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it out, and show the people where it was violated and in wlia
W a\\ The slaveholder cannot carry his slaves to California
and compel them to work for him there, because the people
of that Suite have refused to recognise the institution in their
State Constitution. Neither can he carry them the States of
New York and Massachusetts, for the very same reason. If
these hotheads are such zealous defenders of Southern
Rights , why did they not try to dissolve the Union, when
some of the States of this confederacy abolished slavery in
their community ? or why did they not declare dissolution
when the Wilmot Proviso was appended to Oregon ? Or
why did they not rail out against the North when the Wilmot
Proviso was sought to be applied to Texas ? Or when Geor
gia passed a law inhibiting the bringing and selling of slaves
in this State, by speculators, some years since. Why, I ask,
did they not then “cry aloud and spare not”! I have come
to the conclusion that they desired legislation on the subject,
at least so far as California is concerned. Suppose Califor
nia had presented to Congress a Constitution tolerating slave
ry, and Northern members had been opposed to it because it
was unconstitutional what position would those disunionists,
and the whole South have occupied ? Their position would
have been quite different. And at once you would have
heard reasons presented to the people: “That it teas
Constitutional, for her Constitution was Republican, and that
this was all that the Constitution of the U. States required.
Thata number of the States had been admitted in the same
way, and that she was entitled to an equal participant) - in the
rights incorporated in the compact between the States. That
inequalities had characterised almost half of the States that
had buen admitted, and that her ad mission was no more pre
mature than nine out of the cighteeu States that had been
admitted into the Union.” We have only to reverse the
order of things in regard to California, to sec how preposter
ous is the position taken by the secessionists of Georgia.
And, Doctor, if this had been the ease, and Congress had re
fused to admit California as a State, I should be for resistance
myself “to the last extremity.”
The slaveholder can emigrate to Utah or New Mexico
with his slaves if he ehotses, with the same safety that he
could to Louisiana or Texas ; for it is all fudge to say and con
tend that the old Mexican laws are still in force there, for
they art not. The Constitution itself, in my opinion, repeal
ed all Mexican laws so soon as it became the Territory of the
United States. And this is the decision of a majority of
learned men. But suppose these laws do resist according to
the unanimous sentiment of the South, we cannot grant Con
gress the privilege to repeal them, for if Congress has a right
to repeat a law she has a right to enact it. So it is plain,
you perceive, at once, direct legislation ensues, if we grant
this. And if they do exist, the people there have the only
right to repeal them. Georgia can have nothing to say ; and
Congress also should remain silent.
lion. It. 11. Stephens spoke in our city on the 2Sth ultimo,
at night, and at 10 A. M. next day. lie stated to the peo
ple that Union and Disunion was emphatically the issue,
and that they should be prepared for it. lie stated also, that
the North had given us all we asked for in the passage of the
Fugitive Slave Bill, and that it was the most stringent Bill
that lmd ever passed any Congress. That we had achieved a
victory in its passage, and in killing effectually the Wilmot
Proviso. That in the adjustment of the Texas and New
Mexieo affair, we had actually gained 5 1-2 degrees of Terri
tory that was previously free soil and added to New Mexico,
which was now open for the introduction of slavery at the
option of emigrants. And that he thought the people of
Georgia should celebrate these honorable and agreeable ad
justments by bonfires rather than go about dissolving the
Union, which would finally result in war and bloodshed,
after we had gained all we desired. That if any overt ag
gression was committed on the South he was for resistance ,
but not till then ; and that no aggression had been palmed
upon the South in the passage of any of the measures pro
posed to bo resisted by the secessionists.
P. 11. Cox, Esqr., has been nominated as a candidate to
the Convention vice Andrew J. Beckom declined. We
now have two of each of the great political parties, and
doubtless will succeed.
We have had no frost in our immediate vicinity yet, and
the weather is remarkably fine. Cotton is coming in very
rapidly, hut there will not he more than half a crop made in
our section of the country, so the farmers say.
Y'onrs Truly, .A. A.. 11.
a—
For the Georgia Citizen.
California and the Constitution.
Mr. Editor: —lt is a matter of regret that those
persons who are continually charging upon Congress
a violation of the Constitution in the admission of
California, because she had not previously been put
under a territorial government and an enumeration
of her citizens taken, were not present on Tuesday
last to hear Mr. Cobb’s masterly reply to and com
plete refutation of the objection. He said the pow
er of Congress to admit new States into the Union
was not denied, but it had been urged, that that
body had no right to create anew - Slate. Mr. Cobb
could not see the application of this distinction to the
measure in question. If Congress was at all censu
rable incite matter it was for doing too little and
not too much —for what she failed to do rather than
for what she did —that the objection would apply
‘vitli much more force to Utah and New Mex
ico than to California, for Congress had taken
one step towards creating them States by extending
a territorial government over them—that the exer
cise by Congress of the right of establishing and
keeping up territorial governments was not author
ized by any express provision of the constitution
and in the opinion of some of its fathers and espe
cially Mr. Madison, was a usurpation of power.
That this argument is fully sustained by history and
bv authority no one who will take the trouble to ex
amine the subject can doubt. In the 38th Number
of the Federalist, Mr. Madison, in speaking of the
right of Congress to accept the cession of the Wes
tern territory, says :
“It is now no longer a matter of speculation and
hope, that the western territory is a mine of vast wealtli
to the United Slates-, and although it is not of such a
nature as to extricate them from their present distresses,
or fur sometime to come to yield any supplies for the
public expenses ; yet must it hereafter be able under
proper management both to effect a gradual discharge of
the domestic debt, end to furnish for a certain period
liberal tributes to the Federal treasury. Avery large
proportion of this fund has been already surrendered
by individual States; and it may with reason be expect
ed, tiiat the remaining Slates will not persist in w ith
holding similar proofs of their equity and generosity.
