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CHRONICLE AND SENTINEL
A V GIJSTA. !
THURSDAY MORNING* SEPTEMBER 17.
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WILLIA.TI HENRY HAR USOlf,
Os Ohio;
The invincible Hero of Tippecanoe- -the incor
ruptible Statesman —the inflexible B
the patriotic Farmer of Ohio.
FOR VICE-PRESIDENT,
JOHN TIfLER
Os Virginia; i|
A State Rights Republican of the sc'r [>ol of ’98 —
one of Virginia’s noblest sons, and • mphatically
one of America’s most sagacious, irtuous and
patriot statesmen.
FOR ELECTORS OF AN /IC F -PRESIDENT,
GEORGE R. GILMER, of Ogle herpe.
DUNCAN L. CLINCH, cf Cam< ;n.
JOHN W. CAMPBELL, of Mu :ogee."
JOEL CRAWFORD, of Ilancoc .
CHARLES DOUGHERTY, of ( lark.
SEATON GRANTLAND, of B: dwin.
ANDREW MILLER, of Cass. ‘
WILLIAM EZZARD, of DeKa 0.
C. B. STRONG, of Bibb.
JOHN WHITEHEAD, of Burk .
E. WIMBERLY, of Twiggs.
TOR CONGRESS,
WILLIAM C. DAWSON, of Gleene.
R. W. HABERSHAM, of Habjsham.
JULIUS C. ALFORD, of Trouf
EL GENIUS A. NISBET, of Bi b.
LOTT WARREN, of Sumter. I
THOMAS BUTLER KING, of"llynn.
ROGER L. GAMBLE, of Jctfejfcon.
JAMES A. MERIWETHER, cl Putnam.
THOMAS F. FOSTER, of MuM ogee.
FOR SENATOR, !
ANDREW J. MILLER
FOR REPRESENTATIVES,
CHARLES J. JENKINS,
GEORGE W. CRAWFORI
WILLIAM J. RHODES.
Read the letters o E. J. Black, in ibis days pa
dcr, and the remarks of the Georgia Journal.
The World is Uncharitable,
Is a maxim which is daily growitg more and
more trite, in all classes of society,fnin the hum
blest mendicant, who strolls through*he country
asking aims,to the ambitious politici.i;|, who some
times finds his motives, however p> suspected.
That the world is uncharitable we ha’& been some
times disposed to believe, for we havefcccasionally
thought the real objects of charity
snuined by those who should have bellowed boun
teously, and we are more disposed tojjbelieve that
there is less charity in scanning th#" motives of
others. For we not unfiequently secisr.aon in the
highest places, dignified by honoriifmd emolu
ments, probably actuated by the pm» -t principles
of policy, and patriotic devotion to pi pular liberty
and the institutions of their country, s ispected and
their motives questioned. It may j; ; that those
suspicions are just, nevertheless w< arc prone to
believe they are generally prematuu and should
not be indulged, without being base j on good au
thority. This is an evil, and carefully
avoided, for it notunfrequently happetis that those
who are but too ready to yield to thi*; frailty of our
nature, are subsequently the subject I of deep and
poignant regret for indulging those snlpicions.
e have been led to these remains by a case
which has recently come to our knerjlodge, of an
individual who is figureing in a proij yuent manner
before the people of Georgia, and t >;ainst whom
suspicions deep and dark, however or ill foun
dedjwe know not, are now engendc in the bo
soms of many. This should not be Let us ap-
P’y the golden rule, do as you won f be done by.
IV e allude to the Hon. Walter T. (p|iquitt, now a
candidate for Congress. It is well known that
■he was elcc*ed as an Anti-Van 8.-tlen man; and
that he was so regarded for a eorj;|dcraole time
after his arrival in Washington, tjilldenly he be
came a most zealous supporter of all; Administra
tion, and addressed a Circular, l>lueh he was
pleased to call “cm unvarnished tap j” to his Con
stituents, declaring his intention ib| support Mr.
Van Buren for re-election, s and urwng them “ by
all honorable means'' to do likewise! At this in
telligence, some were not deceived rjid many weie
astounded. A little time passed, anelwhen the fust
momentary excitement had parsed off,
the people began to rub their eyes .aid enquire into
the cause. At first, it was attribui(|l to the flatte
ry of Blair of the Globe—and nianySWerc ready to
•ay, that this all powerful lever haijaot been with
out its immense influence even u;jcf the honorable
member. Others again, insinuatticVthat it was an
ellbrt of the Chess player, to then his game
and secure a more decided triumph. These,
for a lime occupied the peoples 1 Attention, when
suddenly dame Rumor, with her thousand tongues,
sprung up in Western Georgia, ahl asserted that
the honorable member had remitted some
ten or fifteen thousand dol ! ars fik a n Washington,
to satiate the voracious cravings -of unappeased
creditors. Without, however, plcSending to jus
tify this extraordii aay espionage c| the darne into
the private affairs of a Congress dumber, we will
•only state the effect upon the publ.D mind.
