The Oxford intelligencer. (Oxford, Miss.) 1860-18??, 1861-02-27

present to interfere directly with slavery in the
slaveholding States. We shall give them credit
for an honest purpose, under Mr.. Lincoln's ad
ministration to execute, as far as the hostility
Of the States will let them, the provisions of the
fugitive slave law. An this may be admitted,
but it does not affect the real issue, mitigate
the real danger. We know that there are vari
Gus types of opinisn at the North with refer
ence to the moral aspects Of slavery, and we
have never apprehended that, under the Consti-
tuition as it stands there was any likelihood of
an attempt to interfere, by legislation, with our
property on our own soil:
CD But in the second place, It must likewise
be conceded that the general, almost the univer-
sal, attitude Of the Northern mind is one Of hos
tility to slavery. Those who are not prepared
to condemn, 1t as sin, nor to meddle with 1t
where it is legally maintaned, are yet opposed
to It, as a natural and political evil which every
good man should desire to see extinguished.-
They all regard it as calamity, an afilction,
misfortune They regard it as an element of
weakness, and as draw back upon the PROSPER
ity and glory Of the country. They pity the
South, as caught in the folds Of a serpent which
is gradually squeezing out her life. And even
when they defend us from the reproach Of sin in
sustaining the relation, they make SO may dis
tinctions between the abstract notion of slavery
and the system of our own laws, that their de-
fence would hardly avail to save us, If there were
any power competent to hang and quarter us
We are sure that we do not misrepresent the
general tone Of Northern sentiment. II is one
Of hostility TO slavery-it is one which, while it
might not be willing to break faith, under the
present administration, with respect to the ex-
press iniunctions of the Constitution, is utterly
and absolutely opposed to any farther extension
of the system. .f..t,t t...
o. In the third place, let 1t be distinctly un-
derstood that we have no complaint I'd make Of
the opinions of the North considered simply as
their opinions. They have right, so far as hu-
man authority is concerned, to think as they
please. The South has never asked them to ap-
prove of slavery, or to change their own institu-
tons and to introduce it among themselves
The South has been willing to accord to them
/ the most perfect and unrestricted right of pri-
vate Judgment ...
a. But, in the fourth place. what we do com
plain Of, and what we have right to complain
Of is that they should not be content with think
ing their own thoughts themselves, but should
undertake to make the Government think them
/ likewise. We of the South have also, certain
thoughts concerning slavery, and we can not
understand upon what principle the thinking Of
the South Is totally excluded; and the thinking
of the North made supreme. The Government
is as much ours as theirs and we can not see why,
in a matter that vitally concerns ourselves, we
shall be allowed to do no effective think ng at ALL
This is the grievance. The Government is made
to take the type of Northern sentiment-it is
animated, in its relations to slavery, by the
Northern mind, and the South, henceforward, is
no longer of the Government but only under
the Government The extension of slavery, IN
obedience to Northern prejudice, is to be for ever
arrested. Congress is to treat it as ali evil, an
element of political weakness, and to restrain
its influence within the limits which now circum
scribe it. All this because the North thinks so
while the Sonth, an equal party to the Govern
ment has quite other thoughts. And when we
Indignantly complain of this absolute suppress
sion of all right to think in and through oul
own Government upon subject that involves
our homes and our fresides, we are coolly re
minded, that as long as Congress does not usurI
the rights of our own Legislatures; and abolish
slavery on our own soil, nor harbor our fugitivei
when they attempt to escape from us; we hav,
reason to be grateful for the indulgence accord
ed to us The right to breathe is as much al
we should venture to claim. You may exist
says freesoilism, as States, and manage you
slaves at home--we will not abrogateey your sov
ereignty Your runaways We do not want, an,
we may occasionally send them back to you.-
But if you think you have right to be heard a
Washington upon this great subject it is TIM
that your presumption should be rebuked. TIL
North is tho thinking power-the soul of tn,
Government The life of the Government i,
Northen--not Southern; the type to be i'm
pressed upon all future States is Northern--no
Southern. The North becomes the Unitet
States, and the South a subject province
Now, we say that this is a state of things nc
to be borne. A free people can never consen
to their own degradation We say boldly, tina
the Government has no more right to adop
Northern thoughts on the subject ofslavery thar
those of the South 1t has no more right Il
presume that they are true. 1t has no righ
: to arbitrate between them. 1t must treat then
both with equal respecti and give them an equa
chance. Upon no other footing can the South
! with honor, remain in the Union. 1t is not to b
endured for moment, that fifteen sovereig
States, embodying, in proportion to their popu
l,tion, as much intelligence, virtue, public spiri
and patriotism, as any other people upon tn
globe, should be quietly reduced to zero, in
Government which they framed for their owI
protection We put the question again to tn
North: If the tables were turned, and it wa
your thoughts, your life, your institutions tha
the Government was henceforward to discour
tenance; if non-slaveholding was hereafter to
prohibited in every territory, and the whole po
e icy Of the Government shaped by the principl
that slavery is a blessing, would you endure Il
!, Would not your blood boil, would you not ca
r upon your hungry millions to come 10 the re!