Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-03-26

use them? Heaven forbid that such an effort
should DC called for.
put il, Mr.. Speaker, to the cundor of gentle
mcn to say, whether any one of the States OF
Europe, possessing u slave population in like
ratio TO its total numbers with that which
is now held in Observation-Disclosures it could have
maintained i,sefunder the last twenty years strug
giles upon that continent No ono can believe il
possible A State so insulated by n peculiar inter.
est from all would be the natural enemy and the
natural victim of all. The hollow pretcnces of an
assumed morality AID no less pretended sympa-
thy for the violated rights and liberty of man would
have been every where proclaimed and have
brought potentatc after po,entatc in emulous COM
petition for the glory OF putting 1T down. The
slave " oud have been armed against the State by
the base and prongate ambition of some neighbor-
ing monarch adventurcr who looked only TO the
spo and rapine and murder and conquest would
have been hallowed under the names and tho pre-
texts OF "frcedom and Justice" If you turn TO the
records of history consult the principles of our
nature, both viii demonstrate that some such fate
under such circumstances must he inevitable. No
European State, slave holding one, in the last
twenty years OF war and revolution or at any pre-
vious time upon that continent, could have main
tanned her integrity: such an anomaly, when com
pared with surrounding Governments, would not
have been suffered to exist
And the like consequences sir, to our own State
and indeed 10 tho whole slave holding department
of the Souti, may be expected to occur whenever
Federal bond is dissolved. Withdraw but tho
protecting energies of that instrument and be the
new associations into which shall DO thrown
what they may-whcthcr directed by judgment or
caprco-our distinct character as a slave holding
people viii still DO lct--wc shall still hold scpa-
ratio and adversary interest hut hold it under cir.
cumsanccs of aggravated evil, as the existence OF
will disqualfy us for defence i'm the very degree
IN which it will expose to foreign hostility and
wrong.
Under this view of the consequences of slavery,
nlm SLcbf tn t,p iupc lv md
determined exercise of Legislative action upon it.
i nc same admonition presses us from all sides.
Look to the dangers of flavcry resulting from
us peculiar condition and its growth or look to
them as involved in tho incidents which may
change the political relations of tho Republic and
we are cmphatically warned to prepare for them in
tlme--cmphatically warned, that destiny
people is pledged upon the wisdom and the rigor
with which we arrest them.
am turned aside at this point Mr.. Speaker,
from the path of my reflections by the course
otthc remarks which were submitted tho other day
by the gentleman from Brunswick (Mr. Shelly 1,
sir, in common, doubt not, with every member of
this House and with every lover of genuine plea
sanry whose good fortune it TO be here am
indebted To that gentleman, and with no hope on
my part of making compensation, for an hour or
two amongst the most entertained and delighted of
any which | have ever spent in this body. He,
sir, has entered upon our debate tho spring en-
tiers upon the seasons-storm and tempest disap-
PCuiibS 1T Ills approach ana Silcly ana sunshine
and flowers starting up around him. 1t re-
served for him in the exercise of xit as playful
as II was pungent-aJ generous as it was keen,
which probing fcarosSly and every where, yet
carried not a heart stain away on its blade"-
1t was reserved for him, sir, thus exercising this
rare faculty in its double character of sportivencss
and strength, to dissipate the gloom discus.
SION, TO soften is scvcrcr tone and restore TO the
House the kindncs and the temper it was losing
Tins gentleman is blessed also in his capacities for
~
PheTe Is comic and he looks through it with a sun
ny and laughing face upon the world pleasing
hhiseit WIN It's tancIcd images of pastime and fun
and wondering that the things which arc objects OF
farce 10 INN should ever be objects of fear to 9th.
ers. There is no telling the extent sir TO which
this wild quality of the mind will not adventures
time and space are but it's landmarks; substance
and shadow its contributors; it seizes unon ey,
ry incident Of life and every object of though,
and dresses them out for mimickry and for fro
lic What will it not attempt? Under its i'm
pulse do we not that Swift could corica
ture the day of Judgment; Holbein the pban
toms of tho dead and the worthy Member from
brunswick, the horrors of South Hampton, VIVA
more could IT do2 1t is the province of pcnius Ek,
the sun, to gild the objects on which it falls an,
the gentleman, in the eccentric exercise of his bo
so disposed OF It's light as to cause laugh at this
the darkest scene of our history. lie has worked
up portion of that scene into comic drama, ant
has played it off upon this Theatre act by act q
speak it not derisivey but technically with ar
overlooking 'benefit," to admiring and overflow
ing audience In the course of that dramatic mar
rativc which he was pleased to dispense for our in
formation and amusement, the gentleman has sha
lowed forth himself as Il Hero-not of the frs
magnitude, sir--nor yet actually Hero but onl,
I-pofentiaily one. lie would have been one with
out doubt, as he says and thought, had it not beer
Tor one OF those unaccountably cross accident
winch Will sometimes check the career of the mos
gallant and lay all their aspirations and homes q
a in tbp
the ''Seuth-Side," he expected to distinguish him
self against Gen. Nat and his band and was march
ing on, with the picture Of his fame before him. an,
mad reached the very point of his wishes, whom I,
his utter disappointment, they were all dashed ant
ruined by 'three men and two boys" who had ius
encountered, routed and dispersed this rcdoubtabl,
General and his troop, Was ever man so disap
pointed and by so sad an accident Our sympa
tines, sir, cannot but mnge with his sorrowsi
But, Mr.. Speaker, this statement of the rcntle
mans has serious bearing and has conducted I,
serious conclusions. 1t was so emphatcally rcite
rated by that gentleman, connected with othcI
remarks which were intended to show the petty
and contemplate character of that whole afIa
and thereby to deride the arguments which bav,
assumed II as an illustration of the dangers of sla
very, that cannot doubt but that this Statement
which was made In Joke was meant for history
The very same strain of dcrisve remark has bee,
employed by other gentlemen in relation to Thu
same affair and with tho like bearing on this de
pate nave, therefore, sought out the document
airy history OF this uth-Hampton transaction tina
might understand, not only its precise extent bu
also The light in which it was viewed. at the time
as affecting the general security of the surround
ing country--not, sir, affecting this securit,
through any apprehension of immediate assault
from Nat and his band but through that spirit o
reuoH rh'ch might be awakened and encouagec
amongst the siares by m dctuaL erample of insuy
rcct'oH. In this point Of view this occurrence ha
Dccn chiefly advcrtcd to sustaining the State DO
Icy on the subject of slaves which has been so sire
nuously resisted by the gentleman from Brunswick
and by others.
The volume, sir, in which this history ia 70 h,