[
44]
been plotting against the life of the nation, was then
Assistant Secretary of State, and their confederate in crime.
These men, while in office, and pledged by solemn oaths to support the
National Constitution and laws, were for months plotting schemes for the destruction of the former and defiance of the latter.
From his official desk at
Washington,
Cobb wrote
an inflammatory address to the people of
Georgia, in which he said, in conclusion :--“On the 4th of March, 1861, the
Federal Government will pass into the hands of the Abolitionists.
It will then cease to have the slightest claim either upon your confidence or your loyalty; and, in my honest judgment, each hour that
Georgia remains thereafter a member of the
Union will be an hour of degradation, to be followed by certain and speedy ruin.
I entertain no doubt either of your right or duty to, secede from the
Union.
Arouse, then, all your manhood for the great work before, you, and be prepared, on that day, to
announce and maintain your independence of the
Union, for you will never again have equality and justice in it. Identified with you in heart, feeling, and interest, I return to share in whatever destiny the future has in store for our State and ourselves.”
Two days afterward,
Cobb resigned his office,
1 hastened to
Georgia, and afterward took up arms against his country.
2