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ADDRESS OF Mil. R, R. RUE IT. Op South Cakomka. *J\t tht (.citizens oj Rf.au/nrt and (Jolrton Dis Iriclt, upon Ikr tuhjfd of AhnlUinn. Fallow Citizen*: I i a private and friendly letter to the editor of llic Charleston Mereti ty, amount o'hcr events accompanying the tnvmorablc secession of the Hutihero mem hers tonn the Mill of the House of Re pro ■entioives, I stated to him, that 1 hnd prepared two resolution*, drawn an amendments to the rmrflon of the member from Vermont, wh'lsl lie wan discussing the institution ot slavery in the Smi Ik ‘'declaring that the Oonatita (tor. Imp ng filled to protael the South m the peaceable possesdon and enjoyment of their rights and peculiar institutions, it waa expe dient that the Union rlioiild lie dissolved; and the other, appointing a committee of two members from each state, to rep irt upon the best -wean* of peaceably dissolving it.” Ma ny of the ne.vspapets in the Union have thot* .proper to pass strictures upon this letter os yon will percievo, by the following extract from lint New Yorlt Evening Star, ol the (fill mat. “Ilas too Charleston Mercury any oh j ‘ctions to state who was the mcinner «l Con gress who wro'e the above letter, and who, he declares, was about to propose in Congress to dissolve the Union* Ton people ol that State, and the frien is of the South, and of the Union, have n right to know who it s.” As I have no private opinions that I am afraid openly to avow; and have ever recognised the right in I lie people to know them upon nil nutters ill- | lading the public interest or honor—ol course, j I coed not hesitate promptly acknowledging j thn authorship of the Idler relorrcd to, and I communicating to the pil'd c, the resolutions, j wh'cli I had shown to many of my friends, and was prepared to nflW in my gent, and j maintain in the Congress ofthc United S’ale*. j Von will perceive, that writing curttnle cuhtmn to a friend, I d d not correctly describe their whole purport. H.ich as they are, however, Ih-j public arc welcome to them, in answer to any question or demand touching any right, real or imaginary; in tier premises, winch any portion wf the people of the 11. Stales, east, west, north, or south, may bo supposed to possess. I am. however more iiimi uhatelv responsible to you, and I seize the opportir i- j ly their publication oilers, of addressing yon, as your representative, upon the momentous subjects they involve, llrd I presented them in the House, I should h ive given my reasons at large for presenting them; and to submit ting them now to your consideration, I trust yon will bear with inn, whilst I submit to you some ol the reasons which caused them to vx st. Itofurc entering upon the merits o( Iho re solutions, however,permit in -to remark (what I suppose might he apparent to ull,) tint I had no expectation of passing them, or of even laking a vote upi >, them. They were inten ded as amendments to n motion, to refer with instruct ions to report, a hill ah dishing slavery intlrt Dist. of Columbia I expected to share the fate, which inevitably awaited the origi nal motion, as soon ns I lie Moor could have been obtained, viz. to he laid upon the table. My design in presenting them was to place before Congress and the people, what in my opinion was the true issue upoo this great and vital question; and to point out the course of policy by which it should he met by the Southern S'ales. 7'no roeolulions arc as fol lows; ‘ami the Constitution of the United States having proved inadequate to protect the Southern States in tho peaceable enjoy, ■meot of llmir rights and property, it is expe dient that the said Constitution should ho •mended, or thu Union ofllio Stales he dis •nlved. Resolved, That a committee of two members from each State, in the Union bo appointed to report upon tho expediency and practica bility of amending the Constitution, or 11 1 v best means ol peaceably dissolving the Union.” These, resolutions contain two propositions; first, a fact—that “the Constitution of the United Stale* having proved inadequate to protect the Southern Slates in the pen cable enjoyment ot their rights and property;”— second that it is ‘expedient that the said Constitution should he amended, ortho Union of the Slates he dissolved.” The li st of these propositions, containing the fact, alle ged, is, I trust, the only one concerning which in the minds of reflecting men in tho North ■or South, there can he any diflicnlt.y. That the South lias a right, under the Constitut ion, to the peaceable enjoyment of her slave insti tutions, no one will deny; and if the (1 insti tution is perverted from the purposes for which it was made, and proves ioadeq ule to iprotocl the Southern Slates from aggression <upen this vital insli ulion—none but an Abo ditionist, open or secret, in the North, or a tra tor in the Snath, could fail to come to the conclusion that the Constitution ought to be amended, or tho Union he dissolved. To ac knowledge the right, or to tolerate the act ot interference at all with this institution, is to give it up—-lo abandon it entirely; and, as this must he the consumm tlion of any inter ferenco, tho sooner it is readied the better. The South, must bold this institution, not amidst alarm and molestation; but in peace— perfect peace, from tho interference or agit ation ot others; or, I repent it,she will—she ran—hold it not at all. Let