Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1850-12-26

| hope not to be tedious, while direct your
attention TO a few of the disastrous consequent
ces that must follow breaking up OF the con-
federacy to the citizens of Maine.
did design to give some statistics in rela-
tion TO the commerce of the state, but the gen.
tleman from Massachusetts has anticipated me,
therefore | will allude TO few general facts.
The climate of Maine is vigorous and 1t is
/ not to be disguised that her soil is comparative
lv sterile and without her immense resources
in other respects, she would be behind most of
her sister states. Her extensive seaboard, to-
gether with her facilities for shipbulldlng have
turned the attention of great numbers of her
citizens to the pursuit of ofnavigation until 1t has
become the great leading business of our peo
pie, and will continue to increase IN lmpor-
tance so long as we have the advantage of free
interstate trade No portion of our state is SO
deepy interested in navigation as the County
of Lincoln, and no town or city so deeply as
this enterprising and fast increasing city of
Bath. Without commerce, what are YOU TO
dol How are the people of this state to obtain
livelihood ave bread for their families
Yet certain citizens of Bath have held
meeting and talked publicly of nullitying the
laws, of the wrongs in the constitution, of the
"heher. Eato." What would they do would
they have the villages and cities upon the banks
of the noble kennebec deserted Would they
have your magnificent ships rotting at your
wharvesl Would they have your now busy
shipyards forsaken-silent of the hum of in
dustry More than this, would they wanton-
" scatter the manifold blessings now enjoyed
bv our people, 10 the four winds of heaven =
Above and beyond all would they plunge this
happy and most prosperous people into all the
horrors of civil war-that brother might war
with brother until the whole land became bat
tle-feld, and all this 10 quiet the consciences of
few higher law men, When all this is ac-
compllshed, what have they gained Why,
they have destroyed the constitution, that long
hated enemy-they have severed the Union.-
Out of one great and powerful nation they have
made many weak ones, each jealous of the 9th
er, each weak and poor, exhausted and in debt,
while they have not succeeded in freeing sin
gle negro slave of those who have escaped the
war of races.
Who are these agitators-these disturbers of
the peace, quiet, and good neighborhood of our
country Men who planned and desired the
destruction of this government were among
our fathers. There was Benedict Arnold in
the days of the Reyolution-at a later period
there WAS Aaron Burr, these men, in the
ors but now Isuppose Theodore Parker would
call them highr idc nlen.' lpreier plain Ian
guage, and feel compelled to regard all men
who, by word or deed, would nulhfy the laws
and break down the constitution. as traitorous
III their course, as enemies 10 the country
More or less of these men are 10 be found in
different sections of the Union, though in the
two extremes, they act prof,ssedly from differ
;r4 -, A.; u,
same. They a class of Designing dscon-
tented, ambitious and factious men, who de-
termined to rule or ruin
By no means would include in this class all
in the north who have been adhcreuis to the
abolition and free soil parties, for among these
men are To be found many well inientioned Cit
iZenS, who have been and now are led astray by
a few designing leaders, who have artfully ad-
dressed their sympathes, who have impressed
their mind with the idea that TO be christians
they must be abollilonlstS, keeping secret from
the mass Of their followers any intention OF null
living the laws and constitution, until they be-
lieved they had them 50 fully within their fan
atIcal wishes, that escape was impossible, bat
in this they vii! find themselves mistaken and
nothing needs be done but 10 open the eyes OF
those msled men, by plain, calm, unimpassion-
ed statements of the truth, for, but few can be
found, who are so lost 10 patriotlsm-to the
common dictates of humanity, to be in any
way instrumental in plunging this now happy
and prosperous country into civil war, with all
lis attendant and indescribable horrors.
A word, gentlemen, as TO the cause of this
alarm and threatened notification. At the
last session of Congress, and after protracted
debate and great excitement, an excitement
which shook the stability of the Union to the
centre, great men and patriots came forward
from each of the two political parties of the
country, and made common cause for its safe
ty by the adoption Of certain measures, known
as the compromise or peace measures, which
were hailed with common Joy throughout the
land. But still the voice of discomfort was
heard-the grumbler and fanatic could not fore
90 their occupation. And how did they meet
the issuel Did they say 10 the world like hon
est and impartial men, Congress has enacted
certain laws a compromise of the many
troublesome questions now agitatng the public
mind Or did they select one of the number
upon which they might stir up Legislation, and
find food for their morbid appetltesl Gentle
men, they laid hold of the fugitive slave law,
and with unparalleled zeal, neither regarding
truth OF common honesty, appealed to the pas
sions and preindices of credulous men, leading
them to believe that as Christians, they should
be governed by conscience, and disregard the
commands of law of the land. They declar
ed the law unjust, inhuman, unconstitutional =
4 robbng the citizens of the writ of habeds cor
pus and the right of trial by jury-exposing 10
southern avarice the freedom OF colored clti-
zens of the north, and ending their insidious
appeals by stigmatizng every northern man
who voted for it, with the stale cognomen of
northern dough-fdce.
! Were these men honest are they honest
nowl You will Judge them by the course they
\ pursue-you will know them by their acts
1t has been settled by the highest authority,
that this law does not infringe upon the right
OF the hdbeas corpus or of trial by jury, as con-
templated IN the Constituiion-that it is SIM
ply amendatory to the law of 1893, comforting
no new rights of the master to the slave. In
short, the whole law is clearly within the pale
of one of the plainest guarantees of the Consti-
tuition which has been read to you by nv hon
orable friend, Mr. Clifford.
Again, if these men are honest, why not
speak of the other laws enacted by Congress in
connection with thst What of the admission
of California, which bill could not have passed
save by Southern votes, with constitution
prohibiting slavery and a territory large
enough to make some half dozen states as large
as Maine: What of the bill prohibiting the
slave trade in the District of Columbia, passed
likewise by southern votesl Who asked for
this bill! For whose benefit and At wb,.se
,eques' was Ii passed 1t was passed to al
of the slave trade in the District of Colnmh;s
| which trade has been the fr,;,cI IL -