CONVENTION DOCUMENTS 1833. [III.] Certified copy of the Preamble and Resolutions, adopted by the Virginia Legislature, and transmitted, through their Commissioner, to the constituted Authorities of this State. VIRGINIA, TO WIT: I, JOHN FLOYD, Governor of the State aforesaid, do hereby certify and make known unto all whom it may concern, that GEORGE W. MUNFORD, whose name is subscribed to the certificate to the two documents hereunto annexed, marked A and B, is, as he there styles himself, Clerk of the House of Delegates, and Keeper of the Rolls of Virginia, duly appointed and qualified according to law; and to all his official acts as such, full faith, credit and authority, are had and ought to be given. In Testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name, and caused the great seal of the State to be affixed hereunto. [L. S.] Done at the City of Richmond, the twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, and of the Commonwealth the fifty-seventh. By the Governor. WM. H. RICHARDSON, Secretary JOHN FLOYD. of the Commonwealth, and_Keeper of the Seal. A. Whereas, The General Assembly of Virginia, actuated by a desire to preserve the peace and harmony of our common country; relying upon the sense of justice of each and every State in the Union, as a sufficient pledge that their Representatives in Congress will so modify the acts laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, commonly called the tariff acts, that they will no longer furnish cause of complaint to the people of any particular State; believing, accordingly, that the peo ple of South Carolina are mistaken in supposing that Congress will yield them no relief from the pressure of those acts, especially as the auspi DOCUMENTS. 1833. CONVENTION cious approach of the extinguishment of the Public Debt affords a just ground for the indulgence of a contrary expectation; and confident that they are too strongly attached to the Union of the States, to resort to any proceedings which might dissolve or endanger it, whilst they have any fair hope of obtaining their object by more regular and peaceful. measures ; persuaded, also, that they will listen willingly and respectfully to the voice of Virginia, earnestly and affectionately requesting and entreating them to rescind or suspend their late Ordinance, and await the result of a combined and strenuous effort of the friends of Union and Peace, to effect an adjustment and reconciliation of all public differences now unhappily existing; regarding, moreover, an appeal to force, on the part of the General Government, or on the part of the Government of South Carolina, as a measure which nothing but extreme necessity could justify or excuse in either; but apprehensive, at the same time, that if the present state of things is allowed to continue, acts of violence will occur, which may lead to consequences that all would deplore--cannot but deem it a solemn duty to interpose, and mediate between the high contending parties, by the declaration of their opinions and wishes, which they trust that both will consider and respect. Therefore Resolved, By the General Assembly, in the name, and on behalf of the people of Virginia, that the competent Authorities of South Carolina be, and they are hereby earnestly and respectfully requested and entreated to rescind the Ordinance of the late Convention of that State, entitled "An Ordinance to Nullify certain acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws, laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities;" or, at least, to suspend its operation until the close of the first session of the next Congress. Resolved, That the Congress of the United States be, and they are hereby earnestly and respectfully requested and entreated, so to modify the acts laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, commonly called the Tariff Acts, as to effect a gradual but speedy reduction of the resulting Revenue of the General Government, to the standard of the necessary and proper expenditures for the support thereof. Resolved, That the people of Virginia expect, and, in the opinion of the General Assembly, the people of the other States have a right to expect, that the General Government and the Government of South Carolina, and all persons acting under the authority of either, will carefully abstain from any and all acts, whatever, which may be calculated to disturb the tranquility of the country, or endanger the existence of the Union. And, whereas, considering the opinions which have been advanced and maintained by the Convention of South Carolina, in its late Ordinance and Addresses, on the one hand, and by the President of the United States, in his Proclamation, bearing date the tenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, on the other, the General Assembly deem it due to themselves, and the people whom they represent, to declare and make known their own views, in relation to some of the important and interesting questions which these papers present :Therefore, Resolved, By the General Assembly, That they continue to regard the doctrines of State Sovereignty and State Rights, as set forth in the Resolutions of 1798, and sustained by the Report thereon, of 1799, as a true interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, and of the powers therein given to the General Government; but that they do not DOCUMENTS. consider them as sanctioning the proceedings of South Carolina, indica- CONVENTION ted in her said Ordinance; nor as countenancing all the principles assumed 1833. by the President in his said Proclamation, many of which are in direct conflict with them. Resolved, That this House will, by joint vote with the Senate, proceed, on this day, to elect a Commissioner, whose duty it shall be to proceed immediately to South Carolina, and communicate the foregoing Preamble and Resolutions to the Governor of that State, with a request that they be communicated to the Legislature of that State, or any Convention of its citizens, or give them such other direction as, in his judgment, may be best calculated to promote the