The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1860-05-17


have a coniederacy Of free States.
Bearing this in mind, and seeing that
section alism has since arisen upon this
subject, is that warning q weapon in your
hands against US, or in our hands against
youl Could Washington bimself'speak,
would he cast the blame Of that section.
alism upon US, who sustain his policy, or
upon you who repudiate it We respect
that warning of Washington, and we
commend it to you, together with his ex-
ample pointing to the right application of
it.
But you say you are conservative
eminently oonservative-while we are rev.
oluionary, destructive, or something Of
the sort. What is conservatism Is it
not adherence to the old and tried, against
the new and untried We stick to, con-
tend for, the identical old policy on the
point in controversy which was adopted
by our fathers who framed the Govern
ment under which We live; while you with
one accord reject, and scout, and spit up
on that old policy, and insist upon substi-
tuting something new. True, you disa-
gree among yourselves as to what that
substitute shall be. You have considers
BILE variety Of new propositions and plans,
but you are unanimous in rejecting and
denouncing the old policy of the fathers.
Some OF you are for reviving the foreign
slavo.trade; some for a Congressional
Slave Code for the Territories; some for
Congress forbidding the Territories to
prohibit Slavery within their limits; some
for maintaining Slavery in the Territories
through the Judiciary; some for the "gur-
reat pur-rinciple" that "if one man would
enslave another, no third man should OBJ
ject," fantastically called Popular Sow
ereignty;" but never man among you in
favor of Federal prohibition OF Slavery in
Federal Territories, according to the prac.
tice of our fathers who framed the Gov
ernment under which We live. Not one
of all your various plans can show pre-
cedent or an advocate in the century with
in which our Government originated
Consider, then. whether your claim of
conservatism for yourselves, and your
charge of destructiVeness against Us, are
based on the most clear and stable foun
dations.
Again, you say We have made the Sla-
very question more prominent than it for
nerly was. We deny it. We admit that
it is more prominent but we deny that
We made it so. 1t was not We, but you,
who discarded the old policy of the faith
ers. We resisted, and still resist, your
innovation; and thence comes the greater
prominence of the question. Would you
have that question reduced to its former
proportions ! Go back to that old policy.
What has been will be again, under the
same conditions. If you would have the
peace of the old times, re-adopt the pre-
cepts and policy Of the old times.
You charge that we stir up insurrec.
tions among your slaves. We deny it /;
and what is your proofl Harper's Fer
ry John Brown!! John Brown was no
Republican; and you have failed to inpli-
cate single Republican in bis Harper's
Ferry enterprise. If any member of our
party is guilty in that matter, you know
it or do you not know it. Ifyou do know
it, you are inexcusable to not designate
the man and prove the fact. If you do
not know it, you are inexcusable to assert
it, and especially to persist in the asser-
tion after you have tried and failed to
make the proof You need not be told
that persisting in charge which one does
not know to be true, is simply malicious
slander.
Some Of you admit that no Republican
designedly aided OF encouraged the Har.
per's Ferry affair; but still insist that our
doctrines and declarations necessarily lead
to such results. We do not believe it
We know we hold to no doctrines, and
make no declarations, which were not
held to and made by our fathers who
framed the Government under which we
live. You never dealt fairly by us in re-
lation to this affair. When it occurred,
some important State elections we're near
at hand, aud you were in evident glee
with the belief that, by charging the
blame upon US, you would get an advan.
tage of US in those elections. The elec.
tions came, and your expectations were
not quite fulfilled. Every Republican
man knew that, as to himself at least
your charge was SANDER, and he was
not much inclined by it to cast his vote
in your faver. Republican doctrines and
declarations are accompanied with con.
| tinual protest against any interference
whatever with your slaves, or with you q.
bout your slaves. Surely, this does not en-
courage them to revolt. True, we do in
common with our fathers who framed the
Government under which We live, declare
our belief that Slavery is wrong; but the
slaves do not hear US declare even this
For anything We say or do, the slaves
would scarcely know there is Rspubli-
can party | believe they would not, in
fact, generally know it but for your mis-
representations of US, in their bearing
In your political contests among your.
selves, each faction charges the other with
sympathy with Black Repubieanism; and
then, to give point to the charge, defines
| Black Rennblioanism to simply be ipsur-