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prevent the acceptance of the overtures for
free trade, now made by all commercial na
tions. These are not accepted now, sir, be
cause mainly beneficial to the South. And
who cares for the South ? What is the South ?
An ass of the tribe of Issachar, “bowed down 1
between two burthens;” thirty millions to be
paid into the Treasury, and twice as much
more to go into the pockets of the Northern
manufacturers. What if lord Palmerston
should offer now, in return for a reduction of
our Tariff to a revenue standard, to take off
the English duty of seventy-five cents on our
Tobacco. Would it be accepted? No, sir,
no. It would but enrich the Tocacco States,
and what do our masters care for them ? On
the other hand, let a Southern confederacy,
in adopting the free trade overture, ask a
diffortial abatement of ten cents of this duty
in their favor, hpw long would Virginia and
North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and
even Maryland and Missouri, delay to avail
themselves of the arrangement ? Depend up
on it, sir, such a confederacy as I have sup
posed, would hardly be formed before every
slaveholding State in the Union would seek
admission into it. The prestige of Union
once dispelled by a partial secession, the Mid
dle States would be at a loss to choose be
tween union with their Southern brethren, or
with their Northern enemies, persecutors and
slanderers.
But the thing would not stop here, sir.
Pennsylvania at this moment, with all the ad
vantage of a protective tariff, find her man-]
nfactarers often on the verge of bankruptcy.
A tariff may protect her against the compe
tition of European manufacturers, hut uot
against the superior skill and capital of New
England. Against this she contends as well
as she can in the markets of the South.
Take that away and she will sink at once.
Even now Massachusetts grudges her the
benefit of the protection which only enables :
her to hold up her head. But let the south
ern victims of that oppressive system emanci
pate themselves from it, and, my life upon it,
five years will not pass over before it is abol
ished. What, then, will he the condition of
Pennsylvania, placed on the border between
a northern confederacy, in which she is over
shadowed by superior capital and skill, and a
southern confederacy, of w hich she might be
come the workshop ? A revenue tariff of
ten per cent, would be worth more to Penn
sylvania as a member of a southern confeder- ■
acy, than forty per cent is now—more than
all that protection could do for her, w ere the !
t’outh withdrawn from the Union.
Let us look a little to the West, sir. I be
gin with Illinois, because she reaches farthest
South ; because she is nearest to New Orleans
-;ind furthest from New York; and because !
she begins to be aware that slaves are went- :
ed in the southern part of the state, and seems
not quite insensible to the propriety of letting
such of her people have them as have need of
them. Now what will be her situation? No ;
man admires more than I that noble system
of inland navigation that connects the waters
of the Mississippi with the lakes. But tolls
•- and tow paths are expensive things, the ca
• nals are sometimes broken by floods, some
limes laid dry by drouth, and w inter rarely
fails with his icy breath to close up the navi
gation of the lakes. But the Mississippi,
broad, deep, and full, is ever open to bear on
its flowing bosom all the bulky and w eighty
products of Illinois, at the lowest possible
rate of expense, lam aware, sir, that the
law of nadons would secure to the states, on
the waters of that river, a free passage
to (he ocean. But that law would not
exempt them from imposts and from ex
port duties, and from all the inconvenient*ies
w hich must be encountered by those who ne
cessarily pass through a foreign country to
get to their own. A great river, such as the
Mississsppi, like an iron cramp, holds togeth
er all the country penetrated by its tributaries
and no amount of human perverseness can
tong prevent them from blending into one
“like kindreddrops.”
What 1 have said of Illinois applies with
nearly equal force to Indiana, it may, in
time, apply also to Ohio. At present, sir,]
see nothing in that region which w e designate
as Ohio, of which any sort of moral or polit
ical character can be predicted. 1 see a vast
multitude of all kindred, tongues, and nations,
sw r ept down and agglomerated like the wash
of a hill side, or that from the month of a
common sewer ;. heaped, as against a dam, ;
on the north bank of the l iver. On such an
uilluvial deposit you may raise encumbers and
onions, but the majestic forest oak can find
no root there—the stately edifice no stable
. foundation. Among such a rabble you may*
have temporary regulationsof arbitration and
police—but si government y strong to protect,
„ strong to restrain, consecrated by the affec
tion and reverence of the people, “a fortress
at once and a temple”—the thing is impossi
ble. The rock built anopolis of Tennessee
stands on yonder hill, and there it will stand,
ll is built of rock, for it stands on a rock ; and
there they w ill stand together till the found
ations of the earth are shaken. But as well j
might you build such a structure on the
marshes of the lower Mississippi, as to estab
lish any thing deserving the name of a Tree,
stable and enduring government on such a
quaking bog as Ohio. The institution of do
mestic slavery, which, like piles driven into
the earth, gives stability to government, and
renders universal suffrage and perfect free
dom possible to those who are free, is a re
source denied to them. God forbid that l
sould desire to introduce slavery there. No,
sir. I would not so wrong the negro. He
is proud and happy in his master. But servi
tude under such as these, differing indeed in
color, and inferior in all besides, it would
break his heart. If such servitude as this is
their only idea of slavery, 1 protest before
God that their abhorrence of it must fall far
short of mine. But they themselves are sen
• sible of the negro’s seperiority, and they are
jealous of it. They steal our slaves from us,
and when they have made them what they
call free, they harrass them, they persecute
them, they combine to shut them out from all
creditable or profitable employment—they
starve them out, and even drive them away !
