r 1 r 3 la a ' a I v 3 3 III i?3 K 1 1 rrvl NEW SERIES. WEMOCIlAT ct- SEXT1XEL r U published every Wednesday 31 .irnins. at One Pollar and Fifty Cents Kr:mnimi, payable in advance ; Oxk Dol Iuiaxu Ssve.ntt Five Cents, if not paid T, six months ; and Two Dollar if L t juid until the termination of the year. No subscription will be received for a sorter period than sit months, and no ..istrihor will be at liberty to discontinue ;iht until all arrearages are paid, ex ,vj.t;it the option of the editor. Any pers v!i uhscriling fur six months wil be char- ,! Onb Dollar, unless the money i. in advance. Atlvertlslugr Iliites. One inserfn. Two do. TJiree do I-ire, 12 linesj $ 50 $ 75 $1,00 : pares 24 lines 1 00 1 00 2 00 ' -i!:.m's, 3o liiifs 1 50 2 00 3 00 3 months. 6 do. 12 do :;.;. .r less $1 50 :,.iu:ir.-, I 12 lines I 2 50 .pirns, 2 lines 4 00 ..;n. Li-.-s. (':; lie.es t; 00 h.i ;i o-'hiian, 10 00 $3 00 4 50 7 00 0 00 12 00 22 00 $5 00 9 00 12 00 M 00 20 0C 35 Ot I c man. 15 00 S I K C C Jl o v CEO. W. WOODWARD, a r mi: Mi M llrcrmlxr 13tl, 1 'CO, lit ludr jiruilitice SiHat, I'll I lr clr I jilt la. meeting was called by the Mayor A :iif city, at the request of the Select i. ! Cutamon Council?, and was held at i. Thursday, loth December, 1SG0 ; i 1 . ! i !i l nee Spiare. Mayor Henry ! o'k'i! to preside, and a large munlier i i il' "i' ii officiated as Vice 1 'resident.-? 1 -i t:iries. The meeting was opened w it'a pe,. r by Bishop 1 'otter. The ad- A -;'. U:.; Mayor followed. The reso ( i:. n- wvv . r-ad by Jo!m 15. Myers. Uk" .-;va!.r; .-elected by a Committee of ('uuu.-i,'-, ii'.'. u addressed llie vast con-((Mir-.: ji n.hK.l in tho Spiare, in the t.Ml-PAi'i-,...!.!: Hon. Jos. It. Ingei-soll, V. W oodward, Charles K. Lex, II lI i," Culler and I.-sao HazlehursLj Ve have ass.-nib!rd, h llow-citizen?, in i'"1 '''"- of the proclamation of the 'i i.ve!. lh.it we may "counsel to''cl!n-r to 'Oi'l the d:ii"er wliieli 1 ! .l-e-i iei i our 1 !M " 1 hat I:tnfiiT is not recent or I ;i I.Ui..,.,. A...1 ..... ,...,t lh:il : we imit obi.-iin a clear v v 1. 1 n.. aetiial stale of the crisis, be- we c;m e;w- or receive intelligent it was announced a few years ago that ;" coi'ih. i wliich had sprung up in this :.n:ry between free and slave labor was -iii'ivs.-ihle ; that a house divided again.-t - li' could not .-land ; that all the States ': ilii.s I nil n must become lreo or tlave S: lies. '' liK'.ining of this was, and is, that 1 ' iv to become free Slates, for the .soil 1 clnnaie of a majority of the States "MK-li that it never can become the in- 1 ' "t ot the superior race to maintain a.rv i them. Kveryliody knows this, ' ' ihelelePie the altfrnale form of the r ;"'Mlioi was only to give it an npcar "I th.i faiine.ss and a little more r!' "ri.-.d elfect . lviil seooe and meaning iC the :m- " 1'"', :"'iit are, then, that citizens of the 1 1 'i Stales are to be totally divestetl of ' iii','"i"'1'ty they now hold in four or live vii, oi slaves, ot the aggregate value "ll i:y liiindred millions of dollars, and ; t'"1- habits and dome.-tie condition of "" l"'"!'!'- their commercial relations, ' ' ijieir M.Iiiical rights, in so far as , interests are connected with the in '' !.,i,!w of slavery, are to underiro a rovo- r w as this prediction the voice of an J; nrL ati unhonore'd proihet, but of si whom ti. H,j,l0 0f tie iVee States 'L ,1'ist di.-itinguished, in a single man .; l,.v cuhfeniiijr on hiui the highest A u.ey iui lo givo. jn go far as their . v are to be considereil its respoisive to uinounecnu nt, they are a loud amen "in answer, so let it be. Jlis v.,ted for the lWnlent fleet with X, ws, and did not intend a distinct 'r " nt of his favorite proiosition, ' ,l the record is made up, the pro ' ;'i d the prophet f-Luid approved by l "'. ""y of the jieophiof the free States. ' ' --xi ii-ullo cxelusioii of slave proerty (;,".' """"'oh territories, which the """ '"l lujl,ls 111 tru"'t lur tllc Il'lc ,l the States, is a natural and direct 1'i'Avu.riL il10 j.r;uij rc-ultof cxtinguLh it! ?VC I'ri'i'crly altogether, and was one !e "'Wfl iboues of the Lite election rMMuiammmimmn,mwm ueifs ,m smvL0 BEmu m UPjy rne lias policy must be considercd as ap proved also. Not that ei-cni man who voien mr me suecesslul nominees meant atlirm, that a trustee for several co-cqual parties has a right, "in law or reason, to exclude the property of some and admit mat ot others ot the parties for whom he noius but so is the record. And whilst it is not to be taken as cxpressin" the universal sense of the voters, it does un doubtedly, imply that vast masses of Northern people do