We may calculate therefore that a rich and fertile
country, of an area equal to the inhabited extent of the
United States will soon become a National stock. Con
gress have assumed the administration of this stock.
They have begun to render it productive. Congress
have undertaken to do more —they have proceeded to form
new Slates; to erect temporary governments ; to appoint
officers for them; and to prescribe the conditions on
which Slates shall be admitted into the Confederacy.
All this has been done and done without the least
color or Constitutional authority.”
Fuch thou is the view of the Republican Father
of the Constitution. Those who were the advocates
for a latitudinarian construction of that instrument
deduced the authority of Congress on these subjects
from a totally different source. Judge Story in his
commentaries on the Constitution vol. 3d, §1312,
commenting on this passage from the Federalist, is
constrained to admit, “that the importance and even
justice of the title to the public lands on the part of
the federal government, and the additional security
which it gave to the Union overcame all scruples of
the people, as to its constitutional character. A
gain Third Commentaries §3lB, he says:—
“As the general government possesses the right to ac
quire territory,either by conquest or by treaty, it would
seem to follow as an inevitable consequence that it pos
sesses the power to govern, what it lias so acquired.
The territory does not when acquired become entitled to
self-government and it is not subject to the jurisdiction
of any State. It must consequently be under the juris
diction of the Union or it would be without any govern
ment at all.”
Again, in §1319, speaking of this subject he says:
“So that notwithstanding the generality of the objec
tion (already examined) that Congress has no power to
erect Corporations and that in the Convention the pow
er was refused ; we see thatlthe very power is an inci
dent so that of regulating the territory of the U. States;
that it is an appropriate means of carrying the power in
to effect.”
It is upon the reasoning of this great champion
of federal construction, that those persons who ob
ject to the constitutional power of Congress to ad
mit California without a previous territorial govern
ment must rely, but the authority does not author
ise the distinction they take, because if Congress has
unlimited power to grant Corporations she may as
well create a State as a lerritonal government —for
neither a State nor Territory is any thing but a pub
lic Corporation—and the one is entitled to this char
acter as well as the other. According to Mr. Madi
son however Congress has no power to create either
a State or Territorial government—at least he does
not find authority in the Constitution for such an
exercise ot power. Let those who urge this objec
tion to the admisson of California beware of the
fatal consequences to which their reasoning may load.
They are Concentrating, in the hands of Congress, a
power they little dream of. They are yielding them
entire and exclusive jurisdiction over the subject of
our dearest rights and interests. Let them ponder
well the conclusion which Judge Story in §1322
draws from this reasoning and let them s.vv if they
agree with him, “THAT THE POWER OF CON
GRESS OVER TIIE PUBLIC TERRITORY IS
CLEARLY EXCLUSIVE AND UNIVERSAL;
AND THAT THEIR LEGISLATION IS SUB
JECT TO NO CONTROL; BUT IS ABSOLUTE
AND UNLIMITED UNLESS SO FAR AS IT IS
AFFECTED BY STIPULATIONS IN THE CES
SIONS, OR BY THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 UN
DER WHICH ANY PART OF IT JIAS BEEN
SETTLED.” PUBLIUS.
Houston County.
Pursuant t® previous notice a largs number of the citizens
of Houston county of both parties, met at the Courthouse
in Perry on Tuesday, the 29th of October, 1850.
Thomas Speight and John 11. Powers were called to the
chair, and Wm. 11. Franks and John Chastain were request
ed to act as Secretaries.
On motion of Eli Warren, the Chair appointed a committee
of ten, consisting of Eli Warren, Dr. Hampton, Hugh Law
son, Judge Swift, W m. 11. Miller, Joseph Tooke, Levi Ezell,
Col. llavis, and Dr. Woodson, to draft a preamble and res
olutions expressive of the opinions of the meeting. After
the committee retired, the Chair called upon Judge King to
address the meeting, which lie did, in a most eloquent and
impressive manner. After Judge King concluded, Wash
ington Poe being called out, made a powerful appeal to the
people to stand by the constitution of the country, and the
Union of the States.
The Committee returned and reported by their Chairman,
the following
PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS.
The Governor of Georgia under the authority given him by
an act of the Legislature of the State, requiring him to cal!
a convention of the people upon the passage by Congress of
any law prohibiting slavery in any territory of the United
States, or abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia; or
any law prohibiting the slave trade between the States where
slavery may exist, or admit, into the United States ss a State
of this Confederacy, the territory of California or New Mex
ieo, having ordered an election to take place for delegates to
said convention it becomes the high and solemn duty of the
people to elect such men to that convention, as will tarry out
their wishes in respect to the objects of said convention.
The session of congress that has just closed, has adjourned
without passing the laws upon the subject of slavery that
seem to have been anticipated by the Legislature that passed
the act calling a convention, except admitting into the Union
as a State, the territory of California with a constitution made
by herself, prohibiting slavery, so that the admission of
California into the United States, as a State, seems to be the
only cause for the calling of a convention of the people of this
State. That the congress of the United States has the right,
under the constitution, to admit new States into the Union
is a proposition that no one will deny. And that the States,
and the territories of the United States, when they apply for
admission into the Union as States, have the right uncon
tested by abolitionists or congress, to determine for them
selves, whether they will tolerate slavery or not, is a doctrine
that has never been denied by the people of the South.
1 lie it therefore Resolved , That although we regret
that California has thought proper to prohibit slavery in that
State, yet as she had the right to do so, we see no cause, in
that act, for resistance on the part of the South to the act of
congress admitting her into the Union with a constitution
formed by her own people to suit themselves.
