The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-04-22
life, wrote to his friend, Edward Coles, Esq, as

3
follows:
"What mere dangerous than notification or more s
dent than the progress continues make. either ia ~,
original shape or a ne dtss'Se assumes Modification
has the effect OF putting powder under the Constiio
and The Union and match m the hand OF every party
Of se contagon in the Southern States visbIe and he
danger, not 10 be concealed that the sympathy arising
fro known causes and the fneeated 7pTsSsiOf Of peT.
iaeompatbiy of Interests bettceel South and
ne Aor may pat iH ts Of popular leaders aspi-
ring to s highest stations nie me South some Grin
Ire greaf though inferior interest In prsug atis course
ne rst and most ob'os step he seess-
son, and The iaN a fdTetetR SEPARATION"
Thus wrote Mr.. Madison, in the stormy times
of Notification and what were then merely the
predictions of a far-seeing and patriotic states
man, would seem at this time to be in the pro-
cess of fulflment
Notification to-day seems to be acting undo,
its DISCUSSES" to use the language of Mr. y adj.
son, but occasionally the cloven-foot w,fl nro-
rude itself, and the secret discomfort growing
out OF the supposed incompatibilrcy of Interests
to which have referred, is made TO annesrI Tbns
IN the late remarkable speech of the Senator from
south Carlina, (GOy. HAMMOND, to which have
just referred, he exclaims
'tWh2l guarantee hsVe-Ne, when van b.ys ri o..
ernmen an your possession in all its Department. even
MI lo-the Limitation OF SLAVERY 10 i,s nrsss,,, ,s,S;,
ana even 10 The reconstruction OF Supreme CourIbSi
6, ,, nv, piuiuer " with larids that you will not
'iiAluP u WIN internal improvements and boupiies on
yo'" exports ihat you viii not eramp us with nsyg,
TO-; =, oe Eiws imp Sdng the facilities of Transports
~ " 'Ou'erh ptCIucet What guarantee thar Won viii
not create ney bank. and concentrate ali lie S0s,
Aus eoGn'ty al The North where already for the want
Sou'"' hey are ruiHous!y concentrated"
This allusion to the tariff and the limited States
BANK Is, 10 say the least, extremely unfortuns,a
when we consider the fact that both of g.,
measures have, at one time or another .eoaire1
the sanction of Mr.. Calhoun and otner promi-
nent Southern statesmen.
but DO not refer to this matter of nuIlifca
uoh ana secession as cause of any very serious
alarm, but only 10 show one motive and "a I
think, the great motive, which impels ali this
ciamor about disunion. have no doubt that Il
Is USED ny many as mere scare-crow, to frighteu
men from their political propriety and bv yirtue
OF IL, 10 hasten upon the country the ertro,
measures OF the slave power In 1899. how
when 1t assumed its largest proportions :, 80
crushed out" by the heroic 6rmn,.se oF tbe
9faVe ana patriotic man who then occupicd the
Executive chair of the nation. II raised lie b;d
eous front again in 1850; brit when. in the aIac-
tionS Of that year, the Intelligence and pat1ot-
ism OF the masses OF the Southern people was
Appealed 10, 1t Mlserably failed even in Georgia
ana mississippi. And so it will be again.
Aha acre, again, Mr.. Chairman, il NAV be re
marked that the leading disunionsts of the conn
Try are also the leading Democrats" of the
country! Examine the speeches, both of the
present and last Congress- where disnpion qenti-
ments have been promulgated, and Won viii 6nd
them the speeches of Democrats Look at The
presses OF the country which openly Calculate
the value OF the Union" and you will find thor,
" Democratic presses. Look at the men Nh,
figure at Southern Disunion Conventions. and
YOU will find them all Democrats" Let IT,
" Democratic" party then repudiate these dis
union sentiments, and shake off the leaders who
advocate ham or ha
load OF odium and infamy with which the Amer
lean people always have and ALWAYS will Wait
upon those who plot against the welfare of the
Republic!
