Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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e . - -~- - Deetate uralDeeib o heSoutb anv Svut4=r fligtsCtst1= -' We will cling to the Pillars of the Temple ot- Liberties, and if It most fall, we will Perish amidst the Ruins. SIEKINS, DURISOE & CO., Proprietors. EDGEFIELD, L.. OVEMBER 10,1858.-" it. They passed then the CRITTENDEN substi tute, which proposed to submit the Lecompton Constitution to a vote of the people of Kansas and to accept it, if ratified by them. The Sen ate had previously refused that subutitute, and did so a second time. It then asked a commit tee of conference. That committee reported what is called the "ENGLISH Bill." By, that bill Congress accepted the Lecompton Constitu tion pure and simple without proviso. The Land Ordinance of the Lecompton Convention, which was in no wise a part of the constitution, but a separate measure, demanded, as I have said, a donation of some twenty-three millions of acres of land, being nineteen millions more than had been given to any other land State. The ENGLISH Bill cut this down to the usual amount of four millions of acres, and required that the people of Kansas shou!d ratify this modification, and surrender all claim to the re mainder of the linds, as the condidition of her final admission. Such a requisition has been made on every new State, carved out of the public lands, that has been. admitted into this Union-sometimes in the enabling act, and where there was not one, always after accepting the constitution. Go to the statutes of Congress and you will find it in every one of thetq, It is the custom, it is necessary, and this feature in the ENGLISH Bill. .was in accordance with strict precedent. The only difference is this: that usually the Legislature of the State has been required to accept this compact by an ir revocable act, but in this case it was referred to the people of Kansas directly. In this there was no sacrifice of principle whatever, nor was it without precedent altogether, for in the case of the State. last before admitted, Iowa, this question had been submitted to the legislature or the people, as Iowa might prefer. This is the whole sum and substance of this ENGLISH Bill, except that it further declared that unless the people of Kansas accepted this modified or dinan , they should not be admitted as a State until they had a population that would entitle them to one Representative under the federal apportionment. I voted for this bill; I voted properly; I voted no compromise; I sacrificed no particle of principle or southern interest. It is true its phraseology is halting and bungling. It was drawn up hastily and in great excitement. I objected to the wording of it in several pas sages, but I assured myself that nothing sinister was designed, and I voted for it leaving its au. thors responsible for its diction on the statute book. I thought it preferable to the first bill the Senate passed, and voted for it more wil, lingly. It is true some northern democrats who voted against the Senate bill voted for this, and thus it was carried. But was that a reason why I should not -ote for it? Does that prove that I sacrificed any principle. They found them selves wrong, and perhaps wanted some excuse to retrace their steps. I was happy to assist in giving it to them without cost to ourselves. I was particularly pleased to get rid of themys terious proviso of the first bill, and to require a solemn compact in regard to the public lands, whick had-not-been properly provided for in'that The only principle involved in this whole Kansas affair- if an affair so rotten, from begin ning to end, can have a principle at all-was this: Would Congress admit a slave State into the Union ? The Senate said yes. The House, by adopting the CRITTENDEN substitute, said yes, if we are assured that a majority of the people of the State are in favozof it. For this substitute all the opposition voted in both Houses, so that every member of Congress of all parties, first and last, committed tUemselves to the principle and policy that a State should be admitted into the Union, with or without slavery, according to th will of its own peupla -thus re-enuating one Ieatur of* the Kauss and Nebraska bill. I should myself havo benfn willing to rest there, and let Kansas rest also. Whatever there was of principle or honor in the matter was secured by the votes.atfeady given, The ENoisiH bill, however, came up in due course, and I voted for it cheerfully, believing that it was better calculated than any that had been offered to close up this miserable business, which has furnished much the most disgraceful hapter, so far, in our history,. But it is said that in submittmng thisi land rdinance to a vote of the people of Kansas, ongress~ submitted also the Lecompton Consti. tution with its pro-slavery clause. If so, the passage in which it was done can surely be pointed out. Badly drawn up as the bill is, I should like to see the clause or the words that would justify such an assertion. If there was such a clause, why did not Judge Douglass and is friends vote for it ? Why did not the black republicans and all who voted for the Critten den substitute which submitted the constitution, ote for this bill? It was the very point they made, yet to a man they voted .against it. That think should be conclusive. But, then, it is said it was a virtual submis sion of the constitution to the people, because, if they refused to ratify the modified land ordi nance, the admission of Kansas under the Ler compton constitution was defeatod. Well, the facts are so; I cannot ad do not deny them, But I should like to know how that oould by any possibility have been avoided or remedied, Suppose Congress had admitted Kansas without modifying anything, yielding even to her enor inous "land grab," which embraced many more acres than there are in all South Carolina, I should like to know if the Lecompton constitu tioni would not still have been submitted to the people as virtually as it was by the English bill; that is, not submitted at all, but left with them; in inevitable necessity. Congress could do no nor 'no less, no other way. The constitution ~elong 'd to the people of Kansas. Congress uld no.' withliold it from them a moment ; ior could it' nake them organize under it-as emble their gegislature, assume the position of a State, and sen'l Senators and Representatives o Congrese against their own will. Can Con-. 