heartily approve, both of the proixjsition to make all the States iree, and of beginning by excluding slavery from the territories. The South seems inclined so to accept the judgment. She holds the property that is to be shut out of the territories, thai is to be restricted, cribbed, and con fined, more and more, until it is finally extinguished. Everywhere in the South the poople are bejiiiininir to look out for , the means of self-defence. Could it be exacted that they would be indifferent to such events as have occurred That they would stand idle and see measures con certed and carried forward for the anni hilation, sooner or later, of her property in slaves ? Such expectations, if indulged, were not ro.-isonable. The law of self defence includes right of property as well as of 77-t;; ; and it apears to me, that there must be a time, in the progress of this conllict, if it bi indeed irr. pressible, w hen slaveholders may lawfully tail back on their natural rights, and emplov, in defence of their properly whatever means of protection they possess or can com mand.' 1 do not agree with them that the time has arrived yet ; but it would be well for those who puh on this conllict, in whatever form, to consider that they are hastening on that time, and that they have convinced one or more Southern States that it has already come. Several States propose to retire from the Confederacy, and that justly alarms us. We come together to consider what may b. done to prevent it, ami we are bound, in fidelity to ourselves and others,, to take the measure of the whole magnitude of the danger. This im pressible conflict has grown out ot the Anglo-Saxon love of freedom. What that passion is, and how it was of fended by the introduction of negro slaves, may be read in the chronicles of the American l'roviuces, and especially in the earnest, the eloquent, and repeated re monstrances addressed by the Colony of Virginia to the Crown and 1'ailiament of Cleat Jiritaiu against their introduction. li.it if lit j Anglo-Saxon loves liberty aboe all other nu n, he is not indifferent to gain and lhrift, and is remarkable for his capacity of adaptation, whereby he takes advantage of any circumstance in which he finds himself placed. And, ac coidingly, by the time the Colonies were prepared to. throw of the lhitish yoke, and assume among the jkjwcts of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's Cod ciiiille them, it had been discovered that the unwelcome workers, against whoso introduction such earnest protests had been made, could be turned to profi table account in the Southern States that the African constitution was well adapted to labor in latitudes which alone could produce some of the greatest staples of life and that the North, which could not employ them profitably, would be bene fitted by such employment as the South could afford. Considerations of humanity, also, as well as the rights of private pro jxrty, entered into the discussions of that day. What was best for an inferior race thrust unwillingly upon a superior? That both should le free, or that the in ferior should serv e the superior, and the siqK-rior be bound by the law of the rela tion to protect the inferior 1 If best for both races that the existing slavery should continue, then what was to be . its relation to the General Govern-1 nient .' How should it be represented in the Councils of the Nation.' I low far protected or discouraged by ihe power of the new Government f Should jurisdic tion to abolish it be granted to the Go vernment, or lescrvcd to the States ami the jM-ople of the States ? These were great question's, and, like all the questions of that day, were wisely settled. The Northern States abolished their slavery, ami so gratify tlte'u innate love of fivedom but they did it gradually, and so did not wound their love of gain. They sold out slavery to the South, and they received a full equivalent, not only in the price paid down, but in the manufactur ing and commercial prosperity which grew up from tlte productions of slave labor. Whcu the Constitution came to be formed, some of the Northern States still held slaves, but several .had alxdished the institution, mid it inust have been appa EBENSBURG, PA. WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, rent that natural causes would force it ultimately altogether upon the South. The love of liberty was as intense as ever, and as strong at the South as at the North, and the love of gain was coinmoH also to x$h sections. Here were two master- passions to be adjusted under cumstanees of the greatest delicacy. Thev were adjusted and