The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1861-05-17

10 endurc are not comparable In 'hen uiaS
,,;,,aa iii ,ho.e which must have ehsueu
s."m : sontinued and systematic demorai,.a-
.,on -, a. ,be old system. Mr.. Cobb, MI
T ,Dn u IN and Mr.. Floyd are but types OF
.na.lI nolicy, which had for its object to
Ss,,hser, the government, as Established IN
ESQ and conducted by Washington and
i.trs,.on in its true spirit, and to substitute
~ r.. Mace another. which would have at
,smn,rd the subje> ton Of your liberty and
yonr will 10 the narrow and selfish purposes
~ .laye extension on the continent OF Am~r-
ica. The love Of liberty rs an abstract prin- |
ciple Of general application, is evidently
dead among this class OF men. The splrit oil
our ancient struggle has eyaporated, and in
its Mace has come the determination To be
masters, honestly, il possible, but If not, ut
any rate TO be masters. With such TEN
per. demonstrated as il has been, in all the
acts of violence and fraud which have since
been made patent 10 the world, r. is very
plain that no safety could be hoped from any
further liberation Of il within the depart
msnts of the government. Whatever else
they may lose, the people OF these states will
ut least congratulate themselves that they
have saved the right TO have rulers Of their
own choice, yet under their control, and
ready faithfully to reflect their will. This
consideration alone ought TO compensate
in their minds for all the difficulties Of the
present times. If we have any regard for
the memory Of our fathers, IL we have any
respect for the safety of our children, we
must see TO il and make our political indie
pendence sure.
That there can be no doubt Of correctness
80 n - A. L.. -. a
rection which has been thus far given to
the instruction in the slayeholdipg states.
The basis upon which their attempt at TO
construction rests is The right Of one man 10
rule another'S i0iHIy force. With this excep-
ton, very little change has been attempted in
the frame Of our Government. The forms
have been generally preserved with great
care. The difference is mainly in the spI.
nit in which il is to DO administered. Could
we have consented to continue that spirit at
Washington, there would have been no re-
bcllion, and we should have had Federal
Government justilying the sway Of force and
fraud. We refused 10 DO slaves, and the
consequence is that the experiment has been
transferred to Montgomery in Alabama.
Ii ought not, then, to DO overlooked by
you, that the only public question immedi-
ately before you for your consideration turns
upon this point. The reyolted States desire
10 establish reconstructed government
upon their new basis. They hope to be
able to pursuade some OF their ancient as
sociates among US TO join them in such a
union. The only difference is 10 be in the
expunction of the Declaration OF lndepen-
dence, and its grand postrlate OF human
liberty. That such Is the true state OF the
facts, l need only appeal to the late speech
Of Mr.. Alexander Stephens. the Vice-Presi'
dent Of the new system, To prove. Mr.
Stephens was not himself originally an ad-
yocate Of the separation which has taken
place. lie seems TO have embraced it at last
more from necessity than choice. His SEN
,iments are not then To he regarded as those
of an extreme rvyolutionIst, but rather as
coming from the moderate class. Yet, in this
respect, il will b. seen, from the following
extract. which quote US find il in II news
paper, that they 50 quite the lcngth which |
have described
I" The prevailing ideas entertained by JEFF
fcrson and most OF the leading statesmen at
the time Of the formation of the old COnsti-
tuition, were that the enslayement OF the AZ
rican was in violation OF the laws Of nature;
that II was wrong in principle, socially, NOR
ally, and politically. Ii was an evil they
knew not we'll how to deal with; but the
general opinion Of the men OF that day was
that some how or other, in theorder OF Prov
idence, the institution would be cyanescent
and pass away. The idea, though MOI ineor-
pOraied INTO he Constitution, irds the pre-
railing idea at the time"
z. LII
exactly the opposite ideas. Its foundations
are laid. its cornerstone rests upon the
great truth that the negro IS not equal to
the white man that Slavery, slbOrdindfion
10 the superior race IS has natural, normal
condition."
IL comes TO this, then. The president OF
the so-called Conlederacy POUNDS his new
Government upon a single idea, and that IL
ToRcE. And he has the boldness to pretend
that this was the first example in che history
OF the world of government OF the kind,
when boys in the school might tell him that
history has been made up OF instances OF the
kind, from the days Of Pharaoh and OF Aer-
xes, of Alaric and Attila, Of Gcnseric and
Mohammed, down to the present Sultan at
Constantinople. Ii was, ON the other hand,
the peculiar characteristic of Mr.. jefferson
and his compeers. that they boldly cut from
this old doctrine, and advanced new one
which marked the great political advance OF
the last age. They assumed that men had
natural rights Of their own, which his
stronger neighbors were bound to respect,
and that where he did no wrong, he ought
TO have no wrong done to him. The people
OF Europe as well rs the people OF America,
regarded this as the distinguishing feature
OF the new nation that had succeeded in es-
tablishing its own rights against the law OF
force. And tho effect OF this action has
been gradually to modify the theories OF even
the most absolute despotisms of the world.
Hence, it il ut this moment, when some OF
the people OF the slayeholding states have
made up their minds TO renouncc and dis
ayow the new faith, they can only DO re-
gardcd as persons who turn their backs on
modcrn truth and return TO antiquated error.
They are, in fact, creating the bulworks OF
n military despotism, The very rule. the
application OF which they now cOnfine 20 u
subjugated race, may b. presently extended
by a few of their own number 10 themselves.
Nay; more, il ought TO be remembered that
those who make themselves exclusive arbiters
of the rights Of their neighbCs, an End no
fault whenever those neighbours succeed in
turning the tables upon them.
1t must be obvious that the assumption OF
such q theory as rule Of action in govern
ments, implies so much latitude in the abuse
of power, however acquired, as to render
any political ssociation with persons enter
tanning IL, far frOm safe. The great mass
of the American people would not tolerate
the notion that any possible state Of things,
except downright su6jugatiou, could recon-
Gle them to adopt it. They still continue
10 believe in the great principles of the ia