[CHAPTER XX.]
THE SOUTH HAVE DONE WITH ARGUMENT.
“Yea, doubtless,” saith the Abolitionist, “for reason fails them.” And so we have all done with argument; for we shall not stop to reply to this. “The South know their rights,” said a Southern gentleman the other day on the floor of Congress, very significantly, and in relation to this subject. This, we believe, is the present common feeling of the slaveholding States. They have made up their minds; and we think they will have the sympathy of the reasonable part of mankind. Their present attitude is that of pointing the people of this country to the bulwark of the Federal Constitution; and if that will not protect them, “they know their rights.” We do not quote this language to expose the Southerners to the charge of holding up a menace; for we do not accept it as such, and think it would be unfair for any body to do so. They stand on the defensive; they have been assailed, and are yet assailed; they have felt themselves insulted on the floor of Congress by indirect attempts to invade their rights of State sovereignty; they have been compelled to special legislation and other public action to defend their own territories from violation; they have dreamed of seeing their wives and children butchered, and their houses pillaged and burned; they have seen, in imagination, and as a natural consequence of the Abolition movement unresisted and unchecked, all these and many other horrors of a like kind, enacted before their eyes; they have seen the Government upturned, society dissolved, and anarchy stalking amid the triumphs of its own desolation over their fields; and with such prospects before them, as the result of a foreign interference, organized in open violation of the laws of the land, and in the face of a solemn national compact forbidding such aggression, and engaging to protect and defend them against it, are they not entitled to say—“We know our rights?” How long must they suffer—how long must they be menaced by such invasion, before they may say, we will suffer it no longer? A day of anxiety is as a year of torment; a year of such suspense, is as an age of agony.
And what will they do? Why, clearly, break loose from the Union, to which, generally, they have already made up their minds, in case of necessity, they being judges—if the straws in the wind are any sure indication of its career—“Necessity needs no law.” If the Government of the country will not protect them, they must protect themselves, or try to do so. They may fail, and prove impotent; but when men are insulted and outraged, especially the men of the South, they are not nice calculators of consequences; and it is for us of the North to determine, whether we are willing to see our brethren of the South driven to such a resort, by the continued action of an unlawful combination, that exists and has grown up among ourselves; whether, indeed, we are willing to see the Government of this proud Republic rent asunder by such a cause, and to hazard the consequences.
If any body thinks these remarks are not well founded, we are sorry they are not better observers of the symptomatic phenomena of our own society. If they should think them unreasonable and out of place, we are sorry for that also, as we have judged otherwise, and take leave to invite their attention to the next chapter.
[CHAPTER XXI.]
REASONS WHY THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT, UNDER ITS PRESENT ORGANIZATION, MUST SUCCEED IN OVERTHROWING THE GOVERNMENT.
We do not believe, after what has taken place, that the Abolitionists will be able to carry emancipation. Their imprudent and rash modes of action seem to have barred the door effectually against that event for the present. We think it reasonable to say, that without the concurrence of the slave States, such an event is impossible. But such is the character, effectiveness, and irresistible sweep of their organization, that it cannot fail to break down something; and that something, we fear, will be the Federal Union. We now propose to give our reasons for this apprehension. Those reasons are embodied in the unconstitutional and illegal character of the Association.
The political structure of our Government cannot be too much admired for the balance of power which is every where to be found in its Constitutional modes of action. The theory seems to be a perfect one. But the moment there is a departure from the rules, or a violation of the principles of Constitutional law, the machinery is embarrassed, and danger threatens. In the same manner as the action of the Government demands a strict adherence to these rules, so also does the action of the people. We have seen in the second chapter what rules the Federal Constitution and those of the States prescribe to individual and popular action for political purposes, independent of and in addition to the privilege of the elective franchise: freedom of speech and of the press, and the right of petition, address, and remonstrance to the Government. It was there stated, that the license given to these proscribed forms constituted equally a law of prohibition to all other forms, as it would be absurd to suppose, that a written law of this kind is not a law of limitation; in other words, that it is no law at all. It was also shown, as is manifest at first sight, that this license is all sufficient, as the people always have their remedy in the elective franchise, if the Government do not regard their wishes, as expressed in these modes. No occasions can be expected to occur, that would require to transcend these salutary rules; and we believe the existence and action of the American Anti-Slavery Society, as an independent political body, is the first instance, in the history of our country, by which they have been transcended.
It is true, indeed, that a popular charge has been brought against the Masonic Institution, as having been perverted into political action, and as being dangerous to the liberties of the country on that account. How far this charge is just, it is impossible for us to know, as we have never been a member of that Society. It is sufficient to observe, that the very suspicion of such action has operated, as is well known, almost entirely to suppress that Institution, and wind up its history in the country. Had the truth of this charge been obvious, and as susceptible of proof, as in the case of the American Anti-Slavery Society, we need not say what would have been its fate. The legislation of the country would have settled the matter soon. We believe it to be a self-evident proposition, that the genius of a Constitutional Government, or of any government whatever, does not admit of a rival independent political organization on the same territory; that it cannot tolerate any permanent political organization at all independent of itself; much less one of unlimited powers. It would not be very acceptable, even if it were to come in as an auxiliary, but would rather be regarded as an insult. There is no point of view in which we can conceive it would be welcome.
It would be ridiculous and impotent to say, that the action of the American Anti-Slavery Society cannot be liable to objection, since it is open, and not secret, like the Masonic Institution, admitting that the latter is fairly accused by popular suspicion. Such a plea would justify the acts of fraud, theft, felony, and crime of any description, if they be done openly. It is only the more astonishing, that it should be endured. But the reason of that we have already stated: It is a new thing under the Sun; the public have been taken by surprise; and have not even yet recovered from the shock. It was taken for granted, that religion could not find its way into the State over such Constitutional barriers erected to intercept the trespass; and yet it is there—the religion of a Sect—of a great, powerful, fanatical, religioso-political sect—which, having leaped the wall, has carried with it a great and powerful political machinery from another region, and is well at work, as if it were perfectly at home. It may be said, that the political world has never yet had such a fellow worker before, and looks at it askance as a strange companion, not knowing what to make of it. Doubtless, after a little reflection, a more definite opinion will be formed of its unwelcome character and awkward position.