Farmers' gazette, and Cheraw advertiser. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1839-1843, June 24, 1840, Image 4
an examination .
Of the claims of Mr. Van Buren and
General Harrison to the support of the
South, in an a<hlress of the Hon. Waddy
Thompson to his constituents.
TO MY CONSTITUENTS.
It has been my habit, on my nnnual roturn
from Washington, to mix so freely
with you, that I have not found it necessary
to address you in the form of a circular ;
circumstances have changed, and I now
find myself holding opinions opposou w |
those of the undivided newspaper press of j
the Slate. It is due to myself and to you,
that I should not conceal these opinions from
you, nor withhold the reasons which have
led to them. I have not made up my mind
hastily, as to the course which it was proper
for those occupying the peculiar position
which I do, to take in the coming Presidential
election. I have done so with the
utmost deliberation, and after the fullest
enquiry. Not that I have ever once
thouglit of supporting Mr. Van Burcn: you
sent me here opposed to him ; ull that 1
have since seen of the principles and character
of his administration has only tended
to confirm and ndd%energy to that opposition.
But I had doubts whether there were
not grounds of opposition to the other candidate,
though not equally strong yets rong
enough to forbid my supporting him.?
There are differences of opinion on important
subjects between General Harrison
and myself, but there is no prospect for the
preseni, and I see but little for the future,
of the elovation to the Presidency of any
one holding my peculiar principles. I have
therefore to choose between the two, and
Iwving a decided preference, I cannot con
1 1J : r,i...?
sent to witnnoia me expression ui ^inference.
I do not intend to go to into ill"
canvass; but between that and voting at
the election there is a wide difference. I
do not intend to be forced into any position
which will in any way interfere wi h my
placing myself in opposition, if Gen. Harrison
shall be elected to any measure which
he may propose, or generally to his administration,
if duty shall demand it of mo.?
Not to vote is mere child's play, and unbecoming
the State. If it had pleased iIkj
leaders of the old nullification party to have
abstainod from any participation whatever
inlhe contest, I should have been gratified;
but it has not. The* most strenuous advocates
of Mr. Van Byren that I know, are
politicians and leaders of the nullification
party. That party has been indeed dissolved,
and the largest portion in our own
State are novo distinctly mustered under the
banner of Mr. Van Buren. I cannot enlist
in that service, and for the following
among many other reasons : I have.ul
ways looked with the greatest fears to the
introduction into the politics oi the Union
of the system of the Albany Regency, a
system commenced immediately after the
close of the Revolution, by Aaron Burr,
and of which Mr. Van Buren is the acknowledged
head. The great characteristic
of that system is to govern men by addressing
the lowest of their selfish passions,
- i - r ?a ~r The
ine iovo oi muircy uu'j ui uiu\.?) 4 ,.vSHme
system upon which Sir Robert YVal.
pole practised with such corrupting influence
upon English morals, and with such
fatal effects upon English liberty. If for
ne other reason, I would not sanction, by a
re-election, the influences which brought
Mr. Van Buren into power ; no fair man
will deny that he was brought into office by
the overpowering influence of Gen. Jack,
son. The first step io the d cliue of all
tree republics has been the nomination by
the executive head of the government of
his supcessor.-?It is a curious (act, anil will
be so regarded hereafter, thai a man should
have attained the Presidency .without hav.
ing associated his name with one single important
period or meusure in the history of
liis country. If the most prolix and ininute
historian were to write the his'ory of
this country previous to Mr. Van Buren's
election, there is no single point in that his-,
lory with which he would find occasion or
excuse for connecting his name. I regard
as the very greatest danger of the times in
which we live, greater even than the en
croachments, the ularming tendency to the
accumulation in the Federal Executive, all
of the powers ol the co-ordinate depart
ments of the Federal Government. We
have seen Mr. Van Buren persisting in
pressing upon the country his fiaanc al
schemes, after repeated decisions of the
people against them, in defi u,ce of their
rcmonsfunces-und in disregard of their'
great and universal sufferings. We have
seen him urging these schemes by all the
vast patronage and power with which he is
invested, and receiving the aid of those who
have denounced these measures as destruc
live of the best interests of the country.?
