Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1851-06-19

htllIu w N q a NANfNf al
our fathers to the battles of the revolution ana
rertiIized so many fields with the blood OF The
martyrs of liberty ? Were they, bleeding,
fighting, diving for independence, the victims oil
hallucination, illusion, a dream? Upon you'
men of lhe North western Olio, it rests to YIN
dictate their memory from this r%eproach.
There arc others who recognize slavery as an
evil. but regard it as a necessary eyll-asa part
Of what they call gieat system of servlthde, to
he initiated as far as may be, without dlstur-
bancese of any existing interests; but to be en-
dnrcd and tolerated rather than such dlstur
bance. Such is the idea Of Capital, of Money
and Conservatism. 1t will never grapple with
The great evil with any r%csolutc purpose OF over
coming 1t.
There are others still, who yet maintain the
opiniong which jefferson inculcated. They have
a practical belief that all men were created
equal; that they were endowed by the Creator
with inalleulble right, to- life liberty, and the
pursit of happiness thUt the security and de-
fence of these rights aIe the sole, legitimate
ends of human government; that it Is the right
and the tie duty of the people to reform and adj
minister government for the attainment of these
great ends and that every man that has a vote
is responsible for the action of the government
which he helps to create and sustain. These
hold, with Jefferson that slavery is %incOmpata-
bic with the fundamental IDEAS of Liberty and
Justice, and look to the time, and labor 10 hast
en- the time, when by the legitimate action OF
the State National governments, this great evil
Of slavery will be finally eradicaled.
But we are met with the menace that If we
act upon the subject the Union will be dissolv.
ed. This is an ol6Jcry and a very stale cry.
1t should alarm no sensible man. | have seen
no symptoms of dissolution of the Union. |
have heard angry debate / have seen some
bad blood in Congress but outside of Wash
ington | have seen no disposition among the
people to effect or permit a dissolution of the
Union. Is there anybody anywhere who really
wishes to dissolve it-pefhaps ! should say out
of South Carolina? Fellow-citizens, when the
dissolution of the Union comes, it will be with
out observation. When real danger approaches
you will feel it in the atmosphere. 1t will re-
veal its presence by signs in the heavens above
and in the earth beneath. But how Is it now ?
All peaceful, quiet, calm. The farmer drives
his pillow a.feld the mechanic works in his
shop the merchant is busy at his counter and
in his Office; the sailor ploughs the rivers,
lakes and the ocean; all are engaged in their
accustomed pursuits without agitation and with
out alarm. This would hardly be so were there
real danger.
The truth is the cry of dissolution of the
Union has generally sbeen used to effect some
special object, and often with too much success.
| will give you a brief account Of the first in
stance | am aware of in our history. When the
first Congress, the Congress of IVA, formed the
non-importation and non expectation agreement,
by which they hoped 10 secure the cooperation
of the British merchants and manufacturers in
the redress of American grievances, South Car
DINA threatened to withdraw from the Congress
if she was not permitted to continue the eXpor-
tation of rec and indigo. The great staples Of
the country were then breadstuffs and provisions.
1t was thought inadmissable while the Northern
States agreed to discontinue the expectation Of
their grain and meats, that South Carolina should
be allowed to export her rice and indigo. The
delegates from South Carolina except one actu.
ally withdrew from Congress. The result was
q negotiation and a compromise. South Carroll
ma was allowed to export rice, her great staple,
and consented to tOregO the expectation Of the
unimportant article Of indigo. This is a fair
sample OF the cry, its purpose and its result. In
modern times it has had an additional result
1t has been made an occasion for getting up a
Union Party an excuse for needless conces-
sions to dlsatfectlon, and a ground of claim in
behalf Of compromises to the plaudits of the peo-
pie for theil inestimable services in the salvation
of a Union which was never III danger.
Did it ever occur to you, fellow citizens, that
according to the estimates OF geographers, the
whole earth contains fifty millions of square
miles OF land, and that one fifteenth of The whole
is included within the boundaries of the United
States? Did it ever occur to you that the law
Of gravlialion ~restrains the orbit ~ofievery plan
ct within the system to which it belongs or
that If some small dSterOid, by som unwonted
influence, is driven a little from its due course,
that great law will infallibly restore it to its true
place. | have no fear that South Carolina will
permanently disappear from the American Con-
stellation. One of her w statesmen has said
that she will find it easier to get out of the Union
than to stay out of it, But | do not believe that
she will find it easy to get out.
In conclusion, permit me to say that the same
principles which have governed my action here.
tofore will control it hereafter. Whether in a
public or in a private station, and a priuate is to
me not less acceptable than a public station. |
shall be found, God giving me strength, a main
tainer of Freedom. Whether supported or alone,
| mean to staad r%esolutely and infexibly, by the
great Democratic doctrine of equal and exact
Justice to all men. By the utmost efforts OF my
humble abilities, | desire to promote the truest
and highest interest of our whole country in all
its breadth, and especially of that noble State in
which my lot and your lot is cast. | desire to
see the National ownership of the Public Do
main terminated within our limits. | desire to
hasten the time when every man who has a will
to work shall have q spot to work upon, and a
home to live in. | desire to see these mighty
inland seas that stretch along our Northern Dor
dsr, which penetrate our vast interior, and our
great rlvers-the like of which the world has
not-improved by the common treasury of the
Nation, and made the safe channels of the Com
merce and Navigation of a prosperous people
! desire to see God grant that we may live to
see 1.-THE hope of Jefferson and his compatriot
statesmen not vanishing as a bright dream in the
darkness of disappointment; butrealized in the
practical application of the principles of Free
dom and Justice to the affairs Of the State and
National Governments linking in kindred bonds
and tCiLhout n faw a great and virtuous people
lnhabitlng from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and
from the lsthmus to the Pole all free every
right defended all labor justly rewarded, and
no SidUeS!i
HUNKERIsM IN New YoRK.-Immedi-
ately after the organization of the Legisla-