The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-11-26
From the Albany CN. - Register.
Modification, North and south.


NuIlifcation, North and South.
There are two WIS Of accomplishing nearly
every object. ThPone is direct and positive
| the other indirect and through secondary means.
This is peculiarly the case in regard to the
question of disuni0n. The nullifiers OF the
South openly and boldly proclaim their purpose
of dissolying the Union by seeding therefrom.
They make no concealment Of their intentions
they seek not to cloak them under professions of
love for the Union, while oil their acts in d.
rection to discover it, and erect separate and in
| dependent sovcreigntes upon its ruins. We there
| fore know where 10 find them--we know how to
| meet them, and what weapons TO use in thwarting
their designs. But there ID another class, whose
acts and system of policy, if permitted to be car
ried out, would none the less surely lead to the
same general result II is that class which de-
nounces the Constitution OF the United States
/" atrocious bargain"-an " i'll considered
pact,'' and which counses resistance to, and null
LITIGATION of, laws passed in pursuance Of it and I'M
] der its sanction. The disunionists of the South
seek to repudiate the Constitution as a whole. The
disunionists of the North, in detail The one strikes
| boldly at the integrity of the Union; the other
shrinks from the responsibility, but all the while
continues course of action which, if successful,
will inevitably produce the catastrophe.
| The Constitution is the compact by which the
contains the groundwork of the Union. and its
provisions were solemny consented to and ratified,
first by the representatives of the States, and then
| by the States themselves. Each party 10 il is,
| therefore, bound to carry it out with good faith
every jot and little. And 30 long this is done
no Just cause of complaint arise from any quar-
ter. individuals may not repudiate contract be-
cause, in the changing of circumstances, it proves
| less favorable than they anticipated Nor can
States violate this well-setted and universally
cognised principle. If compact is violated by
of the parties to it, it cannot rightfully be
forced as against the other. Ii becomes inopera-
tive and void it loses it's vitality. So in regard to
the Constitution of the United States. If any of its
| important provisions are repudiaed by one section,
any other section, for whose benefit they became
part of that instrument, is absoved from its obi
cations, and s left to resume its own sovereignty
to seek other connexions, as 1t may elect.
What has produced and is still producing the
strong feeling of dissatisfaction at the South,
which has led to the secession movements that
have been formidable during the past two
three years3 What had led to the angry discus
sons and to the excited state of the public mind,
of the intensity of which We have been but eebly
| advised? What is their complaint? Ii is not
against the Constitution, but that that instrument
has been rendered imperative in an essential par
/ tcular at the North, and that they have been
able TO enforce their rights as guaranteed by it,
They contend, and truly, that there is large
party at the North that repudiates the provisions
i
benefit of the South and that therefore, it ia their
right to declare themselves absolved from the COM
pact of Union. Ii this party were able to carry
out their doctrines-should become SO far in the
cendant as to be the governing party of the North
then should not hesitate to concede the full
right of the South to withdraw from the Union for
the reasons alleged. But we hold that the great
body of the people of the North true and loyal
to the Constitution and the Union. They will
stand by it in its integrity; they will sustain it
whole, and in detail
But there is "higher law'' party at the North
engaged in crusade against the Union. II ID
true they do not openly take the field nullifiers
or secessionists; but they proclaim that the Con-
stitution 10 can atrocious bargain" and repudiate
its provisions. They seek to prevent the enforce
ment of laws enacted under it, and are, therefore,
to all intents and purposes, as much dsunionsts
the fire. eaters of South Carolina They seek to
accomplish by indrection what their workers
at the South hope to effect by open and undisguised
action The result Of their policy, if consum-
mated, will be the same. II is insdous and equal
| ly dangerous to the integrity of the Union
notification in its worst forms. What better
apology for their action do the seccssionists of the
South want than the fact that the Constitution is
repudiated at the North! This is the fuel that feeds
the fre-the 'food upon which treason grows and
thrives''
1t is well for people to pause and consider
the tendency ofthe doctrines that are promulgated
ia the "higher-law" school, Confined to the
North they might be harmless, as the ebulli-
tions of demagogues and place-seekers. But they
go further, and at the South regarded the
vailing policy of this section of the Union. Dema
gogues of the opposite extreme seize upon them,
and make them the instruments of inhaming the
southern public mind. While thus they weaken
the respect felt by the North for the Constitution,
they form the groundwork of disunion at the
South. They are the essential elements which
keep alive the excitement and agitation in both
sections of the country. The responsibility rests
upon those guilty of the first wrong. We may not
insist that others shall be bound with in COM
pact which reject. We may not insist, if we
reputation OF the organic law Of the Union, that
the South shall observe all it's PROVISIONS be
subject to its obligations and liabilities, while de-
MED its privileges and benefits. This would be
unnatural--it would be unjust.
We regard the disunionists OF the North as more
dangerous than those at the South. And for this
reason, their policy has double effect In the fret
place, 1T undermines that love for the Union and
that veneration and respect for the Constitution
which has ever been the characteristic of our
people. Who does not perceive that within
few years great change has come over the pub
lie mind in this respect. 1t can all be traced to
this source. Ten years ago a proposition to dis
regard and violate the Constitution would have
been received with universal horror. Now it ia
counsellod by public men, from the pulpit, and
by influential journals. Every patriot, therefore,
should anIiously inquire whittier this downward
progress is tending. Should it continue with
the rapdiy, the shoals and rocks of dis
union may not be in far distant future.
In the second place, the "higher law" doctrines
are the aliment of secession at the South. They
the foundation upon which it builds. Let
there be general acquiescence in carrying out
the provisions of the Constitution at the North
let the laws of Congress have unobstructed ope-
ration, and the excuse for secession ceases; there
is no longer any cause for it-no apology for it.
stands forth in bold reliefa5 unmitgated treason
Viewed in this Highland the question cannot,
with unprejudiced eyes. be viewed in any other
the "higher-law" doctrines which promulgated
and acted upon at the North may be regarded as
the exciting cause of the spirit Of disunion every
where. They have arrayed the South against the
North-they have excited against the Union,
whose end Is not yet.
ANOTHER CAUTIoNARY YERDrcT.-A verdict was
rendered by a jury at nisi prius, in the supreme
court on Saturday, Judge Bell presiding, by which
dana ges to the amount of fifteen hundred dollars