Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1851-07-24

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The French writers and enthusiasts, ut tht
breaking out of the French revolution, push
ed personal rights to an extrerne The phi
losophy of Rousseau and Voltairc and thci
followers made the public mind drunk will
new theories md doctrines. Being goadet
and insul;cd by arrogant orders in society
they made all liberty turn upon the natura
and personal rights of man; and the whole
French people were converted into nation
of Propagandsts They believed them
selves to be the chosen people of fate, des
tined to overrun the nations of the earth, ant
to redeem and rcgenerate world of mankind
sleeping under ignorance and despotism
And they came well nigh at one time to con-
verting whole Kingdoms and nations into
mere provinces of u great French Republic
Many of our leading men of that day caught
to some extent the enthusiasm and wild thco
ry of French liberty. Amongst them were
Franklin and Jefferson. They endeavored
to plant many of these doctrines in Ameri
ca. 1t was from this kind of philosophy
that the abstraction contained in our decla'
ration Of independence, that all men are
born equal" was taken, and many supposed
that this carried out, would always give lib.
crty. And the higher and far more philoso.
phica, proposition, that all separate and inde.
pendent States were equal, seemed for time
to be lost sight of. The Northern people
now seem to believe themselves to be the
inhcri.ors of French philosophy and French
liberty; and under this idea, suppose that
they are the chosen and peculiar people, un,
der Providence, to spread the blessings Of
universal equality and relieve US from the
evils of our local institutions. They consider
themselves to be the elect of God to govern
the world according to their notions.
1t is well ascertained from history, that
at the formation Of the present Federal com.
pact there were great and important interests
in the separate States,pcculiar to the different
States. They were not ordinary interests
that spring up in a body polite, but they were
vital interests, essential to the very existence
of the States themselves. Amongst these
was the institution of domestic servitude. 1t
is well known that the constitution could not
have been adopted unless this interest were
left exclusively under the control Of tile
States interested, and unless it had been un-
derstood that the Federal Government was
entirely excluded from all interference with
it after the year 1908. And if the States
now have not the right and the power TO pro:
tect it in any way that their judgements may
dictate, then there has been a perversion OF
power and they have been defrauded. II
power has been exercised over them so that
in their judgements, the peace and final exist
ence of their society may become cndanger-
cd-thcy have right, under the police poicer
if nothing else, to protect and defend them
selves in any way that they may deem ncces-
sary.
If the power ofthe non-slaveholding States
be concentrated through the Federal head so
as to act upon, and absorb the slarc-holdlng
States, or to circumscribc their increasing
power on account of their institutions, then if
there be no check through the action of the
States concerned, itmust end in political des.
potism. If the people of Massachusetts, and
New York, and Pennsylvania and Ohio, be
brought 10 act together by their prejudiccs,
or feelings, or public opinion, so that they
move rs one mass, and get control Of the Fed
eral Government, and bring it to bear, in all its
moral and political power, upon the local in
stitutions of the Southern States, then as far
as these arc concerned, they are governed by
people nc alien TO them as if they were en-
tire foreigners. What consolation is it to II
South Carolinian to tell him that lie is gov
crncd by the frccmcn Of Ohio who understand
liberty much better than llc docs, and who
deem it Il duty they owe to God that the
country shall be finally purgcd Of tho sin of
slavery! What may be very well suited to
Ohio, may not suit South Carolina at all.
The whole organization aud structure Of our
Society arc different. They are almost two
distinct orders of civilization; the one rest
ing upon the individual equality of men Of
all colors, and the other resting upon domcs-
tic scrvitudc III the black race. This dis!inc-
ton pcrvadcs all society, entering into the
social, moral and political relations Of every
man in the two sections. They teach thci!
children in their schools and ut their ire-sides
to contemn and hate Us and our Institutions.
The same is taught front The pulpit and
around the sacrament table, as well as in their
politics. Who is to Judge between us? The
Federal Government! Ii this Northern ma
jori.y control it absolutely, and finally bring
it to bear upon these points, then it is but
the Judgment of Ohio in another form brought
TO act upon the interests and institutions of
South Carolina. Ifthis be the habitual work
ing of the system, then indeed are we a DOOM
cd race The truth is there are sections and
States in this confcdcracy having totally DIFF
fcrcnt local interests, and the sepcratc indie
pendcnce aud equality of the States is essen
tal TO guard and protect those interests in
our system. State equality is an essential
principa! of liberty. We may have general
interests in our external relations and foreign
intercourse united, but when the General
Government acts upon the organized local
institutions of the country, then it ncccssari.
Iy becomes dcspotism-an engine turned
upon the interior liberty of sections, instead
of maintaining our exterior independence
True liberty consists in 4 system of fixed anu
ascer.aincd law, suited to the interests of the
community, and regulated and controlled by
those upon whom the law operates. What
may be very good local law to South Caro-
lima may be totally unsuitcd to Ohio. To take
our institutions and transplant them there
would be as vain rs to plant the orange tree
upon the frozen Mountains of Vermont and
cxpcc: it to bloom and to bear. And so in like
manner, to transplant the social and politica
institutions of Ohio in South Carolina, woule
be as vain rs to expect us TO live on whale
blubber upon which the Esquamaux fattens
No! the Federal compact between tho
States was made with q view to guard and
nrntcct those different local intcres Is d. insti