The first shock having passeq. during which
there were exchanged sage and luspicious looks
and dark insinuations, curiosity w«s on ‘ tiptoe ,”
to know whence the money came* ? It could not
he said that the pay of a of Congress a
mounted to so much over and and'above his ex
penses. “ How then did he obtain >t ?” was asked
with the greatest apparent anxieq* “ Perhaps he
borrowed it, - ’ said a plain man, was not dis
posed to be uncharitable. “Lijrrwed it—why
there was no one to borrow of bit the banks, and
he certainly would not go the*: to seek aid,”
thought some. But the inquiry u often repeated,
and again it is replied, “ perhaps he sold
“ unvarnished tale” a id the means.’’
This inquiry goes on flying throuiji the street, and
if
‘i
curiosity is increased at every corner. One mat
asserts that he borrowed it, another suggests an
other mode—and there are some so prone to sus
pect their neighbors, that they insinuate —bu
“ the world is uncharitable,” said we in the outset
and this is another instance of the truth of thi
maxim.
The Corporal and the Hecorder
It is not often that we assay to give our friend
advice, nor do we like to place ourselves under ob
ligations for repeated favors : but we would thanl
the Recorder not to be poking his stick through th<
grating at the Corporal, since he has been caged
We have got him quite docile, and we cannot con
sent to his being disturbed. We beg our friend
not to be alarmed, if in passing around the coinei
he should seem enraged; he is only a little dis
turbed at this new intrusion of the Recorder.
From the Georgia Journal.
A few plain facts plainly stated.
Messrs. Cooper, Colquitt, and Black wore in
December, 1837, nominated by the State Right:
party as candidates for Congress, opposed to Mr
Van Buren.
Messrs. Colquitt and Black were members of the
caucus by which they were nominated; Mr. Coop
er was not —but he had a relative from Putnam,
Dr. Joel Branham, his brother-in-law, who repre
sented his feebng in that body, and whose anxie
ty to get Mr. Cooper nominated, is well remember
ed. In ’3B, Messrs. Colquitt, and Black assigned
some very strong reasons why they could not sup
port Mr. Van Buren. By reference to three let
ters,which will be found in our paper to-day, it
will be seen that some of the chief objections upon
which the Anti-Van Buren parly now rely, were
staled with great strength by these gentlemen, viz:
“Free negro suffrage vote”—“ Missouri Restric
tion”—The maintenance by Mr. Van Buren of the
constitutional right of Congress to abolish slavery
in the District of Columbia, See. &c.
These men went lo Washington city elected by
the State Rights party, as honest and firm oppon
ents of Mar in Van Buren and his principles, as
illustrated by his acts. The State Rights party
knew that all three were in favor of a sub-treasury.
Colquitt was for it without the specie clause. We
think he avow"d himself thus, on the Senate floor
in 1837, in discussing Dunegan’s resolutions. At
any rate the extract of his letter in our paper shows
that ho did occupy this position. Black did not go
for the specie clause either; ami he moreover had
a bright idea of his own, about Congress’ appoint
ing its own Treasurers, &c., which we did nut, at
that time, disapprove of—but look to their letters.
Now, upon the sub-treasury scheme, they have
not adhered to their professions as we have under
stood them. They have become Bentonians, Cal
hounites, up to the hub, in the specie feature.
Well, tins trio of “ persecuted ” and “ proscribed ”
gentlemen are now, in September, 1840, (a little
more than two years since their denunciation of
Mr. Van Buren) the apologists,defenders,admirers,
and supporters of the man.
In 1838, they were bitterly opposed to Mr. Van
Buren ; in 1840, they are warmly the supporters of
Mr. Van Buren. And yet, these men have the un
blushing effrontery, so we have heard, to affirm that
they have not changed !! ! Who is such a stupid
doit as to believe them, if they say so I
But the State Rights party have changed, says
this trio.
We will answer them, by asking, did not the
State Rights party in 1836, 1837, and 1838, oppose
Mr. Van Buren ; and don’t they now (we speak of
ninety-nine hundredths of them) oppose him, and
for many of the same reasons assigned by Mr. Col
quilt in his letter from Newnan ?
Is this changing ? It may be, according to the
John C. Calhoun logic —a system of reasoning in
which these persons have recently been instructed
by those learned Doctors, Frank Blair, and Ames
Kendall.
We have no disposition to quarrel with any man
who honestly changes, when his conscience and
understanding are convinced. Nay, change is then
a duty.—But if a change is brought about by the
selfish ambition of a turn-coat; by his looking af
ter preferment or popular favor ; by his envy and
jealousy of some persons who is an obstacle in the
path of his ambition; or if, without any of these
self propensities, he has vanity, and is approached
through it, by an artful, intellectual man, like
Calhoun, until the citadel is sapped and in posses
sion of the wily assailant; if the change is
brought about by such means, we can then feel no
respect for such a person thus operated upon.
There is no glass window in iront of the hearts
of the ‘'proscribed ,” through which we can take
a look at the motives which have influenced them
in the heat of the battle to betray our posts into the
hands of Mr. Van Buren. Time however, will
either vindicate their purity of motive, or will con
firm those doubts and suspicions which thousands
now entertain of them, once so honored and so trus
ted.
