Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1859-11-16
From the Raleigh Register.l
HARPER'S FERRY OUTBREAK-IMPORTAN |
s.a" Disclosures

more important and interesting type than it preSen-
ted at irst, ihastch as correspondence brought to
light, lmpllcates So,ne very prominent men at the
North, RS accessories to Browns designs, although,
he may have acted prematurely in carrying, or at.
tempting to carry, them into execution. These dis.
closures are startling" indeed, and show settled
determination on the part of the abolitionsts to
leave no means untried to deprive The South of its
slave property, and to let cost of blood stand in
the way of the attempt AS long as such men as
Garrison Phillips, & Co., raved, ranted and bias
| phemed, and did nothing else, conservative men
might afford to look on in anger, sorrow or con-
tempt as the mood prompted them, but when we
see Senators Of the United States listening calmly
TO- and by silence acQuiescinS in cool and deliberate
plans for making actual war upon half the Union,
the subject becomes vastly more important than any
| which has been submitted to the consideration OF
the South and the Union, since the foundation Of
the government
We are told that the people of the North by a
vast majority hold the late invasion of the South in
| unmitigaed al hoircnce We hope they do Ger
talnly the tone of the press of the North wod war;
rant lis in believing that such is the state of opinion
in that section. But, We would ask, why has moi
the suggestion Of the Boston Courier been acted
upon? Why have not public meetings in the cities
and towns of the North been held to give expires
sion to the conservative feeling of that portion OF
the Union, and their utter a3horrencc of Browns
and all similar NODES of interfering with the rights
and property of the South? They have in theil
midst rich and powerful men, who are known to
have aided and ahctted in Browns outrage, but who
perhaps cannot lie reached 10y that law which they
have outraged. Should not the conservative neigh.
bOrs of these enforce upon them the law of pub
lie opinion at their own horne, and brand them as
the ncendiary and diabolical miScreants they have
proved to be? We know not what others may think
about it, but villainouslv bad as Old Br WIN is and
dangerous as he has proved to be- we cannot help
entertaining for him gnas; respect. when we com
pare him with Ge!rett Smith Horace Greeley and
VIM. II. Seward Brown although in the worst of
causes has displayed pluck and manhood, while
Smith, Greeley and Seward, have played the Fart
sncaking, cowallv mi>creantS who would send for
ward others to TO for them deeds of treason, blood
and murder, which they feared to undertake them
selves
As it regards &~ara, We do not hesitate to say
that If it can be proved that he knew of his cons?
racy against the lives and property of the citizens of
one Of the States of this Union-that the plot was
unfoled to him, and he, either by his silence or by
the words attributed to him, acquescrd in the
should be at once expelled from the Senate of the
United States, as wholly unworthy of seat in that
body. and to he the associate of honorable men,
lie will have forfeited his oath support the Con-
Stntlon OF the United States. ard proved himself to
hc con>prator against the government of the coun-
try. As long as .Scsrnm talitd about his higher
law, and was content to merely talk about i, he
might safely he visited by the mere contempt of
honorable men, but when he becomes the associate
of consprators-when he lends his influence to plots
of treason, by silently acquieS,n= in them his pres
cnce in the Senate chamber becomes ntolerac and
ne should be driven from it in gnomnv and dis
grace. Nor would any higher law" be called into
reqrI>lon by this eviction of Seward from the Sen
ate. The Senate any other legislative body has
the right to cXrcl from its midst any member who
may he guilty of an intamons ctface. The offence
OF cheating at cards committed by member of the
House of Commons Of this State, was some wears
ago. punished ly the expulsion Of the offending
member from that body. Subsequently, member
OF the Senate of this State was expelled on what WAS
believed to lea well grounded charge that he had
committed forgery. Infamous as both these offences
are they sink INTO insisniicance when compared
with connlvancc at Plot Of blood. murder and
treason and the more especially in the case Of Sc
ward, when it is remembered that his course in the
Senate and out of it. lat Rochester for nstancc) was
well calculated if not designed 10 inctc tie treason
bic plot and conspiracy at viii by his silence or
worse than sen G. be connived If Forbes tells the
truth-lf after his plans were un!olled TO Seward
the latter "erpressed regret Mnt he had been told,
an" sad tint he, IN his position, ought not 10 hare
been informed Of tile circumstances" Stewards course
wears double aspect of nfamv First, it shows
his consciousness that his position" as Senator |
OF the tnicd States demanded pronxt discounte- !
nance and denuncation of TIE reasonable scheme |
ana sec nd, 1t conveys caution to Forbes not to !
trust his plans to others occupying similar posi- |
lon and whose console es might not be as come
",ent as his own. 1t matters not that Browns en-
pl"ied plot was not Forbes. 1t matters not that !
Ferries diSconntenanccd Browns mode of operations.
tie did so because he believed his own pan-the
plan submitted to Scward-was mare efficient than
tAat OF Brown. Forbes plan by force of arms
10 stampede, or run of parties of slaves from the
'front.' er States, AID thus continually drive slavery
m'c"rd*, until it was final " cxtrratcd at the CEN
tire, and to this plan according to Forbes Seward
either ''d not on! ct or by his language consented
Commenting on the disclosures of Forbes, the
New York Times makes the GLOWING remarks:
Thsse revelations of Col Forbes will increase the
anxiety and Indignation of both sections of the coun
Try. lhey prove that there are Aboliti0niStS among
US iully capable of organizing military crusade
and OF stirring up servile instruction in the South
ern States-though they do not give us any very
alarming notion of the numbers or the resources of
'heSe men. Brown and Forbes, the fanatic
anu the other an Englshman, were the only two
men OF any military experience whom they could
enlist and their military chests seems to have been
lnS'hlcient to keep them both in the service But
tHey show-whaf is more impOrtant-that some
among our eminent public men have felt constrained
by Their party relations to palter with virtual trca-
son and to wink at insane scdition. They failed to
S"poHI anu iehounce these plots when brought to
Their knowledge, lest such expo ure should cost
them votes. The calculation will prove to have
been erroneous The conservative spirit of the peo-
pie VIII punish their default much more severely
than the ploiter> of sedition could haze punished
their open hostility. The virtue of patriotism h
not yet succumbcd to the violence OF fanaticism:
and public men will never find it safe to wink at
schemes which menace the peace of the country and
the integrity of the Union
BROTHERS IN THE MINIsTRY-A Goldsboro' cor.
of the Petersburg Express, abiding to
inc TACT that there were four pair of brothers in the