Is this disgust? No, sir. It is jealousy. The
shoemaker will not sit on the same bench
w ith the negro. But let the negro prosper
in spite of persecution, and he will give him
his daughter in marriage, and she too will
thankfully take him to her obscene and lust
ful bosom. And this is Ohio; and the phi
lanthropic abolitionist, as he floats down the
river, turns his eje sadly from Kentucky, the
home of a bold, high miuded, law-abiding
yeomanry; the home of accomplished gen
tlemen and enlightened statesmen, to gaze
on the prosperity of Ohio. What does he
see there, sir ? A fertile soil, industry, manu
factures, commerce, wealth, and even some
science. All the elements of civilization
are there, but of civilization itself —of the
refinements and courtesies of life, nothing.
No, sir, without social organization there
; can be no civilization. It is the relation
. between true and acknowledged superiori
ty, and confessed inferiority, that elevates
and ennobles both where both are ca
pable of elevation. Association will always
assimilate. The Southern gentleman, studi
ously observing all possible courtesy in his
deportment to the negro, makes a gentleman
of him, while he himself becomes more a gen
tleman by his condescension. The man of
Ohio has nobody below him but his Hog.
He cannot make the hog a gentleman, sir;
and I need not say how the dead weight ol
the hog must operate to drag down his com
panion to his level.
But there is the Queen city, as they cal! it,
“showing like a jewel on an (Ethiop’s ear.”
I went ashore there the other day, sir, and
verily I should have thought, that, like the
Queen of the house of Brunswick, she had
been imported from Germany ; for the young
princes in her streets talked hardly any lan
guage but the German. And these are the
men whose suffrages are to give law to us
w hose fathers rescued the country from the
domination of a German prince upon the
English throne.
1 speak harshly, sir. I know it. I i
meant to do so. I speak as it becomes
every man to speak of the enemies of
his country, for 1 speak of those who have
long waged a systematic, predatory and
cowardly war against Y irginia, my coun
try. But enough of Ohio. There let her
lie—a foul cess-pool—at one time green and
stagnant, at another stirred up from the bot
tom by the strifes of the reptiles that struggle
in its mud and tainting the moral atmosphere
with its stench.
The inhabitants of Ohio may one day ac
quire that consistency which is necessary to
constitute a people, and then they may form
themselves a government, or, in the mean
time, they may find a master. It will be time
enough then to consider of our relations to
them. Until then, 1 will rest in the hope,
that should such events take place as I have
spoken of, they w ill see the necessity of pay
ing that respect to the Laws of Nations, which
they deny to the Constitution.
Mr. President, 1 hope l have said enough
to satisfy thinking men, that those frightful
consequences of disunion at the thought of
w hich the heart trembles and the cheek turns
pale will not follow disunion, should the
N ortli he mad enough to drive us to that ex
tremity. If I have succeeded in this I have
accomplished all I w ished. 1 have not spoken
with a view to make men desire disunion. I
have aimed at no more than to keep them
from being frightened out of their senses at
the bare thought of it. I wish only to
bring them to hear reason, and having done
this, l expect them to see at a glance that the
true way to preserve the union is to let the
people of the North see that we all understand
our true position, and all see the matter in
this light. Let them see that even those
among us (if there be any such) who would
surrender every right, sooner than expose
themselves to the hon ors of war, are sensible
that there is no danger of war, and no reason
w hy they should submit to insult, outrage and
wrong, lest a worse thing befall them. Let
the North understand, sir, that such are the
view sand temper of the South, and the spirit
of encroachment will stand rebuked, and the
statesmen of the North w ill at once and with
anxious earnestness acknowledge oar rights,
and in good faith address themselves to those
w ho speak for us, not to cajole and bribe them
to betray us, but so ascertain what w ill actu
ally and permanently satisfy us. By such
means the Union may be preserved, and it
such a course is adopted, the Union is safe.
This course of proceeding must begin w ith us.
It must begin here, and now. That is our
business here, sir. To save the Union, and to
save it by show ing the people of the North
that by persevering in their wanton, unjust
and mad career, they w ill destroy it. If it
perishes, the act will he theirs—not ours.
Mr. President, I have worn out the patience
of the Convention, exhausted my strength and
w'asted my feeble voice without saying the
tenth part of what I had to say. 1 have come
here with my mind charged to bursting with
thoughts that vainly struggle for utterance. —
To “unpack my heart with w ords,” and give
voice to all I would w ish to say —I would as
soon attempt to drain Lake Erie through a
goose-quill.
I would speak of the magnificent future
and glorious destiny of a Southern Confeder
acy. 1 would speak of the various and bound
less resources of a country embracing the no
ble Chesapeake and its waters, extending
thence to the Gulf, and from the Atlantic to
the Bravo, comprehending an assortment ol
all things needful to agriculture, manufactures
and commerce. 1 w ould point to the region
of iron, coal, and water power stretching from*
this spot to the eastern foot of the Alleghanies,
sloping dowrn in the east to the tide waters ot
the Atlantic, in the west to the rich plains
that border the Mississippi, while James Riv
er, Potomac and Ohio stretch forth their arms
to encircle the whole in their embraces, and
bind together the three great interests of civi
lization with a cord twisted by the hand ol
Nature; in a Union like that of the sexes ; a
Union of congenial not conflicting interest.
No Mezentian marriage of the living with the
dead; no compact between power and weak
ness, simplicity and craft, generosity and sel
fishness! No Compromise! in which, as in
bargains with the Devil, one party signs his
name in his own blood, which all the w aters of
Lethe w ill not wash out, while the other uses
a chemical compound of the newest Yankee
invention, which disappears as soon as it is
dry.
