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VOL. I.
-filz ®-ss®SSl2i swasß?]
, puiiliiln'il, every Fia y morning, in Macon, Ga. on the follow.
CONDITIONS :
if mid strictly in advance * * S2 50 per annum
Inutsopaid .... 300 - “
■ \ilvertisements will be made to conform to the following pro
w.,i f the Statute
‘\ : of Land and Negroes, by Executors, Administrators and fiuard
n< 11V re quired by law to be advertised in a public gazette, sixty
L.., previous to the day of sale.
’ r|||., r sales must be held on the first Tuesday in the month, bet ween
I, pours of ten in the forenoon and three in the afternoon, at the
r . rt House in the county in which the property is situated.
■fiic sales of Personal Property uniat be advertised in like manner for
,il da vs.
Votive to Debtors and Creditors of an Estate must be published forty
N ‘tii p that application will be made to the Court, of Ordinary foj
| t iv to sell band and Negroes, must be published weekly for four
CiLtinss or Letters of Administration must lie published thirty days
—for Dismission from Administration, Monthly, su months —lor Dis
mission from Cuardianship,//•* days.
lt,ihs for foreclosure of mortgage, must he published monthly, for
HIT months— for establishing lost papers fr the full -pure of three
for compelling titles from Executors or Administrators where
nlKiud has been given by the deceased, the full spur of three months.
Professional and Business Cards, inserted, according to the follow
ing scale:
For i lines or less per annum - - 5--> HO m advance.
kl G lines “ “ . . . , 00 >• “
iijO u u u. §lO 00 “ “
-- Transient Advertisements will be charged §l, per square of 12
lines or less, for the first and 50 cts. for each subsequent insertion. —’
(m t |,ese rates there will he a deduction of 20 percent, on settleine,ul
w j wn advertisements are continued 3 months, without alteration.
*All belters except those containing remittances must be poss
pnhl or free.
I’listmasters and others who will act as Agents for the “Citizen’
imv retain 20 per cent, for their trouble, on all cash subscriptions for
warded.
OFFICE on Mulberry Street, East of the Floyd House and near the
Market.
|Jx>liticnl.
Letter from Clov. Call.
TALLAHASSEE, September 21, 1850.
My Dear Sir :—l am yet unable to leave my room,
to v. hieii l have been confined tor the last five or six
days, with fever, but I avail myself of the first mo
ment of returning health, to otter you my sincere con
gratulations, un the triumphant success of those
measures of public policy, which you have so mildly
and yet, so firmly and judiciously advocated.
Those measures proposed by the Committee of
thirteen distinguished and patriotic Senators of the
United States, for the preservation of the Union, and
the restoration of peace and tranquility to our coun
try, long and painfully agitated by the grave and
exciting questions debated in the public Councils.
if the Hills forming this system of measures, and
iLridiugly called ‘‘Mr. Clay's Omnibus,” do not con
tain all the South desired, they contain enough at
least to satisfy all rational and patriotic men, that
they are better than disunion, better than civil war,
bettor than blood and carnage, better than the do
mestic conflagration, which must, inevitably follow a
dissolution of the Union, come when it may come,
They supply all the wants suggested, and they will
as it is hoped, correet and prevent all the wrong??,
complained of, while, they violate no principle of the
VoiistittvffoTi. Solomg as our National Legislation
i’ confined within the limits of that great Instru
ment, framed by the sages and warriors of the Uev
olntion, for the great purpose of forming a more
perfect union of the States, and for “ securing to ;
ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty,’’ I
no good citizen or wise statesman will endeavor by i
speaking or writing to excite his countrymen to re-j
hellion against the laws and constituted autli<>rbv. j
i And I have the happiness to believe that the great
body of the people in every State, without the dis
tinction of party, will hail the passage of these Hills
; and the signal defeat of the measure for the aboli
i >u of slavery in the District of Columbia, as the
harbinger of peace, as the rainbow of promise, aud
• l ’ a confirmation of their hope in the stability of our
Government.
For my own part, I have never feared a dissolu
tion of our happy Union. I regard this, when it
fumes to the last, extremity, as a physical and moral
impossibility. The United States of America can
nover be divided into two or more separate Repub
lic*, Kingdoms or Empires, by any east and west di
visional line. The hand of man may tunnel our
mountains, rail roads may pass through them and
bind the States more firmly together—but it never
(■'in sever otir rivers. The majestic Mississippi will
forever roll on its mighty tribute to the Ocean, and
on its bosom will be borne the agricultural and Com
mercial wealth ot more than half of this confederacy.
