The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1856-03-11
TIE prrrsBURGH CONVENTION.
letters Of Cnssius NJ. Clay, and Chief Justice
Hornblowet.


Gsaaemsa Of the Washington ID. CO. Re-
publican Assoeiaf'on. -,
Your favor OF the 25th Dec. ult., was duly
received, but under the pressure Of business,
| have not been able sooner to give you an
answer. Allow me to say that | approve of
your central organization Of the "National
Republican Association" the expediency of
its establishment, and the patriotism OF its
purposes.
laved nv answer, will allow me not to accept
your Aattering invitation to address your So
ciety during tho present session of Congress.
Presuming, however, upon the language
of your letter, that my position as South
crn man and ''the circumstances OF the pres
cnt time would enable me to do "thc cause
more good than any other man in the nation,'
| venture to make some remarks which my
devotion and long sclf-sacrifice to the cause OF
liberal principles will entitle to more consid-
Grafton than any ability shall be able to
bring to tho task.
enclose my speech delivered some years
ago at Lexington, Kentucky. In that you
will find all have to say OF African Slavery
and Emancipation rs q "Southern man.
think have there shown that slavery is con-
sistcnt only with a state OF scmi-barbarlsm-
And before the friends of Liberty in the
South can be driven from the field of success
full logic, our opponents must denounce civii-
zation itself. / have there proven that all
material development. is retarded by slavery.
Not only by priori reasoning rs much rs
slavery debascs labor and makes it ignorant
and therefore it saps the foundation Of Us cf-
fcicncy-but that the experiment OF Tree and
slave labor in these States, in agriculture, in
manufactures, in mining and Ill commerce,
confirm the conclusion.
The census, though necessarily imperfect,
no doubt, has driven the intelligent men ef
the South to acknowledge that the North cx-
cells the South not only in these last depart
ments, but that the South is second even In
agriculture, where before the stubborn bate
nv of figures was brought to bear, she onco
successfully entrenched herself for defence.
Cotton is no longer skiing" but gives way
to G ght articles of staple production--lndlan
corn, wheat, hay, and fodder, pasturag,, cat
tie IN | unless, slaughtered animals, swine !!
The value Of horned cattle is pu, down at
| s4oc, 100000, whilst cotton is only $685.
| 600, 900.
The great citics--the opponents of the pro-
ductivc and eonsumptivc powers OF States
the canals. the railroads, the ships, of the
North, had, to the philosophical mind de-
tcrmnrd the result, long before statistics camc
into silence debate. Boston itself is said TO
contain onc-eiglh part of all the capitol of the
ration With poor soil and harsh climate
she llns subjected the forces of nature, instead
of her fellow-man to her will. "Free Schools
have allowed her workmen to avail them
selves Of the mechanical powers, OF chemis-
try, of electricity, of the winds, of the water {,
and of steam. In Maine, in New Hamp-
shire in Connecticut, in Massachusetts,, wher-
ever manufacturing towns spring up. you will
find Massachusetts capital. Her railroads ex-
tends into every land, and her ships sail on
| every sea. All the South, with her superior
! climate, quality and extent Of soil, variety
cf productions, and facility for railroads and
canals, pr sents, in approximation even no
such city as Boston.
"Cursed be Canan" and he is--mastcr
! and slave! Who shall deliver them from this
death?
In intellectual and moral improvement,
there is more room for controversy. Yet tho
| conclusion is not far off, when the defenders
of Slavery denounce the newspaper press and
common schools as "damnable heresies" Of
progress, and in conflict with all true Soon
seryatsm." The many "isms," in social, po-
litical, moral, and religious science of the
North, which are so much rallied at by the
slave plopaeanda, are the evidences Of intel
leclual life-the scales which are wastefully
thrown off from the stimulated mind and
passions, whilst man is being Transformed in
to better metal and nobler structure. The
Conservatism Of the Sonth is the quietude
and homogeousness of the unwrought ore
which lies unchanged in the dark minds Of
! ignorance and dcspotism!
When all these arguments are passed homo
upon the South, the advocates of the "pecu-
liar institution" venture to take refuge in the
alledged superior courage and gallantry of
Southern men. 1t is not my part myself n
Southcrner, to draw nvidious distinctions, in
this respect, between the North and the South
There are noblc clements Of character in both
people. But the annals of the States give
no warrant to the South to claim precedence
over the freemen Of the North. We cannot
forget where were fought the first and blood
lest battles; and those ever memorable sea
fights where, if any where, it can be said Of
America, "Eripuit sccptlum tyrannis"
Neither is the "Logic of History" in favor
of the prowess of slavcholding States. The
warlikc tribes who oye5threw the slavcholling
and more civilized nations of Europe, during
the decline of the Roman Empire were not
the slaves of tho arrogant tyrants, but stern
frecmcn, following, voluntarily, the standard
of elected leaders. So later history bears us
out; and nations are now powerful, in pro-
rtion as they are free. Sentiments Of Lib
erty only impart heroism to the soul; and
equality and dignity of labor only give that
energy and capablity of physical structure,
which are alike necessary to success in peace
and war. So long as nations have been free
in the municipal organization, they have rare
fallen under foreign conquest. Only when
the masses of the people have become seryile
has it been that they care no longer to choose
l.s. Il 1t 90 e,,l.