The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-03-07

free States peculiar in sheir views on this sub
ject7 Does not the aggression come also from
another quarter, and with ten-fold force2 How
is the feeling In Kentucky, where, at recent
election, more than ten thousand votes las | am
informed) were cast in favor of complete emanci-
patton How is it in other Northern slave States
where Van Buren,, even, at the last Presidential
election, found warm supporters, and not few
votesl Now, gentlemen of the South, you cam
not prevent these things-this feeling, or senfi-
ment or whatever else you may call it-even
among the people of your own slaveholding
Suites, can you? Are you not asking too much,
then, when you require us of the North and
West to suppress il among our people2 We
could not do so if we would And if we had the
power, our refusal to exercise it would by no
means tend to Justify the destruction of this Re-
public.
Again IL is made an accusation against the free
States, that their ministers of the Gospel make
slavery a subject of pulpit disquisition, thus in
creasng the hostility already existing against
that institution. To some extent this may be the
fact, MIR. Chairman though confess that, so far
rs my own knowledge extends, such instances are
exceedingly rare. Bot what then? Can we pre-
vent THAR Ought we to try? Why, on this
point we have the authority of the gentleman
from Mississippi MIR. Brown himself, in favor
of the practice You will rec0llec', sir that after
treating us to argument Of considerable length,
designed TO show that the moral and religious
condition Of the negro is improved by his being
! held in bondnge-and after declaring that, IN his
opinion, slavery is great moral, social, point
icll, and religious blessing blessing to The
slave, and blessing to the master HE drops the
subject by saying d" Ii is no part Of my purpose
TO discuss this proposition The subject, in this
7i5r o. *, belongs Tathes;o .he relPikthen 10 the
halls Of legislation Surely, sir, he viii now
complain no more If sermons on the suiJHct nt
| slavery: aud, when be comes 10 draft the " acc
! llratiOn for the " Southern Confederacy II
trust that has not already been done)-he Will
certainly not include this as one Of the causes
which impcl us to the separation
But again 1t is charged also against the free
| States that we tolerate anti-slaycry societies
Yes, sir: we tolerate anti-slavery societes, ma
! tive American societies, temperance soclctieSi
moral reform societies. missionary societies. sew
ing societies, and possihly-though am not GER
tain-other societies Indeed, SIR we are to'erant
! towards all sorts Of societies. we are 30, nc
cause, first, we have no right 10 De intoEr'nt IN
| reference to such matters and secondly, because
| there is no necessity for mcidling with them.
W e must hunt for other canS's than this, sir, TO
! Justify dissolution of this Union
Another charge against us is, that we permit
men TO perambulte the country, lecturing on Gbo-
litionism-thus increasing the prejudice already
existing against the institution Of slavery. There
Just nOw-one who, in that way, has probably
exercised more influence in the North, than all
the other anti-slavery lecturers put together
This "man is Cassins NJ. Clay, citizen Of the
slaveholding State of Kentucky. When our South
ern friends will agree to seal his mouth on that
subject or cOnfinc his efforts to abolish slavery
to the Southern States where he belongs, it will be
time enough for us of the North to set about devil
sing some mode of combining itinerant lecturers,
or prescribing subjects for the exercise of their
eloquence. | might mention other lecturers Of
the same sort, for whom the North is indebted to
the slave States. But it is unnecessary.
1t is also made matter Of accusation against
the free States that ant-slavery presses are kept
up there and that the papers supplied by them are
circulated throughout the Northern States. and
even into the Southern and this Is enc OF the
principal causes which render il necessary TO es-
tablish Southern Confederacy," which shall
embrace just exactly the fifteen siavcholding States
and no more. We cannot deny, Mr. Chairman,
that such papers do circulate quite extensively IN
some portions of the free States, and some Of
them, probably, may be found even south Of Ma
son and Dxon's line. | have q paper of that
character on my desk now. Here it is, sir. Hold
ing it up 1t is flir-lookng paper, Mr. Chair
man. and | observe that its articles are written
with great power. But, assure you, sir, 1t Is
fearfully severe slavery. And it circulates ex-
tensively in the North, too the number not being
less, am told, than fourteen thousand weekly
besides some thousands which fad heir 'rny into
the slaveholding States. Now, can imagine that
you suppose this paper TO be published in Yer
mont You are mistaken sir Ii is not published
there, nor in Massachusetts, nor even north Of
MASON anu DlxOn's line. ~ Is published on savc
territory sir; right here in sight of this Capitol,
and almost within sound of my voice Right here,
sir. upon the very spot from which the gentleman
NJ a. ~, ,Nl 10 mt
going to he driven, because it is his sttrs terri
tDggD Yes, gentlemen of the South, from your
own midst from the very doors of your houses,
surrounded by your slave population, do you send
forth anti-slavery papers, in number more than
fourteen thousand per week, to deluge the North,
and manufacture public sentiment there. Then
Won make the circulation of these papers, and the
prevalence of a sentiment which they cannot but
engender, pretext for ovorthrowing this Govern
| ment Silence your own abolition presses; keep
| for your own use the fourteen thousand abolition
papers which you weekly distribute among the
people of the North, and then claim. IL you will,
that the existence of abolition presses in the free
| States is justification to you for dissolving the
| Union.
| remember, also, that there was another anti
slavery press in vigorous and very effective opera
ton for some time in Kentucky
Mr.. BROWN. We destroyed it.
Mr.. BISSELL. SO you did by violence. But,
| by your own laws and the decisions of your own
courts, You were punished for it, You were com
| PEELED to make compensation in damages for your
| lawlcss act. Now, ask our Southern friends, in
all good feeling, If they can justly urge as rca-
son for dissolving the Union, annoyances conse-
| quent upon "A state Of things in the free States
| which they cannot prevent at their own doorsl
We are met by the gentleman from North Car
olina with another difficulty, for which he holds
the North responsible He suggests that the in
creasing ant-slnvery sentiment in the North
will prevent the President from appointing sllve-
holders to office For the present, let single fact
allay the gentleman's fears. The Presidency has
been given to the slavehoding States during for
ty-eight of the last sixty years. And this, too,
though the white population of the slaveholding
States has rarely, if ut any time exceeded one
half that of the free States. OF the foreign mis-
sions of ali grades, more thaa miajoruy have been
given to the South OF the Cabinet appointments,
very nearly il not quite half have been given to
the South. Of the officcrs in the army and navy,
| il will he found that, considering the relative
population of the free and saveholdng States, Mt
| least three out of five have been given to the
South. How is it at this very moment, sir, while
these very complaints of outrage insults tyranny,
and loss of office, are being made2 Why, sir, the
President-a majority of the Cabinet majority
of our foreign ministers--a majority of the men,
bers of the Supreme Court and the presiding OFF,
Ger and clerk OF this HOuse-are Southern men
ana siavenoIders. Dvco -.s .h;s s".;Af,, 'he
tleman from North Carolina Surely he might,
on this subject, rest quite easy. Another diff
Guilty gravely set forth in that gentemans speech,
ought, perhaps, 10 notice with becoming serious
ness allude to the refusal of the New England
spinster to take the Southern gentleman's arm
That was wrong, unquestionably. But then,
these Yankee girls are very independent, and will
do just as they pease-as some of US have learned
from very painful personal experience But do
not think that dissolution of the Union need to
follow as a necessary consequence. 1t is a proper