Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1838-05-29

retreat and excuse. and dlaaR0Wal q power
- been ur.vail;n0 sentiments then, 20 Wlas
condifiSa. - re moment let me ask, would
aslis naviaa "a 8 the country pc loune
10 us. Sc. Is g. m country en- % Us VINO
feel - mel admir- alton for be genius, and g
much n l,,e Fl lis services, Fulton Woule
have lived almost ii vain. State grams ana
State exclusions would have covered over ~
our waters.
Sr, It 4 n the nature Of such things, that tne
first violation. or the first departure nom uue
principles. draws more important ylolataols g
departures after ii; and the tirst surrender q
just authority win be followed By others more -
to be denlored. III commerce be uhls, y
break il IN any one parf, IS to decree us ultln-
ate dismemberment in all If there pc maae
first chasm, though il may be small through
that the whole Wild ocean win pour 10, ana We
may then throw up entertainments IN YAM; 80.
Sir, the spirit of union is particularly naDis
20 temptation and seduction, N naoments y
peace and pfosperity In war, tins spHlt ls
strengthened by a sense of common dangeEs
and By thousand Teeolectlons Of anclenL 81
forts and ancient glory in common cause, m
the Gains of long peace, and the absence 81
all apparent causes Of alarm, things near gam
an ascendency over things remote. LocaI l M
teFests and feelings oVershadow national senu-
ments dur attention, our regard, and our at
tachment, are every moment solicited 10 what
touches us closest, and we feel less and less
the attraction of distant orb. Such tenden-
cies, we are bound by true patriotism, and by
our love of union, to resist This IS our duty;
and the moment, in my Judgment, has arrived
when that duty is summoned to action. We
hear, every day, sentiments and arguments
which would become meeting Of ENJOYS
EMPLOYED by separate Governments, more than
they become the common Legislature Of q uni
ted country. Constant appeals are made to
local interests, to geographical distinctions, and
to the policy and the pride Of particular States.
It would sometimes appear that it was, or as II
it were, a settled purpose, to convince the peo-
pie that our Union is nothing but a tumble OF
different and discordant interests, which must,
ere long, be all returned to their original state of
separate existence; as if, therefore, it was Of
no great value while it should last, and was not
likely to last long. The process Of disintegra-
ton begins, by urging the fact Of different M
terests. 81
Sir, is not the end obvious, to which all this
leads us! Who does not see that, if convic-
tons of this kind take possession Of the public
mind, our Union can hereafter be nothing, while
it remains, but connexion without harmony;
a bond without affection; theatre for the am
gry contests of local feelings, local objects, and
local jealousies! Even while it continues to
exist, in name, it may, by these means, become
nothing but the mere form of united Govern
ment. My children, and the children Of those
who sit around me, may meet, perhaps, in this
Chamber, in the next generation; but if ten
denotes, now but too obvious, be not checked,
they viii meet as strangers and aliens. They
will feel no sense of common interest or com
mon country: they win cherish no common OBJ
iect of patriotic love. If the same Saxon lam
guage shall fall from their lips, it may be the
chief proof that they belong to the same ma
ton. Its vital principle exhausted and gone, its
power of doing good terminated, now produc-
tive only of strife and contention, and no lon
ger sustained by sense of common interest
the Union itself must ultimately fan, dishonor-
ed and unlamented.
The honorable member from Carolina him
SELF habitually INDUCES in charges of usurpa-
ton and oppression against the Government of
his country. He daily denomces its impor-
tant measures, in the language in which our
revolutionary fathers spoke Of the expressions
of the mother country. Not merely against
Executive usurpation, either real or supposed,
does he utter these sentiments, but against laws
of Congress, laws passed by large maioriies,
laws sanctioned for a course Of years, by the
people. These laws he proclaims, every hour,
to be but series of acts of oppression. He
speaks of them as if it were an admitted fact,
that such is their true character. This is the
language which he utters, these the senti-
ments he expresses, to the rising generation
around him. Are they sentiments and Ian
guage which are likely to inspire our children
with'ihe love Of union, to enlarge their patriot
ism, or to teach them, and to make them feel,
that their destiny has made them common citi-
zens Of one great and glorious republics, A
principal object, in his late political movements,
the gentleman himself tells us, was to unite
the entire Sohth; and against whom, or a.
gainst what, does he wish 20 unite the entire
South Isnot this the very essence of local
feeling and local regard Is It not the achnowl-
ment Of a wish and object, to create political
strength, be uniting political opinions geo
graphically? While the gentleman tins
WISHES to unite the entire South. nrav II
know, sir, if he expects me to turn toward the
polar-star, and acting on the same principle 10
utter cry of Rally to the whole North I
Heaven forbid To the day of my death, nei4
ther he nor others shall hear such a cry from
me.
Finally, the honorable member declares that
he shall now march of. under the banner Of
State Rights March of from whom! March
on from what? We have been contendinC
for great principles. We have been strng-
cling TO maintain the liberty and to restore the
prosperity Of the country we have made
these struggles here, IN the national councils,
with the old flag, the true American GAG, the
Eagle and the Stars and Stripes, waving over
the Chamber IN which we sit He now tells
Us, however, that he marches off under the
States Rights banneri -
Let him &c. Iremain. am, where / ev-
er have been, and ever mean to be. Here,
standing on the platform Of the general con-
stkution-a platform, broad enough, and firm
enough, touphold every interest Of the whole
countFy-I shall stin be found. Intrusted with
some part In the administration of that con.
shtuton, intend to act In its spirit, In the sbif.
itof those who framed it Yes, sir, would
act as if our fathers who formed it for rs. and
who bequeathed it to us, were looking on US
as # could see their venerable forms, bend
ing down to behold us, from the abodes above.
would act, too slr, Is # that long line of pos
teritY were also viewing Us, whose ewes are
hereafter to scrutinize our CONDUCT
Standing thus, as IN the fun gaze Of our an
cestOFs, and our posterity, having received this
inheritance from the former, 10 be transmit
ted to the latter, and feeling, that If / an ,arn
tr any good, mmy day and generation, Il Is
io. the good Of the whole country, no local.
policy Of local feeling, no temporary impulse,
shall induce me to yield my bothold ~ the
Constitution and the Union. move If m
der no banner, not known to the who's ATosF;;l.
can People, and TO Their constitlItian and IaSs.
No. SIR these walls, these columns