The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-07-17

OF the armament Of stars
d, my dear one, do not yield thee
To such dark and hopeless dread;
fmy mortal love might shield thee,
would suffer In thy stead.
FUGITIVE SLAVE STATES RETURNED TO THE
SOUTH, AND NEW ENGLAND COLONIZED- A
PROPOSITION.
Commodore Stockton, New Jerseys new Sena-
tor, delivered q speech on the 4th at Elizabeth
town, which is likely to be the subject of more
remark than IL is worth. But its author has a
position, and If he should ever make fool of him
self, be will have to be attended to- A Commo-
dore, indeed, is very small affair so long as the
nation is in its senses, but United States Sens-
tor is a matter Of general concern. The speech,
in it's general qualities, is remarkable for a
quarterback sort Of didactcs, with some of the
t"-rS a~a vi tie confusion of the explosive style
of inadequate eloquence. There Is an odG NIX.
ture Oh SPONTANEOUS ulrec,ness and -. xa Svn
monplace In the diction. There is little Of the
prescribed piety, and little less of the compla-
cent Fourth-ofjulyery, in which our orators are
wont to indulge, and these only in the fringes Of
the speech the web, warp, and wool, is made up
of alarm patriotism and diluted natural philoso-
ply. The propositions are planted as if they
were loaded with their own defences, and are left
SO to take care Of themselves, without the help Of
argument, in some consciousness that logic would
be as likely to hurt as help them His subject he
divides or splits in two-not like logician or
philosopher, into two heads or tOpics-but like
sailor, into two hemispheres, north and south
and the inquiry Of the speech is a search for the
true meridian.
He dislikes to talk Of disunion he says but it
may come, and if it does, he hopes that New
Jersey, following the dictates Of duty, as well as
interest will unite for better or for worse with
those who are willing to abide by and respect the
compacts of the Constitution" Again, he says
" II the dissolution of the Union is inevitable,
then would prefer that the lines Of separation
should be drawn along the Hudson and the lakes,
rather than the Potomac and the Ohio. have
no doubt that in such an event the Northwestern
States would unite with New Jersey, Pennsyl-
vanis, and the South"
Besides the Commodores personal preference
for this dividing line, and his "no doubt that the
Northwestern States, Pennsylvania, and New
e-ssy, wo~sd gr~saf, that preference, he supports
its probability with single reason, expressed in
a single line" The South is their common GUS
tomer-there is their market" The sentence
that follows this may or may not be supplemental
ry to this-that depends upon its meaning, for
which the reader must depend upon himself, for
we cannot help him to lite drift or pertinency in
this position. The Republic, 20 constituted,
would have no natural repugnance to the spread
of civilization and reformed religion over that
portion Of the Continent which seems now to be
but mperfectly subjected to their influence"
The next pitch into the profound, after that, is
which he calls considering the la,0
which governs the progress of the Anglo Saxon
race" Aye, the lam and here is the place where
the Commodore unfolds his stores of science, phi
losophy, destiny, and the duty thereto annexed
His statement in short is, shat England thought,
while we were colonies, to limit our settlements
to the Alleghanies. A vain and fruitless attempt"
There is the foundation and the fact such as it is
In the way Of fact and here is the inference YER
batim, Sand any similar policy now would be
equally vain" This is the thing that was to be
demonstrated, and this is the orators way of do
ing it; and behold, we have the lam in q compre-
hensive formula, which would be as easily recog-
nised as well proved, and as fully embraced in
that curt and capital expression, GO AHEAD"
We ask the Commodore's pardon-there is one
other point made in the premises not, however,
question, as an enactment or announcement Of it
/" ami mwillmg to say to my countrymen that you
shall 20 no further east or west, north south
/ am un,cilling that the Anglo American race
shall perpetually recoil from any given boundary,
and that any portion Of this Continent, not now
in their possession, shall forever be impenetrable
to their civilization, enterprise, and Industry
That's the way to lay down a Ian; let the dis
solution line be run along the track Of the Com
modore's preference, and the boundaries of the
Republic SO constituted y be licensed by an Il un.
willingness" Of the same high authority and II
it don't quite come up to the notion of philo-
sophcal disquistiOn it may still pass for 4,h of
July speech
"Hitherto,n he admits, the impulse has been
westward and westward chiefly has been the
march of empire, until at last it has met resistance
in one Of those vast oceans which cover 80 large
an area Of the globe; rsbomdng from the contact,
it must naturally soon take another and more
southern direction 1t is perfectly plain, from
the use of the words which we have underscored
in this quotation, that the Commodore is {" con-
sidering the Ian Of projectiles, instead of popu-
laton, and 30 saves himself the trouble of ex-
planning why the Anglo American ball, that is
now rolling westward, must naturally bounce
southwark when il hits the Pacific
We have faithfully extracted and presented
every item Of the Senator's philosophy.
In literary criticism and Constitution construc
tiou he shines with about equal clearness but with
more display He analyses the Declaration o.
Independence, THE Compromises being the sub
ject in hand,) and that Declaration contains,
he says, "thess great principles LIST. That al
civil Government Is Of Divine origin. 2. Thai
every nation or community which has united fol
mutual protection, and sor the pursuit Of happi
ness, have an inalieuable right TO make laws fol
their own government. 3. That every nation hs'
a right to alter or amend those laws whenever
they may see at to do so. These appear to me tc
be the great principles Of our Declaration
That's decision as is decision, aud precious
triplet Of splinters which the learned analyst
gives us as the elements he splits out Of the Dec
lsrstion.
A rare item Of news that firstly is, to wait till
l776 for revelation; and q most emphatic repe'
tition Of secondly 10 do duty as thirdly, and &C