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SOUTHERN SENTINEL.
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COLUMBUS, GEORGIA :
THURSDAY MORNING, NOV. 14, 1850.
Southern Rights Nominations
FOR THE STATE CONVENTION.
Election 25th of November.
Muscogee County.
Hon. ALFRED IVERSON.
Maj. JOHN 11. HOWARD.
MUFFIN J. CRAWFORD.
WILLIAM Y. HARDEN.
Harris County.
GEORGE A. B. DOZIER.
THOS. A. WILLIAMS.
JESSE GUNN.
HOPSON MILNER.
Stewart County.
Dr. I. W. STOKES.
WILLIAM NELSON.
Dn. WM. E. WIMBERLY.
JAMES HILLIARD.
Randolph County.
KICK’D DAVIS.
CHARLES HARRISON.
S. P. ALLISON.
Dii. S. P. BURNETT.
RICHMOND COUNTY—Gkoro* W. Lamar:
James M. Smtth*; Datid F\ Dickinson ; Jon* C.
Snead.
8188 COUNTY. —Leroy Napier; Chari.e*
Collins; Thomas A. Brown; Robert A. Smith.
MONROE COUNTY.— Thomas L. Battle:
Daniel Goddard; Datid Ogletree; William C.
Redding.
COBB COUNTY.—.Ton* Donwoodt, Sr.; J. N.
TTeggie; John S. Anderson; John F. Arnold.
TWIGGS COUNTY.—Benjamin B. Smith;
I)r. Henry S. Wimberly.
CLARK COUNTY. —Charles Dousherty;
Wilson Lumpkin; IsaacS. Vincent; John A. Lon.
THOMAS COUNTY.— James L. Seward; E.
R. Young.
CASS COUNTY—Dr. B. 11. C. Bonnar; Tho- ‘
ma* G. Dunlap; J. W. B. Summers; Nathaniel
Nicholson.
MURRAY COUNTY.—Gent. John Bates;
William Gordon.
COWETA COUNTY.—G. D. Greer; L. M.
Smith; R. S. Burch; Dr. Page.
MERIWETHER COUNTY.—O. Warner: Al
fred Wellborn; John H.McMath; Gf.o. A. llall.
DeKALB COUNTY.—A. F.Luckib; Dr.T. M.
Darnel; Judge E. A. Datis; Dr. William Gilbert.
MARION COUNTY.—Dr. N. M. Holland; E.
G. Brown.
FLOYD COUNTY. —CoI. Joseph Watters;
Dr. A. Dean.
PAULDING COUNTY. —George Garrison;
Joseph 11. Dodds.
CHATHAM COUNTY.—Hon. Jno. M. Bf.r
rif.n; I)r. James P. Screten: R. T. Gibson; Dr.
C. P. Richardsone.
LUMPKIN COUNTY.—GenI. Jno. D. Field, j
Col. William Martin; Raymond Sandford; John
W. Keitii.
EARLY COUNTY. —Judge Thos. Speight, Dr. ,
Josiah Vinson.
WASHINGTON COUNTY.—M. C. MTlliam- j
bon; Green Brantley; James W. Trawick ; i
Thomas J. Warthen.
FORSYTH COUNTY.— Ed. Ferguson; J. A. 1
Green.
BURKE COUNTY.— Edmund Palmer; W. W. j
llvgiifs ; John C. Foythkess; John Whitehead, j
TATNALL COUNTY.— De La Motta; Siike- |
TALL.
HOUSTON COUNTY.—Dr. E. J. McGehee ; j
F. AY. Jobson ; Sol. Fudge ; Morris Pollock, j
LINCOLN COUNTY. —Alexander Frazier ;|
Aaron Hardy.
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ST Mr. JOHN B. SLATON is duly authorized I
to act as Agent for this paper. His receipt* for sub
scriptions will be good at this offic*.
The Campbell Minstrels.
This deservedly popular band of “melodists'’ are
now in our city, giving a series of their charming
entertainments to crowded houses. As yet we have
been unable to attend—being confined to a sick bed—
but from the reports that have reached us. we feel
authorized in saying that—aside from their music—
(which ean't be beat) —they are decidedly the best
delineators of the negro character, and can do up
the burlesque in a style superior to any company that
have ever visited Columbus.
We may be somewhat selfish in the wish—but
believe the community generally, and especially our
country friends, would be highly gratified, if the
“Campbell Minstrels” would prolong their Btay in
our city until after the “Agricultural Fair,” which
comes off on Wednesday of next week. This, to
gether with tho fact of its being Court Week, will
have a tendency to attract a large number of people
from the surrounding country to this point, who
would, we feel assured, be delighted if an opportu
nity were afforded them, of attending these soiree*.
We trust they will find it to their interest to comply
with the general wish of the community by remaining.
Tarties.
The efforts of leaders to the contrary notwith
standing, there has been a complete revolution of
parties in this State. The names of Whig and
Democrat are no more descriptive of the political
divisions of the people of this country than they
-would be in England. They are obsolete terms as
dead as the issues which they oaee represented, j
The continued aggressions of the North upon the ;
South have excited the Southern people to the eon- j
sidoration of questions, far outweighing in importance I
any which have been involved in our former political j
differences, and forgetting the issues which once di- j
vided them, they have rallied under the banner of j
their common rights. Such being the disturbing :
cause, a cause which operates alike upon every man
now living at the South or in any way interested in
the security of slave property, it is a matter of aston- j
ishment that there should be any difference in senti
ment among us. It would seem, that in a contest
like this, in which the rights of the South are direct
ly involved, that all Southern men should stand
shoulder to shoulder in resisting a common enemy.
Such however is not the fact. Though old party dis
tinctions have been obliterated, new ones have been
formed; new parties have sprung into existence, and
the contest between them is more bitter, more in
tense, than any that was ever waged under the old
divisions. The fact presents a subject of humiliating
and alarming reflection. Humiliating because we
know that many have taken sides in this controversy
from other considerations than those of devotion to
th South or love for the Union. Ambition, selfish
ness, hopes of personal a-graiiFoment, these and
kindred motives, rather than any honest desire to
serve the country, have driven too many of our fel
low citizens into ranks hostile to the bst interests of
tb South and the Union. Humiliating again, be
cause in many instances that keen perception of
right, and quick apprehension of wrong, which all
freemen ought to have in guarding their liberties,
have been -completely obdurated by devotion to party
mnd party leaders. Alarming, because we are as
sured by the present state of things, that the day
will never eoni“, no matter how outrageous tha-eppres
■ion, when Southern men will unite in resisting wrong.
