Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1861-07-12

! exclusively to the State. This Is all there Is
of original principle about it. Whether
the National Constitution in defining
boundaries between the two has applied the
principle with exact accuracy is not to be
questioned We arc all bound by that de-
fning without question. What is now
combatted is the position that secession is
consistent with the Constitution, is lawful
and peaceful.
1t is not contcnded that there Is any express
law for it, and nothing should ever BE- in
ferred as law which leads to unjust or absurd
consequences. The Nation purchased with
money the countries out of which several Of
these States were formed. Is it Just that
they shall 90 off without leave, or
refunding? The Nation paid very
large sums in the aggregate,
believe nearly 500, goo, 900, to relieve
| Florida of the aboriginal tribes. Is it just
that she shall now 90 off without consent,
or without any return The Nation Is now
! IN debt for money applied tor the benefit
OF these so called seeding States, in common
with the rest Is it Just either that creditors
! shall 90 unpaid, or the remaining States pay
the whole? part of the present Ma
tional debt was contracted to pay old debts
for Texas Is it Just that she shall leave and
State may secede, 50 may another; and when
| all have seeded none is left to pay the
debts Is this quite Just to creditors ? Did
we notify them of this sage view of ours
when we borrowed their money ? If we now
recognize this doctrine by allowing the sece-
ders to 90 in peace, it is difficult to see what
we can do if others choose to 20, or to extort
terms upon which they VIII promise to re-
main. The seceGers insist that our COnsti-
tuition admits Of secession. They have as
sumed to make National Constitution of
their own, in which, Of necessity, they have
either discarded or retained the right of seces-
sion AS thev insist that it exists in ours. Ii they
have discarded it they thereby admit that 1t
ought not TO exist in ours. II they have |
retained it, by their own construction Of ours |
they show that to be consistent they must |
seeede from one another whenever they |
shall find it the easiest way OF settling |
their debts, or Of etlectins any other |
selfish or unjust object. The prln- !
cple itself Is one Of dislntegrat0n. and upon |
which 10 government can possibly endure.
If al the States save one should assert the
power to drive that one out of the Union, 1t
IS presumed that the whole class Of seeding
politicians would at once deny the power and
denOuuco the act, as the greatest outrage up
on State rights but suppose that precisely
the same act, instead OF bin. called driving
out. should be called the seeding Of the 9th
ers from that one Ii would be exactly what
the scceders clam to do, unless they claim to
make the point, that the one, because it IS
minority, may risltlully DO what the OtAers,
because they are Il majority, may not right
fully do. These politicians are subtle and
profound in The rights OF min'ritles.
They are not partil! to that power which
made the Constitution, and speaks from the
preamble, calling itself 1--WE the People,
II NAV we'll be questioned whether there is
today 4 majority of the legally qualified yO-
ters Of any State, except perhaps South Caro-
lima. in favor Of disuuiJu. There Is much
reason to believe that the Union men are tle
maiority,i IN many il not in every 9th one of
the SO called seeded StIt6s. Tha con-
trary has not been demonstrated in any one
Of them. |, is vcntured to affirm this, even
Of Virginia and Tennessee, for the result OF
an election held IN military camps, where
the bavOnets are all on one side Of the quesN
ton voted upon, can scarcely bo considered
as demonstrating popular sentiment. ut such
an election all tUe large class Who are at once
for the Union and against coercion, would
be c0trcld to vote against the Onlun.
1t NAV be affirmed without extravdEauce,
that the free institutions we enjoy, have de-
veloped the powers and improved the coudi-
tion of our whole people beyond any exam
pie IN the world. OF this we now have
striking and impressive Illustration. s. large
an army as the Government now
has on foot was never before known,
without soldier in it but
who has taken his place there of his own free
- th.r va NJ
single regiments whose members, one and
another. possess a full practical knowledge of
sciences. professions, and whatever is useful
or elegant, known IN the whole world and
there is scarcely one from which there could
not be selected, President, Cabinet and Con
gress. and perhaps the Court, abundanty
to administer the Government
itself Nor do | say this is not true also in
the army of cur late friends, now adversaries
in this contest But it is 50 much the better
reason why the Government which has con-
ierred such benefits on both them and US, {
should not be broken up. Whoever, in any
section, proposes t. abandon such Govern :
ment, would do well to consider in defer
enco to what principle it is that he does it,
what better he is likely to get in It's stead,
and whether the substitute will give or be
intented to give 50 much of good to the
people There are some toreshadOwinSs on
this subject Our adyeTsarIes have adopted
a declaration Of Independence, from which,
unlike the good old one penned by Jefferson,
they omit the words - All men are created '
equal" Why? They have adopted tenn ,
porarv national constitution, in the pream-
ble Of which, unlike our good old one, signed
by Washington, they omit Nv c the people I
and substitute 1--WE the deputies Of the SOW
ereign and independent States. Why
Why this deliberate pressing out OF view the
rights of men and the authority OF the
people? This IS csscnti lily 4 peoples con I
test. On the side Of the Union it is a struggle \
for maintaining in the world that form and a
substance of government whose leading OBJ t
iect is to elevate the condition of men to
lit artificial weights from all shoulders q
to clear the paths Of laudable pursuit for ALI S
TO afford all an unfettered start and iar
chance in the race Of life yielding to par l
tial and temporary departures only from ne q
cessity. This is the leading object OF the t
Government for whose existence we contend. t
[ am most happy to believe that plain peo- c
pie understand and appreciate this.
1t is worthy OF note that while III this the
hour of trial, large numbers
Of those IN the army and navy who have been :
favored with Offices, have resigned and proved D
false to the hand that pampered them, not b
one common soldier or common sailor Is
known to have deserted lis flag. Great honor g
IS due to those officers who remain true, des- g
pite the example OF their treacherous asSOcl- G.
ates, but the greatest honor and the most ?
important fact of all is the unanimous firm
ness of the common soldiers and sailors, 10 2
the last man, so far as known, they have =
resisted the traitorOus efforts of
those whose commands but an hour before 6
they obeyed as absolute law. This is the v
patriotic instinct Of plain people. They o
understand without an argument that the p
destruction OF the Government which was il
made by Washington, means no good to P
them.
Our Popular Government has often been
called an experiment. Two points IN 1t our
people have settled the successful estab-