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SOUTHERN SENTINEL.
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA:
THURSDAY MORNING, SEPT. 12, 1850.
Telegraphed Expressly lor the Sentinel.
Macon, 11 o’clock, 10m. P. M. >
September 10, 1850. £
On Tuesday last, the Texas boundary bill, in
conjunction with the New Mexico Territorial
bill, passed the House, ayes 108, nays 97. On
Saturday, the California bill, and the Utah Ter
ritorial bills passed — ‘he first by 156, and the
second by 97 to 85. The friends of these
measures fired one hundred guns and illumi
nated Washington on Saturday night
O’ Our New York and Boston correspondents
are too late for to-day’s paper. The failures of the
Northern mails have delayed their favors beyond the
usual time of reception.
(Dr Senators Cass, Souls. Berrien, Barnwell
And Mason, and Messrs. Orr, Haralson and Well-
Born, of ths House, have our thanks for publio docu
ments.
Fruits and Fruit Trees or America.—Mr. B.
B. dkGraffenried has laid on our tahl# this very en
tertaining and interesting volume. It is by A. .T.
Downing, tbs most distinguished Horticulturist in tho
United Status, and is decidedly the best work ever
written on tho subject. It embraces a description of
the different varieties of every fruit raised in this
country, together with its history, mode of planting,
grafting, culture, diseases, appropriate soil, and ma
nuring, &c., &c. In fact, to every man who has an
orchard of any sort, it is an invaluable companion.—
We have very little fine fruit in this seetion of coun
try, and we hope every man who has a piece of
ground large enough to plant a peach tree will pur
chase this work, and at once confer a blessing upon
his family and his neighbors by turning his attention
to the subject. For sab- at tho h*>ok-*tore of B. B.
deGraffenried, under the post-office.
A New Gas. — We were invited, a few evenings
since, into tho Drug Store of Messrs. Gf.snf.r &. Pea
lionv, to witness the burning of anew illuminating gas,
which has been discovered by Dr. Gesner of Nova
Scotia, tho father of Dr. Gesnf.r of this city. The gas
is obtained by bitumen and is generated by a simple re
tort invented and patented by Dr. G. The advantages
of this gas are that the material used generates
more than double the quantity obtained from common
coal, and its illuminating properties are moro than
twice as great. Those advantages, connected with the j
ease with which it is obtained, and the exhaustless sup
plies and consequent cheapness of the material, consti
tute the invention one of tho most important and valu
able of the day. In the illumination of cities, hotels,
theatres,manufactories, &c., it is destined to supercede
the use of the gases now in common use.
Organize !J! Organize! J!
We are no longer left to conjecture the deter
mination of the North to rule or ruin this coun
try. The rights of the people are openly, fla
grantly and repeatedly outraged, and it is their
privilege and their duty to stem tho torrent
which threatens to overwhelm them. This they
must do by individual and collective opposition.
What we have most needed, all the while, is
concert of action. There aro plenty of us en
gaged in the noble cause, but if we would suc
ceed we must work together. We know of no
way so effectually to accomplish this, as by the
formation of Southern Rights Associations in
every county in the State. Already, some
the counties have organized such associations,
and every day’s mail brings us the news of
others. The counties of Western Georgia must
not be idle. Let our friends, in this part of the
State, then, get to action, and we propose that
Muscogee shall lead the way. We propose,
then, that the 36-30 men of Columbus and the
surrounding country, or as many of them as can
conveniently do so, meet at the old office of the
Muscogee Democrat, on Saturday evening next,
at early candle light, for the purpose of organ
izing such an Association.
What Now ?
W c arc informed by Telegraph that all the mea
sures of abomination, including the bill to admit Cali
fornia as a State, have passed both Houses of Con
press, and have doubtless, ere this, becom* lairs by
tlie executive sanction. The question which springs
spontaneously from the lips of every one, is, wiiat
now ? It will not require many words to define our
position. We have all along contended that the ad
mission of California would fill to overflowing the
poisoned cup of degradation which tbs North lias for
years been preparing tlie South. We have a
clared our determination to hold to the Union so long
ft* there was a hope that we would be safe in the Un
ion. That hope has now been disappointed, and we
abandon the Union as an engine of infamous oppres
sion. We are for secession, open, unqualified, na
ked secession. Henceforth we are for war upon the j
government; it has existed but for our ruin, and to
the extent of our ability to destroy it, it shall exist no
longer. We loathe the very name of Tyranny, and
whether it shows itself in the oppressions of a crown
ed monarch, or of a despotic majority, it is equally
the object of our unmitigated, unqualified abhorrence.
It remains to be seen, whether the men of tlie
South will, with freemen’s hearts, strike for their
rights, or, with the dastard’s spirit, submit to wrong.
ITARrER's new Monthly.—We are in possession
of the September number, and we need mention, in
evidence of its popularity, the single fset that 40.000
copies of this number are struck off as the first edi
tion.
Hunt’s Merchants’Magazine ron September, is
welcome as usual. It is a repository of valuable in
formation. The number before us contains its usual
variety of commercial miscellany.
Godey’s Lady’s Book.—The October number is on ;
our table, and if. as usual,filled with beautiful engravings |
and interesting articles.
Graham’s Magazine.—We have the October num
ber. Each number of this princely mouthly seems to !
be an improvement on the previous one.
The Schoolfellow.—This unrivalled little magazine .
forboys aud girls has been duly received. In its line it
is unsurpassed in this country.
The Southern Literary Messenger.—-Tlie Septem- j
ber number contains tlie first part of the celebrated story
of Judith Bensaddi, which was first published several
years since, and the demand for tho numbers containing
it was so great the editor has commenced its republiea- i
tion. The Messenger is ably sustained by the first j
writers of the South, and deserves a large Southern pa
tronage.
TnE Last Hours of Prof. Webster, on the
fourth page, will be read with interest.
Editorial Correspondence.