2. Resolved : That in the acts lately passed by congress
on the subject of slavery, or in other words on the subject of
Southern Rights ; we see no cause for the State to do any
thing which may, in any way, directly or indirectly, put to
hazard the constitution of the United States, or the perma
nency of the Union, and that forgetting all past party differ
ences, we will support no man for the convention, who is
not pledged against any measure, directly or remotely, that
threatens a dissolution of the Union of the States, or a dis
traction of our free and happy government.
3. Resolved : I’hat the South stands ready to pursue her
own mode and measure of redress, and which should he ful
ly adequate to any emergency, should congress or the North
ern States, commit unconstitutional aggressions on the rights
of the South, to control in her own way, her own peculiar in
stitutions and property in slaves.
4. Resolved : That we deprecate the efforts of political
demagogues, North or South, East or West, whether they be
abolitionists or disunionists to embitter the feelings of the peo
ple of one section of the country, against those of another,
as tending to weaken the bonds of a Union that was cement
ed by the blood of our revolutionary fathers.
5. Resolved: That upon the will of the people of this
country, founded on their love for their government, depends
the preservation of our Union, and Institutions—and that we
deplore the efforts that are made by the enemies of our gov
ernment, the vile abolitionists of the North, and the disun
ionists of the South, to alienate the affections of her people
from their government —the purest, the happiest, and the
freest government, that God, in his mercy, ever gave to any
people.
After the resolutions were rend, Eli Warren addressed the
meeting with great fervor and force, in explanation and sup
lort of the resolutions. After he concluded, the report of
the committee was unanimously adopted.
On motion, Silas Rawles, David M. Brown, Joseph Tooke
Col Swift, Thomas Moore, A. D. Kendrick, J. W. Hardison,
Wm. 11. Calhoun, Stephen Gastello, Win. P. Gilbert, E. Jo
iner, and Dempsey Brown were appointed by the chair, as a
committee to select four candidates to represent Houston
county at the approaching convention to beheld in Milledge
villcon the 10th day of December 1850. After the commit
tee retired, Col. A. P. Powers addressed the meeting with
great vehemence and effect. He dealt some heavy blows at
the Disunionists, and was peculiarly happy in his appeals to
his old political friends. The committee returned and report
ed to the meeting, the following named gentlemen, as the
candidates of the Union Party of Houston, Hugh Lawson,
Jacob Fudge, Dr. Hampton and Dr. Woodson. The meet
ing unanimously adopted the report of the committee.
On motion, the chair appointed a committee to wait on the
nominees, notify them of their election, and solicit their ac
ceptance of the same.
On motion, the “Journal and Messenger,” and the “Geor
gia Citizen,” were requested to publish the proceedings of
this meeting.
The meeting then on motion adjourned.
THOMAS SPEIGIIT.) „
JOHN H. POWERS, j Prcßldcnts -
Wm. L. Franks, )
T _ > Secretaries.
John Chastain, |
PLEDGED TO DISUNION.
E3T Look on Ibis Picture,
Mr. R. B. Rhett, the distinguished author of the Nash
ville Convention address,, lately made a speech at Walterbo
rougli, in South Carolina, and the Charleston Mercury re
ports him as saying :
W e must secede, South Carolina will lead off, 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; we will extend our borders, we will
have New Mexico, Utah, and California.” J n his Charles
ton speech, reported by his own hand, Mr. Rhett used the 1
following language:
fas issitii sifisiiio
“ 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 the destruction
of the Constitution; and to maintain the Constitution, WE
Ml ST J)ISSOL\ E TIIE UNION to afford the only chance
of its restoration.”
Again he said, despairing of any reformation which will
bring the government hack to the limitations of the Constitu
tion w hich 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 Mass
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 litis
been for years preparing for the South. We have declared
our determination to hold to the Union so long as there was
hope that we would be safe in the Union. That hope lias
now been disappointed, and we abandon the Union as an en
gine of infamous oppression. Wf. are for secession, open,
unqualified, naked secession. Henceforth, WE ARE FOR
WAR 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.”
The Columbus Times avows disunion in the following plani
terms:
“ If the action of Congress makes it imperative on the
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.”
(T Ijc C/fovqia (Citizen.
JL. F. W. AUDREWS, Editor.
MACON, GA., NOV, t). 1850.
UNION TICKET, FOR Hit®
Washington Foe,
llobt. Collins,
A. P. Powers,
Win. Scott.
COTTON. —Steamer Africa is in, bringing news of an advance ■
of 1-8 in Cotton. Macon market—l 2 to 12 7-8.
Union Meeting, Tuesday.
According to previous notice, the Hon. Howell Cobb ad- 1
dressed a large assemblage of the citizens of Bibb, on Tues- j
day last, at Hardeman's new’ Ware-House, on the great !
question of the day. In a speech of two hour’s length, Mr. j
Cobb ably reviewed the series of measures recently a- ‘
dopted by Congress, and triumphantly proved that the
South had obtained, in tlie adjustment made, all she
had ever asked, and had less cause of complaint now
than ever, on account of grievances i flic ted byline j
general Government. The llonorabV. jWliuian lnalJeT
no attempt at rhetorical display, but gave’us 8 a plain, prae- !
tioal common sense speech, w hich every man could under- j
stand and feel to be the words of soberness and truth. From
the lips of this patriotic and enlightened Statesman not a word
of reproach fell, discordantly, upon the car. lie impugned’
the motives of none, though he demolished their abstractions ,
and crazy doctrines, in a masterly exposition of their inevita
ble tendency to discord and anarchy, and the overthrow of
the best government under heaven.
On the subject of the present aspect of the question before
the people and the effort now being made by the disunionists
to sail into the Convention, under the Union colors, Mr.