os, then, const, /er.the tact maintained in the first proposi tion ol the resolution. Has the Constitution iproved inadequate to protect the Southern Stales to the peaceable enjoyment ot their rights and proper y! Without going one step further; I might ap peal to tho circumstance tinder which the as. section was penned, to substantiate its truth. In a ball designated for the purpose of dehb enitioo upon the limited subjects contained in the constitution, *ihree hunlred thousand pe titioners arc allowed to outer for the purp ise of assailing the institution of slavery in the sooth. Day after day, and every day in the week, we are denounced in these petitions, ns file most atrocious offend rs against t!od and *uan. Hut a few days before this juncture, are board ourselves, and the people wo repre sent, declared lobe actuated, as our habitual characteristic, by the spirit of murder and ar son. Wo were taunted with being afraid of truth and light, and trembling for our totter jog institution*. Throe years before, up m. tins very floor, in the spirit of concession, (that no collateral issues should be made as to the j right of petition and their consideration) it had been determined to receive Ihesepetiiions, consider thorn immediate y, and lay them tip-1 on the table; bo', ns in a-ll cases ul agression, | the demand rises with the concess.ou, mid being endured, becomes sanctified into right,- and it was now contended,that these petitions should not only ho received, but bo treated ex actly in the way the petitioners thought pro per to require—-so referred to a committee trom which slave-holders should be excluded and composed of members a majority of whom should be favorable to their demand.-; in other •Statement of a Ougv.uilim of Abolition!*!* in •words, I hat lliclr petition* should bo gran- J ('•(!. And tins most reasonable request is undo upon one branch of these petitions, hy Ihe wi.ole delegation of a State, Another !S ale had ho hi her memorial into the other end of the C ip.tol, calling upon Congress lo abohs'i shivery in the District of Columbia j mid too Territories, to prohibit slaves from passing from one state to another, tod to ex ehnled Texas, on account of her slaves, from the Union; and one of the representatives of tins stale moves in the House instruction* to a select committee, which lie requ rod to «bo|. ■alt slavery in the I). strict of Columb a. 'l'tie occasion is seized, lodiscant upon slavery in the southern Stales, and to prove that it is in consiatrut with all natural and revealed law a.id that those who uphold it are obnoxious to the wraili and curso of(Jod and man. Now under these circumstances of wanton aggres sion and insult, are the people of the south in tins the common hall of deliberation with their conlbJcrates, in the peaceable enjoyment of their rights and pecuhir institution-! Dot ilmc arc other circumstances without the halls of congress, under which these resolutions were [leimed. A Urge body of citizens, consis ting ol one hundred and (illy thousand,* organ ized into otic thousand five hundred societies increasing at the rate of one a day, with hound less resources, and ably conducted presses and agents, un i missionaries and in nt.rs, who pant fur distinction in this holy cause as the best proof of their virtue and sincerity, are permitted in our sister stales to band together for the open ly declared purpose of destroy log our inslito j lions. Three years ago, these societies, lam I told, were about three hundred; their numbers j about six thousand; their petitions about ten thousand. Now, they are hundr ds of Ihou | sands; control two states;* increasing in all the | non sbiveho'd ng stales, and icarcd by all United together hut upon one principle, they throw | their weight into the scale amongst the contend ing parties of tho country, without Uniting with any, so as to control the majority, and advance thu gieul interest ill I heir organization. In dc fiance to the constitution, the governor of Maine, upon the demand ol i lie governor of Georgia, has refused to render up two fugitives from justice, bee.msc the felony coiiimi'loj was carrying off slaves from a southern port. Massachusetts ha passed a replevin law, giving lo fugitive vlavca n Inal by jury, and her supremo court has deter- I mined that a slave who enters Mim ichusetts, I with the assent of bis master, slinll he fee. The press; the fuiiglilie.st instrument of revolution to all enlightened and civilized nations; through out all Ihe northern and middle slates, pours lorlh unchecked, its abominable libels, and by the most arltut and pissiormtc appeals, arouses whole masses—and, amongst them, some of the most conscientious spirits in the land—against our institutions. Was the subject of scull com bination, legislation and agitation, a more üb siract or constitutional tight, like the right of taxation, we might lie content lo exercise onr rights, an I let others pursue their follies, or »n> lerlain their opinions. Hut hero is a subject in which passion and feeling and religion are all involved. All the inexperienced emotions of the heart are against us; all the abstractions con cerning lioinan rights can he perverted against us; all the theories of political dreamers, atheis tical utilitarians, self-exalting and self reghtcous religionists, who would reform or expunge the Hible; in short, enthusiasts and fanatics of all sorts are against us. In