The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1860-01-25
The Sectional Iasl9s.

CANTON, MISS, January 8, 1860.
GESTLEWEx:-Your letter of the 18th
ult, containing the inquiry twill the present
excited state Of feeling through the country
tend to lessen Southern trade in our city
(New York; next spring p an! REQUESTING
my views on this important subject, has been
received
reply TO your question at once, and ia tie
| qgirDletirs. The trade of Southern lner-
chants and planters in New York, will, for the
present, be greatly diminished; and whether
( it shall be hereafter wholly destroyed, OF fll-
/ y restored and enlarged, depends alone upon
i tbs future action OF the Northcrnb bee5le. For
this opinion l viii proceed to give you my
| PERSONS.
/ The recent events at Harrerss Ferry have
breathed new lie and energy into popu-
lar sentiment of the South, that has been
growing among rs for the last ten years. Not
that the raid Of John Brown and his wretch
ed con'ederatsS, was, in itself sufficient cause
Tor any undue excitement in the public mind,
or any great alarm for ;lie safety of the gov
crnment. These miserable feIons have re-
ceiyed mer;tel punishment, and SO far as
they are personally concerned, the n1jesty of
the law has been fully indicated But when
we reject that these Elen were the instru-
mentS Of wiser heads-dupes of tie 'hgher
law" theory-disciples of that ''irrepressiblc
conflict" doctrine on which great sectional
political party is based--when we see the con-
iessed alders and absttOrs of these treasonS !
and murderS permitted to conceal themselves |
or to escape unmolestcd to foreign lands-and /
when public assemblages arc countenanced in |
proiessed law-abding communities, for the |
ayowed purpose Of approving the acts and |
sympathiSlDg with the actors in this bloody |
drama, the transaction then assumes a char
acter Of vast Importance to the rationa! well
fare. These reflections (as was naturaD have
prodHceds a marked influence upon public SEN
Gment amcAg ali classes and conditions of our
citizens, and this sentiment has approached a
unanimity in tie South unprecedented in the
history OF political parties.
| have said that this feeling has been grow
ing among Us for the last ten years. The
causes of this growth are obvious. Alter the
comproinise measures of 1850 had been adopt
ed, you remember, an exciting contest sprung
up in the South of acquiescence or non acqui-
escence in those measures. We of the Union
party (so-eailed) contentled for acquiescence
on the ground that the Fugitive Slave Law
(the only feature of the compromise acsepta-
bic to the South) would be faithfully obeyed
and enforced by the people Of the North. -
this, assurance We pledged the fidelity of |
the North to the constitution and to all laws
passed in accordance with its provision How |
was this pledge met ? In the very midst Of |
this exciting contest while it remained moot /
cd question whether this law wouldnot re
main dead letter upon our Statute book, and |
in tue face Of our solemn pledge, the State Of |
feTfnoat, deliberately and defantly took the /
initiative in aggression, and by her ha5eas cor /
pas law OF 4l65l, anaulled forever within her |
own borders the provisions Of this constita-
tional act of Congress. This, you ere aware
is plain and palpable violation of the Federal |
compact by u sovereign State. Yet it stands |
not alone in its iniamy. Other STATES have /
followed suit, and now a majority of the free |
States have their legislation disgraced by siia-
liar unconstitutional enactments. Public |
opinion at the North also seems to have pre-
ceded or kept pace with this hostile and az
gressiye legislation. Hence the bold, open and
public justification of those who are found in
terfering with our rights Of property and
hence the formation Of that great sectional
and aggressive political party, which seems TO
have swallowed up all other political organi-
cations in the free States and under the teach
ings Of which the first overt acts of treason
against the constitution and the Union, have |
New. gentlemen, look for moment at The |
attitude Of the two sections Of our country, |
thus by the influence and counsels Of bad men |
arrayed in hostility against each other One !
sect on (the most numcyous) arc steadily en- I
croaching upon the rights Of the othcr-rights |
guaranteed 20 US by your fathers and mine |
rights purchased by the best blood Of the rev. !
olutioa. These entertainments are made is |
hr as vitiated public sentiment and hostile !
State legislation can reach; ana the leaders of |
this movement announce that they will never |
cease such cncroachnients, until a certain kind |
OF property held in the South under the para
mount law OF both sections, shall be utterly |
extinguished. While the otfersection sin. |
ray, but firmly, demands faithful adherence |
10 the constitutional Just protection OF her
admitted rights under il, and makes no retal-
atory cncfoachmcnts upon her aggrossors.-
Now, ask, can such state of things con. |
tinue among any people who ought TO be free? /
When such hostile feeling peTvades one sec
ton Of the same country against she other. /
aceoYnoanied by such acts a these Imnst Il
not soon result in disruption Of eve v tie |
that binds them together EctitieaL social and |
coMMgReIAI,2 Such is my. solemn bclief-- |
Why, sirs, a tythe d, tho insults and agres. |
sions committed by the North against the |
South by hostile State Legislation aud per
missive interference with eur property, would |
have been q good cause Of war between any
civilized nations on earth. M s.,r,s 3
These things are not understood, talked Of
and appreciated, not BY politicians and news
papers alone, but by the people at their homes
and around their own fires.des. And while
the people Of the South love the Union, while
they cling TO the associations that cluster
'roand the great constitutional Union OF our
fathers, still we must calmly look to the pos
sible, if not probable, necessity for dissolu-
tion, and firmly meet the requirements that
such necessity shall call forth,