The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-12-14

ee4tIact the foiiowtng from letter writ
ten BY Ex-president Pierce, in reply to on,
from the committee Of inyation Of the Bostol
meeting:
Shall the fundamental law Of the land b,
/ ooeyed, not with evasive reluctance, ibut il
good fdelity7 Have we the power to fore.
obedience to IL, and will weexercise that DO "
| er II so, then may we continue to enjoy ths
mnliirIied and multiplying blessings Of tn.
peerless Inheritance which has been transmit
tel to us. II otherwise fanaticism has mo-
mistaken the significance OF it's emblem-tk.
national Nag trifh fhs a Uaiov do,cs.n rhai
nag nag has as waived through three foreign wars
brave men, on sea and land. wherever its folds
| nave unrolied in the smoke of battle! How
| naLiy OF our r'couutrymen,m as they have seen
IL noa,ing from the masthead in a foreign
| port, giving its ample sweep to the breeze over
q consular office, have proudly and exultingiy
exclaimed: 81 am an American citizen. and
there Is the ensign which commands for me
respect and security, and wherever through.
our the wide world may roam, or wherever
may choose temporarily to dwell =, How one
would shut his eyes and cover his face In shame
and sorrow, If he believed he were destined
10 see the day when the flag will float no more
ana yet II agitators and conspirators can have
| their way, 1t must go down in darkness and
blood. In republic like ours law alone up.
holds II, and when that loses its power all
human power to save is lost II such over.
whelmIng disaster TO humanity is TO oyertaks
US, L, for one. will not try to peer through the
| darkness and blackness, or 10 foreknow th.
4 end. go
Let us act calmly and deliberafely, without
passion and without acrimony. Letfus TAXI
1 no hast tie or narrow view of the car ses which
have produced the dangers we would inert
and, 1T possible, avert. IL is not the recent In.
| vasion OF Virginia which should awaken ollI
| strongestapprehension, but the teaching still
vebemently persisted in from which it sprung
with the inevitable necessity which evolves
| the effect from the cause
i Go IL II. xvx
who boldly approve and applaud the acts Of
treason and murder perpetrated within the
| limits of Virginia, are not the most dangerous
enemies OF the Constitution and the Union.-
obligations, habituaily appeal to sectional
prejudices and passions, by denouncing the
| institutions and people of the South, and thus
ln1iame the Northern mind to q pitch of re-
sistance to the clear provisions of the funda-
| mental law-who, under plausible pretexts
| addressed to those prejudices and passions
pass local laws designed to evade constitu-
| tlonal obligations, are really and truly,
whether they believe it or not, the men who
Are hurrying us to swift destruction.
Your reprobation of the ethical and politi.
cal teachings which inspire this line of con-
duct will, l am sure, be pronounced in tones
| so earnest no man can mistake their import
| You Will show, on your part, readiness lo
| give to fellow-citizens of other States such
Just legislation by Congress as shall provide
tor the punishment not only Of actual inya-
l
| pedition, and thus do what you may effect
| ally TO secure, by constitutional enactments
each State against violence from any other.
| hope that your meeting will awaken a spirit
| which will lead Massachusetts and Virginia
| to grasp again reciprocally the hand of affec-
| ton, sympathy and support-tolove and hon.
or-as they did in 1776, when, as the elder and
more powerful of colonies, they madeup the
| issue of blood against the power of an unjust
Parliament.
Why should it not be so2 Is there any
cause OF alienation on our part, which did not
exist at the formation of the government p
When have the people of the South invaded
our territory, slain our people, or conveyed
away our property! Why should not the
authority Of New Hampshire honor and cher.
ish the authority of Mississippi Are they
not each sovereign, but yet are they bound ur
together in the endearing bond of q common
country! To establish upon firm footing
these relations between all the States, what is
required out cordial, loyal, manly recognition
and enforcement, III spirit and in act, of all
the requirements OF the compact entered into
by the ia athers who have passed to their re.
ward! Can it be that there is among any
large portion of our people, North or South
| settled purpose to accept the benefits, bu,
deny the burthens of the Constitution9 Have
all sentiments OF honor and patriotism per.
| ished togetherl II that time has come, or you
discern It's approach, then, indeed should you
who desire to live under this Constitution, ex-
pounded by the august tribunal into whose
charge our fathers gave its exposition, raise
iue voice Oh warning, ana save, II IL De posi-.
BILE, the voice of woe. But it has not come and
| it is still in your power to say it shall not
There is no inevitable, irresistible impulse
| hurrying il forward.
l deny, in the name of all that is most sacred
and precious in our inheritance, that there is
an element of "irrepressible conflict between
the Southern and Northern members of that
confederation. The doctrine is as unsound
and untrue as it is fearful. 1t is contradicted
| by the unbroken experience of the first fifty
years of our history. 1t would have been the
| price of the loss of reputation for life TO have
| uttered ii while the men who fought the bat
! ties of the Revolution and framed the Const ii.
| tuition were yet alive. No! 1t has not come
| and, with the blessing of God upon the exer.
| tions of good and patriotic men, it will never
/ be nearer.
| / have faith in the power Of yonr efforts my
| fellow w-citiZens-faith that your example, in
! this relation, will be followed, and you action
| initiated. not only in other parts of Massachu.
| setts, but by citizens of other States, who ap.
| preciate the blessings which the Constitution
| has conferred upon them, and who, come whal
may, intend on their native soil, with 1heil
children around them, to claim it's protection
and uphold its authority. l have faith, above
all, that the continued favor of the God of oul
fathers, who watched over our feeble political
begin nings, who preserved us through the in
Vulnerable perils of the struggle for natonali.
ty, will yet make the wrath of man subser.
Went to the peace aud durability Of this Union
| Y T..