instituted upon
the principles in strict conformity to nature and the ordination
of Providence in furnishing the materials of human society. Many
governments have been founded upon the principle of the subordination
and serfdom of certain classes of the same race; such were and are in
violation of the laws of nature. Our system commits no such violation of
nature's laws. With us, all the white race, however high or low, rich
or poor, are equal in the eye of the law. Not so with the negro;
subordination is his place. He, by nature or by the curse against
Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he occupies in our system.
The architect, in the construction of buildings, lays the foundation
with the proper material--the granite; then comes the brick or the
marble. The substratum of our society is made of the material fitted by
nature for it; and by experience we know that it is best not only for
the superior race, but for the inferior race, that it should be so. It
is, indeed, in conformity with the ordinance of the Creator. It is not
for us to inquire into the wisdom of His ordinances, or to question
them. For His own purposes He has made one race to differ from another,
as He has made "one star to differ from another star in glory." The
great objects of humanity are best attained when there is conformity to
His laws and decrees, in the formation of governments as well as in
all things else. Our Confederacy is founded upon principles in strict
conformity with these views. This stone, which was rejected by the first
builders, "is become the chief of the corner," the real "corner-stone"
in our new edifice. * * *

Mr. Jefferson said in his inaugural, in 1801, after the heated contest
preceding his election, that there might be differences of opinion
without differences of principle, and that all, to some extent, had
been Federalists, and all Republicans. So it may now be said of us
that, whatever differences of opinion as to the best policy in having
a cooperation with our border sister slave States, if the worst came
to the worst, as we were all cooperationists, we are all now for
independence, whether they come or not. * * *

We are a young republic, just entering upon the arena of nations;
we will be the architects of our own fortunes. Our destiny,
under Providence, is in our own hands. With wisdom, prudence, and
statesmanship on the part of our public men, and intelligence, virtue,
and patriotism on the part of the p