The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus
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Chapter 122 : [Footnote A: Senator Preston's Railroad Speech, delivered at Colombia, S.C., in 1
[Footnote A: Senator Preston's Railroad Speech, delivered at Colombia, S.C., in 1836.]
Thus much for the menace, that the "UNION WILL BE DISSOLVED" unless the discussion of the slavery question be stopped.
But you may reply, "Do you think the South is not in earnest in her threat of dissolving the Union?" I rejoin, by no means;--yet she pursues a perfectly reasonable course (leaving out of view the justice or morality of it)--just such a course as I should expect she would pursue, emboldened as she must be by her multiplied triumphs over the North by the use of the same weapon. "We'll dissolve the Union!" was the cry, "unless Missouri be admitted!!" The North were frightened, and Missouri was admitted with SLAVERY engraved on her forehead. "We'll dissolve the Union!" unless the Indians be driven out of the South!! The North forgot her treaties, parted with humanity, and it is done--the defenceless Indians are forced to "consent" to be driven out, or they are left, undefended, to the mercies of southern land-jobbers and gold-hunters.
"We'll dissolve the Union! If the Tariff" [established at her own suggestion] "be not repealed or modified so that our slave-labor may compete with your free-labor." The Tariff is accordingly modified to suit the South. "We'll dissolve the Union!" unless the freedom of speech and the press be put down in the North!!--With the promptness of commission-merchants, the alternative is adopted. Public a.s.semblies met for deliberation are a.s.sailed and broken up at the North; her citizens are stoned and beaten and dragged through the streets of her cities; her presses are attacked by mobs, instigated and led on by men of influence and character; whilst those concerned in conducting them are compelled to fly from their homes, pursued as if they were noxious wild beasts; or, if they remain to defend, they are sacrificed to appease the southern divinity. "We'll dissolve the Union" if slavery be abolished in the District of Columbia! The North, frightened from her propriety, declares that slavery ought not to be abolished there NOW.--"We'll dissolve the Union!" if you read pet.i.tions from your const.i.tuents for its abolition, or for stopping the slave-trade at the Capital, or between the states. FIFTY NORTHERN REPRESENTATIVES respond to the cry, "down, then, with the RIGHT OF PEt.i.tION!!" All these a.s.saults have succeeded because the North has been frightened by the war-cry, "WE'LL DISSOLVE THE UNION!"
After achieving so much by a process so simple, why should not the South persist in it when striving for further conquests? No other course ought to be expected from her, till this has failed. And it is not at all improbable, that she will persist, till she almost persuades herself that she is serious in her menace to dissolve the Union. She may in her eagerness, even approach so near the verge of dissolution, that the earth may give way under her feet and she be dashed in ruins in the gulf below.
Nothing will more surely arrest her fury, than the firm array of the North, setting up anew the almost forgotten principles of our fathers, and saying to the "dark spirit of slavery,"--"thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." This is the best--the only--means of saving the South from the fruits of her own folly--folly that has been so long, and so strangely encouraged by the North, that it has grown into intolerable arrogance--down right presumption.
There are many other "events" of the last two or three years which have, doubtless, had their influence on the course of the abolitionists--and which might properly be dwelt upon at considerable length, were it not that this communication is already greatly protracted beyond its intended limits. I shall, therefore, in mentioning the remaining topics, do little more than enumerate them.
The Legislature of Vermont has taken a decided stand in favor of anti-slavery principles and action. In the Autumn of 1836, the following resolutions were pa.s.sed by an almost unanimous vote in both houses:--
"Resolved, By the General a.s.sembly of the State of Vermont, That neither Congress nor the State Governments have any const.i.tutional right to abridge the free expressions of opinions, or the transmission of them through the medium of the public mails."
"Resolved, That Congress do possess the power to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia."
"Resolved, That His Excellency, the Governor, be requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to the Executive of each of the States, and to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress."
At the session held in November last, the following joint resolutions, preceded by a decisive memorial against the admission of Texas, were pa.s.sed by both branches--with the exception of the _fifth_ which was pa.s.sed only by the House of Representatives:--
1. Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested, to use their influence in that body to prevent the annexation of Texas to the Union.
