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About The Hickory nut and Upson vigil. (Thomaston, Ga.) 1833-1834 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1833)
VOL. L for the hickory nut. FtHute- Citiztru: — The aggrandizement of a wh ich bas for centuries lain dormant and demands the scrutiny of a the inspiration of the bards. 1 his S admitted, l shall expect to see m your the production of some learned ad- T -ui vindication of the desigtied cause of this laborious? easny. ix thousand years have glided down the meci aice of tune with the gaiety of the vast multitude embosomed in oblivion. Though wbi it the warrior, the statesman, the politi cun and the scholar enjoy by turns the enter tumneut of the present moment; whilst the the invaluable blessings of civil liberty and the important advantages of education, are alter, fiatefy pourtrayed to our view, there is one class of the community, and a very extensive class too, which none nf my youthful companions hare so much as yet condescended to mention. Brethren, you will no doubt readily perceive that 1 refer to that class of the community which is sometimes styled the lovers of strong tea, or as tbev are more commonly denominated the drinkers of grog. Then hold up your heads, my thirsty brethren, whilst I appear your hum tic advocate; and should I fail to exhibit in jut light the dignity of our order, I trust your can-tor will allow the benevolence* of my inten tion to supply w hat may be defective hi rny per formance. Though l cannot inform my readers in what precise/year of the world the illustrious order of grog drinkers was established, yet a very an cient history furnishes us with ground for an opinion that that distinguished hero, who, when the earth was overwhelmed by a sweeping del uge, rode the mountainous waves in his stu pendous vessel —though he certainly was not initiated—yet had some slight acquaintance with the order of the votaries of Bacchus : and hence it should appear that the rise of this or der should be dated previous'to the ancient del ude, and probably not long after this globe commenced its revolutions. Neither can l in fajn my readers who it was that immortalized his name by instituting this order; yet there is abundance of proof that those men who have made the most noise in the world have been of tins illustrious order. It is well known how eager the different denominations of men are to claim as brethren the celebrated characters Cl the day. You well know how much the modern sceptic supposes he can add to his cause whilst he can rank a Y’oltaire, a Hume and a Gibbon among the number of his brethren: r->U \vtTf Know tiow milch the-snns of tlio mye-, tic band have exerted their faculties to establish their claim with the renowned Solomon of an cient days, as a royal brother. Though with out ransacking the records of antiquity to dis cover how many men ot ancient renown were attached to the order whose cause I advocate, iA it suffice to take a view of man ttt general ( in the present enlightened day: and where let me ask, will you find a man who makes a great noise in the world who is not of this illus trious order? It is true that there are many who are so destitute of candor that iu their pro fession they will go no further than to say that a little of the stimulating fluid, on particular occasions, may be beneficial; yet in their prac tice they do declare that a great quantity on common occasions would be much better. If you turn over the pages ot theologians and mor alists, you will discover there is no one of the virtues more highly extolled than that of humil ity. Though humility is much extolled in the ory it is seldom exemplified in practice . but among what order of brethren do we see it ex emplified, not in word, hut in deed, as among the brethren ot the bottle- llow common a tluiior is it among the brethren of this ordei to be seen, in the plenitude of humility, lying pros trnte on the earth ; often exchanging a couch, the common habitation of man, for a bed in the mire of the streets ; and it is somewhat amu sing to witness how great a change is produced in a disciple of this order, after he becomes ful ly initiated have you never seen a reasoning mortal, strutting in the plenitude of self-im portance, walking over the earth with such fnajestic strides, and such an elevated counte nance as would almost induce you to believe that he had forgotten that the earth was his mother ? Now what is requisite to bring this creature to a proper temperature. Only let him come under the sovereign influence of the bot tle, and then his lofty looks are brought down and then he who before could scarcely conde scend to walk upon the earth, will not hesitate to throw his whole body on the earth, and he who before could get no robes sufficiently ele gant to adorn his body, is now willing to lie ar rayed in such garment? as his mother earth will afford him. And whete are we to look for spe cimens of over-flowirg eloquence. Look a mong the brethren of the bottle. I have seen men at times who wert so silent that you would be almost ready to coiclude that they have lost the ose of their tongue; hut when roused by gtiinulating, so tremen ous is their power that vou sometimes would ave to close one ear to prevent an explosion i your head. * Though I must hen confess that it is not al ways convenient for /more than one to take a full portion of it at af me, for it generally hap pens when men are aider the rousing influence 1 the fhfc, that all are orators, and ie ; hearers, wlfcli is by no meansdesira i ireehold, to \J admitted that some men, ’ of this efficacious ma- THOMASTON, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1833. terinl, are in a peculiar manner deprived of the faculties of speech ; but I would humbly pro pose this a? a question tor this consideration of the learned, whether it may not result from de fective organs of articulation, rather than from the influence of this most efficacious material.