Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1849-08-20
For THE VINDIcAToR.
THE 'sSPECTATORo AND UANTI-
'LIEUTENANT' BENTON.D

Although highly respecting the very estima
PIE gentlemen who conduct the Spectator it
liae ~ seioon been my good fortune to meet any
'r,icie OF a political character in its columns
winch could, In the main, approve, that can
lot i.llain from selzlng an occasion to congratu-
late us editors upon the very valuable aconisi.
ton they have made in the pen of "Anti-T len
tenant Bentonu
Will not stop to bestow upon his STYLE tho
hish commendation it deserves, nor stay TO criti-
clss passages OF miner importance; which con-
tam sentiments, to which, perhaps, could NOT
lully subscribe. My object is 10 express nv biob
appreciation of the generous impulses which
nave induced him, Wing though he be. to render
tne just tribute which is due to the great cham.
Pioh OF Southern rights, aud to thank him for The
happy manner In which he has contrasted the
llopie oeVo,lon OF MIR. Calhoun to Southern in
i n, WIN the base deserton OF them by Col.
benton; thereby increasing our admiration for
the one and our detestation ofthe other ~
Nf. calhoun long ago discovered that the nros.
pefHy OF the South depended upon a strict con-
ssfucllon OF the Constitution-he knew that if its
le!tef was abandoned, and our legislators ner-
illlt.ea TO launch forth into the boundess sea of
CONJECTURE, the bests interests of the South wopld
De endangered and perhaps shpwrecled The
ark OF safety to which he has always cunp has
peen the constitution, and it is to 1t that he still
looks, now that the turbulent waves of fanaticisn
I see.n threatening TO overwhelm and engulf our
pest hopes: He long ago saw that. in a few
H LIS sie oou1h would be in a minority in the
Halls OF our National Legislature. and that then
the only restraint upon hostile power wnnld he
LAW. With these views he shaped his political
e eoufse@hence sprang his opposition to a United
states Bank, high Protective Tariff. a general
system OF Internal improvement by the Federal
Government, the Distribution among the States
o . 'he proceeds OF the Public Lands and lastly.
from hence arose his objections to an informed,
oi,ng on the part of Congress with Slavery. in
any form: From the very first he has acted nm.
on 1he safe maxim of "Obsta Princip;is;u he
has resisted the foul fend of abolitionism' in ey
cry shape IN which 1t has presented itself; he
struggled against 1t at the threshold, he now bat
eies WIN u on our very "reminiscences & but lately
we see him bruising the head of an ado 70 saa
e, 70 sung the bosom which warmed it into life
Had Southern men always supported him with
generous enthusiasm; had there been no defec-
tion m our own ranks, had there been no VOTING
On the part OF our Representatives for the reneal
OF the 2lst Rule; no election of Winthrop Proviso
men to the Speakership of the House Of Renre,
sehtatlves; no GOODNESS or apathy such as is OK.
hlDited by the editors Of the Spectator. who weld
principle and content themselves with shrine
!. 7, over as an abstraction, though the action Of
Congress upon it may determine the whole f1-
tnre policy OF the Federal Government on the
suplec! OF slaVe-lerntory, and emboden the ab
eil 70 make further aggressions upon
slavery. Had none of us ever been opiltv of
such lndlscretlons, the South would have CON
tinued respected; her rights would have remain
eo intact ana unquestioned, and thoughts of dis.
union would have existed only in the dreams of
And yet this great man, the oil of whose life
mas been consumed in lighting the South in the
path OF her best interests, and who. true to b;s
instincts, will breathe his latest ASPIRATIONS to
Heaven tn behalf of the soil beneath whose ar
dent suns were kindled the fires of his genius.
is sneered at as an s'alarmist,' with much The
same justice as would be extended to the yiqilant
, Ma'chman' VINO, upon arousing the inmates of
ouiili19 mousse should receive curses for his
pains, and a kick for his kindness trust that
these "bhnd guides" who discern notb;na Int
madness III MIR. Calhoun's method. and who. ike
the Queen IN Hamlet, Clay the flatterine unc-
tion 10 their souls'' that the dangers which he
mas pointed out are bu. "the very coinage of his
wiki ere 1t is too late, receive their sirht
and repair their errors That, like the blind man
OF whom we read, their cure will be effected
through the fundamentally of Clay there isnow
no hope. wa 'Ne'' 10 'io"
AND tins brings me to consider the doubts
winch the Spectator entertains as to how othe
democrats will take the pungent severity of its
correspondent npon Col Benton.o answer
as have before intimated we ike # mncb t9N ~
of the Spectator has bnt to;van
The Devil his due" and we would recommend to
the Spectator, who, no doubt, approves of s.pun-
gent severity" when properly applied, to set its
wits TO work and supply the unfortunate ou1is-
SION OF Its spondentf who, generous, though
he was, could not SO fur forget his Whigerv rs 10
remember Mr.. Clay;) by publishing the late letter
OF that distinguished Wing approving of the Or
diaance of '87, better known at the present dav.
as the Wilmot proviso, and adding such npun..
gently severe" critique upon his desertion of the
South as will remove all doubts as to its own po-
sltlon, and prove highly gratifying to all lovers
OF FAIR PLAY.
N: B.-l had, at this point brought nv COM
to close; but upon further consider
ing the late editorial Of the Spectator, cannot
refrain from making some exposure of its incop
slsiencles The Spectator still considers the
w lllnot provlso IAN abstraction," and still en-
tertalns "doubts" as to its unconstitutional;ty
and yet INDUCES in the hope that should Con,
gress ever apply it to our new Territories, Gen.
Taylor will veto the Bill. Can it be possible.
that the Spectator would recommend to General
laylor the QniXotc course of drawing from its
we We're promised it should
rust-the "kingly" weapon of the veto to thrust
It thro' an airy abstraction Or can it be posi-
Oh th ma 1t expects Gen. Taylor who promised
that 'the will of the people as expressed bv their
Representatives. should be the law of the land
save when measures were "clearly unconstitu,
tlonal," ito exercise the veto upon a measure
which the Spectator says is by no means scearly
unconstitutional 2" Does the Spectator apply to
81 o nayl9g the maxim 3ls,in .o asm
and suppose, because he has violated e we
pledge ne made touching prescription, he must
therefore, give us another evidence Of npun;c
ialth' IN the exercise of the veto. The specta.
tor to must surely do the President injustice. But
I pa1b spectator aludes disapprovingly to Mr..
Folks signing the Oregon Bill containing the
Wlmot ,Ptroyiso; with what grace it does so I
cannot discover. The Spectator is sufficiently
u s. by an "argumentum ad hominem 5,
II Inc Wilmot Proviso be not E'clearly unconsti-