We publish this week the second of a series of letters
over the signature of “C. L. H.” We need scarcely
say they are from the pen of the deservedly distinguish
ed authoress, Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz. We feel that j
our columns are highly complimented by her produc
tions, and we are sure that our readers, not less than our
selves, will acknowledge the obligation.
To oar Agricultural Readers.
At the last regular meeting of the Muscogee and
Russell Agricultural Association, it was determined
that there should be a regular meeting of the Society
at 10, A. M., on the first Friday in each month, at
the Sosiety Booms. The purpose is to secure a reg
ular and periodical association of those who are inter
ested in the cause of agriculture, not only for trans
action of such business as may come before the So
ciety, but for the purpose of conferring with each
other on all subjects connected with their mutual in
terests. All the valuable agricultural works of the
country max’ be found on the table of the Society, and
these gatherings may, by instructive reading and
conversation, be made not only interesting but va
1 uable.
Mass Meeting in Cherokee.
Wo extract from the last Cherokee Advocate, the
following invitation to tho 36-30 men of Georgia, to
meet en masse in Cherokee on tho 26th inst. We hearti
ly approve the idea, and hope that the hospitality of our
Cherokee, friends may lx* overwhelmingly taxed :
“The friends of Southern rights are invited to meet,
at KINGSTON, on THU USD A F, the 26/A of Sep
tember, to take counsel on the important issues which
arc now disturbing the peace and harmony of the
country. Let us show that Cherokee knows her rights,
and knowing dares maintain them. It is all import
ant that the people speak out, that the position of
Georgia and the South may not be misunderstood.
Addresses maybe expected from the ablest men from
various parts of this and the adjoining Slates.
A I'll RE BARBECUE will be provided, sufficient
for all who may come.”
To Correspondents.
VfiT A Friend, who request* us to publish the speech
delivered by Mr. Stephins at Wr.rrenton, cannot be in
earnest. Wc are Southern men and believe in a bold
and fearless vindication of our rights ; henco we can
give place tone such advice and persuasion a* is con
tained in tho address of that gentlemau to the freemen
of the South. Somo writer not long since intimated
that the “informed negroes” were taking sides on the
questions of the day, and it may he if-the document re
ferred to was generally circulated, it might teach them
some loasons that their masters had rather they would
not leant. Whether, however, our “fi iend'ps in earnest
or not, the vile, insidious and dangerous document can
have no place in this paper. It may be true, as our
“friend” states, that the National Intelligencer at Wash
ington would, and other Southern presses near home
hare, given currency and circulation to this speech. They
may have a right to do so. These presses do not claim
to bo the guardians of the property and honor of the
South, nurl may possibly be indulged in publishing and
circulating documents, the only tendency of which is
to teach the men of the South to submit to wrong. We
have nothing to do with the Intelligencer, and are o*
the deliberate opinion that if it is to l;c the vehicle of scat
tering through tho South such matter as we have men
tioned, the sooner the slave owners of this region cutit3
acquaintance the Letter.
Mr. Stephens.
Wc published last week the noble effort of this gentle
man in the House of Repro’cntatives on the President’s
Texas Message. We had, hoped from the spirit of that
speech, and indications elsewhere afforded, that we
should have tlie co-operation of Mr. Stephens in
fighting tlie issuos now before tlie country. We have
been disappointed, however, and we shall have to fight
them without him. It would be folly to say we do not
regret the recreancy of a loader of o much ability ; we
do regret it, for when entitled on the side oi” truth and
justice no man in Georgia is more able and efficient be
fore the people. But while we regret it, wo are by no
means dispirited. The commanding influence, and the
persuasive*eloquence of Mr. Stephens, are completely
lost whoa prostituted to the advocacy of wrong and in
justice. And by Mr. Stephens’ own showing, a set
tlement of the questions now before the country on the
basis of the measures before Congress, will not do the
South justice. Yet he who is willing, (to use *n ex
pression now in vogue,) to march, with his coffin on his
back, to the rescue of a claim which he believes to be
unfounded on the part of Texas, is ready to yield his as
sent and counsel his countrymen to do the same, to a
policy which ho brands as unfair and iniquitous. In
such a cause wc are willing to encounter even Mr.
Stephens.
Os What doe* the South Complain ?
Wc arc told, from high authority, that when the
constitutional rights of the South have been invaded,
the time for resistance will hare arrived. Such is
the position assumed by Mr. Stephens in his late
speeches to his constituents. There is no equivoca
tion as to the import of the word resistance , as used
by this gentleman. In tho more eloquent language
of one of Georgia’s greatest men, “the argument will
then have been exhausted, and we must stand by our
arms.’’ We understand all parties in this State to be
committed to this position, the only question being as
to what constitutes such an invasion of our constitu
tional rights. Or rather, the practical question now
before tlie people of Georgia, is, trill the passage of
any measure, now before Congress constitute such
an infraction of the rights of the South as to war
rant resistance on her part ? We propose to ex
amine and answer this question, not in a spirit of fac
tion or passion, but candidly and honestly, as becomes
men in the consideration of an issue so momentous as
the one lie fore us. We have nothing to gain, on the
one hand, by violent denunciations of those who differ
with us, and, on the other, we have nothing to lose by
a calm and dispassionate survey of the field before us.
Before we proceed to an investigation of the main
point in issue, let us ask what is understood by an in
vasion of our rights ? Me are not to suppose, as some
erroneously have done, that it must be so palpable
as that there *ll*ll b# no disputing the truth of it;
for if this is to be the test of our opposition, there is
nothing which Congress will undertake to do, as to
the right, which there will not he a difference of opin
ion. For instance, there are, unfortunately, men at
the South, who hold to the doctrine that Congress
may constitutionally abolish slavery in the District of
Columbia and in all the Dock Yards and arsenals
throughout the country ; that it may prohibit the in
troduction of slaves into territories and the slave
trade between the States, and yet, if these are not to
be regarded as proper grounds of resistance , we will
throw our pen to the dogs and never say another
word about Southern right*. While wc do not con
tend, therefore, that we should take up arms against
every measure that a morbid sensitiveness might
magnify into tyranny, wo do say that we aro not to
delay action until the frozen patriotism of every cold
hearted Southerner is aroused into life.
