Speeches of the Honorable Jefferson Davis, 1858 | Page 4

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where they went to sell furs, and again led away a captive, without
interference on the part of the inhabitants of that neighboring colony to
demand or obtain his release. United as we now are, were a citizen of
the United States, as an act of hostility to our country, imprisoned or
slain in any quarter of the world, whether on land or sea, the people of
each and every State of the Union, with one heart, and with one voice,
would demand redress, and woe be to him against whom a brother's
blood cried to us from the ground. Such is the fruit of the wisdom and
the justice with which our fathers bound contending colonies into
confederation and blended different habits and rival interests into a
harmonious whole, so that shoulder to shoulder they entered on the trial
of the revolution, step with step trod its thorny paths until they reached
the height of national independence and founded the constitutional

representative liberty, which is our birthright.
When the mother country entered upon her career of oppression, in
disregard of chartered and constitutional rights, our forefathers did not
stop to measure the exact weight of the burden, or to ask whether the
pressure bore most upon this colony or upon that, but saw in it the
infraction of a great principle, the denial of a common right, in defence
of which they made common cause; Massachusetts, Virginia and South
Carolina vieing with each other as to who should be foremost in the
struggle, where the penalty of failure would be a dishonorable grave.
Tempered by the trials and sacrifices of the revolution, dignified by its
noble purposes, elevated by its brilliant triumphs, endeared to each
other by its glorious memories, they abandoned the confederacy, not to
fly apart when the outward pressure of hostile fleets and armies were
removed, but to draw closer their embrace in the formation of a more
perfect union. By such men, thus trained and ennobled, our
Constitution was formed. It stands a monument of principle, of forecast,
and, above all, of that liberality which made each willing to sacrifice
local interest, individual prejudice or temporary good to the general
welfare, and the perpetuity of the Republican institutions which they
had passed through fire and blood to secure. The grants were as broad
as were necessary for the functions of the general agent, and the mutual
concessions were twice blessed, blessing both him who gave and him
who received. Whatever was necessary for domestic government,
requisite in the social organization of each community, was retained by
the States and the people thereof; and these it was made the duty of all
to defend and maintain.
Such, in very general terms, is the rich political legacy our fathers
bequeathed to us. Shall we preserve and transmit it to posterity? Yes,
yes, the heart responds, and the judgment answers, the task is easily
performed. It but requires that each should attend to that which most
concerns him, and on which alone he has rightful power to decide and
to act. That each should adhere to the terms of a written compact and
that all should cooperate for that which interest, duty and honor
demand. For the general affairs of our country, both foreign and
domestic, we have a national executive and a national legislature.
Representatives and Senators are chosen by districts and by States, but
their acts affect the whole country, and their obligations are to the

whole people. He who holding either seat would confine his
investigations to the mere interests of his immediate constituents would
be derelict to his plain duty; and he who would legislate in hostility to
any section would be morally unfit for the station, and surely an unsafe
depositary if not a treacherous guardian of the inheritance with which
we are blessed.
No one, more than myself; recognizes the binding force of the
allegiance which the citizen owes to the State of his citizenship, but
that State being a party to our compact, a member of our union, fealty
to the federal Constitution is not in opposition to, but flows from the
allegiance due to one of the United States. Washington was not less a
Virginian when he commanded at Boston; nor did Gates or Greene
weaken the bonds which bound them to their several States, by their
campaigns in the South. In proportion as a citizen loves his own State,
will he strive to honor by preserving her name and her fame free from
the tarnish of having failed to observe her obligations, and to fulfil her
duties to her sister States. Each page of our history is illustrated by the
names and the deeds of those who have well understood, and
discharged the obligation. Have we so degenerated, that we