The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1846-10-29

for another arduous session. and in makinu obser.
vations upon The opinions of our friends of the
Northern States. upon The subject of slavery and
abolition, which | hope NAV be useful not only to
my constituents, but 10 the South generally.
! might have availed myself of the privilege of
making a I" personal explanation from my seat
in Congress, and have given nv views at length,
hut personal explanations To me are AT all times
extremely disaoreeable, and not approving of the
custom of using the time of the public ia discuss
ing private concerns. a custom infinitely % more
honored in the breach than the observance"
take the usual way of correcting any misappte
tensions in relation to myself, my opinions, aud
particularly my motives.
Ii need not be concealed that the abolition feel.
ing has been greatly strengthened and extended
throughout the entire North. What formerly
was confined To a few insignificant MISGUIDED
fanatics. agents and creatures of The English gov
eminent, now infesis the high places of The re.
public, is heard from the pulpiis. in the fourth of
July orations. at the exhibitions of our colleges,
in the councils Of the nation, as seen in the vote
OF the House at Representatives upon striking out
the slavery clause from the Constitution of Flori-
da and still more recently in the vote on Will
mots resolution, when, with a majority of SIS
members friendly To the administration. the sun
plies were refused the President, unless accompa-
MED with an act that violated the letter and the
spirit of the Missouri compromise. Whether that
vote or the patriotic speech of John Davis of
Massachusetts is charceable with The blood of the
five hundred men killed and wounded at Mon
terey, | have not now the time or the inclination
TO discuss. Thus has the Missouri compromise
been openly and p~alpably violated a compromise,
so called, when every thing is yielded on one side
and nothing on the other. viz that sla avery shall
never exist north of a certain line, but free States
may exist either North or South.
understand that the paternity of that resolu
tIon (\Vilmo,'s) is disputed at The West, and
several gentlemen expect 10 transmit their names
10 posterity by their cunnexion with il. The
spirit of that resolution is one that binds indisso
lubly abolition and dissolution nf the Union ,oue,h-
er. envy no man the wreath that shall encircle
his brow, who achieves this double triumph. II
is not the first time in the annals of the world
that notoriety has been mistaken for fame
1.-The aspiring youth who fred the Epllesian dome
outlIves in story the pious fool that raised H."
BE mine the need of self applause, with the nm
told name of that pious fool that staid for one day.
one hour, one minute. the fall of this great temple
of civil and religious liberty.
repeat it, abolition and disuniun 90 hand in
hand. If our Northern friends do not make The
issue. ice ,oiH. and | appeal TO all good men Of
the Republic North and South. Let us have no
more talking and acting in the dark. Are Won
ready and willing tn sever this Union Cor The cause
of abolition Is the federation of slavery in one
portion of the Union a greater evil to you than
the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the republic =? Are your
consclences so nice that you will no longer hold
communion with Southern men who hold laves2
DO you hold slavery in such abhorrence that Won
will buy our slaves at our estimation, and free
them Or will you fight for the abolition. and
To make us converts 10 your notions of liberty 2
For, talk and turn it as you will, I" to this com
Plexlon must IL turn at last" Do you think that
all the talking, preaching and writing in the
world will ever induce men with common sense
to surrender their property, for which they peril
led life IN two wars, and will do So again. Was
there ever an instance of a whole State or com
munity having been talked or preached out of
their property The English Government be-
cause might made right. freed the slaves of the
colonlsts but with the slightes, prospect of sue
cess, does not every man in the world know the
col"nists would have defended their rights a, the
point of the bayonet2 "Who can hold fire in
his hand, by thinking on the frosty Caucssus-or
walow naked in December snow, by bare refec-
ton on the summer heat 2" That many NAV be
persuaded 10 surrender the fruits of years of in
dustry, or the Inheritance of his ancestors, for n
conscientious scruple in another mans bosom, and
one which never troubled the repose of the great.
est and The best men in this republic, and which
Is sanctioned by God himself.
II these questions are to be answered aft rma-
tIvely-if il is a fixed fact that slavery must be
abolished in The United States, the sooner we
know it the better. We have no apprehension on
the subject. But let It's see how the lhing works.
whether our brethren at The North are not some
what in the situation of the fox who was 10 have
his tail cut off because another had done the same
th'ng, and whether England. after ruining, use.
lessly, her West India colonies, is not the fox who
had lost his tail.
1t will no donbt he frankly admitted tina, there
is no danger, however we may extend the area of
slavery South of our forcing slavery upon any free
oiate, II we had the power, and therefore, the sin
alone is on our own heads. have never had a
doubt but that the whole of this movement ia of
foreign origin. England knows that this is the
only possible weak point in the Union, and if she
could induce a separation of the States, she must
ne greatly benefited by such an event. Who
does the carrying trade for the Soutl--the mil
lions OF bales OF cotton +; the hundreds Of thousands
of hogsneads OF tObaCcO, Of sugar, of rice, besides
The return price of all this produce in English and
American manufactures, besides the profits which
you make IN The mandatory Of The cotton Of the
South? Why. New England derives more profit
from The supplying the slave States with the
OF her soil than the slave States do
themselves. | have no reliable statistics about
me-, but ! do not hesitate to assert that the reve-
mes received in New England from the product
of slave grown articles is greater than the value
0t the articles themselves. Let Maine answer.
WIN her overwhelming tonnage. Let every town
aud riII in New England respond. But perhaps
II IS thought, you can raise three millions of bales
Of cotton, n half million Of hoUsheads of iuh,cco.
two or three hundred thousand hogsheads of SUGAR
and rice, with free labor. and you can get This trade.
TO and try IT, ye hardy mountaineers of New
England. 1t is false, as is pretended, that YOU
are excluded from any country by the Missouri
compromise. Go and cultivate California, Mexi
ca, and u you want free Sales, so decide-nolhinp
can prevent it.
desplse cant of every kind, and I say, at least
tor myself. and ] have no doubt 7 speak the voice
OF the entire South, that we will never permit our
slaves 10 be liberated, directly or indirectly, pre-
senily or prospeciively, without making ths best