The Southern sentinel. (Columbus, Ga.) 1850-18??, July 25, 1850, Image 2

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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