The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-02-01
lCONTlNUED.I

lCONIlhUhD
We see. 10 New England society, the religiou,
idea, and in the American, that In combination
with politics. Under the guidance Of these 40
cieties, petitions were addressed to Congress 70
the attainment Of the vahousends of this enter
prize In Congress, they found man Of grea
and varied attainments, Of fervent eloquence
ardent and unquenchable passions, indomitabl,
courage, and Of an elevated position, to main
tain their title to q respectful consideration
This was John Qui,cy Adams. 1t Is proper t
allow the Abolitionists to estimate his service,
in their causo. They say Ibis enduring ant
distinctive fame will rest upon the labors o
his later ye&ra, in the representa- alive branch o
the national legislature, in behalf OF Northern
rights, assaiIed by slsyehoIding aggression
This has connected his memory with the history
Of the great struggle for human rights, which
after all, 10 the only history that makes per
manent aud extensive impression on the mine
OF dispassionatc posterity. For his manly de
fence Of tho right Of petition, he deserves higl
honor aud perpetual remembrance. Though ht
did not accept, at least until near his death, the
doctrine that slavery should be swept from thu
national domain at Washington, as Il nationa
disgrace, by the nations hand, still he led the
forIoru hope, which carried the entertainments
thrown up for the defence Of that slavery agains
the hands Of its assailants, and helped to make
THE work of his successors possible, aud com
paratiyely easy. The state Of things in which
we now rejoice, by which the question Of slavery
has become the chief, ale ost the only engross'
ing topic of rublie and rivate discussion, is
largely owing to the resolute and unweared
pioneering of Mr.. Adams, He had true hatred
of slavery, which grew stronger ard stronger as
his life declined. Had he lived yet longer, we
believe his last days would have been signalized
by more direct attacks on slavery than those
which hsd distinguished his past career"
The pecul ar object Of Mr.. Adams's hate was
the clause in the Constitution which permits
the enumeration of slaves in fixing the ratio of
representation We know Of no speech in our
language which condenses such bitter and con-
centrated expressions of hostility and hate, than
one of his, on that subject. We have room but
for single paragraph.
.By this process it is that all political power
in the States is absorbed and engrossed by the
owners Of slaves, and the oveffuling policy of
the States is shaped to strengthen and consoli-
date their domination. The Legislative. executive
and judicial authorities are ell in their hands--
the preservation, propagation, and perpetuation
of the black code of slavery--evcry law OF the
legislature becomes a link in the chain of the
slave: every executive act rivet to his hapless
fate; every judicial decision pervertion Of the
human intellect, to the justification Of wrong
Its reciprocal operation upon the government OF
the nation is, to establish an artificial majority
in the slave representation, over that of the free
people, in the American Congress, and thereby
to make the preservation propagation and per-
petuation of slavery the vital and animating spirit
of the National Government"
yTyl srto
with him. They occur in reports made to the
body Of which he was a member, in 1888, and
we're inculcated in formal address, circulated
about that time, among his constituents. Tic
became, therefore, an appropriate agent for anti
slavery agitation in Congress. From 1884 unit
1874 this war lasted. Mr.. Calhoun met thu
difficulty with his characteristic courage, and in
trepidity, and forecast His prophecies of tn,
power and pervading influence of such agitation
have been fulfilled His counsels and admoni
ti1ns have now to be considered. He admonishec
the Northern representatives,
aft we are to be exposed here, in the heart o
the Union, to an endless attack on our rights
our character and institutions; if the other
States are to stand and look on, without at
tempting to suppress these attacks, originating
within their borders; and finally, If this is to b.
our fixed and permanent condition, as members
of this confederacy, we will then be compelled
TO turn our eyes on ourselves. Come what will
should il cost every drop of blood and every
cent of property, we must defend ourselves
and, If compelled, we would stand justified BY
NIL laws, human and divine. II feel alarm, il
is not for ourselves; but for the Union and thu
institutions Of the country, to which have eve
been dcvotedly attached, however illuminated
and slandcred Few have made greater sacri
fees to maintain them, and no one is NOR
anxious to pcrpetuate them, to the latest gene
ration; but they can and ought to be perpetuatet
only on the condition that they fulfil the grea,
object for which they were created-THE Ii
BETTY AND Projection OF THESE STATES.
The Aboltionists made conquest, in 1885
of DIR. Claiming, who, at that time, exercised
a commanding sway over the mind of Massa
chusetts, and, consequently, their conquest ex-
tended to that State. They obtained partial
triumphs in their claim Of the right to petition
in l835-afterwards in l83S-and completely
in 1874 With this triumph, we believe, vii
be associated the triumph of the prayers Of tho
petitioners.
During this Had Of agitation the sphere great
" increased. Laws were procured, in severa
of the States, so contrived as to render the nc
for the restoration Of fugitive slaves nugatory
by the allowance 10 the luSttNe VI 'c Haoca
corpus writ and trial by jury, to ascertain hi'
status The political shape Of the question be
came more dist net, andf the Wing party at thu
North, became more or ss.dentified, in all thu
States as affiliated with the agitation.
The dogmas of the nnti-s!avery party, as {
political party, were elaborated in the various
tracts published by DR.. Charming. These have
been circulated, by hundreds of thousands, over
the country, and, to those who are familiar with
them, their influence is perceptibe in almost
every anti-slavery speech or document. The
duty of the free States, he says, in regard to
slavery, may be classed under two heads:
First, these States are bound to construe
with the utmost strictness, all the articles of the
Constitution, which, in any way, trench on slave
ry, so that they may do nothing in aid of this
institution but what is undeniably demanded by
that instrument; and secondly, they nre bound
TO seek earnestly such amendments the Con-
stitutou as will remove this subject wholly
from the cognizance of tie General Government;
such as will be just, alike to the North and
South such as will release the North from all
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