Sc riven Countv, Sept. 1?, ’836.
To Joshua Hill, Augustus W. Lane, Jeremiah
W. Pearson, Thomas H. B. Rivers, James
B. Lewis, and H. P. Kilpatrick, Esqs., of
Monticello
Gentlemen: Your note of the 19th instant,
in the Georgia Journal, addressed to the State
Rights candidates for Congress, was handed to
rue for the first time yesterday. Recognizing to
its fullest extent, “ the right of the Constituent
to require of the candidate for his suffrage, an
open avowal of his opinions, on any political sub
ject,” I take great pleasure in responding to the
important question you have propounded.
You ask if I believe the Congress of the Uni
ted Slates has the constilutianal power to abolish
slavery in the District of Columbia, or any of
the territories of the United States, or to legis
late on that subject at all; and whether, if I am
elected a Representative of the next Congress. I
will vote to receive petitions for the abolition of
slavery I—Tobolh these questions I unhesitating
ly answer in the negative. If Congress has the
right lo abolish slavery in the District of Colum
bia, or elsewhere, or lo legislate upon that sub
ject at all, that right must be derived alone from
the Constitution, for from no other source can
any department of the General Government dc
rive any right or power whatever under its pres
ent organization. The only clause in that in
strument upon which the aholitonists, and those
who act with them, ground their claim ofpower,
to legislate upon the subject-of slavery, is that
which authorises Congress “ to exercise exclusive
legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such Dis
trict not exceeding ten miles square,” as may
be ceded lo the United States for the purpose of
establishing a permanent “ seal of Government.”
I o my mind, this clause, instead of conferring,
directly prohibits, the exercise of such a power;
tor although Congress may exercise •* exclusive
legislation,” these words can never be tortured to
mean an uni mited and undefined legislation.
Such a construction would be to subvert the
restrictive operation of the Constitution, and con
found the meaning of words—it would be to
make “ exclusive ” and “ unlimited ” or “ unde
fined,” convertible terms, for which other author
ity than the present standard lexicons of our
language must be produced.
Nor does the seemingly comprehensive phrase
“ in all cases whatsoever,” which immediately
follows, at all unhinge this operation : No De
partment of the General Government possesses,
or can possess, any inherent, or underived power.
All its powers are delegated to it by the States,
and the Constitution is the written instrument en
tered into by those States, wherein those powers
are specified and enumerated. It is not suffi
cient, therefore that Congress is not prohibited
the exercise of any particular power, but the
right to legislate, must be specially delegated be
fore the action of the federal government can be
legitimate. Whence it follows, that the words
“in all cases whatsoever” must be construed to
mean in all cases whatsoever, wherein the Con
stitution authorises the action of the federal le
gislature. If these premises be true, it follows
that Congress cannot, under that clause, legislate
. upon any and every subject whatsoever, either
I within the “ ten miles square,” or the territories.
If the opposite construction prevails, then the
n Congress of the United States would indubitably
i- have the power to create lilies of nobility, »nd es
tablish a Religion in the District of Columbia ;
nay .they could do any and every thing else tual the
whim,caprice, or interest of an unprincipled major
% ity might suggest. Who in the south would open
ie ly contend for such a right 1 And yet there is
no difference in fact between the two cases. —
Look then, gentlemen to the Constitution —that
instrument is silent upon the subject of slavery,
* s and no where confers upon the Federal Govcrn
)- ment the right to legislate upon the subject at all.
k Under this view of the case, it is altogether im
ie material whether Maryland or Virginia ceded
I with the District, the right to abolish slavery
therein. These two States could noteither make,
*’ alter, or amend the Constitution so as to give
that right. The treaty of cession only conveys
;r to Congress the right to govern and control a
j- certain district of country so fur as it was pre
viously constitutionally empowered to do. But,
neithei Maryland or Virginia ever intended to
confer such a right upon the Legislature ot the
Union—a right which would have been suicidal
n of themselves, and destruction itself to their own
;s people. The intention of the grantors was sim
r. ply to cede to the confederation a seat and loca
tion for their general agent, the Federal Govern
e ment, and if they could have believed for a mo
‘ ment, that under that clause of the Constitution
'* which authorises the acceptance of the land ceded,
a claim woaid have been set up for Congress to
„ legislate upon slavery, that body might have still
e! have been holding its sessions in Philadelphia,
- or perambulating the country from Maine to Geor
gia.
1 If I were at Washington, or at any other place,
1 in my private, individual capacity, I could not
tamely sit by and hear the State of Georgia abu
sed, her people villiiied aiul slandered ; much less
j could I, as a Representative in Congress vote to
receive a petition replete with the grossest calum
ny, not only of ray constituents, hut of myself.
T If lam told that the Abolitionist has the constitu
tional right to petition the government, and that
' therefore Congress is bound to receive his petition,
my answer is to be found in the very clause un
i der whch he seeks to introduce his prayer. The
r people have the right peaceably to assemble and
t petition the government for a redress of grievan
-5 ces ; but of what grievance ?—their own surely.
