The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-04-12

xSe Unicn, Past amA &ntQxs."
THE soRTH VI. rEE SOUTH.
The leading srtiels In The Octebex npmber Of
HssHfs Merchsni5 MagAsixs. was a BRIgF
HHvrEw" by Mr.. E. Il. Derby, an eminent law
yer OF Massachusetts,, Of : pamphlet FIRST pub
lished In Washington and afterwards repub-
lishsd in Charleston, South Carolina, entitled
" The Union Past and Future op IL Works
and Hoio 10 SAGE Il, by Vvginian." The au-
thor of that pamphlet, the Hon. NJ. r. A. Gar
nett, of Virginia, now comes out in the April
number Of Hunts Magazine with an elaborate
review of Mr.. Derby's " brief review" Both mr.
ticles are written with great ability, although
We think the Virginian has rather got the nd
vantage Of his antagonist in the cogency Of his
reasoning, and in the depth and thoroughness Of
his arguments Mr.. Garrett meets every obcc-
ton Of MIR. Derby with a force and directness
that cannot fail Of producing marked impress
sion upon the mind of every unprejudiced
reader if such, indeed, can be found The nrti-
cles are exceedingly appropriate in the pages of
national work like that Of the Merchants
Magazine; and the more SO, as they relate par
ticularly to the commercial importance of sus-
tanning our confederaied Union. Mr.. Derby
stated it to be the purpose of his review to con-
slider, in IA dspassiOnate manner, the charges of
Mr.. Garnett's essay, and the facts on which they
rest; to test the accuracy Of its deductions; to
crticse it's spirit and character; to determine
whether its true object be to reason, or to irri-
tate to preserve the Union, or to stab it under
the guise of friendship; whether it does not
seek It's ruin by exaggerating the sacrifices and
power Of the South; by oisparnging the efforts
and means Of the North; by peryerting that in
nate, hereditary love Of liberty, which pervades
the Northern States, and occasionally breaks
forth in little extravaganza, and by suggesting
studied determination to Cypress and ruin
their Southern allies.
But Garrett compliments his antagonists re-
view for its g fnllness and superior ability !" but
thinks he has insinuated what he does not ven
ture to charge directly that the object Of the
essay is not what it processes, not "to calculate
the means Of resistance" the relative strength
of the opponents, the value Of what we must
hazard, and the surest way of preserving the
Union in its original equality. Mr.. G. confesses
that he is not one Of those who indulge in an
idolatrous veneration of the Union, and in order
to preserve it, forget the causes for which it was
| formed still less would he cloak his real esti-
mate of its value under which he calls the "fasll-
ionable can't" which affects to regard it as a
piece of perfection, above all criticism, as the
Ultima Thule Of all human progress, &c.
He maintains that the South has at stake, not
merely the fourteen hundred millions of dollars,
the value of her slave property, but all ofhonor,
and of happiness, that civilization and society
can give Athorough going Wcbsteran Unionist
would Mt first view be apt to conclude that
Messrs. Derby g. Garnett were a little tinctured
with the spirit of notification, ut some "hazards,
| if not at all hazards" Though, on the whole,
we think they are pretty good Union men.
| We will, however, let them speak for them
selves by paragraph or two which occur near
| the close of the papers Of the Reviewer aud Re-
viewed.
| Mr.. Garnett suggests, in the following terms,
what he considers the true conditions of har-
monous union;
"Let the North cultivate friendly feeling to-
wards the South and try to understand her in
sttutions Let her remember that Caucassians
and negroes are of different races; that they
can never amalgamate that it is absurd to talk oil
transporting either across the seas and that
while several millions of each live together al
the South, the best possible relation for both
which can exist between them, is that Of master
and slave Let the North, therefore, cease to
regard slavery as such an evil and reproach, and
lei her reeollect that she is in no manner res
ponsbe for institutions Of other sovereign
States. She may then cease to direct all the
moral power of her press, her pulpit and heI
senates, to the destruction of the rights Of the
Southern people--ther domestic peace
LET both sections, the North and the South,
recognize the great principle of the equality and
sovereignty of the States, whether slave labor
or hireling, and open the common terrific ry
equally to both Let the federal government
| be closely confined to its few duties and powers,
as defined by the letter of its character; and
| Ia l;,a h,rJapo &c fovo.inp nv fraa
trade, economy, retrenchment, and strict ad-
herence to the Constitution.
| "If such proposals as these seem ridiculous
it must be because the Constitution is dead
letter, and actual despotism, welded by sec
tional majority, threatens to usurp the place OF
the simple, but glorious confederacy of sove-
reign republics If the latter be the Union for
which Mr. Derby prays, "esto perpetud," | join
in the prayer; but of the former. would cry
wo to it or still greater woes await the country
which tamely submitst to its oppressive tyranny 7
Merchants Magazine for April, page $50.
Read also the closing and most pacific para
graphs Of Mr.. Derby's Review, from the art clC
in the October N85O) number of HUNTS Maya
zine:
"The South as well as the North have made
great advances. 1t has greatly extended th'
cultivation, and raised the price of its principa
staples, rice, cotton, sugar and tobacco; II .
the great mart Of these commodities. IL ha
opened its rivers 10 steam, improved Its cultiya
ton and like the North, traversed its plains an'
threaded IFS mountains and bound the interio
to the sea by its iron wave. The South ba
equalled, IL not surpassed the North in the man
ufacture of officers and statesmen, but II is he
policy to claim perpetual divorce because sons
harsh words of her Northern partner have gra
ted on her ears. Does the history of the Lon
Star, Texas, in her solitary existence, almos
without an army, a navy, revenue, or credit
give no warning lesson! Might not simila
fortune attend the whole South, were she e
renquish The brawny arm of the North Nigh
they not both realize the fable of Esop, whel
the members of the body revolted from eacl
oberl Let the North and the South move on
ward together in an harmonious union. let then
humor the peculiarities Of each, and bear witt
trihing errors let them reverence the Consttu
ton they have adopted let them ask what claus
authorizes it's dissolution. A glorious destiny
awaits them. to subdue and civilize this vas