Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1860-05-25
loose from our mornings where we have


loose from our mornings where we have
been safely anchored SO many years, launch
out again into unknown seas upon new and
perilous- adventures under the guide and
pilotage of those who prove themselves to
have no more .fxedness of purpose or stabili.
ty as to the objects or policy than the shif-
ting winds by which we shall be driven p
Let this question be decided by the conven-
ton, and decided with that wisdom, GOODNESS;
and forecast which become statesmen and
patriots. AS for myself, can say, what
ever may be the course of future events,
my judgment in the crisis is, that we should
stand by our principles through woe" as
well as Through veal" and maintain them
in good faith. now and always, if need be-,
until they, we, and the republic, perish to-
gether in common ruin. l see no injury
that can possibly arise to us from them.
not even If the constitutional impossibility Of
their containing 'tsquatter sovereignty did
not exist, as has been conclusively de-
monstrated. For, if il did exist in them,
and were all that its most ardent advocates
claim for it. no serious practical danger to
US could result from it, sss-rT s. .
Even according to their doctrine, we have
the unrestricted right of expansion to the
extent of population. They hold that sla-
very can, and will, go, under its operation.
wherever the people want it. Squatters
carried it to Tennessee. Kentucky, Missis-
sippi, Alabama, Missouri, and Arkansas.
without any law to protect it, and to Texas
against a law prohibiting it, and they will
carry it to all countries where climate. SOIL;
productions aud population will allow. These
are the natural laws that will regulate it
under non-intervention, according to their
construction; and no act of Congress can
carry it into any Territory against these
laws. any more than it could make the riv-
ers run to the mountains. instead of the sea-
If we have not enough of the right sort Of
population to compete longer with the North
in the colonization of new Territories and
States, this deficiency can never be supplied
by any such act of Congress as that now,
asked for. The attempt would be as vain
as that of Xerxes to control the waters Ct
the Hellespont by whipping them in his
rage. Ta eed
The times, as you intimate, do indeed por-
tend evil. But have no fears for the in-
stitution of slavery, either in the Union or
out of it, if our people are but true to them
selves-true. stable, and loyal to ixed prin-
ciples and settled policy; and if they are not
thus true, have little hope of anything
good, whether the present Union lasts or
new one be formed. There is, in my judge
ment, nothing to fear from the ''irrepressi-
Bile conflict" of which we hear so much
Slavery rests upon great truths, which can
never be successfully assaulted BY reason or
argument. It has grown stronger in the
minds of men the more it has been discuss
ed, and it will still grow stronger as the dis
cussion proceeds and time rolls on. Truth
is omnipotent and must prevail, We have
only to maintain the truth with frmness,
and WELD it Alright. Our system rests upon
an impregnable basis, that can and will de-
fly all assaults from without. My greatest
apprehension is from causes within there
lies the greatest danger. We have grown
luxuriant in the exuberance of our well-be-
ing and unparalleled prosperity. -..,..l
There is tendency everywhere, mot only
at the North, but at the South, to strife, dis
sension disorder, and anarchy. 1t is against
this tendency that the sober minded and re-
fecting men everywhere should now be CALI
ed upon to guard.
My opinion, then, is, that delegates ought
to be sent to the adjourned convention at
Baltimore. The demand made at Charles
ton by the seeedcrs ought not to be insisted
upon. Harmony being restored on this point
nomination can doubtless be made of some
man whom the party everywhere can sup
port with the same zeal and the same ardor
with which they entered and waged the con-
test in 1856, when the same principles were
involved
If in this there be failure, let the re-
sponsibilty not rest upon US. Let our hands
be clear of all blame. Let there be no cause
for censure at our door. If in the end the
great national Democratic party-the strong
ligament which has SO long bound and held
the Union ogether-shaped its policy, and
controlled its destinies, and to which we
have so often looked with hope that sell
dom failed, as the only party North on which
to rely in the most trying hours when con-
stitutlonal rights were in peril, let it not be
said to us Ill the midst of the disasters that
may ensue, ''you did it," In every and
any event let not the reproach of Punic
faith rest upon our name. Ii everything
else mas to 60 down. let our untarnished hon.
or at least survive the wreck. t.....-
ALEXANDER HI. STEPHENS.