> According to the abolitionists themselves, slavery
* is a Southern wrong, and a grievance to the
southern slave. It is not their own grievance,
nor do they claim it as such —they are not held
; in bondage; they commiserate, at a distance, as
. they say, a sore grievance inflicted upon the
slaves in Georgia. The people of Massachusetts
and Connecticut are not one and the same with
the people of Georgia—on the contrary, so far
j as this internal municipal institution of slavery is
concerned, they are wholly foreign to us. Then,
these Fanatics might, with as much propriety, pe
i tition Congress to abolish the horrible SuPee of
f the East Indians, or the slavery of Timbuctoo, as
■ slavery in the State of Georgia, to which they are
total strangers, and which belongs exclusively to
us. Besides, the Constitution only prohibits
Congress from passing any law abridging the
right of the people peaceably to assemble and pe
tition &c. Is the bare refusal, upon motion, in
one house, to receive a villainous petition, the
passage or enactment of a law abridging the right
of petition ! If these cosmopolitan philanthrop
ists are such pretended sticklers for constitutional
rights, why let them take those rights as they find
them written—let them have their “pound of
flesh but no more. I would vote for no law
abridging, or interfering with the right of petition,
although tiiat right has availed the Sold hern peo
ple but little heretofore—to us it has indeed been
but an “empty name”—but, at the same time, I
would not receive a petition grossly abusive of
my con tituents, and relative to a supposed griev
ance. which the petitioner disclaimed as his own,
and over which Congress has no earthly jurisdic
tion.
Another, and not the least objection to receiv
ing abolition petitions, is this, if Congress receive
the petition, it must pass upon Us contents and
dispose of it in some way or other, either by adop
ting or granting the prayer of the petition, or re
jecting it. Now, to do cither, would be actually
to assume, and exercise jurisdiction ovei the sub
ject matter of the petition, which, in my opinion,
wood be not rtnly “a violation of public faith,” as
Mr. Pinckney would say, but an actual and fla
grant violation of the Constitution itself.
These, gentlemen, among others, which the
limits of this article will not permit me to urge,
are the reasons why I have given a negative an
swer to your important enquiries; and at the same
time that I hope they may be sufficiently explicit
and satisfactory, permit me to express my regiet
that such a state of things exists at the South, as
renders it necessary for the constituents to cate
chise the candidate for office, upon the subject of
Slavery ; especially when it is done, to expose,
by contrast, the delinquency of one of our public
servants. With the question of abolition, the
politics of the day should not be permitted to
interfere—the foe is at our door, and the danger
at hand. If we are wise, le; us be united and as
one man, in our opposition to the alaiming
encroachments of the Fanatic; and he who fal
ters, when the hour shall come, in the defence of
our homes, our altars, and our domestic institu
tions, should be spurned from oqr councils, and ,!
execrated as a man.
I have the honor, very respectfully, to b',
\ our obedient servant, •
EDWARD J. BLACK.
1
Letter of Ed. J. Black.
Extract from a letter written by the Hon. E. J.
Black, to A. L, \\ bitten. Esq. and others Com
mittee, dated 25th Aug., 1838.
The successful oppositon of the State Rights
parly of Georgia to the “ Pet Bank scheme” of
Gen, Jackson and Mr. \ an Buren, is of too re
cent occurrence to demand proof bv reference, to
the tacts which transpired at the time. Having
participated in that opposition, I entertain now,
as I did t .en, a settled repugnance to the ‘scheme’
as one, the signal failure of which, has p r ovcd
conclusively, the truth of the many objections
which were urged against its adoption. Even its
orginal authors have abandoned it as inefficient,
and a vast majority of the people have fully sus
tained our opposition. What course remains
then for us to pursue! If we intend to be true
to ourselves, and consistent with our former pro
i sessions, we must necessarily advocate the adop
tion of an Isdepkxext Theascrt. Having
rejected a Lmteo States Bank as miconstitution
■ at, and consequently, as inexpedient —having re
pudiated the Pet Bank system in ail its bearings,
- we are no longer at liberty to refuse a fair trial to
- that only remaining plan of collecting and dis
r bursing the public revenue, which proposes to
divorce the Government from all connection with
( Banks, as fiscal agents. While, however, I ad
’ m ‘ l l he general principle of divorcing the Govern
ment from Bamcs, I should insist upon a satis
, factory arrangement of the details of the system
. before I could *ive it my support; for that which
, might be a very acceptable “ Sub-Treasury” to
one man, might be exceedingly objectionable to
s me. I should vote not only to sever the Govern
- ment from Banks, but I should insist upon sc
veringthe Treasury, and the appointment of its
e officers, from the hands of the Executive. I
would place the control of the Treasury, and the
e appointment and supervision of those who are to
s administer its affair, in the hands of the House
o of Representatives. The members of that house
- arc elected at short intervals by the people—their
- responsibility is more direct and their connection
s with the constituent body more immediate than
e any other branch of the general srovernment. To
r that department too, the Constitution evidently
;. looks to their most appropriate agents to super
b | vise the “ ways and means ’ of the people in their
political capacity, when it clothes it with exclu
sive power to originate a revenue. I would also
leave the government free to receive the bills of
specie paying Banks; for while I distinctly re
cognize gold and silver only as money, and as
the currency known to rhe constitution, I do
not think I should be violating cither the letter
or spirit of that instrument, by receiving the bills
of such banks as promptly paid specie, dollar for
dollar, at the will of the holder. I should look
upon such bills as the immediate representative
of the precious metals—as specie certificates,
convertible wdth gold and silver so long as they
were so in fact . I should receive them not as
matter of favoi to the Bank, but of convenience
to the government. I refer to these particulars
only to shew that the general principle of the di
vorce is one thing, and the details of any bill, es
tablishing that principle, quite another, and
equally important, if not more so, as the original
question.
