The inauguration of Governor Smith.
his address.
The ceremonies incident to the inauguration yesterday of the new
Governor of
Virginia were of a plain and simple, but interesting and imposing character.
Long before the hour appointed for the administration of the oath of office, the spacious
Hall of the House of Delegates was crowded with an audience composed of ladies, citizens, and soldiers, and a number of the members of the Confederate Congress.
Gov. Smith, whose services in behalf of his State and the
Confederacy have already given him a distinguished reputation, entered the
Hall a few moments after 12 o'clock, accompanied by
Gov. Letcher and others.--On entering the
Hall he was loudly greeted by the large crowd in attendance.
Proceeding directly to the
Speaker's chair, the new Governor, without the ceremony of introduction, commenced the reading of the following inaugural address, the delivery of which occupied about three-quarters of an hour:
Seventeen years ago I appeared in this Capital to take oaths of office as the
Governor elect of the
Commonwealth of
Virginia.
By the permission of God, and the election of the people, I am now here to repeat them.
Entrusted by my countrymen, under the perilous circumstances which surround us, with the important duties which I am about to assume, I think it altogether a fitting occasion, as I hereby do, to express my most profound acknowledgments for this gratifying and distinguishing mark of their confidence.
I hope I may deserve it; certain it is, if my best efforts to accomplish all that may be expected of me, within my constitutional powers, will suffice, I shall not be disappointed.
On the 17th day of September, 1787, the
Constitution of the United States was adopted by the
Convention, and transmitted by the
President thereof,
Gen. Washington, to the Congress of the Confederation.
In his letter, he says, among other things, "and thus the
Constitution which we now present is the result of a spirit of amity and of that mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable." In the concluding part of his letter, he also says: ‘"That it will meet the full and entire approbation of every State, is not, perhaps, to be expected; but each will, doubtless, recollect that, had her interests been alone consulted, the consequences might have been particularly disagreeable or injurious to others."’
The Constitution, thus constructed, was adopted by the States at different periods, but eleven of them having ratified it, the 7th article thereof declaring that, "The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same." The Government authorized thereby was fully organized by the installation of
President Washington, on the 30th of April, 1789. He was elected unanimously, but ten States only united in his election.
North Carolina remained out of this Union until the 21st of November, 1789, as
Rhode Island did until the 29th of May, 1790. It is obvious that they were sovereign States, complete nationalities, and might have remained separate, "free and independent States." Undeniably, the old Union, under the first Constitution, which took us triumphantly through the revolutionary war, and to which
North Carolina and
Rhode Island seemed so anxious to adhere, was dissolved by the withdrawal of a majority of the members thereof, and another substituted therefore.
Was this secession?
Let the facts stated give the reply.
Was it right for a portion of the States to disregard or destroy a compact with those of their associates who withheld or refused their consent?
Allow me to give a short time to the consideration of this inquiry.
It may be concededly that the
Government formed by the
Articles of Confederation was wholly inadequate for its essential purposes — that it could neither secure us the respect of foreign powers nor promote our prosperity at home.
True, it had taken us through the Revolution, but the stern necessities of our condition fired the hearts of the people, and they forbore to question power when it was exercised for the purpose of filling our ranks and feeding and clothing our gallant soldiers.
The
Declaration of Independence had enunciated to the world the right of a "people to dissolve the political bands which connected them with another," and "to alter or to abolish" the existing form of Government, "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." And in that day no one doubted the right to reform the existing Government and replace it with another whenever any of the parties to it should see fit to do so.
It was confidently concluded, by those who believe in the progressive civilization of our race, that our revolution had firmly established
this great right. It had been distinctly proclaimed to the world, as the ground upon which the thirteen dependent colonies of
Great Britain justified their separation from the mother country, and the assumption of the rights, powers and duties of independent States.
The great struggle had been successfully fought upon it. The declaration containing it had passed into every civilized language — Our ancestors had acted upon it after their independence had been recognized.
President Buchan an, the predecessor of the present
Chief Magistrate of the
United States, had declared that the
Federal Government had no right to make war upon a seceding State.
Nor was this all. The celebrated paper, to which I have so often referred, not only distinctly asserted the
right of separation, but boldly proclaimed it to be the
duty of the States, whom it might concern, to exercise it whenever, in their judgment, it was necessary.--It was confidently believed that this great philosophical right, which may, very properly, be called the
right of secession, would preserve the peace be tween the parties to the compact, under all circumstances, and throughout all time.
