Weekly national intelligencer., 1850-02-09

After statiheseveral hypotheses and suggestions
upon which the e.4ire emancipation OF the slave
population OF the South might come to be brought
about, without the Of the States in which
exists. and portrayng, in language not too ssong,
the frighu horrors Of the reality Of such dream,
the Address concludes its gloomy Vaccinations, and
its array of alleged probabilities that are mostly m
possible, with the following paragraphs:
GAS the assaled, you would stand justified by all laws
human and divine in repelng blow so dangerous with
out looking to consequences, and all
cessary for that purpose Your assaants and not you
4 would be responsible for consequences.
Entertaining these opinions earnestly entreat you
to be united and for that purpose adopt all necessary
sures. Beyond this think would not be proper to 90
/ at present.
'We hope, ifyou should unite with any thing like unan
nifty, may of itself appy remedy this deep-seaed and
dangerous disease but such should be the case the
time will then have for you decide what course to
adopt" Fl,
This Address, we have heretofore stated was
adopted by nothing like unanimous vote. There
were present. at the earlier meetings Of the Southern
Senators and Representatives with whom this Ad-
dress originated, as many eighty gentlemen.
On the question Of the adoption Of the Address the
vote stood, yeas 40, nays II; so that, reckoning
\
or indifferent to the issuing of this Address, it re-
ceived less than majority Of the votes of those
who were present during the intermediate stages Of
its existence. It is but fair to state, however, that
the opposition to the adoption Of the Address can
hardly be considered evidence of hostility to its
principles, but rather to the time, Manner and place
of the movement, and perhaps to its supposed ulte-
rior objects.
Though we have produced the preceding sum-
mary of the Address with no intention Of reviewing
il, but solely for the purpose Of possessing our
readers Of its leading points, some reflections have
occurred to us, whilst perusing it. which we shall
4 be pardoned for giving uterance to.
4 The first thing which struck US, as it must do
every reader whose attention is called to it, is the
acknowledgment with which it sets out, that the
confct-the character Of which it is the object of
the Address TO represent to the People of the South
as not only progressive but aggressive 10 an alarm
4 ing extent-this conflict" the theme Of the Ad-
dress, has not grown out Of the Constitution Of the
United States but out of natural causes, which have
been in operation since the Creation. The con-
fict'' began before the Constitution was formed !;
the Constitution is, therefore, by confession of the
compainants, released from any responsibility for
4 it. The "confict'' would have equally existed
had the States remained Provinces of Great Britain
1 or had the Western World never been peopled from
the Eastern.
The second thing worthy of remark is, that, in
this grave recital Of grievances of the South, for
which the remedy of Southern Confederacy is
proposed by some, and Dissolution of the Union
by other of the presses and agitators in the
Southern States, no complaint is made of any in
jury actually done to the South by the authority Of
| the Government of the United States. On that
head we have indeed doubts, suspicious, apprehen-
ons, and speeuations, in the Address, but no facts
The United States Qhe Union) has trespassed
on no rights of the South If the Missouri COM
promise be cited as an exception, it is an obvious
answer that the result Of that compromise ra-
her enlarged the arghts Of the South (by extend
ing them over acquired territory than constrained
them within narrower bounds. Were it otherwise,
however, and could the Missouri compromise be
tortured into an aggression by the General Gov
ernment' it must, after an interval of thirty years
Of acquescence, be justly considered as barred by
the statute of limitations.
The \" aggressions " charged against the Govern
ments and People of the Northern States, how
ever, are not merely ideal. These aggressions
naturally divide themselves into two classes-the
first, Legislative and Administrative the second,
individual, sentimental. and moral
The first of these classes, having something sub
stantla and tangible in il. and in which the South
really has cause of complaint against the NORTH
though by no means to the extent to which it is
averred-we devote brief space to the examina-
| ton of it.
| Uhat haze the Free States done, of aehich the
Southern States complain?
They have repealed, it is said, all their laws which
aided the re-capture Of fugitive slaves. Are they
censurable for this! In the Prigg vs. Penn
syvania, in the Supreme Court ofthe United States,
Judge Story, who delivered the Opinion of ma
jority of the Judges, which was Of course the de-
cision Of the Court said:
The remaining question is, whether the power
of legislation upon this subject is exclusive in the
National Government or concurrent in the States
until it is exercised by Congress- In our opinion
at is erclusiue," &c. !" In the next place, the
nature of the provision, and the objects to be at
Stained by it, require that it should be controlled
by one and the same will, and act uniformly by
the same system of regulations throughout the
Union. If then, the States have right, in the
absence Of Legislation by Congress, to act upon
the subject each State is at liberty to prescribe
just such regulations as suit its own policy, local
convenience, and local feelings. The legislation
OF one State may not only be different from, but
4 Ell