But even if such a Convention should assemble, how would matters stand? Eight slave States (if they remained in the Union, which is exceedingly doubtful) would go into convention with nineteen free States, and take such amendments as those States, controlled by an anti-slavery party, might be disposed to grant.

The preservation of the Union, in the opinion of the minority, should be the earnest desire not only of every American patriot but also of every friend of civil liberty throughout the habitable globe; that this may be done is the earnest prayer of every American mother throughout this great Republic; that it shall be preserved is the fixed determination of a large majority of the citizens of the border slave States whose citizens have ever been not only loyal to the Constitution and the Union, but also among the foremost in times past, when their country was in danger, to peril their lives to uphold her institutions. These States by assuming the position of mediators between the hostile sections, and taking a decided position, and proclaiming to those sectional parties who are now arming for fraternal strife, that they shall keep the peace--these States by meeting each other in convention, and agreeing on measures of compromise and adjustment, founded on the principles of equal rights and justice to all, and by firmly, yet in a spirit of fraternal kindness, insisting upon the compromises so agreed upon as the basis on which all irritating differences shall be settled, can, in the opinion of the undersigned, be the means of preserving the Union, reconstructing it upon a permanent basis, reconciling conflicting interests, and restoring peace and tranquility to the country.

Resolved, by the People of the State of Missouri, in Convention assembled:

1. That the State of Missouri invites the States of Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Delaware, to send Commissioners to meet in Convention with Commissioners appointed by Missouri, at the city of Nashville, Tennessee, on the day of

-, next, to agree upon a basis of settlement, by way of constitutional amendments that will preserve the Union, and afford an adequate guarantee for the preservation of their slave institutions and the constitutional rights of their citizens, and to take such steps as they may deem necessary to have such amendments presented to the people of the free States for ratification or rejection.

2. That be and they are hereby appointed Commissioners to represent the State of Missouri in said Convention.

3. That is hereby appointed a Commissioner to the State of Virginia; Commissioner to Commissioner to Mary

North Carolina;

to

4. Resolved, That the Commissioners appointed to said Convention by Missouri are directed to present to said Convention for their consideration the resolutions commonly known as the Crittenden compromise measures, extending the provisions with reference Territory south of the line, to after-acquired Territory, and to say, on behalf of Missouri, that those resolutionss, or any other basis of settlement upon which the border slave States can agree will be satisfactory to Missouri.

The people of the State of Missouri being satisfied that the plan proposed in these resolutions will (unless interrupted by civil strife) not only preserve the Union, but afford a fair prospect for a reconstruction by bringing back the seceded States; they, therefore, earnestly appeal to the General Government and the seceded States to stay the arm of military power and preserve the peace until the plan proposed can be fully tried. And, to enforce such appeal, they would state it as their settled conviction, that an attempt at coercion, under any pretext, would result in civil strife, and forever destroy all hope for the preservation or reconstruction of the Union.

JOHN T. REDD, H. HOUGH.

Mr. Moss offered the following amendment to the report of the Committee:

Amend the fifth resolution by adding as follows, viz: And further, Believing that the fate of Missouri depends upon a peaceable adjustment of our present difficulties, she will never countenance or aid a seceding State in making war on the general Government, nor will she furnish men or money for the purpose of aiding the general Government in any attempts to coerce a seceding State.

Pending the consideration of the amendment, on motion of Mr. Stewart, the Convention adjourned until three o'clock P. M.

EVENING SESSION.

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn

ment.

The Convention having under consideration the amendment offered by Mr. Moss, after discussion,

On motion of Mr. Doniphan, the amendment was laid on the table and ordered to be printed.

Johnson, Kidd, Leeper, Linton, Long, Marvin, Matson, Maupin, McClurg, McCormack, McDowell, McFerran, Meyer, Morrow, Moss, Orr, Pomeroy, Rankin, Ritchey, Rowland, Sawyer, Scott, Sheeley, Smith of St. Louis, Smith of Linn, Stewart, Tindall, Turner, Waller, Woodson, Woolfolk Wright, Vanbuskirk and Zimmerman-68.

Absent-Messrs. Collier, Hall of Randolph, Ross, Welch and Wilson.

Sick-Mr. Pipkin.

Mr. HOWELL offered the following amendment to the amendment of Mr. Moss :

Amend the amendment by striking out the word "fate" in first line, and inserting the word "welfare," in the place thereof; and by striking out the word "never," in the third line, and inserting the word "not" in place of the same, pending which,

On motion of Mr. HUDGINS, the Convention adjourned.

The Convention met pursuant to adjournment, and was opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Monroe.

The journal of the proceedings was read and approved.