1 !ii* great high-way of States is the natural and ir-
Mragable bond of l nion, and the last man on the
lma l spring of the Mississippi, the last man of the
most western land of the rocky mountains, and the
yi't man on the eastern gap of the Alleghany will
. :i 'ul, i{ necessary, tlu;)- will tight, and they will
die under the same flag Chat floats at the mouth of
mat n °ble ri\ r. There can be no divided Empire
m the great valley of the west, and the people of
\ ’ at va 'ley like the streamlets and rivers which flow
,l)m the slopes of her mountains, will rush to the
mouth of the Mississippi to defend it from foreign or
’ invasion. This is the great physical cause
” b our 1 nion cannot be dissolved. But there are
moral causes which bind it together with no less co
msive power, and render ours the strongest Gov
yturnout on Earth. These causes will be found in the
intelligence, in the morality aud the elevated patri
ot the common working people of
lr °uuntry —the people who till the soil —the peo-
U “ , 10 v, *te at our elections, and fight the battles
°J meir country. They have no leaders but such as
| } may please to appoint, and follow no masters
“t the Constitution and the laws, which they have
mail,.. Every American citizen is justly proud of
‘• °wn dignity and respectability; his own capacity
I . . ‘“ig and act for himself. With few exceptions
J'T *ll read, they are calm in the midst of the storm,
i “b reflect, they decide for themselves, and while
! l , arp happy and prosperous, they will not join
‘ I J - ’ !| "ilion against the Government for which they
‘"j. fathers have fought and bled, because the
I"’ ‘Uian who has nothing to lose, who owns not an
and or a slave, tells them they are wronged
k T ar c oppressed —they are degraded —they are
.j a j n l>led on. While they do not feel that wrong
i oppression, do not feel degraded, and their dig
,g sta pHs above insult, they are not to be held or
~ ‘ eri trom their propriety, or severed from their
‘ ll glance by the artifice of those who have nothing
to J °
.! ‘ 3 a proud reflection that every citizen enjoys,
m, himself, is a constituent part of his own gov
the" ls a t °P inion as a component part of
j ‘ r eat national public opinion, which directs the
, In y °f his own country, and is making its im
** u pon the governments of the world. The
tv i ll V(! “P’ n ’ on of this great people, is sovereign-
K;ll ‘ “ ill is majesty, and no President, no Con
ri dt- n ° P ar ty* 110 faction, can violate their
* 1 ” or u,! <s disturb their peace, aud tranquility,
with impunity. They have a Constitutional govern
ment, and a system of laws made under that gov
ernment, and while they respect and obey that gov
ernment, and those laws, they will cause the refrac
tory to obey and respect them, or to feel the pen
alty.
But sir, it is said we are on the verge of revolu
tion, and that the State of Georgia is to decide this
momentous issue. “As Georgia goes, so goes the
South.” Now I believe the last proposition to be
strictly true. But I believe it, only because I believe
that the great and patriotic State of Georgia will be
true to her allegiance, true to the Union, true to the
peace aud tranquility of the country. If she is, then
it is well, very well, and the whole South will go
with her. But should she decide to go out of the
Union, my belief most certainly is, she will carry
with her only those who are -packed up all ready to
go, but are afraid to go without her. She will not
carry Florida with her. AYe will neither be led nor
driven out of the Union, and should the trial be made,
which God avert, and all good men would deplore,
you will find not one in every one hundred of our
people, whigs and democrats, who will follow the
standard of rebellion. Florida occupies the most
important commercial, military, and naval position
on the sea board of the South. She has more than
a thousand miles of sea coast on the Gulf and the
Atlantic—the best naval station and the only harbor
for line-of-battle ships, between Norfolk and the Rio
Grande. She stands for 200 miles on a line between
Georgia and the sea-board. She stands on a con
tinuation of that line west to the Perdido river, about
the same distance between Alabama and the Gulf of
Mexico, and neither one or both of these States com
bined, can seduce us from our allegiance to the flag
and constitution of our country, i will not say they
cannot drive us from it, because taunts and threats
are at all times improper and unbecoming, and more
especially at the present time, and I am very sure
they will never attempt it. But while so much is
said about the tyranny and wrong of whipping a
State into the U nion ; if she chooses to go out of it.
it may be quite as well, at least, to calculate the
consequences of any attempt of a revolted State to
whip us out of the Union, when we are not disposed
to go. If Georgia and Alabama, as much as we ad
mire and respect them, determine to leave the con
federacy, let them not be deceived. Florida will not
go with them, and she will stand as a perpetual bar
rier between them and the seaboard. Florida will
stand on the Constitution of the United States. Site
will abide by the legislation under it, and she will
only go out of the Union when it shall have been
dissolved by the destruction of the Constitution and
the institutions it has created and supports. But
sir, I apprehend no danger to the institutions of our
country. Reason and n.t passion will preside in the
councils of the people in the examination of the ex
citing topics before them, mid they will in the lan
guage of Washington hold to the Union “as the
paladium of their safety, a- : the last hope of liberty
to man.”
< Uo'-g!” will not revolt against her Government,
against the Union of the States. She is too wise;
too enlightened, she is too patriotic. She will not i
leave the Union. The grave of her illustrious states
men. her cherished and beloved citizen, William 11.
Crawford, is within her bosom, and he yet lives in
the hearts and affections of her people. They re
member him, and they will follow his precepts.
I am sir, very respectfully vours,
It. Iv. CALL.
Jos. Gusev, Esq. Editor Sentinel.
From the N. Y. Express.
Commerce and Disunion.
