The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-08-13

| that Union to which she has looked as source
Of happiness and honor, shall be converted into
an INSTRUMENT Of degradation and oppression
| And now when plan was brought forward in
Congress, whose principal elements were in
direct contravention to this most public, solemn
and official declaration of Virginia, an attempt
is made in a Virginia paper by nameiess ''id'-
uiduci, of liability and distinction" to prove
that the Senators Of Virginia, in opposing that
plan, did not represent the opinions of the State
and this without offering one particle OF evl-
dence to prove that her opinion as already de-
clared, had changed!
| The only argument is, that the Senators OF
Virginia ought not to have opposed a measure
in opposition to the declared opinion of the
State because Abolitionists opposed it also !.
This is the Eost remarkable specimen of the
art Of sinking in logic we have ever seen.
| We are aware that most desperate attempt
has been made, by some who thought they were
the political managers Of Virginia, to get her to
back out, or sneak out of the position she had
so honorably and nobly taken. Her rights and
her character were to be sacrificed to the success
of party--not to preserve the Union. The
scheme has not succeeded, but the attempt has
produced for time some perplexity and hes-
fancy among portion of her people. But there
never has been any expression Of opinion, pub
lie, private or popular, abandoning the grounds
she has taken and now stands on before the
world
But whilst this scheme has not succeeded in
demoralizing the people of Virginia, it has pro-
duced immense mischief here The North has
been deluded into the notion that Virginia would
submit, and has demanded accordingly This
has endangered the Union and now endangers
it. For nothing is more true than what the
Legislature of Virginia says, that the spirit in
which the Union was formed, is that alone by
which it can be preserved And this is the
spirit of justice, to which each State must
adhere.
JOHN RAsDoLPH once said that the Common
wealth Of Virginia had done more to restrain the
Federal Government within Constitutional limits
than all the restrictive clauses Of the Federal
Constitution. But when the story was told here
that Virginia would not NOE resist an attempt to
perpetrate the most stupendous act OF Federal
aggression ever attempted--the Nor h assumed
q tone of arrogance and extravaganza never
known before The senators of Virginia how
ever, have never been misled or inundated by
the articles and denunciations employed to
render Virginia at once an accomplice and a
victim Of Federal tyranny. They have main
tanned her position with an ability, dignity and
firnness worthy ofthe best days of the renown-
ed old Commonwealth, and when they return to
give an account of their stewardship, will scatter
their enemies like chaff.
~ The California bill passed to engrossmcnt
yesterday in the Senate, by vote of SO to 10,
with the limits claimed by its Convention I'M
changed. m
Powerful arguments were made by Senators
SoULE and BERRrEN, in which these monstrous
assumptions of power on the part OF that people
were unveiled and exposed-but in vain---the
majority were deaf to the voice of reason or of
warning. ~
The country owes debt of gratitude to
these gallant champions for fighting against this
iniguitous measure to the last. We hope soon
to be able to lay these powerful speeches before
our readers.
In the course of Mr.. SoULE's remarks, per-
sonal controversy took place between himself
aud Senator FooTE, who undertook to read him
lecture but came off second best in the en-
counter, Mr.. SouLE's powers of retort, when
provoked, being fully equal to his eloquence.
We imagine that few will undertake to repeat
a similar experiment with him-thongh no one
in the Senate is more uniformly courteous than
he. }H ES
Mr.. BERRIEN also deprecated with much Dig
nifty the practice of censorship which had been
resorted to in the Senate, and in the course of
his argument demolished completely the hypo-
critical pretext of the pretended friends of Cali
fornia, who sought now to secure her admission
as State, on the ground of the previous refusal
of Congress to afford her Territorial Govern
ment-when that omission was their own act,
Now, they were willing to grant State Gov
eminent, because of their own adoption in their
constitution of the measure, the anxiety for
which had prompted the former refusal to act
Those who voted for the BILL were:
Messrs Baldwin, Bsn, Benton, Bradbury,
Bright, Cass, Chase, Cooper, Davis of Massa-
chusetts, Dickinson, Dodge of Wisconsin, Dodge
of Iowa. Douglas, Ewing, Felch, Greene, Hale,
Hamlin, Houston, Miller, Norris, Phelps, Seward,
Shields, Smith, Sruance, Sturgeon, Underwood,
Upham, Wales Walker, Winthrop, Whitcomb.
30
Those who voted against it,
Messrs. Atchson, Barnwell Berrien, Butler,
Clemens, Davis, Of Miss, Dawson, Downs,
Foote, Hunter, King, Mason, Morton, Pratt,
Rusk, Sebastian, Soule, Turney, Yulee.--l9
Stealing
Within the last two or three months a num-
Der of slaves of Senator MoRTos, and of Messrs.