The Oxford intelligencer. (Oxford, Miss.) 1860-18??, 1860-11-28
l775 and 1850.


is that which shall be; and that which is
done is that which shall be done: and there
is no new thing under the sum-" Neverthe-
les, the world, for thousands of years, has
been deluded, day by day, into the belief
that carloads of ancient rubbish, exhumed
from the charnel-houscs of the Past, were
vertable and valuable novelties; and, not nm
frequently, the same old things, which, in
one generation, are brought forward as "bran-
new" reappear, in the next, accompanied by
a stouter claim to immediate regency of orr
gin. History, in many cases, exposes the
Ealsity of these pretensions but, inasmuch
as all that has taken place in the past has
not been recorded, and few men have the in
clinaton, the leisure, and the means, to make
themselves acquainted with the recorded
facts of history, an extensive field is still af-
forded for the operations of that numerous
class which thriyes upon the popular credu-
lily. Human nature, in all ages of the world,
has been, as it will continue to be, essentially
the same; and, therefore, it may be safely
prcdicated alike of peoples and ofindividuals,
that, under like circumstances, they will act,
to-day, or hundred years hence, precisely
as History informs us that peoples and indi-
viduals acted thousand years ago.
A state of things now exists, in these
United States, which is regarded by many,
as being without precedent in the annals of
any people. A sectional majority has de-
cared that it will clutch the rens of govern
mcnt, and that the minor section shall sub
nit to its rule. Under the forms of the cx
listing Constitution, it possesses the power
to make that declaration good. The minority
is alarmed, not merely for its rights, but for
its very safety and existence, and begins to
cast earnestly about for the means of self
protection against the coming peril. But
the minority, unhappily, is not unanimous.
There is, in its own bosom, minority that
is blind and deaf to all the portcnts of the
times, and that listens only to the siren songs
of Hope. We do not impugn the patriotism
Of the men who compose this minority, but
we do question, seriously, the soundness
of their judgment Their Arguments in favor
Of the Union are familiar to the country
Let us see whether those arguments are new,
and, also, whether they have never been con-
| futed.
When the old thirteen States were British
Colonies, they denied the abstract right Of
the mother country to tax them without their
own consent. That right, on the other hand,
was asserted by Parliament, in the strongest
terms; but no attempt was made, with the
exception of a trihing tax upon tea, to carry
the doctrine into practical effect against the
colonists. The tea tax, in itself, was not OPP
pressive: it was not even burdensolne. 1t
involved, however, the all-important principle
of the right of the colonists to regulate their
own local affairs, and they felt that they
could not surrender that principle without
opening door to all the tyranny that Power
might choose to exercise oyer them. Eng
land refused to recede from her position, and
prepared to assert it by force of arms. The
colonists, within their several localities, elect
ed delegates who met to consult in reference
to their threatened liberties. Those dele.
gates, like the people whom they represented
were no mere malccontents, seeking prctexts
fora separation from Great Britain. They
had been accustomed, all their lives, to speak
of England by the endearing name of "home; y
they were proud, and justly SO, of their con.
nection with the most glorious Empire on
the face of the earth; they were deeply sensi
bic, too, of the great and numerous advan
tages, past, present, and prospective, growing
out of their union with the parent country
and, moreover, they had been taught, from
their infancy, to shrink from the very idea o.
disloyalty to their sovereign, as pure wo
man shrinks from contact with RIGHTEOUSNESS
1t might, therefore, have been safely assum
ed that such men would do nothing rashly
and, especially, that, without what they con
sidered just and weighty causes they woulC
not precipitate the colonies-weak, and I'm
prepared for the struggle-into contest o
arms with the colossal power of Britain.
The Convention of Virginia met in March
l775. We are informed by one of the bio
graPhers of Patrick Henry "a. Ii. Everett
that "the prevailing sentiment among tn,
members was apparently pacific and cOncili
atory." The great orator, however, hat
made up his mind that the time for concila
; ton was over, and that the controversy ha,
} reached point where there was no other is
sue but an appeal to actual force Prepare
, ton for the military defence of the colon,
, was, of course, in this view, the only appro
pirate measure" and, accordingly, Henr,
} moved set of resolutions looking in tina
direction. "On this OCCASION" continue
t Everett, "as in the debate on the Stamp Act
: the views of Henry were not only FAR in ad
vance Of the general sentiment of the country
f but went beyond those of the most activ