the great questions of me nine were settled, in the only manner possible. Concession and compromise consideration for each others feelings and interests, sacrifices of prejudices, forbear ance and moderation these were the means by which the "more perfect Union" was formed. And what a work it was! If the Union had never brought us a single bless ing, the Constitution of the United States would still have been a magnificent monu ment to the unselfish patriotism of its founders. Not an alliance merely, but a close and perfect union between people equally ambitious, equally devoted to freedom, equally bent on bettering their condition ; but separated by State lines, and jealous of State right.s one. section set-king its prosperity under institutions w hich were to make every man a free man the other under institutions which tolerated negro slavery. Had the Constitution failed to work out the benifieent results intended, here was an instance of human etlort to do good an effort to restrain and rcurulate two natural passions, and to comjel them to co-operate in blessing mankind which would ferever have challenged the admi ration of all good and thoughtful men. lint it did not fail, thank God : it has made us a srreat ami nro.-ierous nation l A md the admiration of the world, for the mottrca of the lbunders is swallowed in wonder at the success of their work. Lut all this the " irrepressible conllict ignores. llie passion lor liberty, snurn- . . . ing the restraints imposed, has burned out all memories of the compromise and ompact in thoe Northern communi ties, which, under the false name of Lib erty 1 Jills, obstruct the execution of the bargain. What part of the purposes of the founders are the underground railroads intended to promote? Whence come these excessive sensibilities that cannot U-ar a few slaves in a remote territory until the white people establish a Consti tution What does that editor or preacher know of the Union, and of the men who made it, who habitually reviles and misrepresents the Southrcn jeople, and excites the ignorant and the thought less in our midst to hate and persecute them ? What has become of our glad and willing olie.dicncc to the Supreme Court as the final exositor of the .com pact i Ue not deceived. Let me not prophesy smooth tilings, and cry peace when there is no peace. Iet the truth be spoken, be heard, be pondered, if we mean to save the Union. The conflict boasts that it is irrepressible. It allies itself with equal readiness to religion and intidelity. It enlists ail our passions, good and bad. It makes common cause with the champions of freedom the world over, and with the promoters of insurrection, riot and dis cord at home. With Freedom inscribed on the banner it bear, it tramples under loot the guarantees of freedom contained in the Constitution and laws. How is it to be repressed ? Govermen tal administration cannot subdue it. That has been tried for several successive jK-riods, and the conflict has waxed hot ter. Will the , next Administration be more successful ? Hoping for the best it can do, what right have you or I to an ticipate that the honest man who has been elected will prove recreant to the maxims that made him President ? trade and commerce subdue it? Lk llt the votes of lJoston, Hiiladelphia :in,l Pittsburg. The manufacturers and mer chants are the governing classes in these cities. They are intelligent and quick to discover their interests. They have weighed and measured the Southern trade, and then voted against the Southern peo ple. But what if they had not what if like the city of New York, they had voted against the conflict, only lo be overruled by the country counties ? Com mercial cities cannot repress the conflict, if the people of the interior lend it their symp:Uhics. No, no, there is reason in the boast that the States shall all become five. There is good ground to apprehend the extinction of property in slaves. All new Kngland has decreed it. The great States of New York and Ohio have re peated, again and again, the decree. Pennsylvania seems to have sanctioned it. The Northwestern States stand for the present committed to it. What hojK5 is left for the Union ? Is there a man in tbis assembly who deem3 that this conllict can go on and the Union last? If there be, that man is be side himself; he has lost his wits. I will reason with such man. Bur, though few may believe that the Union can lorn en dure the shock of the conflict, yet many people tfiink that freedom absolute, un- cir-ieonditiohal, universal freedom is so great a boon, and negro slavery so great a reproacn ana evil, that