Now that the attempt lias been made at racuseto rc-opcn
the Compromise l’ills, tore-agitate the slavery issues, and to
fail the Haines of Abolition, it becomes us, in whose streets
grass would grow if this Union is shattered, to cry aloud and
spare not. - , fast these Diaunionists in all their shapes. After
a ten month’s struggle in Congress, in which the strength of
the Union has been tried to its utmost tension, and during
which no business whatsoever could be done, it is now pro
posed, at Syracuse an.l elsewhere, even by Whigs, we mourn
to say, to throw the new elementary fire-brand of Abolition
into the District of Columbia, to recognize a law higher than
the Constitution, to demand the AVilmot Proviso for the new
Territories to the last, and to shake and shatter the fabric of
this Republic front its top to its bottom, if these things cannot
be done. It is vain to deny that the concoctors of the Syra
cuse Seward Resolution do not contemplate all that; for in
thanking one Congressman especially, and him above all asso
ciate members, they mean that and more, and such a mean
ing all mankind give to their resolution.
Grass would grow in our streets, we say, if this Union was
shattered; fur w hat is this city but a great exchange for cot
ton, for rice, for tobacco, as well as for American manufac
tured goods, and for the importations from Europe; and here
to a focus comes the trade of the North and the South, and of
all Europe with which we have intercourse, whereby our com
mission merchants, our jobbers, our importers and exporters
of all classes live and thrive. The Southern merchant comes
here to receive the pay for his products of cotton, &e., and
the Northern merchant makes his commissions out of the
double exchange. The whole prosperity of this great com
mercial metropolis depends upon the Peace, Order, Stability
and Perpetuity of this Union. The 500,000 human beings
within the sound of tho City Hall bell obtain their livelihood
from the sugar and cotton planter of Mississippi, the Ala
bama, the Chattahoochee, the Santee, &e., who exchanges
here the products of his soil for the handiwork and headwork
of the North ; and what an utter suicide it is for such a city
to pile on the Abolition torch, and to set on fire so glorious a
work!
New York now radiates from her ports steam-ships fur
Bremen, for Liverpool, for Havre, for Charleston, for Sa
vannah, fur New Orleans, fur Havana, fur Jamaica, for Cha
gres, fur Panama, fur Mexico, for San Francisco, and a por
tion of our city has become the great workshop for the steam
marine of all America, where our artificers in iron and hew
ers of wood have fought out with Britain the supremacy of
the ocean, and demonstrated to the world their victory in the
Collins and Cliagres lines of Steamers. In the midst of these
gigantic triumphs upon the ocean, and when we arc stretch
ing our iron arms in all directions towards the interior, it is
cruelly proposed to topple us down from our eminence, to
throttle us at this our start, and to slaughter our navigation,
trade, and commerce, in the motley cause of Abolition !
llow long is it supposed that the Southern merchant will
buy goods here—how long will the Southern planter sell his
products here—how long can Yankee, Ohioan, or New
Yorker find this a mart for their products and their skill, if
against us and our State, for the sake ol politically sustaining
the unworthy course of a Senator, we embark our cause with
his, to agitate for the abolition of slavery in the District of
Columbia, for re-opening of all the slave issues, and for the
establishment of a law higher than the Constitution of our
common country ?
Everything is conspiring to centre here in our city two
m illions of human beings, and to bring the commerce of Asia,
as well as of Europe and America, to our doors ; and with
our growth will grow our State, and with it the value of
every farm there is in it; but if this is to be a distracted
“Sn&epenJrcnt in nil iljintjs— Neutral iti Notljmtj.”
MACON, GEORGIA, SATURDAY MORNING, OCTOBER ID, 1850,
country if civil war is to rage within its borders —if we are
to kidnap or cajole every negro we can steel from his mas
ter—if this is to be the great harbor of refugee slaves, and
the white laborer is to bo driven off to give place to the es
caped negro—where now are long lines of ware-houses,
yielding princely incomes, and where now are miles of ships,
there soon will be the decayed wrecks of a fallen Venice, and
the fallen grandeur of an Antwerp of Rome. Our very ex
istence, much more our prosperity, depends not only upon the
Union of these States, but upon good fellowship and good
feeling tor us; and lie who breaks this good- fellowship, and
wounds this good feeling, is an enemy and a traitor in our
midst,
AVe are aware that Abolition agitators sneer at all pros
pects of disunion, and tell us the South but blusters, and will
submit to any degradation. These agitators, however, are, irt
the main, of the Peace Society men, who will run away ot the
first flash of gunpowder, after stirring up a fire they dare not
face nor encounter. But it is not so, we solemnly tell all our
people. Mark the struggle that is now going on in Georgia,
between Union and Disunion, and a fearful struggle it is,
though the Union is certain to triumph, because of the past set
tlement in Congress of all really dangerous slavery questions ;
but if they were unsettled, or if they are re-opened, as the
Syracusans propose, may Heaven help our country, for it
would be beyond the power of man. Mark, too, the rising
contest in Mississippi. The Governor (Quitman, aN. York
born man) has convoked the Legislature in extraordinary
session, especially for Disunion. Nor is the Nashville Con
vention over. The lire yet burns there. The whole State of
South Carolina administers the fuel; a State ready and ripe
for revolution, the moment it can find another State for a
leader. In the midst of so much real peril, then, it is savage,
it is criminal, to attempt to undo what Congress has so hap
pily done; and if success could be had in the new agitation,
if we A\ lugs were to tell all mankind, as the Syracuse Reso
lution would tell them, that Senator Seward fully and fairly
represented us—a long adieu would there be to the peace and
prosperity, if not to the very existence, of this Union.
