Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1860-01-27

icannot, it must not, it shall not be forgotten
that regent conspiracy, aiming to subvert
the institutions and to violate the soil of this
State which all good men hoped would
awaken c storm of indignant remonstrance
at the North, has served only to,nvest muir
fder with the sanctity of virtue, and to honor
treason with the crime of martyrdom. These:
these are the startling facts which meet u.
at every step of this investigation. And ia
refutafion of the inevitable differences which
they. Justify, we are gravely told that the
advantages conferred by the Union upon the
people of the North furnish sufficient guar
antee of our safety. Sir, the al guments
were conclusive, if men had always the wis
dom to appreciate, or the frmness to pursue
their real interests. No man doubts that
cancellation was the policy with which ths
British Parliament should have met the
spirit of revolution upon this continent.
And yet, we know that neither the fiery in
vective of the elder Pitt, ,or the persuasive
eloquenee of Edmund Burke, could stay the
suicidal hand which tore its brightest Jewel
from the British Grown. And why? George
| III was not the most wicked of ministers,
nor was Lord North the weakest of min is
ters. The thermometer is not more GER
tain Indication of the state of the surround
ing temperature, than are the acts of the
English Government of the temper of the
English people. And the policy which drove
these colonies from tranquility to discomfort
and from discomfort. to rebellion, was but
the legitimate result of that fatal blindness
to its real interest which is the source of all
the wickedness and half the folly of our frail
humanity Look, sir, to the simplest rela-
tions of life, and tell me how many men YOU
find who pursue their real interest? How
many follow passion. rather than reason p
How many sacrifice a substantial good be-
cause'it is near? How many leave the sa
fer courses of ordinary trade for the dizzy
walks of extravagant speculation How
many abandon the steady profits of houest
industry tor the, uncertain acquisitions of ill-
gotten gain? Remembering that nation
is but an aggregate o. individuals, apply the
principal to society in which unlimited
suffrage has armed the most ignorant mind
and the most vicious heart, with the same
political power it accords to the Hottest INTEL
lect and the purest innocencc-to a Commune
nifty in which bigoted prejudice becomes the
easy .dupe of the .de,nagogue and the willing
victim OF the fanatic; and, tell me, tell me,
if the probability of bringing such elements
to proper appreciation of the complicated
advantages of the Federal Union furnishes
the ground upon which statesman should
base his calculations at an hourlike the pre-
sent That the Union confers unnumbered
advantages upon the people OF the North, no
man, WHO has carefully studied its operation
for the last half century, can with candor,
deny. But, it is unfortunately the fact THAI
the great body of those who control the ope-
rations of Government at the North, do not
possess an interest in this subject sufficient
ly direct to impress the popular mind The
influences of Northern society resolve them.
selves into the interests of capital and the
interest Of labor. Now the profits of the
capitalist furnish him an invariabe index
Of his real interest: Ever eagerfor gain and
always apprehensive of loss, he watcher with
the. keenest ,sagacity aud the sharpest vigil
lance, every indication which promises to
promote the one or threatens to entail the
other. With the ordinary Iaborer whose wa:
ges barely suffice for his daily subsistence il
is evident that the case is entirely different;
Having rarely the leisure or the intelligence
for rational reflection Upon bis true condi-
lion, he reasons plausihly enough, that hay,
ing little to lose by agitation, he may gain
every thing by change. Hence, while capi-
5al is conservative from interest, labor is
radical from necessity. And to the practi-
cal mind engaged in this investigation, it
affords no consolation to know, that while
intelligent capital is calculating its profits,
gnorant labor is recording its votes. Nor
are there wanting other circumstances to
mpart still more gloomy coloring to the
picture. 1t cannot be denied that school
Of political philosophy has. recently been
founded at the North, whose office it is to
nBtill into the minds of the least intelligent
portion Of that community the atrocious doc
,rlne, that there is an Irresistible aantago-
aism between the interests3of free labor and
The rights Of the slave owner. 1t matters
not how apparent the fallacy, if the public
mind is once infected with the poison That
such is already the case, let the overwhelms
ng demonstrations Of popular sympathy
which everywhere meet the champion of that
'bominable heresay bear ample and sufh-
'ient witness. Here. therefore, is your pre-
'ent position: You hold an institution-the
preservation of which is essential to your
Fery existence as 8 people. Its safety is i'm
)eriled by an organization whose steady ap-
oroach give you reason to believe that its f.
lai and completesuccess may at :ny motnens
,e announced. What what, then, is to be
your future policy? Will you. meet this is-
uc like men who, calmly, looking back to
he past, and brayely looking forward to the
uture,' gather from the experience of the
me, the wisdom to control the exigencies Of
he other? Or will you permit the delusivs
ohantsm of an equality, which is not. equal,
# Union which is not united-like the
'ir drawn dagger of Macbeth, TO unsette
7our firm convictions and dethrone your tot
ering reason Sir, if my argument be cor,
ect, there is but one course for Virginia
legislature to pursue. You must arm-ycu
must organize-and when thus armed; when
bus organized-you cannot-you, will not;
" the living God you dare not initiate tho
oily of the timid traveller. who seeing the
daring. eyes and the glittering teeth of the
iger gpripging to his prey delays the fatal
hot until he is felled to the earth by his ter-g
IDLE foe. You must say to your Northern
nemies, we will not wait until your unhal-
owed power is fortified by the semblance Of
egal authority We will not wait until you
t1I hol,&