the whole in fluence of a good man's life and conduct should be directed to promote the one and suppress the other even though, as a consequence, the slave States should be driven out of the Union. This is the prevalent distemper of the public mind. ' Who can minister to a mind diseased ?" Fellow-citizens, I profess no ability in this regard, but my mouth is open, and I will utter some of the thoughts that press up from the heart to the lips. When under the articles of confedera tion, which carried us through our Kevo lulionary war, Suites had grown jealous, unfraternal, disobedient; and the General Government had proved itself too weak to supress conflicts that were arising, the people took the remedy into their own hands, called a Convention, and formed a stronger government, The call of the Convention, the election of deputies, the State Conventions which followed, all served to engage the public mind, and to direct it to the common dantrer. and the possible remedy. Thus the popular mind prepared itself to receive with approbation '.he Constitution that was formed, und impending dangers were averted. History is said to be philosophy teach ing by examples. Ix.-t us be instructed by this example. As we, Pcnnsylva uians, were the first to abolish slavery, let us be the lirst to move for the salva tion of the Union. Under the amenda tory clause of the Constitution, Congress is bound to call a general convention on appnation of the J legislatures of two thigls of (he States. Our Legislature wiH assemble next month. Let us peti tion them- to demand the convention. Good examples, like bail ones, are con tagious. Perhaps one and another of the Northern and Southern States may do the like until the requisite number have con curred, and then we will have a National Convention to consider the evils and dan gers of the day, and to devise remedies which, it may be hoped, shall prove as salutary as those of 1787. And now, as then, the progress of these measures will awaken inquiry and thoughtfulncss in the masses, will call of their minds from the petty clitics of the pay, anil from the mischievous agitation of slavery questions, to the grand problem of how we can ren der this glorious L'nion perpetual. In what form and to what extent the lowcr oi the icnernl Government should le increased is not for rim to indicate, but with the confessions of President Bu chanan and Attorney-General Black be- r . i j. .i loie us, iiiat me Government, as now constituted, is unable to prevent or pun ish secession, or to suppress the proud conllict that disturbs our peace and boasts itself irrepressible, have I not a right to assume that the Government needs to be strengthened ' Have I not a right to say that a Government which was all ulli cier.t for the country fifty years ago, when soil and climate, and State sovereignty could be trusted to regulate the shread of slavery, is insutlieient to-day when every upstart polititition can stir the people to mutiny against the domestic institutions of our Southern neighbors when the ribald jests of sedicious editors, like Greely and Beecher, can sway legislatures and pop ular votes against the handiwork of Washington and Madison when the scurrilous libels of such a book as Helper's become a favorite campaign document, and are accepted by thou sands a4 law and gospel both when jealousy and hate have killed out all our fraternal feelings for those who were born our brethern, and who have done us no harm I The traditions of the elders lin gered in the generations which immedi ately succeeded the adoption of the Con stitution, and their passion for freedom, just as strong as ours, was chastened into loyalty to the Union, and veneration for the rights of the States. The Constitu tion, which was strong enough, to govern such men, is too weak to restrain us who have outgrown the grave and moderate wisdom that excited no irrepressible con llict between brethren, "but taught them to dwell together in unity. I would make it strong enough to restrain the madness of our day. And let the people consider the mo tives for preserving the Union. They would be brought directly to these by the debates of. the conventions and by the antecedent and subsequent debates. I can suggest only &ome of them. First, our nmiic, and place, and owcr, as one of the nations of the earth. Are utoll As rue u,,r. rue ,aen 18G3. these not worth preserving ? In ci-jhty years we have matched the greatness "that Koine. and England were centuries in at taining. What may be done in the next eighty ! I heard a sairaeious statesman sav. about three years ago, that in