But let the interior of this State do what it may, however,
it may sway and swing, as it lias swung at times, amid the
stormy elements that rock it—there is hut one course for the
Whigs, and Democrats, too, of this great and patriotic com
mercial emporium, and that is, to cling to this Union. Wc
love New York, but we love the Union more. We are New
Yorkers, to be sure, but we are Americans first. If ever
our State swings off, and runs after Abolitionists and Aboli
tionism, the steadier and with a more death-like gripe we
cling to and go down and perish with the Union.
General sass at Tammany Hall.
Os the Session of Congress just closed, Mr. Cass in his
remarks on Tuesday at Tammany llall, New York, said :
‘‘lt was a fearful crisis, fellow-citizens; but, supported by
the God of our fathers and by our God, vve are yet one coun
try, one people, one Government. [Enthusiasm and applause.]
And so, my friends, I hope we will continue till all human in
stitutions have iulfilled their destiny. And now, fellow-citi
zens ol the democratic party, let me say one word more, and 1
have done. We have now a national platform of American
principles, on which wc can all stand, and we can exist only as
a national party. A\ o must recollect that the constitution was
the result ol compromise. In some quarters, the term coin j
• promise is .U oliom -ble. Hut, let me ark -a, : : n-•* •'> *
whole of life made up of compromise ? Society itself is com
promise. If we say vve will give way to no one, no one will
give way to us. If you don't respect the feelings of others no
one will respect yours. (Applause.) You have now an Amer
ican platform to stand on. AVe have had our trials and suf
ferings. There is no party that has not had their moments of
trial and suffering. AYe have been divided, but wo have again
got together; and having done so, let me give you one word
of advice. It is this: Never talk of the past —never throw
our past difficulties in the face of any one. (Applause.) A'ou
have nothing to do with tlie past, except as a matter of ex
perience.”
AVhen Mr. Walsh finished, General Cuss n ain spoke, and
said there was one more remark which he wi. lied to make
on this occasion, and one with whiffh ho was sure the audi
ence would sympathise. He had said that the satisfactory
settlement of the slavery question was owing to the people
themselves who took care to let their representatives in Con
gress know what their opinions on the subject were. The great
men in Congress aided and assisted in procuring that settle
ment.
Your own Senator Dickinson, (applause) who deserves
everything, and Mr. Foote and that noble Henry Clay, (tre
mendous applause) and that great man, Daniel Webster,
(continued applause) and others, whose names arc written in
the hearts of the American people, and who will go down to
posterity, written in the brightest pages of American history
—all these aided in settling it. (Applause.) Fellow citizens,
all those men—North, South, East and West—fought the
great fight, but it was not they who triumphed. The country
triumphed—triumphed over everybody, achieved a victory
without injuring any one, but a victory that supports tho
principles of freedom, and the constitution of the country, I
hope for ever. (Applause.)
PLEDGED TO DISUNION.
IW Look on this Picture.
Mr. R. B. Riiett, the distinguished author of the Nash
ville Convention address, lately made a speech at Walterbo
rough, in South Carolina, and the Charleston Mercury re
ports him as saying:
“ AVe must secede , South Carolina will lead oft’, Georgia
will go with her, Alabama will soon follow, and Mississippi
will not be long behind her, for “she is not all Foote, but has
some heart and soul,” and this will be but the beginning;
within eighteen months we shall have the whole South with
us, and more than that; vve will extend our borders, wc will
have New Mexico, Utah, and California.” In his Charles
ton speech, reported by his own hand, Air. Ilhett used the
following language:
“To give to our people that protection and peace which
the Constitution and Union were established to secure, THE
SOUTH MUST SEVER TIIE CONNECTION WITH
THE NORTH.”
“ To maintain the Union is to acquiesce in tho destruction
of the Constitution; and to maintain the Constitution, WE
AIL.Si DISSOLVE THE UNION to afford the only chance
of its restoration.”
Again he said, despairing of any reformation which will
bring tho government back to the limitations of the Constitu
tion which will give us new guarantees, I see but one course
left for the peace and salvation of the South—a dissolution of
the Union?
Mr. Rhett also advocated disunion at the Macon Alass
meeting, under the guise of “temporary secession.’’
The Columbus Sentinel talks thus“ We have all along
contended that the admission of California would fill to over
flowing the poisoned cup of degradation which the North has
been for years preparing for the South. We have declared
our determination to hold to tho Union so long as there was
hope that vve would be safe in the Union. That hope has
now been disappointed, and we abandon tho Union as aft en
gine of infamous oppression. W k are for secf.ssion, open,
unqualified, naked secession. Henceforth, WE ARE FOR
AVAR UPON THE GOVERNMENT; it has existed but
or our ruin, and to the extent of our ability to DESTROY
ft, it shall exist no longer.”
