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5 ■■■ “* " ” 1 ' '' 1 111 ——■' *“'**’ i r -~- SSBS '•- -—— ——— ”* ' S 8
«tTBArGVOTA, (GA.) mTBDAv. m \i:», voiirMK no—\o.aa.
ma'gTA»__.
SitaW, *™i ; IW -' -
y k . ju.-i, uiul Tear not*”
° ( ?!!vn I s S C^PW I^“^ '<■« "’ e
J „„, :,„ t'orrespomtent, is necee
r,l‘ -‘‘r-n. ofroon,. Severs,
i^ r '°pierUnts willlwVounil on our iirslpitge.
/ i, V. NEWMAN.
, „ | )V li.-.i- New*** to say, thru at■>
!« will mske 10 ilie pul,lie, if circumstances
,1 necessary, a s“'"' n,eut of tl,e WI °" S
ll -ui.l vet liS'i ii' r believing that u treal>
iiutlie CiieroUess, some time tl'ls summer
' . -uilly fail, it cannot be attributed to
irin liMpartt but to u combination ofeir-
Sr, as a Representative of Georgia,
,1 , control. He thinks this explanation nc
onniaaeitee of the manner in which his for
ion upon this subject, has been noticed, in
jmlilii’ paptT.-* ____
ViIXIFICATION.
n t;!e Cunstiiuiiooalisi of Friday Inst, under
L ( , has aiicmptfd to palm upon the public,
’ a lissuc of most absurd sophistry
••ijol vy” —rvini'iiio, 100, a wnnl of courtesy
c or ihn-e who honestly differ from him, scarce
a mere difference of political oplnion-and
i<je i;rnonuicti of li.e doctrines ami men heop
uli-no.-iiion to misrepresent them. And Ins
ins uliogelher, so much of an arbitrary, as
dictuiorial spirit, similar to that which perva
r one in ilia! paper,which we commented on a
co as to leave no doubt that both emanated
le ’ rl i. For ourselves, we know of no right
k . liu . r has, to dictate to the people of Georgia
more than die humblest individual in either
fhen lie ommes to do so, he should recollect
),lesi citizen umongsl us, endowed with the
C( . mu ,i, will “ claim the privilege of deriv
,s. !< from the capital stock of his own wits,
Uh ’ and look upon his high-handed assmnp--
p. it mounding brass and tinkling cymbal.”
“ We have always held the doctrine of nu!-
rcdh.i;ly cheap.” Well, what of that? It
lumper than advice not wanted, and vulun
eit nut asked. But, to proceed to his argn
|ii merit it can he called He. says: “ Inal
ncon-titiitionidly nullify r.ny act of Congress
pleat's to pronounce unconstitutional—that
act cannot be enioretd, unless Ihrec-fliurih.s
a.-scmhlcd in Convention, make iiconsti
n hi nit ten of them may tirmly be
\lrtiultjcotelilulional:—lliesc propositions are
r lidsc, dial a perusal of die Constitution is
refute diem.” Ves —he says so; but lei US see
nd w tinker ‘‘a perusal of the Consliuuion is
iin refute” his objection, rulhej* Ilian to sus
ic declares, that *Mhe powers
rd to die United States, by the Consliuuion,
[,-*• hy it 1 1 the .Slates, are reserved to the
criv'dy, or to the people,”—and that all al
.iiiiciidinci.ts of die Constitution, to be valid,
t t.,ilcil hy the hegi-laiurcscfihree-fburihs i f
Sia;c-', or by ConvcnlioiH, in three-fourths j
In- nuK niliuenis or alterations to bu
I- ei'h Mi i Ilnuses of Congress, or by a Cr.i
-- .i.iii*-, to he called by (lie .-aid two-lliiids
Sir Art. V.—Now, will me writer pre
ri. ii-.n tilt* power to prob'd domestic manu
• \crciscd in the Trrilf, and proposed to be
t'.trutin:i, has been “delegated (.< iho Untied
(’ iiisliuniiui ?” \\ «• pro.*Mine not. Will
t . mi. 'c-s has a shadow ofright to exereise
• r miy oilier, witl.oul the audior.iy of tiie ,
?-u; , deny, that “ vniiensorvcr the (jlcuerul i
t s undi'leguled powers, its acts an*
Hit, mid, and of noforce, 1 11' 1 Was not Con
, In t .re it pa-sed an ael to protect domestic
to propose to the State.- such an ainend-
I • i.Mimiimi, as would give them the power
\ !, had they done this, would it not have,
hr. I'.jliuniis of tin* Sines foighleenj to wake ;
•ii d, even though sccatteni of them firmly J
dit Wa» alreiidj constitutional 7” To be. 1
dd. Tlie Con •litmiou was designed, as all .
