The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, July 05, 1850, Image 1
m
VOLUME 11. CAMDEN, SOUTH-CAROLINA, JULY 5, 1850. N UMBER 53,
' THE CAMDEN JOURNAL.
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1 III Ml Ull IM HIIWHI II I M
" cPEEGH OF HOW. JOHN WcQUEEW,
OK SOUTII CAROLINA,
In tfie House of Representatives,
Saturday, June 8, 1850.
The House being in Committee of the Whole
on the state of the Union, and resuming the
consideration of the California question, the
President's Message in relation to that subject
being before the Committee?
Mr. McQUKKN said:
Mr. Chairman: I think it more than likely
that nothing I may submit will change the j
views ol members of this body, or stay the ng- | 1
gression which, for some time, I have too plain- j 1
ly seen rapidly advancing from the northern i 1
poition of this Confederacy upon thit part of it j
from whence I come; yet I feel it my duly to ; 1
employ one hour, the first I have attempted to
-consume in this House, or in hiiv other legisin- j
live in portraying some of the most protn- | 1
inenl facts and indications which threaten not
only the ruin and degradation of the South, hut. 1
.in my judgment, the downfall at no very distant 1
-day of this once happy Confederacy.. That we 1
have arrived at a period, when it becomes ev. 1
cry honest man to reflect, and gravely reflect, '
upon the true condition of the country, none ran
doubt ; and to view that condition properly, the
variouscau<es which have produced it should he
.most carefully examined. i
It is useless to disguise the fact, that a system
of aggression, regular and unahaiing, i? going {
Mil against the South wHeh if persisted in by <
the North, and submitted to h\ the South, must
? ? .. - I l_.; ..
.e*wl in iinlliiug l"ss man our oner uogiituuuon. |
Sir. 1 do not k| cak with nt a meaning. when I {
nay our litter degradation and ruin ; nor ran anv j :
artifice however iagptini*. or unv d??viro how \
.ever cunningly shaped, so cover up the truth I
as to hide it from the most ordinary rapacity.
What, then, is the great and moving cnu?e ,
which lias brought us to this unhappy and dan- '
gerom condition'/ In mv jtif!?j??rn?*nt it pro i
reeds Iruni more causes than one. |i proceeds j
from a misconception or niNeon-t ruction of the i
true principles upon which thi< Contederacy wa- >
entered into by our ancestors, aud a sickly, fa '
natirnl sentiment, enteiti.ined now ion genera) j
]y hy the inhabitants of what they please to call i
the free States, in relation to an institution of
which they really know lint liitle, and with
which they have no more right to interfere, than
they have to dictate to the inhabitants of the
southern State?, in what churches and*at what
.altars they shall wnr-hm thill (and who gave
thein being. Sir. if this Government were a
union of undefined powers, concentialed in one
?..n>n,Aii h?n>i li??re the tiohts which the Miirlli
now claim in relation to slavery might, with
some degree of plausibility, be asserted. And
tainted ns they are by an education founded in
falsehood, slander, and misrepresentation, there
would be some upolony for the claim. I'm,
fortunately for us, the Government never was
constituted, or intended to lie, one grand eon.
nolidated engine of powers, that might to day be
wielded by an unrestrained majority to the de?liuction
of any one section o t the Confederacy,
while to-morrow, that section getting the ascen.dency
might, in turn, convert it into an engine
of revenge liil destruction, uijtil its devastating
.power* should annihilate the whole. No, sir;
,no. The .framers of our Constitution were too
isacjently j.f.lieved from a struggle in which the
question ,(fi equal rights and just powers were
deeply involved, to allow jJjem to have forgotten
|llie rights <>f the several colonies, uho in one
.oonooon .cause had waged a war of seven years
against oppression*. Each colony was too jeal.
otis of its own sovereignty ever to have merged
it in one common sovereignty, which. I>y n hare
plurality of numbers, might he perverted to nny
purpose that fanaticism and madness might suggust.