Once more, the Sentinel has the following on’ the subject of
the approaching Convention.
‘Be are not disposed to trammel tlie action of that Con
vention. AVe wish tlie men who will compose it, left fVec in
determining what that redress shall be, and we sliall acqui
esce in its decision. AA'c have our preferences, and they al
ready been made known. AA'e see no remedy for cur griev
ances short of secession. AA’e have no hope that our rights
can be secured in the Union, and vve are ready to go out of
it. Had we the power, therefore, to dictate the action of this
Convention, our first step would be a Declaration of In
dependence, and the next, an invitation to our sister States
of the South to unite with us in tlie formation of a Southern
Republic.”
The Columbus Times avows disunion in the following plan!
terms:
“ If tlie action of Congress makes it imperative on tho
Governor under the instructions of the Legislature, to call the
convention, our own first choice will be for secession, and our
votes and efforts will be steadily given to effect that end.”
And again : “ AVe then go for secession—quietly if let
alone, forcibly if made necessary. AVe are for meeting the
defiance of the North on this issue, and are against all tem
porary expedients, or new and postponed issues.”
Again it says :
‘ The State of Georgia stands in an attitude of fearful peril,
fro'm which nothing can rescue her but the virtue and valor
of her sons. Pushed to the wall, bearded and defiled by ag
gressive legislation to which she has virtually and solemnly
sworn she will not submit, betrayed and deserted by a ma
jority, if not by every one of her representatives, in Con
gress, she stands with the Scylla of dishonor and submission
on the one hand, and the Charybdis of violated rights and
swift-coming ruin on tho other. She has to choose between
the two, and the choice is to be made in a few weeks. Sub
mission and disgrace to be followed by fresh abolition as
saults as the penalty of her imbecility and cowardice or a
brave and tnanly strike for her honor, her rights and her in
dependence.”
The Montgomery Advertiser says of the Peace Measures
in Congress:
“ Such are the measures under which we are counseled to
sit down quietly, ho silent and cease agitation. It remains to
be seen, w hether Southern freemen will heed such pusillani
mous—cowardly advice. The cause for “ agitation” has in
reality just fairly begun, and wc shall glory in the work of
urging it on by every means in our power, and shall only
cease when we shall be convinced that the sons of the South
are too pusillanimous to preserve the inheritance of their
fathers.”
The Augusta Republic says :
“No cause for resistance to the injustice of the mother
country was half as great as that which would, in this case,
DEMAND RESISTANCE OF THE SOUTH.
AA'e fear not the final result. The South can never sub
mit to gross injustice. Her people, placing themselves upon
the broad platform of the constitution —the bond of a just
union—will protect their rights and sustain their honor by
all the means which the Cod of Nature has placed in their
hands.”
The Macon Telegraph has the following:—
“ Judging from the late action of Congress, wc can only
look forward to resistance or to the abolition of slavery
sooner or later, throughout the South. These are the alter
natives between which the South must now choose. That
cTioiqe is to ho made in a few weeks, and the sun which goes
n* “ * ■’ ? , v t r.part For tlie elect’- .f .1.1..,.-., ...
Georgia, will have seen a mightier political question solved
than ever before engaged her people. AA hatever diversity of
views may exist among the people with regard to the meas
ures of redress, the Convention should adopt, we apprehend
hat there is but little dissent among them, either with regard
do the wrongs perpetrated, or tlie necessity for some resis
mice, whatever it may be. AVhat this resistance should be,-
as we have said before, the Legislature has wisely submitted
to the people to determine. And if tho State will not adopt
the only remedy, we regard as adequate to reform tho gov
ernment, we will go for any thing that her sons in their sov
ereign capacity, in Convention, may recommend, always ex
cepting a tame and cowardly submission.
For our own part we believe the issue is resistance of some
sort, or abolition. Disguise it as we may, this solemn ques
tion we cannot evade.”
Again tho Telegraph says:
“ For our own part, we are for secession, for resistance—
open, unqualified resistance.”
A correspondent of tho Telegraph of the 17tli instant, asks,
Must the South submit ? Ought she to submit ? Can she
submit without being branded with a dastardism, that vvoultt
dishonor and defame the race she sprang from ? Every na
tive son who loves her would exclaim “ Mav she terisii
sooner !”
The Savannah Georgian says:
“We gave our advice in regard to the acts of the Conven
tion, and we now stand ready to support them; if thoy
are for secession we are with them. AN e shall stand by these
principles we have already advanced, and hold ourselves in
readiness to defend the rights of the South—not by yielding
her territorial rights to the North, but with that defence
which every true Southerner should stand ready to wield
against an intruder.”
At the Kingston Mass Meeting Judgo Colquitt, said :
“ Secession was his remedy, but that if he could not get that,
he would go with Georgia in any manner of resistance she
might adopt.’’
