The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-01-07

Alqb1u3Q.
The spirit Of the people Of Ibis gallant etats
seems to be thoroughly aroussd. Not only do
the resistance men there talk out plainly and
boldly. but several very significant changes have
recently taken place in the opinions Of individ-
uals and papers, formerly for the Compromise
who, seeing at last its true working, have un-
farisd shs AAg Of equality or independence.
Partisan politicians may vainly strive to arrest
this movement, for it is the strong ground sw ell
OF popular ssatiment--and will sweep away all
obstacles to its onward progress, as the missile
sippi whirls down the drift-wood falling into its
current ~
We FIRST give the testimony Of Northern
resident in Alabama, whose eyes are wider open
than those Of some Of the native denizens of
the soil:
We give (says the Hartford CourSnt) the fol-
lowing extract Of letter from gentleman of
Alabama to > friend in this city, as a specimen
Of the state of feeling in the interior counties Of
the South. The writer is native of Connec.
ticut, who has resided in Alabama for some
years, and fully understands the views of those
about whom he writes:
What Calhoun could not effect in twenty
years, has been done in six weeks. viz union
of the South do assure you that, in this
county, one Of the wealthiest, and containing
MS quiet and intelligent population as there il
in the United States Wing too--where first
there was large Union party--there is now no
one permanent citizen that know Of, or have
heard OF, that does not say the time has come
for secession. For one, with many ties to bind
me to the North-born there--having friends
and relations from whom it would be painful TO
difier-having hoped, and, until my recent visit
to the North, having expected that my children
and yours would live and die under the same
Government orr fathers had--it was with great
reluctance that was convinced that the North
would not leave US alone, which was all we
asked. As it il, am prepared coolly and calmly
to vote for secession, and, if il ia necessary, to
sustain the vote with life and fortune. The
Union, rs it has been managed for some years,
has no friend here. Those who hoped Justice
from the North, are giving up their hopes, since
the news comes of the action in Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania, and especially Massachusetts. Nothing
but the ettsctual waking up of the Union men,
(if any such there be) at the North, and their
effectual putting down Of slavery agitation there,
can now save the Union. No Union party here
can save it. Their ground has been taken from
under them by the notification of the slave law.
and the renewed and increasing agitation of the
slave question at the North" 1
We find in late number of the Dallas Ga
zetle, the following letter from citizen of Ala
bama, whose name is familiar to all our read
ers. He. at least, needs no commentator to ex-
plain his meaning;
Mr.. HAYNES In the last number Of the
Selma Reporter, writer signing himself 'sCiti-
zen," makes the following inquiries:
Will Colonel Gayle admit that he points 10
secession and disunion as the surest remedy? Is
he soiling TO be hus branded, in The face of his
fetL0tc-clixens, as man Uho adrocaies seditious
doctrines, which inrOlpe the destruct,on Of this
government ?"
The writer shall be gratAed. advise
i" medi1ate'" and aopenly advocate" the SECESSION
of Alabama alone, from the Union, rs soon as it
can be done by State Convention. The
Union nop, is not the Union Of our fathers, but
a Union hostile TO the institution OF slavery in
the South-growing in its strength and desper-
stely set upon It's destruction Its longer con-
tinuance perils not only the right to private pro-
perty, but the safety Of our wives and children.
In the language of a revolutionary patriot, | say
to the correspondent OF the Reporter, ~ this be
treason, make the most ofiL"
have heard much Of sireason' and of "frai-
tors" to the Union, within the last twelve months
There is, IN political sense, 'treason," and
"trnitors" TO THE SOUTH The rankest trea-
sma" to the South il, to deny her the reasonable
and constitutional right to withdraw from the
Union whenever she feels herself oppressed BY
the General Government beyond endurance
and the vilest Traitor" to her is he who calls
SECESSION fredsonable.
y confess TO aCitzen," to CRAFTY his facetious-
ness, all that "Gilss" has been guilty Of In his
articles to the State Gazette" l have sinned
against South Carolina, and her people, to my
present shame and, without any scruple, con-
fess the gross injustice have done them. She
is the intrepid vanguard Of the South, and our
triumph or defeat in the pending slavery war
fare, will be found in her high sense of our
equality, her ralor, and her determination She
is ready to maintain her rights, and pauses for
a moment only, with "her lance couched, and
not feather trembling in her cap"
G. w. GAYLE.
CAHABA, December 30, 1850 t