I know there are many persons who deny this right, and yet admit that of revolution, Now, I cannot too earnestly insist that the right of secession, practically recognized and admitted, is the guaranty of peace; white the right of revolution necessarily leads to civil war. One applies to a confederation of States, and cannot be politically wrong; the other acts within a nation, and is rarely right.
It is true the power of the parts is not equal to the power of the whole; but what of that?
Governments are not instituted for aggression, but for the security of the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
I have heretofore remarked upon the peculiar language of
General Washington, in his letter communicating the
Constitution, as agreed upon in Convention, to the old Congress.
It was, he says, "
the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable. --" Without the influence of such considerations it would not have been adopted by the
Convention.
Wide and deep rooted opposition to it was found to pervade the public mind throughout the Confed racy.--Three of the most powerful minds of the day, in a series of numbers, now known as the Federalist, undertook the task of reconciling the people to its adoption.
Many of the States yielded their assent to it with extreme reluctance.
Virginia, after formidable opposition, headed by
Patrick Henry, sent her ratification of it, with a number of amendments, designed to guard against certain constructions of which it was susceptible, and which, with others, were subsequently adopted.
And it is certain that the States never would have adopted this untried and much-doubted experiment had there been any question of their right to withdraw at pleasure from the union it was designed to form.
When the
Constitution was, however, adopted, it was obvious to the most ordinary sagacity, that, unless it was constructed, and its admitted powers were exercised, in the spirit to which the
Constitution was indebted for its existence, the
Government authorized thereby could not last.
Yet it is a well-known historical fact that a great party was speedily formed to change the whole character of the
Government, and, through the agency of the implied powers thereof, utterly subvert the reserved powers of the States.
This was the more remarkable, as the powers of the
Federal Government were exclusively of a delegated character, and that powers not granted were denied.
The evidences on this subject might be multiplied as the leaves of autumn, were it necessary; but as I refer to it only for the purpose of pointing out the fountain of bitter waters, I may be spared further specification and be allowed to follow its flow to that great ocean, the storms of which have carried sorrow and death into the bosom of almost every family in the land.
I shall confine myself to one subject only as illustrative of that want "of amity, and that of mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable."
One of the great interests to be protected in the new Constitution was the institution of slavery.--That interest well know that great efforts would be made for its overthrow, and although at the adoption of the
Constitution slavery existed in all the States but one, yet the unerring law of race allowed no doubt that its final resting place would be in the
Southern States.
To provide for its safety and protection was a plain and obvious duty.
Provisions were accordingly inserted in the
Constitution, which were deemed ample and sufficient, and the pride for them cheerfully paid, in power over commerce and navigation.
Notwithstanding all which, at the first Congress agitation began.
The act of 1793, known as the fugitive slave act, was passed to vitalize the clause of the
Constitution authorizing the return of fugitive slaves.
Gen. Washington was the first to claim the benefit of it, but he gave up his claim sooner than provoke the howl which was about to be raised by the fanatics of
Massachusetts.
And he, the
Father of his Country and the
President of the
United States, was denied the benefit of a clause of the
Constitution and of an act of Congress intended to give it effect.
As time swept on agitation continued increasing in strength and volume until, in the great struggle of 1819-'29, it
was openly proclaimed by the
North, in debate, that the admission of
Missouri was a question of power, and as such overrode all other considerations.
It is well known that this question at that time seriously endangered the
Union.
Upon its unfortunate adjustment did agitation cease its efforts?
No; its work was only partially accomplished, and agitation was resumed with increased activity, in utter disregard of that fraternal spirit without which the cry of Union was nothing more than an empty sound.
It again culminate in 1850 upon the territorial question, and the
Union once more trembled to its base.
But the wisdom of Congress effected a truce, and by a series of measures postponed the impending blow.
This adjustment, however, gave no peace, no repose.
Fanaticism, balked of its entire purpose, redoubled its efforts — it gave warning on the floor of the Senate that agitation should never cease until its designs should be fully accomplished; it entered the halls of State legislation and obtained the passage of
personal liberty laws--laws denouncing citizens, in pursuit of their property, as guilty of a crime punishable by confinement in the penitentiary — laws for removing judges who proved too honest and independent to become the tool of its will --and all intended to nullify a clause of the
Constitution and acts passed in pursuance thereof; it incited mobs to do the work of death upon respectable citizens in pursuit of their lawful and constitutional rights.
