Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1857-07-22
GBf 4aiIp Spp,
WEDNESDAY, JULY %, 1857.
senator MasOa's Dtsuuion Letter TO the
Brooks Festival.

complete endorsement of his Congressional
course including the attack upon Mr.. Sumner
Let those who have Massachusetts, blood coursing
through their veins, read it, and then ask their
own consciences il they can approve Of the 'com-
plimentary hunkeyism with which Mr.. Win
throp condescendej to stoop to the task of intro
ducing the author Of such letter to- a New Eng
land audience, on Bunker Hill. Hear the author
of the Fugitive Slave Law, who had the brazen
faced impotence to lecture the people of Massa.
chusetts their duty toward preserving the
Union,' give utterance to the native instincts Of
his heart, in favor of Bully Brooks, rufianism,
and an immediate, absolute, and eternal separ-
stiou" of the slave from the free States, unless
the demands of the slavery propagandsts are
complied with
SELMA, Frederick County, Va,
Doth September, 1856
Gentlemel-I have had the honor to receive
your letter of the 9th inst, inviting me, on be-
half of the constituents of Col. Preston s.
Brooks, to dinner to be given to him by them,
on the Sd of October next, in Testimony Of their
complete endorsement of his Congressional course"
1t hasibeen my good fortune 10 have enjoy ed the
acquaintance of your able Gad justly bOnorea rep
resentative, on terms both of social and political
intercourse, from his entrance to the House of
Representatives; and kuo,O of none tohoss public
probation of his constituents than his
He has shown himself alike able and prompt 10
sustain the rights and the interests of his con-
stituents in debate and by vote; OR TO vINDI-
CATE IN A DIFFERENT MODE, and under cirCum-
stances of painful duty, the honor of his friend.
soostLd gladly, therefore, unite 10Th you, oere 1t
IN my pOtoer, IN the testimonial proposed By his
generous constituents; butIegret that the distance
which separates US, and my engagements at
home, must forbid it.
PerhaDs il NAV not be unacceptable, in closing
this letter, to say few words to my fellow citi-
of Edgefeld District whom you represent,
on the condition of the country.
None can mistake, or in the South can remain
insensible to, the times that are upon US.
The issue until now averted) between nu-
merical majority on the one side, and sworn faith
to written compact on the other, is about to be
tried. The Southern States represent the minor
ity, both in States and in people, on this issue.
Not their property alone, but their honor and
safety, at stake in the result; for look upon
the pending election OF President interesting
chiefly to the South, as it will be type of opin-
ion and purpose at the North. Reason and ar.
.gument are exhausted-we have done whatever
lay with us to bring the majority back within the
pale of constitutional power; and can now only
await the popular vote
Should it be found to stand by, and to uphold
the Constitution then we should once more look
forward with confidence and hope to the cOntinu-
ance of Union established in mutual and patri-
otto sacrifices, and having its sanction in frater-
nal faith.
But in reverse Of all this, should dominant
sectional vote be directed to bring into power
those pledged in advance to break down the bar
riers interposed by the compact OF federation for
tie security of one section against the other,
then, in my oalmest Judgment, but one course
remains for the South-inmediate, absolute and
eternal SepdYdtion.
Better, far better, to stand toward the North
ern States we stand to the rest of the world
Enemies in war, in peace friends''-than to re.
haiti Ondp nov npOf
mics under the guse of peace, friends at war
Again regretting, gentlemen that cannot be
with you, am, with great respect,
j. NJ. MASON.
This james NJ. Mason, Senator in Congress
from the Old Dominion, had the audacity, in the
face of the advocacy of such bold disunionism,
to stand up on Bunker Hill and tell us, that in
order to keep this " nallowed Union,'' formed by
our fathers from being sundered in twain, it was
incumbent on us to obey the requirements of the
Constitution, construed by the trainers Of the
Fugitive Slave Law, by converting the soil Of
Massachusetts, into one vast hunting ground for
the rendition of alleged fugitives from Southern
thraldom, without jury trial, and at the mere Up
sedirit of slave Commissioner, bribed to decide
in favor of the 6ppressor.
No better or more fitting response to the slave
given, than by quoting, in this connection, the
following spirited and stirring lines of the poet
Whittier. They were written some thirteen years
since, on reading an account of the proceedings
Of the citizens of Norfolk, Va, in reference to
George Latimer, the alleged fugitive slave, whose
case, at the time, on account of the attempts
made to reduce him again to slavery, reused uni.
versal indignation throughout the country por.
tions of the Commonwealth, similar to that ere.
ated in the Sims and Burns cases.
Let the constituents of Senator Mason peruse
these lines, as the best answer Massachusetts can
give to Virginia, in the present instance in reply
to the appeal made by the Senator from the "old
Dominion" on Bunker Hill;
MASSACHUSETTS TO VIRGINIA
The blast from freedoms Northern hills upon its South
Bears greeting to Virginia from Massachusetts Bay
No word of naughty challenging, battle buges peal
Nor ste Ady tread Of marching hles clang
mems steel.
No trains of deep mouhsd cannon along our highways
Around our silent arsenals untrOdden lies the snow;
And to the land breeze Of our ports upon their
far,
thousand sails of SWELL but none are spread
We hear thy threats Virginia! thy stormy words and
sven haTshy on the Southern winds which melt along
skyj
Yet not brown hard hand foregoes its honest labor
here
EOhewer Of mountain suspends his axe in fear
Wild the which lash the reefs along st. Georges
bank
Cold shore the fog lies white and dank
Through storm and wave and binding mist stout are the
hearts which man
The hShing smaos Of Marblehead the boats Of Cape
Ann.
The cold north light and wntry glare on their icy
FORMS
Bent grimy DER their strainng lines and wrestling with
the storms;
Free as the winds they drive before rough as the waves
they roam,
They laugh scorn the siaver threat against their rocky
AaH ho'ns'sg &g# 80 sfs
What the Old Dominion Hath she forgot the day
When DER her conquered valleys swept Btons steel
how side 81 side with sons Of hers, the Massachusetts
Encountered Caretonb charge of 6re and Stout Corn
wallis, them
Iorges she how the Bay State in answer to the call
VI her oa House Of Burgesses, spoke out from FAneu
When ssaciSs back her Henrs's cry, came puIDng on
OF northern windu the thrilling sounds of liberty or
deaihl", A'''" VI
What asks the Old Dominion II now her sons have
False o their iathers memory-fass to the faith thew
loved. p q - NnSJ
n she SCOT at freedom, ard its great charter ,Or
Must We OF Massachusetts from truth aud duty turn