There is another position entertained by some
which we regard extremely dangerous to the rights
of the South. It is, that if Congress is not the author
of our grievances, however much we suffer, we arc
not to complain of the government. This is evidenc
ed in the doctrine contended for by some of our most
intelligent men, that because congressmen do not
steal and detain our slaves, that therefore we are not
to utter complaints against the government, though
our plantations should be depopulated, and our lives
endangered in the attempt to recover our property.
Congress is the agent of all the States, and is just as :
much responsible for a wrong which it permits to be j
inflicted upon one of them, as for an outrage which
itself originates and consummates. We think we j
nra not at fault in this proposition, and as it is an im
portant one to the argument which we have to make, |
we repeat, that if the general government silently per
mits a wrong to be inflicted upon the right* of any
State of this Union, when it had tlie power to pre
vent it, it is just as much responsible for that wrong
as though Congress had been the author and finisher
of the evil.
Having premised thus much, we proceed directly !
to answer the question. Will the passage of any
measure now before Congress . so far violate the \
rights of the South, as to justify her in resistance ? !
M e think so; and we hope to bring our readers to ,
the same conclusion.
The Senate lias passed, and the House is now con- I
sidering four measures growing out of our Territo- j
rial relations. The first is a Bill to settle the North- !
ern and Eastern boundary of Texas, by purchasing
her claim to all the Territory north and east of a cer
tain line, and paying her therefor, the sum of $lO -
000,000. Had we a vote on this question, either in
Congress or in tlie Texas Legislature, we should re •
cord it against the measure, because we should be op
posed to a relinquishment of any territory now open
to slaves: but if the Bill should obtain the sanction I
of the Government at Washington and the Texas !
authorities, our moutlus would be closed because the
operation would undoubtedly be within the discre
tion of the parties, and they alone have the legal
right to settle it. The second and third of these mea
sures are Bills providing Territorial governments for
L tah and New Mexico. At present we shall not en
ter into a consideration of the principles involved in
these* measures, but will p;tss on to the fourth and last <
of the Bills now before Congress—we mean tlie Bill
for the admission of California as a State, which we
shall endeavor 1o show is a flagrant and most insult
ing outrage upon the rights of the South.
We lay down, then, as our first proposition,
That all the Territories of this Union belong in com
mon to the States composing it. and that the people, of
each hare an equal right to enter and enjoy them
with their property.
The nature of our government, and the spirit of our
constitution, so clearly verify this proposition, that it
is more in the nature of an axiom than a truth depen
dent upon demonstration. So well established is it.
that we do not know that it has ever been questioned
even by our bitterest opponents at the North. It in
volves a right so paramount, that without its recogni
tion, not one of tlie original thirteen States would
have entered into the Fnion. Without undertaking
a word further in proof of it, we proceed to our se
cond proposition, which is.
That the States can only be divested of this right
by the legitimate action of the people inhabiting
those. Territories , when they come to form a State
government.
It is admitted, that in the organization of a State
government, the people have a right to settle all their
internal policy, the question of slavery included, but
it is all important to remember that this action must
be legitimate, or it undeniably becomes a usurpation,
and if so. it must be wholly inoperative for the exclu
sion of the existing right* of the States, and can only
require potency from the subsequent ratification of
Congress. This action of Congress may cure the de
fects in the action of the Territory, but in doing so,
it becomes immediately and directly the author of
whatever vitality may be in the State constitution,
and, of course, therefore, absolutely responsible for it.
Or, to state the proposition differently, if the States are
wrongfully divested of their rights in the Territo
ries, by the unauthorized action of the people inhab
iting them, and Congress either silently permits it., or
passively sanctions their action, the general govern
ment becomes directly responsible for the trespass.
The question now is, lias the constitution presented
by California, been the result of the unauthorized ac
tion of the people adopting it ? This brings us to our
third proposition :
That the organization of the California State
Government is wholly fraudulent, and therefore in
operative, and its ratification by Congress would be
in violation of the rights of the States.
Before we enter into the proof of this fact, let us
briefly consider an argument based upon that clause
of the constitution which gives to Congress the pow
er to admit new Stales. The clause in question is,
the 3d Section of Article 4, and is as follows :
“New States may be admitted by the Congress into
this Union, but no new State shall be. formed or erected
within the jurisdiction of any other State : nor any State
formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts
of States without the content of the Legislatures of the
States concerned, as well as of the Congress.”
The argument is, that the admission of new State*
is left onfirelyat the discretion of Congress, and that
it may therefore either admit or reject any application
without infringing the constitution, provided in so do
ing, it conforms to the qualifications contained in the
clause confering the power. Without the clause in
: question, Congress would have had no power to ad
mit new States, and the sole purpose of its introduc
tion into the constitution, was to confer authority. In
the same way, the powsr was given to Congress to
levy and collect taxes, to declare war, &c. ; but is it
argued that because the right to legislate on ihese
questions was given to the general government, that
therefore the mode of legislation is left entirely to the
discretion of Congress, and any thing which it may
do in the premises will be constitutional ? There is
no such thing as absolute power over any thing, ves
ted in the general government. There are certain
subjects of legislation vested exclusively in Congress,
but the right of exclusive legislation, and the power
of absolute legislation, aro totally distinct and dissimi
lar. The power to admit new States is one of this
class of exclusive powers, but is by no means a sub
ject of unqualified discretion in the national Legisla
ture. Congress may admit new States undoubtedly,
but if, in doing so, it transgresses any of the other clau
ses of the constitution, it just as clearly violates that
instrument a* though it had no power to act in the
premises. Suppose a State should apply for admis
sion into this Union with a monarchical form of gov
ernment, and Congress should admit her. Would
that act of admission be constitutional ? No. But
has Congress not the power to admit new States?