Cobb was particularly felicitous. He warned the people a
gainst the idea, that men could sincerely love a Union which
they believed was tyrannical and oppressive. Love would j
not seek to preserve that which was an instrument of wrong j
and injustice. It was impossible for a friend of the Union ,
to wish to resist the power that protects and cherishes all we !
hold most dear. The speaker therefore cautioned the peo- |
pie against the support of such friends for seats in the Con- i
vent ion.
On the newly mooted question touching the creation of a
State by Congress, Mr. Cobb was eloquent, clear and con
vincing. Our correspondent, Publius, will, however, speak
on that point, and we shall not therefore enlarge upon it. Sus- j
(ice it to say, that the Honorable speaker showed himself fa
miliar with his theme, and right nobly did lie battle for the j
Constitution and the Union, as they are, and not as disorgan
izes would have them.
But w’e have not space for further notice of this speech.—
It was every way worthy of the fame of the distinguished
man and of the patriotic cause in which lie is so heartily en
gaged.
“ After the meeting was organized, the resolutions recent
ly passed by the great Union meeting in New York were
read, and two resolutions adopted, recognizing the action of
the New York meeting as the “olive branch” of peace, and
declaring that if the North would adhere to the terms of the
late compromise—if they would insure a faithful execution of
the fugitive tlave bill, and put down all future agitation of
the slavery question,—then the people of the South will con
tinue to live in the bonds of brotherhood, and unite in all
proper legislative action for the preservation and perpetuity of
the Union.
Those resolutions were passed unanimously,”
House’s Printing Telegraph. —Judge Woodbury |
recently decided, at Boston, in favor of House and against
Morse, in a suit brought by the latter against the former, for
infringment of his patent for Telegraphing. The Judge con
tended that Morse’s patent extended only to the mode and
not to the principle of telegraphing, and as the modes of
House and Morse were different, there was no infringment
by House.
Brown’s Saloons . —This establishment is the centre I
of attraction, now, to citizens as well as strangers who visit
Macon. Every thing is in complete order, the rooms being
well lighted, and all the arrangements of the Saloons being
in the latest N. York style. “Liph’, knows how to do the
thing up brown , and he does it, too, magnificently.
Very Neat and Elegant. The new Drug su.ro of
Messrs. Payne and Nisbot, is, beyond question, the prettiest
establishment in the city. Indeed we have rarely if ever
seen, any where, a more tasteful display, in this line of busi
ness* The Store is an ornament to the place, and its pro
prietors worthy of a liberal patronage.
Confessed. The N. Y. “Independent,” Beecher’s aboli
tion sheet of October 31, acknowledges the following persons
as Proprietors of that paper. Let them be marked.
S. B. CHITTENDEN, IT. C. BOWEN, THEO. M’-
NAMEE, S. B. HUNT, & JONATHAN HUNT, all, wc
believe, wholesale Merchants.
llardwrre tc. — Bray, Carhart, & Cos. have a splendid
assortmeutof goods in their line just opened and ready for
sale. Every thing from a cooking stove to a papar of tacks
can there be had in great variety. Now is the time for
housekeepers to supply themselves with “Yankee notions,”
before the non-intercourse policy is adopted and the tariff is
raised.
Disunion Meeting on the 3d Inst .—Judge Ber
rien’s .-p. echat this meeting seems to have given the Tele
graph spasms of extaey, to judge from that pajjer of Tues
day. We say seems, for it is a well known fact here, that
the Fire-Eaters of this city were egregiously disappointed at
the Senator's effort. They expected to hear him declare him
self in favor of disunion or secession, but lie did no such
tiling. On the contrary, lie was op|H>sed to all the mea
sures of the Fire-Eaters, and in favor of the South fostering
her own manufactures dee. It is utterly ridiculous then, for
Sam Ray to affect to be pleased with Berrien’s speech. If
he is, in reality, pleased with the dressing the Judge gave to
the Disunionists, he is easily satisfied ! But the fact is, he
hopes to make capital for his cause by making it appear that
such a distinguished man as Judge Berrien is on the side of
disunion, which is not the fact! What is the praised the
Telegraph then worth, under such circumstances? It is a
wilful and deliberate falsification of the facts of the case, for
effect —nothing more.
It is due to truth, however to state, that Judge Berrien is
not what might be called a Union man. We do not claim
him as such. He is “neither pig nor puppy” in this contro
versy—but simply a John M. Berrien man, the nucleus of a
third party of which he is to be the soul, body and breech
es. lUs fine-spun theories about the Constitution of the gov
ernment may ail be very well before the Senate of the l nit
ed States or the Supreme Court, hut they were all lost upon
his fire-eating audience of this city. They may have been pearls
of the rarest quality, but whdh the honorable gentleman un
dertook to throw them broad-cast before the disunion “b’hoys’
of Macon, he did not regard the injunction of scripture—
“ Cast not your peurls before porkers lest they turn again and
rend you.” As it was, considerable gnashing of the tusks of
that species of animal was manifested. Some grinned u
ghastly smile, while others swore as terribly as the-celebrated
“army of Flanders.” And yet this effort, which nobody
liked and nobody presumed to understand, is cracked up by
the “Telegraph” as “perspicuousand masterly reasoning”—
an “argument of power, strength, and solidity, which fell
upon the audience, with the force of physical weight, im
parting the sensation of a ponderous body,” &cc. Well, per
haps, there is more truth than poetry in this last simile, al
though seme have thought Mr. B. more given to political
ter os ta ties than to physics —to the imponderable and gaseous,
rather than to the ponderable and tangible. This speech of
the Senator was probably heavy enough, in some respects.
