Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1859-07-23
THE DESIGNS OF THE sLAvE-DRIvERs

THE DESIGNS OF THE sLAvE-DRIvERs.
If any evidence we're needed Of the utter folly
and iinpracticability Of the political position Of
such fossils as Mr.. Rives, Mr.. Winthrop and
their coadjutors, we have it in the address of Mr..
Stephens, Of Georgia, delivered at Augusta on the
I'd of July, and which we publish on our fourth
page. From the beginning to the end it is q
boast Of the t~riumphs of the pro-slavery party,
coupled with a confident va,ic;nation Of its future
strides in the same glorious career. Why agitate
this question OF slavery, asks Mr.. Winthrop, see
ing that is is already dead Why, in the same
strain, echoes Mr.. Rives, discuss a matter which
has no proper connection with our national poll
tics : "Its general regulation" the latter adds.
els admitted by all to be exclusively within the
domain Of state laws and state constitutions. The
few questions with regard to it that can come with
In the province of the general government are set
tied, once for all, by the Constitution of the Unit
ed States, and have received a practical solution
ia the natural course of events, which leaves no
longer any motive of interest or duty, either to
the non-slavebolding or the slaveholdiDg states,f for
their continued agitation"
The remarks of Mr.. Stephens are the sufficient
answer. He shows not only that the South regards
itself as victorious in the past controversy, that
1t not only does not deem the matter settled, but
that it is ~rallying its forces for new contests and
new t~riumphs. Mr.. Stephens is not one of the
extreme or hot-headed men of the district to which
he belongs, but hos rather been distinguished for
the conservative and moderate tone OF his opinions.
TT. or he footad pnop oa rat;rod from tho
political sphere the occasion of his address was
o kind Of farewell to public life and it is to be
presumed that he spoke as the observant and in
~telligent statesman who calmly watches the Issues
Of events, and not as the politician ambitious for
Office aud disposed to Aatter the popular sentiment
by which he is surrounded.
What was the substance Of bis speech : We
have aoored our adversaries on all the great points
on which we have come in contact. First, we
have secured the annexation of Texas, whereby
the addition of four slave states to the Union is
made sure ; secondly, we have established the
right of the stakeholder to carry his property into
the territories of the Union, free from the inter
ference of Congress, or the molestation of the peo-
pie under any ridiculous dogma as to popular
sovereignty; thirdly, we have invaded the Supreme
SO9tt WIN NV u Jae6Sob W NV
the case of bred Scott, to assert the superiority OF
the slave code to the dictates of human nature,
and to the previously established principles Of
common law ~fourthly. by our allies in the North
We have succeeded in suppressing the violence o.
the anti-slavery excitement there and filthy, We
have, by a steady and determined discussion of tn
matter, reversed the opinions Of our fathers, ant
brought the South to the conviction that the en-
shaving of human beings is not a crime nor an evil
but q divine and benevolent institution.
These are the achievements OF the past, accord
ing to Mr.. Stephens these are the principle
which have won The sanction and support OF tn
federal authorities, legislative, executive and j.
dicial these are the results in which the Sout
should glory, and in the contemplation OF whic
the public servants Of the South may sing the
swan-soug on the eve of their political retiremen
But the South, he continues, cannot rest sati
fed with the prodigious success which it has a
ready achieved. 1t may be well enough for sue
obsolete ard timid spirits as Mr.. Winthrop an
Mr.. Rives to pirate Of a cessation of the contr
versy, and to advise their brethren of the North
10y inside their weapons and 60 quietly to sleeI
The South has nc desire and no occasion for IL
counsel. 1t cannot stop where it is it will n
stop where it is and the lazy dronings of all II
political preachers 10 the world shall not induce
TO slumber on the mere threshold of splendid vi
tories. As well might the allied armies of Ital
have cast aside their swords after the battle
Montebello and Magenta, instead Of pushing the
t~riumphs into thu very heart of the histories
stron gholds of the enemy.
The scheme for the future, then, which NJ
c..-lo.. rzaro,nAad N tho 2onth ia tina unlimi
cd expansion of slavery over new territory to Il
west and southwest Texas, with her r.
slave states, is not sufficient Chihuahua aud S
nora must be seized and whatever piece Of pre-
liable groune may remain to be occupied, must
reduced to possession. 1t had now been demo
strated that slaveholding society was the best for
of the sucili state. The ancient and modern pit
losophers. from Aristotle down to Jefferson, hi
been wholly mistaken 10 their speculAtions as
the true principles Of government. Not until ii
Divine Providence had reared human commur
~ In which the work was done by the black rae
and the fruits Of it enjoyed by the white race. hi
anything like perfection been attained by man
his restless sndesvors to improve his conditio
The institutions and manners Of the South We
the institutions and manners provided by natu
herself, by the Higher Law of the Divine w
dom. and II was not for man to quarrel or oppo
an authority so exalted. On the contrary, 1t W
the privilege and duty of man to carry oot til
Higher Law, and make il prevail wherever 1t cou
b. applied.
In this noble work, however. according to
fearless logic Of Mr.. Stephens, the South is tat
y crippled BY the want Of proper mssarisls. y