objects which this Commonwealth has in view; and that the said Commissioner be authorized to express to the public authorities and people of our sister State, in such manner as he may deem most expedient, our sincere good will to our sister State, and our anxious solicitude that the kind and respectful recommendations we have addressed her, may lead to an accommodation of all the differences between that State and the General Government. Resolved, That the Governor of the Commonwealth be, and he is hereby requested, to communicate the foregoing Preamble and Resolutions to the President of the United States, to the Governors of the other States, and to our Senators and Representatives in Congress. Agreed to by the House, the twenty-sixth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three. GEORGE W. MUNFORD, Clerk of the House of Delegates and Keeper of the Rolls of Virginia. The House of Delegates have, this day, by joint vote with the Senate, elected BENJAMIN WATKINS LEIGH, Esq. a Commissioner of this State, to the State of South Carolina, in conformity with a Preamble and Resolutions upon the subject of Federal Relations, also adopted to-day. GEORGE W. MUNFORD, Clerk of the House of Delegates and Keeper of the Rolls of Virginia. CHARLESTON, February 5, 1833. SIR:-When I had the honor, yesterday, of laying before your Excellency the Resolutions of the General Assembly of Virginia, of the 26th January last, and called your attention particularly to the Resolution of the General Assembly, in the name and on behalf of the people of Virginia, that the competent authorities of South Carolina be, and are hereby earnestly and respectfully requested and entreated to rescind the Ordinance of the State Convention of that State, entitled "An Ordinance to Nullify certain Acts of the Congress of the United States, purporting to be laws, laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities," or, at least, to suspend its operation until the close of the first session of the next Congress; you informed me that the only authority competent to comply with that request, or even to consider it, is the Convention of the people of South Carolina, which made the Ordinance, and the power of re-assembling the Convention is vested in the President of that body. I have now, therefore, to request your Excellency to communicate the Resolutions of the General Assembly of Virginia, and this letter also, to the President of the Convention; confidently hoping that that officer will not refuse or hesitate to re-assemble the Convention, in order that the Resolutions of the General Assembly may be submitted to it, and that the Convention may consider, whether, and how far, the earnest and respectful request and entreaty of the General Assembly shall and ought to be complied with. I have the honor to be, &c. &c. To his Excellency, ROBERT Y. HAYNE, Governor of South Carolina. B. W. LEIGH. CONVENTION DOCUMENTS. 1833. [Letter No. 2.] EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, SIR:-I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 5th instant, and in compliance with the request therein contained, communicated its contents, together with the Resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia, of which you are the bearer, to Gen. JAMES HAMILTON, Jr. the President of the Convention. I have, now, the pleasure of inclosing you his answer, by which you will perceive, that in compliance with the request conveyed through you, he will promptly re-assemble the Convention, to whom the Resolutions adopted by the Legislature of Virginia, will be submitted, and by whom they will doubtless receive the most friendly and respectful consideration. In giving you this information, it is due to the interest manifested by Virginia in the existing controversy between South Carolina and the Federal Government, to state that as soon as it came to be understood that the Legislature of Virginia had taken up the subject in a spirit of friendly interposition, and that a bill for the modification of the Tariff was actually before Congress, it was determined, by the common consent of our fellow-citizens, that no case should be made under our Ordinance until after the adjournment of the present Congress. The propriety of a still further suspension, can, of course, only be determined by the convention itself. With regard to the solicitude expressed by the Legislature of Virginia, that there should be "no appeal to force," on "the part of either the General Government or the Government of South Carolina, in the controversy now unhappily existing between them," and "that the General Government and the Government of South Carolina, and all persons acting under the authority of either, should carefully abstain from any and all acts, whatever, which may be calculated to disturb the tranquility of the country, or endanger the existence of the Union;" it is proper that I should distinctly and emphatically state, that no design now exists, or ever has existed, on the part of the Government of South Carolina, or any portion of the people, to "appeal to force," unless that measure should be rendered indispensable in repelling unlawful violence. I beg leave to assure you, and, through you, the people of Virginia, and our other sister States, that no acts have been done, or are contemplated by South Carolina, her constituted authorities, or citizens, in reference to the present crisis, but such as are deemed measures of precaution. Her preparations are altogether defensive in their character; and notwithstanding the concentration of large naval and military forces in this harbor, and the adoption of other measures on the part of the General Government, which may be considered as of a character threatening the peace and endangering the tranquility and safety of the State, we shall continue to exercise the utmost possible forbearance, acting strictly on the defensive, firmly resolved to commit no act of violence, but prepared, as far as our means may extend, to resist aggression. Nothing, you may be assured, would give me, personally, and the peoVOL. I.-49. 1 |