AVe believe, before Heaven, that if the indignities
which have been put upon the South in the last tw o
years do not move our people to action, our enemies
are incapable of any injustice which will provoke us
■ to resistance. The Northern people have clear heads
l if they have black hearts. They know just how far
they may safely go, and their schemes of imposition ,
w ill always be graduated with the most exact refer- i
| cnee to the amount of wrong which we will tolerate.
Little by little are we to be robbed of our rights, un
; til at last we shall find ourselves completely destroy
j <-d, and yet the inroad will have been so gradual that
! we can point to no one step of aggression which of it
self would have justified resistance. AA'e know,an l
every man who reads this sentence knows, that if
! Congress had abolished the slave trade in Columbia,
twenty-five years ago. that it would have met with j
the undivided opposition of the South. Therefore it !
was not done twenty-five years ago. Well, the indi
cations are, that if Congress should abolish slavery
in the District note, it would be resisted by the South,
and hence they do not abolish it now. But a few
years hence, the South would not resist it, and then
jit will as certainly he done as the sun shines. And
| thus it is with every measure of contemplated out
rage upon the South. Men talk of resisting the
AVilmot Proviso. Fudge—nonsense. If they do not
resist no-.v, neither would they resist then. The ar
! gument is already coined, and passes currently, by
! which this would be justified. “Did not Congress
apply the Proviso to Oregon, and did not vour South
ern President sanction it, and did any body want to
j light about it ?” Who has not heard this over and
; often, and who does not know that this would be the
; position of tho submissionists whenever the issue
shall be presented ? No; no. Let no true-hearted
j Southern man deceive himself. If lie has a spark of
| Southern fire about him, and is not determined to
j sacrifice his country by piece-mcal, let him rally
wow under the banner of resistance. If we are to
make a stand which shall be effectual for the pro
tection of our families, our homes and our property,
now is the time. AA'e may, nay we can right our
selves and save the Union by action now, but if we
submit to our present wrongs, it may be out of our
I power to do either hereafter.
A Spirit of Compromise.
; It is a very common remark that the Union is based
upon compromise, and must be preserved by compro
mise. The first part of this proposition is true ; the
latter is utterly false in the sense in which it is used, j
; Al lien the delegates of the different States met in ‘
1 convention for the purpose of forming the Union, it |
was a conference of independent sovereignties. To r
unite the whole in one general government of course i
it was necessary that each should surrender some of i
its powers, and inasmuch as there was a diversity I
of interest, they could only he harmonized hv mutual i
concession. They then made all the concession which
was necessary to create the Union, and wc deny that
it is either necessary or the duty of either party to
make any new concessions for the purpose of pre
ferring it. So long therefore as the Union can he
maintained by a rigid adherence to the letter and spirit
of the compact by virtue of which it exists, ve arc
for maintaining it, but when it becomes necessary for
us to make sacrifices for that purpose, we are ready
to abandon it. The most striking feature of this
boasted spirit of compromise is, that its demands are
always made of one party, and that part}’ too, the one
which is least interested in its fruits. If the Union
; were indispensable to the existence, or even the pros
perity of the South, it might seem reasonable that
she should make sacrifices for its preservation ; or if
i it were not indispensable to the existence and pros
perity of the North, it might not seem strange that
! she should manifest a spirit of indifference toils pre
servation. But exactly the reverse is true in both
: instances. It is not indispensable to the South, and it
: i indispensable to the North. The manufactures,
the commerce and the stocks of the North constitute
almost exclusively lier wealth and greatness, and
i these are almost absolutely dependent for their pros-
I perity upon the advantages growing out of her con
! neetion with the South. Her manufactures are fed
j by our raw material, and find a market for their fab
j ries in the agricultural districts of the South. Her
I shipping interest, which constitutes a very consider
able element of her wealth, draws at least two-thirds
! of its support from the export and import and
j coastwise trade of the South. The real estate of
j her large and growing commercial cities is of purely
1 artificial value, imparted to it by the trade of the
South. Suppose every Southern merchant should
withdraw his patronage for twelve months from New
A'ork, what would be the effect upon the value of real
estate in that city T Rents would immediately de
cline, and of course the value of property. Her
rail road stocks and bank stocks would immediately
depreciate, if the value derived front the Union were
withdrawn. How is it with the South ? Our wealth
is almost purely agricultural. Our slaves would he
as active, our lauds as productive and our crops as
saleable without the Union as with it. The world
would consume as much cotton, sugar, rice and tur
pentine the day after the Union was destroyed as it
did the day before, and we would still be looked to
for its supplies, because nobody else, could produce
them. Not only then would we lose nothing to our
agricultural interests, but the North’s losses in man
ufactures, commerce and stocks would be our gains.
AA'e should at once be brought into a direct export
and import trade with the world. Capital which
now fattens on Southern labor in New York and
Boston, would find a more profitable investment in
our own seaports. The increasing prosperity of
Charleston and Savannah would be in the precise ra
tio of the decline of New York and Boston. As
our seaports increased in importance, new channels
of communication would be opened with the interior.
Our inland towns would swell into cities, and new
ones would spring up as the increasing trade of the
country would demand new depots and markets. The
sound of the spinning-jenny will be hoard upon our
rivers, the commerce of the seas will whiten our
harbors, and prosperity will smile upon industry
throughout the land. This is no fancy sketch ; it is a
faithful and rational portrayal of the destiny which
awaits the South, when the elogrs and fetters of an
I 1
; unjust Union shall be removed. And yet with a
I future like this on one hand, and the promise
j of still greater wrongs on the other, the South is to
| make all the concessions, submit to all the sacrifices,
j for the sake of the Union. The North makes a suf
: lieient compromise to remain in a Union which toler- i
j ates slavery, and we are to pay her for her gencrosi- ;
Jtv by submitting to its gradual extinction. Away
1 with such a spirit of compromise.
The AVilinot Proviso.