Yes ; but in doing so it must see that it lias a repub
lican form of government. Suppose a State should
apply for admission with a constitution establishing
the Catholic religion, and Congress should admit her,
would the act of admission be constitutional ? No.
Why not? There is no clause in the constitution
prohibiting a State from establishing a religion. True :
but it would be contrary to the spirit of our govern
ment. Suppose a State should apply for admission
with a constitution which prohibited any person who
had ever owned a slave, front settling within Iter
limits, and Congress should admit her, would the aet
of admission be constitutional? No. But has not
Congress the power to admit new States. Yes; but
in so doing, she must not permit the rights of any
of the States to be violated. We need not multiply
illustrations to establish the point that in the exer
cise us an unquestioned power to admit new States,
the discretion of Cougrcs* is not unrestricted. If we
can show, then, that by the admission of California,
any clause of the constitution, or the spirit thereof, or
the rights of the States would be outraged, we shall
have demonstrated that the act of admission would
be unconstitutional. Bearing in mind, then, a former
proposition, that there is only one way in which the
States can be constitutionally divested of their rights
in the Terr,; iries, and that a resort to any other
mode would bo uncon*titutional, we proceed to show
that in the organization of the California State gov
ernment, tlie aet of the people va* without authority
and fraudulent.
We assert, then, in tha first place, that those who
framed the so tailed constitution of California had no
right to form a State Government. We are met hr
the general declaration that it is in accordance with
the genius of our institutions that every people have
the right to form their own government, and that the
inhabitants of California have done no more than this.
We admit the general truth, but deny that it has any
application to the case of California. No man who
is not identified with a country, has any right to par
ticipate in the regulation of the political affair* of that
country. In no sense of the word could a mere ad
venturer who was temporarily in California, be called
a citizen of that country, and yet nine-tenths of those
who participated in the State organization, were ex
actly of this class But there is a principle which
goes behind this, and by which the general doctrine
above stated, must be qualified. Admitting that all
who engaged in that movement were resident and
bona fide citizens of California, they were not compe
tent to the formation of a State government.
The unorganized population of a country which be
longs to any other power, have no inherent politi
cal rights. In the ease of the public domain, the
right to legislate for, “to dispose of, and make all
needful rules and regulations respecting it,” is bv the
constitution expressly and exclusively given to Con
gress, and any attempt to exercise these powers by
those who may happen either rightfully, or wrongful
ly, (as do the Californians,) to live thereon, is revolu
tionary and in usurpation of right. Tire inhabitants
of the Territories must first be clothed with political
powers by a Territorial government , and among
those powers is ordinarily the right to frame a State
constitution and ask admission into the Union when
it shall have acquired a sufficient population.
But again, even conceding the right, California did
not have a sufficient population at the time of the adop
tion of her constitution, to entitle her to admission.
True, there is no constitutional amount of population
pre requisite to admission expressly laid down, but the* j
precedents of our history, and that spirit of equality :
among the States which should govern, as far as pos
sible, the legislation of the country, has fixed the re
quisite population at the ratio of representation in the
lower House of Congress. That ratio is now 71,000.
and it is pretty well ascertained that on the first of
August, lS49,st the time of the election of delegates
| to the convention which framed the constitution,
• there were but about 30,000 people in California who,
under any circumstances, could be allowed to partiei
! pate in a political organization. But small as this
population is, there were not 15,000 votes polled at
tlie election of delegates, which certainly establishes
! <meof two tilings; either that the population in that
country was even smaller than we have estimated it,
; or the movement for the formation of the State gov
ernment did not jneet with the sanction of the people.
For it must be borne in mind, that an infinitely larg
er proportion of the population in California, than in
j any State us this Union, are voter*, the proportion of
women and children being much smaller there. All
these considerations are admitted by those in favor
of letting California come in, but they are classed as
irregularities which Congress may, in the exercise
of its discretion, disregard.. Not so ; they arc irreg
ularities, indeed, and such as absolutely vitiate and
nullify the whole proceeding. In no sense of the
term can the instrument presented to Congress be
called a constitution , and the action of Congress can
no more impart to it life and validity than it could
breathe human life into a figure of clay which the in
genuity of man had constructed.
We have hitherto noticed only those features in
this History which strike at its vitality. We propose
now to examine certain aspects which wear the ap
pearance of fraud and absolute injustice more partic
ularly to the Southern States. In the first place,
then, tlie movement in California in favor of a State
government, so far from having originated with tlie
people, was the result of official interference. An at
tempt has been made to shield General Taylor from
tlie imputation of interfering for this purpose. Wc
need not now examine the truth of this charge, nor
|is it material to tlie issue before us. The govern
| merit officer in California, whether by the advieo of
Gen. Taylor’s or the preceding administration, it mat
ters not, did most unquestionably suggest tlie move
ment, keep it up, and consummate it. It is no an
swer to us. to attempt to saddle the responsibility of
this movement upon Mr. Polk. It would be difficult
to convince us that he had any thing to do with it;
but were we satisfied of his guilt, wo would as unhes
itatingly denounce the aet in him as in Gen. Taylor.
In defence of what we believe to be the interests of
the South, we arc no respecter of persons. An
equivocal denial of the charge, however, will never
convince us that Gen. Riley proceeded of His own
mere motion, and without the instructions of the gov
ernment at Washington. Not a single popular inti
mation had been giv*n in California of a desire on
the part of the people to form a State government.
A Territorial government was all they thought of or
wished for, and indeed the proof is now in possession
of Senators at Washington to establish the fact that
even now the people of California would be satisfied
with a Territorial condition. In the absence of such
j a demonstration by the people, that Gen. Riley should,
without any instructions from home, submit such a
j proposition, is almost preposterous. But we, are not
| left to conjecture. The revealed policy of theadinin-
I istration in declaring its anxiety to assist the people
in their movement; the terms of Gen. Riley’s pro
clamation, and the kind interventions of Mr. Butler
King, all demonstrate that the people of California
were at least not alone in their efforts. Be this as it
may, the unrepudiated acts of Gen. Riley fully com
mit the government which he represented, and it ap
pears that without the invitation of the Californians,
he issued a proclamation, calling on the people to elect
delegates to a convention, prescribed the qualifications
of voters, presided over the convention, and absolute
ly defrayed its expenses out of the public funds be
longing to the United States.