Its physical ponderosity may have been wonderful. So are
iron and lead ! Judging however from the ray of light which
the Telegraph has thrown on the subject, we congratulate
ourselves, that there were but few Union men in that assem
bly of 200 persons liable to demolition from the downward
tendency of so much centripetal power.
X. Y. Abolition Merchants. — We invite attention to
the Card of Messrs. Hopkins, Allen, & Cos. X. Mer
chants, in another column, denying the implication of aboli
tion tendencies as charged upon them by the X. Y. Day
15ook and on its authority published by us on the 26th ult.
Wo take pleasure in giving these gentlemen an'opportunity of
setting themselves right before the Southern public in this
matter and hope that those papers which have copied out
article of that date will make the necessary correction so
Car as Messrs. Hopkins, Allen & Cos. arc concerned. It is
proper to adu that the Day Book of the 2nd instant fully
exhoaerates this firm from thechargeof abolition. In doing
so, however, the Day Book does us injustice in saying that
we published some as abolitionists whom that paper never
put down as such. This is not so, Mr. Daybook, as you
yourself confess that you classed the merchants named, as
those who “supported papers which favored Wm. 11. Se
ward and the abolition cause.” Every name published by
us was taken from the Day Book, and the inference we think
is a just one, that those who support Journals that support
abolition, are, to that extent, aiders and abettors in that unho
ly work. It is not enough therefore for Xew York Mer
chants to deny being abolitionists. They must do more to
retain the Southern custom. They must not .fold their
Jtfb.nis mul look calmly oil while their own people are lighting
tile torch to burn up the dwellings of those from whom they ;
receive their tens of thousands, yearly. At such a time, •
“they that arc not for us are against us.” Let then those i
X'. Y. merchants who repudiate abolitionism individually
“show their faith by their works” in active efforts to put
down all such abominable heresies, in their midst, if they
would not beclassed as accessaries to the crimes commuted
by abolitionists proper. “To this complexion it must come”
at last, if the South will have her just rights, and nothing
less will be satisfactory to our people.
“ Watchmen, What of the Xli?ht,”
As intense interest is now felt in our community, in rela- j
tion to the action of the North, in reference to the Fugitive
Slave Dtw, we feel it to be our duty as a public journalist, j
to present to our renders various facts on which arc based the
opinion we entertain, that the provisions of the said bill will •
be carried out, in good faith, by the mass of the Northern
people. True, there is now a fearful struggle going on at the :
North, in which the abolitionists, free negroes, political par- I
sons and corrupt demagogues of every hue, are engaged, with
a zeal worthy of a better cause, for the overthrow of the Con
stitution and the Union, but in opposition to these mad !
schemes and their advocates, there is springing up a strong
conservative and patriotic feeling among the sober and jight
thinkiug people of that section, which will be sufficient, we
think, to suppress disorder and enforce the due observance of
“ law and order,’’ and this before any great period of time
has elapsed.
As an evidence of this growing healthy feeling at the
X orth, we may mention the follow facts: —
1. At the recent Presbyterian Synod of Pittsburgh, Pa., 1
the subject was introduced, and after flaming speeches from
several fanatical clergy, tlie whole subject was put to rest, by |
the adoption of the subjoined resolutions by a very decided j
majority:
“ Resolved , That it is inexpedient for the Synod at this time ;
to give any formal expression of its mind in relation to the
law aforesaid, leaving every man to act as a citizens in confor
mity with his obligations as a citizen and a Christian, in the
wisdom and weakness of the Gospel.
Resolved , That it he earnestly recommended to all our
churches .and people to observe with special fervor the iqxis
tolieal injunction to pray for our rulers and all in authority,
that they maybe just, ruling in the fear of God ; and that,
under the Divine favor, our Nation and Government may
be preserved in their integrity, and happily cuided to the ful
filment of their great and glorious vocation.”
We sec it stated, also, that the New York and New Jer
sey Synod adjourned recently, after passing a resolution re
commending obedience to the fugitive slave law, and refus
ing to entertain an amendment declaring the law unconsti
tutional.
2. Numerous public meetings bring held in va
rious parts of the North and West in favor of carrying out
the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law. In New A ork,
there were twenty thousand present at the great Union
meeting at Castle Garden, last week, —a meeting called by
10,000 persons, and at which the following resolutions, a
mong others, were passed:—
“ Resolved, That the Fugitive Slave Luv bill is in accord
ance with the express stipulations of the Constitution of the
United States, is carried out by the Act of Congress of 1703,
signed by Washington, and in force at the time when the
present law was passed ; and that Congress in passing a
law which should be efficient for carrying out the stipulations
of the Constitution acted in full accordance with the letter and
spirit of that instrument, and that we will sustain this law,
and the execution of the same, by all lawful means.
“ Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting a further
agitation of the slavery question in Congress would he fraught
with incalculable danger to our Union, and that we will sup
port no candidate at the ensuing or any other election, for
state officers or for members of Congress or the legislature,
who is known or believed to be hostile to the peace mea
sures recently adopted by Congress, or any of them, or in
favor of re-opening the question involved in them for renewed
agitation.
“ Resolved , That we regard our obligations to the Consti
tution and the Union as superior to the ties of any of the po
litical parties to which we may hitherto have belonged, and j
that on all future occasions we will range ourselves under the ;
t banners of that party whose principles and practice are most
calculated to uphold the Constitution and to perpetuate our
glorious Union.”
At Hartford, Conn., a very’ large meeting was held on the
12th ult., to express their approbation of the measures passed
by Congress for the adjustment of the difficulties growing out
of slavery. Hon. Philip Ripley was chosen President, and a
series of resolutions were presented and adopted, approving
of all the measures in question, and tendering the thanks of
the meeting to all the leading advocates of them in Congress,
without distinction of party. They also declare it to be the
duty of Congress to carry out the provisions of the constitu
tion relative to the delivering up of fugitives from justice, and
that the present law has not the unconstitutional feature* at
tributed to it.