And finally, in disregard to all precedent — to that "
spirit of amity" and of "that
mutual deference and concession" to which I have so frequently referred — dared to run an entirely sectional ticket, for the highest offices of the country, declaring that it would no longer be dependent upon the slaveholding States to any extent whatever.
The position thus taken and successfully maintained by Northern fanaticism in the election of its candidates filled the hearts of the
Southern States with despondency and gloom, and impressed them with the melancholy conviction that there was no longer a hope of living in the
Union in the enjoyment of the rights it was designed to secure, and that the time had come when the existing form of Government having become destructive of those ends for which it was instituted it was their right, as it was their duty, in the language of the
Declaration of Independence, "to alter or to abolish it, 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."
But, notwithstanding the long-continued wrongs and injuries which the
South had sustained at the hands of the non slaveholding North, most of the
Southern States still clung with fond tenacity to the work of our father's and essayed in various ways to readjust the disturbed relations of the States.
Our dear old
Virginia made extraordinary efforts, as well befitted her, for readjustment and for peace; but all in vain.
The
North, stimulated by her hatred of the
South, and the consciousness of her strength, and believing, unhappily, that we would not dare the last extremity, turned a deaf ear to every overture and resolved on force.
On the 15th day of April, 1861,
President Lincoln issued his proclamation for 75,000 men to put down the insurrection, as he was pleased to term it.
Virginia was called upon for her quota, to dragoon her Southern sisters into submission, and she responded by passing, on the 17th of April, 1861, her ordinance of secession, uniting her fate to theirs.
It was under this conduct on the part of the nonslaveholding States, and after every effort to preserve the
Union which our ancestors had formed had failed, that our Convention felt itself constrained to take this organic and final step "which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends." This ordinance was also submitted to a vote of the people, who, with a rare and noble unanimity, approved it, and in support of it pledged to each other "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
I have thus referred to one of the great causes of our unhappy difficulties — too briefly, perhaps, for perspicuity; perhaps too much at length for such an occasion as the present; and yet I trust of sufficient fulness to clearly show that the sentiment of the
Northern mind has waged incessant war upon one of the great compromises of the
Constitution, producing thereby the irritation and injustice which have destroyed those pleasant and happy relations which it was expected the
Union would establish and assure, and which has culminated in this frightful and bloody war!
While the
South evinced her love of Union, and her anxiety to preserve the works of our fathers, in the compromises she had made, and in the wrongs and in juries to which she had submitted — in the great forbearance she had practiced — and, finally, in her numerous efforts to avoid the dread alternative which was presented to her of unconditional submission or manly resistance.
The war, then, which is now raging was not sought by us; it was forced upon us, and is the last and most flagrant of that series of wrongs which, commencing with the
Government, is to be resisted to the last extremity.
Invoking the
Divine Will to enlighten my understanding, and to guide me to that system of measures best calculated to provide for the exigency which is upon us, and to promote the true interests of our country, I proceed to suggest what duty, in my judgment, requires of us, and what a generous patriotism will cheerfully accord.
First, then, it is of the greatest moment that our minds should be trained to allow that the entire manhood and property of the country, for the purpose of this war belongs to the
State.
The men who are called into the field to join in battle with our enemies, the taxes which are levied and the assessments which are made for their support, are but modes of appropriating the resources of the country, and should neither excite murmurs nor discontent.
The man who by tricks, evasions or subterfuges, seeks to avoid the taxes intended to be collected from him, is in heart both knave and traitor.
It is the duty of the law-maker to provide the amplest punishment for such malefactions, and of every good citizen to bring them to justice, and to hold them up to public scorn and contempt.
And what should be thought of those who grumble about the prices paid for articles impressed, to feed and clothe the army — that army which stands between them and ruin — that army, composed as it is of their own sons, and of their own kith and kin, and which may be disbanded for want of the necessary supplies, while they are higgling with the
Government agents for higher prices than those established by the
Commissioners, chosen equally by the
State and Confederate authorities, and actually appealing to the
Courts of Justice for protection against the alleged wrong and injury of which they complain?
They are not content with prices fixed by citizen-farmers, chosen for each State, of sound judgment and lofty patriotism; they must have a jury of the vicinage, composed of men like themselves, all anxious — I will not say willing, but anxious — to wring from their bleeding and suffering country the last dollar which can be obtained I do not hesitate to say that such a mode of assessment would within six months drive our armies from the field and utterly annihilate the public credit, unless we established a most enormous system of taxation or the Confederate Government should proclaim martial law. The country must not be ruined by the rapacity of the people, and the
Government will not hesitate, I am sure, to exercise all their constitutional powers when necessary for our safety.