I would speak of the destiny and destina
tion of the negro race—l would recite the di
vine decree which mitigated the curse of Ca
naan, by ordaining that in the tents of Shem
he should dwell with Japhetashis servant,
and in that school of civilization and Christi
anity purge aw ay his first offence, and qualify
himself to be restored to his Maker’s lavor. —
These words, so long w ithout any intelligible
meaning, have fouiid their interpretation and
fulfilment here. They indicate the task to be
performed, and designate us to perform it,—
Wo to us, if seeking rather the praise of man
than the honor that cometh from God, we
! shrink from it. Let us rather be thankful that
he has made choice of us, unworthy as we are,
to be his instruments in this great work.—
W hat have all the missionaries on earth, since
the days of the Apostles, done for the spread
of the Gospel among the Heathen, compared
to w hat has been effected on behalf of the
negro race in this great school of domestic
slavery ? The success of the teacher has not
( been every where the same, because all were
not equally competent and equally faithful.—
The Frenchman who but taught his pupil to
sing and to dance, and to practice his old
abominations in anew way, was flogged with
his ow n birch and barred out. The English
man, in his serene self-complacency, contem
plating his own imaginary superiority over all
others, set up at last for being wiser than God
himself, broke up his school and dismissed
, his pupils. So far we have stood manfully to
our post. We have not, indeed, studied as we
i ought, all the duties of our position; but we
I are finding them, and the improvement of the
negro, physical, moral and intellectual, is our
w itness that w r e have not been altogether un
faithful. In this connection, sir, I would not
j speak of our interest in the matter. The de
cree which appointed our task, appointed
our wages, and unless God be false, then
let us assure ourselves that so long as
we perform the one, we shall receive the
other. I have no fears for the result while
we are true to ourselves and to Him. —
The institution of slavery is of his appoint
ment, and it will endure until it shall have ac
complished that to which it was appointed.—
Sir, I went on Sunday last to the Episcopal
church, and there, in the psalm for the day, I j
heard the voice of God, and he put anew
song into my mouth, a song of deliverance
and triumph:
“Thou art my king, O God ! Send help un
to Jacob.
“Through thee will be overthrown our en- !
emies, and in thy name will we tread than un- ;
der who rise up against us.
“For I will not trust in my bow; it is not
my sword that shall help me.
“But now thou art afar off, and puttest us
to confusion.
“Thou makest us to turn our backs upon |
our enemies, so that’they that hate us spoil
our goods.
“But although all this be come upon us, yet
do we not forget thee.
“Up, Lord! Why sleepest thou ? Arise
and help us for thy mercy’s sake.
“The Lord of Hosts is on our side: The
God of Jacob is our refuge.”
I am far from imagining, sir, that the be
nevolent purposes of the Creator in favor of
the African race, are limited to the small num
ber that have been brought over to us, or that
the slave trade will be continued until all Af
rica is dispeopled. No, sir. Civilization and
Christianity must be sent to those who can
not be brought to them. But how ? It has
pleased the Almighty to envelope that conti
nent w ith a pestilential atmosphere, which a
w hite man cannot breathe and live. The pe
culiar conformation of the negro race fits him
alone for it, and it is by him that this work
must be done. The Colonization Society is a
feeble, premature and abortive attempt at this.
The negro has as yet learned but half the les
] son necessary to qualify him for this task.—
j But let a place he found nearer home, where
; a colony of free blacks may be established
under a provincial government, protected, reg
ulated and controlled by a Southern confed
eracy, open to all w'lio will go to it, and from
its proximity accessible to all. liow long
would it be, sir, before, exercising in a limited
degree the functions of self-government, they
would learn that other lesson w hich is neces
sary to qualify them, not only for personal but
political freedom? Growing and flourishing
under the paternal care of their former masters,
we might expect nothing but good offices from
them. Such a colony would be no runaway’s
harbor, and a time w*ould come, (and it will
come, sir,) wdiich none of us will live to see,
when established in complete independence,
they will be in condition to go forth from this
normal school, and settle colonies of their
own on all the coasts of Africa. But where
is the place near homo ? Sir, the folly and
madness of France have prepared it. It is
Hayti; and were a Southern confederacy
once formed, five years w'ould not elapse be
fore a cession w ould be obtained, there, or
somewhere on the southern shores of the
gulf, of territory sufficient for such .a col
ony.
I beg pardon, sir, for these speculations.—
This is a subject on which it is so much the
custom for those to talk most who think least
that a man who has made it the study of his
w hole fife is under some necessity of apologiz
ing for the expression of his thoughts.
But all this is mere speculation, and
nothing but insane folly on the part of North
ern men, can make it more than speculation.
It rests with them at any moment to quiet all
this agitation and restore tranquility, at least,
though not harmony. Abused confidence
and insulted friendship can never be restored.
But equality between the States can lie re
stored, and the rights of all partiesbeiugequal
ly cared for, a regard for these interests, the
recollections of the past, and the indisposi
tion of mankind to the sundering of old ties,
and breaking up the established order of
things, may even now preserve the Union.
But depend upon it, that this is not to
be effected by any of those cheating com
promises which “keep the word of promise to
the ear, and break it to the hope.” We have
had enough of these things, and the “false
juggling fiend” who has so often arrayed him
self in the garb of an angel of light to palm
them on ns, can deceive us no more. We
now know him in his disguise, and will have
no more of his compromises. “Othello’s oc
cupation’s gone.” He may tamper with our
representatives in Congress and with the let
ter writing loafers who hang about the Trea
sury to negociate Galphin claims and fraudu
lent contracts, but their day too is gone as
well as his. This battle is not to be fought
at Washington. We have changed our tac
tics, sir. We are tired of being trampled
down by the elephants and cavalry, who push
themselves into the front of the array, and at
the first prick of the lance, or at the first fire,
turn back and break through the infantry, and
throw everything into confusion, dismay and
rout. Henceforth, sir, w T e fight with the in
fantry in front, and shall not leave it to men
whose valor all oozes out at their fingers ends
between January and April, to decide for us
what w r e are to do. We are sick of comprom
ises, and as to this thing they call a comprom
ise what is it ? What was the matter in dis
pute? What was the claim set up by the
Y ankees ? Nothing more or less than to ex
clude us from all the territory conquered by
Southern arms, and purchased with Southern
money (for we pay all the taxes) from Mexi
co. M ell, sir, does this compromise propose
to let us in to equal participation with the
North? No such thing. Not a foot of all
our conquests is open to us; but then we are
gravely told that if we will give some ten or
fifteen millions more to bribe Texas to give
up a portion of her territory equal to three
large States, which, belonging to her, is now
actually open to us, they will perhaps not ex
clude us from that. Smitten on one cheek, we
are to turn the other! And this is compromise!