'res coerce a State to remain in .the Union, or Irive a State ount of it. Congress is omnipotent. But where are the.y the rights of the States? Fortunately for us, the constitution of every State and of overy Ter,.itory asking to be a State, is not only virtually i,ait actually in the ands of its people at all times and under all icumstanlces, and 4hey cannot be divested of hat control without the utter destruction of he constitution and an eatire revolution, 'She whole power of Congress in the premises is se' austed when it accepts the constitution with ut condition. There are some who go still further and assert that, although there might be no way to avoid a submission of the Lecompton constitu tion to the control of the people of Kansas, yet that the conference bill was a compromise of principle, inasmuch as it specifically required them to act, and it made for them the definite opportunity to defeat the constitution as wellas the ordinance. Now this is true, as a fact, yet the iniferenice isabsurd upon its very face. If Congress could not take teLecompton consti tution out of the hands of the people of Kansas, what difference did it make whether tlhay voted on the ordinance in August, under the 41rption of Congress, oi any other time, whether Axe4 by Congress ot- themselves? August was agreed upon, because it was very well to set a time and let things end. But from August to August again and forever, this constitution was in the bans of the peonie of Kansas, and they could do with it what they pleased. - True, Congres might have avoided that specific occasion ani August vote, by swallowing the land ordinanc( and all, and asking no security for the remaind. er of the. public lands; but still Kansas could have refused to organize as a State, and no pow. er under our constitution could have interfered It is all words and nothing more. Congress was charged with bribing Kansas to become g slave State. But the bribe was by the confer ence bill four millions of acres of land, instead of twenty-three millions. If we had given bet the whole twenty-three millions for her useles slavery clause, there might have been somi ground for the charge. Yet it would have beet of no avail, for Kansas could, under no bribe or coercion known to our government, have been compelled to accept the constitution orordinance, or become a State against her will at any period whatever. I will not presume that any one is less proficient in constitutional lore, or is les conversant with the history of congressional proceedings in the admission of new States than myself. But I will say that I am incapa ble of comprehending them it all, if in thi ,conference bill there was any " compromise" o southern principles or interests; any concession whatever by the South; any departure from the strictest construction of the constitution 1 or any material deviation from the usual prac tice of the government. The'people of Kansas have, by an overwhelm ing majority, rejected the land ordinance as modified by Congress, and refused to come intc the Union on such terms. Be it so. It is what I expected-what I rather desired. It sorts precisely with what I felt when I saw Kansas thrust herself into Congress and demand-reek ing with blood and fraud-to be enrolled among the States. Let her stay out. I am opposed to her coming in before she has the requisito pop ulation: not because she will bp a free State, but because I fully approved of the prohibitory clause of the conference bill, and for that reason voted against the admission of Oregon. Unless in exceptional cases, such as that o Kanam was last winter, I do not (bink that a State should be admitted with less population than would entitle her to a member of the lJouse. it is not just to the other States, apd is not conso nant with the theory of our government. Blut I will not detain you longer with what belongs to the past, The present and the fi ture arP What concerns us most. You desire to know my opinion of the couysp th Suth should pursue nder existing circumstances. I will give you frankly and fully the results of my obr servation and retlection on this all-important point. The first queption i.4, do the people of the South consider the present union of these States as an evil in itself, and a thing that it i6 desirable we should get rid of undtr all aircumz stances? There are some, I know, who' do. But I am satisfied that an overwhelming major ity of the South would, if assureol that this gov ernment was hereafter to be conducted on the true principles and construction of the-constitu tion, dechiaedig prefer -to remain in the Union, s of setting up a separate government. I think I state what is true when I say that, after all the bitterness that has characterized our long warfare, the :great body of the southern people do not seek disunion, and will not seek it as a primary object, however promptly they may accept it as an alternative, rather than submit to unconstitutional abridgments of their rights. I confess that, for many years of my life, I believed that our only safety was the dis solution of the Union, and I openly avowed it. [ should entertain and without hesitation ex press the same sentiments now, but that the yistorips wp have achieved and those that I think wp arp about ta achieve, have inspired Jpe with the hopp, I may say the be!ipf, that yP can uly sustain oursplvps in thp {nji~n igrd ontrol its'apion in all grpat aqffirs. [P 1pey be well asked holy I cal Ptertaip such Views and e.xpectations, when within tLese few years the South has just bpr equality ip OhJ Sena.e, and the free States haye ap lepgth a dppided mjority in both _oses of Congress, while this unfortunate K(ansas contpst has swept into thejr political graves so manny of our ancient friends in those State.' that it may be douibted whether they have at this muoinent, after thr recent eletions-the finale of Zlas disastrous Kansas abortion-# majority in quy singl e one of them; and thera seems to be at present ria prospect of our extending the area of slayepy in any quarter. These facts arc true ; and if you will bear with me, I will place them all in the strongest ligvht I can before you-for it is of the utmost infpor. tance that we should at least see clearly how we stand, and what are our resources, in order to form an idea of what we can do, and how avoid wasting our strength on what cannot be