The northern galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1844-1848, 1845-02-26

| TO see something of Inconsistency in the ac.
ton of some Southern gentlemen. Slavery
they tell us, is not merelya convenience and
an advantage 10 the master, but a blessing to
the slave; and yet they advocate annexation
because it tends TO promote emancipation ia
the northernmost slaveholding States. But
If slavery be, morally, good, and, practical
ly, a blessing, you are criminal in promoting
emancipation. Again, they say, the superior
attractions of the Texan climate and soil,
will induce rapid emigration thither from
the South, and the competition in the growth
of cotton aud sugar will ruinously deprecate
the value of Sothern plantations. What ano-
malous patriotism is this, which is content
TO purchase the prosperity of a foreign coun-
try, by the depOpulation and impoverishmenl
of its native land We are told also, that
Texas will increase our commerce, and en-
large the market for domestic manufactures
and the wheels that drive the ijenncs and
looms OF the North, are threatened with stop
page by the backwater of fraudulent importa-
tons OF British goods, through the accommo-
dating agency OF philanthropic and yirtuous
Texas. IL is singular that this argument
should come from the lips of those who de-
nounce, in the same breath, the Northern
manufacturers as hand Of robbers; and as a
manufacturer, | own I am n little Jealous OF
this newborn zeal in behalf of interests even
now so furiously assailed from the very same
quarter.
Perhaps, sir, some subtle advocate of an
nexation, by the aid Of faculty, in which /
profess myself deficient, faculty which has
been said TO constitute the essence Of wit, and
which is,at any rate,a prerogative of genius
rho raV,n1x- s,fn 81
EEay be able TO reconcile :hese seeming in
congIuiiies but in the mean time, aud until
letter advised, ], a poor spinner and weaver.
shall look upon the new friends OF my interests
with some distIust.
In regard the first point, the probable
influence of annexation upon negro c.
Emancipation, do not pretend to such
knowledge of the present condition of the
slave question il the northern slavehold-
ing States, as TO render me competent
judge, but l know that judicious South
erners, friends, too, of annexation, look
for no such result. Ihave seen no argu-
ment, conclusively, or even probably, es-
tablishing that consequence. So far as |
have observed, no Southern gentleman on
this floor has hazarded the opinion, that it
will have any such tendency; and even
were convinced that it would, | am MT
clear that this is no; the precise case,
where ii is not lawful to do evil that good
may come. This much is certain and
evident to all men, the immediate effect of
the measure would be the territorial ex-
tension of the system, and therefore in
creased, space, opportunity, and incite-
ment to the multiplication of its objects.
You have, then, an immediate and certain
increase of what all Northern men agree
in considering as an evil, while the alleg-
ed corresponding good is problematical
in any event, in all events contingent and
This, therefore, is a ground
upon which no Northern man Will honest
ly advocate the annexation of Texas.
As 10 the second point, the incidental en-
10 our manufactures, though we
shall not be wanting in gratitude &c cur South |
ern brethren for any sincere manifestation
Of interestin our welfare we prefer to be per- |
mi,tcd to regulate that matter for ourselves,
and to dispose Of our wares III markets oil our
OWN selection. Even the gentleman from |
Alabama (Mr. YAScEY,) allows us something |
Of neutrality-suspicious. ought rather to use
a humber phrase-sav. ofius;inciiye sagacity, |
in the base mechanical concerns OF the filthy |
lucre Of gain, and we are somehow or other |
possessed with notion that our manulactur- !
ing intrests will not be much strengthened 10y |
Texan patronage, whether i'll the way Of leg |
station or purchase. We are not wei! ad- |
vised what their views may be oh the great
question ofleSislative protection 10 domestic J
industry, and in spite of the encouraging dec |
aration, that the Anglo-SaxOn race which
has overrunTexas, ais essentially debi-pay- |
ing, as well as a land-steallng people, we arc
haunted by "reminiscences of outstanding ac-
counts. for goods sold aud delivered, against
persons residing, not exactly in Texas, but
Whereabouts; and we are pestered with doubts
in regard to the punctuality of that interesting
the matter of payment. Base
IS The slave that pays" was rather favorlte |
maxim with some of them while citizens o.! the
United States, and we are not yet sufficiently |
certified, that a somewhat hasty emigration
has increased their means or improved their
morality. II has been somewhere limited,
though, as well as remember, not urged here,
that the Southern people expect some com
nercial advantage, in the way OF reader sale
or increased price of merchandise peculiarly
their own, which shall here be nameless, and
| believe it is well known that the purchase OF
I louisiana added very greatly TO the value of
that species of property. What weight this
consideration may have with any OF the advo-
Gates of annexation, pretend not TO deter
mine, but it is at least view OF the subject
which cannot be expected to strengthen the
measure very materially at the North
We come now TO the argument which IS
most frequently used, and perhaps with the
greater effect for its equivocal sisnihcation.
The annexation ofTexas will extend the area
of freedom. 1t was beautifully said by Sir
Humphrey Davy, 1.-THE broader the sphere oil
light, the more extensive WILDE the boundary
Of darkness by which its surrounded" It's
perhaps to a sort Of inversion of this remark,
that we owe this argument, for in no other
sense can the incorporation within our JurIs-
dction of country already as free as our
own. and the consequent diffusion ofslavery
through all its vast borders, be said TO extend
the limits of freedom. 1t is an argument ad-
dressed 10 the ear and not to the understah-
ding, mere jingle of words without meaning
or if significant, false in the only sense which
the words will fairly bear.
But some gentlemen would have us beieVe
that generous and disinterested desire LOT