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Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 2: preliminary rebellious movements. (search)
presented within a fort-night from that time. This meeting was followed by similar cabals in the other cotton-growing States; and, in Virginia, that ever-restless mischief-maker, ex-governor Henry A. Wise, with R. M. T. Hunter, John Tyler, James M. Mason, the author of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, who had been his co-plotter against the life of the Republic four years before, In response to an invitation from Wise, a convention of Governors of Slave-labor States was secretly held at Ralnty thousand men, to Washington, taken possession of the Capitol, and prevented the inauguration of the President elect. Fremont's defeat postponed overt acts of treason by the conspirators.--The American Conflict: by Horace Greeley, i. 829. Senator Mason, writing to Jeff. Davis on the 30th of September, said :--I have a letter from Wise, of the 27th, full of spirit. He says the governments of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Louisiana have already agreed to the rendezvous at Raleigh, and
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 5: events in Charleston and Charleston harbor in December, 1860.--the conspirators encouraged by the Government policy. (search)
rts, that would give them pleasure rather than pain. Yet it was so. Adjutant-General Samuel Cooper, a native of the State of New York, had married a sister of Senator Mason, one of the arch-conspirators of Virginia, and was doubtless fully informed of the plans of the public enemies; for on the 3d of March, 1861, a little more tharsenals at Charleston, and their relation to the National Government and citizens of South Carolina, and for the official correspondence on the subject, Hunter and Mason of Virginia, Davis of Mississippi, Saulsbury of Delaware, and others, vehemently opposed it, on the pretext that such action would tend to increase the excitement cover your [Floyd's] name with infamy, for you will never be able to show that you had not some complicity in it. Floyd called in to his aid Jefferson Davis, James M. Mason, and R. M. T. Hunter, with other patriots, Northern and Southern. The President yielded, and said, I am content with your policy — we will send no more troop
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 8: attitude of the Border Slave-labor States, and of the Free-labor States. (search)
ress. The remedy is with you alone, when you assemble in sovereign convention. . . . We conclude by expressing our solemn conviction that prompt and decided action, by the people of Virginia, in convention, will afford the surest means, under the providence of God, of averting an impending civil war, and preserving the hope of reconstructing a Union already dissolved. This manifesto was signed by R. M. T. Hunter and nine others. The following are the names attached to the document:--James M. Mason, R. M. T. Hunter, D. C. De Jarnette, M. R. H. Garnett, Shelton F. Leake, E. S. Martin, H. A. Edmonston, Roger A. Pryor, Thomas S. Bocock, A. G. Jenkins. Hunter was the ablest man among them, and one of the most dangerous of the chief conspirators against the Government. The election was held on the, appointed day, February 4, 1861. and of the one hundred and fifty-two delegates chosen, a large majority were opposed to secession. Concealing this. fact, and using the other fact, that
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 9: proceedings in Congress.--departure of conspirators. (search)
er can degrade them to the level of an inferior and servile race — never, never, never! Congressional Globe, December 81, 1860. The galleries of the Senate Chamber were crowded with Benjamin's sympathizers, who then filled the public offices and society at large in Washington. They greeted the closing sentences of this speech with the wildest shouts and other vehement demonstrations, which Breckinridge, the presiding officer, did not restrain. The tumult was so disgraceful that even Senator Mason, of Virginia, was ashamed of it, and he proposed, by a motion, to clear the galleries. The House of Representatives were spared the infliction of farewell speeches overflowing with treasonable sentiments. The members from the seceding States, with a single exception, sent up to the Speaker brief notices of their withdrawal. These were laid silently upon the table when read, and were no further noticed. Almost imperceptibly those traitors disappeared from the Legislative Hall. The
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 16: Secession of Virginia and North Carolina declared.--seizure of Harper's Ferry and Gosport Navy Yard.--the first troops in Washington for its defense. (search)
eague with the conspirators at Montgomery, 383. the people at an election awed by bayonets Senator Mason's letter, 384. North Carolina ruled by usurpers Ordinance of Secession adopted, 385. seizf Virginia to vote on the Ordinance of Secession, in accordance with its own provisions, Senator James M. Mason, one of the most malignant and unscrupulous of the conspirators, addressed a letter to tts, and absolving its citizens from all obligations or obedience to them, he declared that James M. Mason. a rejection of the Ordinance by the people would reverse all this, and that Virginia would outhern powder and feel Southern steel. Submission or banishment was the alternative offered by Mason, in the name of traitors in power, to Virginians who were true to the principles of the Father os, for in Virginia the votes were given openly, and not by secret ballot, as in other States. Mason's infamous suggestion was followed by coincident action. Troops had been for some time pouring