■> arc, to protect the minority , and restrain •
; and i* lias sanvdly guarantied to the minor- j
an shall he passed, against its interests or |
ami the siinctiuii of that Constitution to which i
(;iad w ie!i a minority of even one could |
d } or of an ameudincut to it, sanctioned hy
he iwcniy-fnir Slates—yes, eighteen—Cor if j
a * •. tr/i/iv/i” concur, it is no more binding
ic. than a law of Great Britain or France. (
1 >n ithe.u the C.iiistiiuiion is a mere mockery, ;
uigofit was a u-cle.-s and ridiculous farce, i
t! very strange, to one who seems to possess
'it ul'ilirtuHun, and to claim that j'oucr shall '
rr.g/.f, whenever it shall hi' sanctioned by;
i seven—that so small, so contemptible a pro- ’
:t ' ;t Stales, should liavft the right
iiiuitrary trill of “ seventeen ” —even though ’
t‘* plunder and oppress them without mercy,
B'i'ui case. Hut, strange as it may seem to
»'icvertlieless. And if he denies it, we chal
-1 ••si. t iin ids* denial hy proof.
l"iiik-j it so strange—so very absurd and un-
Kh {| ! strtn .Slates should have Hie right to re
ts arbitrary will nt’sccenteeUf or a law made
idiom constitutional authority—what will he :
tingle one having the unquestioned and un- |
"-ditto resist a law made hy tirclvc? Will
" 1 ?'• “ Bh, monstrous 1 impossible!” One
■ K|" i t such a response., from one who con
b “slar’mgly false,” thuta/:cc/i .States should
to resjwt lerertfcca—he the will ol’those
li! -d ii limy, and however unconstiintioiial.
ji‘-‘\i',rtln-ie-s, as he may now mark, t » his
• U'lU! lae paramount law of tI.H land, is
[*o/t —and that law (made by thirteen States)
"'fit d, even by a majority o CticcUe
' ,, r V ' : ‘ l,u ‘ : ' n * of Delaware, nr Somli
i h l “y other Slate—could have
•nd rightfully resisted the will of the oilier
I n 1-e.v i*..til | ii*h, hud it done so, have
1 " 11 A * l ' m ide so far ssili -f»elory ns to ob
I'""* 1. t msf who agreed to it, rnn-labide.
• , iim-i cheeiTqJiy. And wherein ilo we
1 * l *"*or when do we notellng toil,
v 1,1 right—and our vindica
r,,-. 1 "i '' ,llat w *'* gives to Congress the
< o.iiesfic inanuftetnre.s; and we will
H/ J' lS * l ' v,JC, w mdtieeeighteen
, llf ’ u ‘ lr> hi amend the ConstilutlCHi, so as
v " x, r f,u r cfloru to that eff'^tmay
1,11 U ‘ i -' ,H ‘ w »*. Mini) clniiu the
i'-cxerr.He ofMich power, till those who
' * * r ’ eighteen of the tvvenly
i ~, Hl * *' * l!lf * as to insert such
'levery one gs the Stales to agree
n.u powers therein,hcf>rc any one could
' uium be blind, indeed, who does not
ri". C f l lte,MW l ' e fu,! ri ’ hl » rt»««*fire, to re-
U* U '' ™* W oWer » n ° l delegated therein,
rpjj.'; ■ ! Uin t!,e ino ,c prescribed and
• ■ • • ue-hy a n.ajority of lliree-fmrlhs ct
Whut right, in the name cl
p m jnn lyi noW| louxt . rciyc nny power>
g State. (Ptecpt by the mcle
' ° 'i' 110 *1 had in the first instance ?
EP“" “ C,) " M i" ftunilng il.s ConMlimion;
Ifivc now ’ coul<l not be HlUTcd or
F'hecon. neW power > or l»kc awoyauy old
L,„ ' '! ° r ' lr . only Unit each vuliminrity
I
L j, , , nc so * il would now require every
. j. ptoieciivc TarU, or uny oilier
aneon«lilntinnal lu"'l constitutional, even though, no* :
only seventeen, lint ft centj-three, ofilicm, might tirmly I
believe that il is already om-iiuuional.’’
The tlieory of our Coustiiution supposes ench and every
Stole to be, bound, in each and every case, only hy its
own consent, anil no further than it lias consented to he
bound ; because, each has consented to the making of all
; such laws as are in conformity with the Constitution.
. Hut no single Slide can rightfully be hound beyond its
I own consent, even though ticenty-three should combine
■ against it. 11 livery man of ordinary understanding cun
perceive,” we should think, tint the groat and primary
object of our Constitution, was to protect the minority,
1 even to a single one; and, so (hr ns a Constitution well
; can go, it has done so. Eat a mere paper Constitution
' can do nothing of itself, more than a land deed, with n hieh
the owner might he slript of the property, ns well as with
out it, unless he acted on the rights it gave him. And ip
’ the minority continually sleep over the violation ofthose
1 rights guarantied to them hy the Constitution, and do not
’ j act upon them, with the Constitution in their blind, ns
1 their justification, the fnill is their own : an I If they are
' j thus fobbed of litem, they have no more rigid to cont
’ plain of the Constitution, titan a man would, oftlte land
1 deed in his trunk, if, when some one was trespassing on
the properly, it did not, of itself, puss out of Hie drawer 1
in which il had been quietly laid, and go and ( fleet alt 1
ejectment of the trespasser therefrom. All rights have
remedies; and those oftlte minority arc both plain enough,
' and strong enough, iflltey are not so ignorant, so timid,
or so slavish, ns to suffer themselves to be scored or ca
joled out of them; and if they are, they deserve to lose
them.
