Daily national Democrat., 1859-01-04
FanRticiSIn.

and withal man of thoroughly conserva-
tive characterized, not great while ago
in Wcstchester county New York, leaving
an claboratcly written will, in which occur.
the following passage
81 bequeoth to my son ten thousand dollar,
in trust, To be applied by him at his discretion N
promoting the safety and comfort of fugitiv,
slaves
y more remarkable illustration Of the
power of fonaticism over the human mind
has seldom been exhibited. A naturally good
and warm-hearted man, man too of educa-
ton and ability, who had scrupuously full
filed the duties which he believed ineum-
bent upon him as o good and true citizen,
concludes his life by leaving behind him,
among other stipulations in his will, a pro-
vision for enabling his son to defy, disregard,
or trample upon, a solemnly enacted law Of
his country! Notwithstanding he called
himself patriot, he was willing to so far
prove himself in death traitor and rebel
as to regard as a nullity what every good
citizen is bound to obey and respect in or
N't W T. W Ail' N''NN ''AiN s7N'N N'AN' W
society and to maintain the stability of gov
ernment-to wit: the law of the land Not
withstanding he was man of vast legal ac-
quirements and knew how absolutely essen.
tal it was to the peace and happiness Of
mankind, that the supreme power of State
should maintain its supremacy, and that
nothing short of absolute revolution could
justly be resorted to where the laws are to
be disregardcd at all, he would yet inculcate,
upon his very bed of death, the lesson that,
in reference to legal enactments involving
points of morality, the private citizen is to
set up his Judgment against the Legislature
of his country and its judicial tribunals So
stepped was he in fanaticism that he was
ready to make an exception TO the general
rule of obedience to the laws, in this one
particular case when he knew that We're
every man to make such exceptions in every
case where his own private Judgment came
in conflict with the supreme authority, no
thing but the most deplorable confusion and
disorder would arise, and government itself
90 to wreck and ruin
There is vast amount fthis kind of ia
natcsm in the North Thousands of good
and true hearted men seem to be lost to all
reason and common sense in the idea that
| slavery must be abolished at all hazards and
slaves liberated in defiance of all law and of
every other consideration that prudence pol
icy, or the safety of the country may dictate.
They forget that slavery, ifit be an evil, was
an evil incorporated into the very foundation
of our government, and that it cannot be
suddenly emdicatel without violence to the
equilibrium Of the Union. They may be-
icye ever SO strongly that the "poor negro"
is entitled to his liberty, and that human
I flesh and blood should not be bought aud
sold in the market, but they should rcmem-
Der, at the same time, that there is a right
way of doing even right thing, and
wrong way of doing it; and, that, were
slavery the greatest evil that ever existed
under the sun, no man who is a calm and
dispassionatc reasoncr, or true moral philoso-
pher, would 90 to work to remove one evil
by precipitating in its place thousand more
Of still greater magnitude. If slaves are re
cognized 10y the Constitution of the United
States as property, slaves must remain proper
ty or the Constitution be overthrown. Now,
whether it would be better for the interests |
of humanity to violently overthrow the Con.
stitution or TO leave the negroes in bondage, !
is the only question legitimately presented
in the consideration Of the case No such
violent assaults upon slavery as that of re
I sistauce to the Fugitive Slave Law, (proyi-
vidcd for in Judge Jays will) will ever have
any other effect than to produce a commo
ton which must inevitably tend towards
dissolution OF the Union. The dissolution
Of the Union would be greater evil than
these fanatics ever dreamed of in all the de
lirious excitement of their half lunatic imagi
nations 1t would be the death knell Of all
| liberty, the white mans as wei as the ne
gro's.
There is better way of accomplishing
these purposes which are so holy in the eyes
Of many Ours is a Government Of Sover
eign States, and each State regulates its own
affairs. Many Of them, in the exercise of
this individually sovereign power, have al
ready abolished slavery from their limits,
and others probably will Popular Sover-
oignty in the Territories allows slavery OF
excludes it upon the same principle The
question may thus be left to solve itself
without violence and without disturbance.
Those rhilanthropists who, in the exercise of
calm reason, are not willing to destroy the
whole frame work Of society around them,
in order to produce more misery where they
conceive certain amount already to be ex-
isting, must necessarily be satifed with the
uninterrupted and fair operation Of this prin-
ciple TheH at least, are not responsible for
the thradom of the slave, if there be any
responsibility in the case, and, having dis
charged their duty as citizens, owing allegi-
ance to the Constitution Of their country, as
well as their duties as philanthropists-for
the frs. is no less imperative than the last
their conscience should certainly rest easy.
CoNsuAIproN.-Dr Riofrey, Of Paris, says
the y. Y. Tribune is the author of some in
teresting observations on the subject of con
sumption Post mortum examinations had
shown that nature, under certain circumstan-
ces, cures the disease. 1t was important to
inquire the nature or character of these cir