The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-11-03
Vol. XIII.

knew their own strength too well in that yicini.
ty to rush upon destruction, as did Brown and
his conspirators. But suppose the same thing
happened in Soath Carolina, where there are
two negroes to one white person does any one
believe that they would have remained quiet
spectators? In Northern Virginia, and es.
pecially in the immediate neighborhood of the
Ferry, there are perhaps ten white men to one
negro. The slaves therefore could not hope
for Liberation by their own efforts aud tbev
doubtless regarded the efforts Of Brown, if be-
relied essentially upon their co operation, as all
the world seems to do, viz as the enterprise Of
mailman. They are, besides, the class Of
slaves from whom we should least expect an
effort at instruction. They are on the border
of the free States, and it would be much easier
and safer to hberate themselves by RUNNING
away than by revolving. The facility with
which they can run off is fact well under.
stood by themselves and their masters and
the consequence is, that they are treated with
a degree Of consideration and kindness which
Is not generally experienced by the slaves
further south For these reasons, none but
q
successful insurrection at Harper's Ferry But
in any of the Gulf States the same efforts might
have been attended with an amount of blood.
shed and devastation, from which the imagiua.
ton recoils with horror.
If the Pro-Slavery demagogues of the coup.
try would not precipitate these evils upon the
South, which they profess to idolize, they must
retrace their steps. They must cease propa.
eating false and exaggerated accounts Of the
principles, aims and tendencies, of the Repub.
hcan party. They must learn to tell the truth
or, if that is expecting too much Of them. let
them keep silent, while honester men are per.
mitted to set forth the truth. There are intel.
ligent men in the South who fully comprehend
the position of the Republican party. They
know that that party stands by the Constitu-
ton, as expounded by jefferson and Madison
and that in regard to Slavery, its creed is made
up from the writings of Washington, Jefferson.
Madison, and Clay. The Republican party is
pledged to no principle or measure which can
not be fully vindicsted by the writings and the
political action of those great Southrons. Il
is pledged to circumscribe Slavery, as JeHer.
son circumscribed it by the Ordinance ofl7s7-
measure which also met the appreciation Of
Washington and Madison in their official ca.
pacities, and which the eloquent tongue Of
Clay indicated thousand times. This is the
great and leading feature of the Republican
party-the head and front Of its offending. With
Slavery in the States it claims no right to in
terfere by Congressional or judicial interveu.
ton; and by every obligation Of humanity
constitutional right and good faith it is bound
to shield the South from rufiian invasion The
Republican party leaves the problem of Sla
very in the Southern States to be settled By the
people thereof We, who reside in the South,
are bound by every consideration of duty to
urge the policy of emancipation upon our fe-
low-citizens. We desire the accomplishment Of
this great reform by the free consent and mo
ton of the Southern people, and in no other
way. We shall be happy to have the sympathy
and cooperation of good men, North and South,
in the effort to enlighten the public to sense
Of its true interest, and we desire to see a Fed.
eral Government installed which will foster tbi,
spirit Of peaceful emancipation, instead of Ia.
boring to extend and perpetuate Slavery, as
does the Administration Of Mr.. Buchanan.
To this statement of the Republican creed,
we will add that the almost universal sent.
nent Of the party favors the colonization of the
negro race IN Central America, Mexico the
West Indies and other tropical regions, where,
protected against aggression from without, and
from calling sense Of personal injustice which
is felt by the freest of the colored people in this
country, they may form great civilized nation
Of freemen.
If Democratic demagogues will take as much
pains in disseminating these truths, as they
have heretofore done in the manufacture and
circulation of false and exaggerated pictures Of
" Black Repubhcanism," they will at once re-
move all danger of instructions, except such
as is necessarily incident to Slavery. We can.
not expect Northern demagogues to take this
course, since they are safe from the terrible
consequences which their falsehoods may pro-
duce but we do expect better things of South.
ern " Democrats" who, with their families. are
involved in the common danger. We also ex.
pect it of the Southern Opposition, more es-
pecally, since they have all the obligations of
duty and safety, and none of the temptations Of
the spurious Democracy to turn the perils Of
Southern society into party capital.