The Cassville Standard of the 2Gth nit., says :
“ AA'e have been informed that the lion. AV'alter T. Colquit
addressed a portion of the citizens of Murray County last
week, and declared openly that lie was for DISUNION.
Since then we learn that some of the citizens of Murray are
following his footsteps, and say they are for disunion too.’’
The subjoined resolution, offered by Capt. A. Nelson, at a
Public Meeting in this county, is an undisguised exposition of
his disunion sentiments:
“ Resolved , That the late acts of Congress in reference to
the territories, viz. the admission of California, the dismem
berment of Texas, and tlie passage by tlie United States Sen
ate, of tho bill for the abolition of the slave trade in tlie Dis
trict of Columbia, are such gross violations of every principle
of common justice, of the equality of the States of this con
federacy and the spirit and letter of the Constitution, as to
fully justify the people of tho Southern States, in resistance
at every hazard, and to the last extremity, EVEN TO A
DISSOLUTION OF THE UNION, leaving the conse
quences to those who have caused them.”
The Rome Southerner says:
“ The day of our humiliation or emancipation is at hand.
If ice submit , ice arc the vilest of slaves, and the fit subjects
of the most ruthless despotism. If we resist as men wor
thy TO BE FREE SHOULD RESIST, OUR TRIUMPH IS AS CERTAIN AS
IT WILL BE GLORIOUS. * * * * * *
IV here is the dastard, the traitor , who, under such circum
stances, will dare be false to his native land? Resistance
now, stern, uncompromising resistance, or shameful submis
sion and inevitable ruin, are the alternatives which an unjust
government has set before us.”
The Augusta Constitutionalist speaks after this fashion :
“ Beware of the false cry of Union. It is the word oftalis
mauic charms that is relied on to prepare your free limbs for
bondage. And whenever a union croaker sings this sickly sen
timentality to you, thunder back to him the issue, “ Disunion
or Abolition .”
In addition to this, the Alass Meeting which reccn tly assem
bled at Kingston, passed among others, the following resolu
tions :
Resolved , That the people of Georgia arc, in the opinion
of this meeting, pledged to some EFFECTIVE MODE of
RESISTANCE to the encroachment of the North upon their
j ust and constitutional rights.
Resolved, That the true issue, to be determinated by tlie
people in the election of delegates to tho Convention is— un
conditional submission, or some MANLY and EFFEC
TIVE mode of RESISTANCE.
Again t A correspondent of the Augusta Republic among
other harsh things about the Union, says;
It is time, sir, that wc should all begin to familiarize our
selves not only with the possibility, but with the necessity of
a dissolution. But why should not the people of Georgia and
the South advocate disunion ? AA'e have said a thousand times
that wc would dissolve the Union before wo would submit to
further aggression. The time has come when wo must make
good our threats or forever hold our peace. AA'k *t man is there
who entertains any belief that the North would do us justice ?
\A ho is there that believes that any compromise (as they call
it) that can be made, will be any more than a yielding on our
part, merely to encourage larger demands fi r the future ? Now
is the time to settle the question—there are only two ways to
do ; the one is to acknowledge ourselves the vassals of the
north for all time to come, the other is to dissolve the Union
and it is this time for tho South to choose between them.
Cttriwpiinknrr.
For the Georgia Citizen.
tnion and Disunion,
Dear Doctor :
These are perilous times for the Republic—We are now
approaching an election, fraught with more consequences for
weal or for woe, than any that has transpired since the adop
tion of our Constitution —and it well becomes every citizen,
to reflect and consider tlie impending dangers, before exer
cising the right of suffrage.
I am somewhat disposed to believe, Sir, that the present
fearful state cf affairs, and the recent exciting SgiUUldn,
which has disturbed the peace of the country, has not originat
ed with the masses of the people, the “ bone and sinew ” of
the Republic; but rather they are the creation of designing
politicians, and aspiring Demagogues ; and as much the re
sult of a false system of selecting our rulers and representa
tives, as any thing else. You are perfectly aware, that the
learned professions and particularly lawyers, are looked to
and enumerated, as probable candidates, whenever an elec
tion is to take place. Now I believe this system of discrimina
tion is the result of a custom tolerated until it almost appears
as a matter of course; and which I think could be reversed
with benefit to the country —I dont wish to detract from the
merits of tlie professions, but rather to place the claims of oth
er occupations on an equality with them in competency and
ability, faithfully to represent the interests of the people.