We have not room to continue this subject further
but shall do so in our’nexl.
THE IIAMBUHti FESTIVAL.
We have the great pleasure of laying before
our rea let s, to-ilny, the able ami eloquent speech '
of Gov. Hamilton, delivered on the iiCtb u1t.,1
at the Festival given in Hamburg, by citizens of
Hamburg and Augusta, in testimony of their,
high respect for bis personal and private worth, [
and gratitude for bis generous devotion and dis- j
tinguisbed services to the cause of the South. I
Yea, the South—the whole South—and the
whole South will piopeily feel il—and Georgi-'
ans not less, we trust, than others; for il is not :
in the nature or custom of Southern men, to be i
either coldly neglectful, nr selfishly ungrateful, t
let their gratitude ho due to whom it may.
Generous, disinterested patriotism, personal! i
sacrifices, and distinguished public services, like J
those «».’ Gov. Hamilton, cannot he limited or
stayed by the boundaries of Carolina; nor can '
the warm gratitude, affection, and admiration i
they inspire. Anil, they who ditfer front him, I
may carp as they please about Carolina influence i
and interference, and all that kind of thing ; but, 1
there are enough who know the wilful inisrep- 1
resenlalion, blind prejudice, or ad enptandum
ti ickery of all this, and that the people of Geor t
giu, who it would seem are expected to ho “as 1
' tenderly led by the nose as asses are,” will no I
i more coil!ila»..n..e tins tax upon their credulity, 1
than that upon their pockocts and liberties,
which it is designed to coax them into suhniis- '
sion to. There has been no movement made i
in ibis matter, on the part of Guv. 11. «t any of '
thu Caro inians, hut wh it was assiduously rou t- 1
ed by citizens of Georgia, who were the fi st ;
to move in il, and are justly proud of having
done so, and of the whole part they have taken i
in it. The triumphant success which crowned :
their efforts, in the cordial cooperation of so,
large a concourse of their fidlow-cilizens, proves
that they did not mistake their feelings, or cal p
cnlulo on them too largely; and they are
ed hy circumstances too plain to he mistaken,
j th at hut a little lime will elapse, ere the people
lof Lie whole State, with few exceptions, will
I wutndy unite with them, fie litis ns it nitty,
1 however, they will do their duly, ami preserve
j the honest conviction of it, under all circum
| stances, and in preference of all other rewa ds.,
j lint we detain the reader fom the address of
Gov. Hamilton, which of coarse will afford him
“I far more pleasure and instruction, than any re-'
1 marks of ours; and, though stripped, in its present
' form, of the rich graces of oratory, and st. iking
i personal eloquence, with which it was delivered,
. he will doubtless find an interest in its petusal
which will render it difficult for him to lay it
i down, till he has read il through.
OOV. 11 AMII.TO VS SPEECH, |
i I) cHr and at the Public Festival given him in
Hamburg, un the 2Glh all. btj citizens oj Hum- |
harg and Augusta.
The following toast having been drank
“ Oar distinguished truest, Cloe. Hamilton A 1
patriot without fear, and without reproach. Hu i
i has generously devoted himself to the defence ,
| of Southern Rights and Southern Interests, and
!is qualified lor every ct isi-*. And Southern jeu |
pie will support hint in the great cause, in evety ■'
■ peril, and at every hazard.”—
Gov. Hamilton arose, and addressed the com
-1 pany as follows;
Fellow citizens .-—Whilst I feel, very sensibly, |
the kindness which has dictated the sentiment 1
t you have just uttered, ami the overpowering
1 enthusiasm with which it has been received,
! there is no vanity, however extravagant, nor
I self love, however inoidintto, that can induce
■ mo to pul down one jot of this compliment to
• iny own personal account. I desire to indulge \
■ in no idle display of affected modesty. In a
1 spirit of no ino.e than becoming humility, I
! itsk myself, how comes it to pass, humble as 1
am, distinguished in no degree stive by the too
- partial kindness and favor of my country-
J men, that these demonstrations of popular re-'
1 gard, unsought for and unsolicited, await me I
i the mighty contest in which wo are engaged?
