Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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