This, however, is but, the beginning of the outrage.
| The convention was not only called and governed by
| 11. S. officers there, but they absolutely dictated the
j boundaries and constitution of the new State. We
i know that a considerable portion of California remon
; titrated against the formation of a State government,
i and asked to be left out of the limits of the State
| when it was formed. We know that there was a
strong disposition on the part of some of the members
of the convention, to exclude a large area of country
which is now included within the limits of the State,
and we know that the convention was earnestly en
treated by T. Butler King, Gen. Taylor's missionary,
not to leave any territory out. We knowfXoo, that
one of the strong arguments, and if not the prevail
ing consideration in favor of introducing the anti-sla
very clause into the constitution was to secure its pas
sage by the U. S. Congress, and finally, we know,
because Gen. Taylor, in his message, lias said so, that
the main inducement to the formation of a State gov
ernment, was to avoid the responsibility of settling
the slavery question in Congress. We do not ques
tion that Gen. Taylor’s motives in recommending this
course were very patriotic. He saw that this agita
tion was ruining the country, and his great object
was to settle it. Unfortunately for the South, he es
timated too lightly the rights which be was about to
sacrifice for Iter. The delegates were told, the anti
slavery sentiment has the majority in both houses of
Congress. Conciliate that majority by passing the
Wilmot Proviso for it, and your constitution will pass ;
leave it out, and a Northern majority will never let
yon come in. We do not pretend to say whether a
majority of the convention were not anti-slavery men,
but we do say, that without such representations, it
is probable that the question of slavery would not
have been raised.
We have thus, at considerable length, but as brief
ly as possible, taken a general survey of this whole
question. We have not undertaken a detailed exam
ination of all the questions involved in it; that would
occupy too large a space in our columns, but even in
this cursory review, we think we have seen enough
to satisfy us that the entire scheme is one of fraud,
and insulting outrage upon our rights. And yet, we
are told, that in opposing it, we arc fighting the air.
That we raise questions in a spirit of discontent and
treason. And it is ever thus that our arguments on
this question are met; not with argument, but with
denunciation ; not with reason, but with rant. The
ablest champion of California on the floor of Congress,
has not dared to defend her position, save in vague
generalities, and loud mouthed declamation about the
the glorious Union. Not a press in Georgia has pub
lished a line in vindication of this policy, nor do we
expect to read from one of them a word in proof of
the righteousness of the demand, which California
makes for admission. The ears of the people are to
be deafened with the din of Union, while they are be
ing stripped of their rights and laughed at by their
enemies.
A Fair Proposition.
Congress has passed the four following bills, to ;
wit:
1. A Bill to form a Territorial Government for
Utah.
2. A Bill to settle the Boundary line of Texas.
3. A Bill to form a Territorial Government for
New Mexico.
4. A Bill to admit California as a State.
All these measures receive the sanction of the Co
lumbus Enquirer, and it rejoices at their adoption.
Now wc challenge the Enquirer to show :
Ist. That either of these measures is fair and just
to the South.
2nd. That the policy which proposes to settle our *
differences with tho North on these bases is honora
ble and equitable to the South.
This is a fair proposition, and if the Enquirer is
willing to meet the questions in a fair and reasonable
way, it will accept the challenge. If it does not, we
shall take its silence as admission that neither of the
measures is fair and just to the South, and in that
event we shall expose its treachery to the cause of the
South in counselling it to submit to wrong.
Gen. Mirabeau Lamar’s Letter.
V'e invite the attention of our readers to this pa
; per which we publish on the outside of this day's is- i
i sue. Gen. Lamar is well known throughout this
: State, and having been once an influential citizen of
this county, his views on the all absorbing questions
j of the day will be read with more than ordinary inter
: est. lie takes a statesman's view of the true issue
i before the country, and gives expression to his opin
ions with his characteristic eloquence and fearless
ness.
Disunion--- Aboliliciii.
The Columbus Enquirer, of Tuesday last, does
not scruple to denounce the policy we advocate, as an
infamous project of dissolving the Union. Wc
have been accustomed to regard vituperation as very
poor logic, and slang a* not much better rhetoric, but
as these seem to be the Enquirer's only weapons in
controversy, we must needs not notice him, or else,
to use his own vernacular, fight the devil with fire.
The issue which has been forced upon us, is Aboli
tion or Disunion. We have not hesitated to de
claro our preference for the latter, and the Enquirer
either has not had the wit to discover, or lias lacked
the honesty to admit, that the policy it advocates inev
itably leads to the former. We have declared and
reiterated our position, and wo repeat it again, that if
we can have our rights in the Union, we infinitely
prefer to remain in it, but that if we can not retain
our rights in the Union, we prefer to go out of it.
| So far we have merited the name of disunioniste—no
| farther. The Enquirer prefers to remain in the Un
i ion, even at Ins sacrifice of our rights, and we hold
| ourselves prepared to prove that a silent submission
i to wrong, inevitably and directly leads to abolition.
We repeat, then, the issue is, cither resistance or abo
lition. We are told of tile horrors of the former.
What though they all be real, in the language of Gen.
Lamar, we had infinitely belter fight the abolitionists
than our slaves. The direst calamities, say* that
Southern patriot, that can possibly result from seces
sion will bo insignificant and trifling, compared with
those which follow in the wake of abolition. Be not
deceived, fellow-citizens, the issue is upon you. You
must make up your minds, either to resist at the
threshhold, and to the death, the inroads of Northern
fanaticism, or you must prepare yourselves and your
| families for the inconceivable horrors of a servile
! war. The Enquirer would deafen you with the cla
! mor for Union ; you may have the Union, but you
must purchase it with slavery or extinction.