i- Alas! my poor talent, feeble as il is, sinks in
0 distiust, if not in despair, of its own powers, in
‘ despite of the enthusiasm which the glorious
struggle itself bids to gush from my bosom.—
j Are, then, these tokens of public regard so essen
-1 tialjy at fault ? No, they are not the proofs of
- an unworthy homage to an individual; hut the j
' fi.es which at o kind lud on the aha sos our coun- j
They blaze forth to tell us, that however j
,1* houihle the labourer, thrice honored shall he ho
•, who brings his whole heart to the worship,
that the incense is offered, not to the man, hut
7 to the principles with si iu.lt he is identified, — j
’ around which we gather, in the hour of peril and
of darkness, to oiler up onr fervent adoration,
(I that we may take com age, not from despair,
hut from the living oracles ol liutli, justice, and
’ our right.
u”, . ,
,' r You are pleased to associate my name, with
i a cTiuse, in which I am proud to he considered as
a fellow-labourer with yourselves. To give
this cause a “local habitation” (and where
else does it find a refuge) it is called the cause
of the South, llut we have greatly mistaken
its true character, if it is not a cause which in
volves the freedom and happiness of our whole
people, and upon which, the Constitution and
the Union must now and forever depend. Il is,
in one word, a cause which has for its object,
the promotion of an equal, and, if possible, a
perfect justice among all the various members
ot this Confederacy, according to the plighted
faith of the compact—that this compact may he
preset vod in its strictest letter, and if need he,
that its violations may he, redressed, peaceably,
yet firmly, constitutionally, yet effectively; yet
redressed—redressed at every hazard.
Gentlemen—the posture of our country is
certainly a rematkahle one. Wo were once a
; united and a happy people—united and happy,
until the foul serpent found his way into the
Eden of our Union. The differences and colli
sions of party, which distinguished the early
operation of our system of government, resulted
from mere questions of administration, and for
eign policy, essentially temporal y in their nature.
No geographical lines, furrowed broadly and
deeply, marked those strifes for political power,
which now fling a cloud of daiknnss over the
future destiny of our country. The citizens of
' each Stale were divided in contests; if not of a
I friendly, at least of a salutary tendency. Now,
the most insatiable passion of the human heart,
| has drawn those lines with a topographical ac
[ curacy that may he traced on the map—and
j that, too, on a question involving, not only the
! direction of the industry of the country, but lltc
distribution of its income, on the proportion
which favoured sections are to receive of a
'common spoil, wrung hy an unconstitutional
■ scheme of taxation, from a minority, which finds
; that the very instrument designed for its protec
tion, has been made the means of its pillage and
‘ oppression. '
The late war with Groat-B:itain, gentlemen,
forms an instructive era in the history of our
cfeinitry. God forbid, that I should desire to
strike liom the pages of hislo y, either its glo
ries, or the solid securities which it gave ns for
national honour and independence. But, its
consequences show what a parodox, after all, |
are the hopes and the aspirations of man. It j
was a war waged, emphatically, for Free Trade;
and hy it, Fteo Trade has Leon mainly destroy
ed. We expelled the enemy from our walls,
hut admitted ihfi Trojan horse within the cita
del. The nianuficiu'c:t, which grew up under
the commercial restrictions of the war, vvete
ft-terctl by, and have themselves fostered, u
system under which litis portion of our common j
country, is now withering by a blight equally rs
destructive, as that which arises from a barren j
soil anil ungracious seasons 1 should indeed
pay hut m indifferent com liment to the intelli
gence of this assembly, if I were to dwell upon
an event, or upon its obvious consequences,
: which must be so familiar to you a’l. If we can
derive no instruction from experience, to wail
: over the past, is hut the part of weakness. W e
■ may, however, loan one lesson hy tins event,
never, front views of temporary expediency, to
compromise a coiislilutinn.il principle—surren
dered, it has not been. Out of this war, how- j
ever, that monster, which hy a detestable pro- j
filiation is called the American System, sprung.
