Southern telegraph., 1838-04-03

my prOpOslllanS. nave CeiaIfcu t'1
House, in this opening Of the cause, lon
/ ger, perhaps. than IFS patience would war
rant Bat ample excuse. trust, may he
found in the magnitude ct the principles IN
volved, and the incxperience of the humble
individual to whom their il.uSifaiIGa has
heen committed have performed my d''-
-ty; it now devolvcs upon you to perform
yours. In the performance of that duty, LEI
me tell you, sir, no ordinary responsibility
sests upon you. The eyes OF the nation
are directed TO your action, with an anx-
ietv commensurate with the we'ghty I'M
por.ancc of the sui lect to be affected by
your decision. That subject is no less
than the r,.ht of representation, the elective
franchise, the Promeihean spark which i'm
parts life and soul 10 our whole political
system; without which all our institutions
arc hut inanimate things; dull. cold, and
sensc.ess statues, In your situation, even
good Intention will not justify error. Al
So'ir hands the American people will re-
uuire strict account Of that constitution ct
which YOU are appointed guardians, and
over whose most vital part II fatal stab Is
now impending. You cannot respond, as
did the first fiatricide, s'Whn made me the
keeper Of my hro,hcr Ahcl" To you is in
trusted the keeping o.: the institution;
see that you rob II not oil lis richest trea-
sure.
advance here no personal claim; 1t is
the claim of one OF the sovereign States OF
this confederary which | advocate; her
claim 10 the right of choosing her own Rep
resen,atives according to her own consti-
tuional laws. Will you deny her this
right? Will you rend The brightest and the
strongest link in the gols!en chain of union?
Are YOU ambitious otihe fame Of ''ihe as
piring youth who fired the E?hesian do,ne,'
that he might ouiliye .sthe po,s fools who
built il?n If so, tramplc, with an iron heel,
upon this constitutional Iig Int of the States.
AMI yoar wish will be amply graiitied.-
Enbal;ned in the eXecraiions of continued
generations, the names of the destroyers OF
d,e elective franchise will live in the green
and fostering ini;,my ofihe unho.y deed,
when the remembrance OF the houored toun
dcrs Of our Government shall have been lost
Beneath its crmblIng ruins. No laure!
crown shall you wear, but around your
brows he bound chaplet ofhissing serpents,
wreathed by the fingers of Scorn and De-
rision.
Sir, You persist in denying to Missisip
pi that right to which she is entitled in com
mon with every other State, you inflict up
on her a wound which no medicine can
heal If you are determined to impose up
on her representation not of her choice,
anJ against her will, 90 on, and complete
the work of degradatioa; send her procon-
sui for Government, and make taskmas-
tiers to rule over her.
Let her no longer sit with vou,a young and
r., -, ~; mad t,tI;
strip off The robes of equality, and make of
her haGdmaid and servant.
Better. far better, rad she never cmerg-
ed from the chrysalis condition of IA Terri
tory, to wear the gaudg honors and butterfly
wings of a State, if you can thus, with your
slightest touch, brush her brightest tints
away.
Sir, YOU may think it an easy and a tr;-
fling matter to deprive Mississippi OF her @
leciive franchise; for, she is young, and
may not, perchance, have tue power to re-
sist; but am much mistaken in the char
acter of her chiyalrous citizens, if you do
not find that she not only understands her
rights but has both the will and the power
TO viniicate them. You may find TO yonr
sorrow, that you have grasped a scorpion,
where You thought you were only crushing
worm. This House would az soon put
It's head in the lions mouth, as take the
conrse which is threatened, towards the eId-
er and more powerful States. And, how
happens il, that Representatives Of the
States which have always been the readi-
est in the assertion Of their own rights,
should now be most Jealous in trampling
upon the rights of Mississippi? What has
she done, that she should be selected as a
victim? No State is or has ever been more
ardently attached to the Union; and if she
is placed beyond its pale, it will be your
fault, and not her own. Sir, if you con
summate this usurpaton, you degrade the
State of Mississippi; and if she submits, ne
yer again can she wear the lofty look OF
conscious Independence. Burning shame
will set It's seal upon her brow; and when
her proud sons travel in other lands, they
will blush at the history Of her dishonor, Is
it falls from the snecrng lip ofthe stranger
Sir. place her no, in the terrible and trying
position in which her love for this glorious
Union will be found at war with her own
honor, and that paramount obligation which
binds her to transmit to the next genera.
ton, untarnished and undimnished, hel
portion Of that rich legacy of the Revolution
which was bought with blood, and which
should never be parted with for price less
thon what it cost.
Is there State in this Union that would
part with it? that would submit to have hel
Representatives chosen by this House, ant
forced upon her against her viii? Come
what says the Bay Sta!e--time-honoree
) Massachusetts? From the cradle in wlliol
Young liberty was first rocked, even from