Page:A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, Including the Diplomatic Correspondence, 1861-1865, Volume I.djvu/172

144 In the meantime we shall continue this struggle in humble dependence upon Providence, from whose searching scrutiny we cannot conceal the secrets of our hearts, and to whose rule we confidently submit our destinies. For the rest we shall depend upon ourselves. Liberty is always won where there exists the unconquerable will to be free, and we have reason to know the strength that is given by a conscious sense not only of the magnitude but of the righteousness of our cause.

 November 25, 1861. To the Congress of the Confederate States.

I transmit to you for your consideration two acts passed by the General Assembly of Missouri on the 31st of last October, the one entitled "An Act declaring the political ties heretofore existing between the State of Missouri and the United States of America dissolved;" the other entitled "An Act ratifying the Constitution of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America." Together with these I send a letter from Governor C. F. Jackson, of Missouri, addressed to myself and dated November 5, 1861.

An act of the Confederate Congress, approved August 20, 1861, in reference to Missouri, provided that when the "Constitution for the Provisional Government of the Confederate States shall be adopted and ratified by the properly and legally constituted authorities of said State, and the Governor of said State shall transmit to the President of the Confederate States an authentic copy of the proceedings touching said adoption and ratification by said State of said Provisional Constitution, upon the receipt thereof the President, by proclamation, shall announce the fact." It was also declared by this act that upon a proclamation thus made the admission of the said State into this Confederacy shall be complete "without any further proceedings on the part of Congress." I am thus empowered to judge as to the authorities in the State of Missouri which are properly and legally constituted to adopt and ratify the Constitution for the Provisional Government of the Confederate States. I am also authorized without further consultation with Congress to proclaim the admission of the State. Had the case been thus presented to me