To one unacquainted with our political history for
the last several years, it would be a difficult matter to
attach any sort of import to these two remarkable
words. The author of this celebrated measure, ex
cept in so far as his connection with it has given him
notoriety, is avert - insignificant man. At any rate, i
Mr. David AA'ilmot, ex-member of Congress from ;
Pennsylvania, is not so well known to fame, that the !
mere prefix of his name to the word “proviso,” j
would furnish a clue to what sort of a thing it might
| ha ; and proriso itself being of rather indefinite im
port. we say it would puzzle one who knew nothing of
j its history, to form a very correct idea of the nature of
| the monsLr from the name it bears. The name, how
ever, is of comparatively little importance ; it is the
thing itself which has made so much noise, and it is
on’y necessary that we should correctly comprehend
its substance. The Wilmot Proriso , then, means
s-eh legislation on the part of Congress as is intend- j
e l to, and docs actually, result in the exclusion of I
the Souih from au equal share in the territories : or :
to state it differently, wherever Congress passes a
law whose aim Bgd effect is to exclude slavery from
the territories, it adopts the Wilmot Proviso. It is
this sort of legislation which our last Legislature de
clared against; it is this sort of legislation which the
Legislatures of all the Southern States have declared
against; it is this sort of legislation which all our
conventions and primary assemblages have said
would furnish proper grounds of resistance by the
South. And now what if it be true that the last ■
session of Congress was guiltv of exactly this sort of
legislation ? AY hat if we can show that Congress
has passed laws having for their direct object, and |
resulting inevitably in, the exclusion of slavery from ;
the territories ? AA'hv, as a matter of course, if we
mean to maintain our declarations, or vindicate our
honor, we must RESIST.
To the proof. Is not slavery excluded from Cali
fornia ? Certainly. AA ho did it? The people of Cali
fornia could not do it, because they not only did not hare
sufficient numbers, but they had no power to do it
. even if they had had the numbers. They were in no
I sense citizens of that country, and of course cculd
exercise none of the rights of citizenship. If the
Californians could not do it, then whatever force her
anti-slavery constitution may have, was given to it
by Congress. The South then has been excluded
from California by tho act of Congress, and this is
AA’ilmot Proviso number one.
Is not slavery excluded from New Mexico? Un
questionably, but how ? By the refusal of Congress
to declare the Mexican anti-slavery laws repealed.—
But say you, the Mexican law is not in force. That
is exactly our opinion , but we are not certain of it.
because Messrs. Stephens and Toombs and many
other great men in the country think differently, and
no Southern man will be fool enough to carry liis ne
groes there with so much uncertainty about his right
to hold them. Congress knew this, and it was tho
intention of a majority of that body in refusing to
remove those restrictions, to exclude the institutions
of the South. It will not be denied that the general
government is as much responsible for an injury
which results to the South from a refusal to do its
dut}-, as it would be for wrongs growing out of an
abuse of its powers; and thus, if the South is excluded
from our AA'ostern territories because Congress re
fused to remove the barriers to its free ingress, we
are as absolutely the victims of the AA'ilmot Proviso,
as though that odious measure had been passed toti
dem verbis. This, then, is AA'ilmot Proviso number
two.
The same causes exclude the South from Utah.
Mr. Stephens says, we understand, that slavery al
ready exists among the Mormons, and he argues from j
that fact that the institution is tolerated by the laws j
of the country. AA'e do not believe, in the first place, j
that there are any slaves in Utah, Mr. Stephens to j
the contrary notwithstanding: but even admitting the j
truth of his declaration, it by no means follows that j
| his conclusions are correct. That gentleman's posi- j
tion two years ago was that the laws of a conquered j
territory remained in force until repealed by the con- j
querors, from which he argued that the anti-slavery i
laws of Mexico were still operative in the territories
which we acquire from that power. If lie was right, I
those laws arc yet in force, unless they have been j
repealed. Congress lias not touched them, and if j
they have been repealed at all it must have been by j
the legislature of Utah prior to its territorial organi
cation, and Mr. Stephens will admit that such Ie- ■
gislation would be wholly without authority, and
therefore void. But suppose Utah is open to slavery,
it is surrounded by a cordon of free territory which
completely precludes everything like immigration
with that sort of property from the South. Here,
then, we have AVihnot Proviso number three I
The New York Elections.
AA'e looked to yesterday’s mail to clear up the
doubts about the clect-ons in this State. But that
mail failed beyond Augusta. Our last accounts are
that the Seward candidate for Governor lias suc
ceeded, as well as the ticket for State officers of that
stripe. First it was reported that the Seward
“higher law” faction had made a clean sweep of the
State, thus committing the “Empire” of N. York to
the revolutionary and abolition principles of AA 7 . 11.
Seward. Then came a stray telegraphic report that
Seymour, the Democratic candidate, was elected by
2,000 majority; and the last report is that Hunt.
the Sewardite, is Governor.
A more important election to the existence of this
Confederacy has never taken place. If N. York
has endorsed the principles of Seward, it requires
no seer to predict that the days of the Federal
Government are numbered. As we arc not a disun
ionist per se , but only advocate that course as the
only remedy forced upon us to cure the gangrene
w t i which abolitionism has infected the body politic,
we shall not be sorry to witness in the defeat of the
Seward interest, one more effort on the part of the
Conservatives of N. York to save the Union. AA’e,
nevertheless, believe that such defeat will be but tem
porary—will but postpone the end of a revolu
tion of fanaticism which will roll on to its final
triumph and a disruption of the Confederacy.
[•OMMUNICATID.]
Lumpkin, Nov. 7, 1850.
Mr. Editor: —The meeting appointed for Messrs.
Toombs and AA'ellborn came off yesterday, in this
place, before a considerable gathering of the “ sov
ereigns” and a smart sprinkling of beauty. The
meeting was opened by a speech of an hour
from Air. Toombs, lie made a good speech of its
kind, lie was witty enough, load enough, made
ugly faces enough, and was severe enough upon
those who had attacked his political consistency.
