Washington, December 13th. At the request of Hon. Reuben Davis of Mississippi, member of the Committee of States, the Southern members of Congress assembled at his rooms to-night and adjourned at eleven o’clock, at which the following declaration was made and signed by those present. It had already been presented to the Committee of Thirty-three:
Washington, December 13th, 1860.
To our Constituents: The argument is exhausted. All hope of relief in the Union, through the agency of committees, Congressional legislation, or constitutional amendments, is extinguished, and we trust the South will not be deceived by appearances or the pretence of new guarantees. The Republicans are resolute in the purpose to grant nothing that will or ought to satisfy the South. We are satisfied the honor, safety, and independence of the Southern people are to be found only in a Southern Confederacy –a result to be obtained only by separate State secession–and that the sole and primary aim of each slaveholding State ought to be its speedy and absolute separation from an unnatural and hostile Union.
Signed by J. L. Pugh, David Clopton, Sydenham Moore, J. L. M. Curry, and J. A. Stallworth of Alabama; Alfred Iverson, J. W. H. Underwood, L. J. Gartrell, and Jas. Jackson, (Senator Toombs is not here, but would sign). John J. Jones, and Martin J. Crawford of Georgia; Geo. S. Hawkins of Florida. It is understood Mr. Yulee will sign it. T. C. Hindman of Arkansas. Both Senators will also sign it. A. G. Brown, Wm. Barksdale. O. R. Singleton, and Reuben Davis of Mississippi; Burton Craige and Thos. Ruffin of North Carolina; J. P. Benjamin and John M. Landrum of Louisiana. Mr. Slidell will also sign it. Senators Wigfall and Hemphill of Texas, will sign it.
Mr. Davis made the following statement to the caucus:
Being a member of the Committee of Thirty-three, I state that the above witnessed despatch was communicated to the committee this evening, and a resolution passed proposing no specific relief, eight Northern States dissenting, avowedly intended to counteract the effect of the above despatch, and, as I believe, to mislead the people of the South. From information derived from Republican members of the committee and other Northern Representatives, I fully concur in the above despatch.
Reuben Davis. The manifesto will be immediately communicated to the several constituencies of the gentlemen named by telegraph.
McPherson, Edward. The Political History of the United States of America, during the Great Rebellion: Including a Classified Summary of the Legislation of the Second Session of the Thirty-Sixth Congress… Philp & Solomons, 1865. page 37