When the framers of the Constitution cam*!
together to adopt a plan of government Ibr their
.mininou defence, it did not enter into the npiui
.of any one that fltey WffP other than delegates
/ioin thirteen independent sovereignties?independent
of each other and independent ot the
world. It never entered theii lirain that they
were authorized to transfer that high and exclusive
inverrie.nl)' inherent in the jteojilc of each
.Stale, m any poji'rr np earth, to be wielded by
tiiei majority against opt-half ul the .States,
jrvrii i. their destruction. Nor would those
.who >e 11 hem even have recognised their acts,
had lb- r attempted t& ilo so. V\'e we the pry[
drill jealousy manifested in the express resarvaItion
of all powers not eiyrcsshj granted to I ho
general agency. Who for a moment can suppose
that Rhode Island would ever have consented
to commit her fato to the hands of New
York and Massachusetts, unon tho rponstrous
prinriple that lior internal affairs wore t<> he
regulated l?v an unrestrained majority? She
did refuse for two years to give her sanction, as
it was; and I venture the assertion that no
three States in the Union ever would have ratified
the Constitution, had the northern sentiment
of the present (lav even been suspected, ny
which the right of legislation is here claimed
from the establishment of a flower garden to
the degradation and destruction of one-half the
States, [lad those who formed the Constitution
returned to those who sent then), and said,
We have entered into a compact hy which for
your general we I ft re and happiness we have
mingled your sovereignty with that of the other
States, to he regulated by the opinion of a majority
of all the people ofthe Slates, unrestrnin.
ed by any other check than their opinion and
will,?they would have been burned in effigy
sooner than received to the bosom of their people.
Their names would have been consigned
to the scorn and indignation of all. rather than
perpetuated in history a* a hand ol sages who
liiul erected a beacon to guide tlie civilized
world in the way of freedom and the highest
enjovinent of human happiness. Hut, sir, it
would he a libel upon their wi?dntn, their sa
racily, and patriotism, to give such construction
to acts. They never contemplated the
present state of things under Ihcir Constitution.
They never supposed that a sickly fanaticism
would profess to move under its letter or spirit,
....ill nnit dovnhiiinn shall oervade
ilif land.
It is well known that it is to the North we
are rnninly indebted for that unlimited construe*
tinn of the Constitution of which I have spoken.
She, from her very nature and climate, is de.
nied the production ofmany of the staples nece*?ary
for the food end the raiment of the human
family, and consequently must live upon
the products of other places; her inhabitants
must live by their genius and wits, rather than
the first service allotted to man by his Creator.
This necessity early established in their judge
inent the ri?rht to tax the agriculture of the South
with tribute to their mechanic pursuits; and, as
a matter of course, construe the compart ot
Government to answer that purpose. This
principle established. iIip door has been thrown
open to any other heresy that may have its
lime until, under the broad a?gis of a genrial
welfare constitution, nothing that a majority,
however tnad, may design, will not be ac
romjtlUhofl*
n.K I have not time to dwell longer on this
branch of mv niibject, an I will come now to
what I consider 'he immediate cause of the so.
rious diflieidtieij in which we lirtd ourselves.
\nd no one need he told it is l!??* actual war.
(though not yet of the sword.) ca'rried on by
one hulfol the States of this Confederacy against
the other, emanating from a sickly fa
iiatieisrn among those who. if it were an evil,
dioiild be most lenient toward those who have
amongst thorn Af'ican slavAv. They claim
I hut they are too holy and pure to allow slavery
to o\i<i within this ('oii'edcrari?that they
themselves, though oijee eontambialetl with it.
have from the motives of philanthropy tind be.
nevalence, long since abo.'ished it ; leil not eon
tctil with tlieir own holiness and sanctity, have
a duty devolving on them of wiping it of}'the
I.ILT III I XI I ^ ? ? I I I III! Id, <1* a IllllJi H'W IfMM.IIMItI?!?
