Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-10-09

halfway to moral and political observation-disclosures
rnt nuns. declare, if I must, that there Is d
gTostcr blessing than the Union-a heatiel
errso than disunion. Sir, when TINS o,i'tl
causes 70 accomplish the great ends LOT "ti.eI
i vas lcsicned-the guarantee OF lloelt3 aut
aoroI rights. the security of COMMON .nlulu''''
s.;1sssSnd common blessings, let it go-for SOON
tlesia,,a so. tho southern States Of this confede-
eE = a. go "a below the Northern States, or,
,oSSrioc the matter nearer home; sooner than
$40 this prond old Commonwealth degraded IN
r;rbt DEGRADED in dignity, sunk down to a
,h ,Sror level than any of her sister States
sooner than see dear old Virginia placed upon.
a lower platform than Observation-Disclosures
dearest. interests invaded, her common rights
DESTROYED, / would see even this Union dasheo
into fragments forever. .,
s. But 1T lis. as q. friend Of the Union that
give these resolutions my support Tor ] 40
maintain that those who are for taking Strong
action at the present time, pursue 4 poiicy iar
more calculated to perpetuate the UNION than
those who recommend a contrary course. Il
there is anything that can hasten the catastFoc
nhe we all SO much deplore, it is the want OF
union and ~frlnness in the South. Timid coun-
sells will not avail doubt is ruin indefinite
positions worse than none; ialtering resolves
equivalent to backing out-an invitation toi''r-
Their acgression-the~ precipitation OF olsunlon.
There is but one reliable means OF aVerting
dissolution, and that is, decided, unequivocal;;
undoubting, definite, united actioa-a bold ana
undivided front. This, and this alone, can Sc
cure the perpetuatiou Of the Union anu lne
endurance Of its blessings.
We have thus presented the opinions OF TWO
leading Wings in ls4s-the one for and the
other against the Wilmot Proviso-to show
that no matter how divided in politics, that par
ty, equally with the Democracy, are committed
to the right as we'll as the duty of resistance.
If this party in 1913 held these opinions and
maintained principles that sustained resistance
to the Federal Government have the aggresSions
of the North abated' are the rights Of the South
more recognized, sustained or protected now
Than in 1913? What should be the duty OF
these gentlemen in 1860 upon the election OF
o Black Republican? ...
Benjamin Watkins Lee, in one OF those
master efforts which illunined the records
Of the Virginia Convention of ls29-'3O. laid
down the time for resistance, rs well as
the duty of q brave people to reform, al
ter or abolish government when 1t fails
to protect property as well as lberty"-and as
| the subject of resistance to Government ex-
banded before him, he recalled the history OF
the Revolution and said, ''our fathers had no
yoke Of slavery 10 cast oif--the.r merit and
their glory consisted in resisting the rsry FIRST
attempt made to impose one. None but free
men would have perceived the danger-none
but freemen would have spurncd the yoke the
moment they saw it prepared for them, and
before they Jeh It's weighf. The humblest
slave, the basest rclon, the very beasts will,
when thew can, cast off Il yoke that gals
them"
But Mr.. Bolts and the Bell-Everett party
would place that yoke upon the Southern neck,
and, fastened there by all the departments Of
| the Federal Government, they would only at
tempt to cast it of when it begins to ''gall
them" Mr.. Bolts has imported his doctrine Of
resistance from the North, and the Bell-Everell
party, in adopting it, have shown the procliri
ties of some OF our people TO Northernism, so
much lamented BY Watkins Leigh. Mr.. Bolts
says:
at is remarkable and I mention it for the
curiosity of the fact, that if any evil, physical
or moral, arise: in any Of the States South OF
US, it never takes o Northerly direction, OF
taints the Southern breeze ; whereas, if any
plague originate in the North, it is sure 10
spread South and invade us sooner or later;
| the lnf1uenza-the small pox-the varloloid-
the Hessian hy--the Circuit Court system
universal suffragc-all come from the North
and they always cross above the falls Of the
great river; below, it seems, the broad eSpanse oil
waters in,erposing etfectually arrests their pro-
gress."
Shame on Bolts for bringing another North
crn plague upon us.
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