SIR wish the present Executive had some of
the same spirit and little of that Roman firm
ness which characterized the great man who
occupied the Presidential chair at the time of
"uich SPEAK There was no timidity, no wa
verng, then Gen. jackson took his stand. ami
although the tempest howled about his ears and
a sovereign State was arrayed in arms against
zoe Unlon yet he quailed nor faltered not Not
and gave 6n r nd lapetc BsGhRas
TO be framed should be submitted TO the vote OF
tue people. Governor Walker promised over and
over again, in the most solemn and emphatic
manner, that it should be so submitted These
promises and pledges were brought home to the
knowledge OF the President, and tacily approved
by him. But this cause disafected the Pro-Sla-
very party III hdusds, duu Ahc extreme shaver
party in the South; and when Gov. Walker like
an honest man, rejected the Oxford and MCGEE
frauds, the hre, that before was partially smoth-
srsd now broke out with violence, and from that
Gov. Walker, from whom so much had
been expected, was doomed mani And the
President, instead of sustaining his Governor,
who was clearly in the right, instead of proudly
the position he at first assumed, re-
pudiated his own Instructions turned his back
nd 1aft 10
The Georgia and Alabama resolutions and the
great outcry that rang through the South against
Gov. Walker, were too much for the weak and
nerves of our President l trust in
God that there is vet virtue and intelligence
enough left in the American people, to enable
them, at no very distant day, to choose a Presi-
dent, either from the North or from the South
q hardly care which, who will not be frightened
to death every time certain hot-headed gentle
men threaten TO "break things" by dissolying
the Union
Sir, desire to trace, very briefly, some of the
causes Of this Slavery agitation, and see who
are the real aggressOrs. Who and what created
the disturbance at the time of Texas annexation.
Sir, instead Of allowing events to take their nat
ural course, leaving Texas at some time TO
come into the Union (if the interests of both
parties required it) in a constitutional way,
that measure was precipitated upon the country
in hot haste, in defiance of the tredty-makinE
power, and as was believed by many Of our
abest statesmen, against the plain provisions Of
the Constitution There must be no delay
Nothing but immediate annexation would an
swer, and all for the openiy-dDo'red purpose Of
sfre1iqthenIaq and peyetuating The system of hLrqn
SlaUery. IL is not to be wondered at, under these
circumstances, that the people of the free States
should demonstrated They disliked 10 stand in
the inconsistent attitude, before the civilized
world, of great and powerful Republic, boast
ing of its FREEDOM, and founded upon the rights
Of man, rushing headlong into a foreign war for
the purpose of extending Slavery And yet this
was the whole of the Texas question. Slavery
was Extensively Haunted into the very faces Of
our people, for the purpose, as it would seem, of
again forcing the issue upon the North" And
because some of the people of the free States,
true to the principles Of liberty and equal rights
for which their fathers fought and bled, objected
TO this movement for this purpose, the NulIlhers
Of the South got up meetings and held Conven-
lions, and again "breathed out threatenings and
slaughter" againstthe Union, unless Texas should
be annexed
Texas Vds annexed. Var with Mexico fol-
lowed, bril- gng in its train large acquisitions of
territory and Numerous evils, the end Of which
is not yeti
Ara now, sir, | understand that Texas, too,
after all the blood and treasure that has been
expended in her behalf, threatens TO retire from
the Union, unless the American Congress sane
tons this Leeompton fraud!
Sir, l feel nothing but kindness towards the
State of Texas, her people, or her Representa-
dves on this floor; but if on such an issue,
Texas thinks best to dissolve the bands which
bind us together, and to "step out" of the
Union, / say, let her CO. We managed, aftera
fashion, to get along before she came in, and
think we can live when she shall go OUT
Mr.. Chairman, there is one remarkable fact
connected with this matter of Texas annexation.