The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-03-26

duced a great revolution in the sentiments of our
population. They had been accustomed to rest In
thought on the idea of the Union as the ark Of
safety but they have been aroused from the delu-
SION One of our citizens, (Mr. Stephcns,) while
travelling in Central America, experienced there
the shock of violent earthquake he declared
in his feelings n ono respect Till then, he said,
he had been accustomed, when upon me surface oil
the earth, to feel secure and that ne rested on a
foundation firm and stable. But ever afterwards
he could only think of the solid globe Itself as
frail tremulous thing, ready to give way under him
at any moment The shock OF an earthquake mas
passed under the minds Of our people. and they
no longer rest on the Union as the solid rock OF
safety | rejoice that il is SO. wish to see them
bold self relying, and confident of being able with
the favor Of Providence, to guard their liberties and
Confidence, that .piant of slow growth will -four
ish again. Rather let them realize the great truth
that .'eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"
They have met, too, with ITS mcrited scorn, and
trampled under their feet the doctrine of slavish
subserviency to the Government OF their own crca-
ton. Certain professed national organs and ora
tors have preached devotion to the Union in any
timent never fell from the lips of mortal man. II
is substantially the with the doctrines Of pas
sive obedience and non resistance which brought
the head Of Charles l. to the block. Since then no
Englishman has had the effrontery to avow such
opinions. Its only supporters in this country Tor
merly the Tories of the Revolution. Those
who have preached the doctrine in our day will
only find their fellows among the palace slaves OF
Asiatic despotsm. Their proper position is below
every thing that Providence has created, when in
its natural state Even the meanest reptiles strug
gle upward against the opprcssor, The American
people Justly regard these individuals as degraded
below the rest Of animated nature.
While the Government lasts. 1t is our duty to
endeavor to keep II in the proper track. The dan
ger ia not from violence. The sword has ever
been a great destroyer. 1t has consumed feeble
communities and States. But taxation has been
the destroyer Of the mighty. BY government ex-
action, in it's different forms, great nations have
persisted. The decay of the Roman empire has
been attributed by the abolition writers Of England,
by their echoes in this country, to slavery. But
the facts and reasonings Of Aboitionsts are alike
destitute of truth. Slavery existed in Rome from
the days of Romulus. During the prosperous ages
of the republic, the full tide of conquest enabled
them to make the largest number of captives
free. These were the days of the highest prosperi-
ty of the eternal city. During the decaying years
of the empire, the number Of slaves was rather
diminished But government taxation, in its va
nous forms. exhibited frightful increase The
exactions of the governors ruined the remote prov
inces drove them into successful rebellion Italy
then drained of its life blood, to support the
populace which concentrated itself at Rome to re
ceive the largesses of the government In this
way died the vast Roman empire. similar con-
dition of things is now being presented to our
eyes in Turkey The exactions OF the government
have destroyed its vitality The population is
concentrating at Constantinople, the point of gov
eminent expenditure. The most fertile lands of
Asia Minor and Turkey, in Europe, are rapidly
toman empire is now little better than dead
cass. In this way perished the old empires which
formerly existed on the banks of the Euphrates.
The extended ruins only indicate to the passing
the exactions of those who have held dominion
over the country Where there ia no security,
where no limit exists to the rapacity Of the gov
crnors, there can be no inducement to the subject
to labor O r save.
What is now going on in British India exem-
plifies the process. Forty five per cent, nearly
from the agrculturist in many, if not ALL the dis
tricts. Can that country live permanently under
the systems Ireland 10 oppressed by similar ex-
actions. prosperous country like Cuba, or the
United States, can bear great deal. With us the
direct taxation has not heretofore been great but
of the indirect there has been to complain.
Permit me to take from an individual as much as
/ choose Of all his purchases, and may infiict
upon him heavy oppression. The southern States
OF the Union sending from their limits not less
| than $3.50, 900, 900 worth of their domestic pro-
auctions, and they receive, or should receive, an
| equal value in return for them. But the Govern
ment takes from them as much as it pleases.
| They may, it 10 true, escape this burden, by
manufacturing for themselves everything they
| consume. But if the anti-slavcry party should
| get the entire control Of the Government, they
| arc laboring to do, and have prospect of accom-
plishing, when they shall have brought in sufh-
Gent number of free States, they may at their will
make the Constitution possibly in form, certainly
in practice, what they desire It 10 be. As our sys
tenn of society ia radically different from theirs
they might shape their legislation to isolate
and take away our substance entirely, and leave
the southern States little better than dead body
fastened to living one. This condition of things
is what we have most to dread. Already is il ap-
pretended by sagacious men that the character and
action Of this central Government is undergoing a
total change Sir what was the object of its crea-
ton, and with what attributes was ii originally in
vested? 1t was created to effect two main objects.
In the first place, to manage our relations with for
| eign countries. Hence it became necessary to in
it with the power of making treaties, and
! regulating commerce with them. In the second
place authorized to preserve proper relations
between the different States, and by consequence
| to regulate commerce between them and coin their
| money.
| These were the main, i might say the sole, objects
Of the creation of the Constitution. To carry them
| into effect it was necessary that the Government
should have the means of sustaining itself, and
hence the taxing power was given But it was
control the municipal relations Of its citizens
or interfere with their private rights. These
left be regulated by the several States composing
| the Union. Had the Government confined itself 10
the exercise of these two classes of powers which
alone were clearly delegated to it, it would have
escaped most OF the difficulty which it has hitherto
encountered; especially ought it to have abstaincd
| from attacking interests which 1t was created to
preserve. II has encountered difficulties by it's off,
cous intermeddng with what it had no positive
authority to touch For example, it's interference
Will TIC uueolioh Vi slavery has very near ~ occu
the of it's destruction. Twelve Of the thirteen
States which made the Constitution were slave
| holding, and while they gave it express power to
defend and preserve the institution Of slavery they
| invested il with authority to overthrow or even
| to make war on it. The Government, too, has
involved itself in difficulty by it's attempts, through
the medium Of tariff and navigation laws, to favor
certain classes of its citizens by the imposition OF
| burdens upon others 1t has also produced much
discomfort by its interference and connection with
banking operations, and other branches of private
business. Nobody will dispute but what it might
have absaincd from all these things and still car
ried out every objec. which it was created to
effect. Yes, sir; it might abandon all these pre-
tensions, and accomplish only the better the great
| purposes of its existence. Why, then, should il
not be limited in its action to its proper sphere
In this way it might give itself perpetual and in
| definite existence.
Our citizens ambitious of having a widely
| extended and magnificent empire. The wish Of
| their hearts might possibly be gratifed, and the
| whole continent DO subject TO one sway, if this
central Government should, in it's action, be limit
ed to its necessary and proper objects. Let it
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