The only objection that could be made to his speech !
was that his subject was not the one that the intelli- i
gent freemen of Stewart had assembled to hear
discussed. AA'liat was it to them, if Mr. Toombs had
turned more summersets than Mr. Lipman, the
twelvo summersets man ? lie very much mistook
the crowd before whom he appeared if he supposed
that they looked to any man’s position, wlu-n the i
great questions involving the issues of life and equality ;
to the South were before them. lie would have j
borne himself more manly and dignified had he
kept himself out of the debate or confined his re
marks to the points in issue. But nothing was dis
cussed unless it bore upon his own action, and illus
trated his political orthodoxy, lie attempted to
justify the action of Congress by showing that wc
had not demanded more, (not that we were not enti
tled to it,) either by tho Nashville convention or by
the legislatures of fourteen States, —in other words,
if we did not demand of Congress that we should
j not be robbed of our interest in the common territory,
that we should now make no complaint sinee it is
done, but go to war if we have any grievance
against our legislature and the Nashville convention,
as these “wise savuns ” had failed in their duty,
and not “him and his little eolleasrue.” Such a
speech could have, as you may well suppose, hut
little effect upon thinking men. lie had his fighting
points, he said he had “stuck his stakes” and “troad
no steps backwards.” These points are laid down
i in his circular and paraded, that the fighting time
I was not far off; from this part of his speech it is
: hard to place him. I suppose that he is preparing
i an ambush for them North—acquiesce now, submit,
I deceive them as to the real sentiments of the South,
and let them pass the AA'ilmot Proviso, abolish sla
| very in the District or repeal the fugitive slave bill, |
| and then burst forth with the whole South united
for dissolution and a Southern confederacy. I would
submit to the friends of the Union, if it were not
better to unite no-.v and prevent the passage of these
’ obnoxious measures to which the South could never
submit with honor, than to be still until they are
passed, and then “raise the devil and burst up things,”
: to use the elegant expression of one of their stump
orators. To save the Union, in my judgment, the
. only plan left is to shew to the North that they have j
gone too far for Southern endurance already. But
I must be permitted to say that Mr. Toombs made
no apology for the North like our Representative: !
like an honest man he said that we had powerful j
[ enemies to contend with, and that all our resource? .
were needed to repel them, and that our divisions at
home were suicidal, lie did not seem to have any
tender sympathies for the abolitionists or their senti
ments. It did not seem to harrass Ins mental sensi
bilities that negroes were bought and sold, nor did it
offend his nobility, (perhaps the air of France or Italy
has not refined him,) to be waited on by a slave
instead of a servant.
Air. Toombs was followed by Air. Tucker in a
speech of an hour, who bore himself manfully in j
the fight and discussed the late “peace measures” j
which Air. Toombs had failed to do. The friends of
Southern rights were fully satisfied. AA e lost nothing,
and would be glad to see the gentleman in Stewart
again. AA'ellborn has done us more good than Mr.
Toombs could do us, however, from now until the
election. Yours, &e.
LIST OF PRIZES
Os the Muscogee & Russel Agricultural Society, to be
given at the FAIR, on tlie third Wednesday in No
vember next.
For the best acre Sweet Potatoes, silver medal... $2 00
“ “ bushel “ “ Diploma.
•* “ acre Turnips, silver medal, $2 00
“ “ bushel “ .Diploma.
“ “ Treatise on making and applying
Alauure. suited to Southern crops and cul
ture, silver goblet, §lO 00
For the best. Treatise on cultivating Corn in the
South, silver goblet, . - • $lO 00
For the best Treatise on the cultivation of Cot
lon. including tlie picking and packing silver
goblet,, $lO 00
For the liest Treatise on the Farm, hy a youth of
Muscogee or Russel, the Birmingham medal,...§o 00
For Ihe hest bag Cotton, grown in Musco*ee or
Kussel, silver goblet, - $ S OO
For the second best Diploma.
For the lifit bushel Wheat, railed in Miwcttfwor
Russel Silver Medal.
For llie second best, “ “
STOCK.
For the best fine wooled Sheep Silver Medal.
“ “ Mutton “
“ “ Ox, for the butcher, “ “
“ “ Cow, “ “ “ “
For the best Georgia and Alabama raised Jack,
exhibited on the day, Silver cup, . ..§ 8 00
For the 2d and 3d best Diplomas
For the best Mule, age considered, silver medal,. 200
For the best Stallion, four years old and upwards,
silver goblet, i 10 00
For lhe. best 2 year old colt or filly, silver clip... 800
For 2d and 3d best.. Diplomas.
For the l est brood Alure, with or without colt,
silver clip,. 8 00
For 2d and 3d best, Diplomas.
For the hest Bull, (age considered.) silver medal, 200
For 2d and 3d best . Diplomas.
: For the best Cow, (age considered,) silver medal, 200
For 2d and 3d best, Diplomas.
! For the heaviest Hog, not oyer two years old,
silver medal, 2 00
| For the best Boar, silver medal, 2 00
For the heaviest Big. from 6 months to a year old,
silver medal, 2 00
| Forilie best breeding Sow, silver medal 2 00
TO THE MANUFACTURER AND MECHANIC.
For the best Blow for southern culture, and of southern
make, silver clip, $ 8 00
| For the hest Road-waggon, Muscogee or Russel
make, silver clip, 8 00
Forilie largest collection of Agricultural impleine
j merits, Silver Aledal.
j For the best two horse Waggon, do. do. make,
silver medal, 2 00
: For tlie best 6 pairs of Negro Shoes, Geo. or Ala.
make, silver medal, 2 00
! For the hest piece of Factory Osuahurgs, silver
medal, 2 00
| For the best piece of Factory Sheeting or Shirt
ing, silver medal, 2 00
For the best piece of Linsey-woolsey, silver
medal,. 2 00
For the best Churn, silver medal, 2 00
HORTICULTURE.
For the best Treatise on raising Frttit of all kinds in this
section of country, silver goblet,. $lO 00
Fur the best specimens of Fruit for the season,
Silver Medal.
For t!ie largest collection ot Vegetables, silver
medal, 2 00
For the best Boquettof Natural Flowers, silver
medal, 2 00
For the largest collet-lion of Pot Plants, vviili
names, silver cup, 8 00
For the best Treatise on llie r till tire of Flowers,
by a Lady of Muscogee or Russel, silver cup,.. 8 00
DAIRY.