What difference is there between an ac. I
knowledged despotism, where the executive
makes the laws and such a state of things
as this, where he makes the laws through
the agency of others, many of whom at?
themselves opposed to those laws ? ,
There is one ground of objcctioh to Mr.
Van Buren which would forbid me to vote
for him if 1 approved of his measures,
which I do not, and if I had confidence in
his professions, which I have not. 1 allude
to the ferocious war which lie has been
waging, and which if re-elected, he will
carry on with increuscd energy, upon the
currency, commerce, and credit of the
country. Never has the world known a
people as prosperous and as happy as ours
when he came into power; never has an)
people suffered more severe trials since.?
It has been one unbroken series of suffering,
disaster, and misery. 1 do most
sincerely believe mat notning can restore
prosperity to the country but taking power
from his hands; nothing else will restore
public confidence, and confidence is all
that is now wanting.' It is true that many
of the causes of embarrassment existed
before the last election; we should have
suffered somewhat, but that the troubles
nnd embarrassments of the country have
been infinitely aggravated by his measures
1 do not doubt. We have had other peri
ods of deranged currency, but they have
passed speedily away. Why has this been
so protracted and severe ? For no other
reason than that the whole power of the
Government has been exerted to the destruction
instead of to the sustainingofcredit.
and confidence. It is said that Air. Vr.n
Buron has come to our principles. He says
not. But that he is carryingvout his own
principles, those of his illustrious piedecessor,
in whose footsteps, with much more of
policy than of dignity, he was pledged to
follow. He has come to our principles,
our State Rights principles ? It is not to
i? h#? malms nn annual nrr>.
Ui; UCIJICVJ umw MV ?... >,
fession of some of these principles: so did
his Proclamation and Force Bill predecessor.
I do not look to his professions; what
has been his practice 1 I propose to ex
amine that, and to contrast the opinions of
his competitor with his, on every one of
these points. First, as to the tariff; Gen.
Harrison regards the compromise of 1832
as of the highest obligation, and is disposed j
to adhere to it: and if more revenue is
required, not to increase the duties on protected
articles, hut to impose duties on those
articles which are now duty free; such ar.
tides as the people of the north use and do.
not manufacture, and as to which, the exemption
from duties is more beneficial to
lhem than to us.
What are the opinions of .Mr. Van Buren
on this subject ? No one knows. I say
no one knows the present opinions of Mr.
Van Buren. We do know what his past
opinions ore; that he voted for the
b.II of abominations, the tariff of 1828 ;
and that he boasted at Albany, on
his return from Washington, in a public
speech, of his unvarying support of the
tariff. It was then suid at the south that
he gave that vote against his own opinions,
and under the coercion of legislative instructions.
This I never believed, and it
has been lately charged, and Mr. Talmadge
of the Senate referred to his authority, to
prove from under the hand of Mr. Van
Buren, that he wrote to his friends in the
New York Legislature, that those instructions,
were only in conformity to his own
fixed opinions ; and it has not boon denied,
is to internal improvements, Gen. Harrison
holds precisely the opinions of Gen.
Jackson, that Congress possesses the power
to appropriate money to woiks of a national
character. I dissent from that opinion.
But he is at the saffife time opposed to tho
exercise of the power. Mr. Van Buren
professes to believe that Congress does not
possess the power, but habitually sanctions
its exercise. More money was appropriated
for internal improvements in ?he
first year of his adm nistration than was
done in the whole four years of the administration
of Mr. Adams. Now, 1 would
rather have a President who admitted the
power, but was opposed to its exercise
than one who denied the power, but hnbiL
ually exerted it. As to internal improvement,
it is no more a practical question
than would be tho embargo, except as to
the Cumberland road and harbours ; Mr.
