Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1840-04-07

that neither the General Government nor the |
non siave-holdlng States have any right what !
ever to interfere with il and he moreover con-
tends that discussions upon the subject IN the
States, tending in their con-
sequences, as they do, to leopard the peace and
impair the rights of the slave-holdinr States.
are an abuse Of The freedom Of speech and az
the press, in violation of the spirit and nerve
ding design OF the Constitution. The same
declarations Were made by him, and with
greater emphasis, if possible, in an address
lowered to an assembly of his fellow citizens
al Cheylot, IN Ohio on the 4th of July. lS33
nom which am insulated passage, On which the
author admitting slavery to be an evil, saws he
would gladly see the surplus revenue of the
Union devoted to IFS progressive extinction by
the purchase and colonization OF the slaves.
"lcith The sanction Of The States holding Them
has been artfully crlled, and given to The pub.
nc, carefully suppresslrg the context, in which
Zen. Harrison maintains, IN the stronp and
unqualified language | am about 10 cite. that
"the slave population is under the erclusipe
| control Of the states which possess them. and
that "neitber the General Government nor the
non-slave-hOldIng States can interfere in ann
'ody, with the right OF property in slaves" and
at the same time denounces the schemes of the
abolitionists at frought with " horrors, upon
which an incanate devil only could look
with appreciation"
| But even ifthe incidental and abstract sug-
gestlons above noticed in the Chevot speech
Of Gen. Harrison were to be looked at. dis
connected from its coEtext, however we mioht
differ from him both as to its practicabilitv and
some of the principles involved, Justice and
candor would still require us to bear in mind
that, but few years ago, similar sentiments
were freely expressed both by the press and
public councils of Virginia, and that a plan for
4 effecting the same object, almost indentical
with that thrown out by Gen. Harrison, was
developed and earnestly advocated by MIR. JEFF
fsrson, in letter addressed by him, during the
last years of his life, to Mr.. Sparks, which you
will see in the 4th Vol. of his writings, page
37S-39l. But | again repeat, where is the
man, whittier of the South or North, " no in
the practical assertion of the rights the South
and in energetic and decisive reprobation of the
projects of the abotionists, has gone farther
than Gen. Harrison. A just people cannot
forget the noble and self-sacrificing devotion
with which he stood alone, out of all the repre-
sentatiVes of the Western nOs-Slaue- holding
States, and in a little band of but two or three
from the whole non-slave-holding region of the
I Union, in steadily resisting, on behalf of the
rights and interests Of the south, the memora-
bic Missouri restriction, and the kindred propo-
sItion made at the same period to restrict the
introduction OF slaves into the Territory oil
Arkansas patriotic self devotion, by which
he lost his seat in Congress, and incurred
popular odium and prescription, for a season,
IN his own State. All this Gen. Harrison did
freely, from sense of duty to the Constitution
OF his country, and to the rights and interests
OF the Southern States, at a time when he had
/ nothing TO ask at their hands. " hat was the
course Of the present Chief Magistrate, in
whose behalf Gen. Harrison is now sought to
be stgmatlzed as an a6Oliti0niSt, under the
same circumstances He then, as a member
ofthe Senate of New York, voted in favor OF
instruction to the Senators and Representa-
tives of that State, in Congress, to support the
Missouri restriction, and a year or two after
wards, as member of the Senate of the u.
States, voted in favor of the proposition to re-
strict the introduction of slaves into the Teri
tory of Florida. We'll, therefore, might the
south require of him some pledge of fidelity to
their rights, when he became a candidate for
| their sufirages TO elevate him to the station he
now occupies. But what further or higher
pledge can Gen. Harrison have TO give, than
his conduct and opinions, uniformly sustained
through every change of circumstances, and at
every personal sacrifice, coupled with that Just
and Republican definition of the true province
Ofthe Presidential veto in his letter to Sherrod
Williams, Esq. in which he says sit Is a con-
serrdtire power intended only to DO used to
secure the constitution itself from violation, and
to protect the rights of the minority and the
aceaker members of The UHlon"-a definition
obviously framed, in its last clause particularly,
with reference to that vital interest of the South
Of which he has proved himself, through good
and through evil report, the disinterested and
patriotic champion.
Another denunciatory charge against Gen.
Harrison, and alike destitute of foundation,
which has been extensively propagated, is,
that he was "a black cockade Federalist and
an advocate of the Alien and Sedition laws
during the administration of the elder Mr. Ad-
ans. This charge has been most decisively
met and refuted by Judge Burnett, distin-
guished citizen, and lately one Of the Senators
in Congress, ofthe state of Ohio, who from an
intimate personal acquaintance when General
Harrison at the period alluded TO, declares that
''he was firm consistent, unyieldmg Repub-
can Of the Jefferson school, and warmly advo-
Gated the election of Mr.. Jefferson against
| Mr.. Adams" Gen. Harrison himself, in a
|
| March, 1926 in replying to some observations
of Mr.. Randolph, importing similar charge,
| explicitly declared that, while in common with
his constituents, the Legislature Of the North
westernTerritory, whose delegate in Congress
he then was, he approved of the course of Mr.
| Adams administration in the controversy with
the French government, and had a great per-
sonal respect for Adams as an honest man and
patriot, "his opposition to the Alien and Sc
dition Laws was so well known in the Terrific
ry, that a promise was extorted from him by
his friends in the Legislature that, as he had
no ote in the proceedings of Congress, he
would not unnecessarily compromise the local
interests of his constituents by the expression
of his political opinions" But whether Gen.
Harrison has been or is Federalist must de-
pend CD the character ofhis political principles
and not on the arbitrary classIficatiOns of per-
sonal or party prejudice. Now, it so happens
that we have an authentic and most lucid ex-
position of his political principles by himself, al
a period of life when they must have been fully
matured and thoroughly settled, in an address
to the voters of his district, before whom he
was then a candidate for seat in Congress,
which was published in the Cincinnati Inqus-
itor, under date of the 18th September, 1922
! In that admirable address, he declares
that he is 4" "A Republican Of HE old JEFF
fersOnian school," and derives his prinei.
pies of constitutional Interpretation efrom
the celebrated resolutions of the Virginia
Legislature of '95 and '99"-that he,
therefore, "denies to the General Govern
ment the exercise of any power but what
is expressly given to it by the Constitution
or What 10 o-oapfiollxr Dnaocqarxy 70 n, $50,