![[CIVIL WAR]. BENJAMIN, Judah P. (1811-1884), Secretary of War, CSA. Speech of Hon. J.P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, of The Right of Secession. Delivered in the Senate of the United States, Dec. 31, 1865. [Washington, D.C.: Printed by Lemuel Towers at $1.00 per hundred copies], [January 1861?].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2003/NYR/2003_NYR_01318_0208_000(070547).jpg?w=1)
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[CIVIL WAR]. BENJAMIN, Judah P. (1811-1884), Secretary of War, CSA. Speech of Hon. J.P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, of The Right of Secession. Delivered in the Senate of the United States, Dec. 31, 1865. [Washington, D.C.: Printed by Lemuel Towers at $1.00 per hundred copies], [January 1861?].
8vo, 16pp., partiallly unopened, removed from a pamphlet volume. Enclosed in folding brown morocco box, gilt-titled on upper cover.
"THE JEWISH CONFEDERATE'S" FAMOUS FAREWELL TO THE U.S. SENATE. A memorable speech to the Senate following South Carolina's secession. Benjamin reviews the escalating crisis provoked, he states, by the North's attempting to exert "a power to which she has no legitimate claim under the Consitution," while the South attempts to uphold "property, honor, safety--all that is dear to man..." The issue, he asserts, is whether the remaining states will uphold South Carolina's independence or act to overthrow it. Benjamin makes an impassioned argument in support of the right of secession, quoting the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton and others. He details the familiar arguments over the legality of slavery, and warns his fellow Senators to "let this parting be in peace...What may be the fate of this horrible contest, no man can tell..." And he vows that even if "the fortunes of war may be adverse to our arms...you can never subjugate us...and you never, never can degrade [us] to the level of an inferior and servile race. Never! Never!"
Benjamin's dramatic farewell to the U.S. Senate on New Years' Eve, 1860, remains one of the great oratorical masterpieces in American history. "It was a moment both of tragedy and triumph as he pleaded with his colleagues against the war of brothers to come: (E.N. Evans, Judah P. Benjamin: The Jewish Confederate, pp.109-112).
8vo, 16pp., partiallly unopened, removed from a pamphlet volume. Enclosed in folding brown morocco box, gilt-titled on upper cover.
"THE JEWISH CONFEDERATE'S" FAMOUS FAREWELL TO THE U.S. SENATE. A memorable speech to the Senate following South Carolina's secession. Benjamin reviews the escalating crisis provoked, he states, by the North's attempting to exert "a power to which she has no legitimate claim under the Consitution," while the South attempts to uphold "property, honor, safety--all that is dear to man..." The issue, he asserts, is whether the remaining states will uphold South Carolina's independence or act to overthrow it. Benjamin makes an impassioned argument in support of the right of secession, quoting the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton and others. He details the familiar arguments over the legality of slavery, and warns his fellow Senators to "let this parting be in peace...What may be the fate of this horrible contest, no man can tell..." And he vows that even if "the fortunes of war may be adverse to our arms...you can never subjugate us...and you never, never can degrade [us] to the level of an inferior and servile race. Never! Never!"
Benjamin's dramatic farewell to the U.S. Senate on New Years' Eve, 1860, remains one of the great oratorical masterpieces in American history. "It was a moment both of tragedy and triumph as he pleaded with his colleagues against the war of brothers to come: (E.N. Evans, Judah P. Benjamin: The Jewish Confederate, pp.109-112).