Making its appeal to prejudices the mosl|
! higotted and ignorant, and extending its foul,
bribe to entire sections; and enlisting under its
banners, ambition, and avarice, it has succeeded
in dividing one part of the country from the ,
other, and of substantially recolottiziug a terri
tory, which measures some six o. »e\ eu degrees
of latitude. This change in the character of,
on: Government, and in the destiny of a portion j
I of its people, has been performed hy a process |
| so subtle and deceptive, that the most difficulty
j problem in the despotisms of au l l phly, has been I
! realized —“ of reconciling the Co: ms of a free, I
with the ends of an arbitrary governmenti
and, even now, there are those among ns, who, |
in their debt inns infatuation, love to hug their j,
chains, and fall down in stupid idolatry to kiss |
the hand that oppresses them. Have 1 over-;
charged this picture? Look at the operation ol
, the system itself. It has decreed, that the in-,
iliistry of the people of one section ol this Union,,
1 shall receive a steady discriminating bounty in J
; its favor, and that another portion shall raise this ;
1 bounty, by sustaining, in point of fact, a dis-]
’ criminating tax to an equivalent amount. As
! monstrous as this proposition may scent, it is i
mathematically true, and is susceptible ol toe i
most rigid demons!: alion. Ido not mean to go
! into all the abstractions of the argument of a
highly valued friend, and distinguished states
man of South Carolina (Mr. Mdlumt;) which;
j was designed to show, that the burden of the |
: tax falls almost exclusively on the producer of,
the great staples of Southern Agiiculture (a pro- \
position which, however contemned, appro*!-j
mates rnitch more nearly to the truth, than public j
opinion accords to it)—hu ! , merely to stale a sirn-1
1 pic lad, which neither cunning cap distort, nor the
hardihood of viilany itself deny—that the staph s
of the South, find their exchangeable value, in ]
the staple atlicles of European manufacture—
and that those articles, under even the proposed
adjustment of the tariff, by the Executive of the
United Stales, are to pay an impost of forty-five
per cent., whilst articles ol a similar description
and fabrication, made in the United Slates, are
visited with no burden whatever. To vary the
terms, without altering the substance of the
proposition, the manufacturers of cotton,
i and iron, which are honestly purchased will* the
cotton, rice, and tobacco of the South, ore to
pay, for the privilege of being vended iu out
own country, Ibis enormous itibutc ; whilst the
sumo articles, (he result of tjn; labour and capi
tal of a more favoured section ol the Co-fedor
cy, are to he fostered, in tact, hy a hountv
equivalent to tire lax which is levied on out
labour. I know how unsuitable these dry fta
lislics must be to an assembly so essentially fes
tive as the n-escnt I avoid going in">
1 details, hut content myself hy slating a single
■ circumstance, which is striking illustrative of
the whole system. Ifihe manufacturing States
ol the Union, had not, by the operation of the
1 legislation of the General Government, the con
ttol ol the markets of the South, by compelling
- us, under the penalty of 45 per cent., to pur
chase their articles of manufacture, the system
: itself would not last an hour. It is this mono
t poly the odious monopoly of the commercial
i nations of the dark ages, which coerced colo
' nies to pmchaso of the mother country —that
1 gives permanency to the system, and distin
s guishes its true character. The inconvenience,
i which the comparatively few consumers of for
t eign fabrics, suffer in the taiitV States, is inftn
t itely overhilanced hy the vast profit of holding
three or lour millions of consumers under, com
* ntercially Speaking, a colonial subjection, anil
i whose labour, so fur front competing with their
, own, is tributary to their industry. When, to
t the ahuses,<)f this great power of taxation, we
- add the signal injustice and oppressiveness of
' the mode hy which the income of the country
I is distributed—when we see a majority, in do
• fiance of the salutary limitations of the Consti
tution, squandering the public treasure thus itti
qnitously raised, either for purposes of absurd
extravagance, or profligate corruption—when
wo survey the actual and painful condition of
things before our eyes, may we not ask, whe
ther llteie is any substantial consolation in the
fact, that if the Constitution is trampled under
foot, it is at least, according to the accredited
forms of legislation, and in the presence ol those
whom wo cull our representatives I
The obligations resulting from the public debt,
and the essentially deceptive mode of taxation
involved in the system of iinposls,havo produced,
for a period of sixteen years, the submission of
our people to a scheme of government, unmatch
ed in the history of the civilized world, for the
injustice and inequality of its exactions. Its
whole current has been turned against ns. The
poor baubles of political power, in making this
or that man Pie-ident, or Vico President, from
our section of the Union, I put out of the account,
as too contemptible to be estimated. We know-,
because wo feel, that upon us the burdens oftlte
government fall with an unmitigated hand. Do
| wo suffer under the irreversible decrees of
| Heaven? Is that country, youth of the dark
: line where the Potomac rolls its full volume to
the ocean, cursed hy irremediable sterility?
Do the hurtling sands of a mighty desert, “whore
the parched udder dies,” stretch lltcir “void
immense” to the great delta of the father of
onr western waters, denying sustenance anil
life, to “man, fruit, or herb"?—No, we live in a
realm of inostimahlo value, blessed with pro
ducts that drink eternal vitality from llto stance
! of all life—that are richer, ten thousand times,
! than the fabled fleeced'antiquity,—that spread
’ their blossoms anil their fruit to an unclouded
sun, and InHSt, in thu full luxuriance of nature,
from u soil blessed with more than Egyptian
fertility, tilled hy an intelligent and industrious
people, who, in spile oftlte calculations of fana
tic philanthropy, employ a cheap, and what, un
der other circumstances, would ho, a profitable
labor. Vet, wo are sinking; and for why?