accom plished. The equality of the free and slayp States has long been lost in~ the House ; by the admission of Califorzia if, was lost in the Se'nate. Since then ano~er free State higs been admitted and another yet has passe4 thne Senate, and in a few years more we shall haye Knsas, Nebraska, Washington, New Mexico, and perhaps others on our roll. The imigr~ation fromu Europe to the North is sullicient to f orm onsp or rnore new States every year, To the South- there is literally nq emigration. We hitve, since the closing of the slave trade, added to onr popuiation minlny by the natural increase of our people, and we haygs no surplus population, white or black, to colont ize new States. We host Kansas partly by our inability to colonize it, and we are perhaps yet to have a struggle for a portion of'Texas, The idea, then, of recovering the equality of the two sections, even in the Senate, seems remote in deed. We have it proposed to reopen the Afri can slave trade, and bring in hordes of slaves from that prolific region to restore the balance. I once entertained that idea myself, but on furth or investigation I abandoned it, 1 will not now go into the discussion of it, further than to say that the South is itself divided on that policy, and, from appearances, opposed to it by a vast majority, while the North is unanimously against it. It would be impossible to get Congress to reopen the trade. .lf could be done, then it would be unnecessary, for that result could only be brought about by such an entire abandon ment by the North and the wvorld of all opposi tion to our slave system, that we might safely ceare to erect any defences for it.B But if we could introduce slaves, where could we find sui table territory for new slave States ? The In dian Resorve, west of Arkansas, might make one. But we hayp solemnly guaranteed that to the remnants of the red ise, 1Everywhere else, I believe, the borders of oqp States Itiys Feaphd the great desert which separates the Atlang.e from the Pacific States of this confederacy, No where is Afrinan slavery likely to flourish in the little oasis of that Sahuara 'of Amnerica. It is much more likely I think to get the Pacilce slope, and to the north in the great valley, than any where else outside of its present limits. 'Shall we, as some .suggest, take Mexico and Central America to make slave States? African slavery appears to have failed there. Perhaps, and most probably, it will never succeed in those regions Jfi ihwhat are we to do with the seven or gkt gmillions of hardly semi-civilized Indians, ,#4 tJhs we' of three millions of dreole Span ~a4s a,9d pgoggreq whio pow hold those coun triei We v9u~n pqi~ava fI gans? Ex. parience has proyen t N4 i~ e W is..Jp 0a adaborh, and are trfp. uinIt r a vera From the Charleston Mercury. SPEECH OF - ,NON. JAMES H. HAMMOND, - - DELIVERED AT BARNWELL 0.H.,S. C., OCTOBER 29, 1858.' ..-0 I thank you very sincerely for this kind and cordial reception. To stand here and speak to the people of Barnwell reminds me of times long gone by. I have done it, I believe, but once in more than twenty years. But those were stirring times when, a quarter of a centu ry ago, I so often spoke to you here of the Con stitution and the Union-of your rights and wrongs in this oonfederacy. No, not to you, but to your fathers. I am, indeed, happy to recognize in this assemblage many. who were actors in those scenes; but many, many more .have been summoned hence, while you have .grown up to supply their .places. The gallant spirits who then surrounded me here, and whose kindling eyes and heaving bosoms animated and responied to my speech have for the most part passed'away; but the theme is still the same; and it is my part to-day, adhering with un changed conviction and unabated zeal to every principle I then maintained, to discourse upon the same great. tpics. Our battle then was for the Constitution.and our Rights, in the Union, if possible-out of it, if need be. And this is our battle now. The lapse of thirty years has brought much experience to the survivors of those who enlisted for this great cause in South Carolina. The veil of what was then the future-a future cov ered with angry clouds and doubt and darkness --has been removed, and looking back, we now see the eventsof long years which were unknown to us. The hard fought fields; our chequred fortunes; our victories; our defeats; the dead, the living, all then deep buried in the womb ot time, aie now all clear and palpable. And to those of us who have been spared to make this retrospect, it is a proud satisfaction to know, that time and events have proved that our prin ciples were true and our cause just; to recog nize the unflinching courage and over-powering ability with which they have been so long maintained, and to feel renewed assurance that they must finally and fully triumph. Your fathers cdfided' in me from the first moment that we met upon thisspot. They took me in their arms and lifted me into all the high places that were within their reach; and I have .had many proofs that they taught you to con fide in me as they had done. For this great .and generous and abiding confidence and trust, :Inever knew but one reason; and that was, that I always told them the truth'according to imy best knowledge and belief. 'And as I dealt with thdm, I shall deal with you. Thl last Legislature of the State conferred on une the high honor of a seat in the Senate of the United States, and during. the late stormy acount of the proceedings there, and most espedady of those which occupied four-fifths of the time of the session, and-produced such great excitement throughout the country. I allude to the Kansin question. And as no exception. has been taken, so far ar I know, to any act of mine, save my course on that, I will take this .occasion to give my views in full upon it. When, four years ago, the Kansas and Ne iraska act was passed, giving governments to ithose territories, I was, like most of you, a pri vate citizen. I was earnestly engaged in reno rating old lands, and creating new out of mo rasses hitherto impenetrable, and I had as little desire or expectation of ever again taking a part in public affairs, as the least ambitious of you here present. I made up my mind then that this bill was fraught with delusion and troulde to the South, and so expressed myself on all suitable occasions. The bill had two leading features in it. It .enacted