—— \ou must all have observed how powerful is the effect of those eloquent inspiring drops with tho?c who have become disciples of this order, in surmounting the troubles and difficulties of life ; when the human family is tossed by the billow’s ot adversity, and the griping hand of want lays hold on them, we often see them so disquieted by the troubles and difficulties, as al most to be disqualified for the common duties of life ; but see how little effect does this have on the lover of grog, when he has a bottle in his reach; see how the storms of adversity and po verty roll over his head, without effecting him, more than do the blast of winter effect the stur dy oak of the forest. I have seen men who had tasted the virtues of the bottle, sing and dance as though a feeling of sorrow had never pene trated his bosom, w hilst he had not as much money in his pocket as would defray the daily expenditures of his family. And it is no un- common thing for a friend of this order, to spend days and nights together at the dram de posit in mirth and jollity, whilst the aspect of their farms would induce you to believe they were farmers not of corn and cotton, but of grass and weeds. And most wonderfully do the contents of the bottle excite the devotion of some men : have you not seen men who could say nothing on topics of religion, even on the Sabbath day, who, as soon as they are under the atmosphere of a tavern, are full of eloquence and devotion. And those who before could scarcely tell who was the first man, can now hold an argument on any knotty question of theology : and he who before scarcely thought or spoke of the Supreme, can now in his ex cess of devotion, scarcely utter a single sen tence without the mention of his name. Now, it seems almost superfluous to mention, what a powerful engine the stimulating fluid is in ad vancing Kieii to posts of profit and honor in our nation. So well is this understood, that one of the most infallible criterions by which a candi date for office is known, is at court-yards, mus ters and vendues : lie liberally distributes the stimulating fluid, and, in order to obtain a post of profit or advantage in the nation, no degree of integrity, no superiority of talent is requisite; if a man has not as - much brains as will fill a nutshell, nor as much sound morality as you may lift on the point of a needle, only let him be liberal in eflunwi ...uirtial, I will venture to say that he will carry the day against the integrity of a Cato, a (rainst the wisdom of a Socrates, and against all the eloquence of a Cicero. And when this is recollected, it need not seem wonderful that so many who have been promoted to seats of ho nor and profit in the nation, should, in their af ter life, manifest a loving disposition towards their ancient friend. Though I must be excused, if at present I jmention no more of the important advantages resulting from a connexion with the dignitied order of the brethren of the bottle; however, before I close, I shall remonstrate against those who, whilst they profess opposition to this order, yet avail themselves of all its immunities to ob tain a seat of honor. This is a disposition so uncandid in its nature, I will not undertake to say what I think of it. Brethren of the bottle, arise, and assert the right of your order, and let not those who act so unfairly, partake of your privileges. I now propose for your considera tion, the propriety of presenting to the legisla ture a bill, the purport of which shall be, that all those who act so unfairly, and being legally convicted of the same, shall be confined to bread and water, without the use of spirits, for the space of one year and a day, and ever af terwards be deprived of any post of profit or ho nor in the nation. Though perhaps I should already apologise for keeping some of my thirsty brethren from the drops of the bottle, I must therefore close by saying if I have failed to ex hibit it in a just light, you willno doubt perceive that the looseness of my ideas, the dullness of my manner, &thc imperfection of my style, are the unhappy effects of not having taken before I be nan, a sufficient portion of the stimulating fl uid : ’ HAMPDEN SIDNEY. Gen . Knox. —It appears, from a paragraph in the Boston Mercantile Journal, that this dis tinguished patriot of the Revolution, was, pre vious to that eventful period, a bookseller and binder. He served his apprenticeship in Bos ton, and commenced business on his own ac count in 1771. The Pinch. —We once knew a man who on his return from a public meeting, burst open his door in a rage, upset his children, kicked his dog, hurled his hat behind the grate, and paced the room back and forth with the teroci ty of a chafed tiger.-- 4 hat is the mattet, my dear 1 ’ said his wondering wife. “Matter!” roared the angry husband, “ matter enough ! Neighbour B- — has publicly called me a liar!” ‘Ohr never mind that, my dear,’ replied the good woman, 4 he can’t prove it, you know, and nobody will believe him.’ “ Prove it, you fool!” roared the madman more furiously than before, “he did prove it! He brought witnesses and proved it on the spot / Else how should Ibe in such a devil of a pussion?”