Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-08-25

',.c''C Vi 'le't rights ana property, 1T is expo
dicnt that the said Constitution should be
amended, or the Union of the States be dis.
solved.
e" Resolcc1, That committee of two mem
bcrs from each State in the Union be appoint
cd, to report upon the cxpcdicncy and prac-
ticabillty OF amending the Constitution or
the best means of pcaccably dissolving the
Union"
These resolutions contain two propositions
first, fact-that "thc Constitution of tho
United states having proved inadequate to
protect tho Southern States i'm the peaccablc
enjoyment of their rights and PROPERTY
second, that it is "cxpcdicnt that the said
Constitution should be amended, or the Union
OF the States be dissolved" The first of
these propositions, confirming the fact al
legged, is, trust, the only one concerning
which, in the minds of rcAectinr men in the
North or South, there can be any difficulty.
That the South has right under the Con.
stltution, to the pcaccablo enjoyment of her
slave institutions, no one will deny; and if
the Constitution il perverted from the pur-
poses for which it was made, and proves made
quatc to protect the Southern States from ar
erosion upon this vital nstitution-nonc but
an Abolltonist, open or secret, in the North,
or traitor in the South, could fail to come to
the conclusion that the Constitution ought to
be amended, or the Union be dissolved To
acknowledge the right or to tolerate the act
OF interference ut all with this institution, is
to give it up-to abandon it entirely; and. as
this must be the consummaton of any inter
ference, tho sooner it is reached the better.
The South must hold this institutions not
amidst alarm and molcstntion, but in pcacc-
perfect peace, from the interference or apita-
tlon of others; or, repeat it; she will-shc
can hold it not at all Let us, then, con
slider the fact maintained in the first PROPOSE
ton of the resolution. Has the Constitution
proved inadequate to protect the Southern
States III the pcaceablc enjoyment of their
rights and property?
Without going one step further, might
appeal to the circumstance under which the
assertion was pcnncd, to substantiate its truth
In hall designed for the purposes of dclibc.
ration upon the limited subjects contained in
the Constitution, *thrce hundred thousand
petitioners are allowed to enter for the purpose
OF asSailing the institution of slavery in the
south Day after day, aud every day in the
week, wc are denounced in these petitions, as
the most atrocous Offenders against God and
man. But few days before this iuncturc
present, declared to be actuatcd. us our habi
tual characteristic, by the spirit of murder
and arson. We were tauntcd with being
afraid of truth and light, and trembling for
our tottering institutions Three years he
tore, upon this very floor, in the spirit of con-
cession Chat no collateral issues should be
made as to the right of petition and their con-
sidcration), it has been determined to receive
IL,
and lay them upon the table; but as in all cases
OF aggression, the demand rises with the con-
cesslon, and being endured, becomes sanctified
INTO right and 1t was now contcndct, that
these petitions should not only be received,
but be treated exactly in the way the pcti-
TONERS thought proper to require referred
to conmittcc from which Shareholders should
be- excluded, and composed of members,
majority of whom should be favorable to thcr
demands; in other words, that their petitions
@ac"'I &c granted. Ai.i! :!i;a Glo3ss reasonable
request is made upon ono branch of these pc.
tltions, by the whole delegation of State.
Another State had sent her memorial into the
other end of the Capitol, calling upon Congress
to abolish slavery in the District of Column
bia and the Territories, to prohibit slaves
from passing from one State to another and to
exclude Texas, on account of her slaves, from
the Union; and one of the representatives
OF this State moves in the House instructions
to select committee, which he required to
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.
The occasion is seized, to descant upon slave
ry in the Southern States, and to provo that
1t is inconsistent with all natural and revealed
law, and that those who uphold it are obnoX-
Ious 10 the wrath and curse Of God and man.
Now, under these circumstances of wanton
aggression and insult, are the people Of the
South, in this the common hall of dclibera-
tion with their confederatcs, in the pcaccablc
enjoymcptof their rights and peculiar insti-
tntions?
But there are other circumstances without
the halls of Congress, under which these reso-
lutlons were penned. A largo body of citi-
zens, consisting of ono hundred and ffty thou
sand, forganizcd into one thousand FIVE hun
dred societies, increasing at the rate of one a
day, with boundless resources, and ablv CON
ducted presses and agents and missionaries
and martyrs, who pant for distinction in this
holy cause, as the best proof of their virtue
aud sanctty, arc permitted in our sister States
to band together for the openly declared pur-
pose OF destroying our institutions Three
years ago, am told, these societies were about
three hundred; their numbers about six thou.
sandj their petitions about ten thousand
Row, they are hundreds of thousands; con.
troll two States; increasing ia all che non
saveholding States, aud feared by all Uni.
ted together upon but one principle, they
throw their weight into the scale amongst the
anA - n Il.