Van Buren sanctions both of thes*\ 1 re.
rrnrrl fhic as fhn vp.ru worst form in which
...
the power can be exerted. It is not only
necessarily partial, as it is confined in its
benefits to the seaboard, but that is the
very region where, from vicinity to markets
these improvements are not needed,
and if they are, the people being wealthy,
can make them for themselves. It is in the
remote interior whore thny are needed,
and where the people aro generally too
poor to make them.
A National Bank.?General Harrison
denies the power under any express
grant in the Constitution?but says, that if
it shall be demonstrated that the public revenues
cannot be collected without such an
institution, he thinks that Congress may, m
that event, establish a bank. I have never
seen any man, even of the strictest sect,
who denies the poiftftf thus qualified. No
Government can exrst without revenue?it
would not, in such a case, bo a question of
convenience, but of necessity, absolute, imperious;
and involving the very extstenceof
-1 * irn A
me uovernmeni. 11 congress may doi, in
such a case charer a bank, that clause of
the Constitution whicli gives all "powers,
necesssary and proper, to the execution" of
granted powers, is a mere nullity, and its
frumets wore not that body of sages that we
have supposed them. It was on this ground
that the charter of a bank in 1816 received
the support of Dallas, Crawford, Lowndes,
and Calhoun, and the Republican party of
that day; and at a later day, it was on this
ground that the constitutionality of a bank
has been advocated By IVfr. McDuffie, and
every leading politician of South Carolina.?
[ expressed these views in a letter, pub.
lished during rr.y late canvass. 1 do not,
however, think the establishment of a
National tfank within the powers of Congress,
as no such necessity has been demonstrated:
and I do not anticipate any
such.?But I am not disposed to denounce
those as either knaves or fools who think dif.
ferently, when I remember, that the firs4?
charter was signed in 1791, four years a{ er
the adoption of theConstitu'ion, by General
Washington, President of the Convention
which formed that instrument, with all the
debates fresh in his memory?and the second
by the great and virtuous Madison,
who was its great architect. Nor, have I
any such apprehensions as some express of
of the dangers of such an institution, when
I remember that of the fifty-three years of
our national existence, we have had a national
bank for forty years; and that our liberties
have not only survived it, but that no injurious
influence was either exerted or attempted?and
that those forty years were precisely
the period of our greatest prosperity
and happiness, and of advances in civilization
and power, unprecedented in the history
of the world; and that the thirteen
years when we have had no such instinr
tion, were years of universal stagnation of
all the employments of life; and of that suffering
and distress which results from a deficient
or a vitiated currency.
I do not doubt that a bank, not sufficiently
guarded may become a dangerous engine
ed that he would not. -But on his way to I
Cheviot, he found the dangerous spirit of
abolition more rife than ever. He deter- '
mined to rebuke it, and he did so. I wish
you to remember, that this speech was not |
made to slave-holders; but that there was
not a man in the assembly who was not
opposed to slavery; and a large number of
them abolitionists. To such an assembly
he held the following language;
< There is however, a subject now beginning
to agitate them (the Southern States,
in relation to. which, if their alarm has any
foundation, the relutive situation in which,
they may stand to some of the States, will
hn the verv reverse to what it now is. 1
the necessities of his political position made
it expedient?but it is too bad at the same j
time to ask us to denounce an old long tried )
friend, who has sacrificed himself to our in-1
terests. What friendship can we hereafter
expect?what friendship do we deserve, if
we thus act? Allow me to submit the
proofs in support of the broad proposition
which I have ^ssertod.
Mr. Van Buren voted in the New York
Convention to confer the highest privilege
of a freeman upon negroes. It was carried
mainly by ins influence; and it is to him
that we are indebted for tlx; fact, that the
powerful representation of forty members
from the Slate of New York, are sent here j
in part by negroes.
