Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1860-02-10
Letter from Hon. VIM. c. Rives.

/
er safe or rational way of meeting the dan
gers Of the State, any more than other dan
gers, to underrate and make light Of them.
A great and resolute statesman Burke has
told us, that San early and provident fear"
-(not an unprepared and Hurried conster-
nation, when the danger is upon us, els tile
mother Of safety" Letus, tken, without ex-
aggeration on the one hand or extenuation
on the other, endeavor to take the true mea-
sure of recent occurrences.
Mr.. Riyes then alludes to the lIarper's
Ferry affair, which seemed but the logical
acting out Of the bitter denunciations which,
for years past, have been Systematically IN
dulged against the domestic institutions Of
the South-a preliminary rehearsal of that
universal and 'irrepressible conflict pro
claimed to exist, in the nature OF things, be
tween the social systems of the North and
the South" The consequences, however, he
regards as far more startling than the fierce
denuncations which prepared the way for
the bloody inroad Instead of voice Ol IN
dignant reprobation through the land, there
were meetings of sympathy in several OF the
States; and portion of the public press pro-
claimed not only the supernal honors, but
the impunity of the offender. Then came
Helper pamphlet, recommended by sixty
eight members Of Congress; and one Of the
first acts Of the most numerous political par
ty in the House Of Representatives, was
the deliberate selection of one the signers Of
the above mentioned recommendation, for
its standard-bearer and candidate for the
Chair To this nomination they lnilexlbly
adhered through protracted and hitherto
| fruitless struggle Of eight weeks, without
ever having shown, 50 far as the public j. in
formed, the slightest disposition to relcnt
or even to offer less obnoxious candidate.
After abiding to the meetings for prccau
ton and self-defence, held throughout Nir
ginia subsequent to the llarper's Ferry out
rage, Mr. Rives speaks Of the conservative
and Union meetings at the North, ut which
large assemblages denounced in terms Of
lust and unmitigated adherence, the crime
committed against the safety Of sister
State and the peace Of the Union; rebuked
its apologsts and sympathisers with noble
and virtuous Indignation; rendered earnest
assurances of fraternity and support to the
people and authorities Of Virginia and pro-
claimed, in loyal and manly language, their
fidelity to the Constitution, and their deter
mination to fulfil each aud all Of It's obliga-
tons and pledges"
More recently meetings have been held
at various points in the Northern States, Of
which Mr.. Rives says:
"ThOse States have deep stake in the
peace and harmony Of the Union. Their IN
| dustry, their trade, their manufactures, their
navigation are fostered By an unshackled in
tercourse with the South, and thrive by the
abundant and increasing productions Of the
| latter. 1t is, too, the common government OF
the Union which ensures to their principal
branches Of enterprise and employments Of
capital, the protection and encouragement
they need, and by which they have grown up
10 their present immense development"
lie thinks that though these people may
be led away, for time by Fictitious excite
ments, when those excitements have run
| their brief course such people can never
be brought to believe ii sober earnest, that
there is an "irrepressible conflict between
two systems Of labor, which have, for 50 eX-
tended period, been tributary to each others
wants, and ministered to each others pros
perity. In continuation he says that re-
action has taken place in the public mind, at
the North, and that the people will not
therefore, deliberately make themselves nc
cessory, before on after the fact, to course
| Of action fraught with ruin to their own inter
ests, as we'll as the overthrow Of all those gen
erous hopes bound up with the great Ameri-
can experiment of free, Republican institu-
tions. lie counsels GOODNESS, but says there
are in the meantime resources Of self-protec
ton and defence which the wise trainers Of our
government has left within the control If the
States, and which no reasonable mind can
blame "a for recurring to, after the warnings,
overt and implicit, with which We have been
visited. lie takes ground upon the rights
Of the States, and then proceeds to speak Of
the South Carolina mission. lie speaks most
respectfully Of this, and Of the messenger
personally, and says
"To my mind, there are two obvious and
conclusive objections against the acceptance
of the invitation The first is that upon an
| issue of 50 vital character rs that in con
temptation, the people Of Virginia should be
left perfectly free and uncommitted to decide
| for themselves as it is their sovereign and
exclusive right to do-when the solemn cr-
sis. demanding their decision and their &c
ton, shall arrive The other is, that the ex-
pedient Of this convention, while likely to
| lead to no satisfactory result, and certain
not to receive the concurrence Of several OF
the slaveholding States with which Virginia,
by iuxtaposition and community Of interests,
is most intimately connected, would yet
serve to distract our attention, and prevent
the concentration Of our efforts on other
measures Of both more legitimate and a
more efficient character"
This ground he fOrtife5 by argument, and
goes on to say;
"That the question Of slavery has not the
power to override all other considerations in
deciding the new atHnities and relations Of
the States, in the event Of dissolution Of
the present Union, is farther eynced by the
fact that this question has two distinct as
poets, in one of which it divides the slave
holding states, as much as, in the other, i
unites them Virginia is, by the profound
est sentiments Of her nature, As by tile most
sacred and honorable traditions Of her histo-
~, committed to an inAexible and uncom-
promising opposition to the revival Of the
African Slave Trade, which It is we'll known
has numerous and Jealous advocates IN sew
eral Of the Southern States. 1t becomes us,
then, when invited to dissolve the present
| Union, and enter into separate conteder-
acv Of the Southern States, to inquire how
our associates in the new contederacy would
i IL. L., u y,ar,F. ~ .,-rA.