that every territory, in forming its con .stitution for the purpose of applying for admis .sion into the Union, should have the right to .establish its own organic or constitutional laws, .and come in with its own institutions, with the ~single condition that they should be republican. Why, unless our constitution is mere waste pa per, all our institutions shams, and our theory of self-government a fallacy, this principle and privilege is their essence; lies at the bottom of the whole, and constitutes the corner stone. It u s the vera right for which our fathers foiught -and made a revolution. I might not have ro fused to re-affirm it-but it was supererogato ry; it might well weaken the whole structure todgufor the purpose of verification, its ,feother feature of the bill was the repeal of the Missouri Compromise line. That was already ,iealed. it had long fulfilled its mis y e 4- calmed the trouble wateks for a time. It was ihe~elete until the annexation of Teas whn w ceded to the demand to ex tend it through the3 northern deserts of that State. But when Cah.'orma came--Califormia that should have been, am may yet be, a slave State-.and we demanded to ~xtend thatbi oa the Pacific, and thus secure 1:rte ota portion of the magnificent territk.-y prhaed in pai t by her blood and treasure, it was re fused. Then that line was blotted oub'every where and forever. To repeal it was a mere formality. The Supreme Court has rece.. tljI pronounced it unconstitutional, and so the rL - , peal was, in no respect, of any importance. But this bill, with these two features, neither of them of any practical importance, magnified and exaggerated by orators and newvspapers into a great southern victory, led the South into the delusion that Kansas might be made a slave State, and induced it to join in a false and use less issue, which has kepr, the whole country in turmoil for the last four years, and gave fresh life and vigor to the abolition party. Through the most disgusting, asiwell as tragic *scenes of fraud and force, the Territory of Kant sas at last came before Congress for admission as a State, with what is. known as the Lecomp ton Constitution, embodying slavery among its provisions. But at the same time the conven tion, by an ordinance, demanded of the United, States some twenty-three millions of acres of . land, instead of the four millionsusually allowed to new States containing public lands. It was almost certain that a majority of the people of Kansas were opposed to this constitution, but 'would not vote on it;s and this additional nine . teen millions, which, if allowed, would proba .bly have kept them again from'the recent plla, was what the South was expected to pay for -that worthless slavery clause, which would have been annulled as soon as Kanas was ad mitied. I confess my opinion was that tue .Sonthihei-self should kick that constitution out of Congress But the South thought'otherwise. When the bill for its adoption was framed, with -what is calleil~the GREEN Proviso, I strenuously objected to it anid felt very much disposed to' -vja:e against th whole, but again gave up to the .5 ,uth, which accepted it by acclamation. If t ist prov9iisoest nothing, anaso.interpreted it, it was nonsenseand had no business there, -being without precedent. If. it ceould be made to mean spything,.it must havebeen something wcaand dngrous But,aslIsaid,the~outh tk at bill far and wide. The House rejected i We would not ext them, even if that 1. inhuman achievem ud not cost ages of murder and incale s of money. We - could hardly n pting to plant the black race there, for abor, thouh infe rior perhaps in.inte ' andepot to maintain a permanent and Judnitry, such as slave labor must be, to. ble, amid those idle restless,. demorali 'n of Montezuma, scarcely more civil' erhaps more sunk in superstition thania and now trained to civil war by ali Icvl r half ai of incessant revoin tion. - What, I s . e. do with these peo ple or these countriel d to Bout em s Nothing. Could e o ves so far as to annex them on terms, they would be sure to come into n free States all. To touch them in anyk is to be contaminated. England and F have no doubt would gladly see us tae' urtien on our back, if we would secure f or eir debts and a neu tral route across Such a route we must have for o ad that is all we have to do with them.' ,nnot get it by negoti ation or by purch Imant seize and hold it by force of arms.M .lWof nations would justify it, and it is y necessary for our Pacific relations. ent condition of those unhappy States is ly deplorable, but the good Ood holds th e hollow of his had and will wor out. destinies. We might expah 'area of slavery by ac quirin Cuso wh :..pcan slavery ip already etbihed. Mr. C ,,from -whoe matured opinious, whether otitutionn principles or southern policy, it rtly be found safe to de part, said that Cu ,forbidden fruit" to us, unless plucked dstigency of war. There is no reasonable tsuppose that we can cquire it in any r ad the war that will open to us asion will be great and genera l aid, g-about results tbat the keenest intellect'.i I '.now anticipate Bt it we had Cuba,, we t ake move than two or three slave t swhio could not re t t he so t North and South ,sror, they wol be while, with the ve trae closed, and her only resort-..' i to this continaot Sh Would, besides e aut our whole ouug.r ciii, lre 1ty.4er COIR ave in a few year al narkt rr alln i our atucky and Ma~y1qnd.'S. to"thir dingthe exor bitauttaxesim rcpable now ofaibsorb. iathe athnaa isall the slaves on this contineutandt.cons nit is said, twenty to thirty thousanid a yeary: ien of labor. laves do prea~se there larg~ 4e, under the systtin pracmt iced, every .4 America might be ex th *" --e tholo of is hand terniinated in were dinies. ever the idle Afi oareie isl the trop quIrin Ca, wh ca lve- s lred innst heteri o iuinalth fics oi.r part, said that Cin,'forbtde ri"t a u t the couc, a t he p in cap p me uis, work pld im ie s f i a . There acquie it n an-.' wy 3 n thoe rea "Aricau ed" an -ccthat wil bed States should ad oThet threat, which at one time was so w alarm id no longer a.y tuse ofdis i tothe South, after our exrinc reof to t hingof St. Domingo llii t --t? 0ou beie u o t grew sugar enul would grow up in uisaa and Texas, rivalling that of cotton, and diverting from it so muc labor that cotton would rarely be below its pres ent price. You must not suppose, for a moment, that I am opposed to u the expansion of the area of African slavery." 