I>r ?In*ir toleration. And yet, who doe*
not know :lint it wh* northern capital ami northern
seamen mainly who brought from Africa
ihe thousands whose posterity ate the objects
of so mm-li strife? Nor is il true, that they
abolished slavery, as they pretend "hey did,
within their own limits. In this whole matter
I hey have the graee to claim that which the
truth of history denies tliein. The South, as is
well known, was greatly opposed the shipment
of Africans within their borders, but the northern
philanthropy of that day forced it upon
litem for their general " welfare and happiness;"
and now, when they haverivilizcd and christianized
them, the si?ut<* North, in its next generation,
arrogates to itself to tell us that il is a
black stain upon our country, and they will take
such a course as we had better prepare lor?
ihey will give ii.v twenty five years to see me
black pall of shivery banished Ironi this continent.
Sir, I have said that the North profess a
virtue in the abolition of o( slavery which the
truth of history drni"s them. They never did
diminish, to any considerable extent, the number
of slaves in this confederacy. They [Kissed
acts, it is title, fn their several States, when
tlay found that neither their soil or climate
rendered them longer profitable, but they were
pro<[>eetive in their; operation, ant] before they
took rfl'-et, they took good care to sell in the
South the most saleable of their negroes antl
pocket the money, I'hey turned loose upon
'ho world those who were old and unfit Ibrsale,
a philanthropic and holy act, by which lliey had
purified their souls and washed from amongst
llieoi tit- lilack stain of slavery; whilst, in (act
and in tiutli, they simply transferred them to a
more genial clirpe, but took good care to trans,
fer themselves, by the operation, to that class
which they rail the upper ten thousand, whilst
their children to this day are basking in the af".
Ilnence thus commenced and secured. Audit
does seem to me unfortunate that gentlemen, at
this day, who professes to believe the llible,
and claim so much purity in themselves, should
l<?rget that part of the Decalogue which tells us
In,i fJmlic > i?!ihiu? Hod. visitintr the iniooi
" " J" r, I
t't'Kof the lilt hern upon the children unto the
third uucJ fourth generation, and that they should
not reflect how damning a sin they tiro proclaiming
against their ancestors, and content themselves
with prayer (or its forgiveness, and let
us alone. We feel at least as capable to pursue
the path of duty to ourselves, our country,
and our God, as thpy do, if it be a sin, which
( earnestly deny, it is now our sin. We are
content to answer for it, and it is arrogance,
rank and insulting, to presume to dictate to us,
under an itisidunus, hypocritical, or fanatical
sentiment, against tin? Bible. from tlie earliest
j history of the world to the present moment, and
against our peace and unquestionable rights in
this Confederacy, which I trust in God, every
true hearted southerner will defend against forth.
er aggression, as they would their hearthstones
and their lives. But to return from my digres;
siou : I have said that the northern States nev
er have, to any considerable extent, diminished
the number of slaves in this Confederacy,
and will refer to one or two instances of the
modus operandi of their emancipation to show
I. i inn ian
In 1790, according to (ho census. there wore
! in \ew York, 21,324 slaves and 4.654 free col.
i ori'd persons ; between 1790 and 1800, I pre
snme it will not be contended there was any
; emancipation in that Slate, and it is fair to suppose
the number of free colored could not have
i increased by the manumission of slaves to any
extent of consequence. In those ten years the
free colored increased to 10,374. making about
i 1,000 over double, whilst by the census of 1800
there were still in the Slate 20.343 slaves: and
had they increased by procreation in the same
ratio with the free colored, there should have
been about 45.000. And should :t he said that
manumission of slaves increased the number of
free colored, still 19,000 must have been sold
to the South, or the parents of those who would
have raised that number, supposing the free colored
not to have increased at all ; but I pre.
snme few if any were at that day set free, and it
la 1'iir f/% ix/infinito iKo rn!/?iilnf inn itnnn flu* !mvi<
] of the increase of free colored during that peri!
od. By the census of 1810 there were 25,333
'< free colored, making un increase of about the
j same ratio, and I lie number of rI:iv?;s was 13,.