For the plainest and most obvious of all reasons
| —Free Trade is llto very pabulum vitae of a
| country essentially agricultural in its industry.
|We formed this Union, and subsetihed the
Constitution, to secure and render perpetual,
! this blessing, out of which, we have been mine
-1 rahly, shall 1 say, tamely and successfully, de
' frauded. I trust not—l trust in God, the sequel
! of this history, is to afford us a widely different
! moral.
| The crisis has, however, at last come, when j
1 the Government has at least no pretext, which
it can urge with common decency, to continue
I the amount of its burdens. The public debt is
I substantially paid; and, for the constitutional
j and necessaty expenses of the Government, the
i South asks for nothing but, that such an adjust
j nient oflhe imposts shall ho made, as shall hear 1
equally on the industry of tho country. She '
has a right to ask tins; and she would he basely !'
treacherous to her own interests, if she asked, j 1
or would take, anything loss. No argument can | I
resist the reasonableness of this appeal. How 1
has it been met? I will not detain you hy a 1
financial analysis of Mr. Clay’s prajel, which is |'
t recommended, at least, hy an undisguised hold )
ness, which seeks the r over of no ambush for its
enormity: and, in effect, whilst it proposal aj 1
, larger aggregate of reduction, than the scheme;
i of adjustment which lias the high sanction of the ,
Executive of the Union, it is cursed hy the same
I injustice to the rights anil interests oflhe Smith.
| Alter a tedious night, this latter long looked for j
& blessed revelation has been madrqdt we have
been called upon, hy some good people, to fall
I down npd yijotsbip it, as the rainbow of Peace,
; in whose cheering lints are reflected the blended
I and harmonious hues oflhe Union.—Gentlemen;
j j know .Mr. McLane well, at least, I once did.
1 sitoulii ho pained to believe, that he designed
j to deceive us, or that, fur one single instant, he
i should estimate by so low a standard, the Intel
i ligenco and s; hi' oflhe people of the .South, as
1 to suppose that litis miserable “compact with
1 eminent mamif.icturcrs north of the Potomac anil
<’ (which, nevertheless, has been already
denounced by some oftlte high contracting par
lies) can either ho recognised or accepted, as a
satisfactory adjustment of this vexed and (tot ten
tons question. lam su;e, that Mr. .McLane did
not intend lo deceive us; for, il lie could so have
desi"tted, lot is a man of 100 much sense, to
It:,vc done his wot kin so bungling a manner. j
The rlrapety, which the Report of the Eecrcta y
lias flung over this measure, is ton thin to con
I ccal its defotmilieu. It in fact retains, and pro
oses to remit I perpetual, the most odious lea
utte of the’whole system—the direct, positive
,i,d unconstitutional discrimination, it favor ol
mu, branch of the industiy of the country, at tin
• Accuse of the rest. To say nothing of the in
ui.-rtorial despotism of some of i’s provisions
mil toe open btiho which is offered to the navi
galieg interests, lo dissolve their alliance will
the Southern agriculturists, hy the bounty offer
| cd u; the articles which a.e consumed io 'he
0 j manufacture of ships, through the intervention
if of a series ot partial-and unjust drawbacks. The
s scheme, moreover, is so obviously fallacious,
0 that it scarcely deserves even tho credit of kee
ping its “promise to the ear.” Whilst it purports
? , to provide for a reduction of ten millions, it has
■ been demonstrated, that it will operate a diminu
-1 lion oflhe public burdens, to the extent of six
- millions only, over and above llto reduction now
I provided for hy law; and at least four and a
- half millions out of the six, will ho taken off tho j
t consumption oflhe Tat iff Stales, ami only one
million and a half, oft' the articles which enter
. into tho consumption, and whit h puichaso the
- staples of tho nnti-liuiff States—and at least
Hovon to nine millions, will be left as a surplus
; in the Treasury, to corrupt the States, by an in- ]
famous scramble. In one word, the articles
I which wo principally consume,iV which purchase
r our staples, an* to ho loaded with an impost of
0 Italy five per cent , whilst tho articles cunsun;-
c ed hy the manufacturers, in tho fabrication of
f tlietr products, ami which minister lo tho luxu
y 'ions indulgences of the licit, are lo pay a duly
• which scarcely readies an average of ton per
cent,; and this, we are insultingly told, is an ad
- justment on p. ineiples of the most perfect roci
-1 procity and justice! I It is true, a sprat has been
i thrown out to catch tho Southern whale. At o
I duct ion, which loaves a hnrdeii of only ten per
• cunt on negro cloth, is gravely proposed as a
i beneficent boon. Anti tins groat question we
are to compromise, for u bribe, llto amount of
which, contemptible as it is, would ho indeed
an extravagant price to pay lor un article so tin-1
worthy as Southern honesty, if wo could sell 1
Iter devotion lo the constitution, sot this pitiful j
douceur. The hill, which accompanies the re- [
poit oftho Secretary, is certainly distinguished ,
by a curious felicity, In the selection of tho at ti
des, both (or its severe justice, anti ptodigal in
dulgence. The plough and tho mattock of the
husbandman who tills onr fields, find no favor in 1
the eyes ot the Govot ntnent, whilst small swot tin
and daggers are abandoned, exempt ftotn duty, t
to all llto licentiousness of llto Free Tuttle sys
tem. Tho coarse woollens, costing !>2 cents,
which the poor man puls on his hack, pay a duly
of upwards of one hundred per cent, whilst tho
silk and lace which adorn the licit, pay ten, or
ai most fifteen, percent. Sugar and Suit, the
prime articles, and necessary condiment of hu
man consumption, arc yet to pay one hundred
per cent, whilst a whole apothecary's shop of
Drugs, arc poured into tho country Cue of duty.