How often, Doctor, do we see it the case that young gen
tlemen who have selected tho Law as a profession, have
scarcely finished a study ltarely sufficient to allow them to
practice in the “Courts of 1 w and Equity ” before they
arc suddenly seized with apprehensions for the country, ima
gine the destiny of the Republic rests upon their shoulders,
and immediately aspire to be either leaders or representatives
of the people. They generally begin with Secretaryship to
a political meeting—then a fourth of July oration in the
couhtry—next a notTiinatlOn for the anLthcy/.re
considered graduated to be a director and leader in political
events. AVhen elected and chosen to represent the people
how many are qualified either from practical knowledge, good
judgment or industrious habits, to faithfully execute their
office ? or rather are not many of them a mere composition
of theory without practice, ambition without judgment, and
whose whole aim is to he delivered of a set speech, wfth clas-
sical quotations, and see the announcement in the papers of
‘Mr. made an able and eloquent effort.’ I think it would
be well, if our Legislature assemblies were composed of men
representing all interc: t.s—then theory, practice, experience,
good management would all combine, and the result would be
good for the country, and wc should have less agitation and
less legislation to promote political aspirations.
lam glad to . e that the candidates on either side of the
question in our county, are rather diversified in interest, and
I heartily regret with you that our friend 11. A. Smith, has
consented to stand a poll in this county for the Convention,
on the “fire-eating” side. Our social has been
of long duration, and I trust may always be of the kindest
character. lam a little too much his Senior, to claim to be
a school mate, though wc have been “ a sparking” together,
and often spent happy hours in the society of our female ac
quaintances. I have outstripped him in the “courting line,”
(as I have been so fortunate as to get a “ better half,”) ow
ing I reckon to a want of a disposition on his part to incur
additional responsibilities yet a while. However, be that as it
may, he is an associate for whom I have the highest respect.
His strict integrity, unexceptionable character, and commend
able consistency in all his professions, has ever claimed my
admiration from his youth, and notwithstanding our views
differ politically, I should willingly contribute to his elevation
upon any other question, than the one he is now a candidate
for. 1 therefore regret that lam placed in a situation where
1 cannot extend him the aid my feelings prompt, hut in vot
ing for the Union ticket I vote not against R. A. Smith, but
against Disunion tendencies.
This thing, disunion, is a fearful picture to look upon, and
should be resorted to only when all else has failed. What
would be the result ? Who can tell the consequences? Old
associations broken up—public and private credit impaired—
security for life and property dubious—new’ safeguards to be
established—new burdens imposed—and what guarantees the
stability of the new system ? It is a serious and fearful thing
to contemplate. Doctor, will ever the inpressions formed in
boyhood, connected with our Glorious Union, be erased ? I
know you have experienced the feelings of patriotism, and
pleasure which were mine, when a school boy I first learned
the history of my country and the deeds of the patriots of
“ Bunker Hill,” “ Saratoga,” ‘Yorktown,’ Kings Mountain,’
and particularly of the immortal Washington. Don't you
recollect how you could sit for hours, unwearied, and listen to
legends of the Revolution, with an interest no other subject
could command ? What would have been thought in these
days of childhood, if disunion had been whispered in our
ears ? In the year eighteen hundred and forty-four I passed
for the first time, the tomb of Washington and the emo
tions I then experienced are hardly describable. The pas
sengers on the boat were stated at dinner, suddenly the ma
chinery of the vessel, ceased its accustomed voice and the bell
tolled mournful notes. “Mount Vernon” was whispered,
through the crowd; and in an instant all hands were on the
deck and with heads uncovered were intently gazing upon
the tomb of Washington. The motion of the vessel as she
glided along like someone treading lightly through the halls
of mourning, the solemn notes of the tolling bell—and the
grave appearanc of all around made an impression never to
be forgotten—but particularly the involuntary expression of
a venerable and grey haired sire, who, when all was still and
silent as death (and there were persons aboard from North,
South, East and West,) filled to overflowing hearts already
full with the simple exclamation of “ Our Father.” I know
not what the experience of others had been, but one thing I
do know that the emotions of that hour can never be forgot
ten ; and when I hear people talk of dissolving the Union,
the thought recurs to my mind, is it possible tliat this glorious
Union, won by so much blood and privation, is to be dis
solved for trifling causes, and the noble stream, the Po
tomac, that bathes the tomb of Washington and sings the
requiem to departed greatness, to he stained with fraternal
blood by the degenerate sons of noble Sires Wh ‘ta tribute
to the memory’ of the immortal “ Father ” of liis country. ’
1 know that some of the fire-eaters disclaim Disunion and
Secession, hut don't say what they are for. Now I hope none
will be deceived, but that all who favor the Union as it is,
will, to make matters doubly sure, vote for those men wo
know to be Union men from the beginning.
Now Doctor, i propose to the citizens, generally, that after
having put a quietus Upon Gov. Towns’ Convention, wo
turn to end by active enterprise, industry, and persever
ance, instead of blotting out the Star of Georgia from tho
Constitution of the Ufiiott, go to work, and by all the means
that lay in ourjxnver make old Georgia hot only the brightest
gem that decks old Ocean's brow, but life m<fet brilliaht Star
that glitters in the Constitution of our Union.
Y ours,
CANDOR.
LETTER from STARKSVILLE.
Stahksville, Ga, October 10, 1850.
Mr. Editor. —No question which has ever been
the th me of public discussion, Las been so pregnant
with consequences of weal or woe for our beloved
country, as the one now distracting the public tnind.
And in a republican government like ours, where
the people are the sole rulers, it behoves every mah
to look well before he acts and scrutinize closely
tho conduct of those, into whose hands will bo
committed the settlement of the momentous ques
tion.