In 1819, Mr. Van Ruren voted to instruct
Rufus King, then a senator in Congress
from New York, to vote against the admission
of Missouri into jibe L'nion unless
slavery was abolished. It is to me a rnel- i
ancholy illustration of'the decadence of
public f eling, and of a want of proper tone '
and spirit in the south, that one of the prune !
movers?perhaps the very prime 'mover of
of that dangerous measure, should not only
be urged upon the confidence of the south,
but is so pressed, as the only anointed sav.
iour of southern institutions.. Mr. Jefferson
said that the news of that movement
_ i!i .t... _r /z .i
came upon mm nae ne cry 01 ore m inc
night. No ono crisis in our public affairs
has so excited the fears of every patriot?
and most strange and unaccountable, he who
lighted the torch, is held up as our best
friend; and her who extinguised it, as our
worst enemy. Is this grateful, fair, or just?
No later than 1822, Mr. Van Buren voted
to restrict the introduction of slaves into
Florida. If Congrcs has the power to restrict
has it not power to forbid the introdnction
of slaves into a Territory??Who
denies this ? If you hare power to restrict
it to settlers, why may you not restrict it
still further to settlers over eighty years of
age, or nltogethei? Look oil that picture,
and now look on this! In 1802, General
Harrison presided ov- r a Convention in Indiana,
whose object was to obtain a modifu,
cation of the ordinance of 1GS8, so as to admit-slavery
in that Territory. In 1819,
General Harrison was a member of Cons j
gress from a district in Ohio, containing
more abolitionists than any other in the
State. The Missouri question, raised hy
Van Buren and his associates, was brought
before Congress. It was one of those trying
occasions *hich few men have the moral
crfurago to meet. Gen. 11. had?and
acted worthily of his own fame, and the patriot
namo which he had inherited from a
noble ancestor. He was told, if you vote
r.l- .1 . . -i. .. *11 .1 , i r>
wim me souiu, you win uesiroy yoursen.
"That is probable," lie replied, "but it is
belter that I should destroy myself than to
1 destroy the Oonstitution of my country"?
an expression and an act sufficient, of themselves,
to stamp him a patriot. He voted
with two others, and only two, from the
non slave S ates, to sustain the chartered
rights of the south. Never did u wilder,
fiercer, or more furious storm burst upon
the head of any muo. At the next election
he was notwithstanding his overwhelming
popularity, beaten for Congress?and never
was more vituperation and opprobrium
heaped upon any man than he suffered.?
The town Cheviot was in his district, an I
in that neighborhood there were more abolitionists
than any wh<-re else in the State;
and there the denunciation of General
Harrison was most violent. In 1833, the
people of Cheviot, remembering his public
services, and willing to forgive,not to forget,
his great political crime, for abolition hud
increased, not diminished?invited him to a
public dinner. His friends urged him to
rnako no allusion to abolition?that a decent
respect to those who had invited him,
a very large portion of whom were abolitionists,
demanded that he should make no
allusihn to the j>ust. He at enco delerniiu
in the hands of a corrupt Government, and 1
thai it may l>e used injuriously to the South. 1
But, properly guarded, 1 have just as little
doubt that the chief benefits of such an institution
will be to the South, for the simple
reason that the South is the paying, not the
recoiyjflg section; and is therefore mainly
Interested in having a uniform currency.
But whatever may be the dangers, real
or supposed, of a national bank, they sink
into utter insignificance in comparison with
those of a Government bank; and that such
is the alternative contemplated by Mr. Van
Buren, I do think* any longer doubtful; and
L think I have heretofore proven ti.
But it is said that General Harrison is an
abolitionist, and that it was for that mason
that he has been nominated over .Mr. Clay,
who was so obnoxious to the abolitionists
that none of them would vole for him. You
cannot have forgotten that the very men,
and the very presses, who now tell you this,
up to the very moment of the Ilarrisburg
nomination, said that Mr. Clay was an abolitionist.
Now you are told that he not
only is not, but is especially objectionable
to the abolitionists. Both cannot be true.
What is it that has so suddenly transformed
Mr. Ciny from an abolitionist into an enemy
of abolition? I will tell you.?Ho is no
longer a candidate for the Presidency. Ho
is in no body's way?and has therefore a
respite from calumny. Me is now a marvellous
proper man. But let that illustrious
citizen?illustrious for every great quality
that elevates our nature, be once more
brought before the country, and the same
war of cnlumnv and fiiMchood will again
be waged against liim.