Mr. Moss accepted the amendment offered by Mr. Howell, on yesterday, to his amendment to the fifth resolution of the Committee on Federal Relations.

Mr. BIRCH, from the committee appointed under a resolution of the Convention, adopted, to inquire into the conspiracy foreshadowed in the article which appeared in the Republican of the 11th inst., on leave of the Convention made the following report:

Report of Committee on Conspiracy :

The committee appointed under a resolution of the Convention, adopted on the 11th instant, to inquire into the conspiracy which was deemed to be foreshadowed in a communication that had appeared in the "Republican," of that morning, report herewith a communication from Louis V. Bogy and from William J. Chester, and respectfully submit themselves to such further directions (if any) as the Convention may see fit to give them.

If, however, it shall be believed from these statements that any purpose which may have existed to wrest the State from its legitimate relations to the Federal Government, by illegal, perverse, or revolutionary agencies, has been abandoned in deference to the unfaltering and overwhelming public sentiment with which it has been confronted, it is then further respectfully submitted whether the interests of the public require that any further steps be taken, or any further investigations be prosecuted, under the resolution of the Convention.

JAMES H. BIRCH,
CHARLES DRAKE,

GEORGE W. ZIMMERMAN.

Committee.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 1861.

ST. LOUIS, March 12, 1861. Messrs. BIRCH, ZIMMERMAN and DRAKE, Committee-Present:

GENTLEMEN: I was summoned, yesterday, to appear before you as a committee, appointed by the State Convention, now in session in this city, to testify to certain facts supposed to be within my knowledge.

In appearing before you, I wish it distinctly understood that I do so voluntarily, as I deny both the power of the Convention, or that of the committee appointed by it, to summon any citizen of the State to appear before it as a witness; this power belongs to the Grand Juries of the country, and is a power used to ferret out crime by them; but entertaining as I do the greatest respect for the Convention, as a body, called into existence under a law of the State, and also for the members thereof personally, I waive what I consider my right as a citizen, and accordingly appear.

The publication which appeared in the "Missouri Republican" over the signature of "E," is not substantially correct as containing the substance of a conversation between me and the person who is supposed to be author of it.

I have read the resolutions of the Convention and the speech of the mover of them, and I must confess that I am at a loss to understand how either could justify the charge made, based on this communication. In justice, however, to the persons who called on me, and who are charged with the crime of treason, I must say that I know nothing whatever to sustain the charge. Certain gentlemen of standing in this city, and who are my personal and political friends, did call on me last week, with a paper which was very well written, setting forth that the time had come-in view of the fact, that Virginia had or would soon join the Southern Confederacy, and carry with her Kentucky and the other border States-for the friends of Southern rights to come together for consultation, and with a view of agreeing on some

line of policy required by the exigencies of the times. The conversation between these gentlemen and myself was of a desultory and general character, and it is with hesitation that I consent to trouble you with it, for it really amounts to nothing beyond a legitimate purpose of party organization, in which there was nothing improper or wrong, and only with a view of making their action efficient. Although I dissented from them as to the propriety of their course, yet my objection was not because there was anything wrong or improper in the proposition, but because I thought the movement was calculated to do harm, in view of the efforts now being made to unite the Democratic and Bell parties on some common conservative ground, to defeat the Black Republicans at the next April election.

I furthermore explained to them, that according to my understanding of the interests of Missouri, with twenty millions of State bonds, and six to eight millions of city and county bonds on the markets of the world, and the great interests of the mercantile, manufacturing, and industrial portion of our people, we should move in a matter of this magnitude with the greatest caution and prudence. Some of the gentlemen present charging me with inconsistency, and as a blind follower of the Missouri Republican, I replied that the charge was not true that I was a Southern man, and always had been, and was as much opposed to Black Republicanism as anybody could possibly be; but, looking upon their effort as calculated to bring defeat upon us again at the next April election, I was opposed to their movement, and would do all in my power to defeat them in their purpose. Much more might be repeated of the same nature, but the matter is too trivial to engage the attention of anybody. I certainly did not understand that any proposition was made to me, looking like treason or conspiracy, or that can by any distortion of language or confusion of ideas amount to the highest crime known to civilized nations. The subject was fair and legitimate as a purpose for party organization by gentlemen of good standing, and as such I understood it and opposed it for the reasons already given. My object in speaking of this occurrence to other parties was to get them to unite with me to prevent the proposed organization, believing, if successful, it would again lead to our defeat. No one regrets this occurrence more than I do, as it is calculated to place other parties as well as myself in an unpleasant position. The facts do not, in the least, justify the action of the Convention, the speech of the mover of the resolutions, or the comments of one of the city papers.