Common School Education in Georgia.
We publish below, the address of a committee
appointed to the late State Fair, on the subject of
common school education in this State. The subject
is one of such manifest import mice that we need say
nothing in vindication of its objects. Every body
who has thought at ail on the subject, lias been sat
isfied of the necessity for some mode of diffusing ed
ucation generally among the .people, and the inactivi
ty of our State on the subject, has not grown out of
! any indisposition to act, but is to be attributed to the
want of some plan of action. The intention of the
address is to supply that desideratum. It is proposed
| to call a convention of two delegates from each coun
| ty to meet at Macon oh the second Wednesday in
December next. This convention is to devise some sys
tem of general education which is to be presented to
the next session of the Legislature. We hope that
someone in each county, who feels an interest in the
subject, will take the matter in hand and sec to it,
that his county is represented in the convention. It
is very necessary that every section of the State
should be represented, and that the delegates should
go prepared with statistics as to the number of chil
dren schools &c., in their respective counties.
TO TIIE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA.
Fellow Citizens: After consultation with
several gentlemen from different parts of the
State', during the late Fair of the Southern Cen
tral Agricultural Association lurid at Atlanta,
the following resolutions were adopted:
“Resolved , That a committee of five be appoint
ed to prepare and publish an address to the citi
zens of the State generally, respectfully calling
their attention to the importance of common
school education, and of some united action for
the advancement of that cause.
“Resolved, That the interest of this great
cause calls for the united counsel and co-opera
tion of the entire Stare ; and that for this end
we earnestly invite each county to take the sub
ject into consideration, and to send delegates to
a convention to be held at such time and place
as the above committee, after consultation, may
designate, for the purpose of maturing some
practicable system of common school education,
to be presented to the next Legislature.”
No subject more deeply concerns us a a
State, than that presented in the above resolu
tions. In all civilized countries general educa
tion is considered of vital importance. Properly
conducted, it lies at the foundation of all that is
valuable in the political and social relations of
mankind, and in proportion as it is general,
or limited, thorough, or superficial, so will the
State rank in the scale of real greatness.
The State of Georgia is rapidly advancing, in
many respects, to the foremost place among her
sisters of the South. Her natural advantages
and resources are unsurpassed, and the enter
prise and industry of her citizens are beginning
to develope these resources and to employ these
advantages. Her population is rapidly increas
ing, and her capital begins to be largely invest
ed in works of infernal improvement and com
merce. A laudable attention is beginning to be
directed to agricultural and artistic improve
ments, as is abundantly shown in the increasing
numbers who attend ourgrtat Agricultural Fair,
and the interest taken in its exhibitions. In past
time, tiie appeal in behalf of these various im
provements has been restricted mainly to the
more wealthy and educated, but now it is made
to every class of citizens. All are now invoked,
especially the farmers and mechanics, to enlist
in this common movement for elevating the
State in in all t lie elements of true greatness.
It is to be feared, howsver, that the most im
portant means of realising these desires and ex
pectations is too much to be overlooked. Be
fore the body of the people can be efficiently en
listed in these enterprises, they must be? enabled
to understand the nature and extent of the de
sired improvements, the means by which they
are to be accomplished, and ilie interest which
every citizen has in the results. In no other
way can a general and steady co-operation be
secured.
Now this is the business of education, intel
lectual and moral, extending to every class of
our white population.
Georgia has recognised this truth from the
earliest days of her existence as a State. Her
first Constitution adopted in 1777, provides that
li Schools shall be erected in each county, and
supported at the general expense of the State.”
The endowment of the University, and of Coun
ty Academies, and appropriations for common
and poor Schools, have followed at different
periods in obedience to this provision of our first
Constitution. And in addition to these provis
ions by the State, private munificence has furn
ished the means of establishing many valuable
institutions ot learning for both males and fe
males.
But while those various institutions furnish a
highly creditable provision for academic learning
in our State, all the attempts of our Legislature
to establish Common Schools have been singu
larly unsuccessful. Various schemes have been
adopted, and then abandoned as failures. So
that after all that has been expended, there is a
lamentable deficiency of good Common Schools
in the State. The means of a good common
education are not tarnished to the mass of our
population. And yet such an education is the
right of every citizen under our Constitution.
The blessings derived by all from onr higher
seminaries are indeed great, and we desire to
see them cherished and sustained ; but yet vast
ly more is due to the great body of the people
who cannot avail themselves of these higher
advantages.
What, then, is to be done? Shall we allow
this sad deficiency to continue ? Shall this great
hinderance to the elevation of our State still
exist? The failure of onr common school sys
tems heretofore is mainly attributable to three i
causes— _ ]
1. Tliev have not been adapted in their details
, to the actual condition and wants of our popu- ■
! lation. !
i 2. There has been no adequate supply of well
j qualified common school teachers.
3. There has been too little interest felt gener
ally in the subject itself.
To remove these obstacles, and to put in
operation some practicable and efficient plan ot
general education, is confessedly a work ot great
difficulty. This difficulty is felt especially in
those portions of the State where the white
population is very sparse. ‘But yet something
must be done, and we think the undertaking a
j practicable one, if entered upon with an earnest
zeal.
During the sessions of our Legislature there
are so many exciting questions, and conflicting
interests, that little time is left for the considera
tion of this subject, about which so lew feel any
real concern. In addition to this, few ot our
legislators have either the materials, or the
thorough acquaintance with the subject itselt,
from which to digest any comprehensive plan of
general education. Committees have several
j times been appointed during the recess of the
j Legislature, but they have either failed to report
or been unable to suggest any practicable scheme.