I make this exposition, thus minutely, of my
views in relation to an Indcpendant Treasury,
purely in obedience to the call from t ranklin anti
Taliaferro, for while we look to it with some in
terest, in this section of the State, as a question
of policy , involving the direct violation ot no
fundamental principle, wc do not recognize it
as a test of political purity. It is not permitted
to interfere with considerations of higher mo
ment or to operate to the conclusion of those who
may honestly differ from us.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your
fellow-citiscn, EDWARD J. BLACK.
Extract from a letter to Gen. Dat'd B. Mitchell,
Chairman, dated January 10//t 1836.
“ You will readily recognize the foregoing as a
faithful epitome o; the princip es of the State
Rights party, and an honest rehearsal of the doc
trines of the Union leaders. Now, sir! sup
pose, what in the present critical juncture ot our
affairs is quite a supposable case, that by the aid
I of the abolitionists, and the vole ot the Lnion
Electors, Martin Van Buren and Richard M.
Johnson,— THE ONE AN ULTIMATE AB
OLITIONIST IN PRINCIPLE—AN AD
VOCATE OF FREE NEGRO SUFFRAGE
—THE OTHFR A PRACTICAL AMAL
GAMATIONIST, who has been wedded to two
negro women, and is now honored by half a dozen
mulatto chrildrcn, of his own get, are raised to
the Presidency, and placed at the head ot the
‘ Government ” —Suppose that the abolitionists,
who are avowedly the friends and supporters of
Van Buren and Johnson, go on increasing as
they have increased in numbers and influence,
and at length by their zeal and activity return a
majority to Congress instructed to treat ail slave
holders as “man-stealei s” and “land pirates,” anti
Congress accordingly passes an act to abolish
slavery not only in the District of Columbia,
but in the Slates. The deed is done —the Rubi
con is passed—slavery is abolished! The fair
and beautiful South, the “Home” of nur fathers,
is threatened to be deluged with the best blood of
her patriot sons—our children to be offered up a
sacrifice upon the reeking altars of a bloody in
surrection, and our v irtuous and helpless women
menaced with the horrors often thousand deaths,
in the brutal violation which the half liberated
slave, drunk with the blood of his master, and
gloating with beastly passion upon tnc jicrs<Mi of
his mistress, is ready to inflict upon them. When
this whirlwind is about to rush upon our devo
ted country, and the black clouds, which already
portentously lower in the distance, shall have
overcast our horizon, and the land is about to be
overwhelmed in darkness and death, to which of
these two political parties will you address your
self, to rescue the country from impending ruin !
1 o which of these parties will our women and
children fly lor succour, and protection 7 To
the party whose leaders have recognized the
“Proclamation” as the “brief abstract and chron
icle’ of their faith—who profess to believe in the
supremacy of the United States Government,
and who have practically illustrated their princi
ples of submission to that government, by voting
tor, and supporting the Force Bill, which em
powers the President to enforce the act of Con
gress upon the people of the Stale at the point of
the bayonet! Or will they not appeal for pro
tection and defence to the State Rights men
THE NuLLIFiERS, PUPILS AND FOLLOWERS OF
Thomas Jefferson ! Men who are devoted to
the Union , the constitutional, voluntary Union
of these Statas, as it was originally formed—who
will always permit and approve the constitution
al acts of their federal agent, but when that agent
oversteps the limits of his delegated authority.,
and passes an act which the Constitution does
not warrant, or which strikes at the life, liberty,
or happiness of the citizen, believe and assert,
and are ready to maintain, that Georgia, being a
Sovereign State, will, as she is bound to do,
inteifore and protect her people, at any and at
every hazard ?
These arc the questions to be put to the people;
lot them ponder well, and give, as I hope, an an
swer in writing at the polls in October next, which
will affirm the truth of the principles we profess,
and in order to present a full State Rights ticket
for their acceptance or rejection, I cheerfully ac
cept the nomination you are instructed to tender
me.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully,
your obedient seivant.
EDWARD J. BLACK.
Judge Colquitt’s Letter.
i Newnan, Sept. 7, 1836.