I am pleased to say that the people of
Virginia have, with some exceptions, cheerfully accepted the maximum, while not one has been hardy enough to brave public opinion by demanding any other rule of assessment.
While, however, the people of the
State have acquiesced in the prices fixed by the public commissioners, other have been unwilling to accept them, in consequence of higher prices being offered by speculators and others.
This very naturally produces discontent on the part of the more liberal and patriotic portion of the people, while others resort to hoarding, hiding, and other disreputable shifts and evasions, to avoid their contribution to the support of our gallant army.
This state of things is very demoralizing, and may, I think, be easily corrected by the establishment of a State maximum, which, taking the
Confederate maximum as a basis, shall be extended to all the productions of human industry.
I know that this proposition has always met with the most determined opposition, and yet it has always prevailed in times of public trouble.
I know it is said
France tried and
France gave up this policy.
And yet she first tried it upon corn, then enlarged it, but never made it general, and adhered to it through all the dark hours of her revolution, when she was rent by intestine dissensions and engaged in war with the whole of
Europe, and never abandoned it until she had resumed a specie currency, composed her intestine fends, and brought continental
Europe to her feet.
What occasion had
France to adhere to this policy when she led her armies from the stores of other nations, and replenished her treasury by contributions upon them?
But it is the duty of wisdom to comprehend the force of circumstances.
What is our situation? --We are cut off from the world by our enemies, insulated as completely as if we were on an Island in mid occur, and no productions from abroad, like those raised by us, are allowed to come in competition with our own. Can it be contended, with any propriety, that there can be in such a state of things a market price for commodities in the sense of the economists?
Again, the supply of our own productions is inadequate for a liberal consumption.
Bread, meat, shoes, cotton and woolen cloths, are painful illustrations of this stern fact; and I ask, where is the competition to be found which is to put these articles within easy reach of the naked and the hungry?
It is sometimes said that it is the currency which causes this great exaggeration of prices.
To some extent this may be so. But where the supply of actual necessaries is deficient, and the price of them is fixed by the conscience of the seller alone, the currency is of but little significance, the hungry must be fed, and the seller knows it, and the price must be paid in whatever currency required.
Nor is the maximum unknown in daily life.
It was the law that the person who took out a license as a tavern-keeper should keep proper accommodations for the traveller, and then should not charge him for meals at pleasure, but only the rates fixed by the county courts.
So in the cases of bridges and ferries, where the prices are fixed by law. But there is a very remarkable case of maximum which seems to have escaped general observation — I mean interest upon money.
No lender shall take more than six dollars for the loan of one hundred dollars for one year.
Should the lender bargain for more, the contract is void.
If he takes more, he forfeits double the sum loaned, Here is a maximum of great antiquity on money, the token or representative of all property; and
yet it is not proper to set a maximum on the property so represented!
That the law of maximum will be difficult to enforce I ready admit.
So is the whole criminal code.
So is the law which forbids the loan of money at more than legal interest.
So is that bright, hopeful, and glorious plan of salvation for which a Saviour died.
But shall we, for such reasons, abandon our efforts to reform, benefit, and save mankind?
But the maximum would have other important advantages.
It would put an end to discontent among the people; it would, extinguish the practice of hoarding and hiding.
Without any hope of increasing prices, producers would cheerfully furnish to consumers their smooths.
Uniformity of price and the application of the maximum to all things would, I am persuaded, inspire general satisfaction, and relieve the necessary duty of collecting supplies for the army of that irritation which has heretofore, in many cases, made the duty most unpleasant, and restore those kind and agreeable relations, which should always exist between the people and their Government.
Surely, when such must be the happy consequence of this measure the States will speedily adopt it.
As an auxiliary to the maximum it is of great importance that the common law offence of forestalling, regrafting, and engrossing, should be made effective.
Forestalling is defined to be "the act of buying provisions before they are offered in market, with intent to sell them at higher prices."--Regrafting is "the purchasing of provisions and selling them in the same market" Engrossing is "the buying up of large quantities of a commodity in order to raise the price." These acts are all offences at the common law, because enhancing the necessaries of life, and thus committing a public wrong.
These practices are common, and ought to be suppressed.
If the Legislature would denounce such acts as secretary in public policy, and by a summary remedy punish all persons guilty of them, it would relieve the people from the cruel extortion to which they are now compelled to submit and many a poor family from suffering and want.