017?showing a diminution of only a few over
I 5,000 in those ten yeais, whilst again their inI
crease would have swelled the ninnher to about
J 43.000, of whom about *28,000 oust have found
j a southern market. Not ?n it be said that
! during (his interval, any were set free by legis|
lative enactment, because an act which had
been passed in 1801 only declared that children
born after July 1799 should tie free, but that
i thev should continue in the service oftheir owni
ers until they arrived at the age of twenty-eight
! years; and they could not until July, 1827. have
| been classed in the census as free. Bui by the
J same act of 1801, a door was l?-ft open by which
| the operation ! am cioseriiiinjr nu<jni na carrieo
! on Itv law ; as owner* won* allowed, under eer
l tain rejriilatioiiM. to carry their slaves beyond
the limits of the Stale, and no law was passed
until 1827 abnlishinrr slavery within that State.
In 1 820 the free eolored were 29.279, allowing
' an inerease mi ten years of nnl\ M 910, when
the number of slaves was 10.089, being redn
ced within the ten \ear? -1 929. Now suppos.
; ieg the free colored had not increased at all,
| nor ihe slaves either, and that every one of the j
8.!) 10 inrease of five colored had been caused!
j Ity the liberation of slaves, ?tiil there were about
, one thousand slaves disposed of in some othei
: way. Ibtt taking my original data, there should
: have been at this lime about fifty thousand free
colored and 119,1)0 s'aves, and about 2o 099 o!
the latter most a<raiu Ii ive found a more snulhi
em elim". During Unit period Ion, there was an
no aeconiitabe fit'liiiu ollul'llie inerease of free
: colored, vvhii-l? may li.? nerntiuted for, perhaps.
I?y I lit* .supposition I !i:t( in tin >?? transition t i !
i many >1 them inijshl have t :i\<>JF with
those \vln?, under tin* law, liaii a ri?jht to carry
| ili?ir slaves mil of ilie .Stale ; and this may, to
j this day, furnish a reason why ?rentlemcn oflhe
I North are so very eanlimis it) providing laws
I against kidnapping : lor I have never heen
i aware thai Iree negroes were ever carried sonlh
! hy southern ships or southern traders. By lol
! lowinir the eaieidation llirou rli the census of
1830, equally clear results wi'l In* found.
I have not lime to (race ihis process through
ihe New Knglund Stales, lint I believe tfiesauie
system of boasted emancipation took place in
every one of them, I shall but refer to the
Stale of Rhode Island, one of the earliest cradles
of African slavery in this Confederacy. In
17(10, she had by the cciimi- 3,-16!) free colored,
and Oo'-J slaves?she was then deep in her trans,
it ion state. In 1800 she had 0.00-1 free colored,
and 081 slaves: supposing Iter free colored
had not increased at nil, yet there are 165 unaccounted
lor, who n ay have fallen into the
hands of kidnappers : Init there are also unaccounted
for 571 of the slaves, who could not have
j been liberated and added to the list of free colI
tired, for that had diminished; and 1 leave it to
j the holy philanthropists and abolitionists of the
j North to tract; I ho destinies of that unfortunate
! band of brothers, together with the increase of
; in .ih classes ibr the !ft years. Their posterity |
i may, perhaps, see where they Ibimd a market
from the liua, that after the slave trade was
i limited to H(H. the ports of Charleston, South
! Carolina, being opened for the importation of
Africans in the year ISO 4, and remained four
I years. By the census of Chat !e-lon, during
' that time there were two huntlrv.tl mi:l tiro vesI
sols entered the port of Charleston with Afiican
I slaves ; and from thu custom-imase books, and
j liom under tin; hand ofthe col ecforat (hat lime
' of C'lmrleston, he gives authentic information,
that of the?e two hundred and two vessels which
| we ye engaged in that trade and entered the port
| of Charleston, 10H of their cargoes were owned
by foreign countries, (many of them in Creal
Britain,) 14 in .southern Slates, and 70 in nor
j merit tree estates.