Os this me* ting, a Presbyterian clergyman of Georgia, who
happened to be present, thus writes to the Southern Presby
terian :
“Hartford, Oct. 16, 1850.
“ Mr. Editor { It was my intention to hare written a long
letter for the ‘ Presbyterian,’ hut a multitude of cares have
prevented me. lam the more sorry for this, for as a Southern
Christian, 1 would have rejoiced to spread be fore my friends
in Georgia, sentiments, which with “my own ears” I heard
expressed at the Union meeting in this city on Saturday eve
ning, (Oct. 12th.) I there heard Ex-Governor Touccy, and
a number of other distinguished gentlemen of the city, de
clare that they would stand by the Union, and protect their
Southern Brethren in all their Constitutional rights. And
that no man should interfere in the Southerner re-claiming
his fugitive slave. That no man in Hartford dare oppose the
United States’ Marshall in the discharge of his duty on this
point. 4 That if any man should be found in such an unlaw
ful act, be would have the power of twenty-five millions of
freemen down upon him to crush him.” They all declare
that the Fugitive Slave Law was just and right according
to the Constitution, and that they would staud by it in pood
faith.
Asa Christian man I rejoice to hear these sentiments ad
vanced in this city, and by such men. Our prospects as a na
tion depend upon our union; and what is of unqicakablc iiu
portancc, our strength and influence as a great Christian
nation depend upon our union.
I/>ng may God in bis mercy perpetuate unto us our free
institutions, and cause us under our present Constitution, to
go forth a free, enlightened and Christian people to prosper
among ourselves, and bless the word by out influence.”
At Chicago, Illinois, where the City Council had under
taken to nullify the act of Congress, respecting the Fugitive
Slave Raw. a imeting of between 4 and 5000 people assem
bled. the mayor presiding, to eons.der the action of the Coun
cil. Senator Douglass made a powerful speech, sustaining
the action of Congress in passing this bill, and also the Compro
mise. His speech had a powerful effect upon the meeting,
and caused a change in the public opinion in favor of the law,
and against the acts of the City Council.
Subsequently the City Council rescinded their previous ac
tion.
Another meeting was to have taken place on Saturday
last, at Geneva, X'. York, in behalf of Law and order, the call
to which was signed by several hundred citizens. Senator
Dickinson, H>n. Win. Minin, and lion. F. Granger were
invited to address the assembly. So,also, in Philadelphia and
various other places, have meetings been called in behalf of
the peace measures in Congress and the enforcement of the
same.
3. We notice that the leading presses of New York, Penn
sylvania, A'c., have come out, manfully, in favor of the execu
tion of the Fugitive Slave Bill. The X. York Herald, Day-
Book, Express, Journal of Commerce, See., are right side up.
The “Pennsylvanian ” of Philadelphia, has the following in a
late editorial:—
“ We not only stand by this law in its integrity, but we
take ground against any alteration of it. unless the more
effectually to carry out its provisions. To say it shall be
obeyed, and at the same time to denounce its material |>oints.
nr to declare that they must be repealed or amended, is the
course of many of those who profess to be alarmed at the
movements of the ultra-Abolitionists, in regard to this very
important law. We talk no such nonsense. We throw no
such tub to the whale. We are in favor of the hue as it
stands ! It may be defective as all laws may be ; but we are
op|Mj(ed to i*s amendment, unless the more effectually to en
force that plain provision of the Constitution upon which it is
1 wised. We do not undcr-cei imnte t/ie clamor which fm*
been raised against it, when we declare that we are not in the
least alarmed by it. Such clamors have no terrors for ns.—
We solemnly believe if this law had not leen enacted in eon
neetioii with the recent measures of Compromise, that the
present agitation in the South would have toppled our proud
I'nion into mins. The law may i- denounced as severe—in
some of its provisions it is doubtless severe—but we would
rather see that law carried out, in all its integrity, and in all
its parts, than that a single feature of the Union should be
mutilated. It has indeed come to this; and there is nenseof ,
mincing matters about it. To repeal jhc Fugitive Slave Ltw.
is to repeal the Union. To alter it is to alter the Union. To
resist is to destroy the Union; In brief terms, such is the is
sue presented to us.”
4th. The recent elections in Pennsylvania and Ohio, show
that there is a correct spirit prevail nt at the North on this
subject. The Hon J. W. Taylor, the Whig member from
Ohio, who voted in favor of the Fugitive Skive Bill, has been
re-elected by a majority of 570 votes over two other regular
candidates. Hoot of Ohio, \\ ilmot. of Pa., atnl Mann ot Mas
sachusetts, (three rabid free-snilers ,) will not be returned to
the next Congress.
sth, and lastly. We have every reason to believe that
the President of the United States will do bis duty in this
matter. He informed Gen. Twiggs, lately, says the Griffin j
Whig, that the “ people of Boston ought to know that they |
cannot nullify a law of Congress while he was President,
and that if they acted so silly ns to resist the officers in the
execution of the law and became too strong to l>e controlled
by the civil authorities, be bad no doubt but that the l nited
States regulars would bring them to their senses.” It is
also stated shat the President is about to issue a proclama
tion on the subject.
In opposition to these indications we have nothing to bring
forward but the ravings of negroes atnl fanatics at the North, >
and the blustering .and factious spirit manifested at the j
South by altruists and disorganizers. ‘1 liese, from their
own nature, will be short-lived and will have no other effect
than temporary disquietude ot the public mind and subsequent
in famy to all concerned in such treasonable machinations.—
So mote it be.