truth, only those who have had an opportunity of knowing what the negro race really is, anil of being practically ac quainted with slavery as it exists in the south, behold it with any charity or approbation. Throughout the northern Wla'cs, throughout the whole civilised world, the feeling of condemna tion of this institution may lie said to he univers al. Even in our sister Steles, those who forbear interfering upon this subject from a regard lo the constitutional compact or the Union, ore aboli tionists in principle and feeling. Although they do not approve of the unprincipled course of the abolitionists, they desire and hope to see slavery abolished; mid if they had ihe power, or lay no dcr the responsibility of its existence, they would destroy it in a day. Hence they stand passively by and permit us to be assailed, approving of the end, although condemning the means; and the Union, which was designed 10-guaranis*, or at leaslVtot lo affect injuriously our institutions, is perfidiously used tor their overthrow.— And mark the history of this fanaticism in foreign nations. Horn in atheism, and bap tised in tho blond of revolutionary France, it accomplished iis purpose there. In Eng land it has sprung up under Ihe guise of religion, and it has accomplished its purpose lln iv, ft has never yet failed, and never will fail, in accomplishing its purpose, where the s f tivrholder ilues not control his&t o ’ 1 tletlinict, II is now flaming in the United tSlaics, and fX- I lending its numbers with a rapidity far surpass, ing the operation oftha gospel itself, in bringing converts to ils cause. All efforts hitherto made for ils suppression, have only fanned, instead of extinguishing tin- H um'. The people 111 sonic parts nl tho country, indignant at their open vio lation of their constitutional faith, and the prin ciples of the Union, rise up and crush thorn.— The cry of persecution is raised, and new con verts crowd their ranks. Congress, in the spirit of conciliation, in the vain hope of reconciling their demands with the powers ofthc Constitution instead of rejecting, receive and act upon their petitions. The right of petition is said to be in fringed, and a sovereign iSialcj us tho confedera cy demands that Congress shall rescind the rules by which their agitation is attempted to he suppressed. The spirit of abolition has advanced ami is advancing. It increases by opposition. It triumphs by defeat. Every concession invigor ates ils powers, and has increased its capacity lot evil, In view ol those tacts and opinions, am I wrong in supposing that the Constitution has failed in protecting the south in the peueabte en joyment of their righ’s and properly! Unless systematic interference, agnation, aggression, and insult, with respect to our institutions, is peace —it will be difficult lo prove, that the southern Slates arc in the peaceable enjoyment of their rights and properly. Such a course of deliber ate hosli Ity ns has characterized ibc i ■ luct of the citizens of the northern States towards the south, tor the last three years, would justify, by the laws of nations, a declatalion of war between independent sovereignities. If, then, fellow-citizens, the South is no longer in the peaceable enjoyment of her rights nod pe culiar institutions, under the Constitution of t-ho United States,the question arises upon j the second proposition in the resolution. Is ; H expedient that tho Constitution should he j amended, or Ihe Union be dissolved? 1 hose, ot course, who design using the Union and the Constitution, for the purpose j "f destroying the institution of slavery in the j South, will recognise no such expediency. With them, the bonds of the Union consti- I lute the curds hy which they propose to bind the victim to the altar.—With such designs, next to the atrocity ol ho'ding slaves, will be the least resistance lo the moans by which they expect to accomplish the r purpose. Trai tors, themselves, to the Constitution, and every principle of faith or honor »Inch brought wa together, they may imagine, that by cia morously accusing others us a want of'fideli ty to their Constiutional engagements, they may conceal their own base perfidy towards theirs; and when they suppose that we can he frightened into an abandonment of our *.Vial*menlof Arthur Tappan.in n letter to Mr. Oolli-vun. t Massachusetts. right,* by tin cry of‘<3 simian' they only prove how toon wo despise those whom we liave wrmgod. With those however, who have any regard for the r own rights or the Union, the expediency of one of those alternatives will be o»s ly understood.—The evil must be I arreatel. It is vim, utterly vain, to suppose | 1 hat the South will submit to the present s'ate l of things Hence we must have in, or out,of the Un ion. Our first duly i«, to endeavor to obtain it con j aistently with our alliance with oar aistcr Slates in ; the Confederacy. It has through the Con stitution, under the cover id the Union, that our security has liccn threatened, and our peace dis turbed. To amend ihe Constitution is the moat ohvioui remedy. Make that clear in the Consli* Union, which they I not the Abolitionist* only hut the northern people generally) affect to con aider doubtful. Take away the power to abolish slavery in ihe District of Columbia, and in the Territories south of the line established by Ihe Missouri compromise. Shut the subject of slave ry for ever out of the halls of