"In 1860, about the time the ordinance of secession was passed
by the South Carolina Convention, and while Mississippi,
Alabama, and other Southern States were making active
preparations to follow her example, a conference of the
Mississippi delegation in Congress, Senators and
Representatives, was asked for by Governor J. J. Pettus, for
consultation as to the course Mississippi ought to take in the
premises.
"The meeting took place in the fall of 1860, at Jackson, the
capital; the whole delegation being present, with perhaps the
exception of one Representative.
"The main question for consideration was: 'Shall Mississippi, as
soon as her Convention can meet, pass an ordinance of secession,
thus placing herself by the side of South Carolina, regardless
of the action of other States; or shall she endeavor to hold
South Carolina in check, and delay action herself, until other
States can get ready, through their conventions, to unite with
them, and then, on a given day and at a given hour, by concert
of action, all the States willing to do so, secede in a body?'
"Upon the one side, it was argued that South Carolina could not
be induced to delay action a single moment beyond the meeting of
her Convention, and that our fate should be hers, and to delay
action would be to have her crushed by the Federal Government;
whereas, by the earliest action possible, we might be able to
avert this calamity.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142