The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-05-19
General 1pteiIigepce.
New Ideas.

New Ideas.
The n. Y. Tribune's correspondent at
Washington, writes under date of April
18th, and says, there is residing in that
city, a quietelderly gentleman. of retired
habits, and moderate views, who is ma
tive, and long resident of the South,
and who says he was never north of Ma
son and Dixon's line. He is somewhat
eccentric, and always pointed in his re-
marks, and is sometimes disposed to as
sumo communicative mood. Not long
since, he gave his thoughts on the slavery
question, which appears worthy of repe-
tition. He said =
81 am often amused, at the talking
propensities of the Abolitionists, or, as
you style yourselves in the North, Free
Soil men. You have writer's and lectur-
ers, who keep the air full of anti-slavery
threats, but you never really do anything
when the crisis arrives. when blow at
slavery should be felt. In looking for
the cause of this, l find a variety of rea-
sons but it seems to me that the one
which lies at the bottom is aOaRt Of pluck.
As to your nonresident fellows of the
Garrison School, their antics are simply
grotesque. They use the biggest words,
and call the hardest names of all the men
and women under the sun. But this is
all. They merely rail.
"There is Beecher, and crowd of
such, whose names l often see in the
newspapers, who blaze away in their pull
pits and in the lecture-rooms with vast
deal of noise and self-consequence, and
think they are shaking the world, but
whose labors would be totally forgotten
nextweek if they should die this. | adj
NIT that a reasonable amount of talking
and praying is good thing toward help
ing your side along. But now let me tell
you that what you need just now is not
talking and praying Abolitionists, but
fighting Abolitionists. Why, to turn
from your preachers and lecturers in the
North, just go up on Capitol Hill, and
look into Congress, when that body is in
session. You have scarcely got a man
there who would peril his body to free all
the blacks in these States. That is to say,
nobody who is ready to tight against the
very worstaggressions of slavery. There
are plenty who will talk and declaim
against it, But what 1 mean is that you
have got nobody who will resist what
you call outrage in either branch of
Congress except by peaceable means
You had great many hard things to
say of the Nebraska bill. That you
termed an outrage to say the least. L
never considered it SO, forI never allow
myself to take partisan views on either
side. thought it pretty bold move,
but on the. whole / liked it. 1t was
gallant dash into a beasting enemy's
camp, spiking his guns and carrying off
heap of booty. Why, my good Sir,
don't you know that slavery is supported
by fighting, defended by fighting. spread
by fighting that it is in every way bel
ligerent institution, of necessity and
that wherever it goes, and wherever its
advanced guard goes, that there is the
bowie-knife and the revolver, forcing or
defending its path ? If you don't, you
ought to turn your eyes towards Kansas.
Now, to pit an opposition of non-resis-
tants and peace men against the resolute
and determined engineers who lead the
van in the great enterprise of subduing
a continent to its sway-what do you
think of it? Don't you rather guess
such a prodigous opposition to slavery
will succeed
"By way of Illustrating my meaning
respecting this matter of fighting, I
would like to ask you what you think
would have been the proceedings of Con-
gress at the session which passed the Ne
braska bill, ifthe case had been reversed,
and the northern abolitionists had under
taken to break a bargain that certain
Territory in the South should be SLAVE
holding, and made the attempt to wrest
it from the propaganda to the service of
freedom? Where is the northern Ste
phens who would have dared defy a reso-
lutte southern minority with his legisla-
lative legerdemain And if such had
shown himself, do you doubt that he
would have been knocked down in his
tracks, or pitched out of the Hall for
such an soutrage?' You have been in
Washington often,-and ought to know.
What do you think ? But no matter, l
think we dent disagree on this point
No such measure could have been forced
upon fighting party. such as the slave
holders are. Such measures are only
crammed down the threats of peace
men.
"You think, perhaps, I am treading
upon the verge of extravaganza. 1t is
not so. You Tribune men have got your
heads full of the great moral power of a
peaceable opposition to slavery. And I,
for one. am glad of it. l do not want to
see this anti-slayery contest any more
embittered during my day than it is now.
In the sixty years that l have lived, /
have been peace man, and expect to be
to the end. And whatever frightful coll
hsions slavery may incite, / trust they
viii not come TIL ana at rest. But this
does not hinder me from looking upon
things as they are. Indeed, As am not
an actor anywhere upon the public thea
ter, l see only the more plainly aud Judge
with but the more accuracy. I say you
Tribune men have got your heads full of
the notion of the great moral power of
peaceaNe opposition TO slavery, Now, I
would ike to ask you what that Kind of
opposition hasefected thus far? Under
It. slavery, during the last twenty-five
years Of It's existence, has Strengthened
itself in Its old quarters, spread itself
into new, and has at last boldly marched
over into free Territory, and wreached It
from the hands of the 'peaceable' opposi-