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John S. Preston Autograph Letter Signed. ...
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Description
John S. Preston Autograph Letter Signed. Two pages, 5.25" x 8", Columbia, [S.C.]; February 6, 1861. Letter addressed to Francis Pickens, Governor of South Carolina. Signed, "John S. Preston." Docketed on verso. Accompanied by an imprint titled, "Addresses Delivered Before the Virginia State Convention."Preston's letter reads, "I enclose you the 'post-script' to a long letter I have from a member of the Virginia Legislature. You will see that I may be embarrassed by the seeming misunderstanding concerning the purport of Judge Robertson's mission. Could I ask of you to drop me a line to Richmond at once giving me your understanding of Judge Robertson's credentials - and also to have sent to me your message concerning his mission and the Legislative Resolution. My intelligence from Virginia is not favorable. I will be at Richmond several days before the Convention meets and hope I may be able to ascertain the prevailing sentiment. I trust the events of the week at Montgomery will enable me to present to Virginia the direct alternative of a Northern or Southern Confederacy for her choice."
John S. Preston was a South Carolina politician dispatched as a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention from February to May 1861. The letter here references Judge John Robertson, a politician appointed by the Virginia legislature to act as the Commissioner to South Carolina during the first few months of the secession crisis. His mission was to request that South Carolina and the other seceding states "abstain from hostile acts during the pendency of proceedings" at the Virginia Secession Convention. Preston strongly supported Virginia joining the Confederacy and hoped to avoid any misunderstandings.
A pamphlet of speeches given at the Virginia State Convention, published in 1861, accompanies Preston's letter and includes his speech. Preston's argument relied on the rights of the American colonies to declare independence from Britain and insisted that secession was necessary for the survival of slave-holding states. He declared, in part, "In other words, the decree inaugurated on the 6th of November was the annihilation of the people of the Southern States. Now gentlemen, the people of South Carolina, being a portion of those who come within the ban of this decree, had only to ask themselves: Is existence worth a struggle?... Never, gentlemen, since liberty begun her struggles in the world, has a mighty drama, to be enacted on the trembling stage of man's affairs, been opened with a spectacle of purer moral sublimity than that which has been manifested in this revolution in which we are now engaged...Believing the rights violated and the interests involved are identical with the rights and interests of the people of Virginia, and remembering their ancient amity and their common glory, the people of South Carolina have instructed me to ask, earnestly and respectfully, that the people of Virginia will join them in the protection of their rights and interests."
The Virginia Secession Convention convened on February 13, 1861. For the first two months of deliberations, the vast majority of the state delegates remained staunchly Unionist. Speeches given by visiting delegates like Preston had little effect and pro-secessionist delegates lost the vote to secede on April 4, 1861. The fall of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's demand for 75,000 soldiers to fight in the war turned the tide in Virginia towards secession. On April 17, delegates voted to secede from the Union.
Condition: Letter creased along folds with foxing along margins. Slight staining on both pages. The printed booklet has a heavily stained wrapper with pencil notations on the front flap. Tear to back flap. Text block edges are slightly toned.
Auction Info
2023 September 21 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6272 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
September, 2023
21st
Thursday
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