Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1847-09-23
FROM TIE RICHMOND KEFTn1Icas.
TIE wEAxNEss or TIE SOUTH.

In some specuiatIons on the position ofpaF-
ties IN regard TO the question OF More Tern
tory" the Washington corcsponden, Of the
New York Herald says, 1T is chmerical 10
expect that the slave States can ever attain 10
numerical equality with the free States but
strength. They viii always hold the balance
Of power. The two great parties which now
divide Inc free States will be obliged each to
to pay court to the South, 50 that there is not,
in reality, any danger of encroachment by the
North on the area OF slavery. The Southern
States will be able at all times, TO hold their
own.'
A Aa,iering prospect, truly Look upon IT,
men of the South, and ask whether il is no,
glorious condition, The Southern States will
be able to hold their ou.n. Their ,reak,ess win
be their strength. In our national pride, we
are very fond Of Juggling in the stereotyped
comparisons or America TO Greece and Rome;
and there may be a real resemblance ere long
between the present condition ofthose Repub.
lies and that of portion Of our own country,
which win bring the blush to every Southern
cheek. In all, we shall tind the bright tradi-
tons Of glory that has passed in all a me-
lancholy degeneracy rendered more evident by
IFS contrast with former power, IT'S Greece,
but living Greece no more" may be written
on the sepulehre Of Southern fame OF the
Old Mother Of States, too, may be said
''there she stands,
Childless and crownless in her voiceless woe;
An empty urn within her wither d hands,
Whose holy dust was scatterd long ago.
Protected BY her weakness Oh, shameful
position Yet, shameful as ills, it will be true.
unless the South awsken at once TO her real in
terests, and, shaking off the letters sloth and
apathy, rush boldly into the arena, where n
val States are contending for wealth and infu-
ence and empire.
.'Chimerical to expect the slave States ever
to attain numerical equality with the free
States!" And why2 WHAT'S to preventn?
What is 10 keep Virginia from rivalling New
York? Is it because her territory is not large
enough She is ahead ofNew York by near
ly 10000 square miles. Or is it because the
slave States are not as large as the free, that
they can never attain a numerical equality
This cannot be, for the territory embraced by
the former is nearly twice as large as that Of the
latter. Is there any thing in the soil Of this
territory that should prevent ii from sustaining
an equal population with the free States p
Nothing. |. is richer in soil, and is capable
Of producing greater amount of agricultural
productions, as well as mineral wealth, than
the free States Is the position Of the slave
territory such as TO neunalize Ifs other adyan
iages2 Look al Virginia. of which one of the
most distinguished writers Of the North has
SAID, Virginia is the great central State ofthe
Union--its geographical pivo,-its backbone
on the map, if may reterate phrases. Il is
not all fiat, nor all mountain, but about the
right intermingling Of each. The Maker Of
Heaven and Earth has written out for il an au-
gust destiny on its very geography" And a
gain:
81 stand upon that front Of the Capitol,
which oyerlookS far,es river. the falls, and the
rolling country beyond. New England is
locked in frost, (Feb. 22) and the SHOWS deep.
ly cover her soil--but here, a summer sun, I'M
comfortably warm, is over US, and James river
runs rafting over the rocks, all open, all cheer
fu, all Joyous in its welcome rays. Ii has
been almost unconstitutional 10 plant manu-
factories upon these rocks till within the few
years past--and when il was done. il was in
spite Of storm, hard names, and odum ioo.--
ought TO see 100000 people from this point
or view. ought 10 see Lowell, Waltham,
Providence, and more combined"
eve Northern people know nothing OF the
resources. the natural grandeur Virginia I'M
less it be the few who may have travelled in it,
in nearly all its parts, as have, often, too, a
mong its glorious mountains, and not less glo-
rious valleys, From the Blue Ridge TO the
Ocean. il might be Lombardy--it might be
teeming, abundant Italy. Over and among
the Alleghanies, it is Switzerland almost
There isa race ofmen among these mountains,
in whose form, stature, robust, vigorous health.
the world knows no superior. II, after the war.
De Wit Clinton, the embodied genius of A.
merca at peace, had been Virginian, and
could then and there, as in New York, have
broken the trammels Of all prejudces, Norfolk
would have been the emporium now Of the
American world, and canals and railroads.
profitable, too, would have threaded every i'm
portant valley Of Virginia, teemng with the
rich trade Of the vast and fruitful West. 1t is
an unnatural circuit of trade that draws the
Ohio valley 10 New York by the lakes, and 1t
would have been easier far TO conduct i'll
through the Alleghanies TO Norfolk in Virgil
MA"
| Look, TOO. atthe Southern valley fthe Mis-
sssippi- at the whole region watered by that
great riyer-at that giant stream i,self-at our
Atlantic harbors! In territory, in soil, in min
eral wealth, in nayigable rivers and fms har
bors. in water power for manufacturing pur-
poses, in advantages of climate by which our
railroads and canals may be kept in working
order, while those oil the North are DISTRACTED
by wintry SHOWS and cod-in geographical
position, in every physical element of great
ness, the slave States are thousand times
more favored by Providence than the free
And yet, we are told that they are to rely on
their weakness for their strength, and that II is
chimerical to expect tha. they can ever attain
to a numerical equality with the free States
Why could such seeming absurdity ever
drop from human lips7 Alas our own indif.