Harrison nn abolitionist?a Virginian,
and that Virginian a Harrison.?an abolitionist
? Does any one really believe it ?
No one man living, north or south, has
done and suffered as much in the cause of
defending this institution of the South as
General Harrison; and no statesman of this
coun'ry has given as many votes against
that institution as Martin Van Buren; and
he never changed or wavered in this course^
until, without such change ho could not
have hoped to be elected President.
Now, it is bad enough to challenge- our
special confidence foran old undevialingenc- I
my, who never ceased lo oppose us until '
allude to a supposed disposition in some individuals
in the non.sluveholding States t&
interfere with the slave population of the
other States, for the purpose of forcing their
emancipation. I do not call j our atteution
to this subject, fellow-citizens, from the apprehension
that there is a man amongst you
who will lend his aid to a project so pregnant
with mischief; and still less that there
is a state in the Union which could be
brought to give it countenance. But such
are the feelings of our Southern brethren
upon this subject?such their views, and
their just \iews, of the evils which an interference
of this kind would bring upon them,
that long before it would reach the point of
receiving the sanction ofa State, the cvilof
theuttempt would be consummated, as far
as we are concerned, by a dissolution of
the Union. If there is any principle of the
Constitution of the United States less dispuputable
thnn any other, it is, that the slave
population is under the exclusive control
ofthe States which possess them. If there
is any meusurc likely to rivet tho chains,
and blast the prospects of the negroes for emancipation,
it is tho interference of unauthorized
persons. Can any one, who is acquainted
with the opera'ions of the human
mind, doubt this ? We have seen how restive
our Southern brethren have been from
a supposed violation of their political rights.
What must be the cons* quence of an acknowledged
violation of these rights, (for
every man of sense must admitit to be so,
conjoined wit|i an insulting interference with
their domestic concerns ?
I will not now slop to enquire into the
motives of those who are engaged in this fatal
and unconstitutional project. There
may he some who have embarked in it without
properly considering its consequences, and
who are actuated by benevolent and virtuous
principles. But, if such there are, I am
very certain that% should they continue their
present course, their fellow citizens will, ere
long,4 curse the virtues which have undone
their country 9
44 Should I be asked if there is no way by
which the General Government can aid the
cause of emancipation, I answer, that it has
long been an object near my heart to see
the whole of its surplus revenue nppropria.
ted to that object. With the sanction of
the States holding the slaves, there appears
to me to be no constitutional objection to
its being thus applied ; embracing, not only
the colonization of those that may bo otherwise
freed, but the purchase of the freedom
of others. By a zealous prosecution of a
plan formed upon that basis, wo might look
I forward to a day, not very distant, when a
{ North American sun would not look down
! upon a slave. To those who have rejected
j the plan of colonization, I would ask, if they
I have well weighed the consequences ofem|
ancipation without it ? How long would
i the emancipated negroes remain satisfied
I with that? Would any of the Southern
j States then (the negroes armed and organI
ized) be able to resist their claims to a participation
in all their political rights / Would
j it even slop there 1 Would they not claim
admittance to all the social rights and privi;
leges of a community in which, in some in!
stances, they would compose the majority 1
l-Let those who take pleasure in the contemplation
ofsuoh scenes as must inevitably
follow, finish out the picture.
" If I am correct in the principles here
advanced, I repeat my assertion, that the
discussion on the subject of emancipation in
the non-slaveholding Stales, is equally Injurious
to the slaves and their masters, and that
it has no sanction in the principles of the
Constdution. 1 must not be understood to
say, that there is any thing in that ins'rumcnt
which prohtbits such discussion. I know
there is not. But the man who believes that
the claims which his fi'liov^-citizens have
upon him are satisfied by adhering to the
nnliM/^nI fr\mn.'irI lhjit rnnnortg
IQrllCf ui \ig\J j'Vi?i?iv%?i vvm?|^mv? wviiuvwiw
them, must have a very imperfect knowledge
of the principles upon which our glori.
ous Union was formed, and by which alone
it can be maintained."