For the best specimens of Muscogee or Russel
Butter, not less than 5 lbs., silver medal,,... 2 00
For the best sample of cheese, of Southern make,
silver medal, 2 00 j
For the be.-t Treatise on the management, of the
Cow in the South, silver cup,.. 8 00 j
REGULATIONS OF THE FAIR. *
All members of the Society, and all who shall he- j
come members previous to or at. I lie Fair, will be fur
nished with badges, which wiil admit the person and the
Ladies of his family to the Exhibition at all times during
the continuance of the Fair. Tickets to admit a single
person, 25 cents.
All Exhibitors at the Fair must become members of
the Society, and have their animals or articles entered
at the business office, before taking them into the enclo
sure -except Ladies’ work-—this w ill in all cases he ad
milled free. CIIAB. A. PEABODY,
Corresponding Secretary.. I
1
Letter of lion. Charles Dougherty.
Athens, Oct. 30, 1850.
Peter Northern and others:
Gentlemen : Your invitation to attend a meet
ing of the Southern Rights party of Greene
county, on Saturday next, and to address said
meeting, reached me in due time; but found
me confined to my room, suffering from a se
vere cold, accompanied by a most distressing
cough. Being anxious to comply with your
wishes, I have delayed answering until now,
hoping I might so far recover as to enable me
to attend your meeting. I find it out of my pow
er to be with you, and if there, I know I could
not speak to the meeting.
I regret to see such a division among the
Southern people. 1 know nothing that can be
done to stay Northern aggression without a
concert of action and sentiment on the part of
the South. VVhat should be said or done, must
be the result of deliberate consultation among
the Southern or slave-holding States. No one,
two, or even three States, in my poor judgment,
can effect any thing beneficial without the aid
and co-operation of the others.
There must lie union. 1 am no disunionist
or secessionist. No! This union shall never
he dissolved, if 1 can prevent it. I will never
calculate its value ; and if it is dissolved, or its
value calculated, I would make our Northern
brethren do both. I am not for tame submis
sion to the policy of the government or aggres
sions of onr Northern brethren. Much less can
I consider the late action of Congress a triumph
for the South.,
I may be wrong, but I cannot help it. It is
my deliberate opinion, that, if the South sits
down quietly under the present state of things
and thereby sanctions what has been done, it
will be considered by the North as an invitation
to continue their assaults on our institution. All
history of mankind shows that aggression was
never stayed by submission—that resistance i
alone can cause the aggressor to pause or stay j
his hand. In my humble judgment we have the
means within the limits of the constitution to |
resist, and that effectually, and I confine my re
sistance to the constitution and within the con- j
stitution. 1 am answered and told that any j
kind of resistance will end in a dissolution of the j
Union. This Ido not believe. It is but opinion j
on either side. And there is no better reason
for believing that resistance will cause dissolu
tion, than to believe that submission will cause i
abolition. In my judgment, the latter is much I
more probable. For the sake of the Union,l
would give up all the territories and even more
if tliat would satisfy our opponents; I look on
our exclusion from California and virtually
front Utah and New Mexico, only as one act in
the drama which is to deprive us of our slave
property. All the aggressions on our rights,
| spring from the same and sole motive, and that
looks to abolition in the end. It is hostility to
slavery that prompts our Northern brethren to
their continued assaults on our rights, How
can this hostility he appeased ? Can it be done !
by submission ? We have tried that remedy for
thirty years —yea, for thirty years have we given j
way—for thirty years have we made sacrifices j
on the altar of peace and the Union, What has i
been the result? Let our exclusion from the |
lately acquired territories answer that question. \
If we now tamely submit, u hat then? The ab
olition of slavery in the District of Columbia
and the slave trade between the States wiil an
swer that question. But I have time only to re
peat my regret that I cannot be with you.
A'ours, trulv,
■ c. DOUGHERTY.
Extracts from the Address of Mr. John Town
send.
It cannot fail to strike every man, who has
I turned his attention to the state of public senti
| ment at the South, in reference to our contro
| versy with the tree-soil States and the General
1 Government, that there are two classes (for 1
1 will not call them parties) at the South .who ap
’ pear to entertain different views on this subject.
! These views, although they cannot be said to be
opposite, nevertheless lead to very opposite re
sults—the one to comparative inaction—the
other to timely and vigorous resistance. The
former class view the Wilmot proviso, as ap
plied to California and the territories, and the
other measures of anti-slavery aggression
which from time to time have been pressed up
on us, in Congress—as measures which begin,
and terminate in themselves; and although they re
gard them as wrong, as unjust, and unconstitu
tional, as nevertheless so far removed in their
effects upon our interests, as not to justify any
serious alarm. They are therefore willing, to
patch up a peace, by a compromise with our en
emies.
The other class, on the other hand, view
those measures, as parts of a regular system of
operations—the object, intention, and inevitable
tendency of which, is—to abolish slavery entire
ly in the Slates, and to degrade the Soutli into a
tribute-paying colony to the rest of the Union.
Viewing then these measures in this light, they
are prepared and willing to meet the question
at once; and keep safe their citadel, by defend
ing the outposts.
Both classes are very unanimously agreed to
defend the citadel, when that is attacked, but
unhappily, all at the South do not see in these
measures, the mighty evil which lurks behind
them, and which threatens such tearful conse
quences to our social and political life.
The first question then, for the people of the
South to settle in their mind*, is, the reality of
this danger. For upon the settlement ot this
question, will depend their union; and upon
their union will depend their safety, their stabil
ity and their happiness—a safety certain, and un
doubted ; a stability to their institutions, which
they have never before possessed ; and a politi
cal happiness and prosperity, which they have
heretofore never enjoyed, and which, owing to
their favored position, it has rarely been the lot
of any former people to attain unto.
The first thing then for us to consider, is, the
reality of this danger; and this can be best un
derstood by taking a brief review of the pro
gress of the anti-slavery spirit of aggression,
within a few years past.
It is scarcely sixteen years since Ibis danger
ous subject began first to be meddled with in
Congress. Previous to that time, it appeared to
have been considered as a subject forbidden lo
that body; and as it was the sole concern, so
under the exclusive control of the people of the
South.
About the year 1835, the anti-slavery party at
the North, began to agitate Congress by an in
terference with our institutions; at which time,
as we have been informed by Mr. Calhoun, “pe
titions poured in, calling upon Congress, lo
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and
to prohibit what they called the internal slave
trade between the States, announcing at the
same time, that their ultimate object was, to
abolish slavery not only in the District of Co
lumbia, but in the States and throughout the
Union.