twenty years from that time, if we kept together, we" would drive England froiu all the markets of the world as a firt class tra der. They were words of cheer, but there was the inevitable '. In what markets Ave should rival England, or even the pettiest kingdom of the' earth, after dissolution of the Union, that statesman and no other has ventured to predict. See what "prosperity would come to us of the North in the process of the grand rivalry predicted by that statesman. Manufactures and navigation have built up the greatness of England, and they would do the same for us as a nation, and and for our section of the nation. Manu facturing has already made us jireat. In iio one respect are the rise and progress of our country so remarkable as in its manu factures. The narrow-minded English statesman, who would not have us manu facture even a "hob nail," cvu'.d he be carried alive through the factories of Philadelphia, Pittsburg or I-owell, would, to be consistent with himself, curse the false gods who had inspired his unreason able wish, and hasten to die airain. Hr; shall never need to depend ayain on ami 'or- aim nation jora Jabnc that can be made of cotton, iron or icootl. Thus far, at least, we have come. And what cities, and .towns, and railroads, and canals have we uuiit up in our- progress ' How much personal wealth and social happiness have we created what additions to our popu lation what accretions in the value of our farms and minerals what industry nave we stimulated and rewarded what commerce have we won I Think of these things, fellow-countrymen eon them over one by one dissect and analyze each fact - j truce its connections :unl consequences: i . t - - ami then, when you combine them all in one glow ing picture of national nrosnei-itv. reuiember that cotton, the prod net f autre labor, has been one of the indispen sable elements ol all our future prosperity. i say it must he. Ihe world cannot and will not live without cotton. There is nof a matron in all the Union that can clothe her family or herself wiihonf. t can England do without our cotton. Her mills and ours would rot, and her opera tives and ours would starve, if the negroes did not raise cotton. Manumit them and they will never raise another crop. They need the authority of a master and the eye of an overseer to compel and direct them to the duties to the cotton plant which must be rendered at the right sea son precisely, or the crop is lost. And tiius it ballpens, that the Provi dence of that Good Being w ho has watch ed over us from the beginning, and saved us irom external iocs, has so ordered our internal relations as to make nero slavery an incalculable blessing to us"and to the people of Great Britain." I say to us ; for I do not enter into the question whether the institution be an evil to the people of the Southern States'. That is their con cern, not ours. We l:ae nothing to tlo with it. And to obtiide our opinions upon the people of sovereign States con cerning their domestic institutions, would be sheer imjiertinence. But do you not see and feel how good it was for us to hand over our slaves to our friends of the South how good it was for us that they have employed them in raising a staple ior our mnnulaetnrers how wise it was t.j so adjust the compromises of the Con stitution that we could live in union with them and reap the signal advantages to which I have adverted ? We ctnisi -:i them to no heathen thrall, but to Chris tian men, professing the same faith with us speaking the same language reading the golden rule, in one-sided and distorted shape, but as it is recorded, a rule to slaves as well as masters. This allusion to the golden rule reminds me of an objection which will be urged to much that I have advanced. It will be said that slavery is a sin against God, and, therefore, that all reasons drawn from our material interessf, for favoring or abetting it must go for nothing. If it be a sin, 1 agree there is an end to my argument, but what right has the Abolitionist to pronounce it a sin ? I say Abolitionist, because the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, in a sermon preached within a week, de fined an Alxjlitiotiist to le one who holds that slavery is a sin. I accept the defini tion, and according to it many of our !