2. Resolved, That, representing, as we do, the people of Vermont, we do hereby, in their name, SOLEMNLY PROTEST against such annexation in any form.
3. Resolved, That, as the Representatives of the people of Vermont, we do solemnly protest against the admission, into this Union, of any state whose const.i.tution tolerates domestic slavery.
4. Resolved, That Congress have full power, by the Const.i.tution, to abolish slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia and in the territories of the United States.
[5. Resolved, That Congress has the const.i.tutional power to prohibit the slave-trade between the several states of this Union, and to make such laws as shall effectually prohibit such trade.]
6. Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, and our Representatives requested, to present the foregoing Report and Resolutions to their respective Houses in Congress, and use their influence to carry the same speedily into effect.
7. Resolved, That the Governor of this State be requested to transmit a copy of the foregoing Report and Resolutions to the President of the United States, and to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress.
The influence of anti-slavery principles in Ma.s.sachusetts has become decisive, if we are to judge from the change of sentiment in the legislative body. The governor of that commonwealth saw fit to introduce into his inaugural speech, delivered in January, 1836, a severe censure of the abolitionists, and to intimate that they were guilty of an offence punishable at common law. This part of the speech was referred to a joint committee of five, of which a member of the senate was chairman. To the same committee were also referred communications which had been received by the governor from several of the legislatures of the slaveholding states, requesting the Legislature of Ma.s.sachusetts to enact laws, making it PENAL for citizens of that state to form societies for the abolition of slavery, or to speak or publish sentiments such as had been uttered in anti-slavery meetings and published in anti-slavery tracts and papers. The managers of the Ma.s.sachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, in a note addressed to the chairman of the committee, requested permission, as a party whose rights were drawn in question, to appear before it. This was granted. The gentlemen selected by them to appear on their behalf were of unimpeachable character, and distinguished for professional merit and general literary and scientific intelligence.
Such was _then_ the unpopularity of abolitionism, that notwithstanding the personal influence of these gentlemen, they were ill--not to say rudely--treated, especially by the chairman of the committee; so much so, that respect for themselves, and the cause they were deputed to defend, persuaded them to desist before they had completed their remarks. A Report, including Resolutions unfavorable to the abolitionists was made, of which the following is a copy:--
The Joint Special Committee, to whom was referred so much of the governor's message as related to the abolition of slavery, together with certain doc.u.ments upon the same subject, communicated to the Executive by the several Legislatures of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, transmitted by his Excellency to the Legislature, and hereunto annexed, have considered the same, and ask leave, respectfully, to submit the following:--
Resolved, That this Legislature distinctly disavow any right whatever in itself, or in the citizens of this commonwealth, to interfere in the inst.i.tution of domestic slavery in the southern states: it having existed therein before the establishment of the Const.i.tution; it having been recognised by that instrument; and it being strictly within their own keeping.
Resolved, That this Legislature, regarding the agitation of the question of domestic slavery as having already interrupted the friendly relations which ought to exist between the several states of this Union, and as tending permanently to injure, if not altogether to subvert, the principles of the Union itself; and believing that the good effected by those who excite its discussion in the non-slaveholding states is, under the circ.u.mstances of the case, altogether visionary, while the immediate and future evil is great and certain; does hereby express its entire disapprobation of the doctrine upon this subject avowed, and the general measures pursued by such as agitate the question; and does earnestly recommend to them carefully to abstain from all such discussion, and all such measures, as may tend to disturb and irritate the public mind.
The report was laid on the table, whence it was not taken up during the session--its friends being afraid of a lean majority on its pa.s.sage; for the _alarm_ had already been taken by many of the members who otherwise would have favored it. From this time till the election in the succeeding autumn, the subject was much agitated in Ma.s.sachusetts. The abolitionists again pet.i.tioned the Legislature at its session begun in January, 1837; especially, that it should remonstrate against the resolution of Mr. Hawes, adopted by the House of Representatives in Congress, by which all memorials, &c, in relation to slavery were laid, and to be laid, on the table, without further action on them. The abolitionists were again heard, in behalf of their pet.i.tions, before the proper committee.[A] The result was, the pa.s.sage of the following resolutions with only 16 dissenting voices to 378, in the House of Representatives, and in the Senate with not more than one or two dissentients on any one of them:--
[Footnote A: The gentleman who had been chairman of the committee the preceding year, was supposed, in consequence of the change in public opinion in relation to abolitionists, to have injured his political standing too much, even to be nominated as a candidate for re-election.]
