The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1859-11-25
THE ELECTIONS OF 1859, AND THE LESSONS
L. WHICH THEY TEACH

In lcss than twelve months the next Pres;
Dental election will have taken place, and up.
on that election hangs the fate of the Union
The free States have been made fully aware Of
tile consequences of the election of a sectional
candidate in 1860. In the recent elections they
have been admonishcd that the South will not
submit TO tho triumph of party hentsfi ed with
and endorsing the doctrine Of the 'irrepressi.
b,e conflict Yet those admoniiions have been
treated with contempt, and the advocates ol
9ewardIsm have triumrhed in every free State
where elections have been held during tho
present Year. except in California.
The Richmond Eramiuer thinks that thc
time has passed for the indulgence of idle gas.
conading resolutions and that the next Legis.
lnture should address itself earnestly to the
State defence, and every emergency which may
arise in 1860.
We are neither wise enough nor vain enough
To attempt 10 mink out for the Legislature n
complete chart for their action. But we trust
| That 'he best intcllccts Of that body will bc
directed TO the subject of State drtenccs and
preparation for every emergency in ISGO-
We would gladly See all other quest tions made
for the time subordinate to that of pcttino
Virginia ready for the position which she
should ut once take ifa Black Republican is
| elected President in 1850 Let the action of
our Legislature show That Virginia, the most
| conservative Of the slave States, il in earnest
ana IS resolved thut no man like Seward shall
| DC the President Of the United States. Let
tho Legislature show that ths is our irm re-
solve, by making the most liberal apDropri.
ntlon for our State lrfences of all sorts Let
tho whole course of the next Legislature in
dlrntc what Virginia will do if sectionalism
shall triumph in its most odious and dangerous
| phase in 1860. The Legislature will we feel
assured. faithfully reflect that astonishing
change which has taken place in the public
sentiment of Virginia since the treason, mur-
der and insnrrection at Ilarper's Ferry. What
that change in public sentiment is, it is ret
necessary To state ut length as there is no sec.
tioL Of Virginia where the people are not
fully prepared for The most serious corscuucn.
ccs. II an advocate of the rrcprcs;ble conflict
triumph i'll 1850. Never was there such
state Of feeling in Virginia before as there now
is. Before this universal feeling o Indignation,
conservatism, the Union scnti uent, has melted
like frost-work beneatd the rays of the sun.
From the Ohio to the Chesapeake from North
Carolina to Maryland the people of Virginia
arc ready for n dissolution Of the Union rather
thaa submit 10 the triumph of Tint party, the
natural consequences of whose horrible doc
trlnc We're seen at lIarper's Ferry in conspi-
racy having insnrrection, treason, murder and
riliage for its objects.
We would gladly. therefore, see tho Legis-
lsture OF Virginia devote the whole of its time
to the suGjsets t. which we have alluded, until
tho work of preparation for the contingency to
which We have referred is completed.
The action Of Virginia will, in our opinion,
he followed by that of the rest Of the slave.
State, and long befnre the Presidential election
OF 1860 takes place, the North will discover
that the slave States have reached the last
point of forbearance in patient endurance of
the most atrocious wrongs. The ma lignnut and
cowardly miscreants who are now encouraging
the people of the North 10 insult the South,
Will. from those preparations, discover that
Virginia is ready to cooperate with her sisters
"f the South in refusing to submit to the de-
graduation of being ruled over by an Aboli-
ZIONIST of the irrepressible conflict school.