The following extract of a letter from an
intimate friend of Gen. Harrison, places his
conduct on that occasion in a striking point
of view ;
" Uui his speech at Cheviot affords still
stronger proof on this point. It was deliv
erod, you will recollect, on the 4th ol July ;
it was delivered, too, before tiie very men
who had opposed him because of his slavery
views. Surely, then, he would not now
touch this dangerous topic. The occusion
did not require it: the occasion, indeed,
would hardly justify it. Hesides, this was
the first opportunity which the Goperul had
enjoyed since 1832 of addressing the people ;
and bow easy, how natural it would have
been, to improve it for his own .ends ; to
seek, by talking of oil times, of his fears of
arms, and of the glorious West, to kindle afresh
those friendly feelings which once bur.
ned so strongly in his favor ? Why not so
embrace it 1 Why, at any rate, discuss a
subject which was full of excitement, which
might rouse against him passions that were
then only slumbering, which had before,
and on that very spot, marred his political
prospects ? He did it, it is evident, hecause
a foul spirit was about him, which, if
allowed to spread, would peril all that was
noble in the land; and he forgot himself,
and thought only of his country, in the effort
to destroy that spirit."
Afterwards, in a speech at Vincenncs in
1835, he used the following language upon
this subject:
" 1 have now, fellow-citizens, a few words
df
more toaay on another subject, and which a
is, in my opinion, of more importance than s
any other that is now in the course of dis- tl
cussion in any part of the Union. I allude
to the societies which have been formed, s
and the movements of certain individuals, tl
in some of the States, in relation to a portion h
of the population in others. The conduct t<
of these persons is the more dangerous, be- o
cause their object is masked under the garb t<
of disinterestedness and benevolence ; and j e
iheir course vindicated by arguments and s
propositions which in the abstract no one tl
can deny. But, however fascinating may ti
be the dress with which their schemes are c
presented to their fellow.citizens, with what- v
ever purity of intention they may have been li
foimed and sustained, they will be found to t
carry in their train mischief to the whole p
Union, and horrors to a large portion of it, i
which it is probable, some of the projectors, '/
und many of their supporters, have never r
thought of; the latter, the first in the series- t
of evils which are to .spriug from their t
source, are such as you have rend of, to have c
been perpetrated on the fair plains of Italy |
and Gaul by the Scythian hordes of Attila t
and Alaric; and such as most of you nppre- '
hended,npon that memorable night when the t
tomahawks and war-clubs of the followers I
ofTecumseh were rattling in jour suburbs. i
I regard nor the disavowals of any such in- i
tontion upon the part of the authors of these s
schemes, since, upon the examination of the <
publications which havo been made, they i
will be found to contain the very fuct3 and t
very argument which would have been used, t
if such would huvc been their object. I am t
certain that there is not, in this assembly one 1
of these deluded men, and that there are :
few within the bounds of the State. If there I
are any, I would earnestly entreat them to j
forbear, to pause in their career, and deiiber- j
ately consider the consequence of their con- J
duct to the whole Union, and to those for <
whose benefit they profess to act. Thai I
the latter will be the victims of the weal;, in- i
judicious'presumptuous, and unconstitu'ion. i
al efforts to serve them, a thorough exami 1
nation of the subject must convince them.
The struggle (and struggle there must b<*) i
may commence with horrors such as I have
described, but it will end with more firmly
riveting the chains, or in the utter extirpation,
of those whose cause they advocate.
" Am I wrong, fellow-citizens, in applying
the terms weak presumptuous and unconslilutionai-ih
the measures of emancipators.
A slight examination will, I think,
show that I am not. In a vindication of the
_ ? Pnmruntirtn which WHS ljltf-1 V
uujcuia ui u ? .. ?
held in one of the towns of Ohio, which 1
saw in a newspaper, it was said that nothing
more was intended than to produce a state
of public feeling which would lead to an amendmcnt
of the Constitution, authorizing
the abolition of slavery in the United States.