The tnilli is, tli? free. Stains, as I have said,
never did liberate their.slaves $ tliey sold them
' to the South, and built much of their tnanufac.
turiuoandcoinmerei.il interest u|iou iho money;
and by a system of aggression as unwarranted
as tlm present, they have, taxed jhoir labor and
plundered their owners ever since, through the
instrumentality of this (Jovornment, to add to
their own aggrandizement.
1 venture the assertion, thai no such instances
oft* malleination have ever been known in
the North as Imvp taken place in the Soiih. Il
is well known to all gentlemen in the South,
that one man in Lousiana liberated twelve
hundred slaves, whilst the whole State of 15 node
Island in 1800 had not a great many more than
twice that nutnbpr. 1 also deny that those ? ho
have been turned loose on the charities of the
North are, or ever will be, in as comfortable a
condition as those who are slaves with us.?
They are in a cold and ruthless climate, amongst
a white race as distinguished for cupidity and
sharpness as any thai ever inhabited a spot ot
this Globe. Inferior in intellect and genius
to the whites?destitute cf friends who are in
affluence and power to employ and assist them ;
owning little or no land?unable to compete
with Yankee ingenuity?indisposed at best to
labor honestly?incapable of social equality?
without food and elotliing, or even fuel to warm
their wretched bodier during the piercing blasts
of winter?they naturally betake themselves
to every species of horrible and loathsome vice
known in the world ; and in proof of this I
need but cite to the places of public resort,
where they are allowed to congregate about
the cities. You cannot hide from their squalid
wretchedness; nor need the philanthropist go
in search ol more victims of misery on earth,
tor the exercise ot tns nenevotence, man ne
may find in the cities?in the streets?in the
cellars?in the alms-houses?in the suburbs? i
in the prisons and in the penitentiaries of the i
free Stales. And even those yon find in bent <
employment amongst them are generally ear- |
rying out the truth of the Scriptures, that "ser- <
vants shall they be." No preamble or misrep i
resented clause of the Declarat ion of Indepen- <
doHee, or the grossly perverted pas-ages of '
Scripture, will ever change this last condition i
until God has changed his nature, or his prom- i
ises are violated. j
Nor would I stop here, sir. I would carry ;
the war into Africa if I had time to do so, and i
make the comparison, without fear of success- i
ful contradiction, between the condition of a
very large portion of the white population of the (
Noith and the slaves of the South; in which (
much thai I have said in relation to the free ne- ,
groes of the North would he equally applicable j
to the lower order of the whites, with this dis- ,
tingtiished difference, that forgeries and conn. ]
lerfeits, swindling and other artifices, requiring j
a higher order of intellect, are mainly confined ,
to the whites. In proof of this, I need not only
refer le the records ofyour courts, your mobs, ,
your State prisons, your penitentiaries, your ]
stoo! pigeon associations, your under ground
raidroad#, and every species of horrible device. ,
I have recently seen an account of five bundretl
true bills, | think, in one week, (I am sure (
in one Court,) in the pious city of Huston, for ,
every species of ci iine, There have been expended
in the county of Philadelphia, occur* ,
ilimi In ! tin li! isfn'il si :i I # ine ii I 1 h.ive rditined i
""*!* ' ;
from a paper, since ll?** year 1*42, upwards ol I
S 142.000 l<>r I lu* suppression of molts ; whilst, i
upon lite other hand, I sen it repeatedly slated j
that there are eighteen thousand human heings |
living under ground and in rel ars, packed to- (
geiher in rags and horrible wretchedness, in
the great city of New York. I saw myselfthree
years ago, there, scenes such as my eyes had
never beheld, and such, I trust, as I may be
<it!iriwl ciotiiur no:iin?amoni/st ilo?tn a few that
f"m** ** "n - ? I
I never shall forget?two of them I will mention: |
The one was a blind man, led amid the throng (
on the great and crowded IIroadway, by a string I (
attached to a dog (who seemed to have been J
his degesi sympathizer.) He held in his hand a i (
plate, as he passed, that had nothing jn it as {
bright as silver, when I stopped to add a trifle, j
The other was a woman, seated on the steps | (
of the notorious A?tor Mouse, with a shriveled j ,
and writhing infant on Iter knee, and whilst 1
was in the act of giving her a pittance, I was ,
accosted by a citizen, who said she was doubt- ^
less an imposter, w'?<> had boriowed the clii'd |
and bandaged it with bands to impose upon j
(
In vain shall it !??? said such scones and circumstances
are confined to tin* cities. They
are not In lie found, eillier amongst the wltiles
or ilie lilaek*, in tlio country or cities of the
South, (in to the farms and cities oft he
South, and see the African, fed, clothed, and j
floppy, and let your fit I So clamor stand relinked j
forever. Nay, more; whether these things lie I
in tlit* cities of the North or elsewhere, they are I
gathered to the polls when it comes to voting, j
and swell the abolition fume, which comes here ;
to denounce and insult us, in relation to an institution
that, could they change and lie elevated |
to its scale of happiness and contentment, they ,
would be more improved in their condition than ,
the philanthropy of I he North will accomplish |
for them whilst they iciii tin on this earth. j
It is from fhis very city <71 New \ork there I
cullies so strong a tide of abolition, as furnish- i
es si distinguished member in the other end of I
the Capitol, who stands up in the presence of
Senators, the people ami in the face of Heaven, I
and calls upon his <>od to witness his oath to ;
support the Constitution under which lie takes i
his seat, and yet declares, in his place, that so
great is his philanthropy, hi* will yield in his
* ? " nl In.rlif If lllltv W'll.WI 1
ciMinuiviicc iw ?v fli uw ??i iu^iivi .. ..v..
slavery is in question, and whenever it is eon- i
venient to accomplish liis purpose. Much better
would it lie to exercise their benevolence i
among the wretches who are panting among i
them, and let those only lake oaths here, who
are prepared to observe them. W hen they
have relLvcd their own sullerers, we might better
be prepared to hear them, and believe in
their professions. Unlill they do this, I have
no faith in their philanthropy, and would much
sooner suspect that the religion of the Senator
wonhl find its happiest goal within the walls of
a White Mouse.
Sir, there is a stale of things at the North,
with all their hoasted piety and philanthropy,
which I trust will nover he realized at the south.
F.oolc lor a moment at their thousand societies
and association.", anti-sabbath, anti-marriage,
anti-rent, &c~ with their infidel conventions,
and views of socialism and agrarianism, which
seem to be rapidly tending to such a state of
things as will pull down in the deepest depths
of agrarianism and confusion, all that the wisdom
of a century has done for the country; I
hut recently saw from the columns of a paper,
having perhaps, as large a circulation as any in
the Union, published in New York, b) a gen*
tinman last winter a member of this body, in
substance, such sentiment as this: That the pirate
who presented his pistol, and forced tho
surrender of a surplus over that which was necessary
to one's own support, had the right to
do so, and that the land owner had no claim on
his lessee, unless it were necessary for his own
support Such an abominable sentiment 88
this has been published before, from the Roman
Tribune, and formed a great element in the
course of tilings that pulled down that Republic.
It was alike familiar in the Jacobin clubs
of France, preceding the time when Robespierre,
Danton and Marat ruled the destinies of
that people, and held up to the world a spectacle
that humanity would hide from in disgust
It remains to bo seen what may be its effects
in this progressive age of monstrosities of the
North. It remains to be seen how long before
those of every hue and clime, when made freemen
and citizens by northern sentimentand practice,
having forced the southern States to withdraw
from an association made insufferable to
them, will vote themselves a share, without law
or riirht, of the substance of the country, when
the veriest vagabond upon the earth, may share
equally with the honest man of the country, and
when those whose sympathies are now so deep
for the black race, may have their own status
controlled by them, as in the crusade now a.
gainst the South, their favorites are sent to this
and the other end of the Capitol tJ rule the
storm against us; but time admonishes me I
must pass on.
