Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1840-05-14

elusive CONTROL oil the States which possess |
them. lfthere is any measure likely to rivet
the chains, and blast the prospects of the ne
groes for emancipation, it is the interference |
of Unauthorized persons. Can any one who |
is acquainted with the operations of the hui |
man mind doubt this! We have seen how
FESTIVE our Southern brethren have been from
a supposed violation of their political rights.
What must be the consequence of an ac-
knowledged violation of these rights, (for
every man of sense must admit it to be so, |
conioined with an insulting interference with
their domestic concerns?
81 ,ciN not stop to inquire into he mofires
Of those ,cho are engaged IN his faiai and un-
constitutional project. There may DC some
1cho hare embarked an ii ,oithout property con-
sid.ying ais consequences, and ,cho are aciuafed
by Jsneroieni and pirtuous principles. But, I'll
such there are, lam Uery certain that, should
they continue their present course, their Jeilo,o-
citi=ens ,riN, ere long, Course The rirtucs arhich
hare undone their country
'sShould be asked if there is no way by
which the General Government can aid the
cause OF emancipation, l answer that it has
long been an object near my heart to see the
whole OF its surplus revenue appropriated to
that object. With the sanction of the States
holding the slaves, there appears to me to be
no constitutional objection to its being thus
applied; embracing, not only the colonial
ton OF those that may be otherwise freed. but
the purchase of the freedom of others. BY a
Jealous prosecution of a plan formed upon
that basis, we might look forward to a day
not very distant when a North American sun
would not look down upon slave. To those
who have rejected the plan of colonization.
would ask if they have well weighed the con-
consequences of emancipation without it :?
HOW long would the emancipated negroes re-
main satisfied with thatl Would any of the
Southern States then (the negroes armed and
organIZed) be able to resist their claims TO a
participation in all their political rights
Would 1t even stop there? Would they not
claim admittance to all the social rights and
privileges OF community in which, in some
Instances, they would compose the majority I!
Let those who take pleasure in the contem-
plation of such scenes as mustinevitably fol-
low finish out the picture.
"y lam correct in The princiDleshe here n9ropce6.
Irepeaf my assertion, that the discussion ON The
subject Of emancipation in tie non-slarehoGine
StafcS as equally fnjurious TO the siares and
ihetr masters. and that IL has no sanction in fhe
principles of'the Constitution. must not be
understood to say that there is any thing in
that instrument which prohibits such discus
sion. l know there is not But the man
who believes that the claims which his fell
iow-citizens have upon him are satisfied by
adherlng to the letter of the political COM
pacts that connects them. must have a very
imperfect knowledge of the principles upon
which our glorious Union was formed, and
by which alone itcan be maintained.''
The following extract of letter from an
intimate friend of General Harrison places
his conduct on that occasion in a striking
point of view:
sRtrt hi ~
stronger proof on this point. 1t was deliver
ed, you will recollect, on the 18th of july: it
was delivered. too, before the very men who
had opposed him because of his slavery
views. Surely, then, he would not now
touch this dangerous topic. The occasion
i did not require it; the occasion, indeed.
would hardly justify it. Besides, this was
the first opportunity which the General had
enjoyed since 1922 OF addressing the People;
and how easy, how natural it would have
been to inproveit for his own ends; to seek,
by talking Of old times, of his feats of arms.
and OF the glorious West, to kindle afresh
those friendly feelings which one burned so
strongly In his favor! Why not so embrace
1t! Why, at any rate, discuss a subject
which was full of excitement, which might
rouse against him passions that were even
then only siumbering-which had before, and
on that very spot, married his political pros
poets He did it, it is evident, because a
foul spirit was about him, which, if allowed
to spread, would, peril all that was noble IN
TIE land and he forgot himself, and thought
only OF his country, in the effort to DESTROY
that spirit
Afterwards, in speech at Vincennes in 1885.
ne used the following language upon this
subject:
81 have now, felIow-citizens, few words
more 10 say on another subject, and which is,
Ill my opinion, of more importance than any
other that is now in the course of discussion
in any part of the Union. | alude to the
societies which have been formed, and the
movements of certain individuals, in some of
the States, in relation to portion of the
| population iii others. The conduct of these
persons is the more dangerous, because their
object is masked under the garb ofdisinterest-
edness and benevolence and their course
vlndicated by arguments and propositions
which In the abstractno one can deny. But.
however fascinating may be the dress with
which their schemes are presented to their
| fellow-cItizens, with whatever purity of in
tention they may have been formed and srs-
tanned, they will be found to carry i'm their
train mischief TO the whole Union. and hor-
rors to large portion of it, which, it is pro-
baoie, some ct the projectors, and many of
ihelr supporters, have never thought of the
latter, the first iii the series of evils which
are to spring from their source, are such as
you have read Of, to have been perpetrated
OF the fair plains Of Italy and Gaul bv the
! ScythlGN hordos of Attiia and Alaric: and
such as most of you apprehended, upon that
memorable MONT y-hen tLn tny,s H.. IL II