Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-09-08

ut ~ AGA - ~ ~
unued diversity Of opinion or action in ths moo
slaveholding states.
The CONSEQUENCES that may result from this con-
Aici Of opinion between US and those who Fs, uu-
happily, our opponents-if their pretensiepS ars
persisted in-arc known only to that o%rnnieieht and
kind providence which has hitherto protected our
country aud it, Institutions irom the dangers whieh
haze threatened them.
departure irom the platform raised by our coinnen
ancestors, at d period when the chain 81 our Union
was the brightest, aud the ~fratefnal feeling between
the States Mat composed 1t, the sirorg 81. IL cams
upon the back Of a series ot events well calculated
to awaken, at the North, that deep, aud, as il res
tecs ourselves, Overwhelming sensation in the pub
lie rniud, 10 winch l have referred. a brief review
Of thsm a; q moment 50 critical, cannot iail to Dc
useful.
The future condition Of the respective States, In
regard ~ the probable continuance or abolition Of
slavery, were correctly foressen at the formation OF
the government. Those o. the old thirteen which
are D1w exempt from il, acted under a conAden, an-
ucipation that they would soon bec)ius 50; whilst
those Of tnc number where slaveiy sill exists Gould
nOtloOk forward ~ an equally tcvarIble result Ia
re -urd ~ themselves Il was, therefore, well IN
derstood, at the adoption Of the Constitution. ihatal-
though u large and highly respectable portion oi
the members vi the confeteracy would probably
for a long, certainly Tor an indefinite period, remain
slaveholding States, o majority OF the States would
be Misunderstanding; add that a Constitutional pre-
ponderance ia the federal goyetnnent would be
thus secured to the latter. cd.
To make assurance Of this result doubly sure,
the slav, holding states themselves were prominent
Is active il a measUre-ihe ordinance Vi l7G7-bI
wLich SIX new states were Iirst designed to be, and
five actually were, arrayed on The same side
These aided 10 the seven in which slavery had
been. or was expected to be, abolished, would
make the division in this regard, Twelve ~ six.-
The evidence We possess Of the circumstances aud
dispositions OF the times, warrants Us in assuming
that no one, II that uay, anticipated that this diller-
euce IN The respective conditions Of the states. IN
. I . r4pl 4. slayDrN VNpulN eyer he pgrrqpuus gr ueu-
trsized, by the accession To the coulederacy, Of
new slavehoiding states. Vet, IN the brief period
which has elaIs-d-we may we'll say briei, when
viewed in connection with such great results-wa
have Witnessed the addition OF nine slaveholdins,
and only three uou-slavehOitiug, states 10 the CON
ieterdcy, beyond those which were provided for
before the adoption Of the Constitution, making
them to stand fifteen to fifteen. The prtpoudeTancs
originally secured to the non-slaveholding states,
ana with the knowledge of which they assisted in
investing the institution of slavery III the states.
with the privileges and guarantees OF the Constitu-
ton, has thus been annihilated. These facts can
not be controyerted or concealed. aud When once
fully understood and appreciated By the people vi
the nOn-slaveholding states, they must haze a cOu-
trolling influence over their future course. Tina
emotions they have already excited, ought not to
surprise Intelligent and Ingenious minds in any
quarter.
but it is not the only, nor even the most repulsivs
view which we are Compelled - take vi the present
I pIe.tnslOnS OF our brethren oi the slaNeholdIng
states. Slavery IS now presented in Il livery which
1t never wore before. On every previous occasion
when there has been a conflict Of opinion in regard
10 1t, the question has only been, how far the poll
cy of 1897 should be carried out by prohibiting or
restricting the extension OF slavery ia territory
winch was, at the time, subject 10 las Introduction.
Most OF the territory Of the United States which was
thus situated, save the state OF Iowa, which was GA
Cepted oy the Missouri Compromise, has been con-
verified into slave states, and admitted into the I'm
ion as such. Now, Tor the first time, the attempts
made, 10 permit the Introduction OF slavery INTO
territories which are now free from it-,erritories
from which it was expelled, within the last fifteen
or twenty years, by the express and solemn act of
their former government and people-a govern
ment and people with whom in respect to the at
tributes of freedom, ours could not brook a COM
parison.
Nor is this its only or its worst feature. In an
nexing to our Union Texas, an extensive slave
state, covering an area capable of being formed in
10 many more such states, we became involved in u
war with Mexico, which claimed continued do
minion over that state. The territories in regard
10 which the question is now made, are among the
conquests of this war. II Is, therefore, in effect.
whatever may have been the original objects of the
war, all appeal 10 the iuhabitant, of the non-slaye-
hOldiug states, ~ sanction the extension, through
our nsirumentality, OF slavery into territories,
which the United safes have, in fact, acquired by
the sword, but which others had relieved from that
great evil. Such a proposition need only to be
stated, to ensur9 It's prompt rejection By the nom
slaveholdiug states.
Upon what grounds is it attempted to sustain a
. lllliN4 ptS 81 ioPhEhaAA ~ Jul CSihASst ~ III
live in our view, 10 our national character, and so
well calculated, If successful, 10 cloud the glory Of
this great Republic That there should be diver.
sites OF opinion and feeling upon the subject Of
slavery between US and our soGthern brethren. is
certainly natural.
The strength OF northern aversion TO the instiiu-
ton, has been recently very truly stated on tho
floor of The Senate, by a very distinguished south
ern statesman. The people Of the north could not
overcome this aversion, II they would and they
cannot desire u do SO, because they rellglously be-
lieye that the highest earthly interests OF man arc
based on its perInanency and ultimate universally.
AT the south the feeling Is very different, because
the culture Of their minds and dispositions and the
force OF habit have had an opposite tendency
This known, and for u season, at least, incurable
diversity of opinion and feeling should beget IA spir-
it of cancellation, aud lnculcate mutual toIbearance
in speech and action. This duty has doubtless
been occasionally lost sight O., on both sides but
it cannot be denied that the departure from it has
been greatest on the part OF our southern broth
rem.
No one will venture to insist that it is. at this day, .
either e~Npedieni or right to originate slavery in ter
ritories that are free from ii, if 1t can be properly
prevented. But it is insisted that this cannot ba
done in the case under consideration, and in the
form proposed. First, because the constitution does
not give Congress the power TO prohibit slavery in
the territories; aud that, consequently, the great
number of acts for that purpose which have been
passed for the last sixty years, with general assent,
were but 80 many infractiOns of the constitutions.
All will remember the solemnity and rapidity
with which state after state, at the south, in success
sion announced this doctrine, and the acrimonious
~vehemence with which their conventions denoun-
ced political prescription, in the form of exclusion
from the Offices Of President and Vice President, Of
all who refused to adopt it. But is it already appa-
rent that ditlcrencesot opinion upon this important
subject cannot be settled by vehement assumptions,
nor Cancellation in regard to it, promoted by de-.
nuncIauOn, la our country such difficulties must
be solved by appeals TO the tests provided by the
Constitution. For the recttude Of our motives, and
T fh- nGrr.nfnaEE - anr conduct Az. gna r.z,aA-.ll-
on earth, 10 the opinion of the civilized world, aud
hereafter to a power that is greater and wiser than
all.
The question Of consiitutionality, the graz
vest of al. objections that can be raised a.
galnst a public measure, has Just past the