Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1856-10-04
sound and Patriotic Sentiments.


We invite the attention of our readers Of all par
ties to the following extracts from the letter of JAMES
BUCHANAN, written to the great Union Meeting held
in Philadelphia, November, 1850. Can the most
bitter opponent of Mr.. Buchanan read this letter,
and then say, with clear conscience, that he snot
a national man? Mark these noble words of the H.
lustrous of Pennsylvania: Speaking to the peo-
pie of the North he says: 60 10 judge correctly of
our relative duties towards the people of the South,
VIC ought place ourselves in their position and do
unto them as zoe sooulI they should do unto as under
ssmilar circumstances. This is the golden rule"-
But to the extracts, which are as follows
"Let me then cal upon your powerful andinfuen-
tal meeting, they value the union of these States
the greatest political blessing ever conferred by
bountiful Providence upon man-as they value the
webeing of the slave ana free negro-as they val
even the cause of regular and constitutional
emancipaon,-to exert all our energies to put down
the long continued agitation in the North against
slavery in the South. Is it unreasonable that the
South should make this demand? The agitation has
reached such height that the Southern people feel
their personal security to be involved 1t has filled
the minds of the slaves with vague notions of eman-
cipation, and, in the language Of General Jackson
threatens to stimulate them to inSurrecton and
produce all the horrors of serve war;" Although
speedily suppressed, yet what horrors might not in
the mean time be perpetrated! Many mother now re-
tires to rest at night under dreadful apprehensons
of what may befall herself and her family befo e
the morning Sefpreservaton is the first instinct
of nature and, therefore, any state of society, in
which the sword of Damocles is all the time sus-
pended over the heads of the people, must at last,
become ntolerable. Iojudge correctly of our rca-
tive duties towards the people of the South, we
ought to place ourselves in their position, and do
unto them as we would they should do unto us I'M
der similar circumstances. This is the golden rule.
1t under its benign influence that our Constitu-
ton of mutual comp omise and concession was
framed and by the same spirit alone can it be MAIN
tanned. Do the people the North act in this Chris
tan spirit, whilst stigmatiZing their brethren of the
South with the harshest cphets, and imput;ng to
them high degree of moral guilt, because slavery
has been entaed upon them by their foreathers;
and this, too with a knowledge that the consequent
Of these assaults must be to place in peril their
personal safety, and that of all they hold most dear
earth9 | repeat that this constant agitation
must be arrested by the iirm determination and
Outc action OF the vast majority of the people of
the North, who arc known to disapprove it, or the
sacrifice of our glorious Union may and probably
will be at last the consequence.
2. | shall proceed to present to you some views
upon the subject of the much misrepresentcd fugi
tive slave law. 1t is evident all the 81 of
the times that this is destined to become the prn
cpa subject Of agitation at the next session of Con-
gress. and to take the place of the Wimot Proviso.
Its total repeal its material modification will
henceforward be the batte-cry of the agitators of
the North.
And what is the character of this law? 1t was
passed to carry into execution a plain, clear, and
mandatory provision Of the Constitution. requiring
that fugitive slaves, who fly from service in one
State to another shall be delivered up to their
tiers. This provision is explicit that he who
may read No commentary can present it in
stronger light than the plain words of the Con-
stituton. 1t is we'll known historical fact. that
without this provision the Constitution itself could
never have existed How could this have been 9TH
erwiSc? Is it possible for moment to believe that
the slave States would have formed union with
the free States, if under IT, their slaves by simply
escaping across the boundary which separates them
would acquire all the rig hts of freemen. This
would have been offer an irresistible temptation to
all the slaves of the South to precptate themselves
upon the North. The Federal Constitution, there
fore, recognises in the clcarest and most emphatic
TERMS the properly in slaves and protects this pro-
perty by prohibiting any State, into which slave
might escape, from discharging him from slavery,
and by requiring that he shall be delivered up to
his master.
But, say the agtators, the fugitive slave law,
framed for the very purpose of carrying into effect
express provision of the Constitution, is itself
unconstitutional. shall not stop to argue such
point at length, deemng this to be wholly unneces-
sary The law, in every one of its essential provis-
IONS is the very same law which was passed in Feb.
ruary, 1898, by a Congress, r'any of whose MEM
bers had come fresh from the convention which
framed the Federal Constitution, and was approved
by the Father of his Country. If this be So it may
be asked whence the necessity of passing the pres
cnt law? Why not rest upon the act of 1898 This
question is easily answered. The Act of 1913 had
entrusted its own execution not only to the Judges
of the Circuit AM, District Courts of the United
Stafn INIT no1l Sfata IF
city, town corporate. The decision of the Su-
prcmc Court of the United States. in the case of
Prigg .. the Commonwealth of PennSy deprived
these State magistrates of the power of acting under
the law. What was the consequence? Let us take the
State of Pennsylvania for an example. There were
but three individuals left in the whole State who
could udciay execute the provisions of the Act of
l793-thc Circuit Judge and the two District
Judges. Two of these Judges reside in Philadel-
pha, and one Of them at Pittsburg, distance of
more than three hundred miles apart. 1t is mani
fest, therefore, that the law in MANY indeed in most
cases. could not have been executed for want off,
near at hand. 1t thus became absolutely nee
essaIy for Congress to provide United States officers
to take the place of the State giStraes who had
been superseded. Without this, constitutional
right could have existed with adequate means of
enforcing 1t. The fugitive slave bill was passed
chiefly to remedy this defect and to substitute such
officers instead ofthe State magistrates whose pow
erS had been nu6ed under the decision of the Su-
preme Court
1t is worthy of remark, that several Of our North.
ern Legislatures avaing themselves of the decision
of the Supreme Court, and under the deep excite
ment produced by the agitation of the Wilmot Pro.
viso, passed laws imposing obstacles to the exccu-
ton of the provisions of the Constitution for the
restoration of fugitive slaves. am sorry, very
ry, to state that Pennsylvania is among this number
BY act of 3D. of March, 1S47 the use of our
public jails is denied for the safe custody of the
fugtve and the jaier who shall offend against this
provision is deprived of his office, and is punisha-
BILE with heavy fine and disqualification ever
again to hold similar officel