separation by the Confederate
States has been marked by no aggression upon others, and
followed by no domestic convulsion. Our industrial pursuits have
received no check, the cultivation of our fields has progressed
as heretofore, and, even should we be involved in war, there
would be no considerable diminution in the production of the
staples which have constituted our exports, and in which the
commercial world has an interest scarcely less than our own.
This common interest of the producer and consumer can only be
interrupted by exterior force which would obstruct the
transmission of our staples to foreign markets--a course of
conduct which would be as unjust, as it would be detrimental, to
manufacturing and commercial interests abroad.

"Should reason guide the action of the Government from which we
have separated, a policy so detrimental to the civilized world,
the Northern States included, could not be dictated by even the
strongest desire to inflict injury upon us; but, if the contrary
should prove true, a terrible responsibility will rest upon it,
and the suffering of millions will bear testimony to the folly
and wickedness of our aggressors. In the mean time there will
remain to us, besides the ordinary means before suggested, the
well known resources for retaliation upon the commerce of an
enemy.

"Experience in public stations, of subordinate grade to this
which your kindness has conferred, has taught me that toil and
care and disappointment are the price of official elevation. You
will see many errors to forgive, many deficiencies to tolerate;
but you shall not find in me either want of zeal or fidelity to
the cause that is to me the highest in hope, and of most
enduring affection. Your generosity has bestowed upon me an
undeserved distinction, one which I neither sought nor desired.
Upon the continuance of that sentiment, and upon your wisdom and
patriotism, I rely to direct and support me in the performance
of the duties required at my hands.

"We have changed the constituent parts, but not the system of
government. The Constitution framed by our fathers is that of
these Confederate States. In their exposition of it, and in the
judicial construction it has received, we have a light which
reveals its true meaning.

"Thus instructed as to the true m