Congress, where, it has been must faithlessly introduced! and let our sister Stales agree to do, what the laws of nations require of every friendly people—restrain ing tlieir citizens from combining and plotting Ihe overthrow of our institutions. If such amend menlsare proposed, and adopted by the constitu tional majority, the South will have repose, and the Union perpetuated. Hut if Ibey are rejected j it will conclusively prove to the South that the j Union ought to he dissolved. We can hold no I terms of alliance with deliberate open enemies; who seize, (or permit their people to seize,) upon the opportunity affnded by a friendly connection with them for other purposes, to accomplish the overthrow of our institutions; and when required to disavow the hostility, and cea -c the aggression —decline to do either. Hut I have no doubt such amendments to the Constitution, if propo sed in lime, before lh« spirit of abolition has in- J fected the public mind, will be adopted. Thoy lake nothing from I lie North, while they arc ne cessary to the South. And when consi IcrcJ, as undoubtedly (hey will lie, as presenting the al lernalivo of a dissolution of the Union, I cannot bellow that fanaticism has already so fir mad dened public opinion as to induce their rejection. —The Union with the South, is too valuable to the North, in the estimation ol all sober men, to be surrendered for the mere privilege, (which can not, in fact, he preserved,) of aggressing upon the rights of others. The Union is their best guar antee for the continuance of their free institutions. The lime is rapidly approaching when, their po pulation becoming dense, tbs competion for bread will be intensely increased ; and universal sul fragn will givclollioso who have no property; the alisolute control of the properly and legislation of the country. Their history may then grow dar ker, and present a new page for the reading of man. They may then learn the truth in all Us horrors, that the despotism of numbers may lie the most terrible that can scourge a fallen people, [n the South, ihe laborer does not control the desti nies of the cou ilry. Every while man is a priv alegcd being. Selfishness anddionor aliku im pels liim to an alliance with lm race and (whe ther be possesses properly or not) to upbuld the institutions in Which, in fact. chiefly cxis's the property of the country! whilst the very existence of Slavery around him gives him a lotlier tone of independence,& a higher estimate of liberty. Let it he remembered that no republic has tiler yet been tons' maintained vnlhoul Ihe institu tion of slavery, Now arc these United States by any means a clear exception to this great tact. Slavery has not existed, it is true, in the North ern States; hut these Stales have been in intimate alliance with the Southern States,through whom its salutary influence has been experienced. The South lias heen Irom its origin, Ihe balance wheel; injthis Confederacy. That londmry to the absorption and concentration of all power in Government, which is Ihe natural tendency of their democracies has boon continually pressing upon Iho Confederacy from the North, and as continually counteracted by the South. Upon what question ha* the Constitution ever proved any harrier‘.to the wishes of Ihe people of Ihe North? If their views had prevailed, what now would have been it* situation, with all its special grants construed away into a few general ab sorbing powers? Alien and sedition law* would have placed the Government above the animad version of the people, Hy protecting tariffs, and systems of inietn.il improvements, tint whole property of the cottony would have been under the control of one mighty—central agency, to he collected and dishutsod as a sectional majority should require. All those checks and balances which the selfish ness of man renders necessary to freedom in Go vernment, would have bsett annihilated—the Constitution virtually destroyed; and a simple despotism creeled in its atc.nl. The South, on account of her institutions of slavery,has been the I sentinel over Iho Constitution; and if the cx pcriid'tnt of wri'ten constitutions has succeeded amongst us, it has b-cu her fidelity in guarding, the Constitution of tits United Slates that this success should be mainly a«i.."'hcd. Hut those are speculative benefits, which, howe' er correct, lam aware may bo disputed or denied. Let Its. I then, turn to thing* indisputable; the profit and loss account with the northern Slates, under the fiscal opeiatlon of the Union. Took to the protection given to the stuping interest, belong lug almost exclusively to Iho north; a monopoly «f the whole cosling trade, and heavy tonnage duties, hy which prodigious advantages over the shipping of foreign nations arc given for its en couragement. I will not recur to the vexed ques tion under the tariff, whether, producing three fourths of the exports of the Union, the South does not pay three-fourths of the revenue of the Government collect id upon the imports; hut, supposing the different section* of the Union to pay iho revenue equally, mark the prodigious benefit resulting to the Northern and Middlu’Srates hy the sysicm of indirect,instead of i direct, taxation. If the latter system of tsxat o r ) was adopted, (unqueslionably the faires;, upon i every principle of justice,) every citizen would | have to pay for the support of the Government in proportion to his properly. The taxes would I nor then he laid and raised upon particular ar i tides, by which they arc enhanced in price to the ! consumer, for the licriclii of rhe domestic manu facturer; but the labor of all would be left to find ilsj natural exposed to competition ! with the capital and labor of foreign nations. 