Is any thing conceded tous? No. Is any de
mand of the other party withdrawn? No.
The proposed compromise urges new de
mands, and they who pretend to speak for us,
say that the best thing we can do is to admit
them.
But it seems, sir, that Mr. Clay insists that
(although we cannot understand it) this is a
compromise, and, in proof of it, tells us, that
its advocates in the committee, that famous
majority of eight, had great difficult} 7 in agree
ing among themselves on its terms. I have
little doubt ot it, sir, for I can well believe that
these gentlemen were as careful of their own
individual interests in the matter, as they were
indifferent to ours. I have heard of such ca
ses in other countries. They happen every
day in Spain.
A band of robbers when they set on a trav
eller always compromise with him somewhat
in this way. He is told that if he will lie on
his face, put his hands behind him, and sub
mit to be rifled and stript, they will ask no
more of him. I don’t know w hether tliev
call this a compromise. But if they did, sir,
the- captain of the gang might explain how 7 ,
as plausibly as Captain Clay himself. “Com
promise!” says he, “certainly w 7 e had to com
promise. Some of us wished only to take the
fellow’s money and leave him his clothes.
Others w 7 ere for putting him to death; and
w*e compromised on the middle ground, of
taking both money and clothes, and sparing
his life. And then when we were dividing
the spoil—good God! had I not to comprom
ise and content myself with only half, instead
of taking the whole to myself.” This last, I
suspect, sir, was the great difficulty with the
committee. Mr. Webster and Gent r and Cass
doubtless thought that they had as good a
right as Mr. Clay to frame the bill so as to
make political capital for themselves respect
ively. Mr. Foote probably would have been
glad to have it a little more acceptable to the
people of Mississippi. It may be doubted
whether Mr. Clay was inclined to admit these
pretensions.
Is not Mr. Clay “the great pacificator?”
Did he not give peace to the country in 1820,
and 1833, and is he not the sole inventor and
manufacturer of the famous patent fresh salt
to be sprinkled on the tails of Southern Gulls
and Boobies? Was it not enough for Web
ster and Cass to be admitted to the honor of
co-operating w ith him? And as to Mr. Foote,
it ought to satisfy his ambition to be allowed
to take the little of the little Pacificator.
So be it, sir, worthily has he won it, and long
may he wear it. lam afraid, indeed, it may
cost him dear. JEsop tells us of an eagle,
that stooping from his lofty cliffs, pounced on
a lamb, and bore it away ; at the sight of
which the ambition of a crow was so roused
that lie tried to do the like, and, lighting on
the back of an old ram, tangled his feet in
the wool, and got his neck twisted by the
Shepherd. So w*e have all seen how the
strong talons and sweeping w 7 ing of Mr. Clay
bore away old Republican Kentucky into
the high latitudes of Federalism ; but it re
quires no great foresight to decide how Mr.
Foote will fare in his attempt upon the tough
old Ram of Mississippi. He may not care
much about that, sir, for it is probably settled
that, in the next Presidential ass race (horse
race no longer, sir,) lie is to ride behind Mr.
Clay as candidate for the Vice Presidency.
What light Southern man is to ride en croupe
behind Mr. Webster; what Northern man with
Southern principles, or what Southern man
with Northern principles, behind Gen. Cass,
Ido not care to enquire. One thing I do
know 7 , sir. Only one of the three can be
President, but let who will be elected, all the
five understrappers of that committee will
be provided for. What then does Mr. Foote
care for Mississippi ? About as much as she
will henceforth care for him.
But Gen Taylor’s plan ? Sir, don’t talk to
me about Gen. Taylor. “What portion have
we in David? Neither have we inheritance
in the son of Jesse. To your tents oh Israel!
Now 7 see to thine own house David.” Gen.
Taylor will he pretty sure to see to that,and to
his Sugar Plantation too. Whatever else he
neglects, he w ill spare no pains to prevent
any thing which may lead to the Independ
ence of Cuba, to her admission into this Un
ion, and the loss of two cents and a half in
the price of his sugar, which he must submit
to, whenever the sugar of the West Indies is
admitted free of duty. To a man like him,
considerations of this sort, are of more impor
tance than all the rights and all the wrongs
of all the world beside.
But all that I have said, all the vast inter
ests involved in this controversy are to be dis
regarded, and stern realities are to be dissipa
ted into thin air, by the potent spell of the
magic word “ Union ✓” Sir, there is no
Southern man, whose heart has not felt the
power of that spell. In the South attach
ment to the Union is matter of sentiment In
the North it is an affair of calculation. The
conjuror, who uses the word to blind the
minds and palsy the limbs of others, feelsnoth
ing of its power over himself. Had Union
been to the North what it has been to us, the
North would have dissolved it fifty years ago.
What has it been to us ? Sir, it is the old sto
ry of the Giant and the Dwarf; a partner
ship in which one gets all the protit, the other
nothing but dry blows. Who stormed the
walls of Monterey ? Who scaled the heights
of Cherubusco ? Whose blood enriches the
field of Buena Vista ? South Carolina, Geor
gia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkan
sas and Texas, are here to answer — “Ours.”