—The argument was & poser. MR. BfeDUFFIE’S SPEECH* Delivered in Athens, Geo. August 7th, 1|33. at the public dinner given to him by the tpen ds of State Rights, assembled there froji .all parts of the State, in attendance on thl co I lege commencement ? I Thu following toast having been givtn “ The hon. George McDuffie, our distinguish* ed guest —His unbending integrity, his eye less vigilance over southern interests, his tith ing opposition to unequal laws and unco nsitu - tional measures, and his triumphant vindicate* n of State rights, entitle him to the respect pid gratitude of the south, and a heart-warm wel come to his native State.** After the cheering had subsided, Mr. McDuf fie rose and addressed the company as follows: I am utterly incapable, fellow citizens, of giv ing utterance to the deep and overwhelming sensibility with which I am affected by the very kind and flattering sentiment just* aiiiiounced, and the still more flattering indications of hearty approbation, with w hich it has been received by this enlightened and patriotic assemblage ot’ freemen. ‘ • ! A variety ofcircumstanees concur, to give an intense interest to the present otcasi'm ; and if I should be so fortunnte as to be an bumble in strument in bringing about a cordial union of sentiment and of action, between iny native and my adopted State, in a crisfc which so emi nently demands it, I shall recur to this, in fu ture, as to one of the happiest incidents of my life. Indeed, when I look hack to the eventful oc currences of the two last years, and behold So. Carolina, with a heroic devotion to the rights and liberties of the whole south, throwing her self, almost as a forlorn hope, into the breach w’hich a gigantic despotism had made in the sa cred harriers of the Constitution and of justice, waging the unequal contest without the co-ope ration or countenance of a single state, even in the south, and under the uukiud and unnatural denunciations of some of their legislative and executive authorities ; when I reflect, that in the most gloomy period of the struggle, the first cheering voice of encouragement from without her own limits, which animated South Caroli na to persevere in her glorious struggle for eve ry thing dear to freemen, proceeded from this very place, and in part, from this very assembly ; and when I behold assembled around me, so large a portion of the intelligence and chivalry of Georgia, breathing the same sentiments, and actuated by the same principles, for which So. j Carolina was prepared to make the last sacri with a profound satisfactioir, An^L^l^wj C i?J r I Sj my native laud.’* Though, in the too partial estimate which you seem to have formed of my efforts to vindi cate the rights, and maintain the liberties of the south, you are pleased to ascribe to my public labors a value which I regret that they do not possess, yet I will not be guilty of the af fectation of disclaiming the integrity of purpose, for w’hich you gave me credit, as a public man. It is, indeed, a source of the highest consola. tion to me, that I can confidently affirm, be fore my friends and enemies, in the face of the world, and m the presence of my God, that in the whole course of that contest which it has fallen to my lot to carry on, for the last six years, against a system of legislation essentially un just, oppressive, and despotic, I have never been actuated by a single purpose of selfish am bition ; but have at all times been prepared to sacrifice at the shrine of duty and of patriotism, every allurement of ambition, and every hope of political preferment. So essentially do I be lieve the prosperity, the liberty, and indeed the very existence of the southern states, to be in volved in the great principles for which we have been contending, that I believe those principles cannot be too often impressed upon the people of the southern states, nor can they be too often reminded of the peculiar relation in which they £tand to the dominant states of the confederacy. ►lt w’ould be a fatal error, fellow citizens, to sup pose, that the recent adjustment of the tariff has removed all the causes of apprehension for our rights and liberties. On the contrary, when w’e look at the entire proceedings of Congress, du ring its last session, in relation to that measure, and attentively consider the principles officially avowed in the progress of those proceedings, it is but too apparent, that the southern states ne ver have had greater occasion, than at this mo ment, for maintaining their sovereign rights in their undiminished vigor, and wiitching the movements of the Federal Government, and of the majority which controls rt with unsleeping vigilance. What, then, let us inquire, is the true state of the controversy, between the sove reignty of the states, and the pretended sove reignty and assumed omnipotence of Congress? On the one hand, it is contended, that the states entered into the federal compact a9 sove reign communities; that each state still retain ed its sovereignty, notwithstanding the powers granted to the Federal Government; and that, when the members of this Government usurp powers not granted, each state has an inherent right absolutely inseparable from its sovereign ty, to interpose and arrest, within its own lim its, the progress of the usurpation, and thus preserve the compact from violation. These simple propositions, self evident to every mind capable of comprehending the import of the terms used to express them, the doc trines of State sovereignty and nullification — the fundamental securities of freedom in a fed* LWRY-NFT M !