The true Democrat., 1856-02-26

the other nall to denounce it as fraud on their liSn1S, an open enemy to their State policy, theh interest and their homes, who shall answer Tor It's late? An act of Congress passed one year may be repealed the next. You may call It compact if you please, and declare it irre- pealable; but this will not change it's nature. And so the passage of every act will be only the signal light for new mastering of hostile forces, agitation succeeding agitation with in- creased intensity, until every tie of fraternal feeling shall be utterly destroyed, and the blind instinct of sectional hate take the place of pa- trlotlsm. Grant even that the Union is strong enough to survive the struggles of our day and generation to which this line of policy invites us What will 1t be to them who shall suc- csed us, but heritage of endless dscord; or at pest, a worthless memorial of blessings won by herolsm, and lost by folly. And even for our selves-for the interest of those now living IS IL nothing to have the nation smitten with an lncurable disease; to waste 1t with per- petual fever, or rack 1t with convulsions? Will It prove to us an efficient protector while strug- gling against coming death its strength ema- cated and its functions all perverted?
 We are no alarmsts, and are as little dispos- ed to inspire you with unmanly fears, as to be shaken by them ourselves. The dangers of which we speak are not undefned shadows floating in the far-oif horizon of the future.- They are substantial thngs-objects of sense and we must deal with them. Washington saw them more than half century ago, and in the last solemn act of his public life warned his countrymen against them. They have alarm ed the patriotism of later times, and in 1889, a statesman of New York, now gone to his rest, but whose loss at this crisis is more deeply de- plored than ever, addressed his fellow citizens on the subject. And after a masterly review ot the various clauses of the constitution indi- eating the conciliatory spirit in which the Union was formed--thc clause for retaining fugitive slaves included-he asked:
 Are there any who will blame our vener- able fathers, the delegates in the convention of 1797, for giving their assent to this clause of our constitution? All the old thirteen States assented to it, and to all the other concessions and compromises which have been mentioned as connected with the subject of domestic sla- very. The people of all the States assented to them, and fifty years of internal peace aud abundant prosperity have attested the wisdom of the convention. What American citizen will now arise, and claiming to be purer than Washington, the president of that convention, purer more patriotic and more devoted to liberty than the sages who supported him iu the great work of forming our constitution, as they had previously in the achievement of our independ- ence, will cast the first stone at the temple of human liberty which they erected? Who that loves his country will open again the delicate and troublesome compromise thus formed, thu settled, and now consecrated by time and happy experience, with the hope of reaching better results from the present temper and feeling of the country? Who will cast upon the ocean of time and chance, the invaluable blessings we have gained, the triumph to human liberty we have secured, for the dark and stormy pros pect which presents itself of more perfect suc- cess in a new effort? Who will wantonly tram pie upon the faith we have solemnly pledged to our brethren of other States, upon entering the confederacy, in the hope of moulding them to more yielding disposition in some future compact? Who will boldly strike at the Union itself, and stake its fate against his sympathy for the slave ?"-Address by Hon. Silas Wright, Caaton, July 4ta, 1889.
 We cannot forbear, fellow citizens, from ad- ding to these admonitions the warning of one who was never moved by unreal danger whose name Is a passport to every democratic heart, and whose memory is revered in all lands where freedom has shrine or worshipper. We mean Andrew Jackson. In his farewell address to the people of the United States, he tells us:-
 " The constitution cannot be maintained, nor the Union preserved, in opposition to public feeling by the mere exertion of the coercive powers confded to the general government. The foundations must be laid in the affections of the people, in the security it gives to life, lber ty, character, and property in every quarter of fl,a ;,, +l IL. which the citizens of the several States bear to one another as members of one political family, mutually contributing to promote the happiness of each other. Hence the citizens of every State should avoid everything calculated to wound the sensiblities or offend the just pride of the people of other States; and they should frown upon any proceedings within their own borders likely to disturb the tranquility of their political brethren in other portions of the Unon." "All such efforts" he adds "are in direct opposition to the spirit in which the Union was formed, and mus endanger its safety. Motives of philanthropy may be as signed for this unwarrantable interference, and weak men may persuade themselves for mo- ment that they are laboring in the cause of hu- manity, and asserting the rights of the human race; but every one will see that nothing but mischief can come from these improper assaults upon the feelings and rights of others. Rest assured, that THE MEN FOUND BUSY IN THIS WORK OF DISCoRD ARE NOT WORTHY OF YOUR CONFIDENCE, AND DESERVE YOUR STRONGEST RE- PROBATION"
 Let us heed these impressive lessons of pa- triotism, and oppose those who invite us to en- gage with them in this new anti. slavery crusade. Reject with abhorrence the reasonable fallacv that sectional strife is either wise, patriotic necessary. Leave the people of the territories to settle their own policy in regard to slavery Extend to them every needed protection for the free and fair exercise of their choice, but go no further All rational men concede-even antl-savery republicaniSm hesitateS to deny that when they are admitted as States, their right to establish or abolish the institution will become perfect and no power on earth can question their decision. If they are admitted to-day with an anti-slavery constitution, they may change it tomorrow without consulting our wishes; and should Congress attempt to prevent their doing so, 1t would be an invasion of sovereignty, which might be lawfully resist cd by force of arms. Or should they come into the Union with a constitution which prescribes no line of policy on this subject, but leaves it to be settled by State legislation afterwards, the result will be the same. And so they will have their own way at last as we have had ours Why not then abstain at once from all inter- meddling, and stop useless agitation? We be- lieve the people are tired oft, and desire peace It promises no good, none whatever, but only evil, and that continually-evi in our national councils, in the different States, in churches, and every where. Other and direr forms of evil will follow, if we persist in urging Congress to act on theories at war alike with the consti. tuition and common sense. Can We not afford to rely on the unwrtten but steady laws of population in the disposition of questions of this kind? Have we travelled so far away from democracy that we dare not trust the people of the territories with the management of any of their own affairs? Is no faith to be placed in the instincts and interests of intelligent men, or in anything except the coercive powers of government? Or do we really believe that all good must come to us, if at all. through acts of Congress-; and duties have no existence or vali- dity until prescribed by statute? This is the