"Whereas, The House of Representatives of the United States, in the month of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, did adopt a resolution, whereby it was ordered that all pet.i.tions, memorials, resolutions, propositions, or papers, relating in any way, or to any extent whatever, to the subject of slavery, or the abolition of slavery, without being either printed or referred, should be laid upon the table, and that no further action whatever should be had thereon; and whereas such a disposition of pet.i.tions, then or thereafter to be received, is a virtual denial of the right itself; and whereas, by the resolution aforesaid, which is adopted as a standing rule in the present House of Representatives, the pet.i.tions of a large number of the people of this commonwealth, praying for the removal of a great social, moral, and political evil, have been slighted and contemned: therefore,--
Resolved, That the resolution above named is an a.s.sumption of power and authority at variance with the spirit and intent of the Const.i.tution of the United States, and injurious to the cause of freedom and free inst.i.tutions; that it does violence to the inherent, absolute, and inalienable rights of man; and that it tends, essentially, to impair those fundamental principles of natural justice and natural law which are antecedent to any written const.i.tutions of government, independent of them all, and essential to the security of freedom in a state.
Resolved, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress, in maintaining and advocating the right of pet.i.tion, have ent.i.tled themselves to the cordial approbation of the people of this commonwealth.
Resolved, That Congress, having exclusive legislation in the District of Columbia, possess the right to abolish slavery in said district, and that its exercise should only be restrained by a regard to the public good."
That you may yourself, judge what influence the abolition question exercised in the elections in Ma.s.sachusetts _last_ autumn, I send you three numbers of the Liberator containing copies of letters addressed to many of the candidates, and their respective answers.
The Legislature have pa.s.sed, _unanimously_, at its present session, resolutions (preceded by a report of great ability) protesting "_earnestly and solemnly against the annexation of Texas to this Union_;" and declaring that, "_no act done, or compact made, for such purpose, by the government of the United States, will be binding on the states or the people_."
Two years ago, Governor Marcy, of this state, showed himself willing, at the dictation of the South, to aid in pa.s.sing laws for restraining and punis.h.i.+ng the abolitionists, whenever the extremity of the case might call for it. Two weeks ago, at the request of the Young Men's Anti-Slavery Society of Albany, the a.s.sembly-chamber, by a vote of the House (only two dissentient) was granted to Alvan Stewart, Esq., a distinguished lawyer, to lecture on the subject of abolition.
Kentucky is a.s.suming an att.i.tude of great interest to the friends of Liberty and the Const.i.tution. The blessings of "them that are ready to perish" throughout the land, the applause of the good throughout the world will be hers, if she should show moral energy enough to break every yoke that she has. .h.i.therto imposed on the "poor," and by which her own prosperity and true power have been hindered.
In view of the late action in the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress--adverse as they may seem, to those who think more highly of the branches of the Legislature than of the SOURCE of their power--the abolitionists see nothing that is cause for discouragement. They find the PEOPLE sound; they know that they still cherish, as their fathers did, the right of pet.i.tion--the freedom of the press--the freedom of speech--the rights of conscience; that they love the liberty of the North more than they love the slavery of the South. What care they for _Resolutions_ in the House, or Resolutions in the Senate, when the House and the Senate are but their ministers, their servants, and they know that they can discharge them at their pleasure? It may be, that Congress has yet to learn, that the people have but slight regard for their restraining resolutions. They ought to have known this from the history of such resolutions for the last two years. THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND pet.i.tioners for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia had their pet.i.tions laid on the table by the resolution of the House of Representatives in May, 1836. At the succeeding session, they had increased to ONE HUNDRED AND TEN THOUSAND.--The resolution of Jan. 18, 1837, laid all _their_ pet.i.tions in the same way on the table. At the _called_, and at the present session, these 110,000 had multiplied to FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND[A]. Soon, Senators and Representatives will be sent from the free states who will need no pet.i.tions--they will know the prayer of their const.i.tuents _before they leave their homes_.
