Year: 1859

Alti-


South


- hostility


She might


re in the unex-


lrica; and yet this


We appreciate your


Ie with the Spirit of the


@Tot add to them. Time and


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Stion.


a ~prising to us that the Charleston
Stry never takes account of what slavery
q" done against the free States. 1t never
sseems to be aware that the business of forcing
the extension of slavery is an ugly innovation,
contrary to every rghtful purpose of the gov
ernment; nor does it take notice of the fact
that the fugitive slave act is the deadliest foe
to State Sovereignty that was ever let loose in
this Union The trainers of our federal gov
ernment did not intend that slavery should be-
come national matter; and they who have
sought to make it so, are guilty of the gravest
outrage that has ever been done to the Consti
tuition They are the ncendiaries who have
degraded the federal government to "the foul
uses of consolidation" And where do we find
them Not from the North, but from the
South, come all those measures which tend to
centralize power in the federal government and
obliterate State Sovereignty. Is not the Mer
curry itself now demanding a congressional
slave code for the territories ?


Let us look for a moment at the fugitive
slave act Will the Mercury undertake to
say that this act does not strike down the doc
trine of State sovereignty? There is not, and
there never was, in this country, any interest
or influence, besides slavery, strong enongh to
secure the passage of such an act. Had any
other interest proposed measure of the kind,
there would have been general outcry of
wrath and it would have been spit upon and
stoned by the whole country. But slavery
demanded it; an unconstitutional exercise of
power gave it existence extra constitutional
machinery was provided for its execution; and
the federal government has forced it upon the
free States as if they were nothing but con-
quered provinces. And it was enacted, not so
much to recover fugitive slaves as to insult
and humiliate the Northern States. Does the
Mercury see no aggression in all this The
conductors of that paper very sternly insist on
strict construction and State rights, whenever
the Southern side of any question demands it.
But we notice that they find it difficult to do
so when their side of the question forbids it.
We recollect that Mr.. Rhett of South Carolina
admitted in the Senate of the United States that
the fugitive slave act was unconstitutional but
he did not press the matter, and showed no dis
position to wage war against such prostitution of
the federal government to "the foul uses of
consolidation, THE foulest ever imagined
Of what use is it for the Mercury, while up
holding that act, to talk of Estate Sovereign
ty" as something worthy of the most beautiful
devotion, something good enough to live or die
for? In most things it is more consistent


That fugitive slave act is the most infam-
GUS outrage against the Constitution and the
free States ever perpetrated. To be consis-
tent, the people of South Carona must either
denounce the act and seek - have it repealed,
or formally announce to the country that they
have given up the original meaning of the Con-
stitution, and become the most submissive of
Consolidationists. And a repeal of that meas
ure is within the power of South Carolina. If
she will lead the way, there will be no lack of
following. And by doing So she might ami
hiate the misunderstanding between North
and South, find for herself new mood,
and forget to talk as if the two sections had no
feeling of brotherhood and no interests or sym
pathies in common. Will she do it?


Is it too much to hope for such demonstra-
ton of consistent faith in the doctrine of State
Sovereignty Probably. There is more to
be hoped from what would be done there and
elsewhere in the South, under Republican
administration. There would be no attempt
to "retire from the Union," and no appearance
of ruin" or injury to the South; but there
would be valiant opposition party which
would do the country some service. They who
use power with such reckless disregard of the
Constitution would be sure to hold the Repub-
licans to the charter, and work with ntiring
zeal to annihilate the centralizing influences
which they themselves have created or encour-
aged. The experiment is worth trying Mean
while, we should like to have a clear statement
Of the reasons why the Union should be dis
solved on the election of Republican Presi-
dent.


The SCIENTIFIC AssocIATIoN.-The ses-
sions of the American Scientific Association
at Springfield came to a close on Tuesday