'On tis cntrary, I believe that God created negroes for no other purpose then to he rthe hwers of wood and drawers of water "-that is, to be lares of the wvhite race; and I wish to see them in that capacity on every spot on the surface of the globe where their la bor is necessary or beneficial. Nor do doubt that such will be the fiTal result. huch less would I oppose the acquisition 'of territory that would pie was slave States on a numerical eqanli, Aofdi .tre, the free States in the Uiion. cute this reviw and scrutiny of the re sources of the South shows, I think, pretty conclu si vely, that we have not now the surplus pophation, nor suitable territory, within our present reach, tocretat aon wouldbe rae bfeow itht to aept it by.slytipapial n br Youus notsuppose,;orandmnt that th dao~rcoeia amhopposed tot thenexpannon f the a reSate'f wth ton the floors of woo ndrs oraswereo iswoatry.ha iW t e ha etef the w hie, raet spon thke sp urce of tgobei wher thei la bor ivi ne alc btessar rbnfcialt. lorok eIr obt thatusuce ofl obe ptinliathe finlrsl.c lesr woe, I ca oo ~thocquisn'of tit that in woul lc lve millio s onpo.~e-e aueiay eqanitperial dmaine thte fell Statertn he seenbond N her brers, or. wcrutn has she re feare of th suh aseahost an thanrbors; chu ively,mthaihanItnoaithesurpfulpopulalton pnor muitals, sorrirtil wihin or pei rech ~rattpt itoubg citny syep mparaale and aborn tive etheppnsost al e1agrtiwasterau stpengt) te noprpose; candl th mnfatrt the ide o reoein tent eqaity inotesing'o the estcave and e te -wheiht o:hae slork oft Cngres or eswhere rsitnr. had ntbp; ettrtn I thnk at yohcemke up ouqmis snejordin orthlfat. gu iing scarcl mortes ehran lookm eercise toeuece oforoiin exercse}wich he mae. Fsorh one, Irqucan4 so p withe dsnyio thou the ts lghet teain Wbhouthlq ln benumer-4 ig twelv doinsra ofl uipeopt possses nle a impenriadomain that eauelsupo and crukng abuted milnions thre.bWht der whe shee mgt glory beyn her rengrsn hrl dwhanc hat sher fear i? With sid tha wiat and anoreruc rwvelmunfetas ajoriyplains ull ofnl thi pUnio, wital, o fetile advntags, we mstii s:aty prdcopngish rpareestnd aPen apse tsoe'nut vperbtle g to uragestpe notft The dioluion a of mainfang aterayiex tentw ;ane alas aigth cestscand and ordwhi tria soudte ehtve eve but aeeful qpgrozed prosr had pu popl ay nept chalege byate adyroo asotn. The qestion stl rains, anlthe fre catoe bie rh it oncu pema entlyp incarney mre plytha wlsmebeerethe nto tution and xerisly dhc amate Susthe mtiouedeay? en dof tblievthatigteye an. Reclssa oefis poplitca whoiton aqndouin-o the froee Stha hes oniae ben thdev wld: proec and rding te instihods by mef brue naber ethners thoughsetheerlloenboheor by glow ry s;wheher tad hurandiae rsaves, Butto ifesaids Thet weoith n fihedSu ander helion fremSatoe ofajeoriyinth may be-ki Union, ith amltou'rnaitrome adtagee acusti nise the onn s ecfotriotoinseould prevail, aftbdaccoplwih our pother bretein Per haps co.sistovermir le of egoes notyt The bosso of the Unoions of wattenatil ,dha when heays t ormn, ind ther hnds he shortd has onley bt ma pleacefly rsenil 'hte far caoo nd hat heSout wtill notms scbm theore Shae wl sas beybogtt ond thrat twil conenty herel witbleta theglrofcry. the e atea becnidatedecton tei wild just done-always leaving it to the democracy to carry that which makes the President. But I am making mere assertions. Allow me, then, to ref.-r to facts to show the past power of the South in this Union, and the present stte of the great questions in which she is most deeply interested. When, thirty years ago, we began this arduous conflict for the constitutional reform of this government and the security of the South, the South herself was thoroughly divided. The tariff, the bank, the internal improvement sys tem, nay, even abolition itself, all had the sanc tion of a large number of our most prominent southern men. If they did not all originate, they were all resuscitated, in that era of infatua tidu, when a southern President proclaimed that we were "all federalists, all republicans;" when southern statesmen sneered at State rights, and the constitution became for a time a dead letter. The tariff of 1828 levied average duties of more than forty per-cent. on all our imports. By the tariff of 1857 the average of duties was re duced below twenty per cent. We have accom plished that much ; and, besides, the principle of free trade is pretty generally conceded now throughout the Union. It cannot be denied that this is a great success. I think the duties should be reduced still lower; and particularly that the discriminations against the agricultural Interests should be abolished. But it is supposed that there will be a demand for their increase at the next session. If so, it will of course be resisted, and I trust successfully. Free trade is the test, the touchstone of free government, as monopoly is of despotism. I have no hesitation in saying that the plantation States should discard any government that made a protective tariff its poli cy, They should not pubmit to pay tribute for the support of any other industrial system than their own; much less, to make good the bubble speculations of another section of the Union. Unequal texation is, after all, what we have most to fear in this Union, and against that we must be always ready to adopt the most decisive measures. The internal improvement system was in full vigor i 1828. Inaugurated also by southern mein, it absorbed all the surplus of the trpsury, and being im its nuture unlimited, it ivas capable of absorling all the ravenue that could be ex. torted by the highest possible tariff. That too, if iot destroyed, has been checked and crippled by southern actibn. It is true that it stil ap p ears annually in Congress-but the once haughty brigand is now little more than a sturdy beggar. We had then, also, in full operation a Bank of the United States, with branches in all our prin cipal e'ities. It received and speculated on all the revpnues of the government, and controlled and'concentrated in the North all the exchanges, thus levying a per centage upon very commer cial transactioq qf thp South. -hqt has-been annihilated. 