Of a kindred character is the practice of with holding from sale other articles than provisions, with a view of obtaining higher prices at a future day. The law should compel all persons in possession of articles of whatever description not needed for their use to offer them for sale.
And to prevent frauds and evasions, such persons should be required to make out inventories of all such articles, whether they are their own property or the property of others, with the cost price thereof, and to deliver the same to a Board of Commissioners, to be provided by law, who should put their stamp upon each article, and restrict the owners to a profit not exceeding 25 per cent. thereon.
I cannot here give all the details necessary to perfect this scheme; but it is entirely practicable, and would greatly contribute to the relief of the country.
The auction system, as now conducted, is prejudicial to the good morals and to the country.
I regard it as having done more to the prejudice of our currency than any other known agency, and, under our present circumstances, as an unmitigated evil.
Indeed, I regard it as a gigantic system of gambling, under authority of law. I hope it will be speedily suppressed.
At the special session of the General Assembly a law was passed to suppress distillation.
It was eminently a wise and proper measure.
To effect the objects contemplated by the act, however, breweries should be suppressed, and no sale of malt or alcoholic liquors should be permitted, except, perhaps, by apothecaries, who, under proper regulations, might be allowed to do so for strictly medicinal purposes.
There are many persons among us, foreigners by birth, consuming our food, growing rich by speculation and extortion upon us, and yet denying their obligation to unite in the defence of the country.
Although I cannot see how such pretensions can be maintained, yet, if valid under the law now existing, the law should be changed, and such persons should be compelled to perform military duty, or, at any rate, to leave the country.
It is a matter of concern to every patriot to see so many able-bodied men anxious to escape military service, and, to do so, seeking employments of the
Government, or leaving the country for foreign parts.
This evil might be, to a considerable extent, connected by a rigid enforcement of existing law, the refusal of all passports to leave the country, and the enactment of such laws by the
State and Confederate Governments as might be necessary to correct it.
I cannot too earnestly press upon the public consideration the great importance of organizing the reserved force of the
State.
Every element of strength, whether of means or men, which is now left to us, must be combined as an axillary to the armies in the field.
The Confederate Government has our entire body of militia under its command, consisting of the able-bodied men of the
State, and now proposes to organize our reserved force.
I do not intend, certainly at present, to raise any question about the right to do so, but I confess I should be much concerned to see it exercised.
A sovereign State without a soldier — and without the dignity of strength — stripped of all her men, and without only the form of pageantry of power — would, indeed, be nothing more than a wretched dependency; to which I should grieve to see our proud old Commonwealth reduced.
Recent events painfully admonish us, also, of the necessity of thorough and complete organization, and I doubt not the General Assembly will, on re-assembling on the 6th instant, promptly relieve us of all uneasiness about the legislation of Congress, by the passage of a short yet comprehensive act, clothing the
Governor with full power to organize the reserved force of the
State in such manner as may best promote the public interests, having due regard, of course, to the character and to the limited objects to which it is to be applied.
A generous confidence on the part of the General Assembly in the
Governor, to whom the executive power of the
State has been entrusted by the
Constitution and the people, is, it seems to me, a constitutional duty.
But, apart from that view of the subject, I respectfully ask it, because it is impossible for any human forethought to provide by legislation for the varying circumstances which may occur during the gigantic war in which we are engaged, and because I cannot believe that I can abuse any trust confided to me, or fail tenderly to consider the feelings and interest of my fellow-citizens in regard to the military duties which they may be called to perform.
The currency of the country, consisting, as it does, almost exclusively of Confederate notes, with which the States and all the people thereof are identified, calls for the most careful consideration.
It must be thoroughly reformed.
The facility with which it is created, and the enormous amounts which are daily issued, naturally lead to waste and extravagance, and inevitably to vice and depravity.
Far better would it have been we adopted, at the beginning of this war, a hard-money currency.
A judicious system of loans and taxation, combined with our great staples of cotton, tobacco, and naval stores, of which the
Government should have possessed itself, would have furnished us such resources as would have liberally supplied our wants and planted our public credit upon a basis which would have given us the confidence of the world.
It is useless, however, to speculate as to the past.
The practical question is, what is best now to be done?
Virginia is deeply interested in this question, and, other Governor, I feel it to be my duty, although with hesitation and diffidence, to express my views upon this interesting and important question.
- First.
Provide by law for the issue of one thousand millions of dollars, at four per centum per annum on that part which takes up the currency, and six per centum on the residue, with coupons attached; interest payable in specie or bank currency.