1 We need no prophecy to tell us that, under such circumstances, the manufacturers of the North I would soon have to cease their vocation. Hut by j the system of indirect taxation—laying duties upon our imports—a borne market is created for the U. S*. Turn, to the expenditures oflhc Gov’t. For twenty years prior lo 1836. thero, were four himdred and twenty millions of revenue raised from the people of the United Slates. Os this, one hundred and thirty millions were paid lo our national debt, two hundred and ten millions ex pended in the Northern and Middle Slates, and but eighty millions in the Southern and Wcsti r.r Stales of the Union. The consequence of the Union, in all iis operations, lias been, that the Northern and Middle Stale* have advanced in wealth and power, unparalelled in ho history of nations. Tire Union has been to them the grea test temporal blessing that God ever bestowed upon any |ioople. Suppose them to lie so drunk with ftuiaiicisin as to dissolve it, —what would lie their situalion at home and abroad? The great importing trade for the South would tie lost. The chief market far their manufactures, | and with it the great instrument with which they wield their commerce, our agricultural staples, would l>e Ins'. They produce nothing lliai civil ized European nations vv.ml. In commerce, in manufactures, in navigation, they would be their riva's. Their position, therefore, Jvrould be that of opposing interests—of obvious bos lilily lo all those canons; and contention, and war, would be the natural relation which would spring up between them. What, on the con trary, would he the situation of the South, if the Union was dissolved? Peace with all the civil ized nations of the glolie; for her agricultural necessary Tor their manufacturing population, whilst their manufac urea arc neces airy for our consumption. A bond of interest, more potent than armies or navies, would secure us peaceful and friendly relations with every civilized and powerful nation in the universe. Our agricultural productions now constitute the best guarantee to the Union for peace with foreign nations. The South would then, under the in fluence of free trade,buy cheapest and sell dearest. Hut I pause in this painful prospect. When the alternative is presented to the North of dissolu tion nf the Union, or the suppressing of alt inter vention in our domestic institutions, I cannot doubt her dsierm nation. Interest, honor, all the recollection of the past, all the prospects of the future, will plead for the Union and the South We have never wronged them. If we have had power in the Confederacy, it was never used in a spirit nf sectional selfishness, for the purpose of opposing others, or advancing our own aggran dizement. Our policy, since the existence of the Union, has been simply defensive. We have ! insisted upon the Constitution as it is. All the I advantages which it fairly gives in the North,attd they arc immense, wb have cheerfully accorded. To require more, and to insist upon the right of wantonly disturbing the peculiar institutions, is pliinly equivalent to a demand that the Union shall he dissolved; and if, under such circumstan ces, it shall be dissolved, upon them will he the responsibility of breaking up the most glorious fabric of liberty that the genius of man has ever invented, anil casting his shattered fragments upon the wide ocean, of new mid untried experis 1 incnts, I have thus, fellow-citizens, endeavored to show you your true situation, and the remedy, which, in my opinion, it requires. If lam mi"taken in the signs of tho times, 1 shall mingle my joy with yours, in finding rny errors consistent with your security and peace. Hut admitting that I am not mistaken, and that it is expedient that the Couslituli n should be amended—in what way shall we best accomplish this end? That it is not easy to amend the ('onsljtution, is ohvi ous from the fact, that although the most violent differences and contentions concerning it have arisen since it went into operation, all efforts to amend it have hitherto failed. 1 do not think the separate action of the States will be suffi ciently imposing and authoritative to accomplish this end. If the members of Congress from the Southern Stales would Unite in fecomniending the amendments, they would probably be adopt ed; for they would bo considered as representing the determination of the South! hut I have no hope of seeing union amongst them for such a purpose. It is vain, of coursa, to look to Con gress. The only efficient method of attaining this end; appears to me to he by a meeting of the Southern States in Convention. The 'nice of such a Convention will he heard and respect ed, ami its recommendations adopted; Tile very fact of its assemblage, would show that we arc united and determined upon this great subject; and tills is all that is necessary to give us peace. We have only to vtrill oUr protection, and it will he secured. Hut tVhen will such a Convention meet? Not until the Presidential question shall he subordinated to this; and nnr local parly dif ferences shall he absorbed in the one great'duty of self