Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1850-03-14

interior towns whence the recruits are sent 10 the
general depot for instruction. and finally disrib-
uted to the southern and western posts according
to the wants of the service"
Yes, Sir, our northern freemen have always
filled the ranks of the regular army. The south
has lent US the gentlemen to wear the epauetts
and the sword; 10 take command of our troops, to
lead them to southern and southwestern climates
to fight the frontier battles, and whien your fields
with their bones.
| l am opposed to the diffusion Of slavery, be-
cause conhning it within its present limits will
bring the States themselves TO its gradual aboli-
tlon Let this disease spread. and though it will
render the whole body eprous and loathsome.
yet 1t will long survive. Confine it, and like the
cancer that is tending to the heart, it must be
eradlcated or it will eat out the vals. The SOON
er the patient is convinced Of this the sooner he
will procure the healing operation.
The learned and able gentleman from Virginia,
! (Nlr. Meade,) in pamphlet which he laid upon
our table, takes the same view of it. He says,
-" Virginia has stare population Of near halt a
maltion, whose ualue is chiefly dependent on South
ern demand" Let US pause moment over this
humia,ing confession. In plain English; what
does it mean That Virginia is now only fit to
be the breeder, not the employer of slaves. That
she is reduced to the condition that her proud chiv
airy are compelled to turn slave traders for live
iihood! Instead of attempting to renovate the
soil, and by their own honest labor compelling the
earth to yield her abundance; instead of seeking
for the best breed of cattle and horses TO feed on
her hills and valleys and fertalize the land, the
sons of that great State must devote their time to
selecting and grooming the most lusty sires and
the most fruitful wenches, to supply the slave bar
racoons of the South And the learned gentle
man pathetically laments that the profits of this
genteel traffic will be greatly essened by the Cir
transcription of slavery This is his picture, not
mine.
The same gentleman says in the same speech,
II aCe intend TO submit 10 the policy OF cOnfn9nS
the Slaues aoithin their present limits, noe should
commence Jorthacih the ozark Of gradual emdnctpa
ton: it IS an easier cork for as than for chH
dren" The eloquent gentleman from Alabama,
(Mr. Hilliard) is of the same opinion. He said
We mast make ap minds either to resist the
fnterdaclon Of The progress Of slauery, to submit
to an organic change our Institutions" Yes,
sir this admitted result is to my mind, one Of the
most agreeable consequences Of the legitimate re-
strlction of slavery. Confne this malady within
lis present limits. Surround ii by Gordon of
freemen that II como! spread, and in less than
twenty five years every slave holding State in The
Union VIII have on its statute books law for the
gradual and final extinction of slavery. Then
will have been consummated the fondest wish
of every patriots heart. Then will our fair coun-
try be glorious indeed and be to posterity bright
example OF the true principles OF government-of
universal freedom
| am opposed TO the extension Of slavery into
territories now free, for still graver reasons-be
cause am opposed TO despotism throughout the
world ! admit that this Government cannot preach
crusade OF liberty into other states and nations
much as she abhors tyrants and tyranny. There
she can only mourn over lis existence. But when
the question Of government is within her own con-
troll, and she permits despotlsm 10 exist, and aids
its diffusion she is responsible for in the face of
the civilized world, and before the God ofLiberty
In my judgment not only the slave States but the
general government, recognizing and aiding as it
does slavery, is despotsm do not the
word in a declamatory, but strictly legal signifca-
ton. That government is despotic where the ru-
lers govern subjects by their own mere will-'by
DEGREES and laws emanating from their uncon
trolled will, in the enactment and extension of
which the ruled have no voice, and under which
they have no rights, except at the will of the ru-
lers. Despotsm does not depend upon the num-
be. OF the rulers, the number of the subjects.
II may have one ruler or many. Rome was des-
pOtism under Nero she was under the irum-
virate. Athens was despotsm under her thirty
tvrants; under her four hundred tyrants under
her three thousand tyrants. 1t has been generally
observed that desPotiSm increases in severity with
the number of despots the responsibility is more
divided and the claims more numerous The |
trumvirs each demanded his victims The small |
Ter the number of subjects in proportion 10 the ty-
ranls the more cruel the oppression, because the |
less danger from rebellion. In this Government, |
the free white citizens are the rulers-the sover- !
eigns as we delight to to be called. A Il others |
are subjects. There are, perhaps, some sixteen
or seventeen millions Of soveregns, and some four
millions OF subjects.
The rulers and the ruled are Of all colors, from
the clear white Of the Caucasian tribes to the
swar,hy Ethiopian. The former, by courtesy are
called white. The latter black. In this govern
ment The subject has no rights social, POLITICAL or
personal. He has no voice in the laws which
govern him. He can hold no property. His very
wife and children are not his. His labor is anoth-
er's He. and all that pertains to him, the
absolute property of his rulers He is governed,
bought, sold punished, executed, by laws TO which
he never gave his assent and by rulers whom he
never chose. He is not a serf, merely with halt
the rights Of men like the subjects of despoc Rus
sia; but naked slave, stripped Of every night
which God and nature gave him, and which the
high spirit of our revolution declared nalienable-
which he himself could not surrender. and which
man could not take from him. l.. he not then the
subject Of despoiic sway
The slaves OF Athens and Rome were Tree in
comparison. They had some rights could ac-
ouire some property; could choose their own mas
ters, and purchase their own freedom; and when
free could rise to social and political life The
slaves of America then lie under the most absolute
and grinding despotsm that the world ever saw.
But who are the despots The rulers OF the coun-
uy-the sovereign people, Not merely the slave
holder who cracks the lash He is but the insru-