American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1856-12-13

hnu iSldugHtoVeu pOpulattOns, and all
there is mos, terrible in foreign, com.
plicated with civil aud servile war
aud that the first step in the attempt is
the forcible disruption Of a country en-
bracing ia it's brosd bosom degree of
liberty, and an amount of individual
aud public prosperity, to which there
is no parallel in history, and substi,u.
ting in its place hostile governments
driven ct once and Inevitably into mu-
tual devastation and ftatricidal carnage,
transforming the now peaceful aud fe.
licitous brotherhood into vast peima.
neDt camp of armed men like the rival
monarchies of Europe aud Asia. Well
knowing that such and such only, are
the means and the consequences of their
plans and purposes, they sndeavor ia
prepare the people of tho United States
for civil war by doing everything in
their power TO deprive the Constitution
and the laws of moral authority, and to
undermine tho fabric of the Union by
appeals TO passion aud sectional preiu.
dice, by indoctrinating its people with
| reciprocal hatred. and by educating them
! TO stand face to face as enemies, rather
than shoulder TO shoulder as f,ionds.
1t is by the agency of such unwarrant-
able interference, foreign aud domestic
that the minds of many, otherwise good
citizens, have been so inflamed into the
passionate condemnation of the domes.
tic institutions Of tho southern States,
as at lenct to pass insensibly to almost
equally passionate hostility towards
their fellow citizens Of those States, and
thus finally to fall into Temporary fel.
lowship with the ayowad and active en-
emies Of the Constitution. Arden,ly al,
,ached to liberty in the abstract. they do
not stop to consider practically how the
objects they would attain can be accom-
piished. nor TO reflect that even if the
evil were as great as they deem it, they
have no remedy To apply, and that it
can only be aggravated by their vio-
lence and unconstitutional action. A
question which is one of the most diff.
cult of all the problems OF social insttu-
tions, political economy and statesman
ship. they treat with unreasoning inter
ference Of thought and language. Ex-
tremes begei extremes. Violent at.
tack from the north finds its inevitable
consequence in the growth Of spirit OF
angry defiance at the south. Thus in
the progress of events VIZ had reached
that consumation, which the voice OF
the people has now poin,edIy rehuked
OF the attempt of a portion Of tho States
by q sectional organization and move.
ment to usurp tho control of the gov.
ernment of the United States.
l confidently believe that the great
body of those who inconsiderately took
this fatal step, are sincerely attached
to the Constitution and the Union. -
They would, upon deliberation, shrink
with unaffected horror, from any con-
scious act of disunion Or civil war. But
they have entered into path, which
leads nowhere, unless it leads to civil
war or disunion, and which has no 9TH
CT possible outlet. They have procce.
ded thus far in that direction in con.
sequence of the succeeding stages OF
their progress having consisted of a
series Of secondary issues, each Of which
confessed to be confined within consti-
tutional and peaceful limits, but which
attempted indirectly what few men
were willing to do directly, that is, to
act aggrcssively against the constitu-
tional rights of nearly one half Of the
thirty one States.
In the long series of acts Of indirect
aggression, the first was the strenuous
agitation, by citizens Of the Northern
States, in Congress and out Of it, of
the question of negro emancipation in
the Southern States.
The second step in this path Of evil
consisted of acts of the people of the
Northern States, and in several in
stances Of their governments, aimed to
facilitate the escape of persons held to
service in the Southern States, and to
prevent their extradition when reclaim
ed according to law and in virtue of
express provisions of the Constitution.
TO promote this object, legislative en-
actments and other means were adopt
cd to take away and defeat rights,
which the Constitution solemnly guar
anticd. In order to nullify the then
existing act Of Congress concerning
the extradition of fugitivcs from SER
vice, laws were ensctedin many States
forbidding thoir officers, under the Sc
verost penalties, to participate in the
execution Of any act of Congress what
ever. In this way that system of har-
monious cooperation between the au-
thorities Of the United States and the
several States, for the maintenance Of
their common institutions, which exist
ed in the early years of the Republic,
was destroyed; conflicts of jurisdiction
came to be frequent; and Congress
found itself compelled, for the support
Of the Constitution, and the yindication
of its power, to authorize the appoint
ment of new officers charged with the