The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1850-09-17

And this We are told Is compromise an adj
justment,-a Justification, & .Solitudincm taeiitu
racem appellant" Sure the Southwill never be
guilty of conduct so suicidal and degrading. 1t
is bad enough to bear the wrongs and calumnies
that are heaped upon us, without sanctifying
them ourselves and making them indelible. In
giving their aid and cooperation to those anti
slavery measures of our enemies, the Southern
members in Congress become themselves the
most fearful abotionists, and cruel accusers of
their country's institutions and integrity. And
this is one of the great objects Of the present
proposed compromises it is to make the South
instrumental i'll her own degradation and des-
truction. BY voting for and sustaining such
measures, (thc bill Of Mr.. Clay,) she necessarily
adopts and ratiiies the sentiments and prnci-
pies upon which they are predicuted, and thus
by her own act she places her slave property
out Of the pale of the Constitution and the pro-
tee ton of the Government, and denounces the
holding of it as an infamy and crime. What
greater victory can the Free-soilers desire than
this! What broader foundation for their future
oper,t ions! a
Thus much, gentlemen, j have felt bound to
say in spirit of frankness and freedom, and
with profound solicitude to advise only those
things which may be for the benefit of our com
mon country Viewing all compromises viola
cannot yield my assent to any; and ] am free to
confess that Iwou.d be ms ready to take up arms
| Tomorrow against the Missouri Compromise as
against any other, whose boosted purpose should
be the subycrsiOn of our rights and the degrade
| ton Of urcharacter. Nocompromse can ever be
intended for our good. We desire none. Give
us the Constitution and we ask no more. We
do not wish the North to surrender to us any OF
her fundamental rights; and why should we sur
render any of ours to her? That which she so
| imperiousy demands of us, is not pretended to
be necessary to her interest, prosperity and well
fare-t is demanded merely as a concession to
her Infatuated fanaticism and arrogant ass,mp
lion of moral superiority. And shall the sacr-
flee be made? God forbid.
! consider, gentlemen, the condition of the
South as eminenty perilous, embarrassing and
painful 1t is impossible to contemplate it with
out feelings of horror and dread, amounting al
most to despair Not only her prosperity and
happiness, but her very existence is identified
with an institution which it is impossible that
she can surrender, or even permit to be touched
| by the savage hand of fanaticsm without inyol-
wing her in a train of calamties which the imagi-
| nation cannot easily conceive nor the pen de-
scribe; and yet against this very institution the
whole world is colleagued and is now prosecu-
ting an unrelenting war, as if no misery nor life,
nor ruin were involved in its overthrow. Be-
hold her begirt by foes; assaiIed by every hand
and calmnniated by every tongue.
There may be some apology for foreign de-
nunciation but what possible excuse or pallii-
ton can be rendered for the frightful persecution
of those who are united with her in tic same
government; WHO have long prospered upon the
faults Of her industry: who have never received
from her even the shadow Of Il wrong, and who
arc bound by every obligation that man can con
tract or honor impose, to succor and sustain her
Ito respect and yin!icatc her rights as their
own, and to rejoice in her prosperity and happi-
ness! These were the promises OF the Union
and yet in the very face Of all solemn Pledges of
peace, friendship and security on the part Of the
| Northern States, they have never rested day or
nightin their fuatcal pursuit of our destruction,
as il this wore the sole delight Of their existence
and the only reason of their connection with us.
Every energy of the mind and soul is brought
into active operation against the South. The
press, the pulpit, the colleges and schools and in
deed all the institutions of the North are made to
mitigate to this great malignant end, and are con
tinually sending forth their stygean stream, Of
fillshooj, yituperation and SANDER Even tho
women and children are taught in their daily
prayers to invoke, with the spirit Of Puritan
and the ostentation of n Pharisee the maledic-
/ ton of heaven upon orr heads so that this
/ Union, which was intended to be shield and
! bulwark to every saction--which was expected
to make of the States political Pleiades, shin
| ing together in harmonious brotherhood has now
assumed the aspect and character ola ferocious
confederation of malignant powers for our utter
ruin and desolation.
Nor is the South exempt from insiduous foes
in the bosom of her own society. Her arch
| enemies have their agents and emssaries every
where scattered through the country, whose
duty it is to preach the virtues of submission
| and to depict the horrors of resistance In their
estimation the greatest patriotism is a patient
| resignation to injury and the highest of all pos
| sible enormities is selfprotcction. The better
| to secure our confidence and to practice upon
our eredulity, they unite with us in our denun-
Citations of sthe abolitionists" and say that we
have many just causes of complaint against the
Northern States; but as soon rs the slightest
allusion is made to the necessity of some action
on the part Of the South the cry of disunion is
raised and without proposing any remedy them
selves, for acknowledged grievances, they OPP
pose every measure suggested by others. If in
defiance of their clamors the faithful patriot shall
still persist in demanding redress he is at once
denounced for disunionist and marked for
prescription. No wonder then, under these cir
cumstances, that the cause of the South should
ianE uSH NllIln ner OWN DOuHdaFleS, anu lilaL
many of her sons should be found in the ranks
of her foes; for in those ranks, there is not only
safety but also fortune and promotion--gold for
the bastard and a station for the traitor.-Do-
nestle Esaus they sell their birth right for
mess of pottage.
This is certainly deplorable condition for
free people. 1t is well calculated to try the souls
of men. If all hope have not forsaken the
South, it is because her reliance is in the justice
of a righteous Providence, and in the integrity
of her principles and purposes. 1t is to be hoped
that she has too much virtue to despair. But
where lies the path of safety Shall we appeal
to the great written charter of American free
dom! This she has already DONE and found it
waste paper, bu The ghost Of a dead Constitution
Shall she appeal to the honor, humanity and
justice OF her prosecutors? This too, she has
already done, and was spurned from their pre-
sence with indignity and scorn. They but
Knocked at her calamity and rejoiced at the pros
pcct of her speedy destruction. Thus surrounded
and hunted down by the deadliest of all foes
the hell-hounds of fanaticsm and harpics of fac
: tion--thc question naturally arises what is her