preservation. Until then, “wait!” will he the cry; “Vou are too rash and precipitate, arnL» may endanger the Union. Step until we can all be United. So long as people merely peti tion, merely ptay, what oc -asion for alarm ? what need for action? Wait until something is done —until Congress acts;’’ fthat is, I suppose, pass es a bill to emancipate slaves.) It is very difll cult to reconcile this counsel for delay ami tolera tion, with the dosigh of ever acting at all. A man who talks in this way may think that he Will resist some day or other, hut it will ever flee before him, like his shadow. Even, in his esti mation, the laurel of the victor will hardly bloom for his brow. Who that knows any thing of human atfairs, but must he sensible that the sul\ ject of abolition may be approached in a thousand' ways without direct legislation? Hy perpetual discussion, agitation, and lineals, accompanied with the real or imaginary power to perform, there will be need of no other action than words, to shake tho confidence of men in the safely and continuance of the institution of slavery, and its value and existence will he destroyed. These are all the weapons that Abolitionists de sire to he allowed to use to accomplish their purpose. When Congress moves it will he the fust act in the drama; and it will It - prepated t» enforce its legislation. All fegard to our rights and tho constitution will then he gone, ami it wil he a question of mote named, unprincipled power. And we are lo wait until tin issue is thus presented, before we seek to pro tect ourselves! Why, even the last poor privilege of the Indian (Brahmin, of lighting I our own funeral fires,.will then be denied us. There is no one so weak hut he must perceive that whilst the spirit of abolition in the North is increasing, slavery in the South, in all the lion ncr Stales, is decreasing. Took at Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky— once powerful slave Stales. With the decline of the value of their great sta ple, tobacco, and the immense demand for slaves in the rich cotton-fields of the South, their slaves have left, and ate. leaving, their soil. It is true that in these Stales, in common with the rest of the South, the iml dent pretentions and wicked interference of Abolitionists have aroused a spirit of resistance, and settled more deeply the deter mination lo maintain as their undoubted right, ' the institution of slavery, at every hazard. With them, als , as with us. 1 un ler.tand, the question of slavery, in its moral and religious aspects, lias been lately most carefully examined; and tlie ro suit is. amongst the slaveholders, at least, a thor ough conviction, that the institution is sanctions ed hy Christianity and heal for the race over whom it prevails. Hut interest may accomplish what neither conscience commands, nor power can exlert: and in a few years, these States may only nominally hold slaves. They may he lake worm upon this subject. Hut it is for us—for us whose climate and soil will permit na other la borer to cultivate our plains,—for us, with whom it is a question not of expediency hutofexis tance, personal and national-slernly and prompt ly, to place this vital matter at rest. Delay, not only physically hut morally, will weaken every day our capacity to redress ourselves The mo t delicate sensibilities will become dull hy habitual outrage. The proudest spirit being broken by insult long tolerated. That high sense of na. lional honor and character, which is the strongest | bulwark of a people’s liberty, may become j wasted and lost under the influence of toa ! sing agitation—vain, li.irrassing contention i and insults, ami contumely continually endured; I and that apathy to the public interest and wel- j fare, which is the Mire prelude lo « nation’s fall, | gradually steal over the public mind. Men will i then be looking out for chances, and be tilled j with vain hopes and fears. Instead of relying upon themselves, they will be leaning upon j others, until the dread eatas tropbo comes, and i sweeps them shrieking down the rapids. The path of safely and honor is evsr the same. To delay demanding our rights, is generally to abandon the in. The Southern States are destined to no common fate in tho history of nations. They will be amongst the greatest and freest, or the I most abject of nations. History presents no I such combination for republican liberty,as that vvlnoh exists amongst them —The African lor 1 - ' the laborer —the Anglo-ftaxcm fur the and ruler. Both races will he exalted and 1 , benefited by the relation; Wo dare not be , passive with the responsibilities which our situation involves. Wo must, we will awake— if not to glory, to infamy; if riot for defence, for destruction most miserable; i( not to tri umph—to fall, to die, with the epitaph upon our graves, (if graves we are allowed;) writ ten by the pen of philanthropy.—‘•Here lies the meanest oppressors and cowards who ever polluted the earth with their blood.” I. . .. ■!■■■ «■— I —I CHRONICLE AND SENTINEL ’ AUfiIJST I. l uctilay Morning-, Feb. 0. The Match Race yesterday between Zip Coon and Cow Driver, ovel the Hampton Course, re sulted in the success of the latter. We publish today, Mr. Rhelts Address to his constituents, in defence of the resolutions he in- i iroduccd sometime since in the House of Reprc* i scnlatives, i It is with no small degree of pleasure that we ( publish the 'news contained in the letter eforr Washington Correspondent, giving U 3 the in- formation that Messrs. Claiborne and Ghtilsott have lost their seats as members of Cohgress from Missise ippi. It is not yet determined that 1 I Messrs. Prentiss and Word will be allowed to take their scuts, or the election again sent habit to the people of Mississippi. At all events Clai borne and (Hudson are turned out. Nnw Jkdset.