peace and harmony to the country, upon the 

 principles of honor, right, and justice to all parties. 

 This does not seem to me to be at all impossible, if 

 truth and reason should be permitted to have their 

 full sway. Yours, most respectfullv, 



ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 



Tho reply of Gov. Brown was as follows : 



Please make to Gen. Sherman an acknowledgment 

 of my obligation for the personal courtesies which 

 you say he proposes to extend to me. But as he is 

 only a general commanding an army in the field, and 

 I the governor of a State, neither the constitution of 

 his country nor of my own confers upon us any power 

 to negotiate a treaty of peace. We probably hold 

 but few sentiments in common ; but if we should 

 agree in every particular, we would have power to 

 bind no one by any compact we might make. As our 

 interview could therefore result in nothing practical, 

 I must decline the invitation. While the portion of 

 the State now in the rear of Gen. Sherman s army is 

 held by him, and the execution of the laws of the 

 State is suspended by armed force, I know of no ser- 

 vice which I could render to the people of that section 

 by a personal visit. If I could better their condition 

 or mitigate their sufferings, I would, on their account, 

 cheerfully go at the expense of any_ inconvenience or 

 personal sacrifice which the trip might cost me. 



To the remark that Gen. Sherman does not wish to 

 be compelled to overrun and desolate more of the ter- 

 ritory of Georgia, I reply that no compulsion rests 

 upon him to attempt this, unless it be the cruel or- 

 ders of his Government. If he makes the effort, he 

 will find much greater difficulties in the way of his 

 advance for the next hundred miles than those en- 

 countered during his march from Dalton to Atlanta. 

 Georgia may possibly be overrun, but never can be 

 subjugated, and her people will never treat with a con- 

 queror upon her soil. As a sovereign State she had 

 the undoubted right to dis_solve her connection with 

 the Government of the United States when the com- 

 pact had been violated by the other States of the 

 confederacy, and to form a new compact, which she 

 has done. She is as sovereign to-day as she was the 

 day she seceded from the old Union, and has the 

 same power, by a convention of her people, which 

 she then had to resume all delegated powers and all 

 the attributes of sovereignty, and then to declare war, 

 negotiate treaties of peace, and do all other acts 

 which a sovereign State may do. While this power 

 rests on her people, who are the original source of all 

 sovereignty, her constitution, formed by them, has 

 conferred no such power upon her Governor. 



The fact must not be overlooked, however, that 

 while Georgia possesses the sovereign power to act 

 separately, her faith, which never has, and I trust 

 never will be violated, is pledged by strong implica- 

 tion to her Southern sisters, that she will not exer- 

 cise this power without consent on their part, and 

 concert of action with them. In league with her 

 Southern sisters, she entered into this contest with 

 full knowledge of all the responsibilities which attach- 

 ed to the act ; and come weal or woe, she will never 

 withdraw from it in dishonor. However unequa 



may be the proportion of suffering or sacrifice which 

 her people may have to endure, she will never make 

 separate terms with the enemy which may free her 

 territory from invasion and leave her confederates in 

 the lurch. Whatever may be the opinion of her peo- 

 ple as to the injustice done her by the Confederate 

 administration, she will triumph with her Confed- 

 erate sisters, or she will sink with them in common 

 ruin. The intelligent people of Georgia already un- 

 derstand, and our enemy will soon learn, that the in- 

 dependent expression of condemnation of the admin- 

 istration is one thing, and disloyalty to our sacred 

 cause is another and quite a different thing. Whila 

 the people of Georgia think for themselves, and wiL 

 not blindly applaud the mismanagement of their 

 rulers, they will never violate principle for expedien- 

 cy, nor accept dishonor for reward. 



The foundation of our Government and the liberties 

 of the people rest upon the sovereignty of the States 

 as their chief corner stone. Destroy the sovereignty 

 of the States and the whole fabric falls to the ground, 

 and centralized power with military despotism takes 

 the place of constitutional liberty. 



When the passions of the people North and South 

 have subsided we may make peace by negotiation, 

 but never by the sword. 



If Mr. Lincoln would have peace and prosperity 

 reestablished upon a firm basis, let him stop the war, 

 and, planting himself upon the principles of the 

 Declaration of Independence of 1776, let him recog- 

 nize the sovereignty of the States, and agree to leave 

 each sovereign State to determine for herself, by a 

 convention of her people, \vhose delegates shall be 

 fairly chosen by the legal voters of the State, with, 

 out military interference or intimidation, what shall 

 be her future connection whether she will remain 

 in, or, if out, return to the old Union, or adhere to 

 her present league. 



There may be doubts whether Kentucky, Missouri, 

 and probably other States, desire to continue their 

 connection with the United States, or to cast their 

 lot with the Confederate States. The only just mode 

 of solving these doubts is the one above indicated. 

 If these or any other of the Southern States should, 

 in solemn convention, decide to go with the United 

 States, neither the Confederate Government nor the 

 other States can object. We cannot govern Ken- 

 tucky, for instance, against her will, unless we can 

 subjugate her. This we have no power to do with 

 the Northern States at her back ; and if we had the 

 power we have no right to coerce a sovereign State 

 into a connection which is not of her own choice. If 

 this were done we must, in future, govern her people 

 by the bayonet, which would convert our republican- 

 ism into the worst species of despotism. So it must 

 be with the North if Mr. Lincoln should succeed in 

 his policy of conquering us. 



If we were overrun, and for a time subdued, our 

 territory is so vast in extent, and our population so 

 large, that it would take a regular army of two 

 hundred thousand men to govern and hold us in sub- 

 jection. The support of such an army would not 

 only continue the country in bankruptcy, but in the 

 hands of the Executive it would soon be used to sub- 

 vert even the form of the Government, and change it 

 from a republic to a monarchy. Thus to destroy our 

 liberties must cost the Northern people their own, 

 and the republicanism of America must in future be 

 a reproach and a byword among all nations. 



If President Lincoln and President Davis will agree 

 to stop the war and transfer the settlement of the 

 issues from the battle-field to the ballot box, leaving 

 each sovereign State to determine for herself what 

 shall be her future connection, and who her future 

 allies, the present devastation, bloodshed, and car- 

 nage will cease, and prosperity will be restored to the 

 whole country. 



On the other hand, if this is not done the war will 

 last for years to come, till both sides are exhausted 

 and overwhelmed with debt and taxation, when it 