And the prize won by such sacrifice, for
whom is that ? For those who “kissed my
Lady Peace at home,” and blessed themselves
that they w ere not man sheers and cut
throats. Judas sold his master’s blood, but
could not keep the wages of his crime. These
men will shed no blood: not they. But the
price ofblood—they cannot find in their hearts
to refuse that. When we complain of this
they say, “are w 7 e not brethren ? Let there
be no strife among us.” Why do they not
go on with the words of Abraham?—“Go
you to the right, and we will go to the left, or
go yon to the left, and we will go the right?”
Why ? Because of the Bible, as of the con
stitution, they readjust as much as suits them,
no more, Do w r e stilll remonstrate ? They
become stern. “Are we not stronger than
you ? Have w r e not our foot upon your neck?
Attempt to withdraw it, and w r e w ill trample
you into the earth.” In three victorious fights
the Giant gained for himself a castellated pal
ance, broad fertile lands, and a beautiful wife;
the Dw 7 arf lost an eye, an arm, and a leg.
“Come my little hero,” says the Giant, let us
repose on our laurels ? you can sit and turn
the spit at my kitchen fire, you w ill find a
warm bed in the ashes, you shall have a sop
out of the dripping pan.” “That is hardly a
fair division,” says the Dwarf, “It is the best
you can get,” says the Giant coolly. “Y’ou’d
better take it.” “No,’’says the Dwarf. “I
will rather drag my mangled carcase else
where, and sooner depend upon the charity
of strangers than on your justice.” “Turn
the spit, you maimed urchin,” is the reply :
if you give yourself any airs I will throw yon
behind the fire.” The story is not exactly
in point, sir. In our case it is the Giant that
has been maimed and crippled,and the Dwarf,
taking advantage of his helpless condition,
has cheated him of the purchase of his prow
ess and his blood.
No people ever existed more ready to sac
rifice to friendship or generosity than Virgin
ia. It is the character of individuals and of
the State. She will divide her bread with
the hungry; she will give her garment to com- j
fort the naked. She will strip herself to the :
shirt, but when you claim that too, the in
stinct of self-respectful modesty is called up
and supplies the place of a more sordid feel
ing. She says no to that, sir. It has been
said of her, “that there is no more than the
thickness of a bit of linen between her and a |
dow r n right fool.” This may be true, sir, but >
wo to him, w ith profane hand, w 7 ho ventures i
to touch that last safeguard of her stainless
honor.
But who are we, a mere handful of depu
ties, w 7 ho presume to speak of \ 7 irginia ? Sir,
w 7 e do not speak for her. She has sent us
here to confer with you, and to speak to her
and to the world. We speak not for her;
but we speak of her, as she is, with filial rev
erence and admiring love. We are indeed
but few —what of that l
“If we are marked to die. we are enough
To do our country loss, but if to live,
The fewer men the greater share of honor.”
As for me, sir, I speak only for myself,
and shrink from no responsibility. Were it
tenfold more it would be only the more wel
come. I wish none to divide it with me.
‘‘l would not lose so great an honor
As one man more methinks would share front nte,
For the best hope I have.”
I have no fear sir, that Virginia will dis
claim me. 1 know the dull ass will back up
on the spurr, and throw and kick his rider.
1 know the dog that has no stomach for the
fight, will bite the hand that tarrs him on.
But Virginia is no dull ass. Virginia is no
coward cur; and however reluctant to strike
for sordid interests she will never disavow
those who pledge her honor for the defence of
Honor. I thank God that he has spared me
this day. Equality or independence is the
watchword of Virginia. One of these she
will have, and if I can be at all instrumental
to such an achievement, I shall not have liv
i ed in vain.
i But if the heart of Virginia is dead within
j her; if that spirit, which has been to me the
I breath of life, if that fountain of just princi
ples and elevated sentiments, from which as
from the milk of childhood, my heart and
mind have drawn their nutriment, is dried jip,
there is nothing left for me, sir, but to lay my
head on the cold bosom of my venerated and
lamented mother, and to die there.
SOUTHERN SENTINEL.
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA:
THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 25, 1850.
To Correspondents. —Returning to our Sanctum af
ter a week’s absence, we find our table covered with
communications. Among them the favors of “Cato,”
‘J. A. TANARUS,” “Theta” “T,” “ What say the Voters,” &,e.
Our columns are filled to day, and our friends must ex
cuse us for a week.
New Books.
Mr. J. W. Pease one of our enterprising book sel
lers, has just laid upon our table, two new and valua
ble manuals—‘‘The Dyer and Colour Maker’s Com
panion” and ‘‘The Painter, Guilder and Yarnisher's
Companion” We recommend these works particular
ly to the notice of those persons who deal in colours.
They contain many very valuable recipes, and would
constitute an important addition to a mechanic’s li
brary. Mr. Pease litis also just received a large stock
of new and popular publications.
Call and sec him.
We are requested to give notice that the exercises
in the Wjmnton Female Academy will be resumed about
the first of October under the superintendence of its for
mer Principal, R. W. B. Munro. Further particulars
will be given through the papers hereafter.
The Mass Meeting.—The proposition to the
people of Georgia to assemble in a mass meet
ing, to consider the great questions of the day,
meets with our cordial approval. The time
suggested is the 22d of August, and Macon, At
lanta atid Madison,have been suggested as suit
able places. We prefer Macon.
Judge Tucker’s SrEECii.—We publish to-day
the speecli of this distinguished Virginian, de
livered in the Southern Convention. It is alto
gether, one of the most remarkable productions
of the age, and we bespeak for it a careful read
ing by every man who is at all interested in the
existing topics of the day.
