The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1850-12-22
General Cass's Letter.
WASHINGTON. December Q.

WAsHIHGToS, December Q. 1880.
/ GENTLEMEN thank you for remembering me amonl
those TO be invited TO the Union meeting, proposed to
held al Bath the 10th instant because il is an accepa
BILE assurance your part that you consider my senii
ments in unison with your in this perious crisis o
our national affairs And you do; me bat justice for be
/ eve the danger is imminent and il not avered by wis
counses and patriotic conduct that i will separate TN
coniederacy-into how many fragments God only knows
as He alone knows the extent Of the calamites which ar
sure to oyertake them.
i Strange doctrines abroad and strange remedies
are abroad for existing evils Sectional feelings hay
been excited. and with an asperity heretofore un
known, even in this land Of political agitation. A
constitution, OF whose extent and obligations ever,
man is 10 judge for HIMSELF are gravely held out Z
the American people as offering the only means
escape Tor our country, not from misfortune pollicg
or material, hut from state OF prosperity without
parallel In the history OF nationsa dissolution Of th'
Union or Union which would leave every individual
at full liberty 10 reject his constitutional duties ant
with them all constitutional restraints. II was 10 bs
hoped that the compromise measures adopted at iht
last session Of Congress, just and equitable under the
| circumstances. would have been received with favor
and would have restored harmony and tranquility to the
country ! believe such would have been the result
not Immediately, certainly ere long-had not dsposi
lion manifested itself in some OF the non -savehoding
States to keep alive the agitation by violent assaults upon
the South and It's institutions. and by ayowed deter
mnaton 10 resist the provision Of the constiWlon fol
the restoration OF fugitive slaves while jnstyng this
course by Of the most absurd and mischevous doc
trines that led captive the human imagnationthe
right OF every TO measure his constitutional and legal
duties by any standard he chooses to adopt and TO obey
dsobey them at his own pleasure calling this his con-
science. For, gloss over the subject as we may,
comes 10 this a last and gives the right to resist gov
eminent to al--and there are many such who believe
By ihose processing psscuar faith gvss he
right to oppose their country in war to all those who look
upon war unscripural the right to withstand tax
| fct with some notions OF our own; the right, in
fact, to do or leave undone every act public or pri-
vate which men are prompted BY the widest pas.
si0ns 10 commit or neglect, under the pretext that
every has right 10 60 10 the Scriptures, and
expound them in his own way, and osubmtto the laws
" re Wy
y could not exist day in the face of such petenson
The honest enthusiast would find many Of these coll
more and each is equally beyond the reach OF correction.
because the dictates Of mans conscience can only be
known TO himself and to his God The doctrine ably laid
ydown Judge Mclean upon this subject s the true one
that human law has the right TO regulate the duties
between man and his Creators but that when TO
our relative duties in civil society between ourselves and
Others then the law Of the country must direct our course,
and its judicial tribunals must decide upon it. Certainly,
if conscientious person entertans the irm conviction
prohibited BY the law Of God from doing he has rgh,
to be martyr--to suffer peaceaby, rather than to
act unconscientiously; and he has also right if a
majority coincide with him in opinion. and believe the
degree Of oppression sucien TO justify revolution to
oyertufn the government, and 10 establish another.
This is naenable right, and its exercise must de-
in government and out of government al the
same time. No man can claim immunity and the
profectOn oil Inc laws, whle ne himself Is resisting sucn
Of them as he pleases. And il is among the. worst
signs of the times that this antrepubllcan heresy,
this perpetual right to resist the declared will OF major
iy expressed through their constitutional organs, an
nounced and defended in the pulpit, by ministers Of
gion who forget alike the precepts of the Gospel and
the example of the Saviour, and in the house OF God call
upon their auditors to rise up and ocby resist the laws
OF their country good deal OF this spirit almost
forty years since. denouncng the war in which were
then engaged and defending the conduct OF the enemy,
while that enemy harassing our coasts and burning
towns and cities That same higher fao was appeal
ed and the anaihema cursed be he cho peh on has
for battle 10 protect his country was pronounced
with much apparent sanctity as If IL were in
vocation for the Divine blessing in period OF danger
Our clergymen have solemn duty to fulhl-to
the GOSPEL o. the ees .a and ow hh
they enter into the strife OF politics, and especially when
they denounce the laws. and recommend resistance
TO Them. This is neither the age nor the country
for successfu attempt TO renew that ecclesiastical
tyranny. in any form, which has left so many monu
men,s Of its power and despotism upon the history
OF the world. And disguise il as we may, once let
il be generally conceded that the sacred desk is the
place where the political questions OF the time may be
@ u .ne mouse 9. Ioo and upon ms noy uay
it the views Of the preacher, shall have intro
duced element OF power into our political system,
whose consequences may be shadowed out by the past
experience Of mankind but whose full and formidable
effects are beyond the reach OF human sagacty Such
efforts TO direct the conduct OF men in their political af
fairs TO create reaction, and are calculated TO do
more injury the of religion than the wri-
tings OF Voaire and Hume, and OF all the other inhdel
authors whose shafts against Christianity have served
but to exhibit their weakness and malice. No the
trial Of these questions is for the pulpit but for the
people, through the tribunals they have established and
for their own action by the ballobox, in all these
where their direct action is called for by the
stitution.
And now, fellow citizens, the path OF duty and oil
patriotism is open before The South is not assalling
The North No northern preends that he suffers or
| fears anything from southern aggression. Nor are
northern institutions vi6ed in the South, and eternal
warfare kept up there against other sections OF the Union
And say much for ourselves! The asperty of
language and OF feeling with which every topic con-
nected with slavery is treated has produced its natural
effect, both in the quarter where is exhibited and in
exciting the other ha; il will require years OF wis
dom and moderation before the restoration OF that good
old aternal attachment which brought Us together, and
without which cannot be kept together Let us hold
on with fidelity 10 the obligations OF the constitution
Let us dscountenance all agitation, public meetings 10
asperse the South travelling missionaries, foreign
domestic, 10 array portion OF the country against the
other; and especially let us adhere with unyielding
enacy 10 the compromise measures oil the last session OF
Congress- which, II disregarded, will surely lead
to dissolution dissolution will strike down own
prosperity, and the, hopes OF the lovers OF freedom
throughout the world.
i We have great trust committed 10 us--not merely
the heritage have received for own benefit and
children and chdrens children for long genera
tons but beyond that the value OF this
precious depose The solution Of the great question OF
the capacity OF for sefgovernment hangs upon the
issue OF institutions The world has deep interest
in the result II the is lost here, il will be lost
everywhere Our progress and prosperity watched
with trembling anxiety in the eastern hemisphere, as well
by those who fear example by those who hope 10
4 goflf on