The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-11-15
BALTIMORE.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER Is, 1860

1t is an unfortunate but lndisputabe fact that
a very large number of people are still unable to
realize the seriousness Of the crisis in which we are
involved Most men in the North and many men
in this section osthe country, have not only failed
to comprehend the true import of the movement
which has been initiated at the South, but they
continue TO regard the excitement in the slave
States as purely Fictitious, and they complacently
imagine that it will die out in few fiery but brief
and harmless flashes. Very many of the Northern
journals, while deploring the consequences Of the
political and commercial panic which has already
been produced treat it, nevertheless, as the work
of few extreme political adventurers and they
assure the public that it has only to stand by and
laugh at and denounce dsunion measures in order
TO insure their speedy defeat. The press and the
pulpit have united their voices to convince the
people of the North that the threatening language
of the South is the mercst buster, and that any
revolutionary act on its part will be absolutely
impotent At the hazard of being stigmatized as
alarmists, we must enter our protest against this
delusion. Believing, as we do, that the Republic
is in peril and anxious we are, above all other
things, TO see it rescued from the dangers which
surround it, we must add our word of warning to
the many which have been so earnestly addressed
to our brethren in the Northern States 1t is time
for the good and wise of every section to speak
and act, or the propitious moment may 60 by and
inevitable and irreparable disaster overtakc the
Union before they are aware of its approach. The
signs of the times cannot be misinerpreted by
thoughtful men, The facts that daily thrust them
selves before us are sufficiently significant, but
they wear still more sombre aspect when consid-
cred in connection with the character of our race
and the spirit Of our times. Nor is our knowledge
of these our only guide. Now, as always, the
present may be profably studied by the light of
the past and the history Of the revolution of l776
should teach US to beware, lest we mistake for a
temporary popular commotion impending in
surrection of people. The revolt of our fathers
was no sudden and unforeseen movement, and the
dread of taxation alone would never have driven
them into a renunciation of their allegiance TO
King GEORGE. A long series of petty annoyances
and aggressions on the part of England had alien
ated the hearts of the Colonists from the mother
country. The Declaration Of Independence re-
cites in stirring language the manifold grev-
ances of which America complained, and
the little heed that had been given to her remon-
strances. Ten years before the meeting of the
celebrated assembly which declared US free
q Congress had been neld to deliberate upon the
wrongs the Co!onists had suffered and they had,
over and over again, expressed in unequivocal
terms their sense Of the injustice done them, and
had bound themselves more than once TO abstain
from importing or using English goods During
the whole PERIOD however, they asserted their 10y
atty to England, and their desire to remain under
her dominion, and they honestly meant what they
said. But the i'll feeling which the conduct of
their rulers had engendercd grew and strength
ened, and srpped before they knew it, the ties
which bound them to their trans Atlantic knsmen.
The bonds of mutual affection were broken, and it
might then have been foreseen that the slightest
storm would suffice to separate the two nations
forever But many men were blind in those days,
as they are in ours. They were indifferent about
the discontents of the inhabitants of the great
Western wilderness. It was ridiculous, said the
English Ministers, to suppose that the rude people
who thinly scattered along the Atlantic coast
from Maine TO Georgia, would venture to dispute
the will of the Parliament and King of Great
Britain. The advisers of the latter assured him
tempting the fearful odds that could be arrayed
against them, and that the Colonsts were, more
over, too we'll convinced of their absolute depend
ence on England to rashly push the pending con-
troversy TO extremities. Public opinion abroad
almost unanimous on these points, and with
the exception of: a few statesmen, only the mer-
chants who traded with this country nterposed
their good Offices in its behalf, but their efforts
powerless, and their motives were generally
denounced as scrdid. Even here, too, tie same
views were generally entertained by the officers of
the Crown, and by no inconsiderable portion of
native citizens. So the appeals of our fathers were
contemptuously sighted, their resentment was
haughtiiy dsregarded, and the land and naval
forces were so posted as to be ready 10 check any
characterization at a moments warning. The peo-
pie of England then imagined that America was sub
mssive, if not paci6ed, and they were only awak-
ened from that dream by the echoes of the thunder
peal which went crashing down the slopes of Bun
ker's HILL They awoke TO find an empire won
and lost
Have we nothing to learn from this lesson
Does it not teach man in all communities to be-
ware, lest they tboughtlessly or recklessy invade
the political rights of their brethren? Is there
no analogy between the condition of the Coloniss
a century ago and the position of the South now
In our Judgment the parallel is striking one.
The north is wealthy, populous and powerful -
The South with more limited resources, has also a
positive element ofweakness within her borders
She did not originate the institution of slavery,
she could not at once get rid oft if she wished to
do so, and she cannot consistently with due
regard to her safety permit her Northern neigh
bors to tamper with or assail it. Under these cir
cumstances she had every right to expect fair and
considerate treatment at the hands of the North,
both because the Constitution guarantees her
adequate protection, and because the same blood
flows in the veins Of the people of Carolina and
Massachusetts. But notwithstanding this the
slavery agitation has been encouraged in the
North until a once insignificant band of fanatics
has attaine the proportions offs powerful political
organization which now controls the national gov
eminent. The Republican party has in many of
the States prohibited the enforcement of an Act of
Congress, which is admitted to be strictly Consti-
tutiona; and it has refused to abide by the decis-
ion of the Supreme Court. But it has not only
6isregarded the Constitutional guarantees on which
the security of the South depends. IL has with a
constantly increasing violence attacked the funda
mental laws upon which the institutions of th,
South rest 1t has at all times and in all places
through sermons and speeches, through pamphlets
and the press INDUCED in incendiary language
that was well calculated to excite sedition in the
South and could only have been intended to pro-
duce that result. It's members have protested tt
desire to discuss slavery ii exists in the States
only in its economical and political aspects and t.
debate the Constitutional provisions touching it
introduction into or exclusion from the territories
and under thes: fimsy pretexts they have taker
occasion to denounce the institution as barbarou;
and sinful, and to call down upon the heads o
those who tolerate it ruin in this world and con
demnation in the next. During the last twenty
years the South has sometimes protested, and
sometimes threatened without avail. Unfortu
nately too for her, many of those who claimed to
speak in her behalf have played the braggart an(
the bully, and number of people in the Nortl
who would otherwise have pursued dfferen
course have continued their aggressions becaus
they thought the South would always yield when
ever the inevitable crisis came. Even now thes
agi'ators are insisting that the secession movemen
Is ol little moment, and that the South has to,
niuen " lose 10 persist in following the path upoi
ruhI cte