—The Act to repeal so much of / certain acts ns prohibit the issue and circulation of notes of incorporated Banks of New Jersey under the denomination of five dollars, passed (be Legislature of that Stale on Wcdiiesday, and is now a law of that State. The act contains an unconditional repeal of the rcstrdiiling laws upon the subject of small bills. The N. Y. Daily Express of the 31st ult. says:—“The Money market continues un. commonly tight. Our Banks have had a conference with those ot Philadelphia The Directors there arc of opinion that no day ought to be named for the resumption of spe cie payments, Until the Treasury Dill is dis posed of by Congress. If that Bill should bo defeated in the Senate, of which there is a possibility but very little probability, and the Legislature of this Stale should pass the Bill permitting small bills to be issued, there would he a sudden and most favorable change. Our Banks probably could then, if aided by >he Phi.ndelphia /tanks, fix a day on which they could resume.” _■» BY EXPRESS MAIL. riioMoen caiiarsr bxDKSt. yS WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 13:13.%, The great debate of the session was com menced in the Senate to day. After some uniiUpertatlt morning business, the chair an nounced the new Sub-Treasury Bill as among the orders of the day. Mr. Hubbard moved to postpone all of them except the sub-treasury bill, and to take that under consideration. Mr. Clayton of Delaware, wished that a private bill . of some importance should be fust acted on. Mr. Wright of Net* York, opposed this propo sition very strongly, and expressed his hope that the financial project of the administration would considered without further delay. S\ Mr. CLA\ next to«k the floor and spoke with great spirit and force on the general subject. He characterized it as a measure of greater rnag- I nitude ami fraught with more important conse quences than any that had ever been presented to the people of this country. All the calamities of a war with the most powerful nation in the world, would in his •pinion, he blessings com , pared to the effects which would follow from the i adop ion of this scheme. It would certainly lead to a consolidation of all the powers of govern ment hi the Federal executive. It would pros trate and utterly destroy the state sovereignties, I It would place in the hands of the Secretary of the i reasury power equal to the combined pow er of eight hundred hanks, dispersed throughout the Union, added to the power of the Bank of the United Slates;—and the Secretary himself being at the feet of the Chief Magistrate, Mr. CLAY said he was anxious, before a measure of such moment should be taken up, that the constituents of Senators, the State Le gislatures, the people should be heard from, Tho three greatest western states, are deliberating on the subject. Deliberations arc going on in Richmond. He wished to hear from the west; from Richmond; from Albany; from Harrisburg; from all parts of the Union. Mr. Clay objected to the first introduction of a measure of this kind in the Senate. He declared that the pro fessing democrats of the day, had in this respect entirely reversed the order of legislation, which was uniformly practised in 1798; and under the truly republican administration that followed. Then all great measures in relation to taxes, the army, the navy, and the public treasure origina atod with the peoples immediate representatives in the other house. Why was the order rc verred? Was it because the senate was further from the pe iple.J and nearer jtho executive, that the measure is pressed upon it? He con tended that the measure ought to have been pre sented in the House of Representative!!, and above all, he thought it was due to the character ; and constitution of the Senate, to wait (ill those ; Stales in which instructions arc ponding could I be heard from. Mr. WRIGHT made a few words in reply, and , against any postponement; but he goon gave way | to Mr. Cxuiuv.x who is evidently regarded, and looks upon himself as the principal advocate and defender of this pernicious experiment upon the heart’s blood of the jicople. Ho spoke of it emphatically as ms “cause," and of his con j fuJencc •" bisj ability to repel every allacl up. on it—to prove that it would lend to diminish | executive power and patronage—and that it was antngonistical to consolidation —that it cnircly accorded with State rights principles! He regar ded the fact that the subject was under consid eration in the Slate legislatures as a good reason why the debate should be begun here at once; so *f?v AV/wi.i, cU,y Ihsft the Stales might have the advantage of the ■ discussions in Congress, lie defended (lie cours* m of the Administration in first presenting the mat- * ter to Ihe Senate; and in short the whole speech I of Mr. Calhoun proved that he indeed regards this iportt scheme of the Experimenters as hit cause- Mr. CLAY in reply said that whatever confi" donee the Senator f/om S. C. might have in his ability, he felt assured that far