Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1836-12-21

comes 10 all lntentS iree-a principle.
which, if indeed it exists, has at least
lam dormant for neal half a century.
and is, doubtless now, for the first time,
exerted to activity, by the mischievous
influence of abolition doctrines. Ac.
cordlngly, a citizen of Louisiana has
had his slave wrested from him, re.
Gently, in that Stale, in the name. and
under the sanction of law-and Alto
gether without compensation. Thus
we see a doctrine asserted, by which
the property ofour citizens may be con.
hscated without remuneration. whilst
the Federal Constitution and that of
our own State provide that private pro-
perty shall not be taken but for public
uses, nor then without a full equivalent.
The proposition asserted in the Su-
preme Court ofMassachusetts, if mot in
violation of the Federal Constitution.
at least runs directly counter to the
spirit of those compromises and that
entire reciprocity in the protection each
member of the Coniederacy was to af.
ford to the rights of the citizens of ev.
cry other, which was the breath of the
nostrlls to that instrument, and the o.
servance of which, inviolate, is the sole
bond of its preservation. And one
can doubt, that had the precise ques-
ton, now involved, arisen in the Con.
ventlon of 1888, a refusal TO protect,
IN this particular right, citizens of the
South passing through, or temporarily
soJourning in the acknowledging
States, would have put an instant end
to all hope of efecting a Union
Should the decision adverted to, be
sustained, and no provision be made by
Massachusetts to protect our citizens
IN the right it invades, it is equivalent
to a prohibition of all social intercourse
between the families OF the Southern
portion Of the Union and tina: State
Gan intercourse which every where
demands full reciprocity for lis preser>
vation)-and cannot but engender dis.
satisfaction and complaint, and ulti.
mately produce alienation of feeling
and hostility between those whom in.
terest and the remembrance ofcommon
sufferings and common triumphs, ought
to unite in bonds of the closest intima.
cy.
Nor are these obstacles to harmoni-
GUS intercourse between the South and
the North, the only consequences that
have already flowed from this pestilent
tanaticism. It's votaries infest the
p%urlieus even Of the tribunals of Jus.
tice, and in the very cases, specially
guarded by the Constitution itself, in.
stead of promoting the faithful i~nainte-
nance Of its provisions, as the duty is
of every good citizen, exhaust ingenu-
ity, and are prodigal of money, in seek
ing to defeat their execution-and,
failing in this, not unfrequently resort
to force, to wrest, with strong hand,
from the owner, property adjuGged to
him by the laws.-While, on our N.
Western frontier, frequent instances
occur, Of citizens of other States abu-
sing the privilege that entities them to
come over the border, by actually in
stlgatiEg slaves to leave their owners,
and assisting them to escape-thereby
rendering the tenure of that property
insecure, and materially lessening its
value.
But, extending their views beyond
those proceedings, more directly affect
ing individuals, these agitators, thro'
a t%reacherous and insidious measure,
seemingly confined to the District of
| Columbia, are, in truth, %levelling a
deadly attack against the property, the
peace, nay, the political existence itself
| Of the Southern States {; an attack, of
which it may be enough to say, that if
it cannot be parted, it must be repel.
led.
The unhallowed attempt to array
that pure and gentle religion that tea
ches " peace on earth, and good will
toward men, in fierce hostility against
communities, that have, at least, done
them no wrong, is to be added to this
dark catalogue of the doings of these
modern philanthropists. And we al
ready hear, in the distance, denounced
against the STAKEHOLDER, the thunders
of the only description of excommuni-
cation tolerated by the spirit of the
age-a refusal of religious fellowship
on earth-and the impious mutterings
forth in mad assumption of the attri-
butes of the Most High, of the antici-
pated judgments of the Almighty.
Such are the evils already experien-
ced from the spread of abolition doc
%trines, and which | have felt it my du-
ty to bring to your notice, because
some of them have been developed on.
ly since your last meeting, and the rest
greatly ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Of q
magnitude well deserving the attention
of the Legislature-they yet dwindle
into insignificance, in comparison with
those direful calamities with which this
: ~portentous inlatuation threatens our