Let it be here well noted—that their ultimate
object, as openly avowed by them, even at that
time—was the abolition of slavery in the Stales ;
and that the other measures were urged upon
Congress, as only the preliminary steps towards
the attainment of that object.
Now, in all the measures which they have since
! pressed upon us, in proportion as they have been
i gaining strength, that has been their aim—an
I aim, which we should be guilty of the grossest
; fatuity, if we ourselves lost sight of.
Fifteen years ago, the South was stronger in
j Congress, not only in her own numbers, but by
the aid of all right-thinking men from the North.
I The anti-slavery party accordingly failed at that
I time to obtain a lodgment in Congress, by
I which to assail us from that position. The
I Senate of the United States adopted a rule by
! which their petitions on the subject of slavery
| were virtually not received : and the House
j of Representatives another, by which, although
I such petitions were received, they were neither
j to he considered, printed nor referred.
This, however, did not discourage our ene
mies, but on the other hand, seemed to excite
them to beat more vociferously at the doors of
Congress to carry out their schemes. At every
! election at the North, and after every census, their
j strength increased —whilst ours, by the loss ot
I representation for two-fifths of our slaves, as
j well as from oilier causes, diminished ; and our
j former adherents fell off. Under this state of
! tilings, our enemies boidly advanced upon us, in
the number and magnitude of their aggressions;
and began to extend the sphere of their opera
tions.
They required of Congress to abolish slavery
in all tii eforts and dock-yards of the South ; with
a view to making them the retreats for abscond
ing slaves, and the magazines of abolition in the
midst of our slave population. As the influ
ence and power of that party extended at the
North, (as it has done very rapidly,) they took
possession of their own State legislatures—and
these united with them in petitions and instruc
tions to Congress, not only to promote the
schemes just enumerated, but “to exclude the
Southern States from all territories acquired, or
to be acquired, and to prevent the admission of
| any State hereafter into me Union, which by its
constitution does not prohibit slavery. And
Congress is invoked to do all this, as Mr. Cal
houn lias given us warnings, expressly with
the view to the filial abolition of slavery in the
States. That has been avowed lo be the ul
timate object from the beginning of the agitation
until the present. And yet the great body of
both parties at the North, with the full knowl
edge of the fact, have co-operated with them in
almost all their measures.”
With such objects known and avowed, it
might be supposed that Congress, under the re
straints which are imposed upon it by the con
stitution for the security of our institutions,
would have interposed a barrier against schemes
of aggression, which so plainly violate our
rights, and jeopardize our safety. But this
has not been so. The rule which excluded from
Congress the dangerous schemes of these mis
guided men, has been for several years abolished
in the House of Representatives; and the Sen
ate, at the present session, lias also been com
pelled to give way before the encroaching spirit
of this ferocious party. The halls of Congress,
that common council-room for the South, as
well as the North, is now taken possession of
. by them ; and instead of that comity which is
i due to the Southern States, as equals in the com
J federaev, their representatives have been open
! ly insulted, by resolutions solemnly adopted,de
j nouncing our institutions; and the sovereign
j States themselves, which they represent, begin
j to be regarded, in the arrogance of irresponsi
; b!e power, as having no rights, except such as
! may be vouchsafed to them by sufferance. In
j the House of Representatives, by a vote which
j embraced almost, if not every representative
I from the North, it has been with all due formali
i ty declared to us, “that slavery is infamous.”—
And in the Senate, it has been announced, by a
grave Senator, who represents the views of that
party, that their object in excluding us from
the territories is, “that slavery might be local
ized and discouraged.” In other words, the
Southern States are not to be permitted to ex
pand and improve their condition, but are to be
walled up, within their present limits. By
which process, according to the notions of hu
manity, entertained by the philanthropists, who
have taken us under their care, the masters and
j their slaves will be so crowded together upon
the soil which they now occupy, that in the pro
| gress of a few years, there must ensue a strug
j gle for subsistence, or for an ascendency be
| tween the races, which will terminate in the an
i nihilation of one or both of them. This scheme
j of self-destruction —this species of political sui
cide, is the mildest form, and the slowest pro- j
cess by which our enemies propose to abolish
slavery among us. It is the plan universally ap- j
| proved of by those who call themselves our
j “friends” at the North. And even Mr. Webster,
who may be considered the soberest among 1
tjiem (irs opinions at least.) has announced it as
their settled policy, “that no more slave States
are to be admitted into this Union,” beyond the
present slave territory of Texas; thus looking
to the process just stated, for the final extinguish
ment ot slavery among us.
This, be it remembered, is the mildest form—the
plan of our “friends” so called; and who are so
ready, in our wars in Congress, on that ques
tion, to step in with their “compromises,” be
tween us, and the most virulent of our foes, to
soothe us and them by temporary expedients, j
But there is another class at the North—the fan- j
atics in religion—the fanatics in politics—the j
demagogues of all parties, hunting for their j
prey of office or power, who are aiming at 1
the abolition of slavery in the States, by a plan ‘
more speedy, direct and summary. The South, !
according to the tactics ot these men, is to be j
“localized, and discouraged,” restricted to her
present limits, and no slave State permitted again
to enter the Union. On the other hand, every
interest at the North, is to be fostered, expanded
and encouraged, by all the patronage and wealth
of the general government; and all the common
territory reserved lor the exclusive use and ad
vantage of the citizens of that section. New
States are to be laid out, multiplied and admitted
into the Union, (as they will have the abundant
power, in a short time, to do) without restraint;
then follows the accomplishment of their
scheme.
The “South localized and discouraged”—the
North fostered, expanded and multiplied, our en
emies will soon have the requisite majority under
the constitution, to do by “right,” that is legally,
and constitutionally, (if we remain united to
them) whatever they may will, in regard to us—
and that will be, one of two things. First—
Either to abolish slavery immediately, in the
Soutli, as is now the avowed purpose of both
species of fanaticism, which is arrayed against
us. Or, 2d—l f they allow us to keep our slaves,
it will be on certain prescribed conditions, which
they will impose upon us as to our management
of them, and upon the condition only, that the
South, with her slaves, shall become the slaves of
the North, to labor not for our own,but for their
benefit. Whichever of these condition* may be
vouchsafed to us bv our enemies, will depend
upon the struggle which will take place among
themselves—between their religious and political
fanaticism on the one side, and their avarice
and lust for power on the other. But whatever
may be their decision, either alternative will be
fatal to us, and our choice will be only iliat of the
slave. Oar condition, under the first, we shall
notice presently ; under the second, our condi
tion will be the most abject and degraded, which
has ever fallen to the lot of a subjugated peo
ple—the prey of a merciless avarice, having not
one sympathy with us, and which, from our
pusillanimity, will have such good cause to spurn
and despise us !!
