M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1859-12-29

who ditivr from us, that great ly--anD
soon, fear it will be, tatally-undcr
rate the Umlnous 81 ms Otthc times
l fear, sir, that they are greatly mis-
led Jy he ono.sided views exclusive
ly presented by the party press, an,
those who rely upon the party pres
exclusively for their impressions, auC
that they are dangerously ignorant o
the state OF opinion and feeling in til,
ether great section oithe country
(kPl'ause) | greatly fear that thr
mass OF the community, long accus
toned to treat all alarm for the stAbil
ity Of the Union as groundless, all pro
fessed anxiety for its preservation a
insincere, or, if sincere, the result o
nervous timidity, have unified them
selves to mgu5Ore the extent aud t.u
urgency o. The existing danger. 1t Il
my own deliberate conviction, formc.
from some opportunities Of persona
observation, and from friendly CORES
Ipoudeuce with other parts Of the coup
try, (though | carry On none Of u po
litical uAtar2,) that we are on the vpri
verge ofG convuI3i,n which will thaE,
the Uniou to its foundation; aud thai
Il few more steps forward, in the di
Ircction which affairs have novel Iol
q few years past, will bring us to the
catastrophe. have heard 1t urged
on former occasions of public alarm,
that it must be groundIess, because
business goes on rs usual, and thea,
tres are open and stocks keep up. Sir,
these appearances may be dJlusiye. --
The social machine moves with Il mo,
mentum that cannot be suddenly stop
ped. The ordinary operations ofbusi.
ness went on in France, in the revo.
luton OF 1889, till the annhilation OF
the circulating medium put u stop to
everything that required its use. The
theatres and ali other places ofamuse,
ment were crowded to madness in the
Reign Of Terror. The French Stocks
never stood better than they did in
Paris on the Dist Of February, .S4S.
On the 24th OF that month Louis Phil.
lippe YVES flying in disguise from his
capital; the Tuileries were sacked, and
the oldest monarchy Of Europe had
ceased TO exist.
| hold it to be time then sir. as |
have said, for good men and good pa.
triots, casting aside all mere party con-
sIderatious, and postponing at least all
ordinary political issues, to pause, to
look sleadi!y in the face the condition
ofthings to which We are approaching;
and to ask their own conscience5
whether they can do nothing to avert
the crisis, and bring about a happier
and q better state of things. Gap.
plause) | do not ask them to search
the past for topics Of reproach Or re.
elimination on men or parties. We
have had enough Of that, and it has
contributed materially to bring about
our ptrilous condition. In ali coun-
tries where speech and the press are
free, especially those countries which
toy controlling natural causes fail into
the two great sections, each possessing
independent local Legislatures and
centres Of opinion and influence, there
will in the lapse oftime unavoidably
he action and reactiOn Of word and
deed Violence Of speech Or OF act,
on the one side, will CnavOidably pro-
duce violence Of speech and Of act on
tle other. Each new grievance is al
ternatcly cause and effect; and if, be.
fore resorting to healing counsols, we
are determined to run over the dreary
catalogue, to see who was earliest or
who has been most TO blame, we en-
gage in controversy in which there
is no atbter, and Of which there can
be no solution. Rnt without reyiviug
the angry or sorrowtul memories OF
the past, let me, in all friendliness,
ask the quostion-What has either
section to gain by a dissolution Of the
Union, with reference to that terrible
question which threatens to destroy
its ask patriotic men in both sec
tions to run over in their MINDS the
causes Of complaint which they have,
or think they have, in the existing
state of things, and then ask them;
selves dispassiOnately whether any
thing is to be gained, anything to be
hoped, by pushing the present aliena-
ton to that fatal bourne, from which,
as from death, there is no return p
Will the South gain any greater stabil-
ity for her social system and larger en-
trance into the vacant public territoriesl
Will the North have effected any one
object, which by men of any shade OF
opilion, extreme or moderate, is deem,
ed desirable; on the contrary, will not
the very evil she desires to remedy be
confirmed and Aggravated ? Ii this
view Of the, subject be correct, what
can be more unwise--more suicidal
than to allow these deplorable dissen-
'ions to result in a revolution, which
will leave two great sections OF the
,onutrv in n u,oroo oond,tinn than r.