Perhaps, therefore, no suggestion promises
better results than the second resolution under
which we now write. If Delegates be sent from
the several counties, chosen with reference to this
single matter, we may hope for some good re
sult from their united wisdom and zeal. We
feel assured that the Legislature would not be
backward to adopt the well digested recom
mendations of such a body; and that, in any
event, the meeting and deliberations of such a
convention would tend to inspire new interest
in the public mind on this important subject.
We, therefore, earnestly invite each county
to take up the subject, and to send two delegates
to a Convention to be held in the city of Macon,
on the second Wednesday in December next,
for the purpose of taking into consideration the
whole question of common school education.
Delegates should go prepared with all the neces
sary statistical information as to the area, num
ber of children, number of schools, &c., <Ac.
The first Tuesday in November would probably
be a suitable day for the appointment of Dele
gates. Let all the friends of common education,
whether many or few, determine to act promptly
in this business, that every portion of the Slate
may take part in these deliberations for the
common welfare. Nothing is more worthy of
our prompt and earnest attention.
Fellow-citizens: This is emphatically the
cause of the people—that which tends to ele
vate and bless every one of our population. It
deeply concerns onr advancement in all the ele
ments of true greatness, physical, political, social,
intellectual and moral. And we are sure we
utter the feeling of every true Georgian, when
we say, that in ail these characteristics of great
ness we desire our State to stand unrivalled,
not by the depression of others, but by raising
herself to that commanding position.
Thomas F. Scott, j
Alonzo Church, |
S. Fouche, Committee.
B. Snider,
James A. Nisbet, J
The Heat Enemies ot the South.
The people of Georgia have now to act upon
an issue which has been forced upon them,
j Does any man of common sense believe, lhat if
j the South had been united, in opposition to the
! encroachments of the North, we would ever
| have been driven to the point where we now
j stand, midway between Abolition and Disunion?
i A spirit of firm determination, when the first
j inroad was made into our rights, would have
j completely checked every demonstration of in
j jury and insult. Time-serving and timid politi
j cians sought to arrest the storm by concilia/ion
; and compromise. What followed ? Submission
on our part invited aggression on theirs. Con
ciliation was again advised, and thus concilia
tion and aggression have distinguished the
history of this whole scheme of outrage, and
the result has been that we are now driven to
the wall. To make farther concessions is to
submit to ruin, and our only choice now is, re
sistance to the last extremity, and at all hazards,
or unconditional surrender. And now, whose
i fault is this? Are those to be censured, who
have stood by the rights of the South, battling
against oppression, or is the blame to be laid at
the door of those, who, it may be, in mistaken
zeal for the Union, have gradually receded be
fore the advancing demands of the North? If
the fears of our own ;n*n had not turned traitor*,
and opened the gates to our stronghold, we
would still, have been co-equal and honored
members of one proud confederacy of States.
Alas! where are we to-day ? The miserable,
insulted victims cf wrong, not even pitied by
our oppressors in our degradation. The North
laughs at us, derides us,scorns us, defies us, and
all because timid men, base men, short-sighted
men in our midst, have yielded to her demands.
Our determinations to resist have been jeered at
by men at home, who ought to have been our
allies. Their sneers have been caught up by
fanatics at the North, and hurled with contempt
into our teeth. The weak nerves of those who
represent the South in Congress, have trembled
in view of our divisions at home. And when
some true-hearted Southerner in Congress, in
whose bosom yet glowed Ihe fires of devotion
to his sunny home, ventured to raise his voice
in opposition to schemes of wrong, a heartless
majority has flaunted in his faco the treasonable
columns of some pseudo Southern newspaper,
and contemptuously met his threats with the
submission of his own constituents. Ah! the
time may come, when some of us, standing
amid the ruins of a once glorious confederacy,
may have to point to these mementoes of de
parted greatness, with the humiliating acknow- ;
ledgernent —we did it. The Enquirer may not
be mistaken in this conjecture; but mark it, if
the people of Georgia follow the lead of a sheet
like that, the time will come when they, amid
the wreck of loved homes, the ruin of dearer
friends, the devastation of fair fields, and the
b, ight of cherished hopes, may have to wail over
the pait they acted in tne sad catastrophe. We
may lament the horrors of a land drenched in
fraternal blood; they may lament the more in
conceivable horrors of a country reeking with
the consequences of a servile war.
[communicated.]
To the Editor of the Columbus Enquirer:
From the general tone of your editorials in favor of
tne Union, I am induced to believe that the North will
never commit any act of aggression on the South, that
you would think sufficient cause for a dissolution of the
confederacy. As I may do you injustice, permit me to
ask you the following question, which I hope you will
frankly answer: Suppose Mexico, instead of indemnify
ing us for the expense of the war by ceding territory,
had paid us in money, and the free States had appropri
ated every cent of it, would you liave been willing to re
main m a confederacy where we were treated with such
inju Tice . Lhe above supposed case is not hall so bad
as the reality. Wo are injured in a pecuniary point ot
view, and deprived of our equal political rights far
more important than the money.
MUSCOGEE.
(for tiie sentinel.]
Texan Boundary and State Sovereignty.
Mr. Editor: The question is frequently asked, “what
right has any other State to complain, if Texas, a sov
ereign State, chooses to bo dismembered ? I so.} tis
bordering States might possibly have a great deal o
right to complain. It would depend much on the
position of the territory. Suppose Congress should con -
clude to remove all our Indians there and colonize all
the free blacks there, would not the adjoining slave
States have a right (the right of self-preservation) to op
pose it and prevent it, if necessary, by force of arms.—
That would be .Early one of John Q. Adams’ cases
of super-added obligations higher than any imposed on
os by the constitution.
SOUTHRON.
[CORKESTONDENCE OF TIIE SOUTHERN SENTINEL.]
Cotoosa Strings, Aug. 27, ISSO.
Dear C. —I promised you when I left to give yon
tonic account of my rambles in the up-country, bat
I find the papers so full of rambles that I fear your
readers will not take much interest in what I write.
