New Orleans Daily Crescent, November 13, 1860

We have abated not one jot or tittle of our attachment to the "Constitution, the Union and the Enforcement of the Laws"—the proud and unexceptional motto of the party for which we battled during the long and exciting contest so recently closed. We occupy the same ground we have ever occupied. We have not changed in the slightest particular. Let the Constitution be enforced in all its integrity; let the laws of Congress, enacted in pursuance of its authority, be scrupulously and faithfully carried out; let the decisions of the supreme judicial tribunal of the land be respected and vindicated in all portions of the Confederacy; let a true and loyal obedience to the laws and the courts prevail everywhere in the North, South, East and West—and the Union will be in no danger of disruption from any cause, but will stand for ages an indestructible monument of the surpassing wisdom of our ancestors and the unvarying fidelity and patriotism of their descendants.

But, we cannot say, and we have never said, that we were in favor of a Union to be maintained at the sacrifice of a violated Constitution, by a persistent refusal to obey the mandates of the Supreme Court, and by a general nullification of the laws of Congress, by the majority section, to oppress and outrage the minority portion of the confederacy. We have never been in favor of such a Union, and never shall be. The fathers of the Republic would have spurned such a confederation with as much loathing as they did the treason of Benedict Arnold. The Declaration of Independence itself says: "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness) it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." Higher authority than the above is not to be found in the history of the United States. The principle it enunciates constitutes the very corner stone of the temple of American liberty—of liberty everywhere. Wherever the principle is unrecognized, sheer and unadulterated despotism prevails. There is no such thing as civil and religious freedom where it is ignored. The right to change a government, or to utterly abolish it, and to establish a new government, is the inherent right of a free people; and when they are deprived of that right they are no longer free—not a whit more so than the serfs of Russia or the down-trodden millions of Austria.

The history of the Abolition or Black Republican party of the North is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of absolute tyranny over the slaveholding States. And all without the smallest warrant, excuse or justification. We have appealed to their generosity, justice and patriotism, but all without avail. From the beginning, we have only asked to be let alone in the enjoyment of our plain, inalienable rights, as explicitly guaranteed in our common organic law. We have never aggressed upon the North, nor sought to aggress upon the North. Yet every appeal and expostulation has only brought upon us renewed insults and augmented injuries. They have robbed us of our property, they have murdered our citizens while endeavoring to reclaim that property by lawful means, they have set at naught the decrees of the Supreme Court, they have invaded our States and killed our citizens, they have declared their unalterable determination to exclude us altogether from the Territories, they have nullified the laws of Congress, and finally they have capped the mighty pyramid of unfraternal enormities by electing Abraham Lincoln to the Chief Magistracy, on a platform and by a system which indicates nothing but the subjugation of the South and the complete ruin of her social, political and industrial institutions.

All these statements are not only true, but absolutely indisputable. The facts are well known and patent. Under these circumstances, in view of the dark record of the past, the threatening aspect of the present, and the very serious contingencies which the future holds forth, we submit and appeal to a candid and honorable world, whether the Southern people have not been astonishingly patient under gross provocation—whether they have not exhibited remarkable forbearance—whether they have not been long suffering, slow to anger and magnanimous, on numerous occasions where indignation was natural, and severe measures of retaliation justifiable? There can be no doubt on this point. For the sake of peace, for the sake of harmony, the South has compromised until she can compromise no farther, without she is willing to compromise away character, political equality, social and individual interest, and every right and franchise which freemen hold dear.

All the Northern States, with the exception of New Jersey, voted for Lincoln. As he is fully as odious to the South and just as dangerous to her institutions as William H. Seward would have been, the fact of his election, by an overwhelming majority, is full of portentous significance. It shows, beyond all question or peradventure, the unmixed sectional animosity with which an enormous majority of the Northern people regard us of the South. In connection with this, there is another fact, not as generally known as it ought to be, which we propose to lay before the Southern public. The Constitution of the country recognizes slaves as property; the laws of Congress recognize slaves as property; the decisions of the Supreme Court recognize slaves as property; and the constitution, the laws and the court declare that runaway slaves shall be restored to their owners. But how are the Constitution, the laws and the court regarded in nine great Northern States? Let us see. Here is a list of penalties prescribed by certain Northern Legislatures to such Southerners as venture to make legal endeavors to reclaim their property in those States:

In Maine: Fine $1000; Inprisonment 5 years
In Vermont: Fine $2000; Inprisonment 15 years
In Massachusetts: Fine $5000; Inprisonment 5 years
In Connecticut: Fine $5000; Inprisonment 5 years
In Pennsylvania: Fine $1000; Inprisonment 3 months
In Indiana: Fine $5000; Inprisonment 15 years
In Michigan: Fine $1000; Inprisonment 10 years
In Wisconsin: Fine $1000; Inprisonment 2 years
In Iowa: Fine $1000; Inprisonment 10 years

Every one of the above States, when they passed those laws, placed themselves beyond the pale of the Constitution, and virtually dissolved their connection with the Union! Yet no attempts have been made to force them to abide by the laws, and compel them to yield obedience to the stipulations of the general compact. Nothing of the sort. The outraging section appears to enjoy especial immunity; but let the cruelly aggrieved, the wantonly outraged and the causelessly robbed section presume to discuss the necessity of securing their own safety by resorting to their reserved, inalienable rights, and these violators of all laws, constitutions,,unions and compacts, lift up their hands in holy horror and say that the Union must be preserved, the Constitution obeyed, and the laws enforced! The Devil can quote Scripture when it suits his infernal purposes; and so do the Black Republicans refer to the Constitution, the Union and the laws, when they contemplate some other scheme of wrong, outrage and spoliation.

Thus much to-day, by way of keeping our readers accurately posted. We shall refer to the subject, on proper occasions, hereafter.