Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1851-05-24

&c The following article from the Washing.
ton Republic, is strong, but just and seasona
Bile. If Mr.. RHETT is, and has been, an no.
nest secessionist, he had no business in the
Senate Of the United States
Mr.. RHErr AND THE CoSsTITUTIoS.-Therc
are some oaths which have passed into Il pro-
verbal d%i7repnte. Customllousc oaths are of
this nature. "At lovers perlnrics, they say,
Joye. ai.ghs." So there is much merely cerc-
monious swearing established BY law. The
Constable is sworn into office. The. Attorney
swears, and the Counscl-e1ch after his fash
ion; and to all this swearing the idea attaches
of greater or less s%anctity, according to The
character of the man who takes the aatl, upon
his lips. The jurors oath has been regarded
rs one of high import, though we have lately
heard OF advice given from the pulpit assnm-
ing that it would be virtue to violate it. But
there is one oath required by the Constitution
ofthe Uniied States which has hitherto been
considered of the most solemn nature and the
most stringent obligation. Every Senator on
taking his seat is required to bind himself, by
oatl, or affirmation, to support the Constitution.
Not many weeks since, Mr.. Rhett. of South
Carolina, in the presence of the Senate of his
country, bound himself by a solemn oath to
support the Federal Constitution. He took
his oath voluntary; it was not necessary for
him to become a Senator. What lid it mean :!
Was it a mere ceremonious jargon? Was
it q smugglers oath to Il false invoice! Or
was it a solemn pledge, in the face of heaven
and the world, that he would sustain, uphold,
support the Constitution of his country against
all foreign and domestic enemies? How has
he redeemed his oaths?
lie has redeemed it by Mutstriously seek
ing 10 overthrow tho IaEonsfftution he has
sworn to syRportAesaHe has redeemed it by
seeking tQalf5Hn sfevolt and rebellion against
the UQian,,sWhiebbfests upon that Constitution.
He bastedeened It by the most open and fla
or 1Eyiolation Of it. Worse than this--he
aen6hfessed that at the very time he took
INT oath upon his lips, and for five and twenty
years before that time, he has been nursing his
Internal schemes for the dissolution of the
Union. By his own boast, he is a traitor of
five and twenty years standing. And are we
to call dainty and holiday phrases to cover up
such bold avowals of perjury and treason!
When the Parkers, and Garrisons, and Phillip
ses utter their insane denunciations of the
Union, we call them by the name they seem to
covet, and invoke for them the fate they de-.
serve. We know of nothing that should in
duce us to treat more tcnderly the bold and
undisguised treason Of the honorable Senator
from South Carolina.
To the storm now raging in the Palmetto
State a day ofcaIm will succeed. The patriotic
attachments of her wise and good citizens will
triumph over the councils of the bold, bad
men, who seek the dismemberment of their
country. This is not the first time that politi.
clans and public journals have declared after
the fashion of Mr.. Rhett. There have been
as loud and as ill-founded %outeries of grievance
and calls for separation and secession in other
States than South Carolina, and in earlier
than these.
We aid not suppose that the fame or the
fate OF the men who had been concerned in
had been such as to give large encour-
agement for the repetition Of the experiment.
are we now apprehensiye as to the result
The day, Of peaceful reckoning will surely
come, when the Rhetts and the Seabrooks
will go the way of all who, like them. have
sought distinction in the paths of sedition and