Message of the Governor of Florida.
The
Gainsville (Fla.)
Cotton States has a synopsis of the excellent Message of
Gov. Dunlop to the Legislature of
Florida, for which we have not space, but condense its principal statements.
It commences with a denunciation of
Lincoln's emancipation measures, closing this part of his message with the following spirited and patriotic language;
The Proclamation has been regarded by the people of the
Confederate States with scorn and contempt, and the effect produced by it upon the minds of enlightened and patriotic statesmen in the
United States and
Europe, have presented to the consideration of
President Lincoln his own despicable character as a perjured usurper and malignant tyrant
Thus placed
hors de combat with the judgment of civilized nations, his pitying sympathizers to relieve the distinguished
President from the disreputable position, have insinuated that he issued the proclamation to convince pestiferous fanatics of their folly, as an ancient
King of
England and
Denmark did when, ‘ "to confound his flatterers, he seated himself upon the strand and commanded the waves to retire."’ But, unfortunately for his
Excellency, his proclamation illustrates the wicked folly of Belshazzar rather than the wisdom of
Canute.
Belshazzar sacrilegiously polluted the golden vessels that were taken out of the house of God which was at
Jerusalem.
Lincoln, with a traitor's ambition, has desecrated the
Constitution of his country, which was revered as the palladium of civil liberty and the ark of its political safety.--Under the righteous condemnation of all statesmen of intelligence and patriotism,
President Lincoln, now tremblingly, beholds written ‘"upon the plaster of the wall,"’
mene, mene, tekel upharsin.
The Governor adverts to the impolicy of the action of the Florida Convention in adopting the ordinance disbanding the
State forces, the effect of which was the abandonment of
Apalachicola and other important positions, the
Governor having vainly applied for assistance to the
Governors of
Georgia and
Alabama, and to the Confederate Government.
The Conscript Law then comes under review.--The Governor forbears the expression of any opinion in its constitutionality, deeming I a judicial question.
He thus patriotically expresses himself on this topic:
‘
"God forbid that you or I should do, directly or indirectly, aught to impede the victory of our arms.
Let us do all in our power to animate our brave and suffering soldiers, and to expedite the glorious triumph which awaits their deeds of generous daring.
Let
Florida always be ready to yield upon the altar of the country her last son and last dollar to maintain the struggle against the usurpation of the
United States in attempting to degrade the women, children, and freemen of the
South."
The amount of the war tax was promptly paid, and that required to pay the regiments ordered from
Florida in the service of the Confederate Government advanced in
Florida Treasury notes.
Of the Treasury notes authorized to be issued, ($500,000,) only $233,000 have been issued, and the
Governor recommends the deposit of suitable funds in solvent banks in other States to sustain their credit.
The policy of suppressing the distillation of spirits from grain is strongly urged as necessary, in the view of a deficient corn crop, and for the prevention of the arts of speculators and monopolists, as well as the preservation of the morals of the soldiery.
The message closes with a notice of a controversy that has arisen in
Florida of a precisely similar character to that which has taken place in
South Carolina, as regards the assumption of legislative and executive power by the Florida Convention.
The Governor expresses the opinion that this assumption was an usurpation.
’