^IGIL. E to THE KERNEL. | crative system of government, without which it would be the very worst of all the forms of des potism and oppression. On the other hand, our adversaries contend that the functionaries of the Federal Government are the exclusive and final judges of the extent of the powers conferred upon them by that very Consti tution which the sovereign States of the Con federacy established, for the special purpose of imposing limitations upon those powers, which amounts to nothing less than a majority of Con gress and of the other departments of the Fede ral Government, have a charter from heaven, paramount to that by which they were created, authorizing them to do what they please, and enjoining upon the states passive obedience to every act of usurpation and tyranny, which an ambitious or an interested majority may choose to perpetrate. This doctrine reduces the Federal Constitu tion to a mere dead letter, utterly deprived of all power to restrain the usurpations of the Gov ernment/ In plain words, it makes the Fede ral Government paramount to the sovereign states which created it, and the acts of Congress | paramount to the Constitution from which a lone they can derive any rightful authority.— These consequences cannot be avoided, if the whole civil and military power of the Federal Government may be rightfully exerted to en force any act of Congress, whether constitution- ; al or not ; and if the States, who arc the sove-! reign parties of the compact of union, have no | rightful power to interpose and enforce its lim- ; itations. That the states do possess this power is not only demonstrable, but self evident, if it be true that they are sovereign. 1 ask nothing more from any intelligent adversary, than that he will admit that the states are sovereign, and that they adopted the Federal Constitution as states, and in their highest sovereign capacity. For l hold it to be impossible for any man who admits, and who realizes the import of the term sovereignty, to deny that it is the right, and in deed, the duty of the states to interpose, thro’ the regular organs of that sovereignty, to res cue their citizens from the operation of an un constitutional and oppressive act of Congress. To deny this right is to annihilate the sove reignty of the states, for there can be no greater political solecism than to admit that the Fede ral Government is bound by the limitations of the Constitution, and may yet transcend them with impunity, and that the states who lormcd that Constitution have sovereign powers and sovereign rights, without sovereign means of preserving them from encroachment and viola tion. The right of state interposition is an ori ginal, underived,inherent attriV***® *• fy, aim mmiing can ne imnc aosurcl than to de- rive it from the Federal Constitution, unless it be to deny its existence altogether. That man is as utterly ignorant of the import of the terms he uses, as he is of ouf scheme of government, who supposes that any sovereign power can be derived from a constitutional compuct. It 13 a pre-existing sovereign power that forms consti tutions and governments, and those constitu tions are nothing more than organic laws, pre scribed by that sovereign power, for regulating and controlling those governments. The terms constitutional and unconstitutional, in the fede ral sense, are as utterly inapplicable to this right of state interposition, as they are to the right of a state to protect the property and lives of its citizens, by exercising the high sovereign power of inflicting capital punishment on the perpetrators of robbery and murder. So obvi ously inseparable are state sovereignty aud the right of flie state interposition, that the more in telligent advocates of a supreme consolidated government boldly and consistently deny that the states are sovereign. As I regard this as the real question at issue, as the hinge upon which the whole controversy turns, I will take leave to present some views and illustrations, calculated to give a distinct idea of what con stitutes sovereignty, and to show, by arguments entirely free from all metaphysical refinement, that the states are not only sovereign, but are the only sovereign pow’ers known to our politi cal system. If a murder should be committed in Georgia, for example, no one would dream of calling in question the exclusive right of the Btate author ities, to inflict capital punishment on the oflen der, though he should be a citizen of another State; nor w’onld the government of the L'nited States, or of any other State, have any more right to interpose their authority than the gov ernment of Turkey. All this, every body will admit; and yet I would be glad to know by what name we shall call an underived and un controllable right to inflict the highest punish ment upon the highest crime that can be com mitted against the safety of the State, if it be 1 not sovereignty. To what government is it that a citizen of Georgia looks up to protect him in the enjoyment of life, property, and character, against all those crimes and frauds which it is the end of civil government to re press and punish ? Is there a single one of all those rights which constitute civil liberty, which the Federal Government has any sem blance of power to protect against the assaults to which it is exposed 1 A murder, or a robbe ry, committed on the citizens of any one State, is not even an offence against the government of the United States; and yet we hear men gravely maintain that that government is soy vereign, and that our paramount allegiance is due to it, as if protection and allegiance were not co-extensive and reciprocal. There is, in deed, scarcely a crime that can assail the peace : j and good order of society, that rr.ay not be per petrated in