The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1876-10-06

h out during the whole of that desperate
t struggle, not only Refusing all assistance
Y to carry it on, but helping the enemy
f in every possible way. 1t was while
\ England had her tightest grasp on the
. throat OF the nation that the Hartford
convention was called to dismemoer it
and this, Mr.. Jefferson says, they would
, have accomplished but for the battle of
, New Orleans and the peace of Client.
i John Quincy Adams in 1889, and Abra-
ham Lincoln III 1S47y lnade elaborate:.ar
3 gument in favor of the legal right of a
state to go out. The later abOlitionists
, did not attempt to conceal their rancor-
Gus hostility to the union. "No union
with shareholders" was one of their
watch-words, and down TO the opening of
the war its destruction was the avowed
object of their Vaccinations.
There is one conclusive proof Of your
enmity to the union, and that is your
unwavering opposition to the constitu-
ton which held the states to-
gether. You know as well as do how
absurd it is to suppose that any men or
party can support the union, and at the
same time trample on the constitution :;
and you certainly are not ignoI ant that
you and your predecC ssors, from the ear
liest times, have been anti-constit1tional
in all your proclivities. Contemptuos
disregard of constitutional obligations is
not now the mere germ of a doctrine; it
is part OF YOUR settled creed. Before
the war, and since, yOu have trodden un-
der foot every provision contained in the
| great charter of our liberties. 1 do not
speak at random. l challenge you to
designate single constitutional right of
| the states, or individuals, which you
| have not at some time, or in some way
deliberately violated.
| LAWLEsSNESS AND LOYALTY"
This contempt for the constitution
| this practical denial that an oath
to support it is s;icred, implies a disre-
| gard of all laws, human and divine, and
when adopted, it left nothing to guide
you except the propensities. evil or good,
| Of your natural hearts. Many of you
| (and notably you yoursel) contracted
no individual guilt, because you were too
| proud for petty larceny, too benevolent
| for high-handed robbery, and too full of
| kindness to break wantonly into the
tabernacle of human life. But generally
the moral principles of the ultra aboli-
| tionists (if thev ever had any, became so
wholly perverted that they saw nothing
wrong in the worst otfenses that could be
committed against their political oppo
nents. In their eyes, theft and murder
not only lost their felonious character,
but became meritoriOus, if the victims |
lived south of Mason Il DiXOn's line. |
When John Brown stole horses in the !
peace of God and the state of Missouri, |
he was taking his lawful booty; when he
sneaked into a quiet Virginia village on
Sunday night and assassinated defense
less citizens, he was a hero; when he |
died a felon's death on the scaffold, to
which be was justly condemned, he be-
came martyr.
THE DEMOCRATS OF THE NORTH.
You persist in misunderstanding the
anti-bellum attitude of the northern, de-
mocracy. We stood steadfastly by the
union against all attempts of the New
England party to break it up by seces-
sion. We sustained the constitution
against the ferecious assaults OF the abo-
litiUnists; we labored earnestly to save
republican institutions from the destruc
ton with which they were threatened by
you; and as Ions as the southern people
acted with us, we gratefully accepted
their aid in the good work.
Your averment that the democratic
party desired the aggrandizement of
slavery, and "yielded their cOnsciences'
on that snbiect to the south, is grossly
unjust, if YOU mean to charge them with
anything more than willingness to pro-
tect the southern, "a we'll as the northern
and middle states in the exercise of their
constitutional rights. We had disposed
of slavery within our own jurisdiction
according to our sense of sound policy
and Justice. But we had made an ex=
press compact with the other states to
leave the entire control of their domestic
affairs to themselves. We kept our COW
enant, simply because it would have been
gross dishonesty to break it. The aboli-
tienists took different view, and refused
to keep the faith. They swore as sol
emnly as we did to observe the terms OF
the bargain, but according to their code
it was a sin not to violate it. The fact is
true that we did not think it right to cut
the throats, or shoot, or strangle the men
or women of the south for believing in
negro slavery; but that is no justification
of your assertion that we yielded our
consciences to them.
Again: You charge us (the northern
democracy with having given bad advice
to the southern people. This consisted,
YOU say, in assuring them that if they
seeded, we would take their part against
any attempt to force them back again
into the union. This is a gross error,
and you will see it when l recall your
attention to the facts. In all our exhor-
tations to southern men against seces-
sion we were met by the expression of
their fear that the abOlitionists intended,
in any event, to invade and slaughter
them. Some reason for this apprehen-
sion was given by the fierce threats of
your leading men, and especially by
YOUR almost universal admiration of
Brown for his raid into Virginia. Ger
tain democrats (and very good men, teo)
did then declare that a lawless expedi-
ton intended for purposes of mere pillage
could not and should not be started in
the north, without such opposition as
would effectually stop it. But this was
before secession, and it was intended to
prevent that movement, not to encOur-
age it.
You can not, with any show of justice,
deny that devotion to the union was one
of the strongest feelings in the heart OF
the northern democracy. We had always
deprecated separation from the south
ern states with so much earnestness that
one of the opprobriOus epithets you be-
slowed on us was that of "uniOn savers"
This was not mere sentiment of admi-
ration or gratitude to the great southern
men who had led us through the perils
ofthe revolution, settled our institutions,
and given our country its high place in
tn, estimation of the world. We felt all
this! but we felt much more. The pres
ervation of the union was to us an
absolute necessity. Itwas indispensable
to the security of our lives, our personal
liberty, and our Plainest rights of prop
erty. How true this was at all times,
and especially in 1860, you will see if
YOU reject a moment on our situation
at tina. slime.
THE ADVENT OF RADICALIsM.
The abolitiOnists were coming into
power l need not say by what combina-
ton OF imposture and accident they
got it. All the northern states as
we'll as the federal government fell |
into their hands. No doubt their dis
like of southern people was very great; |
but northern democrats were objects OF
L II