The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1854-06-21

property holders of the North do not see
the dangerous consequences involved in the
h'gher-law principle OF the slavery agita-
ton.
The North have peculiar interest In the
Government; it Is emphatically their Gov
ernment they have the majority they cou-
troll 1t; they mould its legislation to pro-
mote their own interests; they possess
the larger portion of its patronage; if any
people were ever especially interested in
the preservation of any Government, the
people Of the Norti, are thus specially inter-
ested in the preservation of this Govern.
ment. 1t is strange, therefore, that they
should Systematically endcavor to destroy
it, rs they arc doing, by their slavery agita-
ton. This agitation, more than all other
causes, in tending to destroy the Govern
ment; and this agitation they cherish and
carcss, above all things else, as their favor
ite policy. 1t is not strange, constituted rs
human nature is, that men should give into
agitations which may injure others, but it
is strange to see them agitatng upon sub
iect, the natural tendency of which is to in
jure themselves. 1t only shows how blind
we become when we consult our passions
and our imagipations instead of cur iudg-
ments. The obvious tendency of this slave
ry agitation is to destroy the Government.
What holds the Government together! A
sense of its advantages, and feeling of ro-
nance. The object of government suggests
its most prominent advantages. The great
object of government is protection-protcc-
ton from external and internal wrong; but
for the necessity for this protection, govern
ment would not exist. 1t may be said,
therefore, that this is the great primary OBJ
iect of government. And the leading ad-
vantage of the Government consists in its
capability to accomplish this object. The
romance which attaches the people to the
Government consists in its past history and
the future before it. This Is one of the
main pillars of governments; it constitutes
nationality, and, in proportion to the inten-
sity of this feeling, is the capability Of n ma
ton for great actions. The want of this
feeling is one of the principal causes of the
present humiliation and dismemberment of
italy. This same want of nationality has
overwhelmed Germany with innumcrable
misfortunes. The presence of this feeling
enabled Spain to drive back the immense
armies Of Napoleon. 1t is the possession
of this feeling in its most extreme form
which has designated France rs the great ma
ton. Mankind are greatly under the infiu-
ence of their imaginations-unIer such an
influence nations become great.
Both these bonds Of union, the sense of
advantage, and the feeling of romance, have
been greatly weakened by this Abolition
agitation. 1t found ours an efficient Gov
ernment, affording protection abroad and at
home, sustained in the affections of the peo-
pie BY glorious antecedents and u sublime
future. How changed is the scene now
Abolition has paralyzed the Government.
So far as our foreign relations are con-
cerned we are powcrless. We have all the
means. both material and moral to the
most efficient vindication Of our rights, but
they are harmless in oui hands. We cam
not use them. We cannot 60 to war with
any foreign Power. There are but three
nations with whom we could be likely, un-
der any circumstances, to be involved in
war-Spain, Mexico, and England. Now,
in what condition are We to vindicate our
rights, if trampled upon by either of thees
Powers? Is it Spain! We can only dip.
lomatise with her. War with her would
be stigmatized by the North rs a slavery
propaganda war, and opposed by her How
would it be with the South? Would they
not see that in the natural course Of events
Spain, in despair, before she relfnquished
her grasp upon Cuba, would decree emanci
patton, and Cuba, according to the doctrines
laid down by the North, on the acquisition
of territory from Mexico, would have n freC
statute! The same ideas would renders q
war with Mexico impossible; and the certain
acquisition of the Canadns could not but
make the South pause before going into q
war with England. So far rs the first great
o! ject of Government is concerned, defense
against external wrong, melancholy rs is the
confession, our Government is unable to
perform its functions. As regards the sec
ond form Of protection, protection against
internal wrong, our Government is even less
able to discharge its great duty. What j.
the object Of the antislavery agitation bul
the eventual abolition of slavery in the
States The restriction Of slavery in tn.
Territories is only one Of the means Of ac
complaining this purpose. The abolition o.
slavery in the States, implies war of the
t races, causing the greatest commissions anC
, disasters to the South. The strange spec
tacle is, therefore, presented in our Govern
ment, of the dominant section seeking stea
diiy to turn the action of the Government
into direction ut war with the existence O
the weaker section. Is not the Goycrnmcn
then failing to perform its Office of protec
ton against internal aggression! The Gov
ernment has, therefore, failed, to very grea
/ extent, to perform its most vital functions.
3 The feeling Of romance have alluded t
as one of the bonds Of the Union, takes two
forms, the memories of the past, and tn,
hopes Of 2he future. Those memories ar,
] grand and sublime, and a recent period, com
parativey, they all tended to strengthen the
idea of union. The fierce struggles of ou
ancestors with the Indian for a foothold OF
this continent, their colonial wars with tn,
7 French, their great contest for independence
, the war Of 1912, all illustrate and magnif,
the idea Of union. They exhibit our fore
: fathers standing side by side in the camp
: and the council, and by their united efforts
: bursting the barriers which man and natur,
, opposed to the triumphal progress of the
country. But, in the latter periods of ou
history, DARK shadows ofscctional arroganc,
> and injustice have fallen upon our path, anc
, We of the South can no longer look bacl
with the same pride and pleasure we ono,
did Uuntil this slavery agitation disturbed
the unsuspecting confidence of the South
our future was the most glorious that cvel
dawned upon any people. But this discor
dant fiend Of Abolition has marred the pros
pect; and instead of hope, greatness, peace