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 17: events in and near the National Capital. (search)
and. With a generous bravery, worthy of her ancient renown, she has thrown herself into the pathway of the enemy, and made of her body a shield for the South. She stands forth in our day the leader of the Southern cause. . . . The heart of all Maryland responds to the action of Baltimore, and that nursery of fine regiments, instead of being the camping-ground of the enemy, preparing to rush upon the South, will speedily become the camping-ground of the South, preparing to cross the line of Mason and Dixon .... To have gained Maryland is to have gained a host. It insures Washington City, and the ignominious expulsion of Lincoln from the White House. It transfers the. line of battle from the Potomac to the Pennsylvania border. It proclaims to the North that the South is a unit against them, henceforth and forever. It gives us the entire waters of the Chesapeake. It runs up the Southern seaboard to the mouth of the Delaware. It rounds out the fairest domain on the globe for the S
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 23: the War in Missouri.-doings of the Confederate Congress. --Affairs in Baltimore.--Piracies. (search)
monument. --Moore's Rebellion Record, vol. i., Diary, page 96. On the banner were the following words:--The Ladies of Baltimore present this flag of the Confederate States of America to the soldiers comprising the Maryland Regiment now serving in Virginia, as a slight testimonial of the esteem in which their valor, their love of right, and determination to uphold true constitutional liberty are approved, applauded, and appreciated by the wives and daughters of the Monumental City. Ex-Senator Mason made a speech on the occasion, in which the hopes of the conspirators concerning Maryland were set forth. Your own honored State, he said, is with us heart and soul in this great controversy. . . . We all know that the same spirit which brought you here actuates thousands who remain at home. He complimented Chief Justice Taney for his sympathies with the conspirators, as one (referring to his action in the case of Merryman See page 451.) who had stood bravely in the breach, and int
Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1., Chapter 24: the called session of Congress.--foreign relations.--benevolent organizations.--the opposing armies. (search)
passed by a vote of ninety-two against fifty-five. The Senate took measures at an early day to purge itself of treasonable members. On the 10th, July. on motion of Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, it expelled ten Senators who were named, James M. Mason and Robert T. M. Hunter, of Virginia; Thomas L. Clingman and Thomas Bragg, of North Carolina; James Chesnut, Jr., of South Carolina; A. 0. P. Nicholson, of Tennessee; William K. Sebastian and Charles B. Mitchell, of Arkansas; and John Hemphil of their being engaged in a conspiracy for the destruction of the Union and the Government. The resolution for expulsion received the required vote of two-thirds of the Senate (thirty-two against ten); and, on the 13th, the places of Hunter and Mason were filled by John S. Carlile and Waitman T. Willey, They had been appointed by the Legislature of reorganized Virginia. See page 491. who appeared with proper credentials. On the same day July 13, 1861. John B. Clark, of Missouri, was, on
heir safety and happiness, was no novelty to those who hailed and responded to it. Three weeks before, the Virginia Convention had unanimously adopted a Declaration of Rights, reported on the 27th of May by George Mason, The grandfather of James M. Mason, late U. S. Senator from Virginia, since Confederate Emissary to England. George Mason was one of Virginia's most illustrious sons. which proclaims that All men are by nature equally free, and have inherent rights, of which, when they enter Mason was one of Virginia's most illustrious sons. which proclaims that All men are by nature equally free, and have inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. See also the Mecklenburg Declaration. The original draft of the Declaration of American Independence was first communicated by Mr. Jefferson separately to two of his colleagues, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, on the committee chosen by Congress to prepare it
ohibits the Slave-Trade. In every proposed extension of the powers of Congress, that State expressly and watchfully excepted that of meddling with the importation of negroes. If the States should be all left at liberty on this subject, South Carolina may, perhaps, by degrees, do of herself what is wished, as Virginia and Maryland have already done. Adjourned. --Ibid., p. 1388. Again: in the debate of the following day — the consideration of Article VII., Section 4, being resumed--Colonel Mason [George, grandfather of James M., late United States Senator, and late Confederate emissary to England] gave utterance to the following sentiments: This infernal traffic originated in the avarice of British merchants. The British government has constantly checked the attempts of Virginia to put a stop to it. The present question concerned not the importing of slaves alone, but the whole Union. The evil of having slaves was experienced during the late war. Had slaves been treated as