Yes, a list of medicaments that would give oven 1
.Shakespeare's lank Esculapius, a nausea at the
stomach, winds up with Arsenic free of duty.
“Ah, then there is Ratsbane in il I”
“Now, fellow-citizens, let us pause for a mo
Incut, anil ask, on what pretext arc we culled 1
upon to submit to this injustice?—Wo are told, 1
that tho interests oftho inamifacturors,aro vested 1
interests, and that they are entitled lo sncciul !
favor from the legislation of llto Government I •
Are not the interests of ugiiellltuie, vested in- 1
forests ? Was not the soil, in which they arc ;
vested and planted, purchased by the Lloood 1
and tho sufferings of our fathers ! Are no in- 1
tmesis to lie con-idercd vested, except those, '
the title deeds of which tiro founded on a fraud 1
on tlie Constitution ? h'hall the swoid u Inch I r
conquered, the axe whit h subdued, and the !i
plough which upturned, the finest, (re consider- *
cd implements less capable, or less worthy, 11
than thu spindle and the loom, hy which the: 1
sacred rights of propoity are lo he wrought out J
and achieved? Is not ours a title hy preset ip I
lion, hy the perilous, ancient, and g urious oc- ■
cuj.ancy of our lie c fat lie rs, who hiaved a torn- I
pcstuous ocean, and all the sanguinary utroci- 1
tics of savage warfare, to make it good ; and is 1
,it not recorded in the Constitution of our own I
country? 1
My (i lends, we have certainly, ns greatly |
mistaken the signs of the times, as wo should j I
underrate lire intelligence of our own people, if!,
wo could suppose that this poor go-between, in I,
the shape of a compromise of n great question, ,
vitally connected with their liberty and happi- i
ness, could satisfy lit, ir just claims on the Gov- i
eminent. The time has been, when oven this :
palliy modicum might have been accepted,
lint lies; olisin, thanks he lo God, is a poor cal-
I dilator. Il seldom knows when to resist with
.success, or yield with dignity. Il goes on, in
| the career of sullen obstinacy, or stupid infutua
-1 lion, until public opinion oulravels the conces
sions it is at last grudgingly and reluctantly
prepared to make, as immeasurably, as the sun 1 1
seemingly passes the poor (looting shadows on | i
llot face, of the inolli, which vainly seem to t
mark and dot the majesty of Ids diurnal journey. |i
On all qti slionsaffecting public libeity, there is, I
a remaikablo progression of the human mind. M
We begin, first, to calculate, with a certain [r
brute orni vulgar acuteness, how much n piivi- j t
lege costs, and, as a mere sum in arithmetic, 1 1
how much, in dollars and cents, a right may be ‘
worth, and whetliei its assertion may not, afitor
all, ho a thriftless efioit, in a speculation essen- I
Rally commercial. Eul, after a time, we begin t
lo reason; and the understanding does not e
travel far, without summoning to its aid the <
highest faculties ofi the soul. \\ hat once seem- t
ed, at host, a possession of questionable value, t
becomes now an impoitant princi; lo of public t
liberty, and at last we arc ready to die for it. t
Is this a mere theory in speculative philosoj hy? [
or is it a fact abundantly sustained hy the pro- I
gicss of public oj union, on the very subject of our <
present discus ion? Wo began, some ten <r J
twelve years since, merely lo consider tho tariff', j I
ias a question in political economy. The public '
1 mind, however, at length grappled inlcn-udy ’
with ibis monster, though it wad with no other ,
■iieans of annoyance, than the artillery of Cock
•i’s Arithmetic : hot we went on, and soon ex
hausted till! Iretisu es ol abstract philosophy,
pin. speculations of Smith and Ricardo, became
s familiar to onr people as a domestic homily,
fibe ; uhtic mind, ft d hy this sustaining aliment,
mg an to travel up to higher truths, precisely as
l is said, in lie azure altitude of tho skies, the
uglier you ascend, tho heller may tho sun be',
ooked at with an nn lazzlcd and unhlcnclting I
■■■<:. Vv'c beg in to perceive, that what we j
axzasm ■iimwiii ■ i iZZ_—
i complained of as an inexpedient and practical
error, we might of RIGHT resist, aa an intoler
able wrong.