Gentlemen : — Your communication, request
ing my opinion, whether “Congress has the
Constitutional power to abolish slavery in the
District ot Columbia, I proceed to answer. You
I will permit me to express my gratification, at
| the lively interest taken by yourselves and asso-
I ciateson a subject deeply important to the South
j On this subject there should be no division in
| this State ; but with one voice and united action
' we should put foith all our energies in opposi
j tion to any and every interference upon the part
i ot Congress, with this description of property.
The only safe guard to our liberties and rights,
j will be the vigilant restriction of every branch
I anc * department of Government, to its legitimate
j constitutional sphere of action ; and whenever
j b y construction, Congress shall infringe the rights
i wh >ch belong to some other branch of the Gov
ernment, or trample upon the rights of individu
als, the peace and unity of the country are dis
turbed. I feel confident from the signs of the
times, that if ever the silken cords that bind to
gciher this confederacy, be broken, and our hap
py Union dissolved, the danger will spring up
trom the same source from which emanates the
principle, by which Congress claims the power
to abolish slavery ia the District of Columbia.
I am fully of the opinion that Congress has no
power by the Constitution, to interfere with the
private property of individuals in the District of
Columbia or anywhere else ; and that anv at
tempt to abolish slavery in the District of Co
j lumbia, would be in violation of the Constitu-
Uon, and an unauthorized assumption of power •
which, in exercise, threatens the peace aAd har
m°ny of tee country, and the permanency of the
Lnion. So sensibly do I feel the trußi of these
altarTth’ ‘ 1 T “Pon the
altar of the country s good, individual predilec
"^°r ly reS ° lVe -H-o/notan
strath ™’ mm y conv iction, may give
ST 50 tht
c opposed to mmc. and thnf hr dtir. 1 -n
s^Z d ho!M : ‘r , ‘‘ ul " mnl iSJTcZ
* a* to abolish slavery m the District of Co
tumbles Inasmuch as Mr. Van Burn, was an
. advocate for the restriction of Missouri, upon the
f subject of slave population ; the fact of his hav
■ in" voted in the Convention of New \ ork tor a
, provision, giving to free negroes the political
> right of white men; the fact that almost the tn
r tire strength of the abolitionists is exercised for
s his promotion ; and for the further reason
r that he himself acknowledges, that he is not pre
t pared to say that Congress has not the Gonstitu
s tion-I power to abolish slavery in the District ot
i, Columbia. These circumstances are indications
i ton stronly expressive of tvs real feelings, to per
s mit me to aid his election, at a lime when the
e country is so much agitated by the increasing
s efforts of the abolitionists, t have deemed it nc*
- cessary to be thus explicit upon the Presidential
- election, inasmuch asjyour present members may
i be called on in the character of Representatives to
I vote for or against Mr. Van Buren, for this high
appointment. I should deem my professions
y empty and vain, if I should be found supporting
, men for the highest and most responsible offices
1 in the country, who by word or deed are found
- giving countenance or support to a principle at
i variance with the general weal. I expect to act
3 upon this principle, and thereby show' my faith
t by my works,
i With an expression of my ardent desire for
' the happiness and welfare of our country, you
a will accept my good wishes tor your individual
prosperity and the prosperity of those whose sen*
r timents you represent.
Yours respect'ully,
WALTER T. COLQUITT.
Extract from a letter of Walter T. Colquitt, to
i the Editors of the Columbus Enquirer.
“I am decidedly in favor of disconnecting the
- government from all banks- Surely the agents
-of the government, selected by the people or
r their Representatives, are likely to he competent
1 and as honest as corporations which are under
i the cont rol of neither. Lei the Treasury be in
• dependent. The receiving specie alone in pay*
- ment of public dues, I do not think necessary ;
• and without a good reason for it would act op
' pressively upon the banks.”
) For the Chronicle and Sentinel.