't gjeyps the sssp *h, know no waking. But let me say that the syslemq which it established still exists. Despite of its destrue tion by the federal government, and the collee tion of the revenue in specie, our exchanges still centre in -te North, and our otherwise stable ini a ur e ree e laina s -: aIW natical section-more fanatical in its love of money than even in its devotion to negroes. - But this is a sel-imuiposed vassalage. Through the privileges which our southern legislatures have granted to our innumerable banks, we are made tributary to New York, which is itself'tributary to London, the great world centre of exchanges in our age. Thus, by our own acts, we pay double ti ibute, though nearly all the trade'of the United States with England is based on southern products. Thus has the South, by her energy and ability, disposed of the capital grievances against which she protested, with almost half her public men against her, in 1828. During this time our op ponents have twice wrested the government front us, and inflicted other injuiries. but they were soon stripped of their power and their acts re pealed. Only f-ur times since the organization of this government has the North had possession of it, and in each case only flir one term. The North has never united long on any policy. The ijuries inflicted on the South have been mainly ntitced by her own ambitious, factious, and di ~ided public men, and our history proves that no man and no measure has yet been strong noughi to stand against the SoiithI whenc united. hlislye rguns ever will. Iut it is thought that the abulitihonists' suIppo sition, still creditedl by some of this country, will nevitablly get the power of this government per manently into their hands, arid, backed by the opinion of the world, use it for our destruction. Let us consider what are the facts. From the time that the wvise and good Las Casas first in toduced into America the institution of African shver-I say institution, because it is the o.ld st thait exists, and will, I believe, aur.vive all atprs that now flourih-it has had its enemie.. ltra, long while they were chiefly men~ of pecu iar and centric religious notions. Their first pjetical anid political augensa arose from the AusglionAof th~e French revoilutio.n, which lost y $hst emip~wr 'is best coloniy. aNest cmtne $1:e f the .'4soupi Cg spro.:ige in this cogutry, and ljn the deliberateezaeippLtin gf- the slaves ii their colonies, by the Briti.ih govcrnment in 183-4. A bout the time of the passagwe of that act, the abolition agitation was revived againi in his country, and abolition societyeg were formed. remembhei the taie well, anqd aente of you do iso gdwas $hn as th~e atgAe of~ opmno.n the "auth 9 W~shin~gton had ernacapated hi slaves. Jefferson had bitterly denounced he systeul, and 4ha4 done all he could to destroy It, Ouy Clays, Marahalla, Crawfords, and many ther prominent southern men, had led off In the olonization scheme. The Inevitable effect in the South was, that she believed slavery to be an vil-wakness-d isgraceful-nay, a sin. She shrunk from the discussion of it. She cowered nder every threat. She attempted to apologirze, o excuse herself, under the plea-which was rue-that England had forcedi it on her;t and n fear and trembhling she awaited a doom that she deemed inevitable. But a few hold spirits took the question up: they compelled the South o investigate it anew and thoroughly, and what s the result? Why, it would be difficult to find ow a southern man who feels the systeg to be - he slightest burthen on his conscience; who oes not, in fact, regard it as an equal advan tage to the master and the slave, blevating both; as wealth, strength and power; and as one of the main ,pillars and conitrolling influences of odern civilization ; and who is not now pre ared to maintain it at every hazard. Such have been for us the happy results of this mshqition discussion. So far, our gain has been immense liog thIs contest, savage and malignant as it has ken. Nay, we have solved al the question f engancipationi by this re-examination and ex plosion qf the failse theories of religion, philan hropy and political economy which embarrassed our fathers in their day, With our conviotions ad our strength, emancIpatIon here i simply an impossibility to man, whether, by persuasion, urchase or coercion. The rock of Gibralter aoes not stand so firm on its basis as our slave system. For a quarter of a century it has borne tle brunt of a hurricane as fierce and pitiless as ever raged. At the North and in Europe they cried "havoc," and let loose upon us all the dogs of war. And how stands it now? Why, in this very quarter of a century our slaves have donkled in numbers. and each slaTs has -mor, than doubled in value. The very negro who, as a prime laborer, would have brought four hun dred dollars in 1828, would now, with thirty more years upon him, sell for eight hundred dollars. What does all this mean? Why, that for ourselves we have settled this question of emancipation against all the world, in theory Ind practice, and the world must accept our solutibn. The only inquiry is, how long this new-found superstition will survive, and how far it may carry its votaries elsewhere? What changes in pro duction, in commerce, in society or government it may effect? For production, commerce, socie. ty and government, must yield and change when ever they come in contact with the great funda mental principle of the subordination of the in ferior to the superior man-as made by God; and especially of the colored to the white races. It is, I day, only through the evils that this su perstitution may bring upon other people, and especially on those of the North and of Europe, with whom we are so closely connected, that the South can be materially damaged by it, standing as she now does, firm, assured, united. How, then, is it with others? Permit me to say that, in my opinion, the tide of abolition fanaticism has begun to ebb every where, and will never rise again. When the English freed the-negroes in the ircolonies, it was not wholly a sentimental movement, dictated by political radicals and the saints of Exeter Hall. Her statesmen, in their ignorance, thought that what is called free labor-that is, "wages slave ry"-would succeed in tropical culture, as well or better than slave labor. In their arrogance they believed also that all the world must follow their example in this silly scheme of abolition; and that from'her great wealth and world-encir cling colonies the monopoly of cotton apd sugar culture would fall into the hands of England. Nature, and the indomitable spirit and intellect of the South, have disappointed all their calcei lations. The South still flourishes, and cotton and sugar, and coffee and rice qud tobacco, are still the heritage of th siavehold4e;O Galle4 y thelir utter dependenoe upon us for gtton, wthout the free use of which they would both tumble Into ruin in a day, England and France, who, In her frequent fi-enzies, at length destroyed all her colonies by emancipa tion, have ransacked the universe to fin4 climes and soils adapted to the cheap gprogh Rg'tbis great staple. They have falpdevpywhgre. It is not that the soils and climates do not exist: but that this and the other great agricultural staples, sugar, rice, tobacco, coffee, can never be produced as articles of wide extended commerce, except by slave labor. This they at length found out. But such labor they had repudiated everywhere. No, not everywhere. Not in France nor in Great Britian, where they still hold sacred splegdid lijovs and palmy aristo cracies qn4 spapvIng laborprs; only for outside b'irI b ltpy ordained feedom and equality; hult filing in all their achesvpd, and finding that, with all their, costly expenditures and high son4ing panifestqs, thpy had sinply ruinevd their own clmnie( nd4 'MAde themselves the of ~sla holere ~ha5KLive.I liainent Houses still thunder execrations agnst that; while the colonists, zunder governmental. protectioil, and with English, money, wrung by taxation from her " wages slaves," are import ing by hundreds of thousands Chinese and Hin doo coolies, under conditions compared with which Algerine slavery of the last century was merciful. They do not hold them as we do our slaves, for better for worse, in sickness and health, in childhood and old age. N(; in their prime of life they seduce them from their homes, traqsport them to distant and unwhole some climes; for the merest pittance of wages, consume their best years in the severest labors, and then, turn'them out to die-the direst slave ry that briltal man has ever instituted. France, les sensitive-having no Exeter Hall-etnbra cing the same scheme, resorts to Africa, and openly makes purchases, for so they may be called, from slave catchers; nay, she buys from the President of L beria, the lir-fatned settle ment of our own Colonization Society; buys the colonists, our own emanciptd slaves, who, sick of freedom, prefer any form of slavery, and in their desperatlon do not hesitate to mnake their dogis patrons in this country the laughing stock ,> the whole world. Thus these two nations-Franceand England, whose adoption of this abolition ern tehet alone made it respectable and influential-have tho roughly renounced it, practically, and almost in theory. The press of England, perhaps the greatest power of the world, sustains these movements; while in France the newspapers are openly discussinig the question~ of importing negro slaves, by n.ante, into Algeria.. I think it may be fairly said that in Europe abolition lias run its course. Brougham, Palmieston, Russell, and,all the old political agitators, sare hanging their harpsi upon the willows. Eve the son 01 Wilberforce, the fanatic, approves of coolie slavery, wich we abhor. But recently the British government openly surrendered its claim to the right of' search-a claim set up mainly to. put down the African slave trade1 and with out whigh ali Atempts to do it will probably be jdle. Anh1d thecre as nothing to surprise We ini all this, if we ape correct in og veed. of African slavery. U it ms' sustained by the religion o1 the B~ibie -i i.f neith~er humanity nor sound phi loop.hy oppose it i.i.f, as we ago convinced, it is a sodial, poatic4 mi economical benefit to ng wodd then it was inevitable that, sooner or latr, theabo~tion omiisade mtet die out-.and If there is truth in what I have stated to you -if the abolition fever has nearly or quite er hausted itself In Europe--if time and facts have proved there that it Is an absurdity-It seems to me we should not doubt that its career is about to close here. Such is my opinion, how ever differently those may think who judge only by appearances, or take their cues from agitating politicians. I ask any one to tell mc upon what measues or upon what msan the ab olitionists of this country can ever again muster their legions as they did in I8567 Kansas is squeezed dry. It stinks in the nostrils of all people. They can do no more there. Will they try a "cry" against the Supreme Court for the Dred Scott decission ?What is there in that to inflame popular sentiment ? It is at ways up-hill business to agitate against a judi cary, but especially against the Supreme Court of the United States, which the northern peo pe have been taught to revere as th, bulwark Qt their libepties, Will they demand the aboli tion of slavery in the District of Columbia? They have never been able to do much with that, though they have often tried. That issue is a little too practical and too dangerous. Not many are bold enough to embark in it. They might as well makd the question of disunion nakedly. Will they-take up the abstract, and, probably, never again to be other than abstract, propoitionof"nomoreslaveStates"'? They have done it. They havoalready aplituponit. The north westwillnottakeit,andthefreeStates,at bott am, all want Cuba. They love molasses, andhbanker after free trade with that rich island. Where, then, are they to go, I cannot see. They do not appear to see themselves Will any one state the practical question, if we offer them none,.-and we hive none to offer,--on-which they are next to rally for the'conquest'of the South? Thermeasure-or' the an?- It does aa seem to me that this great fire Is dying.outfor want of fuel. That this crusade, as many cru sades have done, has exhausted itself; asnd that there is no argument or leader that can- kee i alive. Their Peter Hermits, their Godireys, their Baldwin, their lion-hearted Rii where are they ? It seems that the -, il scarcely agree even on their Louis I who shall lead their last pious campaign and suff martyrdom. And let me say that if the abolitionists can not unite the free States as a purely anti-slavery party in the presidential election of 1800, and fail again in 1864, wq shall .never hear more o them as a'political party ;and it is only as a political-party that they are worthy of our no tice. There always will be abolitionists-for fools, enthusiasts, men of morbid imatinations, bent on mischief, or ambitious of notoriety, al ways will exist. But the abolition in the free States is now almost wholly .lkiil. Do you suppose that the . Seward H'es Wades, Wilsons, Chases and their associates, care anything for Ajrican slavery, or are really hostile to our system of labor, any miore tian is the President, Dickinson, Bright, Pigh pr Douglas? I do. not. Their object is pulitical power. They have placed themselves on this spring-tide of fanaticism to obtain it. If it fail them-if1 at the next Presidential election, assuredly if at the two next-we beat-them, all this party machinery will fall to theground, and the Smiths, Tappans, Garrisons and Par ken, will be left alone to their glory. But.if I am all wrong-if my facts and reasoning are false, and my hopes delusive.