, I
BY JAS. CLARK.
SPEECH OF THADDEUS STEVENS,
OF PENNSYLVANIA.
•
`Jo
the'U. S. ridtiss of Repreldntativea, 55 the
20th of February, 1850, is Committee of the
illhole on the State of the Union, on the ref
erence of the President's Annual. Message.
Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, said :
Mt. Chairman: I do not know that I should
have troubled the committee at this time, could
late any' reasonable prospect that the House
would devote its time to practical legislation.
But for a considerable time after our meeting,
the organization of the house was obstructed;
and since organized, a large portion of its time
has been occupied by speeches on the subject of
Slavery, mostly by Southern gentlemen, when
no practical question, to which they could ap
ply, was before the committee. There was no
doubt a well-defined object in this, partly to in
timidate Congress, and partly to occupy its time
'so that no legislation could be matured obnox
ious to southern gentlemen. Indeed WO are not
left to conjecture on this point.—The learned
gentleman from N. Carolina, (Mr. Clingman,)
who was selected to open the debate in behalf
01 human bondage, distinctly notified us, that
unless Congress, as a condition precedent, sub,
mitted to settle the Slavery question, according
to Southern demands, there should be no legis
lation, even to the passage of the ordinary ap
propriation bills necessary to sustain the '3ov
ernment ; and that such measures would not be
obstructed by meeting them in manly debate,
and voting on their merits ; but by incessantly
calling the yeas and nays, on repeated and friv
olous motions to adjourn, until the end of the
session. Sir, I doubt not that before he ventured
on so high a threat, he had full assurances from
a sufficient number of Southern gentlemen to
carry it into effect. For, if he had made it
upon his own bare authority, ii would degener
ate into contemptible gasconade, which I am
sure that discreet gentleman would not indulge
in. The scene of last Monday in this house ful
ly sustained him, and showed that they had the
will and the power to execute it.
Here, then, we have a well defined and pal
pable conspiracy of Southern members combined
to stop the supplies necessary to the existence
of the Government, disorganize and dissolve it,
until the bands that bind the Union together are
severed, and as a gentleman early in the session
desired, discord reigns." Well might' the
gentleman anticipate that the country and pos
terity would pronounce this treason, rank trea
son against the nation! Sir, I doubt if there is
another legislative body in the world where
such a sedition would not be followed by pros
ecution and punishment. France has lately ex
iled members of her Assembly for a similar of
fence. But in this glorious country, where
nearly two-thirds of the people are free,
we can say anything within these walls or be
yond them with impunity, unless it be to agi
tate in favor of human libertythat is aggres
sion.
_ . .
Let us inquire, what is the grave offence, the
mighty wrong, which can justify a threat big
with such portentious consequences I—The re
fusal of Congress to propagate or to establish a
doubtful or even an admitted good in the Ter.
ritories would surely be no cause of rebellion
and revolution—much less would the refusal to
extend an evil, an admitted evil, an unmitigated
wrong. Will an intelligent and free posterity
believe it when impartial history records that
the only cause for this high threat was the ap
prehension that the Congress of this free Re
public would not propagate, not permit to be
propagated, the institution of human slavery in
to her vast Territories now free 1 Yet such
is the simple fact. It is proper then, to inquire
whether the thing sought to be forced upon the
Territories at the risk of treason and rebellion,
be a good or an evil. I think it is a great evil
which ought to be interdicted ; that we should
oppose it as statesmen, as philanthropists, and
as moralists, notwithstanding the extraordinary
position taken by the gentleman from Alabama
(Mr. Hilliard) to the contrary.
While I thus announce my unchangeable hos
tility to slavery in every form, and in every
place, I also avow my determination to stand by
all the compromises of the Constitution, and
carry them into faithful effect. Some of those
compromises I greatly dislike ; and were they
now open for consideration, they should never
receive my assent. But I find them in a con
stitution formed in difficult times, and I would
not disturb them.