Honors to tiie Dead. —A meeting was held in
this city yesterday to make arrangements for a [Toper
demonstration of public grief at the death of Gen.
Taylor. The proceedings came in too late for this
paper.
Hon. Tiios. C. Hackett. —We are pleased to learn
from our Cherokee Exchanges that the health of this
gentleman is improving, and his friends now hope
that he may recover.
The Chronicle & Sentinel, and Our Inconsist
ency.
The Augusta Chronicle takes us to task for an ad
mission made in our leading editorial of the 11th hist.
The admission referred to is in these words :
“We set out with the admission that the Missouri
Compromise is unconstitutional. We admit that
Congress has no constitutional authority to legislate
on the subject of slavery, either for its prohibition
North, or its establishment South of the line of 36,
30.”
The comments of the Chronicle on the foregoing,
are as follows:
The Columbus (Ga.) Sentinel sets out with the
above admission, in an article designed to show the
advantages of the Nashville line over the Clay Com
promise. Strange admission truly, yet the journal
from which the extract is made is a zealous advocate
of the Nashville line.
We congratulate ourself, for we have indeed achiev
ed much in having excited our Augusta contempora
ry to say a word on the Southern side of tlie contro
versy pending before the country. The Chronicle
actually thinks it inconsistent in a Southern Editor to
advocate a measure which violates the constitutional
rights of the South. Would that he had found this
out at an earlier day. What a deal of angry contro
versy among those who ought to have been brothers,
battling shoulder to shoulder for their common rights,
would have been spared. Instead of the dark cloud
which now lowers in portentous blackness over our
heads, the southern horison would have been as
peaceful as a summer evening. Unfortunately, how
ever for the South and for the Union, there were
some among us, who in their zeal for the perpetuity
of the latter, were willing to concede some of the rights
of the former. Those of us who looked upon prompt
and uncompromising resistance at the threshhold, as
the surest method of maintaining our rights and pre
serving the Union, were exhorted to make a peace
offering of our stern demands upon the common altar
of our country. The evidences of a disposition with
some at the South to make such concessions, encour
aged those who were oppressing us, to still greater ex
actions ; and thus by our dissensions, the question be
tween the North and South came to be, not whether
we should have what we were entitled to, but how
much of our just rights could we afford to give up?
Thus in the article from which the Chronicle garbles
the foregoing extract, we declare both of the plans of
adjustment before the county to be unconstitutional ,
and we are forced to choose, not between right and
wrong, but between two wrongs. Suppose we
had denounced both compromises as unconstitu
tional, (and will the Chronicle dare deny that
they are ?) we should have been anathematised as a
disunionist who was determined to oppose every
proposition looking to a settlement of this question.—
Between the two we chose the Missouri Compromise,
and we advocate its adoption, not on the ground that
w e thereby get all that the constitution promises us,
but because, in a choice between that and the Clay
Compromise, we prefer the former. M e deplore the
necessity which forces the South to choose between
evils. It argues a degree of degradation, galling in
deed to those who were born in her sunny clime, and
nurtured amid her generous sons. How comes it that
the nobler part of this confederacy, is thus forced to
seek in the attitude of a suppliant, those rights which
ought to be demanded ? How happens it, that the
South is compelled to ask of Northern generosity,
“the best we can get,” instead of her rights under
the constitution ? How is it, that even those Southern
men, who animated hy an honorable sense of the
justice of their cause would even tear down the temple
of liberty if need be, in its defence, have been driven
to abate their demands, and are now attempting to
school themselves into contented submission to wrong ?
These are questions which the degeneracy of the times
may never force some of our cotemporaries to answer
but like troubled dreams, they must occasionally dis
turb the quiet of those minds which are not already,
altogether sold to oppression.
If the Chronicle is sincere in the horror with which
it seems to he seized at tile idea of submitting to an
invasion of our constitutional rights, let it unite with
us,in denouncing every measure of Compromise which
does not recognize those rights in the; fullest extent.
If it be possible to turn back the surging tide of north
ern aggression, and plant our barriers on the line of
our rights under the federal compact, we shall be found
among the foremost of those ready to oppose
the slightest wave on tills side of that line ; but so
long as the war is to be waged in our own territory,
we must be allowed to take that position which most
effectually repels the invasion.
Equivocal.
At their meeting in this city, on Thursday
last, the friends of the Union (?) adopted the fol-
lowing as one of the articles of their creed:
“3. That the abolition of slavery in the District
of Columbia by Congress, would be a violation of
the spirit and intent of the contract of cession by
the States of Maryland and Virginia of said Dis
trict to the United States Government.”
Are v/e to understand this as a declaration of
hostility to that provision of the Clay Compro
mise which abolishes the slave trade in the Dis
trict of Columbia, or is it a mere declaration with
out meaning? We wish to know, by the way,
whether any of the amendments which South
ern men have spoken of, as necessary to palliate
the enormities of the committee scheme, hav e
embraced a modification of this particular fea
ture in that Compromise. Are our people ready
to swallow an undisguised proposition to abolish
the slave trade in the District ? Or are they,
with their eyes fully opened to the outrage of
such a proposition, merely to remonstrate like
sick children, against the bitterness of the pill. It
is humiliating to see men come together to talk
about their grievances, and conclude their con
ference with a mild complaint or gentle remon
strance. If their rights have been, or are threaten
ed to be, outraged, let them say so, and let them
say too that they are determined to have them
respected. We would’nt give a button for the
opposition of that man who prescribes to his op
position limits this side of complete success. It
is worse than folly for us to tell the North we
oppose thus and so, but we will not carry our
opposition to the extent of dissolution; it is
ridiculous, it is childish. Far be it from us to
desire to familiarize the popular mind with th e
idea of disunion, but we declare that there is no
such thing as justice for the South, so long as
the people shut their eyes to dissolution, as a
thing which they cannot be driven to ; and we
would advise that man who has made up his
mind, that in noevent could he be induced to dis
solve the Union, to forever close his lips against
complaint, and to denounce as equally danger
ous, the loud mouthed disunionist, and the tame
hearted grumbler. If our Union friends there
fore mean to say that Congress has no right to
abolish either slavery or the slave trade in the
District, and we will dissolve the Union if she
does it, we are with you, hand and heart; but
if you merely mean to say that it would be im
polite in Congress to do ao, and we will pout if
she does it, why we think, like silly children,
you had better be put to bed.