i To the People of Taliaferro County,
> As some contrariety of public opinion seems to
: have been started in the public mind in relation to
j- the nature of the charges made by me against
, Major Mark A. Cooper, on the day of discussion in
, Crawfordville, and the extent of his denial of the
i same, I have thought proper, in order to put the
■ matter beyond quibble, to give you my allegations
in a substantive and tangible form, that there may
be left ro room for disputation about terms, or cavil
. about words. To this end, therefore, I state that,
r upon tin; occasion alluded to, it was my wish to be
, distinctly understood as stating, or charging if you
please, Major Cooper with being at the head of, or
1 connected as one of the principal stockholders, wi'h
the most unequal, unrestricted, and iniquitous
chartered institutions in this State —the Western
1 Insurance and Trust Company. An incorporation,
1 hy the provision of it? charter, authorized and em
-1 pewered to take usurious interest, and to receive
1 on money lent, more than the lawful rates which
, govern other banks, companies, and individuals ;
} and which 1 emphatically denounced as nothing
; short of a legalized and licensed monied shaving
f shop. And that you may appreciate the justness
' of the charge, as well as the truth upon which it
rests, I cite you to Prince’s New Digest, pages 112
} and 4i7, where the charter is to be found, and by
. which you will peceive that the Company have
“full power and authority to borrow and loan on
'■ such ter may be agreed upon .” Whether at
’ eight, ten, sixteen, twenty-five, or any other per
cent. That their capital stock is one million of
’ dollars—that they are permitted to deal in stocks,
exchanges, and “ other chose in action,” which
f embraces promissory notes —that they arc not limit
■ ed as to the amount of their issues—are not re
quired to make report to the public of their con
dition as other Banks —or to publish the names of
their stockholders —nor is the individual property
, of their stockholders liable for the redemption of
• payment of their notes—-and, upon the whole, is
the most unlimited, unrestricted, privileged, char
tered monopoly in this State, and perhaps in the
Union. These are facts, tlut I apprehend neither
Major Cooper nor any of his friends will attempt
to deny. The charter of the Company is a statute
of the State, and too accessible to all, and in its
language is too plain to be misunderstood. Whe
ther Major Cooper was successful in his attempt to
satisfy you that his institution so chartered, an 1
upon which such extraordinary powers arc confer
red, is not in fact, or in its practical operation >
(which I understood to be the point where he wished
to shift the onus,) an engine of oppression, an 1 does
not exercise its power in the exaction of usury, by
stating that part of its gains or profits were given to
benevolent purposes-, and in refusing to answer*
when asked what was the greatest amount of in
terest or profit realized in any- of its operations or
transactions, I shall not now stop to inquire—suf-
fice it to say-, that its char’ties I believe are not
held in very high esteem about Columbus, where
their influences are most sensibly felt. And it
seems li;tie strange that a company should pay
forty thousand dollars premium, (as that did,) for
the privileges of a charter without intending to use
them. The most natural conclusion is, that very
enormous shaves must have been the inducement
to warrant such a price for the license. And I
leave it for Major Cooper and many of the good
people about Columbus, who have had dealings
with the institution, to determine whether that has
not been the result. But I here state also, as 1 did
on that occasion, that I wish it equally, distinctly
under? ood, that the remarks made by- me in relation
to that institution and Major Cooper’s connection
with it, were provoked by himself, and were called
for by the tenor of his own argument upon the
question agitated by him in the discussion. This I
understood to be an attempt on his part to array
the different interests in the State in hostility to
each other, and to persuade the people that the
great principle of his party was the advocacy of
the planting and farming interest, in opposition to
the Bank interest, monopolies, privileged orders,
Sic., which is a kind of watch word for the partr,
from the editor of the Extra Globe doivn, and being’
no less false in the assumption of its grounds than
deceptive in its chancier, it was proper for it to be
exposed. The interests of all honest classes of
community are mutually dependant upon each
other, and are alike mutually beneficial to each
other, and any attempt to create a spirit of hostility
between them, should be considered as a sure evi
dence of an intention to mislead, not to enlighten
but to deceive; Lut when they are made°they
should be as promptly met. And when Major
Cooper started the question of adverse interest
m the community, and represented himself nud his
party as advocating the planting and farming fn
teic.t in opposition to tire Bank interest, it was
proper for the people to know what relation he
ble to each. And the same kind of exposure
\v ou d, as much as you might be surprised by it,
mrt a s ‘ m *l a r disclosure in reference to many
other distinguished leaders of Major Cooper’ . I
Democratic party, who make such profcs;C- I
attachment to the funning interest amt -no I
& j ll, i abhorrence I
of banking institutions, while the-,- a >p ,
J u ’•■'crnsi'Jves I
at the head of these very institutions which t: •
most at the planter’s expense, and pocket knr °
... . ~, * P r olits I
Ins losses growing out of this very system of t- T
wbich they am! the government together l"
brought about, and in a continuance of wifi j, '
both seem to be abort equally in'erested—'''
planter in neither as they now exUt. i, aVl , r . l *
interest. But to make such sbowiim at n ”■ ' 1
. * Q iu|n urne i:
not my object—it would be toj much iu e th e v '
jor’s system of argument—and if i t Wcre
doubt some person of the party afterwards
say ihat it was a most wilful and preme^iT
attack. A. fi. STEpagjJ *
Crawfobdvxlle, Ga., Sept. 12 1810
Tun Plot and the Post Office \ c
pondent of the Newark Daily Advertiser
the following account of the “great pi a”? 5
which Loco Focoism hopes to blow up G-'r< '
Harrison and the whole Whig party. He
poses it to be the “ last card” to which (he*
gician referred in a recent conversation with***
influential partisan : ' i!1
To the Editor of the Newark Daily Advertiser
A letter has accidentally come into mv .
session, which discloses a desperate and' dec
laid scheme to defeat the election of General
Harrison; and if carried out will convulse ihfi
government to its very centre, and result in arm
chy and blood
The Post Office is the engine—Amos Kendall
the instrument to effect it. The first stop is ,i- >
iearly taken, by ordering every channel of com- i
municating information to the people to be closed
execcpt through his hands and those engaged hi ■
the conspiracy. A startling report, such as the .
death of Gener.il Harrison, may he circulated
throughout Ohio. Pennsylvania, and New York,
just on the eve oflhc election, and every Wifi*
paper contradicting be suppressed.
