The following correspondence sufficiently explains itself, and the disposition made of the cutter fully justifies the statement, that in this earliest assertion of the sovereignty of the state, the conduct of the governor and of those under his command was marked by a scrupulous regard for law, justice and propriety :

CUSTOM HOUSE, Collector's Office, etc. Sir: Capt. John Screven has this moment handed me your note of this date in relation to the recapture of the revenue cutter, J. C. Dobbin, in reply to which, I beg, in the name of the Federal government, to thank you, and further, to state, that I received a letter from the Hon. Philip F. Thomas, secretary of the treasury, some fifteen days ago, requesting me to direct the captain of said cutter to sail for Baltimore as soon as convenient, and on his arrival to report the same to him (the secretary of the treasury) in writing, and await his orders; and that in obedience to said instructions, the cutter was ordered and on Saturday last prepared for sea, but was detained by unfavorable winds until last night, when she was taken possession of by parties unknown to me. Under these circumstances, I must ask the favor of you to direct those in charge to allow her to proceed to sea in compliance with instructions from this office. I have the honor to remain,

Your obedient servant,

JOHN BOSTON, Collector.

To his Excellency Governor Joseph E. Brown, Pulaski House.

John Boston, Esq.,

PULASKI HOUSE, January 3, 1861.

Collector of the Port of Savannah.

Sir: The revenue cutter, J. C. Dobbin, which was seized by some unauthorized person or persons unknown to me, has, under the order given by me to Col. Lawton, now in command of Fort Pulaski, to protect government property against injury,

been recaptured, and is now aground near Fort Pulaski. You will please send a revenue boat and take her into custody tonight, and I will have her hauled off to-morrow morning and delivered to you at such place as you may designate. I much regret the lawless seizure of the vessel, and beg leave to assure you that I shall from time to time give such orders as will protect the custom house and other property belonging to the Federal government till the action of this state is determined by the convention of her people.

Very respectfully, etc.,

JOSEPH E. BROWN.

John Boston, Collector, etc.

PULASKI HOUSE, January 3, 1861.

Sir: Your note in reply to my communication of this evening is received, and I have ordered the delivery of the J. C. Dobbin to her captain, with permission to proceed to sea, as you have requested.

Very respectfully, etc.,

JOSEPH E. BROWN.

The Washington guns-two six-pounder bronze field pieces—the pride and boast of this ancient and honorable Artillery company whose birth-day was well nigh coeval with that of the United States of America the child of the revolution, whose first captain gave an arm to his country during the siege of Savannah, and many of whose early members had testified their devotion to the cause of liberty upon more than one of the memorable battle fields of the seven years' struggle for independence - these guns, themselves the trophies of that well fought contest, and the personal gift of the commander in chief, the immortal Washington were not brought into active service. The repeated discharges to which they had

been subjected in a former century, physically disabled and rendered them unfit for field use in the present. Although their brave voices would have been lifted as willingly in defiance of wrong and oppression then, as in former days, having done well their part, their task was over, and they were tenderly consigned to a safe and fitting repose, whence, at the proper time, they will be brought forth, a pledge of the existence of this time honored company, a bond of union in coming years, a guaranty that the spirit of both revolutions lives unquenched, and that although might has triumphed for the nonce, and the sword rendered its arbitrament in favor of superior numbers and the doctrines which they advocated, the eternal principles of truth and justice still survive.

The service of the Chatham Artillery was thus coeval with the first military act of Georgia in asserting her state sovereignty, and antedates the inception of the Confederate struggle for independence properly so called; although, in fact, each individual act performed in the respective Southern states looking towards their separation from a union which had long before ceased to be equal in its benefits or desirable in its influences, constituted but an essential, component part of that great and heroic undertaking. From the morning when its first detachment - buoyant with patriotic hope, and fired with high resolves-crossed the drawbridge of Fort Pulaski, to that sad day which witnessed in the surrender of the Confederate army under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston the virtual abandonment of the protracted, costly, and gigantic effort for liberty, this Battery was continuously in the field, at all times and in all places responding to every duty devolved upon it with a degree of intelligence, with an alacrity, and with an efficiency which attracted

alike the notice and the commendation of its commanding officers.

So earnestly enlisted were the sympathies of the citizens and the citizen soldiery of Savannah in behalf of the dignity of Georgia, so eager were they to secure every advantage which looked to her protection, so alive to the true designs of the Federal government, and so fearful that any delay might prejudice the interests of the state they loved so well, that a plan was set on foot to seize Fort Pulaski, and hold it against the United States without the sanction of the constituted authorities. This act was not conceived in a spirit of lawlessness, but was canvassed as a measure conducive to the early protection of the sea board, and the security of the commercial metropolis of Georgia, and calculated to give assurance and confidence to those, who, convinced of the necessity of asserting a positive independence of Federal rule, hesitated to indulge in any overt act declarative of the resumption of her delegated rights and the assertion of her sovereignty by the state of Georgia. Wiser counsels prevailed, however, and the contemplated movement was suspended for a few days to await the action of the governor, who was requested by telegraph to come to Savannah at the earliest convenient moment, observe the state of feeling, and, in view of the dangers to be apprehended, act in behalf of the state in advance of the deliberations of the convention of the people soon to assemble. Governor Brown, accordingly, repaired at once to the city. A conference was held, and after the step had been maturely considered, orders were issued for the occupation of the fort.

During the progress of the conference at the Pulaski House on the evening of the 2d of January, 1861,

intelligence was received from a reliable source at Washington, announcing that the policy of coercion had been adopted, and rendering quick action highly necessary. Accordingly, the following day the fort was, in obedience to the governor's directions, taken formal possession of, in the name of the state, and by her regularly constituted volunteer militia.

The flag of Georgia was with due formality raised above the battlements of Fort Pulaski, and saluted. There it continued to wave in pride and beauty, guarded, honored, and beloved by the sons of Georgia, until it gracefully yielded its place to the national flag of the Confederate states, within whose ampler folds were garnered the hopes, not only of the Empire State of the South, but also of her valiant sisters who, with common hopes and kindred interests, had together solemnly resolved to imperil all in sacred defense of life, liberty, inalienable right, property and honor.

The right of any people upon adequate cause to change a form of government, the right of states homogeneous in interests, feelings, institutions and destiny, to withdraw from a union into which they had originally entered voluntarily for purposes of mutual benefit, protection and equality, whenever that union ceased to subserve the purposes for which it was designed, and no longer conduced to the general welfare, was believed by Georgia to be absolute and incontrovertible; and, although the sword has physically settled the question against her, its award cannot alter the rectitude of her position, or negative a principle which partakes of the essence of liberty, and has its home in the very heart of truth.

On the 18th of January, 1861, it was unanimously resolved by the convention of the people of Georgia in Milledgeville assembled: