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FANATICISM, 
 
 \ 
 
 ANT> ITS RESULTS 
 
 OR, 
 
 FACTS versus FANCIES. 
 
 BY A SOUTHERNER. 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 
 PRINTED BY JOSEPH ROBINSON. 
 
 1860. 
 

TO 
 
 THE HONORABLE HENRY A. WISE, 
 
 The True-Hearted Virginia Gentleman, 
 
 The Patriot, the Statesman, 
 
 AND 
 THE TRUE AND UNDAUNTED 
 
 Defender 
 
 OF 
 
 Southern Rights 
 
 AND 
 
 Southern Institutions, 
 THIS BOOK 
 
 IS 
 
 Respectfully and. Gratefully 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 BY 
 
 A SOUTHERNER. 
 
These parties are professedly two 
 separate and distinct organizations, but 
 as we consider them the same in all but 
 the name, we shall, hereafter, in speak- 
 ing of them, use only the words "Abe* 
 litionists," and "the North," We wiab 
 to be distinctly understood, that, in 
 speaking of the North as false to the 
 Union, we mean only that portiou 
 known as the " Abolitionists." We 
 know that there are many strong na- 
 tional and conservative men at the 
 North. We know that pure and un- 
 tarnished patriotism exists there; but 
 alas! it is in an almost hopeless minor- 
 ity. We propose giving a hasty sketch 
 of the Abolition party, and their acts; 
 ami, in doing so, we shall confine our- 
 selves strictly to the record that History 
 has given us. 
 
 It is well-known that there has al- 
 ways existed in the Union, ever since its 
 foundation, a strong feeling of enmity to- 
 wards Slavery. 
 
 The first public act of this party, that 
 we can find recorded, is a Memorial 
 presented in the House of Representa- 
 tives, in Congress, on the 12th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1790. We copy it from Messrs. 
 Gales and Seaton's Congressional De- 
 bates. We give it entire, because it is 
 one of the most interesting ever offered, 
 and embodies the spirit of a majority of 
 the rest. 
 
 "A Memorial of the Pennsylvania So- 
 ciety fur Promoting the Abolition of 
 Slavery, the Relief of Free A'egroes 
 unlawfully held in I >< milage, and the 
 improvement if the African race. 
 
 " Tlic Memorial respectfully show- 
 eth : That, from a regard for the hap- 
 piness of mankind, an association was 
 formed several years since, in this 
 State, by a Dumber id' her citizens-, of 
 various religious denominations, for pro- 
 moting tin' Abolition of Slavery, and 
 for the relief of those unlawfully held 
 in bondage. A just and acute concep- 
 
 tion of the true principles of liberty, as 
 it is spread through the land, produced 
 accessions to their numbers; many 
 friends to their cause, aud a legislative 
 co-operation with their views, which, by 
 the blessiug of Divine Providence, have 
 been successfully directed to the reliev- 
 ing from bondage a large number of 
 their fellow-creatures of the African 
 race. They have also the satisfaction 
 to observe that, in consequence of that 
 spirit of philanthropy, and genuine 
 liberty, which is generally diffusing its 
 beneficial influence, similar institutions 
 are forming at home aud abroad. 
 
 "That mankind are all formed by 
 the same Almighty Being, alike objects 
 of His care, and equally designed for 
 the enjoyment of happiness, the Chris- 
 tian religion teaches us to believe, and 
 the political creed of America fully 
 coincides with the position. 
 
 " Your memorialists, particularly en- 
 gaged in attending to the distresses 
 arising from Slavery, believe it to be 
 their indispensable duty to present this 
 subject to your notice. They have ob- 
 served with real satisfaction, that many 
 important and salutary powers are vested 
 in you ' for promoting the welfare, and 
 securing the blessings of liberty to the 
 people of the United States ;' and as 
 they conceive that these blessings ought 
 rightfully to be administered, without 
 distinction of color, to all descriptions of 
 people, so they indulge themselves in 
 the pleasing expectation, that nothing 
 which can be done for the relief of the 
 unhappy objects of their care, will be 
 either omitted or delayed. 
 
 "From a persuasion that equal liberty 
 was originally the portion, and is still 
 birthright of all men, and influenced by 
 the strong ties of humanity, and the 
 priatiples of their institutions, your 
 memorialists consider themselves bound 
 to use all justifiable endeavors to loosen 
 the bonds of Slavery, and promote a 
 general enjoyment of the blessings of 
 freedom. 
 
"Under these impressions, they earn- 
 estly entreat your serious attention to 
 the subject of Slavery ; that you will be 
 pleased to countenance the restoration of 
 liberty to those unhappy men, who alone 
 in this land of freedom, are degraded 
 into perpetual bondage, and who, amidst 
 the general joy of surrounding freemen, 
 are groaning in servile subjection : that 
 you will devise means for removing this 
 inconsistency from the character of the 
 American people ; that you will promote 
 mercy and justice towards this distressed 
 race ; and that you will step to the very 
 verge of the power vested in you, for 
 discouraging every species of traffic in 
 the persons of our fellow-men. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin, 
 
 President. 
 Philadelphia, February 3, 1790." 
 
 After a warm debate, all the memori- 
 als which had been presented durinsr the 
 session, were referred to a Select Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 This Committee, in due time, offered 
 its report, which was referred to the 
 Committee of the whole House; which, 
 after amending the report of the Select 
 Committee, adopted the following reso- 
 lution : 
 
 " That Congress have no authority to 
 interfere in the emancipation of Slaves, 
 or in the treatment of them, within any 
 of the States ; it remaining with the 
 several States alone to provide any regu- 
 lations therein which humanity and true 
 policy may require." 
 
 On the 26th of November, a petition 
 was presented from Warner Mifflin, a 
 Quaker, in relation to the Slave Trade, 
 and to the treatment of Slaves in the 
 United States. It was laid on the table. 
 Two days after, on motion of Mr. Steele, 
 of N. C, it was returned to him by the 
 Clerk. 
 
 January 30th, 1797, Mr. Swanwick, of 
 Pa., presented a petition of four Slaves, 
 representing that they had been emanci- 
 pated, but under some law of N. Caro- 
 
 lina they could be again reduced to Sla- 
 very ; that to avoid this they had escaped 
 to Pennsylvania, after suffering many 
 hardships, praying Congress to look into 
 the case. Also into that of another Ne- 
 gro who had been emancipated, again 
 reduced to Slavery, and had escaped ; 
 but under the Fugitive Slave Law, he had 
 been arrested and confined in jail. Con- 
 gress, by a vote of yeas 33, nays 50, 
 refused to receive the petition, stating 
 that they had no right to interfere with 
 the laws of any State. 
 
 On the 30th of November, 1797, Mr. 
 Gallatin, of Pa., presented a memorial 
 from the Quakers of Pennsylvania, call- 
 ing attention to the condition of the 
 Slaves, and also protesting against all 
 kinds of vicious and expensive amuse- 
 ments. After a long debate on the re- 
 ception of the petition, it was referred to 
 a Select Committee of five. 
 
 Jan. 29th. 1798, Mr. Sitgreaves, of 
 Penn., the Chairman of the Committee, 
 reported ' ; that the facts referred to were 
 | exclusively of judicial cognizance; that 
 therefore it is not competent for the 
 ! Legislature to do any thing in the busi- 
 I ness " The report concluded by recom- 
 I mending "that the memorialists be al- 
 I lowed to withdraw their petition." Feb. 
 I 14th, 1798, the House adopted the re- 
 port of the Committee. The same peti- 
 tion was offered in the Senate, but was 
 | afterwards withdrawn 
 
 June 21st, 1805, Mr. Logan, of Pa., 
 pesented to the Senate a petition from 
 the Quakers, praying Congress to adopt 
 some means to prevent the introduction 
 of Slavery into the Territories. It was 
 received by a vote of yeas 19, nays 9. 
 A similar petitiou was presented and re- 
 ferred in the House the same day. 
 
 January, 1817, a number of petitions 
 were presented against the Slave Trade 
 between the Middle and Southern States 
 — they were read and referred. 
 
 During the first session of the 16th 
 Congress, numerous petitions were re- 
 ceived, asking the prohibition of Slavery 
 
8 
 
 in all the States hereafter to be admitted 
 . into the Union. Some were referred, 
 others merely read. 
 
 On the 12th of February, 1827, Mr. 
 Barney, of Baltimore, presented to the 
 House a memorial signed by certain 
 citizens of Baltimore, praying Congress to 
 pass a law providing that all children 
 hereafter born of Slave parents in the 
 District of Columbia, shall be free after 
 a certain age. He moved that it be 
 printed. After a debate, the motion to 
 print was lost. 
 
 December 12th, 1831, Mr. John 
 Quincy Adams presented 15 petitions 
 from numerous inhabitants of Pennsyl- 
 vania, praying for the abolition of Sla- 
 very in the district of Columbia. They 
 were referred to the Committee on the 
 District of Columbia. 
 
 On December the 19th, that Com- 
 mittee made their report, asking to be 
 discharged from further consideration of 
 such parts of the petitions before them 
 as asked the abolishment of Slavery in 
 the District of Columbia. 
 
 In the Senate, January 7th, 1836, 
 Mr. Morris, of Ohio, presented several 
 petitions from citizens of Ohio, (one of 
 which was signed by ladies,) asking the 
 abolition of Slavery in the District of 
 Columbia. He moved to refer them to 
 the Committee on the District of Colum- 
 bia. 
 
 January 11th, Mr. Buchanan pre- 
 sented a petition from the Quakers. He 
 moved that it be read and its prayer re- 
 jected. 
 
 A long debate ensued upon the recep- 
 tion of these two petitions. During this 
 debate ; on the 28th of January, 1836, 
 Mr. Swift, of Vermont, presented an- 
 other petition to the same effect, from the 
 citizens of Vermont; he requested that 
 it might be read. A debate ensued upon 
 its reception. On motion of Mr. Bu- 
 chanan, the petitions were laid on the 
 table, to be called i p when the Senate 
 was ready to make a final disposition of 
 them. 
 
 March 9th, 1836, the question was 
 brought up, on the motion to receive the 
 petition presented by Mr. Buchanan, 
 and it was decided to receive the petition. 
 March 11th, 1836, the motion of Mr. 
 Buchanan to reject the petition, passed 
 the Senate, by a vote — yeas 34, nays 6. 
 
 During the first Session of the Twenty- 
 fourth Congress, Abolition petitions were 
 literally rained upon the House. They 
 gave rise to a variety of resolutions rela- 
 j tive to the powers of Congress over the 
 subject, and the proper disposition that 
 should be made of them. 
 
 On the 8th of February, 1836, Mr. 
 H. L. Pinckney, of S. C, having ob- 
 tained a suspension of the rules, offered 
 the following resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That all memorials which 
 have been offered, or may hereafter be 
 presented to this House, praying for the 
 abolition of Slavery in the District of 
 Columbia, and also the resolutions of- 
 fered by an honorable member from 
 Maine, (Mr. Jarvis,) with the amend- 
 ment thereto proposed by an honorable 
 member of Virginia, (Mr. Wise,) and 
 every other paper or proposition that 
 may be submitted in relation to the sub- 
 ject, be referred to a select committee, 
 with instructions to report, that Con- 
 gress possesses no Constitutional au- 
 thority to interfere in any way with 
 the institutions of Slavery in any of 
 the States of this Confederacy; and that, 
 in the opinion of this House, Congress 
 ought not to interfere in any way with 
 Slavery in the District of Columbia, be- 
 cause it would be a violation of the pub- 
 lic faith, unwise, impolitic, and danger- 
 ous to the Union, assigning such rea- 
 sons for these conclusions as in the judg- 
 ment of the committee may be best cal- 
 culated to enlighten the public mind, to 
 repress agitation, to allay excitement, to 
 sustain and preserve the just rights of 
 the Slave-Holding States, and of the 
 people of this District, and to re-estab- 
 lish harmony and tranquillity among the 
 the various sections of the Union." 
 
9 
 
 This resolution was adopted, and the 
 committee appointed. 
 
 On the 18th of May. 1836, Mr. 
 Pinckney presented the report of the 
 Committee. We give only the conclud- 
 ing resolutions : 
 
 " Resolved, That Congress possesses no 
 constitutional authority to interfere in 
 any way with the institution of Slavery 
 in any of the States of this Confederacy. 
 
 " Resolved, That Congress ought not 
 to interfere in any way with Slavery in 
 the District of Columbia. 
 
 " And whereas, it is extremely im- 
 portant and desirable that the agitation 
 of this subject should be finally arrested, 
 for the purpose of restoring tranquillity 
 to the public mind, your Committee re- 
 spectfully recommend the adoption of the 
 following resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, that all Petitions, memo- 
 rials, resolutions, propositions or papers, 
 relating in any way, or to any extent 
 whatever, to the subject of Slavery, or 
 the abolition of Slavery, shall, with- 
 out being either printed or referred, be 
 laid upon the table, and that no further 
 action whatever shall be had thereon." 
 
 May 25th, 1836. the first resolution 
 was adopted by a vote of yeas 182, nays 
 9. The second resolution was adopted by 
 a vote of yeas 132, nays 45. The third 
 resolution passed by a vote of yeas 117. 
 nays 68. 
 
 The Senate, during the second session 
 of the 25th Congress, invariably pursued 
 the plan of laying the question of the 
 reception of abolition petitions on the 
 table. 
 
 December 27th, 1837, Mr. Calhoun 
 offered to the Senate the following series 
 of resolutions, which have become as 
 famous as his name, and which will be 
 read with pleasure by all. 
 
 " 1. Resolved, That in the adoption of 
 the Federal Constitution, the States 
 adopting the same, acted, severally, as 
 free, independent, and sovereign States, 
 and that each for itself, by its own vo- 
 luntary assent, entered the Union with 
 
 2 
 
 a view to its increased security against 
 all dangers, domestic as well as foreign, 
 and the more perfect and secure enjoy- 
 ment of its advantages, natural, political 
 and social. 
 
 "2. Resolved, That in delegating a 
 portion of their powers to be exercised by 
 the Federal Government, the States re- 
 tained, severally, the exclusive and sole 
 right over their own domestic institu- 
 tions and police, and are alone responsi- 
 ble for them ; and that any intermed- 
 dling of one or more States, or a combi- 
 nation of their citizens, with the domes- 
 tic institutions and police of the others, 
 on any ground, or under any pretext 
 whatever, political, moral or religious, 
 with a view to their alteration or subver- 
 sion, is an assumption of superiority not 
 warranted by the Constitution, insulting 
 to the States interfered with, tending to 
 endanger their domestic peace and tran- 
 quillity, subversive to the objects for 
 which the Constitution was formed, and 
 by necessary consequence, tending to 
 weaken and destroy the Union itself. 
 
 " 3. Resolved, That this government 
 was instituted and adopted by the sever- 
 al States of this Union, as a common 
 agent, in order to carry into effect the 
 power which they had delegated by the 
 Constitution, for their mutual security 
 and prosperity; and that, in fulfilment of 
 this high and sacred trust, this govern- 
 ment is bound so to exercise its powers 
 as to give, as far as may be practicable, 
 increased stability and security to the 
 domestic institutions of the States that 
 compose the Union, and that it i6 the so- 
 lemn duty of the Government to resist 
 all attempts by one portion of the Union, 
 to use it as an instrument to attack the 
 domestic institutions of another, or to 
 weaken or destroy such institutions. 
 
 "4. Resolved, That domestic Slavery 
 as it exists in the Southern and Western 
 States of this Union, composes an import- 
 ant part of their domestic institutions, in- 
 herited from their ancestors, and existing 
 at the adoption of the Constitution, by 
 
10 
 
 which it is recognized as constituting an < ritory of the United States in which it 
 essential element in the distribution of its exists, would create serious alarm, and 
 powers among the States, and that no j just apprehension in the States* s us tain - 
 
 ' ing that domestic institution ; would be a 
 violation of good faith towards the in- 
 habitants of such Territory who have 
 
 change of opinion or feeling on the part of 
 the other States of the Union, in relation 
 to it, can justify them or their citizens, in 
 open and systematic attacks thereon, with 
 the view to its overthrow ; and that all 
 such attacks are in manifest violation of 
 the mutual and solemn pledge to protect 
 and defend each other, given by the 
 States respectively, on entering into the 
 Constitutional compact, which formed 
 the Union, and as such, is a manifest 
 breach of faith, and a violation of the 
 most solemn obligations. 
 (As originally offered.) 
 " 5th. Resolved. That the intermed- 
 dling of any State or States, or their citi- 
 zens to abolish Slavery in this District, or 
 in any of the Territories, on the ground, 
 or under the pretext, that it is immoral 
 or sinful, or the passage of any act 
 or measure of Congress with that view, 
 would be a direct and dangerous attack 
 on the institutions of all the Slavehold- 
 ing States. 
 
 (As amended by Mr. Clay, of Ky.) 
 "5th. Resolved, That when the District 
 of Columbia was ceded by the States of 
 Maryland and Virginia, to the United 
 States, domestic Slavery existed in both 
 of those States, including the ceded 
 territory; and that, as it still continues 
 in both of them, it could not be abolished 
 within the District, without a violation 
 of that good faith which was implied in 
 the cession, and in the acceptance of the 
 territory, nor unless compensation were 
 offered for the Slaves, without a manifest 
 infringement of an amendment of the 
 Constitution bf the United States ; nor 
 without exciting a degree of just alarm 
 and apprehension in the States recogniz- 
 ing Slavery, far transcending in mis- 
 chievous tendency any possible benefit 
 which could be accomplished by the 
 Abolition. 
 
 " And Resolved, That any attem.pt of 
 Congress to abolish Slavery in any Ter- 
 
 been permitted to settle with, and hold 
 Slaves, because the people of such Ter- 
 ritory have not asked for the abolition 
 of Slavery therein, and because, that, 
 when any such Territory shall be ad- 
 mitted into the Union as a State, the 
 people thereof will be entitled to decide 
 that question for themselves." 
 
 Mr. Morris, of Ohio, moved to strike 
 out the words "moral and religious" in 
 the first resolution. His motion was 
 lost. 
 
 The first resolution was adopted by a 
 vote of yeas 31, nays 13. 
 
 Only 9 votes were cast against the 
 second resolution. 
 
 The third resolution was adopted by a 
 a vote of yeas 31, nays 11. 
 
 The fourth resolution was adopted by 
 a vote of yeas 34, nays 5. 
 
 The vote on the 5th resolution, as 
 amended by Mr. Clay, was as follows: 
 yeas 36, nays 8. 
 
 The final resolution of Mr. Clay was 
 adopted by a vote of yeas 35, nays 9. 
 
 During the same Session of Congress, 
 the excitement in the House caused by 
 these abolition petitions was intense. For 
 a description of it, we refer our readers to 
 the able account given by Col. Thomas 
 H. Benton, in his "Thirty Years View." 
 We would gladly insert a portion of 
 it, but our limits will not allow us to do 
 so. 
 
 In 1821, the Missouri Compromise 
 Bill was passed. Our readers are too 
 familiar with the history of this cele- 
 brated peace-offering from the South to 
 the Demon of Abolitionism, to render it 
 necessary for us to enter into any his- 
 tory of it 
 
 The Senate, during the Second Session 
 of the Twenty-Fourth Congress, con- 
 tinued to receive numerous abolition 
 
il 
 
 petitions ; all motions to receive them 
 were invariably laid on the table. The 
 Senate has pursued this course up to the 
 present day. During the Twenty- 
 Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Congresses, the 
 House concluded to lay all abolition 
 petitions on the table, without being 
 either printed or referred. 
 
 January 28th, 1S40, the amendment 
 of Mr. W. Cost Johnson, to an amend- 
 ment offered by Mr. John Quincy Ad- 
 ams, to the rules, was adopted under the 
 title of the 21st rule. The Hon. W. 
 Smith, of Va., in his eloquent and able 
 speech, delivered in Congress in Decem- 
 ber, 1859, gives an interesting history 
 of this rule. To it we refer our readers. 
 The rule was as follows : 
 
 "That no petition, memorial or reso- 
 lution, or other paper, praying the aboli- 
 tion of Slavery in the District of Colum- 
 bia, or any State or Territory, or the 
 Slave trade between the States or Terri- 
 tories of the United States, in which it 
 now exists, shall be received by this 
 House, or entertained in any way what- 
 ever." 
 
 The adoption was by a vote of yeas 
 114, nays 108. 
 
 This 21st rule was rescinded on motion 
 of Mr. John Quincy Adams, on the 3d 
 of December, 1844, by a vote of yeas 
 108, nays 80. 
 
 December 1st, 1845. Mr. Chapman, 
 of Ala., made a motion to revive it; 
 but it was lost by a vote of yeas 84, 
 nays 121. 
 
 February 25th, 1850, Mr. Griddrags, 
 of Ohio, in the House, presented two 
 petitions ; one from certain citizens of 
 Pennsylvania, and the other from certain 
 citizens of Delaware. They were as 
 follows : 
 
 " We, the undersigned, inhabitants 
 of Pennsylvania and Delaware, believing 
 that the Federal Constitution, in pledging 
 the strength of the whole nation to sup- 
 port Slavery, violates the Divine law, 
 makes war upon human rights, and is 
 grossly inconsistent with Republican prin- 
 
 ciples ; that its attempt to unite Slavery 
 in one body politic, has brought upon 
 the country, great and manifold evils, 
 and has fully proved that no such Union 
 can exist but by the sacrifice of freedom 
 to the supremacy of Slavery, respectfully 
 ask you to propose and devise, without 
 delay, some plan for the immediate and 
 peaceful dissolution of the American 
 Union." 
 
 Mr. Giddiugs asked that these reso- 
 lutions might be referred to a Select 
 Committee, who should be instructed to 
 enquire : 
 
 " First. — Whether disaffection with 
 our Federal Union exists among the 
 people of these States ? 
 
 "Secondly. — If so, to what extent 
 does such discontent exist? 
 
 " Thirdly. — From what has such dis- 
 affection arisen ? 
 
 " Fourthly. — The proper means of re- 
 storing confidence among the people?" 
 
 It was decided by a vote of yeas 8, 
 nays 162, not to receive these peti- 
 tions. 
 
 Those who voted affirmatively, were 
 Messrs. Allen, of Mass. : Durkee, of 
 Wisconsin: Giddings, of Ohio; Good- 
 enow, of Me ; Howe, of Pa ; Julian, of 
 Indiana; Preston King, of N, Y. ; and 
 Root, of Ohio. We wish all to know 
 them. 
 
 Feb. 1st, 1850, the same petitions 
 were offered in the Senate by Mr. Hale, 
 of N. H. 
 
 Mr. Webster suggested that such a 
 preamble as the following should have 
 been prefixed to the petition : 
 
 "Gentlemen, members of Congress: 
 Whereas, at the commencement of the 
 Session, you, and each of you, took your 
 solemn oaths in the presence of God and 
 on the Holy Evangelists, that you would 
 support the Constitution of the U. States, 
 now. therefore, we pray you to take 
 immediate steps to break up the Union 
 and overthrow the Constitution of the 
 United States, as soon as you can And 
 as in duty bound, we will ever pray." 
 
12 
 
 Senators Chase, Hale and Seward, 
 Were all that voted for it. 
 
 Other petitions have since been pre- 
 sented, but we will not weary our readers 
 by recording them here. 
 
 The efforts of the Abolitionists soon 
 brought about the terrible crisis of 1850, 
 which is too well known to our readers 
 to require any explanation from us ; and 
 from which the Union was only rescued 
 by the superhuman efforts of Henry 
 Clay. 
 
 Such, then, is a brief and hasty 
 sketch of their acts in Congress. Much 
 of it we have been compelled to pass 
 over hastily. All that we have here 
 reported, can be found in the " Annals 
 of Congress," from which our informa- 
 tion has been gained. 
 
 We propose now to glance hastily at 
 some of their acts, during their existence, 
 as one of the great political parties of the 
 country. 
 
 It made its first appearance as such, 
 in 1840, with the following ticket : -'For 
 President, James G. Birney, of Michi- 
 gan ; for Vice-President, Francis J. 
 Lemoyne, of Pennsylvania." During 
 this campaign, this party polled 7,000 
 votes. In 1844, they again offered Mr. 
 Birney as their candidate for the Presi- 
 dency, and polled 62,140 votes. 
 
 In 1844, Martin Van Buren was their 
 candidate for the Presidency, having 
 been nominated in convention at Buffalo. 
 This convention adopted the first aboli- 
 tion platform that we can find ; and in it, 
 was announced the stern and unyielding 
 determination of the party to root out 
 Slavery by every constitutional means in 
 their power. The more ultra Anti-Sla- 
 very men supported Gerrit Smith, and 
 the vote polled by the entire party was 
 296,232. 
 
 In 1852, John P. Hale was its nom- 
 inee, and he polled 157,296 votes. 
 
 John C. Fremont, in 1856, received 
 the support of the entire Abolition party, 
 and the number of votes polled amounted 
 to 1,341,812. 
 
 The same Convention which nominated 
 Fremont, adopted the Republican plat- 
 form, from which we give the following : 
 
 "Resolved, * * * That we deny 
 the authority of Congress, of a territorial 
 legislature, or any individual or associa- 
 tion of individuals, to give legal existence 
 to Slavery in any Territory of the United 
 States, while the present Constitution 
 shall be maintained." 
 
 Such, then, is an outline of the His- 
 tory of this Abolition party. A party 
 which has increased with the most sur- 
 prising rapidity. And how has this 
 been done ? By appeals addressed to 
 the worst feelings, and most ungovern- 
 able passions of mankind. By poisoning 
 their hearts with tales of Negro wrongs 
 and sufferings, by base and vile slanders 
 upon their brethren of the South. By a 
 rapid review of the brief sketch of the 
 party that we have given, we find : 
 
 Firsts — That the Abolition party was 
 the first to agitate the Slavery question. 
 
 Second. — That in spite of the asser- 
 tions of Congress, that it had no right to 
 interfere with " the domestic institutions 
 and police" of the States — in spite of the 
 assertions of Congress, that it would be 
 "unwise, impolitic, a violation of good 
 faith," towards the Slave-holding States 
 — in spite of their warnings that this 
 continued agitation was fraught with 
 imminent danger to the South, we find 
 them persisting in their mad and unrea- 
 sonable course, regardless alike of warn- 
 ing and entreaty. 
 
 Third.— -We find them by their course, 
 causing all the great and terrible crises 
 from which the country has been rescued 
 by the great triumvirate — Clay, Calhoun, 
 and Webster. 
 
 Fourth. — We find that their whole 
 course has been one of aggression upon 
 Southern rights and institutions. 
 
 Lastly, we find that, not satisfied with 
 their mad and unconstitutional career, 
 they were the first and the only party to 
 petition for the Dissolution of the Union. 
 Such are the causes of the present un- 
 
13 
 
 fortunate condition of the Union. We 
 have asserted that the danger which now 
 threatens the Union was caused by " the 
 Demon of Abolitionism." We have given 
 their own acts as proofs of this assertion, 
 and we leave it, appealing to all fair and 
 candid persons if we have not fully main- 
 tained our position. Having shown, as 
 we believe, that the North has been the 
 cause of all of our sectional discord, let 
 us see what has been the conduct of the 
 South from the beginning of the Slavery 
 agitation, up to the present day. 
 
 By a reference to "the Annals of 
 Congress," we shall find that not a sin- 
 gle voice of discord or threatening, up 
 to the period of, and after the Missouri 
 Compromise, was heard from the South. 
 Nothing but expostulation and entreaty 
 was heard from her. In eloquent terms 
 did her sons point out to their brethren 
 of the North the danger and the folly of 
 their course. Earnestly did they entreat 
 them to cease the agitation of a question 
 which could do no good, and which was 
 becoming so dangerous to the welfare and 
 prosperity of the Union. Sacrifices they 
 did make, and have ever made. They 
 asked no sacrifice from the North — they 
 made no unreasonable demands. All 
 that they asked was, that the North 
 should abide by its compact with them — 
 that it should cease to aggress them. 
 
 " The Slave-Holding States have done 
 no wrong to their Free-State sisters. 
 Virginia, in her generosity and noble- 
 ness of soul, gave five great States to 
 freedom, as it is called, and to the Union. 
 Her great Captain gave us liberty, and 
 her Captains at the bead of the Armies 
 of the Union, ever led them on to vic- 
 tory. Her Sages have piloted the Ship 
 of State through every trial. They have 
 kept their looms in motion. To them 
 they can trace their great wealth, and 
 the luxurious embellishment of their 
 barren country." The South has ever 
 said to the North, " Rear up your pal- 
 latial residences; make your country 'to 
 smile and blossom as the rose ;' let your 
 
 halls of science be filled with your aspir- 
 ing youth ; let your proud Navies stretch 
 their wings to every breeze and over 
 every sea; we are content; may we 
 share in the pride and glory of your 
 prosperity. We ask no return, but to be 
 left in peace — to the enjoyment of our 
 rights — to be let alone. This is all that 
 tee have ever asked ; it is all that we ask 
 now." 
 
 For the sake of the Union — under the 
 spell of the glory and greatness which she 
 has given to that Union — hallowed as it 
 is to her by the thousand fond memories 
 connected with it, the South has al- 
 ways submitted to insult and oppression 
 from the North, because she has had but 
 one aim in view — the perpetuation of the 
 Union. She has gone farther, she has 
 met these insults and agressions not with 
 blows or resentful 'words, but with sacri- 
 fices of her constitutional rights, with 
 compromises until she has now nothing 
 left to sacrifice, to compromise, but her 
 homes and her honor. 
 
 Every one who has studied the subject, 
 knows that the Missouri Compromise 
 was unconstitutional. Mr. Clay himself 
 avowed this. But, as the North would 
 be satisfied with nothing else, the South 
 consented to it, because she was willing 
 to make any sacrifice to preserve the 
 Union. 
 
 It is not our intention to discuss the 
 Slavery question in this article. We 
 simply wish to give a history of the 
 troubles which have agitated the coun- 
 try for such a long time, to show the 
 true position of both sections of the 
 country. To defend the South against 
 the unjust accusations which are being 
 hurled at it, and to give our views as to 
 how the South should act under the 
 present circumstances, and how the dan- 
 ger may be averted. 
 
 We have said that the North has been 
 the quarter from which the dangerous 
 sentiments of disunion have been heard. 
 The South has been charged with "fire- 
 eating" — " disunionis/n." This charge 
 
14 
 
 we pronounce false. But first, let us 
 see what additional proofs we can offer 
 in support of our assertion, that the 
 spirit of disunion has heen fostered, and 
 has shown itself in the North, and that 
 it is from that sectiou that the danger 
 which now threatens the Union has 
 burst upon us. 
 
 We have already shown that the Sla- 
 very agitation was begun and fostered at 
 the North — that the only prayers to 
 Congress for dissolution came from the 
 North, and we now intend to show that 
 this spirit of disunion has been fostered 
 and advocated by the Northern Pulpit, 
 Press, Bar, and Legislatures, as well as 
 by their Representatives in Congress. 
 That they have been the means of 
 spreading treason and discord in our 
 midst. 
 
 But to begin : 
 
 The New York National Anti-Slavery 
 Standard, of June 21, 1856, says: "The 
 North is in a state of excitement, tem- 
 porary, perhaps, but real for the time; 
 and the widening lines of division be- 
 tween North and South are growing deep 
 and distinct." It then goes on to rejoice 
 in the growing alienation of the North 
 from the South, and counsels resistance 
 to everything like Slavery. Yes. even 
 though the rights of the South are 
 secured to her by Constitional enact- 
 ments — by the Constitution itself — this 
 paper counsels resistance to them — re- 
 sistance to the Constitution, and conse- 
 quently to the Federal Government it- 
 self; or, in other words, it advocates 
 treason. 
 
 The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, at a 
 meeting held in his church, to promote 
 emigration to Kansas, said : 
 
 " He believed that the Sharpe rifle was 
 a truly moral agency, and there was orem 
 moral power in one of those instruments, 
 bo far as the Slave-Holders of Kansas were 
 concerned, than in a thousand Bibles. 
 You might just as well, said he, read 
 the Bible to buffaloes, as to those fellows 
 who follow Atchison and Stringfellow ; 
 
 I but they have a supreme respect for the 
 ! logic that is embodied in Sharpe's rifles. 
 The Bible is addressed to the conscience ; 
 but when you address it to them, it has 
 no effect — there is no conscience there. 
 Though he was a peace-man, he had the 
 greatest regard for Sharpe's rifles, and 
 the pluck that induced those New Eng- 
 land men to use them. In such issues, 
 under such circumstances, he was decid- 
 edly in favor of such instrumentalities. 
 General Scott had said that it was diffi- 
 cult to get the New England men into a 
 quarrel, but when they are waked up, 
 and have the law on their side, they are 
 the ugliest customers in the world." 
 When we see the pulpit used to excite 
 the worst passions of mankind — to arm 
 men against their brothers' lives — when 
 we hear the Bible placed beneath Sharpe's 
 rifles, by one who calls himself a minister 
 of God — when we hear murder defended 
 and advocated by the clergy, what can 
 we expect from the laity ? But we have 
 no desire to dwell upon this article — it 
 carries its comment with it. It is uoth-» 
 ing more than we expected from such a 
 man. 
 
 Mr. W. 0. Duval, a prominent Aboli- 
 tionist, says : 
 
 " I sincerely hope a civil war may 
 soon burst upon the country. I want to 
 see American Slavery abolished in my 
 time Then, my fervent prayer is, 
 that England, France and Spain, may 
 take this Slavery-accursed nation into 
 their special consideration ; and when 
 the time arrives for the streets of the 
 cities of this ' land of the free and home 
 of the brave,' to run with blood to the 
 horses' bridles, if the writer of this be 
 living, there will be one heart to rejoice 
 at the retributive justice of Heaven." 
 
 Great God — did an American utter 
 such sentiments? There are two names 
 which have been handed down to us, 
 branded with infamy. Let the name 
 of W. 0. Duvall, the darkest traitor of 
 all, with those of Benedict Arnold and 
 Aaron Burr, go down to future ages, to 
 
15 
 
 be named only with a curse upon his 
 memory. 
 
 Rev. T. Andrew Foss, of N. H., in an 
 address before the American Anti-Sla- 
 very Society, at its meeting in N. York, 
 May loth, 1^57 , said : 
 
 '• If the Angel Gabriel had done what 
 their fathers did, he would have been a 
 scoundrel for it. Their fathers placed 
 withiu the Constitution, a provision for 
 the rendition of Fugitive Slaves, and 
 therein did a wicked thing. It would 
 have been no more wrong for George the 
 Third to put chains on George Wash- 
 ington, than it was for George Washing- 
 ton to put chains on the limbs of bis 
 Slaves Their fathers had undoubtedly 
 believed that they had made a govern- 
 ment which would work beautifully ; and I 
 that in a few years, Slavery would be ' 
 extinct. But in that, they were deceived. | 
 The government was running as it was ' 
 made to run, and it could not be made 
 to run otherwise — so the Republicans 
 might not boast what they would do, if 
 they bad the Government as it was, in 
 the days of Washington and Jefferson. 
 It was said in the good book, that the 
 Lord sitteth on a high throne, and that 
 all mankind are as grasshoppers before 
 him. He expected that that included 
 the President and Cougress, and the 
 Supreme Court and the Church. [Laugh- 
 ter.] Where Slavery and Freedom are 
 put in one nation, there must be a fight ; 
 there must be an explosion, just as if fire 
 and powder were brought together. 
 There never was an hour when this 
 blasphemous and infamous government 
 should be made ; and now, the hour was 
 to be prayed for, when that disgrace to 
 humanity should be dashed to pieces 
 forever." 
 
 Here, we have another instance of 
 that kind and Christian spirit (?) 
 which seeuis to characterize the Abo- 
 lition Clergy. Here, we see a man 
 whose life should be as pure as the young 
 morning air. ; not content with uttering 
 sentiments of treason and discord, but 
 
 putting forth the foulest blasphemy, 
 reviling the written word of God, and 
 false to every solemn vow that he has 
 ever taken. "Oh, shame, where is thy 
 blush !" 
 
 William Lloyd Garrison, a man who 
 is honored and revered by the North ; a 
 man who never told the truth in his 
 life; whose whole life has been a series 
 of deceit and dishonor, private and pub- 
 lic, thus addressed a meeting in New 
 York city, on the first day of August, 
 1855. We wish our readers to examine 
 this and reflect on it, for this speech was 
 heartily approved and loudly cheered. 
 He said : 
 
 "The issue is this: God Almighty 
 has made it impossible from the begin- 
 ning, for Liberty and Slavery to mingle 
 together, or a Union to be founded be- 
 tween Abolitionists and Slave-Holders — 
 between those who oppress and those 
 who are oppressed. The Union is a lie: 
 the American Union is a sham — an im- 
 posture — a covenant with death — an 
 agreement with hell, and it is our busi- 
 ness to call for a dissolution. Let that 
 Union be accursed, wherein three mil- 
 lions and a-half of Slaves can be driven 
 to unrequited toil by their masters. 
 
 "I will continue to experiment no 
 longer — it is all madness. Let the 
 Slave-Holding Union go, and Slavery 
 will go with the Union down into the 
 dust. If the Church is against dis- 
 union, and not on the side of the Slave, 
 then I pronounce it as of the devil. 
 
 "I say, let us cease striking hands 
 with thieves and adulterers, and give to 
 the winds the rallying cry, 'No Union 
 with Slave-Holders, socially or reli- 
 giously, and up with the flag of dis- 
 union." 
 
 Again, he says : 
 
 "Justice and liberty, God and man 
 demand the dissolution of this Slave- 
 Holding Union, and the formation of a 
 Northern Confederacy, in which Slaves 
 Holders shall stand before the law as 
 felons, and be treated as pirates. God 
 
16 
 
 and humanity demand a ballot-box in 
 which the Slave-Holder shall never cast 
 a ballot. In this, what State so pre- 
 pared to lead as the old Bay State ? 
 She has already made it a penal offence 
 to help to execute a law of the Union. 
 I want to see the officers of the State 
 brought into collision with those of the 
 Union. 
 
 "No union with Slave-Holders. Up 
 with the flag of disunion, that we may 
 have a free and glorious Union of our 
 own." 
 
 In an editorial in his paper, he says: 
 
 "Mark! How stands Massachusetts 
 at this hour, in reference to the Union ? 
 Just where she ought to be — in an atti- 
 tude of open hostility." 
 
 In the Liberator of June 20, 1856, 
 he says: 
 
 " The United States Constitution is a 
 covenant with death, an agreement with 
 hell." 
 
 We have no comments to offer upon 
 these effusions of William Lloyd Garri- 
 son. They need none. They are plain 
 enough. We ask our readers to read 
 them carefully, and to ponder over 
 them. 
 
 We have no desire to dwell upon this 
 arch-traitor and his treason, so we will 
 pass on. The speeches and acts of 
 Joshua R. Giddiugs, ot Ohio, arc as 
 familiar as household words. If it were 
 not that we wished to give him a place 
 in our catalogue of traitors, we would 
 not "touch him with a forty-foot pole." 
 
 In a speech delivered in the House of 
 Representatives, on the lGth of March, 
 1854, he said : 
 
 "Sir, I would intimidate no one, but 
 I tell you there is a spirit in the North 
 that will set at defiance all the low and 
 unworthy machinations of this Execu- 
 tive, and of the minions of its power. 
 When the contest shall come; when the 
 thunder shall roll and the lightning 
 flash; when, in imitation of the Cuban 
 bondmen, the Southern Slaves of the 
 South shall feel that they are men ; 
 
 when they feel the stirring emotions of 
 immortality, and recognize the stirring 
 truths that they are men, and entitled to 
 the rights which God has bestowed upon 
 them ; when the Slaves shall feel that, 
 and when masters shall turn pale and 
 tremble ; when their dwellings shall 
 smoke, and dismay sit on each counte- 
 nance ; then, Sir, I do not say ' we will 
 laugh at your calamity, and mock when 
 your fear cometh ;' but I do say, when 
 that time shall come, the lovers of our 
 race will stand forth and exert the legiti- 
 mate powers of this government for 
 freedom. We shall then have Constitu- 
 tional power to act. for the good of our 
 country, and do justice to the Slave. 
 
 " Then will we strike off the shackles 
 from the limbs of the Slaves. That 
 will be a period when this Government 
 will have power to act between Slavery 
 and freedom, and when it can make 
 peace by giving freedom to the Slaves. 
 And let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, that 
 that time hastens. It is rolling forward. 
 The President is exerting a power that 
 will hasten it, though not intended by 
 him. I hail it as I do the approaching 
 dawn of that political and moral mille- 
 nium, which, I am well assured, will 
 come upon the world." 
 
 Mr. Giddings can offer no claim to 
 originality, in announcing the doctrine, 
 that in case a servile insurrection should 
 occur, the Constitution would give the 
 Federal Government power over the sub- 
 ject of Slavery! That then, the Fede- 
 ral Government would have power to 
 crush this insurrection by the entire 
 abolition of Slavery. We say that Mr. 
 Giddings is not the author of this doc- 
 trine. He is merely a disciple. By 
 reference to the " Annals of Congress," 
 it will be seen that on the 2d day of Janu- 
 ary, 1841, John Quincy Adams, in the 
 celebrated debate which took place that 
 day, enunciated in plain and distinct 
 terms, this abominable and unconstitu- 
 tional doctrine. On the 9th of June, 
 1841, Mr. Adams repeated this doctrine. 
 
17 
 
 Let us ?ee what the Constitution says 
 on this subject : 
 
 Section IV, of Article IV, plainly 
 states: "1. The United States shall 
 guarantee to every State in this Union, a 
 Republican form of Government, ami 
 shall protect each of them against inva- 
 sion I Ami. on application of the Legis- 
 lature, or of the Executive, (when the 
 pre cannot be convened,) against 
 domestic violence." 
 
 Now it is well known that the Consti- 
 tution was adopted in a spirit of compro- 
 mise. 
 
 In 1R42, in the case of Sprigg vs. 
 the State of Pennsylvania, Mr. Justice 
 McLean said : 
 
 " That the Constitution was adopted 
 in a spirit of compromise, is a matter of 
 history." 
 
 It is also known, that no article of the 
 Constitution can legally be so con- 
 strued as to render of no effect any other . 
 article of the Constitution. 
 
 The Constitution gives protection to! 
 Slavery and to Slave-Holders The plea 
 that the framers of the Constitution in- 
 tended that it should be so construed as 
 to let Slavery die out by degrees, is 
 absurd. The very words show that Such 
 was not the design of our fathers- — they 
 show that our fathers expected that as 
 long as the Constitution should last, 
 Slavery would exist in its full vigor; 
 and that they desired its protection by 
 nil Government. 
 
 Now, let us see how the doctrine of 
 \dams and Giddings will work. 
 
 Let us suppose that an insurrection 
 amongst the Slaves of the State of Vir- 
 ginia should occur. Let us suppose that 
 the State; is not able to suppress it The 
 Legislature is convened — the Federal 
 Government is petitioned for aid. The 
 Federal troops are sent to Virginia, and 
 the insurrection is quelled. This is 
 nothing more than the Constitution de- 
 mands. The Federal Government has 
 no right to refuse such aid But can 
 the mere fact of a rebellion against a I 
 
 3 
 
 sovereign State, quelled by the Federal 
 Government, give to that power the 
 right to alter or abolish any law of the 
 State ? Does an unsuccessful rebellion, 
 do away with the laws already estab- 
 lished, and make it necessary to enact 
 others favorable to the purposes for 
 which the rebellion was institul 
 
 But suppose that the insurrection is 
 not quelled by the first aid rendered by 
 iral Government. Does not the 
 Constitution solemnly pledge the whole 
 force of the Union to the suppression of 
 "domestic violence?" Has the United 
 States any right to enact laws for any of 
 the sovereign States, without the consent 
 of the people of such States ? In case 
 of such an insurrection, when the civil 
 law could no longer prevail, it would be 
 the duty of the Commander-in-Chief of 
 the Federal Army to proclaim martial 
 law, and when tranquillity should be 
 again restored, the civil law would re- 
 take its place in all its former 
 and power. We contend that the Fede- 
 ral Government has no right to interfere 
 in the domestic arrangements of the 
 States. The Constitution, in requiring 
 the Federal Government to protect the 
 States, on their application, against all 
 dangers, foreign and domestic, does 
 nothing more than to require it to en- 
 force and compel obedience to the laws 
 of the States. 
 
 We contend, that neither Congress 
 nor the State Legislatures have power to 
 deprive the citizens of the Slave-Holdiug 
 States of their property, without their 
 consent. 
 
 But we have dwelt too long upon this, 
 and we must hasten on. Wendell Phil- 
 lips, in reviewing Mr. Webster's speech 
 "on the Constitutional rights of the 
 States." says : 
 
 " We are d is unionists, not from any 
 love of separate Confederacies, or as 
 ignorant of the thousand evils that 
 spring from neighboring and quarrel- 
 some States, but we would get rid of 
 this Union." 
 
18 
 
 At an Abolition meeting, held in Bos- 
 ton, in May, 1849. tin's same Wendell 
 Phillips makes the following Rtartling 
 declaration — men of the South, listen 
 to it — be warned by it. 
 
 He says : 
 
 "We confess that we intend to tram- 
 ple under foot the Constitution of this 
 country. Daniel Webster says : ' You 
 are a law-abiding people;' that the glory 
 of New England is, ' that it is a law- 
 abiding community.' Shame on it, if 
 this be true ; even if the religion of 
 New England sinks as low as its statute- 
 book. But I say. we are not a lav- 
 abiding community. God be, thanked 
 for it." 
 
 Hon. W. R. Sapp, of Ohio, in the 
 House of Representatives, during the 
 first session of the Thirty-fourth Con- 
 gress, said : 
 
 "Yes, with that freedom, Fremont 
 and Dayton emblazoned on the ample 
 folds of our national banner, we will 
 drive the base minions of Slavery from 
 their control of the Government, and we 
 will use its powers to build up our new 
 government free from the taints of 
 Slavery, and make America worthy of 
 being the North Star of freedom, by 
 whioh the eye of the exile can be guided 
 with safety to the asylum of liberty." 
 
 This Sajjp-headcd gentleman has, in a 
 few words, given us a very good history 
 of the intentions of the Abolition party, 
 and we give him quite a prominent place 
 upon our list of traitors. 
 
 Gen. James Watson Webb, of the 
 N. Y. Courier and Enquirer, an Aboli- 
 tion organ, " and we believe, the special 
 organ of Senator Seward," says : 
 
 " If we, (the Republicans.) fail there, 
 (at the ballot-box,) what then? We 
 will drive it, (Slavery,) back, sword in 
 hand; and, so help me God, believing 
 that to be right, I am with them." 
 
 In a speech delivered in Cleveland, 
 Ohio, in 1848, Mr. Seward declared : 
 
 " What then, you say nothing can be 
 done for freedom because the public 
 
 conscience is inert? Yes; much can 
 be done, everything can be done." 
 
 In the same speech, he said : 
 
 " Correct your own error, that Slavery 
 has any Constitutional guarantee which 
 may not be released, and ought not to be 
 relinquished." 
 
 In the same speech, he said : 
 
 " It (Slavery) can be. and it must be 
 abolished, and you and I can and must 
 do it." 
 
 In endorsing "The Impending Cri- 
 sis," by Hinton Rowan Helper, (to 
 (which we shall have occasion to refer 
 hereafter.) Mr. Seward said: 
 
 " I have read the Impending Crisis of 
 the South with great attention. It seems 
 to me a work of great merit, rich, yet 
 accurate in statistical information, and 
 logical in analysis." 
 
 The Speaker of the New York House 
 of Delegates, in referring to the Dred 
 Scott case, said : 
 
 " I recognize no power under Heaven 
 that can make a man a Slave. I recog- 
 nize no law — no Constitution that can 
 deprive a man of his personal rights and 
 liberty ; and I, a citizen of New York, 
 am ready to place this State in that atti- 
 tude. 
 
 "Suppose New York takes that 
 ground ; what then ? Some talk of 
 revolution, as if that were to be the 
 dreaded result. Sir, I love the word. 
 When this great State, with her three 
 millions and upwards of freemen, takes 
 that position, then I know that a death- 
 blow is struck at African Slavery. 
 
 "I would not permit a fugitive from 
 the South to be taken from our limits. 
 What then? Will James Buchanan 
 march troops into New York to coerce 
 us into submission ? We know that no 
 attempt will be made thus to coerce this 
 State when it takes this position." 
 
 We could continue to give such ex- 
 tracts, but we will not do so. We have 
 no desire to pain our readers with the 
 repetition of such treasonable sentiments. 
 We confess that we are sick of it. We 
 
19 
 
 have only given them to show the posi- 
 tion and sentiment of the North. What 
 is the result of our labor? We find the 
 North arrayed in a position hostile to 
 the Union — and breathing the bitterest 
 hatred against the South, and by their 
 mad and unlawful course, endangering 
 the peace, happiness and prosperity of 
 the American Union. But it may be 
 argued, that these extracts are only the 
 sentiments of individuals. But we ask, 
 do not these individuals represent the 
 masses ? Have not their sentiments been 
 echoed and re-echoed, until the whole 
 country resounds with them? Now that 
 we have sustained our charge against 
 the North — that it has been the cause of 
 all of our internal discord and troubles 
 — that from that quarter alone, has all 
 of the treason against the Government 
 proceeded. Now that we have proved 
 their guilt, and rescued the South from 
 the charges against it, let us look at 
 some of the results of their teachings. 
 
 The first that we shall notice, is the 
 Kansas War. The history of this war 
 is so well known that we will not pause 
 to make any comments upon it, or to 
 enter into any description of it. 
 
 Now for the second: In May, 1858, 
 a band of Abolition conspirators, under 
 the lead of one John Brown, of Kansas 
 notoriety, met in Chatham. Canada West, 
 and entered into a conspiracy to over- 
 throw the Federal Government of the 
 United States, and to abolish Slavery. 
 In order to give more dignity and force 
 to their operations, they laid the founda- 
 tion of. and adopted a Constitution for a 
 Provisional Government, and elected all 
 the officers required by the said Constitu- 
 tion, John Brown was chosen com- 
 mander-in-chief of the armies of the said 
 government. After transacting other 
 business, the Convention adjourned. 
 Brown moved to the State of Mary- 
 land, and settled in Washington Coun- 
 ty, on the border of the State. Here he 
 collected arms and ammunition, which 
 were furnished by Northern friends, and 
 
 some of which, he purchased in th« 
 North, under false pretences. Here 
 also, he received money from his friends 
 at the North, and when all of his plans 
 were completed, he, with twenty-one or 
 two others, made their way stealthily 
 into the little village of Harper's Ferry, 
 on the border of Virginia, on the night 
 of the 16th of October. 1859, and took 
 possession of it, and of an important 
 United States' Armory, containing about 
 fifty thousand stands of different kinds 
 of arms. After seizing the town and 
 armory, which were entirely in a de- 
 fenceless state — guarded by only two «n- 
 armed men; men were despatched to 
 different places in the country, to seize 
 the persons of several prominent gentle- 
 men, and collect the Slaves. At day- 
 light, on Monday, 17th. they were dis- 
 covered, and the alarm given. The 
 news .spread with the speed of lightning. 
 It reached Charlestown. ten miles dis- 
 tant, in an almost incredibly short time. 
 The volunteers were promptly ordered 
 under arms, and marched immediately 
 to the scene of danger. The news being 
 widely spread with intense rapidity, 
 volunteers from all parts of the country 
 hastened to the "seat of war." By 
 noon, on Monday, the town of Harper's 
 Ferry was completely invested. Be- 
 tween 3 and 4 o'clock, p. m.. although 
 in the midst of a severe storm, the con- 
 spirators were attacked — a portion of 
 their number killed, and the rest driven 
 into an engine-house in the armory yard. 
 Here the United States claimed the right 
 of dealing with them, and on Tuesday 
 morning, the 18th, Col. R. E. Lee, of 
 the U. S. Army, ordered a detachment 
 of marines, under the immediate com- 
 mand of Lieut. Green, to storm the 
 engine-house, and to take it. They did 
 so, and all of the insurgents were either 
 killed or taken prisoners. The prisoners 
 were surrendered to the State of Vir- 
 ginia. Not one escaped but two who 
 had been ordered away from the town 
 by Brown on the first night of the aei- 
 
20 
 
 zure. They were afterwards captured. 
 All the prisoners were given the benefit 
 of a fair and impartial trial, convicted 
 of treason, murder, and the attempt to 
 insurrection, and have paid the 
 penalty of their crimes on the gallows. 
 It is, indeed, gratifying to us to be able 
 to state that, in this foray, not one single 
 Since or white man joined Brown ; and 
 the few captured by him sunn escaped. 
 In the action between the troops and 
 conspirators, live men were killed, and 
 ten wounded. Among the former, were 
 several gentlemen of worth. 
 
 The "Joint Committee of the General 
 Assembly of Virginia," in their report 
 on this subji et, say : 
 
 "But in the opinion of your Commit- 
 tee, this is but a single, and compara- 
 tively unimportant chapter in the history 
 of this outrage. They would cheerfully 
 have undertaken the task of investigat- 
 ing the subject, in all its relations and 
 ramifications, it they had possessed the 
 power to compel the attendance of wit- 
 nesses, who reside beyond the limits of 
 the Commonwealth; but having no such 
 power they are constrained to leave that 
 branch of the investigation in the bands 
 of the Committee of the Senate of the 
 United States. Your Committee have 
 no hesitation, however, in expressing the 
 opinion, from the evidence before them, 
 that many others, besides the parties 
 directly engaged in the raid at Harper's 
 Ferry, are deeply implicated as aiders 
 and abettors and accessories, before the 
 fact, with full knowledge of the guilty 
 purposes of their confederates. Some 
 of these, like Gerrit Smith, of New 
 
 York, Dr S. G. Howe, of Boston, 
 
 Sanborn, and Thaddeus Hyatt, of New 
 York, and probably others, are repre- 
 sented to have held respectable positions 
 in society ; but whatever may have been 
 their social standing heretofore they 
 must henceforth, in the esteem of all 
 : men, be branded as the guilty 
 confederates of thieves, murderers and 
 traitors. 
 
 "Tbe evidence before your Commit- 
 tee is sufficient to show tbe existence, in 
 a number of Northern States, of a wide- 
 spread conspiracy, not merely against 
 Virginia, but against the peace and se- 
 curity of all the Southern States. But 
 the careful erasure of names and dates 
 from many of the papers, found in 
 Brown's possession, renders it difficult 
 to procure legal evidence of the guilt of 
 the parties implicated. The conviction 
 of tbe existence of such a conspiracy, is 
 deepened by the sympathy with tbe cul- 
 prits, which has been manifested by 
 large numbers of persons in tbe North- 
 ern States, and by the disposition which 
 vour Committee are satisfied did exist to 
 rescue them from the custody of the 
 law " 
 
 This report continues : 
 V This invasion of a sovereign State 
 by citizens of other States, confederated 
 with subjects of a foreign government, 
 presents matters for grave consideration. 
 It is an event without a parallel in the 
 history of our country. And when we 
 remember, that the incursion was marked 
 by distinct geographical features ; that 
 it was made by citizens of Northern 
 States on a Southern State; that all the 
 countenance and encouragement which 
 it received, and all the material aid 
 which was extended to it, were by citi- 
 zens of Northern States : and that its 
 avowed object was to make war upon 
 and overthrow an institution, intimately 
 interwoven with all the interests of the 
 Southern States, and constituting an 
 essential element of their social and 
 political systems — an institution which 
 has existed in Virginia for more than 
 two centuries, and which is recognized 
 and guaranteed by the mutual covenants 
 between the North and the South, em- 
 bodied in the Constitution of tbe United 
 States, every bhoughtful mind must be 
 filled with deep concern and anxiety for 
 the future p. ■ace and security of the 
 country. " 
 
 Such arc tbe facts connected with 
 
21 
 
 John Brown's foray into Virginia, which 
 we have styled the result of the Aboli- 
 tion teachings of the North. 
 
 Indeed, Senator Wilson, of Massachu- 
 setts, said at Syracuse, New York, Nov. 
 28th. 1859, "'The Harper's Ferry Out- 
 break was the consequence of the teach- 
 ings of Republicanism." 
 
 They have burst upon the country 
 like a thunderbolt; they have, at last, 
 roused the South to a true sense of her 
 danger and she is preparing to meet it 
 
 But it may be argued, that the evi 
 deuce before "the Joint Committee of 
 the General Assembly of Virginia,'' was 
 not sufficient to cause thcni to report, 
 ong fei ling of hostility towards, 
 and a widely-spread conspiracy against, 
 the youth now exists in the North. This 
 arguinept is false. But just for curios- 
 ity, let us see what the Northern press 
 and pulpit say in regard to this mailer: 
 
 The New 5Tork Evening Post, an 
 Abolition sheet, in its issue of Decem- 
 ber 3d, 1859, thus speaks of tb 
 tion of John Brown on the previous day : 
 
 "The Execution and its Effects 
 — The manner in which popular feeling 
 has manifested itself at the North, with 
 
 to Brown's execution, pi 
 . . of his own remark, when he 
 
 said; he could, in no way, so well serve 
 the cause he' had at heart, as by hanging 
 for it. We do not so much allude to 
 the outward manifestations of respect 
 for his name and memory, the devotion 
 of the hour of his death to prayer in a 
 great Dumber of churches, the tolling of 
 bells in many towns, the firing of minute 
 guns in others — though these have in 
 themselves a marked significance — as to 
 the pity which every one, whose pity is 
 worth having, has openly expri 
 
 man's fate; the sympathy which 
 almost every one seemed glad to avow 
 for his simple and manly virtues, and 
 the silence with which, for the sake of 
 those virtues, the faults and follies of a 
 wild ai. I wayward life have been covered 
 almost by the whole community. 
 
 "The death of a criminal on the gal- 
 lows, of whom half the nation speaks 
 tenderly, and whose last hours the 
 prayers and fastings of many thousands 
 of sincere religious men have sought to 
 hallow, is certainly not an incident to 
 be dismissed with newspaper paragraphs. 
 "He has been dismissed from the 
 bar with his judgment indeed impeached, 
 but with no weightier condemnation of 
 his acts, than that, they were marked 
 by folly. In war all is folly which does 
 not succeed ; the rule is harsh perhaps, 
 but necessary. Napoleon said, Lconidas 
 was no doubt a very fine fellow, 'but he 
 let himself be turned at Thermopylae' 
 lia, to be sure, thinks Brown more 
 a knave thau fool ; but in this matter 
 the Virginians bear much the same 
 relation to him, in the eyes of the world 
 at large, that Francis Joseph bears to 
 Kossuth. A luge part of the civilized 
 public will, as a large part of the world 
 Iready, lay on Ids tomb the honors 
 of martyrdom ; and while those honors 
 remain there, his memory will be more 
 terrible to Slave-Holders than his living 
 presence could have been; because it 
 will bring recruits to his cause, who 
 never would have served under his ban- 
 ner while he was wielding carnal 
 weapons. 
 
 "If all these be facts, they are, no 
 doubt, unpleasant facts for every oue 
 who has the future welfare of his coun- 
 try at heart, to contemplate. But that 
 is certainly not a reason for trying to 
 hide. 
 
 "It is, therefore, we think, a sign, 
 
 I not of national decline, but of growth in 
 all the real elements of national great-| 
 
 | ness, that sorrowing hundreds of thou- 
 sands should have been found to over- 
 look this man's errors, in admiration for 
 
 ; his heroism, for his fortitude, and of his 
 hatred of oppression. It is to such 
 qualities as these, and not a holy horror 
 
 I of mere disorder, that we owe our exist- 
 ence as a nation ; and when the day 
 
 ' comes in which no man will be found in 
 
22 
 
 America to cry bravo when he sees them, 
 our final extinction will not be very far 
 distant." 
 
 The following extracts are from a dis- 
 course preached in the Unitarian Church, 
 Dover, N. H., to a large and approving 
 congregation : 
 
 "No, it is not true, that the conflict 
 of Harper's Ferry is the beginning of a 
 civil war. That would be like saying 
 the capture of Yorktown was the be- 
 ginning of the Revolutionary struggle. 
 The meaning of that new sign, is this: 
 Freedom for ten years weakly standing 
 on the defensive, and for ten years de- 
 feated, has now become the assailant, 
 and has now gained the victory. The 
 Bunker Hill of our second Revolution 
 has been fought, and the second Warren 
 has paid the glorious forfeit of his life." 
 * * * * If an honest 
 expression' of the wishes of the North 
 could be taken to-morrow, John Brown 
 would be the, people's candidate for the 
 next Presidency, and he would receive a 
 million of votes. 
 
 "****** Editors and 
 politicians call Brown mad, and so he is 
 to them ; for he has builded his manly 
 life of more than three-score years upon 
 the faith and fear of God — a thing which 
 editors and politicians, from the time of 
 Christ till now, have always regarded as 
 a full proof of insanity. One such man 
 makes total depravity impossible, and 
 proves that American greatness died not 
 with Washington. The gallows from 
 which he ascends to Heaven, will be in 
 our politics what the cross is in our reli- 
 gion — tbe sign and symbol of supreme 
 self-devotedness; and from his sacrificial 
 blood, the temporary salvation of four 
 millions of people shall yet spring. On 
 the second day of December, he is to be 
 strangled in a Southern prison, for obey- 
 ing the Sermon on the Mount. But to 
 be hanged in Virginia, is like being cruci- 
 fied in Jerusalem — it is the last tribute 
 which sin pays to virtue." 
 
 We have no desire to give more of 
 
 these extracts. The above are the mild- 
 est that we have been able to discover. 
 
 We think that we have sustained our 
 position, and we leave this part of our 
 subject to notice that most infamous pro- 
 duction known as the "Impending Cri- 
 sis of the South, by Hinton Rowan 
 Helper, of North Carolina." It would 
 be difficult for us to describe the feelings 
 with which we have perused this abom- 
 inable and shameful production ; it is 
 more like the work of a fiend tban of a 
 human being. Professedly a Southerner 
 at heart, Helper is a villain — of the 
 darkest dye. He was driven out of 
 North Carolina on account of his dis- 
 honest and villainous propensities. 
 
 Some years ago, he published a Pro- 
 Slavery work, entitled "the Land of 
 Gold," but not finding it profitable, he 
 went over to the more lucrative side. 
 
 We will not dwell upon it any longer 
 tban to give a brief summary of the 
 doctrines contained in it. These are as 
 follows : 
 
 "Slave-Holders are a nuisance." 
 
 "It is our imperative duty to abate 
 nuisances." 
 
 " We propose to exterminate this cata- 
 logue from beginning to end." 
 
 " We believe that thieves are, as a 
 general thing, less amenable to the moral 
 law than Slave-Holders." 
 
 "Slave-Holders are more criminal 
 than common murderers." 
 
 "Slave-Holders and Slave-Traders 
 are, as a general thing, unfit to occupy 
 any honorable station in life." 
 
 " That tbey deserve to be at once re- 
 duced to a parallel with the basest crimi- 
 nals that lie fettered within the cells of 
 our public prisons." 
 
 " Were it possible that the whole 
 number (of Slave-Holders) could be 
 gathered together, and transferred into 
 four equal bands of licensed robbers, 
 ruffians, thieves, and murderers, so- 
 ciety, we feel assured, would suffer less 
 from their atrocities then, than it does 
 now." 
 
23 
 
 On page 76 of the Compendium, he 
 gives "the principles which," as he 
 conceives, "should govern them in their 
 patriotic warfare." 
 
 "First. — Thorough Organization and 
 Independent Political Action on 
 the part of the Non-Slave-Holding 
 Whites of the South. 
 " Second. — Ineligibility of Pro-Slaverv- 
 Holders. Never another vote for 
 any one who advocates the Reten- 
 tion and Perpetuation of Human 
 Slavery. 
 " Third. — No Co-operation with Pro- 
 Slavery Politicians. No Fellow- 
 ship with them in Religion. No 
 Affiliation with them in Society. 
 "Fourth. — No Patronage to Pro-Slavery 
 Merchants. No Guestship in Slave- 
 waiting Hotels. ' No Fees to Pro- 
 Slavery Lawyers. No Employment 
 of Pro-Slavery Physicians. No 
 Audience to Pro-Slavery Parsons. 
 "Fifth. — No more Hiring of Slaves by 
 
 Non-Slave-Holders. 
 " Sixth. — Abrupt Discontinuance of 
 Subscription to Pro-Slavery News- 
 papers. 
 "Seventh. — The Greatest Possible En- 
 couragement to Free White Labor." 
 This book has been endorsed by numer- 
 ous members of Congress, and leading 
 men of the Abolition party. It has been 
 heartily approved and earnestly recom- 
 mended by them. We have no desire to 
 enter upon a review of the book. We 
 feel too much contempt for the book and 
 its author, to wish to notice it further. 
 It has been ably reviewed, and its argu- 
 ments triumphantly refuted. We think 
 that we have made a very bad case 
 against the North ; and, in doing so, we 
 have simply stated "plain and unvar- 
 nished facts." 
 
 But it may be offered, as a last argu- 
 ment, that although the^- Northern people 
 are so unfriendly to the Union and to us, 
 that the States themselves are not. Let 
 us see : The Committee on the Harper's 
 Ferry Outrages, in their Report to the 
 
 Legislature of Virginia, furnish us with 
 ample information here. They say: 
 
 " If we turn to the legislative action 
 of the Northern States, in which that 
 (the Abolition) party has obtained the 
 ascendancy, we find that it is in strict 
 conformity with their mischievous dog- 
 mas. Their statute-books are filled with 
 enactments, conceived in a spirit of hos- 
 tility to the institutions of the South, at 
 war with the true intent and meaning of 
 the Federal Compact, and adopted for 
 the express purpose of rendering nuga- 
 tory some of the express covenants of 
 the Constitution of the United States.' 7 
 
 The report then goes on to give a 
 brief sketch of some of the most promi- 
 nent features of the Anti-Slavery Laws. 
 
 MAINE. 
 
 " By the laws of this State it is pro- 
 vided, that if a Fugitive Slave shall be 
 arrested, he shall be defended by the 
 Attorney for the Commonwealth, and 
 all expenses of such defence paid out of 
 the public treasury. The use of all 
 State and County jails, and of all build- 
 ings belonging to the State, are forbid- 
 den for the reception or securing of 
 Fugitive Slaves, and all officers are for- 
 bidden, under heavy penalties, from 
 arresting or aiding in the arrest, of such 
 fugitives. If a Slave-Holder, or any 
 person, shall unlawfully seize or confine 
 a Fugitive Slave, he shall be liable to be 
 imprisoned for not more than five years, 
 or fined not exceeding $1,000. If a 
 Slave-Holder takes a Slave into the 
 State, the Slave is thereby made free ; 
 and if the master undertake to exercise 
 any control over him, he is subjected to 
 imprisonment for not less than one year, 
 or fined not exceeding $1,000. 
 
 " The Dred Scott decision of the 
 Supreme Court has been declared un- 
 constitutional, and many offensive and 
 inflammatory resolutions have been 
 passed by the Legislature. 
 
24 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 " Your Committee have not had ac- 
 cess to a complete series of the laws of 
 this State, but a general index which 
 has been consulted, shows that a law 
 exists, by which all Slaves entering the 
 State, either with or without the consent 
 of their masters, are declared free; and 
 an- attempt to capture or hold them is 
 declared to be a felony. 
 
 VERMONT. 
 
 " This State seems to have entirely 
 forgotten the conservative and law-abid- 
 ing sentiment which governed its action 
 in the earliest period of her history." 
 
 " Her law now forbids all citizens, or 
 officers of the State, from executing or 
 assisting to execute, the Fugitive Slave 
 Law, or to arrest a Fugitive Slave, under 
 penalty of imprisonment for not less 
 than one vear, or a fine not exceeding 
 $1,000. It also forbids the use of all 
 public jails or buildings for the purpose 
 of securing such Slaves. The Attorneys 
 for the State are directed, at public ex- 
 pense, t.i defi nd and procure to be dis- 
 charged every person arrested as a 
 Fugitive Slave. The habeas corpus act 
 also provides that Fugitive Slaves shall 
 be tried by jury, and interposes other 
 obstacles to the execution of the Fugi- 
 tive Slave L;,\V. 
 
 "The law further provides, that all 
 persons capturing ore z,i..> or confinng 
 any person as a Fugitive Slave, shall be 
 confined in the Slate prison not more 
 than ten years, and lined nut exceeding 
 $1,000. Every person held as a Slave, 
 wdio shall In; brought into the State, is 
 declared free ; and all persons who shall 
 held or attempt to hold, as a Slave, any 
 ona so brought into the Slate, in any 
 form, or for any time, however short, 
 shall be confined in tin; State prison not 
 lees than oie' nor more than Sfteen years, 
 and fined net exceeding $2,000. The 
 Legislature has also passed sundry offen- 
 sive resolutions. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 " The laws of this State forbid, under 
 heavy penalties, her citizens, and State 
 ami County officers, from executing the 
 Fugitive Slave Law, or from arresting a 
 Fugitive Slave, or from aiding in either; 
 and denies the use of her jails and publio 
 buildings for such purposes. 
 
 " The Governor is required to appoint 
 Commissioners in every County, to aid 
 Fugitive Slaves in recovering their free- 
 dom, when proceeded against as Fugitive 
 Slaves, and all costs attending such pro- 
 ceedings are ordered to be paid by the 
 State. 
 
 "Any person who shall remove, or 
 attempt to remove, or come into the 
 State with the intention to remove, or 
 assist in removing, any person who is 
 not a Fugitive Slave, within the mean- 
 ins; of the Constitution, is liable to pun- 
 ishment by fine of not less than $1,000 
 nor more than $5,000, and imprisoned 
 not less than one nor more than five 
 years. 
 
 ' ' The habeas corpus act gives trial by 
 jury to Fugitive Slaves, and interposes 
 of her unlawful impediments to the execu- 
 tion of the Fugitive Slave Law. Her 
 Legislature has also passed violent and 
 offensive resolutions. 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
 "This State, which, as late as 1840, 
 tolerated Slavery within her own borders, 
 as appears by the ceusus of that year, 
 prohibits, under severe penalties, all her 
 officers from executing the Fugitive Slave 
 Law, and vacates all official acts which 
 may be done by them in attempting to 
 execute that law. 
 
 " By the Act of 1854, Section 1. it is 
 provided, that every person who shall 
 falsely and maliciously declare, repre- 
 sent, or pretend chat any person entitled 
 to freedom is a Slave, or owes service or 
 labor to any person or persons, with the 
 intent to procure, or aid or assist in pro- 
 curing, the forcible removal of such free 
 
25 
 
 person from this State, as a Slave, shall 
 pay a fine of $5,000, and shall be im- 
 prisoned for five years in the State prison. 
 
 "Si ction -. In all cases arising under 
 this act, the truth of any declaration, 
 representation, or pretence, that any per- 
 son being or having been in this State, 
 is or was a Slave, owes or did owe ser- 
 vice or labor to any other person or per- 
 sons, shall not be deemed proved, ex- 
 cept by the testimony of at least two 
 credible witnesses, testifying to facts 
 directly tending to the truth of such 
 declaration, pretence or representation, 
 or by legal evidence equivalent thereto.' 
 
 '•Section 8 — subjects to a fine of 
 05,000, and imprisoned in the State 
 prison for five years, all who shall seize 
 any person entitled to freedom, with the 
 in! nt to have such person held in Sla- 
 very. 
 
 '• Section 4 — prohibits the admission of 
 depositions in all cases under this act, 
 and provides, that if any witness testifies 
 falsely in behalf of the party accused, 
 and prosecuted under this act, he shall 
 be fined $5,000, and imprisoned five 
 years in the State prison. This law is, 
 in the opinion of your Committee, but 
 little short of an invitation to perjury, 
 by imposing no penalties on false swear- 
 ing a</(/i>isi the accused. 
 
 "The resolutions of the Legislature are 
 disorganizing and offensive. 
 
 RHODE TSLAND. 
 
 "The statutes of Rhode Island pro- 
 vide, that any one who transports, or 
 causes to be transported, by land or 
 water, any person lawfully inhabiting 
 therein, to any place without the limits 
 of the State, except by due course of 
 law, shall be imprisoned not less than 
 one nor more than ten years. They 
 also prohibit all officers from aiding in 
 executing the Fugitive Slave Law. or 
 arresting a Fugitive Slave; and deny the 
 use of her jaiis and public buildings for 
 securing any such fugitives. 
 
 4 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 "This State has enacted, that any 
 person who shall, without lawful au- 
 thority, remove or attempt to remove 
 from this State any Fugitive Slave, shall 
 forfeit to the party aggrieved five hun- 
 dred dollars, and be imprisoned not ex- 
 ceeding ten years in the State prison; 
 and all accessories after the fact are also 
 liable to imprisonment. 
 
 " The habeas corpus act provides that 
 Fugitive Slaves shall be entitled to trial 
 by jury, and makes it the duty of all 
 the Commonwealth's Attorneys to defend 
 Fugitive Slaves at the expense of the 
 State. 
 
 " New York has a fugitive law of her 
 own. which is of no practical use, and 
 has forbidden her judicial officers from 
 proceeding under any other law. 
 
 "Prior to 1841, persons not inhabi- 
 tants of the State, were allowed to take 
 their Slaves with them, and keep them 
 in the State for a limited time, but the 
 law has been repealed. 
 
 | 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 " Her law provides that, if any person 
 shall forcibly take away from this State, 
 any man, woman, or child, bond or free, 
 into another State, he shall be punished 
 by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by 
 imprisonment at hard labor not exceeding 
 five years, or both. 
 
 •' The habeas corpus act gives a trial 
 by jury to Fugitive Slaves, and all judi- 
 cial officers are prohibited from acting 
 under any other than the law of New 
 Jersey. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 " Prior to 1847, non-resident owners 
 of Slaves were allowed to retain them in 
 Pennsylvania, not exceeding six months. 
 In 1847. this privilege was revoked. 
 Slaves are also allowed to testify in all 
 cases in the Courts of Pennsylvania. It 
 
26 
 
 is further provided by law, that any per- 
 son ' who violently or tumultuously 
 seizes upon any negro or mulatto, and 
 carries such negro away to any place, 
 either with or without the intention of 
 taking such negro before a District or 
 Circuit Judge, shall be fined not exceed- 
 ing $1,000, and imprisoned in the 
 County jail not exceeding three months.' 
 The law also punishes, with a heavy fine 
 and imprisonment in the penitentiary, 
 any person who may forcibly carry away, 
 or attempt to carry away, any free negro 
 or mulatto from the State. The sale of 
 Fugitive Slaves is prohibited under heavy 
 penalties, and a trial by jury is secured 
 to Fugitive Slaves, in violation of the 
 laws of the United States. 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 " Illinois has prohibited, under pain 
 of imprisonment of not less than one 
 nor more than seven years, any person 
 from stealing or arresting any Slave, 
 with the design of taking such Slave out 
 of the State, without first having estab- 
 lished his claim thereto, according to the 
 laws of the United States. These penal- 
 ties will he incurred by the master who 
 pursues his Slave across the border, and 
 apprehends him without waiting for the 
 action of the Commissioner or Court. 
 
 INDIANA. 
 
 "Some of the laws of this State are 
 favorable to the recovery of fugitives 
 from labor. But the law as to kid- 
 napping is similar to that of Illinois, as 
 above noted, except that the penalties 
 are greater. The fine is not less than 
 $100 nor more than $5,000, and the 
 term of imprisonment not less than two 
 nor more than fourteen years. 
 
 OHIO. 
 
 "In 1858, the most offensive parts of 
 the laws of this State were repealed. It 
 
 is understood, however, that measures 
 are in contemplation, if they have not 
 already been initiated, to re-enact them. 
 
 MICHIGAN. 
 
 " The laws of this State are peculiarly 
 obnoxious to criticism. They not only 
 deny the use of jails and public build- 
 ings to secure Fugitive Slaves, and 
 require the Attorneys for the Common- 
 wealth to defend them, at the expense of 
 the State, but the law of Connecticut, 
 in relation to the punishment of persons 
 falsely alleging others to be Slaves, is 
 adopted with the addition, that any per- 
 son who carries a Slave into this State, 
 claiming him as such, shall be punished 
 by imprisonment in the State prison for 
 a period not exceeding ten years, or by 
 a fine not exceeding $1,000. 
 
 "The habeas corpus act provides for 
 trial by jury, of claims to Fugitive 
 Slaves. 
 
 " Resolutions have also been adopted 
 by the Legislature urging the repeal of 
 the Fugitive Slave Law, and the prohi- 
 bition of Slavery in the District of- Co- 
 lumbia and the Territories. 
 
 WISCONSIN. 
 
 " Following the example of her sister 
 States of the North, in parts of their 
 hostile legislation, this State has, in 
 some particulars, gone beyond all the 
 rest. She has directed her District At- 
 torneys, in all cases of Fugitive Slaves, 
 to appear for and defend them, at the 
 expense of the State. She has required 
 the issue of the writ of habeas corpus, on 
 the mere statement of the District Attor- 
 ney, that a person in custody is detained 
 as a Fugitive Slave, and requires all her 
 judicial and executive officers, who have 
 reason to believe that a person is about 
 to be arrested on such ground, to give 
 notice to the District Attorney of the 
 County where the person resides. If a 
 Judge in vacation fails to discharge the 
 
27 
 
 arrested Fugitive Slave on habeas corpus, 
 an appeal is allowed to the next Circuit 
 Court. 
 
 " Trial by jury is to be granted at the 
 election of either party, and all costs of 
 trial, which would otherwise fall on the 
 fugitive, are assumed by the State. 
 
 " A law has also been enacted, simi- 
 lar to that of Connecticut, for the pun- 
 ishment of one who shall falsely and 
 maliciously declare any person to be a 
 Fugitive Slave, with intent to aid in 
 procuring the forcible removal of such 
 person from the State as a Slave. A 
 section is added to the provisions of this, 
 Connecticut law, for the punishment by 
 imprisonment in the State prison, of any 
 person who shall obstruct the execution 
 of a warrant issued under it, or aid in 
 the escape of the person accused. Ano- 
 ther section forbids the enforcement of a 
 judgment recovered for the violation of 
 ' the Fugitive Slave Act,' by the sale of 
 any real or personal property in the 
 State, and makes its provisions applica- 
 ble to judgments theretofore rendered. 
 
 " The law relative to kidnapping pun- 
 ishes the forcible seizure, without lawful 
 authority, of any person of color, with 
 intent to cause him to be sent out of the 
 State, or sold as a Slave, or in any man- 
 ner to transfer his service or labor, or 
 the actual selling or transferring the ser- 
 vice of such person, by imprisonment in 
 the State prison from one to two years, 
 or by fine from $500 to $1,000. The 
 consent of the person seized, sold, or 
 transferred, not to be a defence, unless it 
 appear to the jury that it was not ob- 
 tained by fraud, nor extorted by duress 
 or by threats. 
 
 IOWA. 
 
 " The law of this State is similar to 
 that of Indiana, except that here there 
 seems to be no direct provision favoring 
 the recovery of Fugitive Slaves. Like 
 that of Indiana and Illinois, the law as 
 to kidnapping may be so construed, as 
 
 greatly to obstruct the arrest of such 
 fugitive. The maximum of punishment 
 is, however, something less, being five 
 years in the State prison, and a fine of 
 $1,000. 
 
 •'Offensive resolutions have also been 
 adopted by its Legislature. 
 
 MINNESOTA. 
 
 " What is to be objected to the legis- 
 lation of this State is, that there is no 
 sufficient recognition of the right of the 
 master to recover his Fugitive Slave ; 
 and, consequently, even if such was not 
 the design of the omission, the way is left 
 open for the perversion of the law rela- 
 tive to the writ of habeas corpus, to the 
 injury of Slave owners." 
 
 Such, then, is a brief summary of the 
 hostile laws of the Non-Slave-Holding 
 States, and we offer them as our answer 
 to the last argument submitted to us. 
 
 We have, in a larger space than we- 
 originally intended, given a brief history 
 of the rise, the progress, and the acts of 
 the Abolition Party. We have seen 
 that their whole course has been one cal- 
 culated to bring about a rupture of all 
 good feelings between the two great sec- 
 tions of the country ; to produce disunion 
 and discord ; and to excite a just alarm 
 on the part of the Slave-Holding States. 
 
 We have seen them sustained in this 
 course by legislative enactments and reso- 
 lutions. 
 
 The picture of the North that we have 
 drawn is a dark one, but it is not exag- 
 gerated — it is terrible, but true ! We 
 have drawn it in strong colors — but we 
 have done so in no spirit of hatred to the 
 North, or a desire to produce a sectional 
 hatred against it in the South. We have 
 done so, only to show rhe true position of 
 the North — to rescue the South from the 
 charges of treasou, disunion, and section- 
 al strife ; and, finally, to point out to her 
 her danger, and to warn her to prepare 
 to meet it. 
 
28 
 
 We have endeavored to show the ag- 
 gressions of the North upon Southern 
 Rights. During the long period in 
 which the Slavery question has been agi- 
 tated, the South has never presented 
 itself in any attitude but that of peace ; 
 it has demanded of the North no sacri- 
 fice of Territory, or of its Constitu- 
 tional rights ; it has uttered no cries of 
 treason, or threats of disunion ; it has 
 pointed to the Union, and implored 
 peace, "when there was no peace;" it 
 has met every aggression upon its rights 
 with compromises and sacrifices ; it has 
 submitted to insult and injury, because 
 it hoped for a returning sense of justice 
 at the North ; it has said to the North — 
 "Do not menace our beloved Union — 
 remember whose work it was ;" it has 
 said to the North — " Go on, increase and 
 prosper. Make your country as proud 
 and as glorious as you will ; we will re- 
 joice in your happiness, for you are a 
 part of us." It has asked — nay. it, has 
 implored — to be left alone in the enjoy- 
 ment of its Constitutional rights and pri- 
 vileges. — To be let alone ! Often and 
 earnestly has this prayer gone forth ; — 
 and what was the result? Fresh aggres- 
 sions — new attacks upon its rights. 
 
 Now, the South has sacrificed — has 
 compromised every thiug but its homes 
 and its honor It has awakened to a 
 true sense of its danger and its rights. 
 It has ceased to be a suppliant, and it 
 now demands to be left alone in the en- 
 joyment of its rights and blessings.— To 
 be let alone ! It. has determined to en- 
 force these rights, if it must be, with the 
 sword. 
 
 Long suffering, long oppressed — for a 
 long time patiently waiting for a restora- 
 tion of peace and harmony — but disap- 
 pointed in her expectations — the South 
 has seen that the only course left for her 
 to pursue is, Resistance to Anti-Slavery 
 Aggression. 
 
 It is well known that the only protec- 
 tion to the South which now exists, is 
 the Act of Congress passed September 
 
 12th, 1850, and known as "The Fugitive 
 Slave Law," — and this sole protection is 
 made null and void by the unconstitu- 
 tional laws of the Free States. These 
 States array themselves in open hos- 
 tility towards the South, and defy her to 
 maintain her rights. And, even now, the 
 North has demanded, with unblushing 
 front, the repeal of this law, and the 
 Legislature of Massachusetts, by an offi- 
 cial act, have sanctioned this demand. 
 What course should the South pursue 
 in regard to this? is the question which 
 will at once present itself to every mind. 
 That there is danger now threatening 
 the South no one will deny. It would 
 be foolish — aye. worse than foolish, for 
 us to shut our eyes and profess not to see 
 it as it stares us in the face. It is a dan- 
 ger of no trifling character- — a danger of 
 such a character that it becomes neces- 
 sary to meet it, and to meet it at once. 
 Delay is dangerous; every moment that 
 we lose in pausing to consider, our 
 cause is being weakened, whilst that of 
 our aggressors is being visibly strength- 
 ened. How then can this danger be 
 met? By prompt and immediate ac- 
 tion. Let the South organize her mili- 
 tia, and use every possible means to 
 place herself in a state of defence. — -But 
 in all of her actions let her be united 
 and not divided. Union will give her 
 strength. Let her encourage and de- 
 velop her domestic resources ; let her 
 take such steps as to lay the foundation 
 of a commercial and manufacturing sys- 
 tem, which shall be independent of the 
 North ; let her learn to rely upon herself 
 — God has given us a rich 'and fertile 
 laud, a land which can be made to yield 
 enough for our own support, and for 
 the support of others. We have amongst 
 us all the elements of greatness — politi- 
 cal, commercial and domestic. We can 
 make the South equal to any country in 
 the world, and we must do it When 
 the South is organized and armed, let the 
 entire Smith demand of their sister States 
 at the North, what course they intend 
 
29 
 
 pursuing with regard to Slavery: let 
 her demand a recognition by them of 
 her rights, and a pledge for their security 
 and protection ; let her demand (and 
 Bhe has a right to do so) an immediate 
 and unconditional repeal of all the un- 
 constitutional and hostile laws upon the 
 subject of Slavery that now exist in the 
 Free States. Let her make these de- 
 mands mildly, but firmly ; let her not 
 yield or compromise one single point, 
 but let her insist upon the unconditional 
 acknowledgment and protection of her 
 rights. We say, let her do this, and it 
 may be that by facing the danger she 
 may avert it, and this Union be perpe- 
 tuated. But if her demands be refused, 
 (and God grant that they may not be,) 
 she has but oue alternative left, she must 
 withdraw from the Union, peaceably if 
 possible, violently if it must be so. Let 
 the result be what it may, she can, in 
 such a ease, remain in the Union only 
 by the sacrifice of her rights; of her 
 greatness; of her honor; and, it may 
 be, of her children. 
 
 She has proved her devotion to the 
 Union sufficiently; she must now look 
 to her own safety. When the Union 
 cannot secure her her rights and priv- 
 ileges; when it is used as an instrument I 
 to attack, degrade and crush her, it will j 
 be already virtually annulled, and ail 
 that will be left to be done, will be for j 
 the South to withdraw from it, to form 
 a government for herself, and to rely 
 upon herself for protection. 
 
 We have no desire to see this Union i 
 destroyed, but as a last resort; and must 
 earnestly do we pray, that the Divine 
 Governor of the World will so order all 1 
 things, as to secure to us, a perpetual 
 Union of eqdal indepenuent sovereign 
 States. 
 
 We have already shown how terrible 
 and how dangerous to the Union is the 
 existence of the Abolition Party. We 
 have counselled resistance to them. 
 Before we take leave of our readers we 
 
 would most earnestly entreat them to 
 resist, by every means in their powea, 
 the election of an Abolition President. 
 We implore them, for the sake of the 
 Union ; tor the sake of the South, to re- 
 sist it. Resist it, because when an 
 Abolition traitor fills the President's 
 Chair, the last hope of the South will be 
 gone. An Abolition President can 
 wield a terrible power against the South. 
 He can fill every office in his gift with 
 his fellow-traitors; he can strengthen 
 the hands of his party so effectually, as 
 to prevent the South from ever being 
 able to defeat it. He can begin to turn 
 African Slaves into Freemen, by turning 
 Southern Freemen into Slaves; and the 
 South will then, in self-defence, be com- 
 pelled to withdraw from the Union— 
 but, alas ! in what a shattered condi- 
 tion. 
 
 Men of the South, we appeal to you 
 to be men indeed. Look to the interests 
 of the South. Guard them with sleep- 
 less vigilance. May God give you 
 strength so to act, as to secure the great- 
 est possible good for your country and 
 the Union. 
 
 The South has now an opportunity of- 
 fered her, which, in our humble judg- 
 ment, she ought not to neglect. Tiie 
 State of South Carolina proposes to her 
 sister Southern States, that they shall 
 each appoint delegates to a Convention, 
 to be held in Atlanta, Georgia. 
 
 The object of this Convention is not to 
 dissolve the Union, nor even to endanger 
 its safety. It is a Convention, called for 
 the purpose of bringiug the entire South 
 into a united body, and to devise some 
 means for securing the greatest possible 
 happiness and stability to the entire 
 country, and to adopt measures for 
 the enforcement of the rights of the 
 South. 
 
 The following letter from the Governor 
 of South Carolina, fully and ably sets 
 forth the objects of the proposed Con- 
 vention. 
 
30 
 
 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 
 
 Ukionville, S. C, Feb. 3, 1860. 
 To His Excellency, Thomas II. Hicks, 
 
 Governor of Maryland. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Yours of the 26th of January, acknow- 
 ledging the receipt of the resolutions 
 unanimously adopted by the State of 
 South Carolina, was received yesterday : 
 and I must be permitted to correct a 
 very grave error into which you have 
 fallen in relation to them. You speak 
 of the resolutions as "requesting this 
 State (Maryland) to join in the appoint- 
 ment of Deputies to a Convention of the 
 Slave-Holding States, for their united 
 action in regard to secession from the 
 Union." If there is anything in the 
 resolutions proposing a "secession from 
 the Union," I am unable find it, and deny 
 that South Carolina proposes any such 
 measures to Maryland, or her other co- 
 States. By re-examining the resolutions, 
 you will find that all that South Carolina 
 proposes is, "that the Slave-Holding 
 States should immediately meet together 
 to concert measures for the united action." 
 and that it is a forced and unwarrantable 
 construction of the resolutions to say, 
 that " concerted action" means secession 
 from the Union. I belong to that class 
 of politicians who have been denounced 
 as "fire-caters." and never, for a mo- 
 ment, have I desired a dissolution of the 
 Union, if our rights in the Union are 
 respected and our equality recognized. 
 And I solemnly believe that the very 
 best way to preserve the Union, is for 
 the Southern States to meet and insist 
 upon their rights, and to act in concert 
 in defending them. If the South were 
 united, they could preserve the Union, 
 and at the same time have their rights 
 respected and recognized. It is because 
 the Southern States have acted with so 
 much jealousy and distrust towards each 
 other, that the North has been able to 
 encroach upon their rights, and war upon 
 their institutions. If 1 desired a disso- 
 
 lution of the Union, and wished to effect 
 it, nothing would please me more than 
 the refusal of the Slave-Holding States 
 to meet in Convention : for then the 
 North will contiuue its aggressions, and 
 some of the Slave-Holding States, goaded 
 to madness, will secede, preferring to be 
 held as conquered provinces rather than 
 become voluntary slaves. Speaking for 
 myself, I would rather "South Carolina 
 should become the cemetery of freemen 
 than the habitation of Slaves," and ani- 
 mated by these sentiments, our people 
 never will submit to inequality and degra- 
 dation. 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 I am, yours. &c, 
 
 WM. H. GIST. 
 
 This letter explains fully and ably the 
 objects of the proposed Convention. A 
 perpetuation of the Union, and to advise 
 the South how to act in the present criti- 
 cal condition of the country. 
 
 The Minority of the Joint Committee 
 of the Virginia Legislature, upon the 
 South Carolina Resolutions, speak of this 
 as follows : 
 
 " We submit with great deference that 
 if ' concurrent action and efficient co- 
 operation' upon the part of the Southern 
 States be desirable, for the purpose of 
 protecting the rights and, liberties of the 
 people and preserving the Federal Union, 
 they may be most safely and certainly 
 obtained through the agency of an as- 
 semblage, which can exercise no legiti- 
 mate power, except to ' debate and ad- 
 vise.' In the opinion of the Minority 
 of your Committee, the want of power 
 in the proposed Conference to do more 
 than ' debate and advise,' so far from 
 constituting an objection to it, furnishes 
 a strong argument in its favor, and gives 
 assurance to the timid, that none of the 
 evils, so hastily predicted by the oppo- 
 nents of the measure, can possibly result 
 from the proposed Conference of the 
 Southern States." ****** 
 
 " It is not in the South alone that wo 
 
31 
 
 look for the happiest results from such a 
 Conference. W e believe that the con- 
 servative masses of the North will be 
 aroused by such a Conference as we pro- 
 pose; that concurrent action, and efficient 
 co-operation, may be anticipated from 
 them, and that the}' will cordially unite 
 witli us to save that Uuion which they, 
 in common with us, regard as the ' pal- 
 ladium of our political safety and pros- 
 perity.' We repeat then, that it is with 
 no spirit or desire to weaken or destroy 
 the bonds that bind together the States 
 of the American Union, but to strengthen 
 them, that we urge the General Assem- 
 bly of Virginia to respond to the invita- 
 tion of .South Carolina, by sending dele- 
 gates i't the proposed Conference. Let 
 Virginia send such men as she may safely 
 confide in for prudence, patriotism and 
 discretion ; such men as will counsel 
 wisely and firmly — who, whilst they 
 make known tin' policy deemed by Vir- 
 ginia best suited to the emergency for 
 the common defence, will urge upon our 
 Southern Sisters, the adoption of that 
 policy, and invoke them to remain with 
 us in the Union ; and exhaust every 
 peaceful and constitutional means for its 
 preservation and restoration, before they 
 withdraw from it, and involve themselves 
 and us in the disaster of its overthrow. 
 " We know full well that the effort 
 has been made, and will be made again, 
 for purposes best known to those who 
 engage in it. to stigmatize as Disunionists 
 all who think that the Southern States 
 n:a\ and should meet together, ami coun- 
 sel for their common safety, and for n - 
 dress of their common grievances. If 
 any amongst us are weak enough to be 
 frightened from their propriety by sue!) 
 false clamor, we have only to say for 
 ourselves, that the application of such an 
 epithet cannot deter us from urging a 
 measure, upon the success of which we 
 conscientiously and firmly believe the 
 salvation of this Union essentially de- 
 pends. It will not restrain us from 
 seeking, by such peaceful and constitu- 
 
 tional means, to obtain for Virginia her 
 full, equal, and constitutional rights un- 
 der the Federal Government. 
 
 " We also know it has been repre- 
 rented by some, that it is the avowed 
 object of South Carolina to bring about 
 this Conference for the purpose of dis- 
 solving the Union. Neither in her reso- 
 lutions, nor in the address of her Com- 
 missioner, can any warrant for such an 
 assertion be found. South Carolina has 
 spoken in her resolutions, and through 
 her Commissioner, with that candor and 
 frankness becoming the occasion, and 
 her chivalrous character. Let her speak 
 for herself, and let an enlightened and 
 candid people judge whether she has not 
 been grossly misrepresented in her pur- 
 poses and declarations. 
 
 "The preamble to her resolutions an- 
 nounces that, in 1852. by her ordinance, 
 she 'affirmed her right to secede from 
 the Confederacy whenever the occasion 
 should arise justifying her, in her own 
 judgment, in taking that step; and in 
 tiie resolution adopted by her Convention. 
 declared, that she forbore the immediate 
 exercise of that right from considerations 
 of expediency only.' 
 
 " Now, we demand to know whether, 
 in the assertion of the right to secede 
 from the Union, South Carolina has ren- 
 dered herself obnoxious to the charge of 
 seekiug to dissolve the Union? If so, 
 how stands Virginia? Does she not 
 maintain now, has she not always main- 
 tained, the right to secede under such 
 circumstances? South Carolina lias then 
 affirmed the right, but desisted from the 
 act of secession. And why did she de- 
 sist ? Because Virginia, by her resolu- 
 tions of December. 1851. 'earnestly and 
 affectionately appeals to her sinter State of 
 South Carolina, to desist from any medi- 
 tated secession on her part, ichich cannot 
 but tend to the destruction of tie Union, 
 and the loss to all the States of the be?iefits 
 that spring from it.' 
 
 " The preamble further declares, that 
 since that declaration was made, ' the 
 
82 
 
 assaults upon the institution of Slavery, 
 and upon the rights and equality of the 
 Southern States, have unceasingly con- 
 tinued, with increasing violence, and in 
 new and more alarming forms.' Is this 
 not true? What did South Carolina, by 
 her resolutions, declare and propose ? 
 'Still deferring to her Southern sisters,' 
 she 'respectfully announces' to them, 
 that it is • her deliberate judgment that 
 the Slave-Holding .States should immedi- 
 ately meet together, to concert measures 
 Jar united action' Secondly, she re- 
 quested all the Southern States to ap- 
 point deputies; and, lastly, she sent a 
 Special Commissioner to Virginia, 'to 
 express to the authorities the cordial 
 sympathy of the people of South Caroli- 
 na with the people of Virginia, and their 
 earnest desire to unite with them in mea- 
 sures of common defence' and to urge 
 upon her the appointment of Commis- 
 sioners to 'a Conference of the Slave- 
 Holding States.' 
 
 " It will be observed, that the Report 
 of the Majority concedes the necessity of 
 'decisive measures,'' 'concurrent action," 
 and 'efficient co-operation' among the 
 Southern States. The resolutions of 
 South Carolina recognize the necessity 
 for 'united action,'' and the adoption of 
 ' measures of common defence,' by the 
 Southern States. In other words, they 
 desire substantially the same thing, but 
 propose different modes of obtaining it. 
 What the one proposes to accomplish by 
 the separate action of the several State 
 Legislatures, without precious concert, 
 the other proposes to accomplish by 
 united action upon the part- of all, ascer- 
 taining first, lijj means of a Conference, 
 what measures are proper to be concerted 
 for the common defence of all. 
 
 " The only advantage claimed by the 
 Majority for their phm, over the one pro- 
 posal by the resolutions of South Caro- 
 lina is, that by it tin' common object may 
 be more safely obtained. We affirm 
 then, without the fear of successful con- 
 tradiction, that no warrant is to be found | 
 
 in the preamble and resolutions of South 
 Carolina for the charge, that the Confer- 
 ence is a Disunion measure. Let us for 
 a moment, theu, examine the proposition 
 as explained by her Commissioner. In 
 his address, he says : 
 
 "'But why waste our time in sur- 
 mise, when realities are thrust openly 
 before us? Can any one mistake the 
 roaring of the storm at Washington ? 
 Has the column of the Republican Party 
 there shown any sign of wavering? 
 Was ever such a spectacle presented to 
 this country before ? There are plainly 
 exhibited the dire effects of this array of 
 sections — and there, in that conflict for 
 the mastery, is foreshadowed that real 
 conflict between the States, to which we 
 are soon to be summoned. 
 
 "'Will you undertake that conflict 
 singly, or shall we actio concert? That 
 is the great question which I am com- 
 missioned to ask. In 1847, and again 
 in 1849, your judgment pronounced in 
 favor of 'concerted action.' We have 
 adopted your judgment — and we come 
 now to propose the Conference. From 
 the Federal Government, as it stands, 
 we can expect nothing. From the 
 Northern States we have been repelled 
 with denunciations. Our only resource 
 then, is in ourselves ; and among our- 
 selves union is strength. 
 
 " 'The great and leading argument in 
 favor of a Conference is, that it is the 
 proper step in any contingency. It is a 
 measure which will preserve the Union, 
 if it can constitutionally be preserved ; 
 and if it cannot, it is the proper prepar- 
 atory step for Southern defence. Those 
 who desire the maintenance of the Union, 
 must perceive, that nothing is more 
 likely to drive back the aggressions of 
 the North, and to restore to us our 
 rights, than the exhibition of a united 
 and determined purpose of resistance. 
 And those who believe that the Union 
 cannot be preserved, will easily perceive 
 that, a Southern Conference is a neces- 
 sary step to effective Southern defence. 
 
33 
 
 This measure ought, therefore, to unite 
 all parties, excepting alone that (if there 
 be any such) which favors unconditional 
 submission.' 
 
 " Again he says : 
 
 "'On the other hand, those who be- 
 lieve in the efficacy of measures of re- 
 striction and commercial independence, 
 must perceive that such measures would 
 be far more effective if taken in concert. 
 What benefit would result from non-im- 
 portation into Richmond and Norfolk, if 
 Edenton and Newbern and Beaufort re- 
 ceived Northern goods as before ? and 
 what good effect would restrictions at 
 Charleston serve, if Savannah should 
 decline concurrence ? The commercial 
 independence of the South is certainly 
 an object greatly to be desired. Is it 
 possible to advance it more effectually, 
 than by the concerted action of the 
 whole South ? 
 
 "'I would be wanting in the frank- 
 ness and candor due to this august as- 
 semblage, if I did not plainly declare the 
 opinions which we entertain in South 
 Carolina. We have no confidence in 
 any paper guarantees — neither do we 
 believe that any measures of restriction, 
 or retaliation, within the present Union, 
 will avail. But with equal frankness, 
 we declare, that when we propose a Con- 
 ference, we do so with the full under- 
 standing, that we are but one of the 
 States in that Conference, entitled, like 
 all the others, to express our opinions, 
 but willing to respect and abide by the 
 united judgment of the whole. If our 
 pace be too fast for some, we are content 
 to walk slower; our earnest wish is, that 
 all may keep together. We cannot con- 
 sent to stand still, but would gladly 
 make common cause with all. We are 
 far from expecting or desiring to dictate 
 or lead.' 
 
 " Is the proposition then, as explained 
 by the Commissioner, any thing more 
 than a request for a consultation among 
 the Southern States, in order that what- 
 
 5 
 
 ever action may be deemed necessary in 
 the present emergency, may be united 
 in by all the States ? Ought there to 
 be two opinions as to the duty of Vir- 
 ginia ? Ought she not to take her proper 
 position in that consultation ; and exer- 
 cise her controlling influence in preserv- 
 ing the integrity of the Union, and 
 securing the just and equal rights of the 
 South ? Suppose a meeting of the 
 Southern States shall take place without 
 Virginia? Will there not be more dan- 
 ger to the Union, than if she were 
 present? 
 
 " We desire to present another con- 
 sideration which, to our minds, should 
 not be without its weight in leading us 
 to a correct judgment upon this question. 
 Great hope has been excited in some 
 Southern minds, from recent demonstra- 
 tions, which have taken place in the 
 Northern States, and we are assured 
 that the conservative element now at 
 work there will do much towards re- 
 storing peace and harmony to the coun- 
 try. How can these conservative men 
 operate with effect, when their opponents 
 point to the failure of the proposition for 
 the South to meet in consultation, and 
 shall argue from that failure, either 
 weakness, fear, or indifference. We 
 believe that nothing will present so 
 potent a barrier to the wave of Fanati- 
 cism which is surging over the North, 
 as the exhibition of a firm, united, and 
 determined purpose, upon the part of 
 the South, to have 'equality in the 
 Union, or independence out of it.' We 
 must disabuse the mind of the North of 
 the impression, which designing and 
 dangerous partisans have created upon 
 it, that the South is the embodiment of 
 that charity which ' beareth all things, 
 believeth all things, hopeth all things, 
 endureth all things.' 
 
 " We are not disposed to abandon the 
 Union, nor to adopt such measures as 
 must necessarily alienate still farther 
 the North ami South, and widen the 
 breach which now so unhappily exists 
 
34 
 
 between them, without another appeal 
 to our Northern brethren, and another 
 effort to bring back the Union to the 
 condition of equality and fraternity, in 
 which the framers left it. For this 
 purpose we desire the Southern Con- 
 ference to consider all questions of ad- 
 justment, and among others, the one 
 submitted by our present able and 
 patriotic Chief Magistrate, for a Con- 
 vention of all the States of the Union. 
 If the Union be worth saving, or can be 
 saved, surely no effort on our part 
 should be spared for that purpose. If 
 it cannot be saved, at least let us have 
 the consolation of knowing that its 
 destruction has been accomplished with- 
 out our aid, and in despite of our most 
 earnest and determined efforts to pre- 
 serve it, through all time, as a monu- 
 ment of the wisdom and patriotism of 
 the Heroes and Sages of the Revolution. 
 
 " But we are not without safe prece- 
 dent in this matter. Our Revolutionary 
 Sires have taught us, not only what is 
 our right, but our duty, in this crisis of 
 our affairs. The Colonies sent their dele- 
 gates to the first Continental Congress, 
 because they had each causes of com- 
 plaint against the Mother Country, to 
 which they acknowledged their allegiance 
 to be due. and desired to make common 
 cause with' the others, in order to obtain 
 a redress of their several grievances. 
 Their object was. not to produce a sepa- 
 ration from the Government of Great 
 Britain, nor to secure their independence. 
 In the declaration made by the second 
 Continental Congress, setting forth the 
 causes and necessity of their taking up 
 arms, they sav, ' we mean not to dissolve 
 that union which has so long and so 
 happily subsisted between us, and which 
 we sincerely wish to see restored. * 
 
 ***** We have uot raised 
 armies with ambitious designs of separat- 
 ing from Great Britain, and establishing 
 independent States.' These professions 
 (says an able writer) of a desire for a 
 reconciliation with the Mother Country, 
 
 on terms consistent with their constitu- 
 tional rights, which were so emphatically 
 made at this time, both by the General 
 Congress and the several Colonial As- 
 semblies, were commonly regarded in 
 England as nothing more than the trite, 
 conventional language of diplomacy, and 
 were treated as ' hypocritical and treach- 
 erous.' 
 
 " We have the united voice of Ameri- 
 can history, and the concurrent testimony 
 of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison, 
 that the cry of disunion raised at that 
 day, against those who firmly demanded 
 their constitutional rights from the pa- 
 rental government, and resolved ' to die 
 freemen rather than live slaves,' was un- 
 founded and unjust. The cry of dis- 
 union raised now against those who seek 
 now, by means of the proposed Confer- 
 ence, to secure the constitutional rights 
 of the South, and thus to save the Union, 
 is not less unfounded and absurd." 
 
 We have given this report almost en- 
 tire, because we consider it an able and 
 eloquent demonstration of the " Confer- 
 ence Scheme," and its advantages. We 
 cannot add anything to it, so we leave it, 
 well assured that its arguments are irre- 
 futable. 
 
 Can any lover of the Union, or the 
 South, refuse to respond to this call? 
 Surely, they will not refuse to protect 
 themselves and all near and dear to them. 
 To save the Union, the South must be 
 united. Divided it can do nothing. 
 Union will give strength and dignity to 
 its proceedings. 
 
 Let us. then, join hands — act unitedly 
 — insist upon our rights, and maintain 
 them at all risks — and be men and free- 
 men indeed. Let all the great political 
 parties unite in this measure. 
 
 It will involve no sacrifice of princi- 
 ples ; it is a solemn duty that they owe 
 to the South and to the Union. But it 
 is argued, that there is a risk to run in 
 meeting in Convention. The distin- 
 guished and talented Commissioner from 
 I South Carolina to the State of Virginia, 
 
35 
 
 in his address to the General Assembly 
 of that State, on the 19th of January, 
 1860, thus speaks of this: 
 
 "Unquestionably there is risk; but 
 that risk is from the perseverance of our 
 enemies in the wrong. If they do right 
 all will be well. Must we then accept 
 the alternative of unconditional submis- 
 sion, because there is a risk of revolu- 
 tion ? Was there ever a prize to be at- 
 tained without risk? It is the law of 
 God that everything valuable must be 
 attained by effort. ' In the sweat of thy 
 face shalt thou eat bread :' and this sen- 
 tence is inwrought in all human posses- 
 sions. Free institutions are among the 
 most valuable of these, and they can only 
 be maintained by constant and untiring 
 effort. 
 
 Oh Freedom, thou art not as poets dream, 
 A fair young girl with light and delicate 
 
 limbs, 
 And wavy tresses gushing from her cap. 
 
 A bearded man, 
 Armed to the teeth, art thou ; one mailed 
 
 hand 
 Grasps the broad shield; and one the sword; 
 
 Thy brow 
 Glorious in beauty, though it be scarred 
 With tokens of old wars.' " 
 
 We leave this part of our subject, sin- 
 cerely hoping that the States of the 
 South will respond favorably to the invi- 
 tation of South Carolina, and unite with 
 her in devising means for their common 
 defence, and the preservation of this 
 Great Republic. But should all peacea- 
 ble measures be in vain. Should the 
 North continue to oppress us, and scorn 
 our appeals and warnings, — then, we 
 say, let the South withdraw and defend 
 herself. 
 
 Should the storm ever burst, and the 
 land be bathed in blood, let the South 
 maintain her independence at all risks — 
 even though her land should be laid 
 waste ; her homes destroyed ; her sons 
 and daughters slaughtered. We say, 
 let her defend herself, even if it should 
 come to this. She may be destroyed — 
 
 utterly blotted away from amongst the 
 nations of the earth — but her honor will 
 be vindicated in the struggle ; and she 
 will prove that she was born to be im- 
 mortal in the history of the good and 
 great ; and with her will perish the 
 liberty of the world. 
 
 We have finished our work, and we 
 must bid our readers adieu. What we 
 have written, we have written in a spirit 
 of kindness and love for the Union, as 
 our fathers made it. We love all por- 
 tions of it, and would see equal justice 
 done to all. If it can honorably be 
 avoided, we would not, for any con- 
 sideration, see "one single star dimmed, 
 or one stripe effaced" in its " banner of 
 glory." — We would see it ever as it has 
 been, for almost a century, the beacon- 
 light of liberty — the home of the exiled 
 and the oppressed. 
 
 Oh ! that we could point out to our 
 blind and misguided brethren at the 
 North, the folly the and danger of their 
 course ; that we could bring them back 
 to kneel at the altar where our fathers 
 worshipped in the days of yore. We 
 trust that the Divine Ruler who has 
 prospered us for so long will bring all 
 this to pass. 
 
 We trust that our humble efforts may 
 not be in vain — but that they may help 
 to calm the storm of Fanaticism now 
 ready to burst upon us. 
 
 We know that Conservatism exists at 
 the North ; but alas ! it is in a hopeless 
 minority. Every day we are in receipt 
 of the news of "Union Meetings" and 
 " Conservative Speeches," which show 
 that there are those at the North who 
 sympathize with us and love the Union. 
 But these are not sufficient. The 
 South must have action — legislative ac- 
 tion at the North ; her rights must be 
 acknowledged and protected ; the Con- 
 stitution must be enforced, or the Union 
 must be dissolved. 
 
 But, in leaving our readers, we beg 
 to express the hope, that peace and 
 tranquillity may soon be restored to us. 
 
36 
 
 Then will we again have a Union of free 
 and equal sovereign States. A Union 
 of Freemen ; then we will have such a 
 Union as our Fathers made for us, and 
 
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