any part of tiie United Mateo with perfect impunity, so far as the Federal Govern ment is concerned; nor would a crime commit* ! ted in any one State, be any offence at all a* gainst any other of the States of the Union. Where, then, does the sovereignty of the U. States reside ? Not, surely, in the government, either of the Union or of the JStates. Sovereign* >ty can only reside in the people; and what can be more absolutely pre|K>sterous than to affirm that the people of the United States possess • sovereign power in Georgia 1 What a wretch ed pageant must that sovereign be, within ev !ery foot of whose dominions, except a small district and a few forts, all manner of crimes | may be perpetrated, and yet he cannot raise a finger to prevent or punish them 1 There is in fact no crime that could be committed with in the TffltttsW the United States, that would bo an offence against the people of the United States, in the aggregate. On the contrary, j what outrage can be perpetrated within the limits of Georgia, which she has not the rightful power to punish at her discretion, without re sponsibility to any power on earth ? The sove : reignty of the States, therefore, is not so much a matter of speculative theory, as of historical fact. They possess all those attributes, and exercise all those powers, by an original and in herent right, which constitutes sovereignty. | When, therefore, the sovereign will ot Georgia !is declared, what human being within her lim its, can rightfully raise his arm to resist i 7 —> The very highest functionary of the Federal Governnieut, would he just as subject to pun ishment, for resisting the sovereign will of G .or gia, within her territor.al jurisdiction, as the humblest citizen. 1 will stale a case, suggest’ and by the history of her relation w ith the Federal Government, calculated to exhibit, in a strong practical point of view, tiie absurdity of denying the soverei m ty of the States, and of claiming that attribute for the Federal Government. It will he re membered that some few years ago, President Adams, claiming to act under an obligation higher than human, declared, that if the State of Georgia should pertinaciously continue to exercise legislative authority over her own terri tory, he would put down so dangerous a preten* sion by the military arm of the Federal Gov ernment. Now, suppose an army of Federal mercenaries had been marched into Georgia, to settle the delicate question of jurisdiction by the very discriminating arbitrament of the sword, and that, to give dignity to the proceed ing, the President had marched at the head of -rn.j uo (Jommiuitlvr in- cbiyf, with luteal)- inet ministers p.ncl tlie Federal Judges as hi* staff, and the members of Congress as his body guard. Suppose, moreover, that Gov. Troup had had the treasonous audacity not to quail before the storm, ami that the “ Hancock Troop” had actually presented themselves in military array in the august presence of these potent judges of constitutional and inter national law. Let us further suppose, that the President, with the advice of his staff, had wantonly directed his body guard to fire upn tlrf patriotic militia of Hancock, and that, in obedience to this order, a number of the citizens of Georgia had been killed. What, | then, would have been the legal predicament of these functionaries of a government claiming to be sovereign, even within the limits of< ‘c< rgi-t ? ( put it to every jurist in this State, and in the United States, to aftv, whether every one of them would not have been guilty of inurci< f by [ the laws of Georgia, and whether the authon ! ties of that State would not have an undoubted constitutional and lawful right, to arrest, arraign, try, condemn, and in form of law—[here some gentleman exclaimed “ hang the President ‘i ’ and Mr. McD. continued] hang the whole Fed eral Government, Executive, Judicial, and Go** gislative, without the possibility of any lawful interposition to save them, thus exhibiting tlie singular spectacle of an overwhelming and om nipotent sovereignty, lawfully annihihilated by one of its subject provinces ! But the standing answer to nil these argu ments is, that the will of the majority must pre vail, even if it be in violation of the Constitu tion, and that it is thedpty of the State to sub mit to the usurpation, precisely in the same manner as if it were a constitutional exercise of power. Now, fellow citizens, let us inquire for a mo ment, what, is the true character of that majori ty, to which is ascribed this high prerogative of violating the Constitution by virtue of “divine right,” heretofore claimed only by absolute ty rants, and to which the sovereign States, which formed that Constitution, are thus bound to yield that “ passive obedience,” appropriate only to slaves. In all that great class oi meas ures, out of which lias grown the existing con flict between the manufacturing and planting States of the Union, this sacred majority, whose sovereign will the southern States are called upon to bow down and worship, have an inter est diametrically opposed to that of the south ern people. Every import duty wh*ch s~xinpo sed upon those articles which the manufactur ing States produce, and the planting States im port in exceange for their agricultural staples, is a bounty to the industry of the latter. Tbit is strictly true, even when the duties are impo sed exclusively with a view to revenue; and as two-thirds of the federal revenue is raised by duties on this very clas9 of articles, it is obvi 0119IV the interest of the dominant majority, to oppress the planting minority, not only by op- ISO. 21.