In sucli a condition of public opinion, thus en
; lightened and thus sustained, do you think any
thing cun satisfy ns, but the abandonment of a
principle which lias been fraudulently engrafted
on the Constitution ? In a Convention of the
Stales, wo may compromise as to what thu
powers of the Government shall be; but, in the
I legislation of Congress, we cannot compromise
a constitutional principle, vflthout putting at
| hazard all our rights. Suppose that the conces
sions ot the Secretary of the Treasury hud been
characterized, oven by a still greater regard for
the interests of the Plantation Slates, hut that
' the principle of protection was, as it is, fortified
| lll his hill, by hew clamps mid suppoits —what
.security have we for the future 7—what pledge,
that the moment this inconvenient excitement
ol the South, has boon allayed by this Circeau
■| opiate, monopoly will not regain, nor push
( to a 11101 o extravagant pitch, its iniquitous
I acquisitions T Would our fathers have com
| promised with Lord North, if ho had agreed to
j reduce the duly on tea to a penny, and to bring
. | the stamps down to sixpence 7 When the Slier
1j iff of Riiclungliarnshiro assessed John Hampden,
I notwithstanding his princely estate, under thu
writ of ship-money, at only a few shillings, the
, minions of power cried out against the small-
I ness of the exaction. The heroic commoner
• had often given to a poor beggar on the wayside,
I thrice the amount. He felt, as I trust wo feel,
| that wc cannot measure, by mere money, that
I which money can never liny I Hampden might
| easily have compromised, as we can now com
ipioniiso, if wo will huckster and traffic for our
Rights, by purchasing our servitude at a less
pi ice; for despotism has wisdom enough to
know, that it is cheaper to trade with a willing
mid obedient servant, than to coerce a revolting
one. In one word, fellow-citizens, lam will
ing to sin render this whole question, if any man
can find the smallest security for us, save in the
assertion of our rights, and in standing on the
broad principle, that as u sovereign party to the
constitutional compact, we did not delegate to
the Government created by that compact, the
power to tax our industry, that bounties may bo
created to foster the labor of the people of an
other portion of the Union.
Gentlemen, us unreasonable as my tresspass
has aliuudy been on your patience, I feel that 1
should have very inadequately discharged my
•duty to this deeply interesting theme, if I con
cluded, without saying at least one word on the
mode as well as the right of resistance. It is
hut a fruitless effort of human genius to specu
late on great public wrongs, if wo are destitute
of all means of redressing them. The abstract
right of resistance is limited by no other bound
aries, in arbitrary governments, than the phy
sical power of the subject to resist. If the
Janissaries can only muster a sufficient force to
master the household troops, the bowstring is
an easy implement of public justice. The mere
physical right of resistance or revolution, I shall
put out of the account, in considering this mat
ter. In the first place, I deny that we have
created any master, against whom we are to
rebel. Worse, indeed, than useless, absurd,
and mischievous in the extreme, would have
boon the woik, if the general agency for all the
sovereigns to the compact, which wo instituted,
under the name and title of the United Stales of
America, was a government " without limita
tion of powers,” and the injustice of which wo
should have to resist by a hmlc physical force.
In one word, that the cord is made so tight, that
it can only be loosened, by being cut with thu
sword. This Confederacy was an unknown
problem, to the celebrated leagues of antiquity.
It sprung up in a high and palmy stale of political
philosophy in the world, and it will have greatly
belied all the promise of its blessings, if, in its
organization, it did not contain, not only the
elements of reform and renovation, but those
conservative principles, by which all probability
of revolution and bloodshed, in effecting these
changes, may be sol at naught. W hen this
special sgency was created, the sovereign par
lies to the compact wisely abstained from cre
ating a common umpire, to decide on any ques
tions of political and ultimate sovereign power
among themselves. To the Government creat
ed by the compact, they could not, a’-d did nor,
delegate this power, “since this would have
made its discretion, and not the Constitution,
i(ie measure of its powers.” The moment it
is admitted, that each parly to the compact is
sovereign, as to all powers that have nut been
delegated to thu Guncral Government, it fol
lows as a corollary, as true as anything in Euclid,
that over these powers not delegated, but «J
nnmine expressly reserved, it has an unquestion
.it,|,- right to judge, ami in the last resort, \o de
termine, how far they have been infracted, and
“ to judge of the mode and measure ot redress.”
A vast point has been gamed in human liber
ty, and in the promotion of human happiness,
that in our Confederacy, a new conservative
check has been recognised, by which the abuses
of power may be arrested, without a resort Jo
the ultimate rights of revolution. It is something
to us, in the unequal struggle we have had
to wage, in the assertion of this right, to be able
to claim, as onr authority, the man, whose ap
parently inspired pen, drafted the Declaration of
Independence—that he who, in 1776, declared
t nit “ these States are, and of right ought to he,
free,, sovereign and independent,” should also
have said, “ that in case of the abuse of dilega-,
tid powers, the members of the general govern •
merit, being chosen by thepcople, a change byth»
people, would he the constitutional remedy ; but,
to’ ere powers are assumed, which have not been
delegated, a NULLIFICATION oj the act, is
the rightful remedy.” As for my single self,
gentlemen, 1 would not give a tobacco-stopper—
no, not one of the entities or quidities of Tho
mas Aquinas—to have it determined, whether
this be a sovereign or cons'ilutional remedy. It
is sufficient for my purpose, if it be a remedy;
1 and if it, peaceably and effectually, with the
ileusl possible ba m, works a cure, and leaves
. ( Continued on fourth page.)