Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1850-03-29

only idle, but unpnilosophical and unstates mar
like, either to construct an argument on the
obligations" imposed.by the Constitution with
ou' considering this pervadng sentiment, or to
attempt 10 deny or REMOVE it. It's fixed and
enncntIy progressive 1t is entitled to respect
and consideration, because it will assuredly
make itself ielt Statesmen, it appears to us, are
under special obligations" to look at, and ar.
que and IegisIate upon, things as they are.'
Mr.. CALHOUN himself, in reply to Mr.. WEB.
srEn's elaborate complaint against the North
for not denying their Goa" by aiding in the
capture Of Slaves, and his declaration that he
should vote for Mr.. Mason's stringent law on
the subject, said emphaicaly that he hal no
confdenc; IN s0ci laUs-thH they ,cere utterly
useless, mere dead i9uer, unless The Northern
people w0uM cj.opera'c in enforcing them. lie
was right about it, and he reasoned like true
philosopher and Statesman. Mr.. WEBsTEa
knew, as lie knows now, that the people Of the
North, as we have said before, WILL not do any
such thing aud he also knows, and onght to
hive said, that it is Nor because his constituents
whose ancestors were the first martyrs in the
cause of American Liberty, and hundreds of
thousands Of whom now live where the first
rays Of the morning sun are reflected to them
from the granite summit of Bunker Illl,-t is
NIT because THEY disregard or conemn the
Constitution and the Union. The Union con-
tlins no more firm and abiding friends of both
within its limits. 1t is because the great law
of ~ Hcdual morality, the contrun! sense of
inHrMuql responsibility to a higher tribunal
than any mere political compact can be. and the
invincible but wholesome despotsm of PrBLlc
OPINION, are all arraycd against the institution
of human save'y itself! Convince the North
(what the South itself does not believc) ;hat
Slavery is right and Just, and "fugitive slave
would be restored to his owner precisely as ex:
peditiousy as fugitive horse. While the CON.
trary sentiment prevails and groOs, it is a sha-
low form of folly and defamation to talk loud
ly and bravely about their obligations" under
the Constitution.
The question of Slavery is not one of Pc
will expediency like Tariff, The North
ndusubmit as she has submitted, to see her
the stry crippled and her prosperity clouded, by
an enactment of Southern Free Trade vagaries,
without threatening to "dssolve the Union. y
She leaves that description of patriotism" to
multiplying South Carolina. She submits to the
Constitution and the Laws, though her pockets
are drained, and the streams which replenish
them cut off. But wise men will do well to
look square in the face, and act upon, the sub.
stantial truth that she WILL NOT PASS LAWS, NOR
OTHERWISE VOLUNTARILY COOPERATE, TO DEs-
TROY OR ABRIDGE THE NATURAL AND IyDEFEAs-
IBLE RIGHT WHICH EVERY HUMAN BEING on
EARTH HAS TO PERSONAL LIBERTY, UNTIL THAT
RIGHT Is FORFEITED BIZ THE CRIMINAL ACTS OF
ITS PossEssoR.
Now this we believe 10 be true-the exac,
condition Of PUBLIC OPINION, at the North OIL
the subject Of restoring escaped slaves. however
m Ich may be SqM about what the North ouoll
to do in the pr'mises. The ve-y men who be-
wall the " bad faith of the North on the subject
of restoring fugitive slaves, would, nine-tenths
Of them at any rate, cut off their arms about as
soon as use them to arrest and send back to
slavery poor fugitive from it Where, then,
is the sense, or justice even, Of asserting duty
on the part of the North, that the North cannot
be induced to regard as duty, or to perform
The South will neyer be coptout With fulfil
mept of our obligations
) "That keeps the word promise to the ear
and breaks 1t to the hope :"
And they would Justly despise us if we were
to fill our Statute Books with laws that Public
Opinion would render utterly impossible to
be emf creed
Gov SEWARD views this question as il is
He States the undenabe fact of things. And
in this he acts like true PRAC rICAL STATES
MAN. He confronts the South with the aetna
and irreversible public sentiment of the North
lie does it without taunting or reproach, but
kindly earnestly, firmly, because he knows it
is THE TRUTH. IL is behind no man in respect
for, and attachment to the Constitution His
whole speech proves this. His glowing pre-
dicton of the high destiny of this UNITED Re-
public, in cyzng and enlightening the earth
is based alone on the perpetual UNION OF THE
STATEs-on the peaceful, harmonious and un.
disturbed Sovereignty of THIS UNION over the
magnificent Empire which extends from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. Time will work for
, him the reward which may be denied by the ten
porising and timid politicians of the day