-st Chriti.t!i jic-ople. must be accounted Abo litionists ; for it is astonishing how ex tensively the religious mind of the North has admitted into itself the nuspicion, not to say conviction, that shtvcholdinu is a s0 rlm VOL. 10--NO. -32. sin. If a sin, then it is a violation of some Divine law, for sin is the trans'ies sion of the law. c Now, I deny that any such law has ever been revealed. The burden of showing it is on him who alleges, iuid when it is shown, I agree it shall rule out all tRat has been sai.l or ean be said for a L'nion founded on slavery. I bind myself never to raise my voice again in behalf of siicl a Lmon. But," so far from any such hwvv being found plainly written for our in struction, whoever w ill study the Patri archal and Ixvitical institutions, will see the principle of human bonda-e, and of property in man, divinely sanctioned, if not divinely ordained ; and in all the iiy mgs of our Saviour, we hear no injunc tion for the suppression of a'slavery which existed under his eyes, while lie delivered many maxims and principles, which, like the golden rule, enter right into and regu late the relation. So do the wrifmof Paul abound with regulations af the rc!a- uiii liui wiui me injunctions for its. suprcssion. If we go to the most accred ited commentators, or consult divines really wise and good in our midst ; or what is better, study and search the. Scriptures for ourselves, we shall fail to inul a law which, fairly interpreted and applied, justities any man in asscrtin-', ; or out of the pulpit, that the negro slavery of the United States is sinful. What right, then, I ask again, has the AMi tionist to cheat tender consciences into hostility to an institution on which our Union is founded in part ? Good j-oplo say we do not wish to disturb slavery where it exists by load law, but believin it to be smful and inexpedient, we will not submit to its extension, nor assist to re store the fugitive to his master. Such IH-ople soon come to- con-.-eive that the more unfriendly they can feel toward slavery the more harsh speeches they make about slaveholders, the more they help on the irrepressible conflict, the bet ter will they recommend themselves tv God. In SOllie rlmn-hna nut:...! U. Huii-.-uivLTv sen- timcnts have become essential to good standing. According to some ecclesiasti cal councils, it would seem that the reat duty of the American Christian is to" war with his neighbor's probity ; and, if oi portumty presents, to help steal and hide it. Alas! alas! fur the times upon which we have fallen. We must arouse ourselves and re-as sert the rights of the slavenolder, and add such guarantees to our Constitution as will protect his probi ty from the spolia tion of religious bigotry and persecution, or else we must give up our Constitution and I nion. Events are placing the al ternative plainly before v.t Constitutional l irron, d Lla-ty according to American law ; or dse extinction of slave prop, rti, i-C'ji-o freedom, dissolution of tltc Union and aiiarcJiy and confusion. ' ' Can any man, even though his min.l has been poisoned by the sophisms of in-hd.-ls and Abolitionists, seriously con template the alternative with cotnj)osure and indifference ? "We hear it said, let South Carolina go out of the Union lcacebly. I say let her go ieaccably, if she go at all, but why should South Carolina, lie driven out of the Un ion by an irrepressible conflict about sla very I Other States will be suns to fol low, sooner or later. I he work of dis integration, once fairly established, will not end with South Carolina, nor even with all the slave States. Already we see it announced, on the floor of Congress that the city of New Yirk, tired of her connections with Puritan New England, and the fanatical' interior of her own 1 State, will improve the opjiort unity to set up lbr herself, and throw open her ni.-i"-niticcnt iKjrt to the unrestricted -commerce of the world. Let us be wise in time. Our resolu- tions.are soothing and entvura'-in-their tone, and this vast assembla-' symtomatic of returning health in public mind : but noou! in is tl iC and fair-spoken resolutions are not 'oin ng to save the I r.ion Irom destruction, people must act, and act promptly The t and elhcieiit.y. ix-t them show the SoutI that the heart of the great State .f 1 ennsylvama is sound still. It is said that the late elections do not commit Pennsylvania, unalterably, to the mis chievous conflict. I am unwilling to be lieve it. I hope it is so. I hoie the events of the winter and our future clec tioirs will prove it. Then let Pennsyl vania apju al to the South to stand by us a little longer, till wC have proved, not by fair words, but by deeds, that we will arre.-t the irrepressible conflict ; that we are not ready to give up constitutional lilierty for licentious liberty ; that we will not saeriliee all the memorios of the past, and all the hopes of the future, for ucro Pi I irfr 3