[Footnote A: See Appendix, G.]
In concluding this, my answer to your 13th interrogatory, I will say that I know of no event, that has transpired, either in or out of Congress, for the last two or three years, that has had any other influence on the efforts of abolitionists than to increase and stimulate them. Indeed, every thing that has taken place within that period, ought to excite to their utmost efforts all who are not despairing dastards.
The Demon of oppression in this land is tenfold more fierce and rampant and relentless than he was supposed to be before roused from the quiet of his lair. To every thing that is precious the abolitionists have seen him lay claim. The religion of the Bible must be adulterated--the claims of Humanity must be smothered--the demands of justice must be nullified--a part of our Race must be shut out from the common sympathy of a common nature. Nor is this all: they see their _own_ rights and those of the people; the right to SPEAK--to WRITE--to PRINT--to PUBLISH--to a.s.sEMBLE TOGETHER--to PEt.i.tION THEIR OWN SERVANTS--all brought in peril. They feel that the final conflict between Popular liberty and Aristocratic slavery has come; that one or the other must fall; and they have made up their minds, with the blessing of G.o.d on their efforts, that their adversary shall die.
"14. _Have you any permanent fund, and how much?_"
ANSWER.--We have none. The contributions are antic.i.p.ated. We are always in debt, and always getting out of debt.
I have now, Sir, completed my answers to the questions proposed in your letter of the 16th ult. It gives me pleasure to have had such an auspicious opportunity of doing so. I cannot but hope for good to both the parties concerned, where candor and civility have characterized their representatives.
Part of the answer to your 13th question may seem to wander from the strict terms of the question proposed. Let it be set down to a desire, on my part, to give you all the information I can, at all germain to the inquiry. The "proffer," made in my note to Mr. Calhoun, was not "unguarded;"--nor was it _singular_. The information I have furnished has been always accessible to our adversaries--even though the application for it might not have been clothed in the polite and gentlemanly terms which have so strongly recommended yours to the most respectful consideration of
Your very obedient servant,
JAMES G. BIRNEY.
[In the Explanatory Remarks placed at the beginning of this Correspondence, reasons were given, that were deemed sufficient, for not publis.h.i.+ng more of the letters that pa.s.sed between Mr. Elmore and myself than the two above. Since they were in type, I have received from Mr.
Elmore a communication, in reply to one from me, informing him that I proposed limiting the publication to the two letters just mentioned. It is dated May 19. The following extract shows that he entertains a different opinion from mine, and thinks that justice to him requires that _another_ of his letters should be included in the Correspondence:--
"The order you propose in the publication is proper enough; the omission of business and immaterial letters being perfectly proper, as they can interest n.o.body. I had supposed my last letter would have formed an exception to the rule, which excluded immaterial papers. It explained, more fully than my first, my reasons for this correspondence, defined the limits to _which I had prescribed myself_, and was a proper accompaniment to _a publication_ of what _I_ had not written for publication. Allow me, Sir, to say, that it will be but bare justice to me that it should be printed with the other papers. I only suggest this for your own consideration, for--adhering to my former opinions and decision--I ask nothing and complain of nothing."
It is still thought that the publication of the letter alluded to is unnecessary to the purpose of enlightening the public, as to the state, prospects, &c, of the anti-slavery cause. It contains no denial of the facts, nor impeachment of the statements, nor answer to the arguments, presented in my communication. But as Mr. Elmore is personally interested in this matter, and as it is intended to maintain the consistent liberality which has characterized the Executive Committee in all their intercourse with their opponents, the suggestion made by Mr.
Elmore is cheerfully complied with. The following is a copy of the letter alluded to.--J.G.B.]
"WAs.h.i.+NGTON, May 5, 1838.
To JAMES G. BIRNEY, Esq., Cor. Sec. A.A.S.S.
