Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1856-10-28
THE SLAVERY CONTROVERSY
r,jr ONLY Vat TO SETTLE IT.

| Tpiil recently il was left to such men as Horace
| Greeley, ?red Douglass Charles Sumner and VII
| lam H. seward to falsify the truth Of history by
| charyng the South w:t Gggressons upon the
North jr tho .ua.ier of slavery. Never, until now,
! when tie desperate fortunes Of Millurd Fillmore
demand of his followers in the South desperate mca-
sures las any Southern man dared to echo The stale
ISLANDERS of Northern fanatics. From that source The
menda,ioua statement has come 30 often and been
so frequently refuted, that we long ago ceased to
give my thought. Now, that pretended iriends OF
the South have taken up tho song, and accused the
South o. had iaith and reckless disturbance OF the
Of the country it may be well to recur to argu-
before submitted and never yet answer
ed.
From whatever source such charges may come,
they are false and lbellous The South has never
asked more than to be let alone; and from the begin
Mug has continually put up the appeal, hands OIL, to
the North. Contented with their institutions, and
conte1ted with the government, Southern men have
never desired anything more than the peaceab.e and
qust possession of their property, with the privilege
of passing with that property through the States
and o. settling with i. in any Of the unoccupIed Ter
ritoris be,cnsing to the General Government
; Wherever there has been any contest between the
sections it has not been because the South asked
more han this, but because the North was unwilling
TO co,cede 30 much. 1t was because the North,
through her representatives in Congress- attempted
TO exercise control this subject, which the Con-
,titutcn of the United States did no. authorize.
The whole history of slavery agitation may he np-
pea!ed to in support Of these positions. With the
very organization Of the Government commenced
series Vi aggressons OH the part of the Northern and
Of submission to injustice and wrong the part Of
the Southern States. Love for our common country,
a desire to be at peace with the men Of the North
and spirit of irrational, yet noble generosity, led
Virginia to cede to the General GoverE-aent the
broad domain which che held rs he. own, and out of
which State after State hCG been carved, some OF
which are this dey s:rayed in deadly hostility against
hsr. The satae spirit induced the South to dedicate
.he ,,bos of the North West territory to rocsoil,
cop,entiny TO the ordinance of 7S7 prohibiting slave
~ in all the territories then belonging to the lEed
States.
Afterwards, when Mr.. Jefferson acquired the Loul'
siana territory, and when Southern mrn had moved
tbitber and occupied it with their slaves, the North
attempted 10 drive them out Of that territory, and,
failing 10 shat sought to exclude them from the Union,
unless they would consent to the liberation of all the
sayes. Who originated this struegle-the South or
the North 7 Here, again, the South yielded much by
consenting to the Missouri Compromise, which ex
cuded slavery from all territory North of 3G~ W,
and tolerated it South Of that line. In other words
it gave all territory North of that ns unqualfedly
to the North excluding the South therefrom, and
gave the North equal right with the South to settle
South of 30 30 1t was an unfair adjustment Of the
difficulty and wac felt to be so at the time by every
rejecting Southerner; but it was submitted to, acqui-
esced in with the hope that it would end forever
ihs agitation of the subject. Vain hope-fallacous
expectation Agitation did not cease for a month,
but continued 10 grow and swell, augmenting in vol
ment, when Texas sought admission into the Union as
State. Here, again, the South yielded, by com.
promise which abolished slavery North of 36o 80,
although Texas applying for admission a sove-
reign State into the Union. Still this did not put
au end to agitation. The Halls Of Congress contin
ued to be desecraed by the mos, violent assaults upon
the South aud shareholders. Aud when they cane to
organize the territory Of Oregon find them prohibit
ing slavery in that region against the protest of the
South; yet the South eubmitted but still without Sc.
curing that peace, quiet and absence of agitation
which they so earnestly desired. Then came the
fict over California and New Mexico when the Com.
promise Measures of 1850 adopted, even more
degrading to the South than those which preceded
them; but even to that adjustment CALLING az it was
TO sensitive muds the Sunlh submitted for be sake
of peace and of the Union. But still the peace they
soueht;fed from them. Bold, bad men al the North
reviled, trsduced vili6ed and mslisned the souu
pups and presses teemed with misrepresentation 0!