The sixth of the scries of Resolutions adopted at
the Union meeting in this city, on Thursday last, is
in these words:
“That the ultimatum of the Nashville Convention is
desperate and revolutionary, and only calculated to ag.
gravate our dissensions, and precipitate the terrible issue
of Disunion —in this, that it is in terms, a demand upon
Congress of the Missouri Compromise, with the express
recognition of slavery south of 36 degrees 30 minutes, ol
north latitude, under penalty of a dissolution of the
Union.”
It appears then, that the objection to the Nash
ville platform is not to the line of 36-30, but to the
recognition of slavery South of that line ; an objec
tion which, if it had been ascribed to southern men
by northern journals, we should unhesitatingly have
pronounced a calumny. Not one word of objection
is heard to that feature of the Missouri Compromise
which absolutely proscribes slavery North of that
line; that does not trouble their consciences at all,
but the moment Congress undertakes to legislate fur
the protection of slavery, it becomes a monstrous
usurpation, utterly abhorrent to their sense of right.
If it is allowable for the general government to inter
dict slavery, it certainly is not so “desperate and rev
olutionary” a demand, that it should establish it. But
we do not ask Congress to establish slavery any
where, although, in conceding to it the power in this
particular instance, to positively forbid it North, we
most unpuestionably might, with propriety, insist upon
its positive establishment South, of the line of 36-30.
But the demand made by the Nashville Convention,
so far from involving the power in Congress to legis
late on the subject of slavery, is altogether indepen
dent of, and foreign to any such power. We assert
as a constitutional right of the South, that she is enti
tled to an equal participation in all the territory and
other public property belonging to the government,
and if there is any adventitious cause, in any way in
terfering with the exercise of that right, would it be a
usurpation of power, nay, would not justice actually
demand, that Congress, which is nothing more than
the agent of the government, should remove that
cause ?
Nor does it matter, that this cause is of a nature
which would not be a legitimate object of original ju
risdiction by the general government. Congress, for
instance, can not legislate on she subject of a national
religion, but suppose these Territories had been ac
quired with an established church, would the general
government, because it is prohibited by the constitu
tion from legislating on this question, be debarred the
privilege of destroying this establishment? But the
argument is wholly unnecessary. It certainly can not
be a more flagrant violation of the constitution, to es
tablish slavery South of 36-30, than it is to prohibit it,
North of that line. But it is said, this is not the old
Missouri Compromise. That line only prohibited
slavery North, without saying any thing about it South
of the line of 36 30. The objection is captious, to
say the least of it. The purpose of the Missouri
Compromise was to ditide the Territories between
the North and South. Does any body question this?
This division then could be effected by a simple prohi
bition of slavery on one side of a given line, because
without such a prohibition, the South would have
taken possession of the whole. Now on the contra
ay, in order to secure that division, it is necessary to
provide expressly for the rights of the South, other
wise, the North might secure the whole. Then, as
now, the object is to divide; then , simply drawing
the line was sufficient; now, we must not only draw
the lino, but we must expressly apportion to each sec
tion the share which it is to take in the division. ‘
[editorial correspondence.}
Oxford, Ga., July 18,1850.
Emory College Commencemenl.
Dear Sentinel —Many of your readers are inter
ested in the success Os this institution of learning, and
for their benefit, I propose to give yoii a brief descrip
tion of tlie commencement exercises which brfve jifst
been brought to a close. Emory Cortege is situated
in one of the most retired, delightful, and healthy
spots in the southern country, far away from all thoSo
noxious influences which are too frequently the bano
of our literary institutions, and yet sufficiently contig
uous to the great line of travel to make it convenient
ly accessible to the public. The pure atmosphere*
the cool water, the delightful groves, and the undis
turbed quiet which reigns here, combine to make it
at once, one of the most pleasant and admirably adap
ted locations for college purposes, to be found in the
land. Hut I have not the time, nor have you the
space, to indulge the feelings of extravagant delight
with which a passing visit to this retreat lias inspired
mo.
I reached Oxford Saturday evening, the 14tli inst.,-
and found that the crowd had already begun to as
semble. I, however, found elegant quarters in the
“Oxford Hotel,” and thanks to the kind attentions of
“mine host,” Maj. J. A. 11. Harper, (who keopsone
of the best houses in the State.) I fared like a lord;
during my brief sojourn under his roof.
Sunday morning, at 11 o’clock, Dr. L. Pierce, of
your city, preached the commencement sermon. The
theme was well suited to the occasion, and, of course f
handled with ability. The commencement exercises
proper did not begin until Tuesday morning, when l
the Junior exhibition took place. The following was
the order of exercises :
John W. Akers, P. G. S.*—Troup Cos., Ga.—
The. Dark Ages.
John T. Burkiialter, F. S.f —Marion Cos., Ga.—
Georgia Poor School Education.
W. Capers Bird, F. S.—Monroe Cos., Ga.— The
Melancholy Decay of the Indian Tribes.
