Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1861-02-14
& Guuh 9oeulaent.
GhE EPhTRIOT IN MASSACHUSETTS!
Cushing on Secession.
GS1@S

D tu>HiDs On OtCtSSlOu.
We find ia the Boston paper
E the following letter from Hon. Gale
Cushing. of Massachusetts, in re
ply to an invitation to address th
citizens Of Nswburyporl, on the "slat,
Of the country" The letter is vel
! worth reading:
! Hon. ALBERT CURRIER:
| Dtar Sri had the honor, some
time ago, to receive a communication
frcm yourself and large number o
other signers, requesting me to adj
dress the citizdns of Newburyport
or the subject Of the state OF the
Union.
To do so at that time seemed to
me inconve,ient, first, because Of
my belief of the impossibl'lty, pend
ing the Presidential canvass, of the
accommodation Of the points Of con-
lroversy between those, who While
2ifTHIng on temporary, Incidental, or
personal questions. were ,ot, in my
Judgment, aIike the true friends Of
he Constitution; and, secondly, be.
cause Of special reluctance to put
myself 10 The position of partisan
coalict with any Of my immediate
fellow citizens Of tbs city.
But all those questions have
passed away, and yielded place to
olbers Of a higher order and more
comprehensive Character, appsrtain-
Ing to the now imminent peril OF the
American Union. =
To the imminence OF that peril,
it is no longer permitted to us to con.
tinue, as for years We have done, viii
fully to shut eur eyes. 1t forces
itself upon US in report Of official acts;
it has become the chief topic of the
newspapers; i pfe.occGsriiees all minds;
we feel it throughout the country, In
the decline Of the vendible value Of
stocks, merchandise aud real estate,
and 10 the universal disturbance Of
domestic productions, trade and la !
Dor.
God forbid that, at such a mo-
ment, anything Should be done or
said by me, TO add TO the infeasit y
of solicitude which already exists In
This relation. On the other hand,
there is but one thing to allay it.,
which can be done or said, by or in
The State Of Massachusetts,.
1t avails nothing for Us, In Massa-
TO discuss the expediency
or inexpediency OF S. cefsion, and to
endeavor to impress on the Southern
States the saeredness Of the Union.
So long as the State of Mossachu-
setts maintains system OF legis- !
lation plainly contrary TO the Con-
stituiion in the very matter OF the
special rights Of the Southern States,
all ears are closed to appeals in be-
half Of the Union from US. To
such appeals the answer is ready, that
when We duly regard the Constitn-
tion ourselves, aud not Until then,
it will be competent to exhoft Other
States to respect and observe it; that,
otherwise, We are but meauly enjoy
ing the benefits of the compact
without discharging its obligations;
and that our laudalion of the Union
is alike both odiouS and ridiculous,
whilst we cling to ii .6plyas the means
of exerting the power Of the FEEDER
al Government to the spoilation, op.
preston, aud wrong Of fifteen States
Of the Union.ss How deeply soever,
therefore, any citizen Of the State Of
Massachusetts may depIoFe { b e
possibility of the dissolution of the
Union. she is utterly poyerless to
dissuade any other State from seek
ing OF promoting its dissolution.
The notification laws Of Massa
chusetts we're ne1 only most dsllber-
,tely enacted in tae first Instance,
bus the question Of their repeal has
been earnestly moved in the LegIs-
la,ure, first by Mr. Charles Hale,
and afterwards 5y myself; and al
heugh some provisions OF mere
excerbation in those laws have been
repeaIed on the Recommendation OF
Gov. Banlis, yet the vicious substance