Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1850-05-02

ton of the States. and for the sake OF form
I ing the Union it was permitted to continue
but this permission was so cautiously given
that neither the word Stare or stacery is to
be found in the Constitution. But while II
was thus permitted to remain where 1t was,
is it not also true that 1t was the under
standing, the settled policy OF the Govern
ment and the people, that 1t should not be
extended else why was 1t prohibited from
the whole northwest Territory! AT the
time of the adoption Of the Constitution, no
one dreamed of the acquisition OF new ter
rtory, and the power by the Constitution to
acquire it has been doubted. And now, be-
cause we are in favor of carrying out the
same policy that vas developed at the form
alton of lhe Government, gentlemen say,
" the North must stop their aggressions, or
the Union must be dissolved " The
North must give us our rights. or LEI dis
ovrd reign fUrrve,.'t, If hos,iiity ~ slave
nv is a sufficient reason for dissolving the
Union, why did it not prevent lis iorma-
ton
Bu, it is said, that there is widespread dis
content at the South; that the North is de-
grading the South; and that it is unreason-
able TO expect them to submit TO ii. Will
some gentleman tell us in what this degra-
dation consists and what the North have
done TO produce it If slavery degrades
the South, the. North are not responsible
for it, If slavery is that ennobing institu-
ton that the gentleman from Virginia Mr..
Meade) represents it to be, it cannot be de-
grading the South to speak of it. If it is
that "great moral, social, political, and re-
ligious blessing" that the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Brown) represents 1t to be,
can it be degrading 10 the South to insist
upon their keeping it all to themselves; or
a sufficient cause for dissolution of the
Union, that others are no, able to appre-
ciate this institution in the same aspect that
the gentleman does! If, as he says, he
" religiously believes that African slavery
was planted in this country through the
providence of God - instead of attempting
10 dissolve the Union, i, would be better
that he should labor tor the spread of his re-
ligious sentiments among his less enlighten-
neighbors. But, as this last is but opinion,
1t may not be presumptuous to risk coun-
ter opinion; and | should, therefore, con-
clude, that If the providence Of God planted
slavery here, it must have been the same
providence by which He gave the children
Of Israel king; it must have been in His
wrath. But, in all candor, will not gentle
men tell us what they mean by "aggress-
ion'' and " degradation" which are made to
stand as godfathers for every sentence and
sentiment they utter! Will not the gentle
man from Mississippi inform us what be
means by new acts of outrage and ag-
gression!" When it was that we threat
ened their domicls with conlagration t''-
Will he tell US when II was that we "spurn-
ed their entreaties, and Knocked the fears of
the sacred pledges Of their ove?" When
was 1t that we " committed those long years
of outrage upon their feeling" and perpe-
trated those "acts of lawess tyranny !''-
1t must have been more than fifty years ago
for the gentleman from Virginia Mr..
Meade) boasts that, for fifty years past. the
South have controlled the destinies of the
nation; and the gentleman from North Car
olina (Mr. Clingman) claims a "greatcr
increase of population, more wealth, and
less poverty and crime, in the slave States
than the Free" and that the people are
&c prosperous and happy"
But, Mr.. Chairman tLey say we must stop
talking about slavery--that great religious
blessing, that source aud promoter of hu-
man happiness. Sir, who sets US the ex-
ample! Is slavery any more sacred now
than i, was in l776! Is it any more GRIM
inal to talk about it now than it was then 7
Was Mr.. Jefferson denounced as fanatic
for denouncing slavery as crime against
humanity :"
The legislature has resolved the same
thing in relation to slavery, that Mr.. Jeffer-
son said of it in 1776; and for this gentle
men say, that the Legislature OF Vermont
has committed an aggression upon the
South, which persisted in, is good cause for
dissoving the Union. If Southern states
men held slavery in such adherence as to
afford pretext for throwing off their ale
glance to the Government that had fastened
it upon them; if it made Mr.. Jefferson
Iremble for his country when he reflected
hat God is just, may not the people of the
free States be pardoned for thinking that it
is not best TO extend this embarrassment
over our newly acquired possession Was
LII. IdiihuH StiSiHdtiZeu DIS d ,uHuttC LOT
presenting, as president of an abolition So
cicty in Pennsylvania, petition to the first
Congress that convened under the Constitu-
lion, for the abolition of Slavery in the
States where it then existed? Were the
Quakers Of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ma
ryland, aud Virginia, denounced as traitors
and enemies for petitioning the same Con-
gress for the abolition Of the slave trade p
Were MIR. Madison and Mr. Parker, of Vir-
ginia, then tainted with being fanatics, be-
cause they advocated the reference of those
petitions. and held it to be the duty of "eve-
~ member of the House to ascertain what
could be done to resiain traffic SO nefari-
ousw
1t is unnecessary to multiply quotations
from Southern statesmen, eminent for their
moral and intellectual worth, to prove that
The sentiment of the people Of the free
States is in accordance with the sentiments
Of the fathers and trainers of the Govern
nent. Will gentlemen inform us, MIR.
Chairman, why the expression of these SEN
iments, at this time, by the people of the
North, is more aggressive, or more inexcu-
'able, than the expression of the same SEN
iments at the time aud in the manner 1