Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1856-04-05
A SOUTHERN VIEW.

The Richmond Enquirer of the 18th ult., discus
ses the probability of war with England, and our
National ability for such a contest. After discus
sing other bearings Of the question, it presents the
peculiar interest Of the slaveholding section of the
confcderacy, as especially demanding peace with
Great Britain. Intelligent and rejecting South
erners are most deeply sensible of the national
weakness which slavery engenders. They see
with the ins'inctisa Prehptings Of self preserva-
ton and selfinterest, that their section will be
in such case, the first to be assaulted and by far
the most defenceless. With an outraged and goad-
ed enemy in their midst, the misery OF whose con-
dition cannot be augmented-who will of course
welcome any invaders who promises them redress
their condition is rcrilous. In this state Of things
we have The fullest possible assurance, that in what
ever fllibustering enterprises, our Southern mas
tiers may see fit to embark the nation in, they will
be sure to stand clear of any serious danger Of
conflict With Great Britain.
But We will let the Shareholders, through the
Enquirer, speak for themselves. 1t says:
ain the event Of a great national emergency
it is the peculiar prerogatiyc Of the people of this
country to instruct the Government by an impos
ing expression Of public opinion.
This privilege becomes II supreme duty, wheI
the country is threatened with all the disasters Of
a war with one among the foremost Powers of the
earth. Var is absolutely an evil of such colossa
proportions, that we need not insist on its attend
ant and accidental ca,amities, in order to deter the
nation from lightly invoking its unimasinable hor
rors. But the event Of war with Great Britain, a
this particular %iuncture, might strike the prosperi
ty of the South with so terrible and irretrievablt
Il ruin, that we may well appeal TO the Legislature
Of Virginia to interpose II voice of wise ndmoni
ton between the country and that greatest dlsas'
aster. The extracts in another column from the
British press, clearly reveal the design Of the
British Government to strike the first blow at the
heart of the South. Whether their confidence in
the detection of our slave population prove n fool
ish or n wise calculation, it is certain that the ef
feet of a war with Great Britain on she general in
lterests of the South will involve manifold and ir-
reparable injury. 1t is very doubtful if the con-
servatiye spirit Of our State Rights Government
could survive the conflict. 1t is not absolutely GER
tain that some extreme States of the North might
no. be detached from alliance with the South, and
be seduced into a crusade of arms against Slavery.
In any event, the productions of slave labor would
be reduced to a value altogether inadequate to the
support Of the institution. The cotton Of the Car
olinas and the tobacco of Virginia would waste il
the fields of the planter, and he might accept the
emancipation OF his slaves as relief from an intol
cradle burden. The South. now so rich and pow
erful, might be impoverished and humiliated; ant
on its ruin, Abolitionism would erect the CONNER
lc!al and political despOtlSm 10 which IL aSplreS.-
The plnnder of privateers, the monopoly of tn
market in the purchase Of cotton, and the sale o
manufactures, and above all, the conquest of Cana
da, would aggrandize the North in proportion n
the South sinks in the scale Of wealth and power
SO iuseparably are the interests Of the Sout
bound up with the preservation OF peace wit
Great Britain.
"The belligerent tone Of the Abolitionists, hG
r bitually so meek and averse from violence. admor
r ishes US in this oonjuncture to pursue a policy
r pacific moderation. They act, not from impulse
4 but from calculations of the profoundest policy
= and when we hear Seward, Sumner, aud Wilson
t clamor for war with Great Britain, we need no al
surance that they seek not the yindicatlon of nj
c tional honor, bu; the degradation and dcstructio
of the South. Thoy contend not for the sanctit
e of public faith, but extol the particular treat
t which sets arbitrary bounds to the expansion
y Slavery.
against n contingency Of such fatal portent
the South, it is proper that the Legislature of Vi
ginia should oppose all the %inlcence of a forms
h expression Of the popular sentiment of the State
CoLoSIzATIoN IL \. "A bill before the Ne
: York Legislature to appropriate 5000 to the Go
q onization Society las been defeated. The Alban
Knickerbokcr suggests thOtiC the Legislature hi
$1,000 10 spend for the benefit Of Colonization
! had better lie appropriated to theUnderGrJund IA
road, as the most efficient transportation compan
.c 4 good amcnImcnt.