Having been nominated by the Union party of
Lee county to the contest (if contest there should
be), for a seat in the convention to assemble in Mil
ledgeville on the 10th December next, I feel it my
duty to give expression of my opinion upon the
great question which gave birth to the convention.
1 believe that the people of Georgia and tho
southern States ought to acquiesce in the law of
Congress admitting California as a State into this
Union. The circumstances under which California
formed her constitution, and the mode of her ad
mission into the Union , have been the cause of that
discontent, which threatens the stability of this gov
ernment. Then should we acquiesce in the law or
resist the admission of California, and dissolve thd
Union? Admit (for argument sake) tlfe mode bf
her admission was dissimilar from the admission of
most of the States, shall we raze the beautiful fab
ric of our Government and bury the beacon light of
liberty because Congress deviated from precedents
in the admission of anew Shite, yet having follow
ed the letter and spirit of the constitution iu her
admission ? Hut some say, that her admission was
unconstitutional because the mode of her admission
was irregular. If you mean irregnlar because her
idmission was unlike most of the States which were
admitted, then she was admitted irregularly; but,
if it means what certain speakers and presses sav,
that it was irregular because unconstitutionally ad
mitted, then we join issue. The Constitution of the
United States declares that “New States may be ad
mitted by the Congress into the Union.” The pow
er is plenary, full, unrestricted, unconditional.
There is no limitation upon the power to admit
States into the l nion. That point bt:’ •; consider
edrt hc next question that presents itself is, was Cal
ifornia a State at the time she made her application*
She was a State but not a State in the Union, but a
State seeking admission. What is a State ? When
you refer to elementary authority they will tell vou,
people, territory, certain landmarks of qualification
which are found in all the books. Then, if this bo
the true definition of a State and Congress has full
power to admit new States, wherein is the constitu
tion violated? Now, the only things necessary, un
der the Constitution, are that the new State
should have *70,080 inhabitants, and present herself
with a republican form of government. When site
knocks with the above necessary qualifications, it is
the imperative duty of co’ngrcss to receive her, par
ticularly a conquered people, without laws, without
organization, and without protection, and made thus
dependent by the prowess and chivalry of American
arms. 1 >id California have the two things needful ?
If so, she came regularly, that is, she had all the
constitution requires; and I ask, what injury or in
sult has Georgia sustained ? l>ut some say that
the acquired territory is the common property of
all the States and every man has a right to migrate
thither with his slaves, and that slavery is prohibi
ted in the constitution of California. Ifso the con
gress of the United States (against v 1 ich they are
levelling their opposition), did not injure us. l)o
not fall out with your native, your beloved country,
because California does not want slavery. The con
stitution does not establish slavery anvwhere, but
only recognizes it where it exists and leaves the es
tablishment or prohibition of it where it properly be
longs, to the States respectively. And the State of
California under and by virtue of the inherent pow
ers she had and which was among the reserved
rights, was as much at liberty to prohibit slavery as
the State of Georgia would have the right to abol
ish slavery in this State. Is not the power to regu
late slavery among the reserved rights, and not del
egated to Congress ? If so, I conjure you for the
love you have for the Southern institution, for tho
love you have for State sovereignty, and for the lovo
you ought to have for our common country not to
dissolve this government because California has ex
ercised a right which is inherent in her. I cannot
consent for congress to legislate upon the subject of
slavery, but upon the platform of non intervention,
we are protected in our institutions, ar.d preserve
our State sovereignty and give anew impetus to
this Union, which is the pride of every true Ameri
can heart and the admiration of all the world.
Yours Respectfully,
Willis a. iiawkins.
Letter from ( uthhert, Ga.
Citubert, Oct. 5, 1850.
Dear Citizen :
Perhaps too soon I trouble you again. Yet Cuthhcrt calls
loudly for another epistle from Civis, and fire-eaters in these
parts need someone to emblazon their triumphs to the world,
b a:ting for the uenoucment of that mobocraticul conspiracy
which the fanatics of Macon, (guided by the leader of Ponoy-
Club memory, and ‘ ogged ’ on to extremities by the barkings
of bilbo and others,) liad formed for the violation of the lib
erty of the press, has kept me from sooner acquainting you
with the news from Randolph. Now that the storm is over,
and more prosperous gales have wafted to you numerous evi
dences of popular approbation and sympathy, and tangiblo
proofs of popular support, you can now wage warfare with
these zealots, and sink them in disgrace. I need scarcely
say that your subscribers here were greatly delighted when
the Citizen made its appearance in the same ljeaotiful form
after the unexpected assault. The letter of Civis caused no
little speculation and elicited a torrent of abuse on the head of
the unknown ’Scribbler.’ But pardon egotism, and now to
the description of a meeting held in this place on Tuesday last,
for the purpose of the formation of a Southern Rights Asso
ciation, in which both parties were promiscuously assembled.
About two o'clock the crowd were startled by a hoarse se
pulchral cry. Tuiniug I bTh Id a >p , taclc both alarming
NO. 30.
