The Port Gibson reveille. (Port Gibson, Miss.) 185?-1857, 1854-06-14

/ Appeals 70 the Tears OF gentlemen And
We have heard about the trumpet.voce Of the
people. The people. I happen to know
something about the people; not the people
who have learned their politics in liveried
carriages. nor in their furnished parlors; but,
sir | happen to know something about the
people Of this land in the position Of cabin
boy. and Of deck hand upon the Mississippi.
Of fireman. working bareheaded and bare
footed. am in the position Of man who
never had dollar from the earnings Of any
human being but myself I, sir, cannot be
accused Of pandering TO arrogance. /, sir,
cannot be justly accused Of pandering to the
slave power. have never three times in nv
life known what it was to be worth 5000. |
have always been the employee, and never
the employer.
Sir, | am no lover Of oppression. | am
no lover Of wrong. | never oppressed any
human being upon earth. No man. woman
or child on the face Gods broad earth ever
can point to me as the author OF their wrong.
Sir, from whence come these irumpet.tOnes
Of the people Of which gentlemen speak p
Trumpet-tones They would be far better
characterized as penny-whistle screeches =
(Laughter) know the men who have fg-
ured in these meetings at the North.
knew them when they exhibited the same
hostility to the annexation Of Texas. 9th
ers. who have known them longer than have.
have known them in their opposition to every
single solitary stride that the Democratic par
ty has made in its onward march every ef-
fort 1t has made to advance the prosperity
and glory Of this noble country; other men
have known them in their inveterate opposi-
tion TO every square inch or acre Of territory
which has been added to the Republic since
Che formation Of the Government. And, sir,
this opposition now comes from the same
source. Il comes from men whose object is
to revOlutionize the land know them "A
set Of peanut agitators and Peter Funk phi
lanthropis.s. Reyolutionize Why. ten
thousand Of them could not revolutiOnize a
barber shop or an oyster box. (lIoud and
prolonged laughter) Now, gentlemen, this
is no subject Of laughter. (Renewed laugh
teri
Wherever you hear Of meetings called ir-
respective Of party, it simply means con-
gregAtion Of all the factions and fag-ends of
fiction throughout the land, who hate and de-
test the success of the Democratic party.-
That is the whole sum and substance Of it,
Sir, an appeal to any gentleman's fears is an
argument far more worthy Of a mock auction
shop and its denizens, than men who are rep
resenting constituencies in the Congress Of the
United States. For one, am free to confess
that am ready to declare that whenever my
constituents feel disposed to change their
Representative. and lsok around for one more
in accordance with their views, shall feel
particularly If it should 6e a question like
this-that have cut loose from a degenerate
set Of individuals, and that it is a sign they
have sadly backslided during my ABSENCE
(Great laughter.| The duty Of man, no
matter how humble, no matter how elevated
he position to which he has been advanced,
is to perform the requirements Of that posi-
ton to the utmost Of his ability, and in strict
keeping with the promptings Of an honest
conscience to do it utterly and contemptu-
ously disregardful Of any effect it may exer-
else on his own immediate or prospective
destiny. = =
In reply. Mr.. Chairman to what dropped
from the gentleman from Massachusetts,, (Mr.
Wentworth.| last night. and to others who
have been Overlooking with sympathy for the
Southern slaves, have to say, that the only
difference between the negro slave Of the
South, and the white wages slave Of the North,
is, that the one has a master without asking
for him, and the other has 20 beg for the
privilege Of becoming slave. (Great laugh
80 nj. - - tI.;, rl,.,n oc or IN nItvflna1
the other is the slave Of an inexorable class.
After the latter has added, by his labor and
his toll, wealth to the community in which |
he has lived, he is turned adrif without any, |
among all the different employers that he has
had, to give him mouthful Of victuals or q |
nights lodging. would ask the particular /
advocates Of Abolition upon this floor, to
point me to one single solitary degradation I
heaped on the negro Of the South that a
white man at the North is not liable to have
imposed on him for the time being through l
poverty? Last night the gentleman from
said, as noted it down at the
time
"No man or woman. black or white could be
deprived Of their freedom for one hour without it
was for the commission OF crime, and then on
he judgment of a court.o
Has It come to this Is the fact Of hav-
nc black skin a crime ia the South. and is
he fact Of having collapsed stomach and
in empty pocket a crime in the North -
Laughtcr) What is the difference / II
ave never gone through the one state
rave never had a black skin. but have gone
through the other state. Laughter.)
Now, | was going to read an affidavit to
he committee. but my time is too short; 50
will only state the substance Of it. II is
me Of nearly a thousand cases that know
f myself. Il is an affidavit wherein it is
tated that woman after having lived for
light or nine years in the town Of South
ridge. in Massachusetts,. where she bad had
hildren born. and where she had been herself ,
mployed by the selactmen of the town to
Grub out the public building. and where. she |
Iad caught cold aud had become unable to
upport herself and children. was, under the |
PROVISIONS Of a law OF Massachusetts, which !
have here, taken-not upon the order Of a |
ouft, but upon an order written BY magis- {
rate-and transported to New York, for fear i
he should become an incutnbrance on Massa- /
4 II. IL