Edward B. Smith, F. S.—Monticello, Ga.—
“And is this all?
Cried Ctrsar , at his height disgusted' 1
Charles P. Wornum, F. S.—Clinton, Ga.— The
Superiority of the Present Age.
Francis A. Meriwether, F. S.—Denmark,
Tenn.—
“ Nature ne'er meant her secrets to be found,
And her's are secrets which man can't expound.' 1
Thomas F. Green, F. S.—Jefferson Cos., Ala.—
The Anglo-Saxon Race. —(Excused.)
John 11. Tarver, F. S.—Tarversville, Ga.—Ele
vation of the Laboring Classes.
John P. Barrow, P. G. S.—Clinton, Ga.—Co
quetry.
William F. Easterling, F. S.—Georgetown,
S. C.— John C. Calhoun.
Lewis F. Dowdell, F. S.—Oak Bowery,’Ala.—
“No man knoweth his sepulchre .”
Augustus F. Hurt, F. S.—Columbus, Ga.—
Mexico.
Claudius C. Wilson, F. S. —Savannah, Ga. — The
Scholar's Hope.
James T. Menifee, F. S.—Macon county, Ala.—
The Power of Thought.
John W. Nicholson, F. S.—Macon county,
Ala.— Virtue the Only Path to True Greatness.
Rinaloo P. Harwell, P. G. S.—Morgan county,
Ga.— Mental Aptitudes.
Benjamin F. Jordan, P. G. S.—Wilkes county,
Ga.— The Dignity of Labor.
John F. Yarbrough, P. G. S.—Talbotton, Ga.—
Nature , and Nature's God.
Robert B. Gardner, P. G. S.—Upson Cos., Ga.—•
The Author.
The speeches, generally, were alike creditable to
the young men and to their preceptors. Without
wishing to be understood as disparaging any, we
must particularize the addresses of Messrs. Easter
ling, Dowdell, and Harwell, as being especially
fine. The Eulogiuin pronounced by the first named
gentleman spoke well for his head and heart. No
worthier tribute has been jaid to the immortal nan.o
of the great man whose virtues he commemorated.
The Senior exhibition came ofF next day at 9, a. m.
The exercises were as follows :
James G. Tebkau, P. G. S.f —Savannah, Ga.—
2d honor.— Salutatory.
William F. Cook, E. S.*—Culloden, Ga.— The
Torch of Mind is the Flame of Glory.
Robert E. Dixon, P. G. S.f —Talbot county,
Ga.— The. Speculating Spirit.
George M. Williams, P. G. S.f—Lumpkin,
Ga. —Avow your Principles.
William Cunyus, F. S.*—Houston county, Ga.—
The Jewels of which Georgia may boast.
Albert W. Rowland, P. G. S.f —Greene county,
Ga.—(Excused.)
William A. Wilson, P. G. S. —Putnam county,
Ga.—2d honor.— The Anglo-Saxon Race.
James J. Lawrence, P. G. S.f —Hancock county,
Ga.—2d honor.— Territorial Acquisition.
Thomas M. Norwood, F. S.—Culloden, Ga.—
Natural Science. —(Excused.)
William Scott, I’. G. S.f—Monticello, Fla.—
(Excused.)
John M. Green, P. G. S.f —Tliomaston, Ga.—
(Excused.)
Robert F. Jones, P. G. S.f —Richmond county,
Ga.— Refinement.
Henry O. Stanley, P. G. S.f—La Grange, Ga. —
3d honor.— Moral Science.
James C. Longstreet, F. S * —Gordon county,
Ga.—lst honor.— Political Agitations.
Valedictory to the Trustees, Faculty and Audi
once.
William M. Potter, F. S.*—Thomasville, Ga.—
Ist honor.— “ The Muse forbids the virtuous man
to die. 11
Valedictory to the President and Class.
Degrees conferred.
Baccalaureate Address.
There was so much to admire in all these address
es, and so little to condemn in any of them, that it
would seem unnecessary to mention the excellences
of either, more particularly. And yet, we can not
thus pass with a general compliment, a few of the
orations. The speech of Mr. Robt. E. Dixon, of
Talbot county, was the speech of the occasion ; in
deed, we have never heard, on a similar occasion, and
very rarely on any other, a speech more replete with
practical wisdom and genuine philosophy, than this.
Mr. Williams, of Lumpkin, Stewart county, gave
us a manly speech, filled with noble and patriotic sen
timents. The valedictorians were an honor to the
class. Their addresses were of unusual merit, and
excited in the minds of their delighted audience, ex
pectations of brilliant and useful careers in the world
which they have just entered. In conclusion, we
may congratulate Georgia, upon the accession to her
class of working citizenship, so much of excellent ma
terial as this graduating class contains. Educated as
these young men have been in the head and in the
heart, they can not fail to impress their characters for
good, upon the times in which they live.
At the conclusion of the speeches, President Pierce
conferred the degree of A. B. upon the graduating
class, (numbering twenty-four,) and delivered the
Baccalaureate address. The usual expressions of
commendation are but feebly descriptive of the pecu
liar charms of the eloquence of this gifted orator. It
seems but the natural overflowings of a soul always
full of eloquence, and yet oratory cultivated to its
greatest perfection, does not excel his, in grace and
power. The class which he dismissed with his ben
ediction, and the assembled multitude which hung
upon his words, will alike, long remember the truths
he uttered.
In the afternoon at 4 o’clock, the annual oration
before the Literary Societies, was delivered by Au
gustus S. Wingfield, Esq., Os the merits of this
production, there \vas but one opinion. The subject
was the importance of some definite aim in life, and
the necessity for uniformity, perseverance and virtue,
in its pursuit. The style was plain, earnest, and isn