Now, can an amendment of the Constitution
be effected without the consent of-tho Southern
Stutes ? Whar, then, is the proposition
to be submiticd to them ? Jt is this : 1 The
present provisions of the Constitution secure
to you the right (a right which you
held before it was made, which you have i
never given up,) to manage your domestic i
concerns in your own way ; but as we arc
convinced that you do not manage them i
properly, wo want you to put in the hands
of the General Government, in the councils i
of which we have the majority, the control!
over these matters, the effect of which will
be virtually to transfer the power from yours
into our hands.'"
" A naiii: in some of the Stales, and in
section-; of others, the black population far
succeeds that of the white. Some of the e.
mancipators propose an immediate abolition.
What is the proposition# then as it regards
these States and parts of States, but the alternatives
of amalgamation with the blacks,
or an exchange of situations with them ? Is
there any man of common sense who does
not believe that the emancipated blacks. Liping
a majority, will insist upon a full parti"
cipation of political rights with the whites:
and when possessed ol these, they will not
for continued social rights also/ What
but the extremity of weakness and folly could
induce any one to think that such propositions
as these could be listened to by a peo.
plo so intelligent as the Southern States ?
Further : the emancipators generally declare
that it is their intention to effect their
object (although their acts contradict th? assertion)
.by no other means than by convincing
the slaveholders that the immediate e_
mancipution of the slaves is called for, both
by moral obligation and sound policy. An
unfledged youth at the moment of leaving
(indeed, in many instances, before he has
left it) his theological seminary, undertakes
to give lectures upon morals to the countrymen
of Wythe, Tucker, Pendleton and
Lowndes; and lessons of political wisdom
to States, whose affairs have so recently
been directed by Jefferson, and Madison,
Maron, and Crawford. Is it possible that,
instances of greater vanity and presumption
could be exhibited 2 But the course pursued
by the emancipators is unconstitutional. I
do not say that there are nnv words in the
constitution which forbid the discussions
they are engaged in ; I know that there are
not. And there is even an article which secures
to the citizens the right to ufcpgfps and
publish their opinions without restriction.
But in the construction of the Constitution
it is always necessary to refer to tlr: circumstances
under which it was framed, and to
ascertain its meaning by a comparison of its
provisions with each other, and with the
previovs situation of the several States who
were parties to it. In a por|ion of th se
slavery was recognized, and they took care
to have the right secured to them, to follow ,
and reclaim such of them as were fugitives
to other Slates. The laws of Congress,
passed under this power, have provided punishment
to any who shall oppose or interrupt ,
the exercise of this right. Now. can any i
one believe that the instrument, which contains
a provision of this kind, which authorizes
a master to pursue his slave into another
State, lake him back, and provides a punishment
for any citizen or citizens of tha, i
State who should oppposc him, should, at .
the samo time, authorize, the latter to as- i
semble together, to puss resolutions and
dopt addresses, not only to encourage the
laves to leave their masters, but to ctfnheir
Croats before they do so ? 4
' I insist that, if the citizens of the non*
laveholding States can avail themselves of
fie article of the Constitution which proibits
the restriction of speech or the press,
3 publish any thing injarious to the rights
f the Slaveholding States, that tbey can go
3 the extreme that I have mentioned, and
fleet any thing further which writing or
peaking could effect. But, foilow-chizCDS
bese are nor the principles of the Coosti.*
ution.?Such a construction would defeat
me of the great objects of its formation,
fhich was, that of securing the peace and
larmony of the Slates which were parties
o it. The liberty of speech and of the
tress, were given as the most effectual
neans to preserve fo each and every citi;en
their own rights, and to the States the
ights which appertained to them at die
ime of their adoption. It could never have
)ecn expected that it would be used by the
:itzons of one portion of the States for the
jurpose of depriving those of another porion
of the.rights which they had reserved
it the adoption of the Constitution, and in
he exercise of which, none but themselves
lave any concern or interest. If slavery
a an evil, the evil is with them. If there
s guilt in it, the guilt is theirs, not ours,
iince neither the States where it does not
jxist, nor the Government of the United
States can, without usurpation of power, and
he violation of a solemn compact, do any
liing to remove it without the consent of.
hose who are immediately, interested.?
