Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1854-07-10


vent the desetion Of them q the enemy That the state
OF the country and he greet number Of these people
among them, expose the inhabitants to great danger,
the endeayors OF the enemy to excite them to revolt
ordesert- -kOl.l p. los saasa=ssresues.s
Here is South Carolina secretly disclosing |
her military weakness and its occasion; thus |
disowning, in advance, the yaunt of her SEM |
ator, who finds strength and graduation in |
slavery rather than in freedom. 1t was DUR
ing the war that She thus shrived herself, on
her knees, in the confessional of the Cont
mental Congress. But the same important adj
mission was made in debate, on the floor of
Congress- S0th March, 1890, some time after
the war, by Mr.. Burke, Representative from
South Carolina:
" There is gentleman the floor who is sran-
ger the feeble situation Of State, when entered
into the to oppose the British power. Ne uere not
only Without money, toithoHt an army or military
stores; but Je0 in number, aud likely TO be
eRtGngted with domestics in the enemy inua-
ded us'--Anndis Of Congress, 1859, 1881 uoteae 2,
page l4St 49,. t..-
Similar testimony to the weakness engen-
dered by slavery was also borne by Mr.. Mad
ison, in debate in Congress-;
" Euery addition they Georgia and South Cardinal
receive to Their number of slaves tends 10 cedke em
and render them less capable Of self deJensenAR-
mas Of Congress, tofunte l, page $40. t
The historian of South Carolina, DR.. Ram
scenes which he describes, exposes this weak
ness rf
The forces under the command of General Provost
marched through the richest settlements of the STATE
where the ewes white inhabitants in proportion to the
number Of slaves. The hapess africans dLittred tcM
the hope Freedom, forsook their oIUners and repaired
in great numbers tie Royal Army. They endeavored
to recommend themselves to their new masters by discov
erng where their owners had concealed their property
and were assisting in carrying o"-istOry of South
Carolina, uotame I, page 3l2. 1
And the same candid historian, describing
the invasion of the next year, says:
The slaves second time aocked to the British Army"
-YoL1, p. 1856
And at still later day, Mr.. Justice john
son, of the Supreme Court of the United
States, and citizen of South Carolina, in his
elaborate life of General Greene, speaking of
negro slaves, makes the same admission. He
says: 8
g But the number dispersed through these southernl
States was very greati great as 10 render iapOssi
Die for the citizens to muster Tee1en enough TO NTH
stand the pressure Of the British Grms.''-po 2, p.
| Surely, sir, this is enough and more Thus
! from authentic documents, we learn the small
contributions of men, and the military weak
ness of the southern States, particularly of
South Carolina, as compared with the north
| ern States; and from the very lips Of South
| Carolina, on four different occasions, speaking
| by committee; by one of her Representa-
tives i'll Congress; by her historian; and by
an eminent citizen, we have the confession
not only of weakness, but that this weakness
was caused by slavery. And yet, in the face
of this cumulative and unimpeaehable testi-
mony, we are called to listen, in the American
Senate, to a high-hying boast from venera-
bic Senator, that American independence was
achieved by the arms and treasure of "slave-
| holding communities; an assumption, base
| less as the fabric of VISION in any way it
may beinterpreted whether as meaning bold
| ly that independence was achieved by those
southern States which were the peculiar home
of slavery, or that it was achieved by any
strength or influence which came from that
| noxious source. Sir, speak here for Com
monwealth of just renown, but l speak also
for cause which is more than any Common
wealth, even that which I represent; and
cannot allow the Senator, with his silver
| white locks, to discredit either Not by sla-
| very, but in spite of it, was independence
| achieved Not because, but notwithstanding,
| there were ~ slayeholding communities" did
triumph descend upon our arms. 1t was the
| inspiration of Liberty Universal that conduct
| ed us through the red sea of the Revolution,
as it had already given to the Declaration of
Independence its mighty tone, resounding
| through the ages. :" Let it be remembered -
said the nation, speaking by the voice of the
| Continental Congress, at the close of the war,
&c that it has ever been the pride and boast of
America that the rights for which she has
! tended were THE RIGHTs OF HUMAN NATURE!
| Yes, sir, in this bohalf and by THE
j rspf;;,r =! ---s4 on TINS head to the
I 5ehator from South Carolina. If the work
| which undertook has been done thoroughly,
| he must not blame me. Whatever l under
70 In l.. 81.
thus repelling the insinuations against Massa-
chusetts, and the assumptions for slavery, L
would not unnecessarily touch the sensibilities
OF that Senator, or of the State which he rep
resents. cannot forget that, amidst all di-
Yersltles OF opinion, We are bound together by
3 the ties OF common country-that Massaehu-
sets and South Carolina are sister States, and
that the concord Of sisters ought to prevail be-
tween them; but am constrained to declare,
that l have throughout this debate sought in
vain anytoken of that justspirit which, with
in the sphere Of its influence, is calculated to
promote the concord alike of States and indi-
viduals. IL n
( And now. for the present, l part with the
venerable Senator from South Carolina. In
pursuing his Inconsistencies, and exposing
them to Judgment, | had almost forgotten his
associate leader III the wanton personal attack
to which have been exposed-I mean the
veteran Senator from Virginia, MIR. Mason
who is now directly in my eye. With impe-
rious look, and in the style of Sir Foreible
Feeble, that Senator has undertaken to call in
question my statement that the fugitive slave
bill denied the writ Of habeas corpus, and, in
doing this, he has assumed a superiority for
himself which, permit me to tell him now in
this presence, nothing in him can SANCTION
Sir, claim little for myself; but / shrink in
no respect from any comparison with that
Senator, veteran though he be. Sitting near
him, as has been my lot since have been on
this floor, / have come to know something of
his conversation, something of his manners,
something OF his character, something of his
abilities-ay, sir, and something of his asso-
ciations-and, while / would not undertake
to disparage him in any of these respects; yet
feel that do not exalt myself unduly-that
1 do not claim too much for the position which
hold, or the name which / have established,
when l openly declare that as Senator of
Massachusetts,, and as a man, | place myself
at every point III comparison with that honor
able assailant. And to his poremptory asser-
ton that the fugitive slave bill does not deny
the fabeas corpus, oppose my assertion, as
peremptory as his own, that it docs, and there
/ leave that question. ba 74 Els
Mr.. President, / welcome the sensibility
which the Senator from Virginia displays at
the exposure of the fugitive slave bill in its
true character. He is the author of that enor-
nifty. From his brain came forth the soulless
IL.