The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1857-02-25

of its gradual mitigation or its final ex-
tinctionl 1t only appears under the
delicate euphemism of the domestic in
stitution )" and in that way casts its
hideous shadow over the whole domestic
sphere, over the matrimonial and the
parental relations, over free service, and
all that constitutes the home. In one
place, indeed, the President tauuts the
Northern party with want of confidence
in their own principles, as if they thought
slavery so natural, SO vivacious and so
Spreading as to require acts of Congress
and geographical lines to keep it within
bounds; and one could almost hope Mr..
Pierce was himself of opinion that sla-
very had only to be let alone and it must
die out. Yet the great probability is,
that slavery will continue much in its
present form; its present numbers, and
present necessity is the value of the
Southern States, till the day when the
United States will contain three or four
times their present population, and more
than that proportion of increased wealth
and power, while tho slaves will not
have increased by more than a million
or so, and their masters in much the
same slow proportion. The day must
come when the slave States will be out
numbered aud outvoted by the free
Meanwhile, opinion will grow also, and
still more. The sentiment which Mr..
Pierce attempts to crush with the ter
rors of the Federal Constitution, which
be denounces as insolent, disloyal, and
fruitless, is much too vital and too deeply
founded to be reprcssed. Right or
wrong-and we are not ourselves among
those who think slavery incompatible
with humanity or the Christian religion
the hatred of slavery, aud the desire
to repudiate all contact and compromise
with it, are feelings that endure, extend.
and will finally prevail. So, then, We
have to look Harvard to the time when u
deep and burning sentiment will be arm
ed with empowering numbers and iufu.
ence. When this shall be the case, it is
comfort or security to be told that
the sentiment thus powerful will be
wrong-that it will be unconstitutional
that it will not be able to compass its
end without treason, and conspiracy and
violence +?
Does Mr.. Pierce mend matters by tel,
linling US hat it looks towards its end
over devastated fields, burning home
steads, ravaged hearts, and a total disso-
luton of society ? Grant it, and we do
grant it; Mr.. Pierce only prophesies a ter
riblepage in the future history of the
states, and does not offer one iota Of advice
as to the means for preventing or mitiga-
ting its horrors. He proclaims the law;
he stigmatizes the treason; he denounces
the offenders, and there he stands, point
ing his. finger, a mute guide-post, to
the certain, though may be still distant,
disaster. Yet he is right. He can do
nothing else.
He has not to teach the several States
their duty or their best wisdom. It is
no mans Office there. The union is
Mezentian it links the living and the
dead, the free aud the slave. The for
mer of these is at the mercy af the lat
ter, and must bide the process of that
decay which will involve life and death in
one mass of corruption. Life may not
purify death in the States, for it is not
the federal law; but death will infect
life, for, though not the law, it is the
way of nature. That is the solution
which threatens tho great American
difficulty. The social miseries of slav-
cry, and the resentment they rouse,
will continually and rapidly increase {;
and the greater the resistance offered by
the law the worse for the peace of the
Union.
$