The Book of Nullification/Chapter 10
CHAPTER X.
1. Now on the morrow, after the day of election, it came to pass, that the elders conducted James, who is called the courteous, to the great hall of the City, and they arrayed him in the robes of office, and all the people shouted for the good cause of "State Rights and Union."
2. But when James, surnamed the deluded, and Robert the Nullifier, and Henry the high priest, opened their eyes upon the discomfiture which they had received, they shed tears of bitterness, and they rent their garments.
3. And they swore vengeance against James the courteous, and against all who had followed his banner, and they refused to overturn their own banner, or to fulfil the treaty which had been made between the hosts of "Union," and of "Disunion."
4. Then they took secret counsel together, how they should overcome the followers of "Slate Rights and the Union;" and they remembered the words of John the conjurer, wherein he besought them to sound praises to the name of Convention.
5. So they strove, with one accord, to beguile the people to put their trust in Convention; so that they might be enabled to bring forth Nullification again, to slay, utterly, all those who had set their faces against them.
6. And they wrestled, earnestly to enkindle the hearts of all their followers against the men of "the Union;" add they sent forth multitudes into the streets of the City in the night time, to strike terror into the breasts of the peaceful.
7. And they went forth into the highways, uttering threats and revilings against all their adversaries; but the men of "the Union" pitied them and held their peace.
8. Then the heart of James sunk within him, and he feared lest the people should refuse to make him Chief Governor over the Province, and he began to see the error of his ways, but he repented not.
9. For he was filled with pride, and when he looked upon his followers, and saw they were yet many, he hardened his heart, and resolved again to lift up the banner on which is written the inscription, "Disunion and Civil War."
10. And he commanded to be made ready a great supper, and he sent forth messengers to call thereunto Henry the high priest, and Robert the Nullifier, and to "Rally" all the multitude which had gathere beneath the banner of Disunion.
11. And there was a certain man named Keating, who dwelt in the city, and he was a just man and walked uprightly.
12. And Keating was old, and sticken in years, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see with clearness, and he mistook his path, and went with the followers of James the deluded to the great supper.
13. And when James the deluded, and Robert the Nullifier, and Henry the high priest, and Keating, and all the multitude were gathered together, they set themselves down, and as many as could find meat, did eat thereof.
14. Then James, who is called the deluded, arose and said: "Verily, O friends, 'we will yield to no party whatsoever,' in the love which we bear towards the ordinances and the Union of the realm.
15. "And 'we pity the delusion' which hath blinded the eyes of our enemies, to call Robert the Nullifier, and Robert the Disunionist, and ourselves, other than true disciples of Thomas, surnamed Jefferson.
16. "And, verily, we mourn that 'the efforts' of our adversaries have opened the eyes of men, and have brought down upon us an awful discomfiture at the hands of miraculous converts.'
17. "Moreover, we mourn that it hath been discovered that we cannot well be called the friends of Andrew the King, since we oppose the statutes which he hath sworn to maintain; and that these our adversaries are, truly, the friends of Andrew.
18. "And, verily, we fear lest the glory hath departed from our house, and lest all the truths which have come to light, will despoil us, your rulers, of our power: Wherefore, let us now turn to the inhabitants of the hill country, and to all without the city, and let us kindle their rage against our adversaries.
19. "And we will send unto the 'Parishes, and to the interior,' and gently give them tidings of our overthrow, and we will ascribe our discomfiture to any cause but the true one.
20. "And the men of the 'interior' will stand by us, and they will make me Governor of the realm, and I will then revenge you on your enemies."
21. Then some of the multitude shouted, and gave assent to that which had been spoken; and James wrote the letters, and sent them even as he proposed.
22. But when he sat down at the supper, and looked around, carefully, and saw that many who were present were boys, and beardless youths, and when he perceived the faces of many of his ancient friends, his spirit sank within him, and he became sorrowful.
23. And his followers feared that their hour was come, and they took no pleasure in the supper; so they returned to their homes, disconsolate and unhappy.
24. And the supper was named the Supper of Disappointment.
25. Now in those days there came tidings that there was a famine in an island beyond the great waters, called Ireland.
26. And many of the men of Ireland dwelt in the city, and the people had respect unto them, and for their sakes desired to send succour to their countrymen; and the rulers of the city commanded to be assembled the elders, and the wise men, and all the people, to take counsel together.
27. And when James, who is called the deluded, heard all these things, he shook off his sorrows, and bethought him that the hour was come wherein he might surely draw to his banner, all the men of Ireland who dwelt in the city.
28. So he sent for Henry the high priest, and certain others of his followers, and entreated them speedily to come up and make a stir in behalf of the land of Ireland, before the rulers, and the elders, and the wise men, could gather the people together.
29. And Henry and his followers did even as James the deluded had entreated, but the men of Ireland saw into the hearts of Henry and of James, and they knew that they sought to beguile them, and they turned aside and were greatly wroth.
30. But James the deluded was nothing abashed; so he stood forth again at the assembly of the rulers, and the elders, and the wise men, and the people of the city.
31. And he strove to seem learned, and he spoke unto the men of Ireland, of the length and the breadth of their country, and of the fertileness of the soil, and of many other things which are written in the book which is called Rees' Cyclopædia.
32. And he gave praises to the men of Ireland, and he said he was their kinsman, and he spoke of his Grandmother, and how that she had come from the same land with themselves; but the praises of James the deluded were to the men of Ireland as burning sulphur beneath their nostrils.
33. And it came to pass that Robert, whose name is called the Disunionist, was in the midst of the assembly, and he bethought him, that it would be well to speak to all the people the praises which John the conjuror had sounded to Convention.