- Second.
Declare that the Confederate note currency shall cease to circulate as such, and shall be funded in the bonds authorized to be issued.
- Third.
Make the banks of established credit the fiscal agents of the Government, to sell at not less than par all bonds which may be in excess of the currency to be funded; to issue their own notes as a currency, and to transfer, when and where needed, the funds of the Government.
- Fourth.
To tax freely, taxes payable in specie, or in the notes of banks acting as Government agents, or coupons of public debt.
- Fifth.
Let the Government now take into its possession the cotton, tobacco, and naval stores of the country as auxiliary to loans and taxes.
There can be but little objection to this.
It is well known that a large portion of these articles is in the hands of speculators, who have grown rich in the midst of general suffering and distress.
This scheme would, I am persuaded, act like a charm in the immediate renovation of the public credit.
In the reduction of the interest the public will find satisfaction as an evidence of regard to the resources of the country.
Besides, those who will own it will have acquired the ability to do so by enormous profits, and, at most, it can only be regarded as a special tax upon the rich, which has numerous precedents, and which they can well afford to pay.
In the selection of banks we should have agents of tried and approved integrity, thoroughly informed as to the most judicious system of credits, and, with the restoration of a currency now at a heavy premium, and with which the people have long been familiar, we should at once see a revival of confidence that would gladden the heart of every patriot in the land.
It does seem to me that this scheme would open most auspiciously, and if sustained by liberal taxation and a judicious sale of our great staple, it would dispel the clouds which hang over and obscure our financial system and let in a bright and hopeful future.
In aid of any scheme of finance, however, I regard it as of the first importance that blockade running, as it is termed, should be conducted by Government alone, or by individuals and Government alone or by individuals and Government combined, and that nothing should be imported except articles of prime necessity.
The effect would be to prevent a large amount of waste and extravagance at home to sharpen our industrial and inventive faculties — and to accumulate a large amount of sterling exchange abroad.
No business should be tolerated which looks to fluctuations in the currency of the country and the stocks of the
Government for prosperity.
Its instincts would naturally seek to aggravate these fluctuations, while all its power would be exerted to appropriate and secure all the advantages incident thereto.
An organized money power, actively engaged in unsetting the public credit, is a foe greatly to be dreaded, and should be controlled by the sternest legislation.--Perhaps no currency ever existed which had so many agencies at work for its destruction, as that of the
Confederate States.
And the new scheme
of currency and finance which will, I presume, soon take the place of that which now exists, must be strengthened and protected by timely legislation.
As a part thereof, let all buying and selling of
gold and
silver; all dealing in State or Confederate currency, or the currency of their several agencies; all stock jobbing in State or Confederate bonds; all receipt of Federal currency of any description, be prohibited, and let those violating such law be severely punished.
It is now time to hasten these remarks to an end. I may seem to have abandoned some of my old cherished opinions.
But in advocating the maximum — in seeming to approve the policy of limiting by law the price of money, and in proposing to return to the agency of banks for the management of the public treasure, I renounce no old and cherish opinions, and only yield to the extraordinary circumstances which surround us.
In the suggestions which I have made I have looked for the best means of meeting the peril that is upon us. In the plan which I have presented I have contemplated a system, each measure of which is necessary to the other.
It will be observed that some of them will be more effective by co-operative legislation, which, on the part of
Virginia, will never be withheld.
Virginia entered into this war with reluctance; but, having entered into it from a sense of duty, she does not mean to sheathe her sword until she has won her liberty and independence, or the boils of her last son shall lie bleaching on her hill-tops.
Although hundreds of thousands of her people have been overrun by the enemy, their fields desolated, their homes utterly consumed, in many cases, by fire; their stock devoured, destroyed, or carried away; their slaves enticed from their possession, white the blood of their loved one smolsten every battle-field; yet, they are unconquered, bright, bold, and defiant; they are still prepared to shaller.
We cannot believe that our good God will allow such a just cause as ours to be lost.
Much as we have done, much remains to be done.
Let us resolve to make every sacrifice in a cheerful and hopeful spirit — in short, perform our whole duty, and then, with the blessings of Heaven, we cannot be subdued.
At the conclusion of the reading of the address, the prescribed oaths of office were administered to
Gov. Smith, by
Judge Moncure, of the
Virginia Court of Appeals.
Loud calls were then made for
Governor Letcher, when that gentleman appeared and stated that the people had met therefore a particular object.
That object had been accomplished, and he deemed anything further ill-timed and inappropriate.