I have said that actual war against the South
exists in the conduct of the free States in rela.
lion to slavery; and I think every candid man
who views things as they are, should sustain me
in this position. Every State in this Union had
slaves when this Confederacy was formed, unless
Massachusetts. She, I believe, had some,
though not to be found in the census of 1790;
and it may not be too often repeated, that no
association would have been formed had slave,
ry not only been recognized, but more carefully
guarded than any other species of property.
Indeed it was to slaves and their proceeds that
that this government must have mainly looked
for support?lands were then abundant and
cheap, and no one supposed that impost duties
under any scale of importation ever could an.
swer the exigencies of the Government; hence
the provision that slaves and their proceeds
should only be taxed in proportion to the representation
of the States. Very soon however,
a spirit of fanaticism commenced its progress,
which has progressed from various causes until
we find ourselves in our present condition, with
discord and strife from one extremity of the
Confederacy to the other, that I, for one, do not
believe will ever be reconciled until the southern
States will either be degraded and ruined,
or that spirit of resistance which I think the duty
of freemen, will vindicate her rights and ner
honor. I shall not attempt the enumeration of
the thousand facts which lead me to this conclusion?I
only refer to a few of them as I pass
on. In the progress of this spirit Abolition societies
were formed, public opinion began to
receive the taint, men who were in most instances
low and obscure, became orators, and acquired
consequence that nothing but superstition
or fanaticism would have allowed them.?
Women and the youth of the country were
taught to look upon the owners of slaves as
fiends from purgatory; slanders of the grossest
type were circulated to effect this purpose; emissaries
from England were received and listened
to as ministers from God; they propagated
i thousand libels upon the South, represented
.....no ,.f Jtt. <iiwl lilmiil nf which the south
. m people never heard; nor had thev, unless
ipon their own ships whilst engaged in dragr
,'ing the African from his native land. Minislet
s of tho (iospel desecrated the pulpit with the
grossest perversion of Scripture in ajd of diis
unholy work. The Blue Laws were abolished,
>r rather worn out, by their own satiety, and
the public mind found food in this unrighteous
warfare upon the rights and peace of those
whom, for the purposes of spoil and plunder,
hey would call brothers. Amid such a state
>f tilings there never have boon wanting in any
,'ounlrv demagogues to take advantage of tho
tempest and ride themselves into place; and in
thirty vears after the adoption of the Constitu
Lion, such was the influence ofAbolitionismth.it
in the admission of Missouri the Confederacy
tottered on its pillars at the hands of the North,
Here was the first daring outrage in our National
Legislature to limit the extent of slavery,
and the first unfortunate error by the South in
confiding in pledges made by the North on this
subject. They gave up a right at the shrine of
peace and the Union, and they have in return
lor it a violated faith by the North, and the assertion
that a precedent has boon established by
which the Constitution may at all limes be
trampled under foot. Congress bad no authority
to make the Missouri compromise as a constitutional
act. and never djd alter or amend the
' ' 1 * ? I I J /*1
Constitution, ny mat acr. uuieea uongresg
cannot alter the Constitution ; and although
mem hers might vote for an act as a compromise
of their rights, yet the people \you)d at all times
have the right to repudiate it. Ij' they fail fc)
do so, still the act cannot change the principles
^ 1* it.-. / ' 1'i..l!Tl.? i ia nna
Ul IIIIJ VxUMMlUlllUII. J 1IU 10 viiu
tiling, and a right under it is another, And although
the people jpjquicsucd in the disposal of
a part of their territories to buy their peace at
one time, it furnishes no reason why that act becomes
an article of the Constitution. And even