Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-01-19

THE RlCHN0ND ENQCihEh'
M EITcmIE 4 DrSSAvANT.
TUESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 10.
THE ONION AND THE SOUTH.
The increased and increasing strength of the free
S,stss has BEEN and is still looked upon with serious
apprehension by the people Of the slave States And
rhy1 Do the principles Of our government subord''
nate the weaker State or the weaker section to the
stroneer7 Does the right Of the majority to ruejusi
~ Massachusetts in directing the domestic affairs oil
South Carolina, when the legal voters OF the former
are more than those of the latter or have
the Northern people the right to iegslae Tor the Sou
ern people, on the principle that the will OF the MAJOR
i,y must be the law Of the land in all truly repneh'
can countriesl Every American, whose unoers'apo'
standing not obtuse that OF an ourang
will Indignantly answer these interrogatories win
an emphatic NO. 1t might. however, seem strange
and contradictory, to the unenlightened VINO i've
ander other forms of government, that while Inc
right of the majority to rule is boosted as the
sill pervading principle of our political system
il ia neyertbless denied, that if majority OF the
whole people of the United States oppose the exist
ence Of slavery In any and every portion Of the
coy, u.uo, y, II puzzlng problem i'll American poll
tics to uninformed foreigners. To proclaim to ths
world with PRIDE that our people Free that they
are their own rulers that they control the country
and at the same time to declare that if slavery exist
al in only single State, and that the smallest State
IN the Union. it would nevertheless DO protected by
the sanctuary of lar In which it stands, although
there might be millions Of voters in the other States
lr,, nYk pftralu from q
country must present to those who are ignorant OF
the peculiar structure Of our government, an appa
rent paradox which, to U.s. as Familiarity understood
as it is easily explained. The great principles in
volved in State Rights and Statesorers'gnty. as con
tradistnguished from federal authority, are the pail
sades that encirce each member of the confederacy.
aud protect ts sacred rights from all outside nru
zion. And these are the safeguards which are them
selves to be guarded, if we would preserve the Union
without sacrificing the South The people Of the
slave States have been, and are still apprehensve,
not tina, their institutions possibly be endangered
by any legitimate exercise of authority and right
the part Of the fanatics of the North; not that the
true principles Of the government may be employed
tor the destruction of their institutions but because
they have to believe that those very principles
upon which they rely for safety, may be disregarded
overleaped and outraged by the numerical strength
the physical force of their enemies. If we
knew no such principle as that proclaimed
10 the sacred shibboeth Of the South and the Demo.
cratic party-the term State rights" il we recog-
nized no separate sovereignty in the several States
f we acknowledged our country TO be. not conede
rated republic, but an unqualified and indivisible
Union, upon the altar of which all the States have
laid down all their rights then upon that furdamenta
principle of our government-the supremacy of the
psople-would we be obliged to admit that slavery in
Virginia would be legally abolished the will of the
majority of the whole people Of the whole country de
creed it. as that the acts of the Legislature represent
ING the people of State are obligatory the citi.
zens of any town or county in the Stata. Aud then
indeed would the institutions Of tbs South be in dam
ger of overthrow by lawful exercise OF the numeri.
Gal strength of the North. But it ia not 30. Each
individual State of this Union is in itself distinct
and separate sovereignty, with all the elements of in
dependence, and retaining the inalieuable right
TO seceds whenever, in the estimation Of her
own people. either her interests or her honor
demand that che should do 60, And there liea
sanctuary in which che may seek safety, where
the unhoy hands of Northern fans;iciam dare not
touch her. after they have desecrated the Constitu
ton and destroyed the Union. Like the noble Roman
who struck the dagger into his own daughters heart
when dishonor and death were the alternatives Of
fered her-the Southern people, with all their sincere
and ardent devotion to the Union, will not hesitate il
the occasion ever comes, to reassert their outraged
rights by unfurling Gag of their own, and drawing
their swords to defend it, sooner than submit to
an invasion Of the sovereignty of the States. Virgil
nus loved Virginia. And hence he saved her honor
at the cost of her life. The Southern people admire
revere and value the Union. Aud to perpetuate the
principles upon which rests. il necessary they would
DESTROY IT, The outward form of liberty is mere
mockery of law after the spir has been perverted.
Let the Constitution be trampled in the dust. and
the flag Of the Union" floating from the Capitol at
Washington would no longer be en- emblem OF the
nstitut ions bequeathed to by the fathers Of the
republic.
The conservative people Of the South cherish
the Union as the seal of a sacred compact And
they will not break it until the compact itself is bro
ken. Az long as their rights are regarded ss long
as the Constitution is jnforced, and the sovereignty
and equality Of the States acknowledged just long.
and NO longer, will they raise their voices against
the efforts of all who aim at dsconnection of the
North and South. The Administration now in power
commands their confidence; and until the policy enun.
oiated at Cincinnati and pursued by Mr. Buchanan is
changed, the enemies Of the Union will be their enc
mies too.
VIRGINIA ON THE FLOOR OF CONGRESS-.
An occasional correspondent Of the Boston Cou
risr, writing from Washington amen's the feebleness
OF the Massachusetts delegation the floor Of Con
grssS, and says that in the Senate and the House
she has less voice in the affairs of the nation than
most. even, of the youngest members OF the Confed.
eracy.