is they would determine to
wait for an overt act. The action of other States may greatly
influence the action of the people of this State. This letter is
not intended for publication in the newspapers, and has been very
hastily prepared.

I have the honor to be your Excellency's

Ob't serv't,

JOSEPH E. BROWN.

[Sidenote] MS. Confederate Archives.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
MONTGOMERY, ALA., October 25, 1860.
His EXCELLENCY W.H. GIST.

DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 5th inst. was handed me a few days
since by General Gist. I fully concur with you in the opinion that
Lincoln will be elected President, and that a full and free
interchange of opinion between the Executives of the Southern
States, and especially of the Cotton States, should be had as to
what ought to be done and what will be done by them to protect the
interest and honor of the slave-holding States in the event he
should be elected.

My opinion is, that the election of Lincoln alone is not
sufficient cause for a dissolution of the Union; but that fact,
when taken in connection with the avowed objects and intentions of
the party whose candidate he is, and the overt acts already
committed by that party in nullifying the fugitive-slave law, and
the enactment of personal liberty bills in many of the
non-slave-holding States, with other acts of like kind, is
sufficient cause for dissolving every tie which binds the Southern
States to the Union.

It is my opinion that Alabama will not secede alone, but if two or
more States will cooeperate with her, she will secede with them; or
if South Carolina or any other Southern State should go out alone
and the Federal Government should attempt to use force against
her, Alabama will immediately rally to her rescue.

The opinions above expressed are predicated upon observation and
consultation with a number of our most distinguished statesmen.
The opinion thus expressed is not intended as a positive
assurance, but is my best impression as to what will be the course
of Alabama. Should Lincoln be elected, I shall certainly call a
convention under the provisions of the resolutions of the last
General Assembly of the State. The convention cannot be convened
earlier than the first Monday in February next, and I have fixed
upon that day (in my own mind). The