Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1850-08-17
From the Crescent.
The Position of MIR. SOule.

From the Crescent.
The Position of Mr. SOule.
This gentleman belongs to the party who
hold as one of their cardinal principles, the
obedience of the Representative to the opinions
of his constituents. 1t is fair to Judge HIM by
his own standard, to try him in his own tribu-
nal and by his own tavorite principles. The
great majority of the people of this State are
in favor OF the Compromise. This fact we think
no reasonable mar can doubt. Not a SINCE
paper has taken sides against it. The Delta,
with all its tendencies, ard its tlattery of MIR.
SouIe frop his solitary shirt, to his eloquent Pc
r%ora'ion, has not openly approved Of his opposi-
ton to that measure viii e the other presses.
have expressed disapprovai Of his course, ara
commended the conduct of his colleague. Is
Mr.. Soule a faithful representative, according
to his own creed? Does his series OF votes
against the Compromise, represent the views
and express the wishes Of Louisiana! If so,
Mr.. Downs betrayed his trust, for he voted in
direct opposition to Mr.. Soule throughout.
We concede to Mr.. Soule superior oratorical
and theatrical powers. Before a French jury
of his own selection, in a criminal case, he is
unrivalled. As a civilian, he is highly respec-
table. But as an American statesman, he falls
far below the level of ordinary American poll
%ticians. The nature of our complicated Gov
ernment; the delicate re atoms between the
State and Federal powers, like the idioms or
accent of a language, can never be acquired by
the foreigner. No two minds are more unlike
than those of Calhoun and Soule. The Amer
lean was a subtle reasoner, who, if he had d.
rected his powers to metaphysics, would have
produced work to rank with Kent, or Reid, or
Stewart. He never INDUCED a smile, or an
illustration. His speeches are among the best
specimens of severe logic in the language.
The Frenchman on the other hand, deals in
fnery and splendor. His speeches remind one
of a fancy shop in Charles street, gilttering,
but giIded, very pretty and very cheap. 1t is
beautiful defamation not close reasoning. He
is familiar with the commentaries on the French
Codes: he is not master of Constitutional law.
Would Mr.. Downs ever have been guilty Of adj
yaneing the opinion that the admission Of Cal
liar.ia, gave to the new State the public do
main I! Mr.. Webster kindly instructed MIR.
Souie, and We hope he will profit by the lesson.
In his recent speech, he makes use OF some
remarkable expressions. In the event OF a
civil war, he will take no part; so equally bal
aneed are the conflicting duties to the Slate
which has made him Il Senator, and to the Uni
ted States which first made him a citizen, that
he will not take up arms against either. He is
the leader ofthe Southern section, his eloquent
voice has been heard diseoursing OF Northern
aggressions'' and "Southern submission."-
The passage of the Compromise bill is "to
drive the South to the wall" Downs and
Foote counsel its acceptance; he repels it with
scorn. Yet when the war breaks out, which
his prophetic vision sees in the future, he is to
retreat. Is this chivalry9 1t reminds one of
| fha Militia f,nt,ip y,-bn n n Tho oro of hafflo
harangued his troops valorously, and then told
them, that as he was a little lame he would stop
behind the barn, and in, case of defeat they
were to rally around his white feather s
@Yet. sir. bad as I think this measure, disas-
trous as Will be the consequence, and strenu-
ously as | may struggle against it while it is
open to debate, my opposition 10, it will end
here. I may think no less of the wrong it
occasions, the injury it inf'icts, the oppression it
menaces, and the dismemberment thai awaits
it; but whenever that OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES be.
yond this Chamber, and reacfesafae point Of
collision and rapture. a deep sense Of all l oVe
mn adapted country wiH bid me abstain from 1t,
and leare its fate to its natiue sons and to that
aL-uise Providence that holds in his hands the
destinies Of Nations"
Here is a foreshadowed flight, a second re-
turn to France.
1t is sometimes well to contrast different
epochs in the life of a Statesman. We will
recall the sentiments Of MIR. Sou!e twenty-five
years ago. We take an extract from the straw
els through North America in the year 1925
'26, by his highness Bernhard, Duke Of SAKE
Weimar.' This work was received with much
favor in this country, and extensively cireula-
ted. He passed the greater part Of the winter
of '25-'26 in New Orleans, and his description
of the city at that time, and of the state of So
ciety is very entertaining.
He thus speaks of Mr.. Soule:
"a young lawyer from Paris, Of the name of
Soule, paid me a visit. He was involved in un-
pleasant circumstances in his native country on
aceouat Of some liberal publications which he
had made against The Jesuits in the newspapers.
On this account, he, full ofliberal ideas, had left
his home and gone to Hayti, with recommends
tory letters from Bishop Gregorie to President
Boyer! There, however, he found the state of
things widely different from what he had fan
cied them at home. The consequence was he
had come to the United States, and he now can
didly confessed that he was completely aroused
from his fine dream Of liberty"
The SOUTHERN REPUBLIC IN ALLIANCE WITH
MEx1co.-The Washington correspondent, ain
dependent" Of the Philadelphia North Ameri-
80 "E a.E& -. |