Aiding and Abetting the Enemy.—The shameful
fact has been lately discovered that there are men in this com- j
muuitv so lost to every sense of dnty and discretion, as to
give item to the enemy of measures being taken here to
procure the arrest of fugitive slaves 1 The Editor of the
Tribune gave public notice of the fact of the departure of
Messrs Hughes and Knighton their mission, immediately
after they had left this city, thereby giving information in ad
vance to the fugitives, of the object of such mission, and be
fore those gentlemen Could have completed their arrange
ments in Boston to secure the runaways. In all probability
the item of the Tribune was conveyed to Boston by Tele
graph, before Messrs. 11. and K. could have arrived there.
There are also men in this city, some of them strangers
and bailing from Pulmettodnm—who have been beard de
claring their willingness to contribute money for the purpose
of preventing the rendition of slaves, under the Fugitive law 1
Was over such villanous and treasonable avowals before
heard ? And can the- public authorities of Macon remain
silent, when such dangerous men are permitted to walk our
streets and lounge round our public houses, boldldly proclaim
ing their opposition to this peculiarly Southern feature of the
peace measures of Congress, and doing all they can to pie
vent the execution of the Fugitive slave Bill. I 0,,r j u ‘*S
ment such conduct is on a par with arson and highway rob
bery. It is treason of the blackest die and should so be
treated, without respect to persons. This may lx deemed
severe language, but it is no time to mince matters or be mealy
moutlud when the tore!, ofthe incendiary is bring applied to
the temple of our liberties. I’oliteness of speech in such a
ease would be as inopportune as dancing a jig upon the new
made grave of one’s mother! We arc in no mood for com
plaisance and courtesy to men who, we know, are thus plot
tin” the ruin of the country. Their object is to inflame the
public mind on this subject so that people will be induced
to go for revolution by means of the Convention. It is, by
stealth and dishonesty, to get a majority iu that body so that
secession may be accomplished. This is the aim and intent—
and Alpha and the Omega of all the efforts spoken of—and
woe, woe to the people, if they by their supiueness permit
such efforts to be consummated 1
PllJSlf W OrliS.— A card appears in the last C<>
lumbus Enquirer signed by tighten of the most respectable
mercantile firms in that city, pledging themselves no W, *
to buy of certain New York Merriumts charged as bem
abolitionists or of abolition tendencies, (said charge hein* **
contracted.) ’This is a correct movement which should 5
| followed, at once, by the Merchants of the whole South. Th’
j Merchants of Macon will not, we trust be behind others in
I tl,ls r, ? h,l * on * work. And especially should the city of ]J, m
j to ” ,K> “ ,adeto M force of public sentiment on this
j tlon - sll °e from Lynn nor a yard of cloth from L, w .
ell or any other “notion” sold by JWton Merchants shrill*
I b ° U£rl,t ,0 ~K-Bout,1 t city relieves itself from the fc,|
j rta,ns “ f m, hfication and abolition which have r-ventW di*
| graced its character. Who of our Macon Merchants
move n. Ibis matter ? Let the roll be called and let the pub
j lie see who are the true friends of the south among the bo
| si,,ess ,m “” of us see, if some of those who
have been loudest in prating of ‘‘southern rights” l wve ,„.' t
| been the regular customers of northern abolition Merchants
knowing them to lx- such ! We hare heard of several M .,
and know of some who prefer patronizing Northern CoH,^
I to their own, one of whom is a “Southern Right*” easdiihite
for tiie Convention ! We say, then, let the chaff 1* R ; ftptl
lrom the wheat and let us all see who is who and wh.it a
what 1
tone into a stale of retiracy.-Ourdisti,,^.
ed friend, Andy Dawson, Esqr., late Junior of the Au-u.t*
| Republic, on whose columns his radiant pen shed such a hah>
of glory, while connected with that luminary, has, we n <nvt t„
learn, lately retired from the concern and from a |mst whi h
;he filled with so much honor to himself and the public ’ Th
pressure of his professional engagements in the Northern and
i Eastern Courts of the State, it is understood, bag indue 1
j our talented friend to this course. He positively hasnothne
| devote to politics, having resolved that the law and nothin* i ml
! the law shall be his study, until he secures a seat on the Sv
I preme Bench of the Union, along side of a Taney and a Storr’
j At this we rejoice, for though the press will ],**. a brilliant
I member of the brotherhood, and the riocEraising
! <>f Kv will thereby lx- deprived of an accomplished Judge
of livestock, especially of Males , yet each of these clasc* can
: find consolation in the thought, that the genius of our friend
’ is still the property of the whole country, and that the chief
Judicial Ermine is the only proper inve-titnre of one fl*
equal of Marshall in wisdom and Sir Wm. BL-ivkstonc in era
dition. For ourselves, we believe in the maxim “ palm an
i qai meruit ferat” and congratulate Sir Andy on thel**.
i ors and dignities which are surely in reserve lor him
| futuro 1
The Stylus.-- -Dr. T. 11. Olivers, late of Wilkes to
Ga.. luis issued a Prospectus for anew literary Magazine and
tile above title—to be published “ simultaneously, in Xi w
! York,Savannah, Augusta. Macon, Columbus, Atlanta, and
| Washington,” and to be devoted to Polite literature, Sv
i cnee,and the Fine Arts.” The following extract* from th*
Prospectus of the “Stylus” will show the character the
work, which, from what we know of the brillant g. uins of tlie
, Editor, will lx- an original and splendid Magazine:
“Tint Stylus will be printed on fine white paper, (eaeli num
; her containing forty-eight pages, and forming two large oc
tavo volumes in a year) with new type, and gotten op in
a style equal to any of the Septentrional Journals.
It will be wholly American—-entirely original in form and
i matter—and devoted assiduously to the establishment of a
’ correct Literary Taste in the Sonth.
