The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-10-09

h I'd attempted to shelter detection, and 10 dis
guise their surrender TO freesoilism. were bu
arrant fallacies, things that had but name, anc
no base, no IN lrrow, no substance.
Ii is insisted. however, that We should no
disturb the peace and harmony which the com
promise has given the country, nor stir up the
spirit of the Southern people by reminding
them of the wrongs they have suffered, and o
the dangers which still be7et them. Ay, we are
asked to turn our faces from the frghtful phan
tom, and to suffer you To lie quiet and contentec
in your humiliation and ruin. | scorn the das
tardy advice. Ii can at best suit Russian ser
or an Au, trian minion Has il come to this
that we are unblushingly required to crouch il
the dust under the feet of our oppressors lest by
looking them in the face and walking erect by
their side, we might move their ire and provoke
their lash! fear them not; nor should you
fear them. Just give way TO your fears, anc
there is no form OF menace, no degree of insult
no measure Of degrad ton with which they viii
not visit you for insolence Of the oppressoi
is in proportion to the tameness of the sufferer
We are next told that, bad as it is, the com
PROMISE after ALL has effected an adjustment OF
our difficulties, and constitutes a compact which
from its very nature, is irrepealable.
IL it so!
light, when, after declaring in his message that
he regards the measures embraced in it 'as d
settlement in principle and substance, as final
settlement, &c" he goes on, gently admonsh
ing and recommending adherence to them " un-
Ill time and erpsrien;s shall demonstrate the ne.
cessity Of further legislation 10 guard againss
euasi0n or abuse"
Nor was it so construed by those who sINGED
THE UNION PLEDGE with Messrs. Clay, Foote,
and others, when, after ostracising, politically,
all those who were opposed to it, they never
theless admit the possibility of its being re-
pealed or altered by the general consent of the
friends Of the measure."
Nor is it understood by the Wings of New
Yo:k in their compact Of coalition with the Alb
oltionists of that State, when they gave their
assent to the proposition that the right of citi
zens, az voters, is undeniale to. discuss with a
full regard for the rights and interests Of all
parts of the confederacy, tho expediency of such
laws the adjustment laws) and the propriety of
any of their provisions, and to seek, by consti
tutional means, their repeal and modification"
Yet Gen. Downs, referring to that subject, in
his speech at Trinity, would haye YOU to think
" that if the compromise has had It's day and
passed, you can no more bring it back than you
can reverse the wheals Of time, bring back yes
terday or last year"-Page Ia.
However, after thus fixing character of i'm
mutabity and perpetnity upon it, he chides the
Southern members opposed to 1t, who were Of
the following session of Congress, for not hauing
attempted 10 remedy This evil in The ordinary W1y
Page 90
Eut WE ought to submit for says my col
league, it is the natural result of one Of the
least doubtful Of our republican principles that
the majority must rule and we acquesce. -
Page %.
And thus, whenever that majority shall have
spoken out, be its edcts as reckless of the Con
atituton as We have known them to be, we must
bow our heads in humble and respectful submis-
sion, because The majority must rule. Az, rule
IL must; but, siys the great Ptt &C So rule as
not to contradict the common principles that are
common to ALL" The majority must rule, was
the dictum with which British ministers used to
answer the complaints the American colonies,
What, submit to evident, undeniable wrong
We may ENDURE I'll Endurance implies not
consent But surrender our convictions, our
sentiments, and COVER down in silence before
the wrong deer, sinking like slaves beneath the
pressure of our sufieringsl Upon my heart and
and soul, NEVER, NEvERl!!
Let me bat ask you, what would your revolu-
tionary sires have thought of any one who, in
tho cant of modern submission, had told them
" The Stamp Bill, the Boston Post Bill, the Bill
for transferring political deiinqusnts beyond the
seas to be tried in distant land" haze had their
day and aoere passed by majority in the Impe-
rial Parliament, and can no more be recalled than
gag cqn recall yesterday or last year, The ma
iority must rule and you must acquiesce! All,
sirs, methuks | see them striving to compose
4 bo;r and bor Ok 70 ,ba.r
Indignation. They would have pointed, no
doubt to that noble device on their escutcheon
which was decyphered by Jackson half centu-
ry afterwards: "WE DEMAND NOTHING BUT
WHAT IL RIGHT, AND YIELD TO NOTHING THAT is
WRONG"
Fellow citizens, be not mistaken your atti-
tude In this awful crisis will determine your fu-
ture fate and unless 1t be such as will command
forbearance on the part of the North, your doom
Is sealed and you are destined to be but subjec
humble, abjrct subjects, in this once glorious
ronfederacv of yours you may deceive your
selves by vain and empty words, you may retain
your rights, your independence, your sovereign
ty, while you are permitted to send your SEMI
tors and representatives to Congress, there to
pander to the exactions of your Northern kings;
you will but retain the shadow Of what you
were, soon to sink beneath your own conscious
ness of degradation and ruin.
What will il be but the sad and bitter realiza-
ton OF the remonstrance which, on memorable
occasion Qhe Missouri compromise) Mr.. Pinck-
ney addressed TO the growing arrogance of the
North you may squeeze down sovereign
Sta 10 the size of Pgmy and then, taking it
between finger and thumb, stick II into some
niche of the Union, and still continue, by way of
moekery. to call il A STATE. You may waste it
to shadow, ard still keep it in the society of
flesh and blood, an object of scorn and deyision
You may swent and reduce il to thing OF skin
and bone, and then show the ominious skeleton
beside the ruddy and healthful members of the
Union, that every one may witness the lamenta-
BILE difference ~
| am not for breaking this oonfederaoyJ am not
for advising this State to join in any secession
movement which may be made by other States.
stand ready still to endure past wrongs with
you but cannot bring myself to acknowledge
hat they are not wrongs, and while live,
shall, with all the energies of my lungs, protest
against them. wish not to discourage you, but
10 keep you on the watch and | sound the
alarm because ] see danger ahead of me Others
nay find their interest or pleasure in lulling you
nto deep slumb er.-My mission is (while In