-if, in 1880, they beat us-what thenI These'are questions that may well be asked. And the answerls oltious. We must be prepared 1 and the very cfobrts we must make to prevent such results *ll bettei prepare us than any course we canpursue ihat I ca see, We must be prepared, I sayltotake care of ourselves, whatever may aomea t 1i ojear tbAt the slavehdig .States of shis conq federacy, whatever haas %they ak, yhobset incur by remaining in alliance with a nITIr of non-slaveholders a SO- IOInManad. them, must ever and at all times hold tel'e destines I l 4elP own hands. They can n 99 pefit agy foreign power to ileglaatp In 104 enee to their peculiar indstrial system,. blithep to abolish oi-to modify, or impose undue. 4ur dens on it. Such legislation out b'e sesisted with all our iteans, and'without regardtq jy consequences. If it Aould so 4ip . ath hp free States of this Union, beingnq. ,7and always *3 be, in a majoirity, do eqtablish a politidal'lib between the twq seotious and the two sytePin labor, legislate upon it and maintain it,thn they. will form a poweras foreign to usasanynation* in the world, and we cannotsubmit to it: Wlhateve . the weak and defenceless colonies of o.ther coun tries may have submitted to, before these soutli era States will be placed in the.c 4ittion of-st. oumingo qr 4amiaica, or.pne at i'approxima ting to it, ;hy will lead tii qI torg meqta and plunge th.-Wl4 1 j . their power to do b , forthqwi p on -withou-thenri 10ftbC:5i they.will ary 'with temple of civilization, and force a qennonfate on all mankind. There are many who believe that siine suc a catastrophe is inevitable.' It cannot bdioed that, from appearances, here and elsewhere it is entirely possible, and it may not be unwise for all of us to'suppowe'it probable. Although I think that the ranks of our enemies ire broken aid the moral victory won, I am far from-pro claiming that the battle is over, and- that we have now only to gather the fruits of our sue cess. Many a -battle has -been won, and lost again, by overweening confidence, by reckless pursuit, or by turning aside for the sake of spoil, Iet us fall into none of these errors; ror we are still in the very heat and turmoil of this great conflict, and all might yet be lost. What I wish to impress upon you is, that there i hope for eftrt-.riumph for union, energy and pefreverance. It has fallen upon the slaveholdersof the Shuth to conduct this question of African alhve y to its final conolusion. Such is our fate. It -: is inevitable. lot us cheerfully accept: and anflly perform our destined parts ; and do it with no distrust oif God ; with nio misgivings' of ur cause or of ourselves; with no panic; no folish attempt to fly from dangepr which can ot be avoided, which have no.t been yroven to e insurmuiamtable, and which I, for one, believe hat we can cemquer. After what has been chieved by a divided South, n~ow that itis al ost thoroughly united; now -th~atavfe have a President and hia Cabinet; a majority in both [ouses of Oongrese; a Supreme Court of the nited States; and still hosts of allies in the ree States, all ..ubstantially concurring writh us n our con-truction of lie constitution, and n-. her its obligaltions earne-tly battling with-us for the maintenance of our tights and intejest, -we owe it to our country, to ourselves to the world and to postierity, to cast aside all weak' ears; all ptty or impracticable issuee; all nere wrangling and vituperation, personal and_ ectional, and move forward with the dignity of onscious strength and the calniness of undoubt d courage, to the overthrow of every false heory of government, and every sentimental cheme for organising labor ; carrying with us tle constitution of our fathers, and, if we can, heIr Union. But the slave States constituting, and as I hink forever to constitute, a numerical minori y, can, however, scoomphish nothmng in this nion, without the aid of faithia~l alle in the re States, it has been of late too mtuch the ~ abit ini the South to mistrust al1 such ulils-. o disparage, to denounce and drive thumtkoto 4. Nothing could be mtore unwis or-more ujust. It is distrusting the trUth,- ad Justice lour own caiuse, or caluniilating human na ure, to doubt that there are in thei free:State1 housands of soutnd thinking, true-hearted and -- pallant nmen, who concur essentially-in our yiews, ad are ready to make .common - cause with us. ay, it is falsifying history, and -fact. During he late session I saw men acting cordially and igrouly with us agaitnst thespositite instruo' tions of their excited constituents, - at-the han ard of political mai-tyrdom; and in two instan ces that martyrdom was consummated, befobe the adjournment. Shall we 'd10-no -honor 1o uch men ? Shall we pay no 'tribute to-sucda eroic desotion to truth, to justice, and the coastitution? Shall we revile them in common with all northern men, because many retile and ome have betrayed us? 'To be trlys great, e must be not only just, but geaeeusand for. earing with all mankind.. Let tus .plaae ouir selves in the situation of northern publip man n this great contest, consider their dasgersasd esponsibilities, and making everylallowapce lor hman weakness, do homage to the-brave and faithful. And this leads me to say that, hiving neoe een a mere party politician, intriguing -and . wirepulling to advance mywelf or ethers, I ama ot learned in the rubric of the thousspddaslime nmeaning, and usually. false party nines to which our age gives ,birth.. But I.hive beam' given to understand that there' are to betwou a~ties in- the .South ~called "National" andl State R1tsDinierats."" -The word."zabain li g edfugsxllltnrh