It will embrace Essays; Criticisms in Lift niton- ami Art;
Music and the Drama; Domestic and Foiegu Com-spoorf
eiiee ; Articles on Science and Medicine ; ‘]Yiu| rai*T sun
Morality; Ancient Literature; Utr- Itenin <f
! old English Book: ; accurate Lists >.f the i-ext Nex I'liHii*-
j tiis; Personal Accounts and AuH’lotw of tin- Grmtrrt
j literary men of Modern and Anrieirt Times; Taks, Put-try,
and, in fact, every tiling iliat it* enh-m.ilt-1 to inspire tlx:
South with a love of tin- 8.-autifni and lb- True.
It shall la* a golden Museum around wb>*-e Ojcil Walk
shall be ranged, *> Pedestals of Pearl, tlx- xiiMiin-a Inesrra
j tioiis of immortal 5 bought. From the Mvrrhine Fabric*
! wbieli shall iiriimikat its golik n ‘Ai’dets sfrill a*.■<•)*] an An
tliosini.il redolence as snvei as flic odorous iiMxiiso from the
i Altar in tile Tempteof .'vilonnni. k
Beautiful Butterflies, Blossoms and Birds shall thereinlxi
ensouled, w hich shall chamcleoimte, with an everv.-irving aiiJ
tiinlti-eoloreil Mosaic, tliis ineense-ehmdej P.-ivillion of the
Sotil. Requiems softer tlian thehom-ved Elegies ofSimoniilis,
anJCarolmgs loftier than the Ltrk that sings while soaring
to the Gates of Heaven, shall flow out in rivers of s iecti-rt
melody from this Melpboman Svi nnaiiHiii* tlx- lfrib.’’
The fii-st number if the The Stylus will be **b *t
before the first day of .January, 1851.
Terms. — Three Dollars a year, joyabh- invariably in ,vl
vnnee. All eoiiimimieations and remittaiu-i s must be
- post paid, to the Editor of the Stylus, New York.
T. 11. CHIYERS, M. D.
Excuir.iiiuaicalrfl.
A body of fanatics, nuder the name of the “Old Colony
Association of Uuiversalists,” lately met in annual session
at Urigcwatcr, Mass., ami among other abolition U solu'.xhh
adopted the following BULL of EXCOMM t NIOATIOV
against the slavcholdiug Clergymen of that order in tlw
South:
“As the holding of our fellow-men in bondage is a sin a
gainst Gol and man, and especially meriting condemnation in
professeil ministers of the Gospel of Christ, and as we have
ri eently learned that one or more ministers at the South, in
ecclesiastical fellowship with ixir dcixmiinatkai, are manifestljr
guilty of this sin—llr-reft.re.
Resulted, That this lx sly feels under the deejs st obliga
tion to declare that we have no Christian fellowship with tln*e
ministers, nor will have till such tiim as tin y shall truly re
pent of this their s:, and do works meets for repentance. ’’
What think you of this. Gentlemen of the late Georgia
Convention of Uuntvcraulisis I Don’t you fee! very bod about
it, that you are formally deprived of a fellowship, whichy
never hod, with the “Old Colony Association of Massaeliu
setts l"uiversalists ” Most of the t’k-rgy. South, have ben
in the ministry jx-rhajis for years. Wore this obscure assooia
tion hal an existence. They are entirely independent, so far
as church government is concerned, of all .tndevery assNxiar
tion and Convention bey ond their owa Slate limits. Conse
quently , it is a piece of sheer iuipndeuce in the “Uhl Colony ’
preachers thundering their anathemas against their brethren.
South, who may happen to own skives. For our part, w*
think the late Georgia Convention of Univiiwafiats failed in
proper doty, in not diaowuiug fellowship with that spirit<’(
fanatie'ism which has reared its infernal head in the Deinxinn*’
tion, Nor Ib. This has been left undon’e, Ifenik thrice suffi
cient cause has lately been given us for cutting the coanexioii.
VYc therefore, by virtue of the power we [losses*, hare uasui
wously adopted the following Declaration of our hnh-pi Uil
cnee.
Pr<‘nmblp.
Whereas , certain ‘‘blind teachers of the blind’ n*ih .i’-’
ed together in Miosacbusetfs, under the name of “Old t>4e
ny Association of Uuiversriists,” have seen j.rojwr to de
nounce slavery s a sin. and the Southern Clergy who h
slaves, as the chief of sinners, though the Bible recognise*
tlie institution, and the God of X has stamped it in
ters of black , as the doom of a portion of his creation ;
and whereas, we of the South are thus excommunicat
ed from fellowship with these denunciators of Cod’s up*
pointment, who are meddling with that which concerns t)xn
not, either morally, socially or polituxJly,—be it therefore,
Rosolred, That the censure of men w(to stand confess*’ 1 s*
the stealers of others’lawful property and the promoter* “•
servile insurrection, bloodshed and e vil war—by their nefr
rious abolition schemes—is our highest praise.
Resolved, That the “Old Colony Association,” is b> “
opinion, a nest of vipers and a brood of hypocrites, w ' |,)
have “stolen the livery of heaven to serve the Devil in.’ an ‘
that they are welcome to that personal and conjugal /^^ ls
ship with the sooty African which they seem to j/refer
sociation with decent white folks, of the “like precious
in religious matters.
Resolved, That as we have never lad any special ft-lh’W
ship with these disorganizers and fanatics of the “Old ‘
ny,” so help us God, we never mean to hare, “until |iUt
time as they shall truly repent of their great w ickedness, i* 9
abolitionists) and do works meet for repentance,” and su c
‘peace and gtxd will” to prevail, everywhere, instead ol atll
ring up strife, evil speaking and all ulicharitablciiess.