Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1850-03-20

How many years must elapse betore she cuud bullc
nm sufficient navy! 10 the meantime what NOR
tiiyinp reverses might degrade her flag She would
perbaDs become 0diuus to the world, reproached and
! branded bv al! civiized powers. Her name, associ
ated by Tie event with all the wrongs imputed to
African Slavery, might become tainted name
which even The lhroDed oppressors OF other lands
would affect to abhor The Christian part Of her
populaton, becoming implicated in her supposed
crimes, would lose the little sympathy from Other
quarters which they now enjoy, and cease to exert
abroad that salutary influence which is now every
where felt. We would stand alone among nations
and like the proud Castilians, move among man.
kind disliked by all, respected only by ourselves.
Happy might we esteem ourselves it our mlsior-
tunes would end here. A lung line of frontier would
divide us from our enemy our intercourse with whom
would he, like that Of England and France, all the
more dangerous from our proximity TO each other.
Immediate neighborhood would add rancour 10 hos.
tiiy, engendered by jealousy. Wars, relentless and
exterminalng, would rage along the line only 10 Oe
ended by the exhaustion Of the parties. The ma
liqnity Of civil strife would pollnte our consecraed
battle. and around the ton. hs OF revolutionary
patriots would be heard the mutual curses Of their
sons.
"Bnt in the lowest depth lower deep
Still yawneth TO enghlph US"
We would NO, lift the veil that hangsin mercy over
the future and cunceals the awful but inevitable
conflict that would rage around the firesldes OF the
South. The heart grows faint and the head SICK
ems 10 contemplate it, Let it suffice to alInde 10 II,
and then ask what is TO be gained by dissolution
What is the great advantage for the sake of which
we would encounter all these perils Is it The IN
creased value Of slave property, or the promotion OF
the cotton interest? isit crafty The personal
ambition of thuse who advocate dlsunlonf ny no
means. There is not 10 be found within the broad
limits Of the Union one respectable politician VINO
would acknowledge such motives. Judging fiom
the professions Of those who urge the necessity o.
dissolution, il is no matter Of interest or amblIpn
The impn,aton is Indignantly repelled. 1t IS for
principles they contend, and principles which they
aege lie al the foundation, not only Oi ours but OF
all free institutions What are they?
We understand both from history and tradition
that our fathers braved the perIls OF revolutionary
conflict, not to escape paHy tax, but to settle
principle which they maintained TO be the basis oil
British freedom. It was no less than the great fun
damen,a principle that taxation and representation
should 90 together This was the great right guar
anteed in Magma Charla at hhnnyhede; and con-
firmed by every triumph Of the popular party IN
ENGLAND. that no British freeman shonld lie taxed
but by constitutional majority OF the legislative
BODY in which he should be represented. IL was
because this right was denied 10 American sui jects
Of The British Crown, that our fathers drew me
sword which they never returned 10 Inc sheatn I'LL
the same great principle conceded 10 themselves
It will not be denied that where this Is fully secur-
ed constitutional power is sometimes So used as to
ius,ify resort to evolutionary violence Interests
of such magnitude are sometimes brought noJeop-
ardy by the despotism Of majortles, that men are
justified in throwing their charities 10 the Winds,
and making their solemn appeal 10 the last arbIler
of nations. But neither in our revolutionary con-
test, nor in our present difficulties cunld any such
argument ne adduced 1t is now, as It was then,
purely question Of principle, and as such must te
decided. go:
Now il cannot be denied that the Constitution
of the United States abundantlY secures The right
of representatioa Taxation, as consequence, car
not he unfairly distributed without the sanction OF
q constitutional majority sufficient TO shield II from
the charge Of tyranny. We are not called upon,
therefore, TO vindcate the sacred right which The
revolution secured. We are neither excIudud from
the national councils nor trampled upon, IN The ad-
usiment Of the tariff. BY an INSCRIPTIONS majority
The sole ground Of all our discomfort, IS The dlsPo'
sition shown by constitutional majority 10 exclude
certain species Of property from territory belong
holders instead of being aggregated at the South,
were equally distributed over the Union, the ques-
lion would not materially change its character. II
the property were Of different kind, the principle
would still be the same. 1t would still be prop
osi,iun to exclude not the of that species OF
property, but the property itself. II Is clear that
however unwise and unjust such measure may be,
il violates no State right, because no man can emil
CRATE to those territories without leaving the States;
ahd II Violates In no degree the principle OF REPRE-
sen.aon, because every citizen and every State re-
lains in the national legislature the influence to
which it is entitled by The Constitution itself.
Freely admitting therefore that the exclusion of
slavery from the territories would be unjust, and
violative of the spirit ofmutua concession in which
our government was founded, we contend that 1t
stands in point of principle upon the same level with
many recurring instances in which m'norltles are
wronged in repres entatve governments. Shall
minority OF the people or OF the States wlihdraw
from the Union whenever their construction OF inc
Constitution is violated II not, some substantial
reason other than regard for the integrity OF lhal
Instrument would become those VINO are anxious 10
DESTROY it. Had this rule been always observed,
peneral anarchy would long since have buried in lis
Gloom the devoui hopes and cherished recolections
of Us all. But it were folly in individual to for
sake civilized society whenever it is unjust, and 1t
would be still greater madness in State to aban-
don the confederacy whenever she has cause 10 com
plain that others have violated the compact. 1t
would be like the folly ola plaintiff who should tear
up bond because the defendant refuses to pay.
But we are told that the exclusion OF slavery
from the territories would be insulting as. well as
unjust, and that we should not submit to the indg-
nifty, whatever might be the sacrifice in resisting
it. Here lies the whole difficulty of the case
The large shareholders OF The Sonah, justly iaceps
ed at the effort TO sigmaiizo the relation Of mas
Ter and slave by repeing that species Of proper
ty from the territories, and sung to the quick by
an odfous distinction implying something shameful
IN themselves, have given expression to heir indg
nation through every channel, and in the madness
of offended dignity, threatened to tear down the
temple of Liberty itself, # were needless TO seek
for any other solution Of the present state Of affairs
All our danger, has arisen from Northern aversion
to slavery, the one hand, and the towering pride
of Southern chivalry on the other. But dlsunlon
can neither diminish the one, nor appease the other
II will ever be natural for those who contemplate
slavery only at distance, and through the medium
of mauination ia huld i'm abhurrence and so long