The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1871-03-16

energy Of Ills gigantic inteIlect2 For what
did he expose himself 60 all the privatiOns.
bardshfps and dangers Of war; Was it not
TO build barricade against the very trans
actions that have been carried on in this
country within the last ten years was Il
not to strike or the iron hand Of tyranny
which compelled the people TO pay taxes
without representation Was it not TO for
tify against the very misfortunes that have
befalIen his country
Oh, for the voice of him who Hshook the
arsenal and fulmined over Greece" to tell
the glorious works of those old veterans
who contested upon the floors our country's
earliest temples for the prosperity Of succeed
ing generatiOnsl But it would require the
eloqHcnce of Apollo, combined with the
feelings that stirred the black cavity in the
breast OF BeelZebub, 60 rightly expose the
deep laid intrigue, the prOmptings of mis-
guided ambition, the utter, ignoble igno-
rance that has brought US to our present
condition.
Cicero uttered sublime sentiment when
he exclaimed, Often when / enter the
Senate house the shade of Scipio, of Cato
and of Laelius. and in particular the shade
Of my venerable grand father, rise 20 my
imagination" And / would ask, with feel
ings in concord, what American can tread
upon the soil rendered sacred by the con-
tests of early patriots for right and justice
when the thunder Of Patrick Henry's
voice was heard and felt, holding up to
public indignation the tyranny of Great
Britain, without experiencing q feeling OF
awe? Who could enter the portals of Old
Faneuil Hall and not imagine the shade OF
Otis or Hancock rising up to confront him
What true patriot can look upon the site
where once Madison, Clay, Webster and
Calhoun raised their voices for their coun-
try's rights, and not have q feeling of pride
shoot through his every nervef And what
one among US all can contemplate these
things, and then think how changed, with
out weeping bitter tears over our degrade
ton?
Oh, it is strange to me that when these
sacred shrines were being polluted by the
infamy of after years, the spirits of the
departed had not risen up to resent the
audacity of the perpetrators.
This Union was compact between the
States, holding good just so long as the
Constitution which they severally ordained,
established and ratified was observed by
all the States. Thirteen of the Northern
fore dissolved the compact, when they dis
regarded that portion of 1t which
coVenanted for the rendition of fugitiVes
from service, and the rendition of fugitives
from justice. When Congress put In motion
that undereurrent of fanaticism which cul-
minated in the terrible eruption OF 1861,
would that the guardian angels which are
said to be watching over the objects of their
affections had whispered to them the cOnSe-
quences of their proceedings!
But these pregnant moments are passed
and gone forever; and towns in ruins, men
in despair, the wintry winds whistling over
the graves of tens of thousands of Americas
bravest sons, and mothers, widows and Or
phans in weeds, whisper silently, but i'm
pressively and sadly, that ''MOMENTs MAKE
THE HUEs WITH WHICH YEARS ARE COLoRED."
But must this forever be? Has the bright
sun OF prosperity gone down to rise no
more for US! Must the poisonous fruits of
a national deluge, when the dim reflection
of the darkened day on which the Destroy
ing angel scared to its height above us, is
growing fainter, forever hover about the
vital fountains of Mississippi, like hungry
vulture above its bleeding victim? An, me
thinks hear the response reVerberating
from the snow capped mountains of Virginia
echoed back by the fertile fields of Ken
lucky, and laundering over the well con-
tested plains of Missouri, Tennessee, North
Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, not so not
sol Old Terra Firma has heard our prayers,
poured forth the essence of virtue, and
they are fast whitening and dying away.
And why should Mississippi and South
Carolina, of the Southern States in times of
old, the proudest, continue to bend beneath
the burthcn of a common calamity-the
sports ofadvenLitious politicians, the victims
of experimental administration? Is it be-
cause the fiery eloquence of s. S. Prentiss
once made our Legislative halls re-echo, as
he tore away the mask with which some of
his political associates affected to cover
their fiendish designs? Can it be that his
words are still ringing in their ears, and
they tremble lest if they allow his adopted
State to raise her head she will again prove
the Achilles that will thwart their anticipa-
tions and drive them back to their novels in
shame and disgrace? Have they forgotten
his solemn injunction at the close of his
speech against imposing upon Mississippi
representation not of her choice and
against her will? In the fulness of his
emotion he pleaded: upon all the States
l do most sOlemnly call for that justice to
another which they would expect for them
selves. Let this cup pass from Mississippi
Compel her not to drink its bitter ingredi-
enIs, lest some day, even-handed Justice
should commend the poisoned chaIice to
your own lips. Rescind that resolution
which presses like foul incubus upon the
Constitution. But if your determination is
taken, if the blood must fall, if the violated
Constitution must bleed, have but one re-
quest ON her behalf to make:
When you decide that she cannot choose hen
oton representatives, at that self-sGDle moment
blot from the spangted Of this Union the bright
star that gtitterS to the name of Mississippi,
bat sedUe the stripe behind, lit emblem of her
degradation"
LIS it because the solemn warnings, that
we believed our rights infringed upon, and
had resolved to resent it, first th1ndered
upon Fort Sumpter and echoed along her
coast, CHaJ OOuL0 carolina, ike our own
State, continues to drink long draughts of
misery and woe? Or perhaps it is because
the hallowed remains of the old veteran who
SO openly exposed their schemes in his day,
are now reposing upon her bosom. But
this would be to assign them reasons upon
which their scared consciences would gladly
repose. This would be to make their hearts
as Innocent as the redOlent lily which
springs up spontaneously upon the brink of
the ripping brook, compared with their
real motives. No, it is not that they fear
retribution. 1t is not that they love the
North or hate the South. The hearts OF such
men are incapable of entertaining such feel
ings. Their motives are of a low order 1t
is simply ava-ice-love of money and easy
position, regardless of the manner in which
they are obtained-blind self-loye in the
meanest sense in which that word can be
taken that prompts them to stalk bare faced
over the land. draining the last cent from
the purse of the honest laborer who sup
ports his family by the sweat of his brow,
AS to the old dead issue of secession, as /
have intimated before, believe we had the
right to secede; but the result proved that
it was a bad policy; and that which casts q
reflection upon it, is, that some of those
who met to decide whether or not we should
secede, were utterly incapacitated for so
high trust. But not all, for some of our
most talented men were there-men of in