Let no Southern man delude himself for a
single moment, into the persuasion, that the
measures which are preparing for us, in the
councils of the anti-slavery party at the North,
are limited to their own accomplishment—and
then ! we are to have a final and lasting peace.
The facts and considerations whtch have just
been presented (independent of the bold and
open avowal of our enemies) go to show that
those measures are not only advancing upon us,
in hostility, but that they areali advancing stead
ily, to one common centre, and that is, the aboli
tion of slavery in the whole South—the abolition
of slavery in every State —the giving of freedom
lo bis slaves, upon every man's own plantation !
That is the real danger which we must pre
pare ourselves to guard against, in the measures
of resistance which it becomes us to adopt. That
is the mighty evil, which is threatened us by the
anti-slaverv influence at the North, and which
stands as the grand terminus of all the roads,
and schemes, and plans, which every class and
party of that influence are pursuing in relation
to slavery. Some may take a longer road than
others, to reach the terminus: some may prefer
a milder plan, in accomplishing the journey;
whilst many may be disposed to pause for
awhile, on the way, to amuse themselves and
us with “compromises,” whilst they are gather
ing fresh strength, the more certainly to attain
their end. But all, all, no matter what road
they may have taken, have their faces turned
towards the same object : and whether lliey may
be restrained by the constitutional scruples of
Senator Webster, or by the scriptural teachings
of President Stuart, considered as the extreme
of the party, on the one side—or whether they be j
driven on by the monomaniac phrenzy of rabid j
men, such as Garrison, and Giddrngs, llall, Phil- I
; lips or Tuck, as representing the other extreme ;
of the party —they have each, and all of them,
their heads, their hearts, and their hands em
ployed in the same common work, of abolishing ’
slavery in the States, and upon each plantation in
each Slate.
I reiterate this fact: because it is of the last ;
importance, that it he kept lief ire our eyes, and
engraven upon our hearts. In the light of this
truth, the soft spoken free-soiler is on a par with
the most brawling and fanatic abolitionist; only
that the former is the more to be dreaded ; since
with his flattering promises which he knows he
cannot fulfil, and his plausible “compromises,”
which he knows are deceitful, he lulls us into
security, and then stupefies us into non-resist
ance !
Such, then, being the mighty evil, which is
preparing for us, sooner or later, in the councils
of every party at the North, it may he useful to
us, to give a glance, as we proceed, at the fearful
consequences which may befall us, if we do not
avert it, by a timely and effectual resistance. — !
the imagination sickens with disgust, and the l
heart swells with indignation, whilst contempla- j
ting these consequences.
Briefly, what arc they I
First.—The elevating of our slaves to a political j
equality with ourselves in the making of our. j
laws, and in the government of the country: I
which will soon be followed by the degradation, j
(as in the British and French West Indies) —of;
the claims of a vulgar and upstart race, to social
equality with ourselves and families, in all the j
domestic relations of life.
i
2d.—The overrunning of our country with j
swarms of an indolent, vicious and unthrifty i
species of Lazaroni, instead of the best agricul- :
tura! population in the world, such as we now j
have them.
3d.—As a consequence of their release from
the control of their masters, the abandonment of
the cultivation ofali the great agricultural staples
of the South, from which we derive our wealth at
home, and our chief influence abroad ; and as
the necessary consequence of this, ihe poverty,
ruin and distress of our families.
4th.—The loss of fifteen hundred millions of
our capital, in the loss of property in our slaves,
and in the labor which is derived from them.
sth.—The depreciation of other fifteen hun
dred millions of our capital in land, which would 1
become comparatively valueless after our labor
capital was destroyed ; and
6th.—Our political annihilation among the na
tions of the earth ; and the blighting contempt
with which we should be spit upon by all man
kind ; as the fitting recompence for that people j
who could submit to such degradation, and con
i sent still to live!!
The real danger with which we are threaten
ed, having been ascertained, and some of its
! consequences briefly pointed out, we now pro
-1 ceed to a consideration of the measures by
| which our enemies should be resisted, and that
danger averted. And here we will adopt the
idea which we have before used to illustrate
! our subject, and say, that as the measures which
have trom time to time been urged uponCon
| gress, by the anti-slavery party, should each and
every one of them he viewed as parts of one i
! general system of measures—the object and in
| tention of which is, to* abolish slavery in the j
i States—so each one of them should be regard
; ed as assailing one of the outposts which guards
jour citadel; and that the loss of any oneof
j thorn to us, strengthens and encourages our en
emies; weakens and discourages us; and ren
ders us less able to defend our citadel when the :
I great struggle shall arise, (as come it must, soon
er or later,) which is to decide for us the qr.es
; tion, whether we are to live and not die. Each
of those aggressions should then be encounter
ed with resolute hostility, as involving the final;
issue; and without reference to its own intrin
sic offensiveness, which, perhaps, standing alone,
may be unimportant i* itself.
This being premised, I will now goon to add,
that the plan of action which it seems to me
proper for the South to pursue, is, in the first
place, taking no counsel from fear, to consider
calmly and deliberately their position with a
view to decide what are their rights ; and after
they have decided what these are, then resolute
ly to insist upon them, and immovably maintain
them. Forewarned, as we have been, of their in
tentions. we should be forearmed to meet and
counteract them. Upon a question of this
grave nature, which involves our political lye
| or death, no concession is allowable , which m
! creases the strength <four enemies and diminishes
| our ability to resist them. Any Delilah “compto
| mise” then, whether offered by some half
! Southern man, and supported by whole North
■ ern “friends,” so called, if it shears us ot ev on
j one lock of ourstrength, is not for a moment to
jbe listened to. We must stand upon our
j rights in their entirety—have them ; or prepare
j for the consequences.