less ability than was professed by the redoubtable champion of (he measure would be sufficient to shew that it proposed a concentration of all power in the Hands of one man—and would lead to the tre mendous consequences he had depicted. He again urged the propriety of delay until the state legislatures should have time to act. As to making Senators advocates to send out argu ments to the jury in the country, Ve pointed out the extreme inconvenience which would result to gentlemen who might gel up here and speak in support of the measure, and afterwards receive instructions which would compel them to vote against it, if not eat their own words. ‘ Mr. ('lay concluded by declaring that if Ibn friends of the hill were determined to go on; and precipitate themselves in that downward path in which they had entered he and his friends would he ready to come to the rescue of the counliv, and arrest if possible the progress et its great in terest on this road to ruin. Mi. WRIGHT took the floor, and made nn tlabotatc exposition of the provisions of the bill, nod a very lengthy defence of its principles. WJjefi be finished ||M irTugnilicd bis intention to prrssliis objection to tho measure, but gave way to a motion of Mr. King of Ala, to go into exec utive session. Mr. Webster will speak to mor row. The House lias been occupied during tbe principal portion of the day with the Mississip pi election case. Mr. Premiss, who was in . possession of the floor; made a most ingenious ~ and elegant reply to his opponent. Mr. HAYNES of Ga. made a brief reply. The question was thcn’pul on the amendment of Mr Bell for the resolution of Mr. Brnnsan; which amendment was to the effect that the resolution of tho House at the last session de claring Messrs Gholson and Claiborne duly elec ted members of the 251 h Congress be recindnl. and that those gentlemen were ntvr duly elected members of the 35tlx Congress. This amend ment was carried ayes 119—nayes 112; a major ity of seven. Mr. HOWARD of Md, then offered as a fur ther amendment a resolution lital Messrs. Pren tiss and Word Xre not entitled to seals in tha House; and that the seats of the representatives of Missisisppi are vacant; and that the speaker inform the government of that state. A long and ei citing debate arose on this ex. traordmary preposition; and the House adjourned , without coming to any ecision. M. WASHINGTON. Feb. I, 18S8. To day the .Hcriaie resumed the consideration of the Sub Treasury Bill, imposing additional duties as depotitories on certain public officerst &c., and fur other purposes. Mr. WEBSTER rose and addressed Ilia Senate an hour and a half, in general opposition to the hill. Mr. WRIGHT said he had given hia views nn this point yesterday, and now merely asked for Uic yeas and nays on the question, which * ordered. Mr. CALHOUN staled that his object was to disembarras the bill: he thought that under the tystem provided by the bill no excess or surplus would be likely to arise, and if it should it wonlrl ho readily provided for by a seperate measure. The 21st section was ordered to btf stricken out, yeas 21, nays 13. The Senate, on motion of Mr. WRIGHT,_/ proceeded to TiII up liib' blanks of the bill, for salaries, expenses, &c Mr. CLAY, of Kentucky, on the motion to allow the receiver-general at New York $3,000 salary, raid hs would suggest, since these blanks were filled on the suggestions of the Secretary ol the Treasury, whether it might not ho as well to leave it all to his discretion. But as they must take a vote upon it, he called for the yeas arid nays, which was ordered, anil the 3,000 was carried, yeas 28, nays 17. Salaries of $2,500 each were also carried fur the receivers general at Charleston and 81. Louis. The Mdnk in the bill for per centago to hanks for keeping (he public money was filled with '•not to cxcftcdjan eighth of one per cent.” The question having been announced from the Chair, “ Shall this bill be engrossed fort third reading!” Mr. RIVES said he wished to offer a substi tute for this bill: but not expecting so rapid a progress, he was now unprepared, but would endaavor to be ready by tomorrow. The bill was therefore suspended by genera consent till tomorrow. The House today resumed the subject of the Mississippi contested Election, the question be ing on the amendment moved by Mr. Howard, to resolution moved by Mr. Bell, as heretofore rela ted. Mr. HOWARD modified his amendment made last evening, so as to present it in the fol lowing form: “ Jictolved, That Sergeant S. r Prentiss and Thomas J. Word are not members -•f the 2511 i Congress. U - 1 <e" Mr. UNDERWOOD then took the floor in opposition to the amendment, and went at length into an argument to show that the action of the House at the called session furnished no good ground for sotting aside the regular constitution- 9 al election in Mississippi, in November. After Mr. Underwood had finished his remarks in vindication of the validity of [the elec tion of members of Congress, held in Mississip pi, on the first Monday in November, 1837, .anJ tbe day thereafter ; and of tbe consequent right of Messrs. Prentiss and Word, to seats in the 23th Congress, and in opposition to the amend ment of Mr. Howard. Mr. CILLEY, of .Maine, replied. Hia re marks were based upon the hypothesis that, in Nov r.ibcr last, there was, de facto, no vacancy in the Mississippi Representation in Congress. Mr. ROBERTSON moved to strike out the