This scheme accounts for their confidence in
the success of Mr. Van Buren, notwnhstaiulfiiir
their overwhelming defeat in almost every State J
in which there has been an election. This ac- ■
counts for the extraordinary declaration of a p
leading adminutration man, recently in the ritv fe
of New York, that “ Van Buren had a card yet i
to play, which none of his friends suspected.”"
You may depend upon it they are playing a 1
desperate game ; they make no calculations for a I
retreat; they inscribed upon their banners, “rule L
or ruin.”—Let every Wing press throughout the
Union sound the alarm. Warn the whole coun
try against this daring conspiracy. They have
certificate makers, and afii iavit makers in* readi
ness, and with such a bold, talented, and reckless
creature as Arnos Kendall at their heal, we may
well tremble for the liberties of our country.
I am no alarm st. * f h ivo ever relied vvi h
confidence upon the intelligence, integrity, and
patriotism of t he people of this country. But
when we see the highest funlionaries of our gov
ernment conniving with public plunderers,when
we see the Representatives of a sovereign Slate,
holding in their hands credentials clothed with
all the solemn sanctions of law, kicked out of
Congress fur the express purpose of consutima- I
ting a conspiracy between Mr. Van Buren and j
John C. Calhoun; ana finally, when we see I
every prominent leading measure of .Mr. Van
Buren pointing to one single object, the concen
tration of all power in his hands, there is just
cause of alarm.
I would suggest the propriety of recommend
ing the Whigs throughout the country to bepre
[ared.it necessary, to establish ex presses in eve
ry State in the Union. Let every mail be watch
ed until the election, and as soon as they are sat
isfied that the game has commenced, let riders he
mounted, and sent in every direction.
G. E. J.
From the New Orleans Courier of the 10 fh.
From Mexico.
So much unccitainty attends the intelligence
wc arc in ihe habit of receiving from Texas and
Mexico, that ere one week elapses, we may be
called on to contradict statements made but two nr
three days previous. An arrival yesterday from
Matamoras, brings news of General Arista’s ad
vance to that place with 3000 Mexican soldiers, I
whose military array seemed exemplary. This I
warlike display ccines quite unexpected, after j
the accounts of last week, touening the crili- I
cai position of the Centralists in Mexico. If the
force under Genera! Arista be such as represented
by the Matamoras le:tri writers, we are of opin- I
ion that the Tcxian Generals and soldiers I
will soon have oilier employment than that of re* I
pelling the Indians.
Extract of a letter received bp a respectable mtr - I
cantile house of this city.
“ M ata moh as, August 25, 1810.
Genaral Arista sets out to-morrow with about I
1000 men, to meet the Federalist who are in the
vicinity ofNMontery. If the reports in circula
tion here, are to be relied upon, the Federal Gen
eral, Canales, has had six or seven Toxians put
to death ; and ihe consequence has been that a.i
the Texiansor Americans have left him.”
Bin es, but to the Purpose.— The Rich
mond Enquirer, adverting to Mr. Clay’s speech
at Nashville, and particularly, to that passage
which alludes to the charges of cowardice brought
against Gen. Harrison, says—-’lt is idle for Mr*
Clay to raise a phantom that he might dissipate
it; for no man has pronounced Hauki»'M
coward whose opinion is entitled to respect-'
Tite Baltimore American copies the above
arid remarks —“This is a side blow which wid
fall heavily upon many of the zealous allies of
the Enquirrer, who thought themselves doing
good service by saying as may opprobious thing*
as possible of Gen. Harrison. Perhaps it nu
not be too much to expect now that the admits
ist ration papers will publish a letter recently peu
ned hy Col Johnson, the candidate for the Vi»
Presidency, on the same ticket with V an Buren.
even although the said letter does happen to
contain the testimony of one gallant officer to M
bravery of another.”
From the Cincinnati Gazette.
Abolition Movkments in Ohio. —Wejearn
from the Cleveland Herald, that the AbohW“
Convention of the North, which was be I
Akron on the 271 h ult., to nominate a I
for Congress in the Cuyahoga district, adjourn? I
without effecting that object. The subject " I
distinct political organization in Ohio was up
consideration, and referred to a State 0
Convention, to be held at some future day |
The Abolition Convention ot the oeu •
held at Hamilton, in Butler county, on 11®
inst. Wc are informed by a Delegate ,r 0“ . ar
city, that there were about two huiv.rei re = A
delegates present, though none attended r 0 1
northern part of the State. A resolution 1
act with either of the two great politic 3 P jB
of the county, was carried by a vole 0 . ( | on 9
Another, to effect a distinct political organ' IB
and support Mr. Birney, of New \ or ’ I
sident, and Mr. Earle of Pennsyl V3nir ‘ ® >
President, was carried by a majority ° i
Welland Canal. —The Oswego Conii I
cial Herald of the 7lh inst. states that t' ? ■
of the blowing up of the aqueduct in the H
and Canal, is without the least foundation m |
It says:— n lvcs*li
No such occurrence has taken place, a i
sels are constantly passing the canal an I
here daily laden with wheat from Lake . r V ot I
More than 50,000 bushels have been rt ' ( T l ' „ n( j I
thi port within a few days byway of lb® e
canal.