The consequences! what are they? Some
’ timid one may say, “it may lead to disunion or
civil war” Not properly,’ nor rightfully ; cer
tainly not necessarily; except our enemies
would afford us the proof, that we have re
mained already too long in the Union; and
they would now use force to keep us there, to
plunder or degrade us. But we will examine
this presently.
Someone else may ask, “why not settle the
difficulty bv compromise, and let us have a lasting
quiet?” We will examine this now.
We might not be umvillingto bring to the altar
of peace, some of our rights, and offer them as
a sacrifice, on our part, for the happiness of our
country; if we could be assured, that by this
means, peace, a lasting peace, was to he secured,
and the question settled now, and forever. But
‘‘compromise” implies mutual concessions—the
giving up of admitted rights, equally by both
parties. To bepermanent.it requires that the
parties making it, should themselves be perma
nent, and can bind their successors; and that
each intends to act with good faith towards the
other.
Viewed in this light, every element is want
ing, in this case, towards a proper compromise.
1 The North concedes to us no right on her part;
j whilst we are required to give up those—the
j yielding up of which, will he felt to their woe,
by our latest posterity. We enter too, into a
i compromise, with a party now. who, if they in
| tend to deal honestly by us. at the ratification,
j may next year, in the varying fluctuations of
; polilical life, be placed beyond the ability to keep
i their engagements ; or, what is more probable,
j may be recognized as traitors in the ranks of
our enemies—sucked in, within the whirlpool of
abolitionism, and tor the sake of its rewards,
making no efforts to extricate themselves, or
keep their plighted faith.
Besides, the materials, of which the anti
slaverv party at the North is composed, are of
such qualifies, that if renders the idea of any
permanent compromise with them, utterly pre
posterous. No concessions, short of the total,
and perhaps immediate abolition of slavery, will,
! or can, over satisfy them—and especially such
concessions as we shall make : since they will
suppose that they are extorted from our fears —
which will only encourage their audacity to de
mand more and greater.
Os this every one will be satisfied, who con
st ders carefully the materials of which that par'y
is made tip. What are they? Fanatics in re
ligion ; fanatics in polities; the ravening dema
gogue, hunting after office, and the spoils of
party. And whet), from the beginning oftime,
to the present hour, have such men been satis
fied with concessions which have been yielded
to their voracity, or been extorted from the sup
posed fears of their victims?
The religious fanatic, who believes contrary
to the teachings of scripture, that slavery is a
sin. and a crime against God and man ; and
who sets tip his own crude notions about re
ligion and morality, as the standard tor other
men. and by which lie imp ion si v tries even Ihe
revelation of the all wise God himself—what
concession can satisfy such a man, except the
entire obliteration of the sin ?
The political fanatic, who professes to he gov
erned by obligations “higher than the constitu
tion;” and who. in his sublimated notions about
civil society, which never have been, and never
can be realized, claims that all men are horn
free and equal, and have a right to be fed and
clothed at the expense of somebody cUe—
what can satisfy this class—except raising the
slave to an equality with the master, and shar
; ing with him his property?
The wily, non-committal, hungry demogogue
; —the first article of whose creed is, to swear by
\ ihe “majority,” and to live and die feeding at the
: public crib—what compromises will soch a
! man observe when the stream of popular fa
vor turns against us, and it becomes his inter*
| est to desert us?
Any compromise then which we mav make with
the North, governed as it is, and as it is likely
ever to be, by such materials as the anti-slave
ry party is composed of, must result in nothing
else than the advantage and final triumph of
our enemies* and rn disaster and ruin to our
selves. And the South cannot be too soon
waked up to this truth. The most plausible
compromises on this question will prove to us
“I/ike Dead-sea fruits, which tempt the eye,
But turn lo ashes on the lips.”
[From the N. Y. Herald, of the 7th inst ]
Very Interesting from California.
’ TWENTY DAYS LATER INTELLIGENCE,
BV THE ARRIVAL OF THE
STEAMSHIP EMPTRE CITY.
I The steamship Empire City, Capt. Wilson, ar
rived yesterday morning from Chagres, via
Kingston, Jamaica. She left Chagres on the
’ 26th lilt.
The steamship Georgia, Porter, for New York,
; sailed at ft A. M., on the same day the Empire
; Citv left Chagres.
The G. will have over a million and a quarter
iof gold dust. The Empire City brings about
j 8500,000, besides what is in the hands of pas
| sengers.
i When Ihe E. C. left, Hie Sarah Sands had nt
arrived, but was momentarily expected.
Panama was quite healthy, and not many
passengers there; but those who arrived in the
last steamers, would sail November Ist. Cha
“gres was rather unhealthy. There were but two
berm, brigs and two schooners in port.
The Georgia had about five hundred passen
gers—the Cherokee two hundred and fifty.
The Br. mail steamship Medway, SSymonds,
! sailed at midnight on the 25th, for England,
I with two millions of treasure.
The California Conner, of the sth ult., says:
The amount of gold shipped by the California
last Monday, was $1,800,000, and probably the
passengers carried $300,000 more. Besides
this, the sailing vessels must have taken $500.-
000—so that we may safely set the amount
down, including SIOO,OOO to be .shipped to-mor
row by Adams & Cos., and $200,000 carried
away by foreigners, as $2,900,000 in six days!
We regret to observe that the accounts of
another tremendous fire in San Francisco are
confirmed, and that it destroyed about ono
hundred and fifty buildings.
The fire was said to bo the work of an in ecu-,
diarv, and many persons have been arrested on
suspicion. The scarcity of water, and the great
want of public spirit in the citizens in not render-.
ing assistance to the fire companies, greatly aug
mented the destruction of property which took
place. We notice, with much regret, that the
office of the Pacific News has been completely
destroyed.
The proprietors of the Picayune office have
also sustained heavy losses, although, it is said,
they will soon be in a position to resume their
duties. Signor Rossi, of the Italian theatre, ha*
also been a sufferer, having lost every thing he
possessed. This is the fourth loss he ha* sus
tained by fire in San I rancisco.
The fire is said to have originated in the bar
room of the Philadelphia House, and the loss
sustained is estimated at half a million of dol
lars.
The accounts from the mines, as regards the
success of mining operations, have been very
conflicting. “We learn from the best authority”
says the paper before us, “ that lately, at fcsicard s
Bar, on the Yuba River, seven men dug, in
twentv-three days, after having spent consider-