Litchfield enquirer., 1844-09-19
THE VOICE OF A REVEREND PATRIOT.


 The following is an extract from a discourse of the immortal and lamented Channing-a warning admoniton against the annexation of Texas to this Union :- ..-. >E. "The sum of what have wished to say is, that the Union these States should, if possible, be kept inviolate, on the ground of the immense difficulty of constructing new coniederacies and new govern ments. The present state of mems mind is not fa- vorable to this most arduous task. Other consd- erations might be urged against disunion. But in all this do not mean that union is to be held fast at whatever cost. Vast sacrifices shonld be made for it, but not the sacrifice of duty.
 So say, let the Union be discovered rather thau receive Texas into the confederacy. This measure, besides entailng evils of all sorts, would have for its chief end to bring the whole country under the slave power, to made the general government the agent of slavery and this are bound to re- sst at all hazards. The free states should declare that the very act of admitting Texas will be Con strued as dissolution of the Union.
 This act would be unconstitutional The authors fthe constitution never dreamed of confeTring a power congress, to attach foreign nation to the country and to destroy entirely the original ball ance of power It IS true the people acquiesced in the admission of Louisiana to the Union by treaty, but the necessity of the case recnced them to that dangerous precedent. It was understood that, by fair means or foul, by negotiation war, the Yves tern States ac0eid and must possess them2elyes of the Mississippi and Orleans. This was regarded matter of life or death and, therefore, the People allowed this great inroad to take place in the fundamental conditions of the Union, without the appeal which ought to have been made to the several State soyereignties. But such necessity now exists, and like action of Congress ought to be repelled as gross usurpation.
 '' The union of Texas to us must be an unmixed evil. We do not need 1t on single account We are already too large. The machine of Govern ment hardly creeps under the weight of ny diverse interests, and such complex functions as burden it now. Our own natural increase is al- ready too rapid. New States are springing up too fast for in these must exist from the nature of the case, an excess of adventurous, daring spirit, whose influence over the Government cannot but be peril ous for time and it is madness to addto Us new nation to increase the wild impulses, the half civ ilized forces, which now mingle with our National Legislature
 |" To unite with Texas would be to identify our selves with mighty wrong for such was the seizure of the Province by horde of adventurers. Itwould be to insure hepredominance of the Slave power ; to make Slavery chief national interest, and to pledge us to the continual increasing pros titution of the National power to its support. It would be to begin career of encroachment on Mexico which would corrupt and dishonor us, would complicate and disturb the movements of Government, would create wasteful patronage, and enlarge Military Establishments. It would be to plunge into war, not only with Mexico, but with Foreign Powers, which will not quietly leave us to add the Gulf of Mexico to our vast territory along the Atlantic Coast
 s' To unite Texas to ourselves would be to de- stroy present unity People, to sow new seeds of jealousy. If would be to spread beyond bounds the space over which the national army must be extended to present new points of attack and new reasons for assault, and at the same time to impair the energy to resist them. Can the Free States consent to pour out their treasure and blood like water, in erder to defend against Mexico and her European Protectors the Save-trodden fields of distant Texas s Would the South be prompt to ex- haust itself for the annexation to this Country of of the vast British possessions of the North Is it ready to pledge itself to carry the Star Spangled Banner to the pole in exchange for our readiness to carry Slavery to Darien 2 There must be some fixed limits to country. We at the North do notlask for Canada. We wonld not, hope, accept it as gift ; for we could not rule it we'll. And for the Country to spread itself in direction alone Are we willing to place ourselves under the rule of adventurers, whom restless spirit or a dread of justice drives to Texas What possible boon can we gain The Free States are not only wanting in common wisdom, but in those instincts by which other communities shrink from connec- tons that diminish their importance and neutralize their power We shall deserve be put under guar dianship five receive Texas to our embrace. Such suicidal policy would place us among those whom God infatuates before he destroys.'"