The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-03-19
xas.raeterssties Of tke Anti-slaSery E1-
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cfements
Tn many points OF view the agitation which
the Nebraska bib has aroused throughout the
country differs from all previous outbreaks Of
excitement on the anti-slavery question. Not
that the o-ity entertained against the adj
vocatss of Congressional non-intervention is
1850. The Wilmot proviso had ten adherents
where the Nebraska bill has one foe. In respect
of numbers, the anti-slavery faction of to-day
has fallen far below its former xength. But in
respect of violence, of sltraism, Of lawlessness,
and of disloyalty it is quite Is far in advance
of its former position 1t is rot unre ssonable to
construe the fact as a sign that it will the more
rapi ly exhaust itself.
The telegraph tells u, day after day, that
mobs in the North have burned or hanged Sena-
tor Douglas 'efhgy. IF the operation here al
luded to have any Specification at ALL it means
that the burners or hangmen would burn or
hang their victim in flesh and Hood, if the laws
did not prevent sdch pastimes: and that being
debarred from performing on the hum N body,
they substitute a stuffed efigy in its stead.
What has Senator Douglas done to merit such
vindictive rancor at the hands of thinking in
telligent mem He has sought to apply the
principles of the con titutiOn, as he read them,
to new territory: sought to obtain for the
future inhabitants of that territory, citizens of
the United States, the natural rights of freemen.
II he be'wrong shall an error in the pursuit of
sach an object doom its author to hanging or
burning If he be right as all sound legists
mustdecknowledge he is, what langy.age is
strong enough to convey the disgust inspired
by these rotous attascks upon him. But they
are-but one among many symptoms OF the vlo-
lence of the anti-slavery faction.
A couple Of days age we published an ac-
,ceunt of riot at Milwaukee, where the
jail was broken into by "a mob, and fugitive
slave rescued. As usual, the laws were
thoroughly violated, and the military called
ont too late. A degree of violence was mani
tested that probably exceeds anything to
which the legislation of 1850 gave rise.
Here, again, the effect of the Nebraska
excitement was quite apparent. and some cri-
terion afforded of the lengths in law breaking
to which the anti-slavery faction arc prepared
toproceed
To the unprecedented interference of the
clergy in politics ,allusion has already been
made as well in the United States Senate as in
other places 1t lisa painful thing to say, but
it cannot he questioned that the clergy of the
Eastern States have been bur,hcn and almost
a blight on the intellectual progress of the
people. From the pulpit came those intolcrant
and narrow laws which disgraced the New
England statute book for more than o century;
il was the voice. of the clergyman which fulmi
mated on hapless offenders those shocking SEN
fences which sssiniate the records of the
Puritans in >America to those of the inquisiton
in SPAIN Enlightenment gradually drove the
priesthood from the seats of secular authority
and New England; ever since the revolution,
has made immense strides in intellectual pro-
gress, as a natural consequence. Now they
are again stepping forward to override the
power Of the Legislature, and wrest from the
hands of statesmen she control of the Common
wealth. With impious assurance, three thou
sand men, pledged by their cloth to preach
submission to constituted authority. protest in
the name of Almighty God, against the
maintenance Of the, constitution. This is GER
one which it bcbooves us to watch narrowly.
Our institutions have hitherto protected us
from such disastrous attempts at theocracy as
have been from time to time successfully
established in Europe: aud we had come to
believe that the security we now enjoy was
destined to endure forever But if the anti
slavery agitators can so easily make q tool of
the clergy, and THRUST them forward in the
name of Almighty Cod to play the part of
traitors, we may not be after all as safe as we
imagine At all events, when we consider the
intelligence that is usually ascribed to the
clergy, and whenwe see the very absurd posi-
tion in which they are now placed, one cannot
help feeling that their movement is syEptom
which, if not alarming is at least very striking
and memorable.
While the clergy were forgetting their sacred
duties to usurp political power, other men who,
if slightly tainted with free soil ainitics, have
always been classed separately from the open
traitors of the Parker and Garrison stamp were
taking direct ground in favor Of the dissolution
Of the Union. The two Seward organs in this
city have given them the countenance they had
right to expect from such quarter. In,one
a letter appears whose writer "perceives nc
good reason that should induce the free States
to remain one day longer chained &c the dead
carcasc Of slavery and thispatriotic sentiment
seems to strike n sympathetic CHORD in the
editors breast. The responsible editor of the
other Scward organ declares to public
meeting that Webster was. privately of opinion
that the Union could not last; and allows it to
be seen plainly enough that should such ca
would behold the rnin OF his county without
pang ofregret Other aspirations for.the dcstkic-
ton Of all that We have been taught to cherish
from our youth have been uttered in other
quarters. II is natural that there should BE-