But they will neither ask for aid, no^on.
?ent to he aided, whilst the illegal, persecu.
nig, una iiaiigt-ruiis iiiuvuiiicuis arc ?n progress,
of which I complain ; the interests ot
ill concerned requires "that these should be
stopped immediately. This can only be
Jone by the force of public opinion, and
that cannot too soon be brought into operation.?Every
movement which is made by ^
the abolitionists in the non slavehotdiug
Stal -s, is viewed by our Southern brethren
as an attack upon their rights, and which
if persisted in, must in the cud eradicate
those feelings of aituchmcnt and affection,
between the citizens of all the States, which
was produced by a community of interests
ru.d dangers in the war of the revolution,
which was the foundation of our happy
Union, and by a continuance of which it
can alone be prcscivid. 1 entreat you
then to frown upon measures which nre to
produce results so much to be deprecated.
The opinions which I have now given, 1
have omitted no opportunity for the last
two years to lay before the people yf my
own State. I have taken the liberty to
express them here, knowing that even if
they should unfortunately not accord with
yours, they would be kindly received."
What motive can Gen. Harrison have
to falsify nil that he has heretofore said
this subject?to disgrace and dishonor himself
? He can have none, as ho is pledged
not to bo again a candidate. But it is said
that if he is not un abolitionist, the abolition,
ists support him. It is not truo. As fajr
as I know, {here is but one abolition paper
in the Union that is not opposed to him;
and that is not more than neutral. But
to put discharge forever at rest, the abolitionists,
at a late Convention, have detcrmL
ncd to support neither of the candidates;
and have started candidates of their own.
In the Cheviot speech, Gen. Harrison
advances the opinion, that on the application
of the slave States, Congress may
appropriate the public lands to the purpose
of emancipation. In this I know lie is in
an error into which Mr. Jefferson and Mr.
Madison have fallen: and a most harmless
error. No such application will be made
by the slave States; and if it should, there is ^
no great danger in those States being aided
with money on their own application- I od
not know Gen. Harrison personally; I only
know him through the history of the coun.
try. If that history he true, it is ubsurd to
deny him high qualities and talents, ft is
too lute in the day to deny military talents
to a man, who to say nothing of any thing
else, has received un unanimous vote of
thanks from Congress, the appro bntion'of
Madison, and of the time, honored Shelby,
who served in the sante campaigns with
him. I have been very much struck
with one thing :n the life of Gen. Harrison.
He entered the service of the country
when but a boy, with a largo hcreditaty
fortune. He had opportunities of enriching
himself to millions whilst Governor of the
Territory?but he came out of that seiv
vice, and all of his high trusts, a poor man;
and he is neither vicious nor a spendthrift.
It was regarded amongst the Romans,?the
highest complir&ent to one who had been
invested with important trusts, to be able
to say that he died so poor as to be buried
lit the public expense. Never did any man
better deserve such a tribute. Forjtheae
reasons,. I Jo not hesitate to express to you
my opinion, that the interests of the country
will be promoted by the election of
Gen. Harrison. If, however, he should bo
elected, and his administration should be
such as my own judgment may not approve,
I shall placeMiiyself in no position where I
cannot oppose that administration. 01 one
thing I feel very sure, that no change can
be for the worse.
Most gratefully and truly,
Your humble servant,
WADDY THOMPSON, Jr.
Dunlap dj* Marshall
HEREBY givo notice that they will continue
to sell their Dry Goods only, on tho usual
credit to punctual customers. ^
They will sell their Groceries at tho lowest
prices for cash only.
Tho very short credit at which groceries can
now be bought, amounting with the exchange
almost to Cash, with their lhnitcd capital compels
Lhcm to tho adoption of this course.
January 1,1840.
8 tf
Dunlap .Marshall
OFFER for sale at very low prices a fino
stork of negro cloth and blankets?they
also offer by fllid. Tierce or Bbl. very fine N
[). and W. J. Molasses.
January 3, 1840. 8 tf