Repeating my sentiments of respect for the Convention, I am, &c.,

LEWIS V. BOGY.

P. S. As the action of the Convention in relation to this matter has been the occasion of a good deal of talk in this city to my prejudice, I have concluded to send a copy of this paper to the "Missouri Republican" for publication tomorrow morning, so that the matter may be set right before this community at once.

LEWIS. V. BOGY,

ST. LOUIS, March 13, 1861. To Messrs. Birch, Drake and Zimmerman, Committee of the Convention, &c.:

GENTLEMEN: Having appeared before you in compliance with your subpoena, I proceed to make such a statement as you have requested of me, omitting the name of the person to whom I shall allude, and also declining to swear to my statement at the present time; but will not refuse to surrender the name of the person, or to swear to what I shall here state, if required to do so by an order of the Convention.

On the second or third day of the session of your Convention in this place, I met with a gentleman residing in one of the interior counties of the State, and whom I had known as a friend and admirer of Mr. Yancey of Alabama, and, like that gentleman, a thorough and undisguised secessionist. He told me that your Convention was too conservative, and that, in case you passed no secession ordinance, there would be a concert of action agreed upon, throughout the State, whereby the State would nevertheless be got out of the Union. He further said that there were at that time delegates or committees in the city from nearly all the principal towns in the State, and that he understood there was to be a meeting of them for the purpose of agreeing upon a definite course and concert of action. He mentioned especially the name of a distinguished citizen of this State who had encouraged the movement, but whose name, for the reason already stated, I decline to give at present.

Two days after this, I met the same gentleman and the conversation was renewed. He then said that he believed the plan above stated had been abandoned, as it would be useless to attempt to carry it out at present, against what seemed to be the strong Union sentiment that had taken hold of the public mind.

In this statement I have given but the substance of the conversations alluded to, and do not pretend to have stated the words, but the substantial facts. Very respectfully,

WM. J. CHESTER. The report was read and laid on the table, and ordered to be printed.

Mr. WELCH moved that the Convention adjourn until three o'clock P. M., which motion was decided in the negative.

On motion of Mr. DUNN the Convention adjourned until two o'clock P. M.

EVENING SESSION.

The Convention met pursuant to adjournment, and resumed the consideration of the pending amendment.

Mr. GANTT moved that, until otherwise or

dered by the Convention, the hour of adjournment be three o'clock p. M., which was adopted.

On motion of Mr. GAMBLE the Convention adjourned.

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn- | ment, and was opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Monroe.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1861. devise a plan for the amicable and equitable adjustment of all matters in difference between the States of this Union. And the Delegates

Mr. GAMBLE, from the Committee on Federal Relations, presented the following, which was, by leave of the Convention, read, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed.

WHEREAS, It is probable that the Convention of the State of Virginia, now in session, will request a meeting of Delegates from the Border States, for the purpose of devising some plan for the adjustment of our National difficulties, and, Whereas, The State of Missouri participates strongly in the desire for such adjustment, and, desiring to show respect for the wishes of Virginia, therefore, be it

Resolved, That this Convention will elect Delegates, whose duty it shall be to attend, at such time and place as may be designated by the Convention of the State of Virginia, for the meeting of Delegates from the Border States; and if there should assemble then and there Delegates duly accredited from a majority of the States invited to such conference, then the Delegates from this Convention shall enter into conference with them, and shall endeavor to

their proceedings, in such conference, and any plan that may there be agreed upon, to this Convention, for its approval or rejection.

The question before the Convention being the adoption of the amendment offered by Mr. Moss,

When the President laid before the Convention the following communication :

OFFICE OF THE ST. LOUIS AGRICULTU-
RAL AND MECHANICAL ASSOCIATION.
ST. LOUIS, March 14, 1861.

HON. STERLing Price,

President of the State Convention.

SIR The Directors of the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association, would be pleased to present to each member of the Missouri State Convention, a copy of their Fifth Annual Report.

If acceptable to the Convention, said report will be sent to the Secretary of the Convention for delivery. Very respectfully,

CHAS. TODD, President. On motion of Mr. BROADHEAD, the Convention adjourned.

The question before the Convention being on the adoption of the amendment to the fifth resolution of the report of the Committee on Federal Relations,

Mr. GANTT moved that the Convention do adjourn until half past three o'clock this after

On motion of Mr. WRIGHT, the Convention

EVENING SESSION.

The Convention met, pursuant to adjournment, and resumed the consideration of the question which was before them at the hour of adjournment.

On motion of Mr. MCCORMACK, the Convention adjourned.