SIR, RICHMOND, JANUARY 21, 1860. We have the honor to enclose to you the accompanying resolution, unanimously adopted by both houses of the general assembly. Permit us to add our personal solicitation for a compliance on your part with the wishes of the general assembly. We have the honor to be, With high consideration, Your obt. servants, HON. C. G. MEMMINGER. RO. L. MONTAGUE, Pres. Senate. Resolved by the general assembly, that the Hon. C. G. MEMMINGER, commissioner from the state of South Carolina, be requested to furnish for publication the address delivered by him to the general assembly, on his reception by them, and that ten thousand copies be printed for circulation among the people of the state. In pursuance of the request of the general assembly, I herewith respectfully communicate to you, as nearly as I can recall the same, the address delivered by me before the assembly on the 19th inst. I would ask leave to tender to the assembly my respectful acknowledgment of the honor done me in making this request, and to yourselves, gentlemen, my assurance of high consideration. ADDRESS. MR. SPEAKER, and Gentlemen of the General Assembly of Virginia: WHEN the Athenian orator ascended the bema, before the constituted authorities of his country, it was his custom to invoke the blessing of the gods upon the deliberations of the assembly. If those who worshipped an unknown god, so anxiously sought his aid, how much more earnestly should we, to whom that God has been revealed as a sun of righteousness, with healing in his wings, invoke his assistance upon so momentous an occasion as the present. Most humbly, therefore, do I now beseech his presence in this assembly, that he may condescend to aid the speaker to discharge aright the important trust confided to him, and to guide the hearers to that result which will advance the best interests of our southern country. Before I enter upon the important matter which we are this day to consider, permit me, in the name of the state which I have the honor to represent, to return to his excellency the governor, and to all the now assembled authorities of Virginia, my profound acknowledgment of the courtesy and kindness with which I have been received. The public demonstration of respect and consideration which you have been pleased to exhibit, could only be exceeded by the courteous hospitality with which I have been welcomed in private. If my mission should attain no higher results, it will at least show to the world, that the states of this Union have a separate and distinct vitality; that they realize the great fact, that they may confer with each other, to maintain their mutual rights and interests: and besides all this, I can confidently affirm that such an interchange of kindly feeling as you have exhibited, cannot fail to bind together the hearts of our people in closer ties of sympathy and fellowship. |