When I was here a few years since I was the only
writing rambler in the country, and this country
had not then been described ; it is Very differ
ent now; this region is full of watering places,
and full of those who are probably better qualified to
give descriptions than I am. The only advantage I
have over the most of them is, that I see more of tho
wild scenery than they do. lam prudence personified
when I have charge of others, but the most reckless
man in the country when I only have charge of my
self. My life is insured, and the insurance people
tho only sufferers. After leaving home, my’ first
stopping place was the Oak Mountain Spring, in Har
ris, where you get better nulk and butter than any
watering place I have seen, and pay per month
board. I would have remained there, but busi
ness required my coming higher. I then came
to the Chalybeate and IV arm Springs; not much
company at the first, and not a large crowd at the
other, but enough to make it pleasant. I saw licro
the prettiest girl south of the Federal Road—Mi>s
C. IT., of Fort Gaines. It is after all the pleasantest
place I Imre seen; though I am pleased with tlie com
pany here. At the Warm Springs the most of the
boarders appear like one family. I dislike stiffness—■
I used no starch in my young days, and am too old
for it now. From tho Warm Springs I went to tho
Atlanta Fair, where there was eight or ten thousand
persons. There were many pretty things exhibited
by the ladies, and many useful ones by the gentle
men, and some fine stock. lam glad to see, notwith
standing the high price of cotton, our planters are
vicing with the farmers, and I believe the finest cat
tle I saw was from the cotton region. The place for
the fair was too far from town, and it was so hot and
dusty I did not examine half the things that were
exhibited, and I soon came to the conclusion that tlio
next time I was caught iti such a crowd in such
weather, they might exhibit me amongst the livo
stock as an ass. I saw some pretty faces there, but
none surpassed our delegation, and it was fortunate
for other sections that we were not fully represented.
When pretty faces are exhibited, Muscogee is as
likely to get premiums as when she exhibits fin*
needle work. Whilst in Atlanta, I went out one
night with an old Whig friend, to hear Judge Col
quitt’s address on Southern lights. He was more
calm than usual, and more argumentative. One
great object of his address was to prove what I have
for twenty-five years believed, that tho greatest ene
mies of our rights and of life Union were those who
were for tamely submitting to Northern aggression.
Had we been a firm and united people, California
would have been a slave State, the area of slavery’ ex
tended and a large slave population abstracted from
the culture of cotton, with an increased price for
what was made ; but tho spirit of party and submis
sion combined decreed it otherwise. lam as devo
ted to the L'nion as any man should be, but I have no
use for a Union whore we are not equals, and where
i 1 only know the government by its oppression. The
Northern people do every thing in their power to
make us dissatisfied with the Union, and then esll
on us to read Washington’s Farewell Address, incul
cating its importance and denouncing thoso who
would dissolve it. Could the father of his coun
try look from his mansion in the skies, he would re
buke the vile hypocrites who thus pervert his ad
dress. That address was never intended to teach
submission to wrong. Docs any one who ever stu
died the character of Washington, suppose, for a mo
ment, that he would have counselled any portion of
his countrymen to submit to one-half the South has
for the last twenty years ? No ; he would have told
them that they went into the Union as equals, and
that so *oon as they ceased to be treated as such, the y
should retire from a concern where they paid more
than their share of the expense and received loss
than a tithe of the profits. The Union at present
is too much like Mr. Pitts’ treaty—tire reciprocity
all on one side.
We should eoant the value of the Union as we would
any thing else, by its cost and its value ; if it is worth
less than its support costs us, we should part with it.
Tile South should retire from the confederacy, un
less the North would agree to an amendment pf the
constitution, requiring two+kirds to pass laws. All
laws absolutely necessary could command that ma
jority, and no others should pass. The South lias
been robbed of more than $100,000,000 under laws
passed by majorities of one, two and three.
From Atlanta I cams to Marietta, which has be
come quite a pleasant village, and only want** large
hotel in some retired part of the village to make it a
pleasant place. The present hotels arc in the heart
of the village, and not sufficiently commodious for the
crowd that visit there in the summer.
This region is improving in\hotels, and I am glad
to see it, as it will prevent our\people from going to
the North and spending money amongst those who
laugh at us for our folly. It is true we cannot expect
that variety in tlieso hills, that can be found in New
York, Boston and Philadelphia, but there is the great
est abundance of every thing necessary to our com
fort. If good tab las are not kept here, it is the fault
of the hotel keepers and their cooks. They have
good flour, good beef, mutton and poultry, and might
ha\e fine butter if they would pay a few cents extra
price. I rarely got good tea, coffee and bread at a
tavsrn, and nothing is easier. If they will get good
coffee and have a careful band to parch it, grind it
fine and put plenty in the pot, there is no difficulty. It
should not be made until within a few minutes be
fore wanted. There is still less art in making tea.
Have good clear water, and do not smoke it, and
have hot water on the table for those who do not
like it strong, and my old friend Mrs. W., of Oxford
could learn any corn-field negro to make good bread
in a week. Fruits and vegetables generally do well
here, and New Jersey cannot produce better apples
than my friend Gordon has at Iris Springs; and I
never saw finer peaches than grow at Col. Carter's, in
Murray.
I rom Marietta I came to Rowland’s Springs, and
found quite a crowd of gay people. The house, in
the main, Is well kept, and it is a pretty and pleasant
place to those who are not always finding fault and
getting tired of every place. From Rowland’s I went
to Chattanooga, where I found my friend Col. Griffin,
of Gainesville, who had just opened a fine new house,
and I advise all who are fond of good eating, who
go to Chattanooga, to stop there. Large parties go
to Chattanooga almost every day, for the purpose of
visiting the Lookout Mountain. The scenery is
equal to any in the United States. I would try and
describe it, but did so in 1846. One thing I can say,
and that is, that the most vivid description will fall
infinitely short of the reality. I remained at Chatta
nooga three days, and was on the mountain twice
with parties, and did what I shall never do again.—
I walked from Chattanooga to the summit of the
rock (four and a hall’ miles) hi an hour and a half f