The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1859-07-20

leads to action. | can understand the i'm
rortance of time for preparation, although
the necessity for preparation is ussally our
folly. But | cannot understand how bare,
naked submission to unconstitutional mis-
rule for thirty years can be anything else
but base and wicked imbccility. Two
generations have passed away since reach
cd the years of manhood. | found, when
entered into life, the whole South inflamed
OF the vital matter of unconstitutional tax
alton. We had before us the very Ques-
tion Which occasioned the resistance of our
fathers to British misgovcrnmcnt, and their
glorious example in the Independence they
achieved rather than endure it. Yet we
submitted to the principle Of unjust and
unconstitutional taxation imposed upon MS
by the North, and we have borne it to this
day. One submission soon produced its
natural fruit of renewed Interference and
aggression on The institution of slavery
We have borne that too until at length,
to be prosecuted aud harassvd alternately
on one or the other of these vital matters,
seens 10 be the law Of our political cXis
tence in the Union. Yet we still have men,
not actually in mockcry, warning us against
haste, and cntreating caution in our meas
ures. Can it be unreasonable ut any time
10 be free, and to cast oIfa pragmatical
and vulgar tyranny! Is not Il whole life
OF endurance of unconstitutional oppression
enough for trecdom-cTough for any wis
dom in de!ay-too much for safety or hon
or! How long shall we stand the resist
less and despised victims Of northern ianat-
icism and capacity? How long shall we
cry wait !'--whlst the North advances in
power and insolence, aud each successive
hrintrs hnr 70 ,,ti
of her pOlicy of dominion over US, and over
this continent? Shall we wait until the
expedient Of John Quincy Adams, for eman-
clpating our slaves shall be enforced He
declared that the general government, by
the treaty-making power, could cOnstitu-
tonally abolish slavery in the South. In
surrectIonS may be produced, and then the
genera. government. having right 60 in-
ierpoSc her military power, us the cOnd-
hon OF peace may, by treaty, Ordain cman-
cipatIon Whether by this, Or the more
direct way of congressional legislation, pro.
vidng for "the general welfare" who doubts
that in the day when the northern people
possess the power, and ,0W it, emancipation
Will be law of Congress? Shall we wait
for this bIissful cOnsummation Tn.
bres OF lnsurreCtiOn will light up our homes
and the North shall stand bv TO watch and
guard the coni,agration Such things VIII
probably never be, because :hc South will
not await their fearful coming, but will an.
uclpate them. When will she anticipate
them and oct ont her redemption? When
VII! her mighty heart beat free in the en-.
Joyment OF her rights, safe under the shield
OF hcr own protection; and casting off the
incubus OF ignorance and error and fear,
which now like foul toad sits upon her
bosom, rise up and command the liberation
and independence of ,he South
There afc prcmonitOns OF change in The
moral rs in the physical world. The nut
terlngs of the political tempest, which the
next presidential election must produce, al
ready breaks upon the car. The proud rob.
oers whom we have raised up to power
and place in the North, by our continual
submissions, still insist IN defiance of the
decision of the Supreme Court of the Uni
ted States, in denying our rights, and in
Affirming their rights to defeat them in our
territories. 1t has been in vain that-those
in the North who respect the constitution
and the rights OF the South have proclai.
med, from time to time. that the South
would resist and the Union be dissolved
We have justified the contempt of our
enemies, not the good opinion of0ur friends.
Jhe South has not resisted. The Union is
not dissolved ; and our aggressors, tri-
nmphng in our submission, hold place and
power for our harassment, and their eXalta-
uon ana ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. Those are thus
raised to official dignity who are worthy in
themselves, of neither influence nor consd-
Grafton. They are fitting representatives of
the meaner passions OF man-avar,ce. ambi.
ton, fanatcism, jealousy, hate; whilst those
who would represent the nobler virtues of
the North are subsidized or driven from
public life. TO submit to the encroach-
mcnts Of this vulgar crew of plunderers
and fanatics, is n degradation no other free
people than the people of the South ever
endured ; but to submit to theiv rule will
be the desperation of a weak and conquer
ed race-conquered without 4 fight. Shall
this be the doom of the South in the next
presiden tial election ! Let us 90 into the
contest, II must occasion, aS If it will bear
10 fnture generations our justification or
our shame. FrGnkness and truth are due to
all men but especially must it be due
from the South 10 The South. Let us place
before the world fully and fairly the rights
which We claim under the constitution,
denied by our cOEfederates of the North
Not to assert them in the face of the
denial Of them by the master section of
Lnc OhioU, iS DhSeIy 10 aOanOOn Them
Fully and fairly exposed, undmmed by
equivocatiORs, unpoluted by aypocri:es,
with candidate fully and fairly represent.
ing them, let us meet the contest of the
next presidential election. And let us meet
it unhedly. The North in the last fall ell
ections-democrnt with black republicans
united to exclude us from the enjoyment
OF our rights in our territories. We have no
other alternative, if we would be faithful to
ourselves, than 10 ;iIite for their yinIica-
ton. The prospects are cheering that the
South viii harmonize more THAI she has
ever done on this great question. Our from
tier States, from present indications, will
not be much behind the central States of
the South in their fidelity to our rights and
institutions. And, above all, let no ques.
ton not Immediately connected with the
aggressions of the North divide us into par
ties against each other. This will be fatal
TO all resistance or redress Our first great
duty Is TO place the South above or beyond
the power of the North. First make our
property safe under our own control before