34. So he uplifted his voice; and when he had spoken the word, and the people saw that he was the Disunionist, they refused to hearken unto him, and they thrust him under their feet, and with one accord they departed, every man to his own home.
35. And about that same time there also came tidings of a great Revolution in the Kingdom called France; and the men of France who dwelt in the city, assembled together to make rejoicings.
36. And James the deluded was also in the midst of them, seeking to draw followers after him; and he said unto the men of France that he was their kinsman, for he had another "Grandmother" who had come of their nation.
37. But the men of France were wise, and they saw through the arts of James the deluded, and they passed him by in silence, and they joined themselves to the host of "State Rights and the Union."
38. So James, who is called the deluded, was discomfited on every side, and his soul was disheartened, and he now saw the error of his ways, but he would not yet repent.
39. Now when the letters which had been sent forth by James the Deluded, at the 'Supper of Disappointment,' had reached Columbia, it came to pass that all his friends who dwelt in that city, were greatly enraged against the men of Charleston.
40. And they called the men of Charleston "Recreants and Yankees, and men of Clay," and they gathered together all the followers of John the conjuror, and of James the deluded, and of Robert the Nullifier, at the city called Columbia.
41. And they took counsel together what they should do, to save James the deluded and Robert the Nullifier, and their followers, who dwelt in Charleston, from utter discomfiture.
42. And they sounded forth praises to Convention, even as John the conjuror had counselled, and they set it up as a "Sovereign Remedy" for all the evils under which they said the people groaned.
43. And they cried aloud against the tariff and against the other statutes of the realm, and they "put off their allegiance" to Andrew the King, and they denounced the men of Charleston, and all the adversaries of Convention.
44. And they summoned up a great army from all the country round about, and a great multitude came up, even two thousand men.
45. And in the midst of the friends of James the deluded, and of John, the conjuror, and of Robert, the Nullifier, stood a certain man named Thomas; and he was the wise man to whose care was entrusted the youth of the realm, and he was at the head of what is called 'The College.'
46. Now Thomas, from his youth upwards, had been a lover of discord and a formenter of strife, and his heart took delight in scoffings and slanders, and some called him 'Thersites.'
47. And dissentions and controversies were his study by day, and revilings and backbiting were his meditation by night; and he smiled at the ruin which evil passions brought down.
48. And he openly set at nought the statutes of the realm, and he taught that what men call "The Union," was but an "unequal bargain," to the people of the South, and that the hour was come "to calculate its value."
49. And he poisoned the minds of the youth throughout all the realm, and he insinuated doubts even as to the commandments of the Most High, and he instilled into their hearts, hatred and rancour towards "the Union of the States."
50. Now the same Thomas sounded praises to Convention, and he counselled the people to rejoice in it; for that it was powerful to save them from the evils whereof James, the deluded, and Robert, the Nullifier, and Langdon, and all their followers, had complained.
51. And he said, by the might of a Convention, they could suspend the ordinance which is called Habeas Corpus, and then they should have power over all the men of the Union, to cast them in prison and to slay them utterly.
52. And Thomas said many other things to beguile the people to their own destruction, and many good men believed that he proved himself a viper to the land which warmed him.
53. But the multitude hearkened to his voice, for he was held up as an 'an Apostle' by James, the deluded, and by John, the conjuror, and by all their counsellors and friends.
54. Then a certain ruler called James, who was a Chancellor of the realm, and a leader in the Host of James, the deluded, arose, and being a careless man, he forgot the counsel of John the conjuror, wherein he entreated that none of his followers should yet say ought of Nullification.
55. And he opened his mouth, and gave honour to the name of Convention, and he spake these words and said "Convention for any purpose but Nullification, is unmeaning fallacy"
56. So it was made manifest to all the people that James, the deluded, and Henry, the High priest, and Robert, the Nullifier, and all their followers, still worshipped in secret the graven image Nullification, and that for its sake they set their hearts on Convention.
57. Then a certain elder and Judge of the Province, whose name was called John, and who was a follower of the truth, arose before all the multitude and said:
58. "Men and Brethren! verily ye have this day heard praises to the name of Convention, but since James, the Chancellor, hath set forth its object, ye cannot remain in doubt what ye shall do.
59. "Behold! if ye be persuaded to Convention, now, ye will bring down civil Strife and Disunion, for how can ye set at naught the statutes which Andrew, the King, hath sworn to maintain, and yet expect to escape his vengeance?
60. "Is Andrew the King, one who quails at danger, or think ye that he will shrink from that which he hath sworn to execute? Verily no.
61. "Wherefore, Men and Brethren! be not deceived; ye are on the verge of a precipice—your ark of safety is in peril, ye are rushing on to civil strife with brethren, and if ye turn out, ye will quench the flame of freedom in the blood of your countrymen.
62. "Awake then, and open your eyes to the light; behold you may see before you the dark valley of 'Disunion and Anarchy'—on this side you have 'time for argument;' beyond all must be action or dishonourable submission.
63. "Now, therefore, I say unto you, depart hence and give no countenance to the evil doers, and strive not by your numbers to intimidate the men of Charleston; for they are strong in the faith, and will eschew Convention, for they have seen it leadeth to Nullification and Disunion."
64. And while John was yet speaking, the multitude departed as he had counselled; but the devoted followers of James, remained in waiting to give encouragemet to their leaders.
65. And in that same day Convention became Nullified, and all the worshippers of Nullification mourned in sackcloth and ashes.
66. Now these are the chapters of the Book of Nullification; and the scribe who hath written them, is an humble follower of the Truth, and his name is not great, for it is not found in the Book, and he shall be translated hence to a far country, and no man, who loveth the truth, shall seek to find him out.