730 



VIRGINIA. 



but to the country. It was hailed, at the 

 time, as a step on the part of that ancient 

 commonwealth to effect a peaceable solution 

 of the difficulties of the country, and to pre- 

 serve the Union with its friendly and fraternal 

 feeling. When the resolutions were before the 

 House, a motion to amend of such a character 

 as to bring up the question of the right and 

 present policy of secession was offered and 

 voted down, ayes 36, nays 96. On the adop- 

 tion of these resolutions in the Senate, another 

 was offered of this purport : 



Resolved, That if all efforts to reconcile the unhappy 

 differences between sections of our country shall prove 

 abortive, then every consideration of honor and interest 

 demands that Virginia shall unite her destinies with 

 Ler sister slave-holding States. 



This resolution was adopted unanimously. 



Messrs. John Tyler and John Eobertson were 

 appointed Commissioners, the former to Presi- 

 dent Buchanan, and the latter to Gov. Pickens, 

 to request them to abstain from hostile acts 

 during the session of the Conference, and to 

 obtain, from. South Carolina a representation 

 therein. 



On the 18th a bill passed the House appro- 

 priating one million of dollars for the defence 

 of the State. It was also passed by the Senate 

 on the 23d. 



On the 22d the Governor sent to the Legis- 

 lature the resolutions of the State of Ohio, 

 breathing a coercive spirit. He suggested that 

 &ucli resolutions sent to slave-holding States 

 had no other effect than to excite resentments 

 and inflame prejudices, as well as to increase 

 the difficulties, and embarrass, if not defeat, all 

 the efforts being made to adjust the controver- 

 sy. He suggested also the propriety of a re- 

 buke to the Governor of Ohio for his refusal to 

 surrender O\ven Brown and Francis Merriam 

 when demanded by the Executive of Virginia, 

 as fugitives from justice. The Message was 

 laid on. the table by a small majority. 



The members of Congress from Virginia, even 

 at this period, had, it seems, given up all hope 

 of an adjustment of the difficulties of the coun- 

 try. Tea of them sent an address to the people 

 of the State, giving a view of the proceedings 

 and the probable action of Congress, and de- 

 claring : " It is vain to hope for any measures 

 of conciliation and adjustment from Congress 

 which the people of Virginia could accept." 

 They said, further, that they were satisfied the 

 Republican party designed by civil war alone 

 to coerce the Southern States, under the pre- 

 text of enforcing the laws, unless it should be- 

 come speedily apparent that the seceding States 

 were so numerous, determined, and united as 

 to make such an attempt hopeless. They con- 

 cluded by expressing their conviction that 

 prompt and decided action by the people of 

 Virginia in the Convention would afford the 

 surest means, under the providence of God, of 

 averting the impending civil war, and preserv- 

 ing the hope of reconstructing a Unior already 

 dissolved. 



Messrs. Tyler and Robertson, the Commis- 

 sioners, proceeded to discharge their duty. The 

 reply of the President was that he had no 

 power to make such an agreement. (See UNITED 

 STATES.) The reply of S*outh Carolina was em- 

 braced in the following resolution,. which was 

 unanimously adopted by the Legislature of that 

 State : 



Resolved unanimously, That the separation of South 

 Carolina from the Federal Union is final, and she has 

 no further interest in the Constitution of the United 

 States ; and that the only appropriate negotiations 

 between her and the Federal Government are as to 

 their mutual relations as foreign States. 



The reply from Maryland, through Governor 

 Hicks, to the request from Virginia to meet in 

 conference at Washington, concludes with these 

 words : " I am rejoiced that Virginia has made 

 the move, and I trust it will be met in a corre- 

 sponding spirit by the other States ; if so, we 

 may anticipate the best of consequences from 

 their patriotic action." The letter was ordered 

 to be printed by the Legislature. The views 

 of the Legislature on coercion are embraced 

 in this resolution, to which there were only 

 five dissentient votes in the House : 



Resolved, That when any one or more of the States 

 have determined, or shall determine, under existing 

 circumstances, to withdraw from the Union, we are 

 unalterably opposed to any attempt on the part of the 

 Federal Government to coerce the same into re-union 

 or submission, and that we will resist the same by all 

 the means in our power. 



The number of delegates to the State Con- 

 vention was 152, a large majority of those 

 elected preferring the Union to secession. 

 This was considered as a declaration against 

 precipitate secession, and in favor of making 

 every honorable effort to restore the Union. 

 Virginia demanded her rights in the Union, 

 looking to the conservative people of the 

 North, if they were in a majority, to make 

 a peaceful adjustment of difficulties. Of un- 

 conditional " Unionists," and extremists on the 

 other side, there were very few elected. The 

 effect of this election on the people of Mary- 

 land, Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Caro- 

 lina was exceedingly favorable for the Union. 

 All party distinctions had thus been forgotten 

 in the choice of the delegates. 



On the llth of February the Governor sent 

 to the Legislature the report of Commissioner 

 Robertson, who had been sent to the seceded 

 States. He reported that the Governor of Geor- 

 gia accepted the mediation of Virginia, and 

 gave assurances that the authorities of Georgia 

 would abstain, during the period contemplated, 

 from all acts calculated to produce a collision 

 between that State and the General Govern- 

 ment. The Commissioner believed that the 

 Governor of Alabama would give a favorable 

 answer, and that South Carolina would con- 

 form her course to the action or recommenda- 

 tion of the Southern Congress. The resolu- 

 tions from the Legislature of Michigan were 

 ordered to be returned to the Governor of 

 that State. 