By those compromises Congress has no pow
er over Slavery in the States. I greatly regret
that it is so; for if it were within our legitimate
control, I would go, regardless of all threats,
for some just, sale and certain means for its final
extinction. But I know of no one who claims
the right, or desires to touch it within the
States. Yet when we come to form governments
for territories acquired long since the formation
of the Constitution, admit new States, whose
only claim for admission depends on the will of
Congress, we are bound to discharge that duty
as shall best contribute to the prosperity, the
power, the permanency, and the glory of this
nation. Does slavery contribute to either of
these ? Is it not rather subversive of them all
Let us first view it in the low light of political
economy.
That nation, I suppose, is always the most
prosperous, all other things being equal, that
has the most industrious, and the largest num
ber of the producing classes. These who mere
ly consume the fruits of the earth, add nothing
to the strength or wealth of a nation. Slave
countries never can have a large number of in
dustrious freeman. Slave-holders form an un
titled aristocracy, with numerous dependents.
Individuals appropriate large tracts of territo
ries to themselves, and thus prevent it from tre
ing thickly settled by freemen. Their laborers
having no ambition to gratify, no love of gain to
stimulate them, no parental feelings to impel
them to action, are idle and wasteful. When
the lash is the only stimulant, the spirit of man
revolts from labor.
That republic must be feeble, both in peace
and war, that has not an intelligent and industri
ous yeomanry, equally removed from luxury and
from poverty. The middling classes who own
the soil, and work it with their awn hand, are
the main support of every free government.
Despotism may be powerful, and long sustained
by a mixed population of serfs and nobles. But
free representative republics, that rely upon the
voluntary action of the people, never Cllll.-Un•
der such governments, those who defend and
support the country, must have a stake in the
soil ; must have interests to protect and rights
to defend.
Slave countries never can have such a yeo
manry ; never can have a body of email pro
prietors who own the soil and till it with their
own hands, and sit down in conscious independ-
,4inti4boi
once under their own vine and fig tree. There
is no sound connecting link between the aristo
crat and slaVe. True, there is a class of hu
man beings between them, but they are the
most worthless and miserable of mankind. The
poor white laborer is the scornof a slave himself.
For there labor always degrade. the laborer.
The white people who work with their hands
ate ranked with the other laborers—the slaves.
They are excluded from the society of the rich.
Their associates, if anywhere, are with the col
ored population.--They feel that they arc de
graded and despised; and their minds and con
duct generally conform to their condition.
The soil occupied by slavery is much less
productive than a similar soil occupied by free
men. Men who are to receive none of the wa
ges of their labor do not care to multiply its
fruits. Sloth, negligence, improvidence, are the
consequences. The lan d being neglected, be
comes poor and barren ; as it becomes exhaust
ed, it is thrown out as waste,
for slave labor
never•renovates its strength. This applies par
ticularly to agricultural States. Take Virginia,
the favorite example for the South, which has
been so triumphantly referred to by the gentle
man from North Carolina, (Mr. Clingman.)—
Whence he drew his facts that she was more
prosperous, more populous and richer than the
free States, 1 know not. I am sure it was not
from personal observation. He would not cer
tainly draw on his imagination in matters of
fact. I suppose he must have been misled by
the most miserable of sophists and most false
of chroniclers, Ellwood Yisher.
I admit that, by nature, Virginia has capabil
ities i qual, if not superior, to any State in the
Union. She has a delightful climate; a nate
rilly fertile soil. She is intersected, as was
said by the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Bay
ly,) by the noblest rivers. Her hills and moun
tains are filled with the rich minerals and cover
ed with valuable timber. She has the finest
water, I believe, in the nation, in the very heart
of her State; and her harbors are amongst the
best in the world. At the time of the adoption
of the Constitution she was the most powerful
State--her population was double that of New
York. It was the boast of her statesmen that
she was prima inter puree. What is she now?
The population of New York is more than doub
le—l think the next censcs will show nearly
treble hers. Her land, cultivated by unwilling
hand., to unproductive. Travel through the
adjoining States of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and
you will see that the land produces more than
double as much as tae same kind of land in Vir
ginia. In the free States new towns are every
where springing up and thriving; smiling hab
itations are within hail of each other ; the whole
country is dotted with school-houses andchurch
es almost within sight of each other; and, ex
cept under peculiar circumstances, their manu
facture and mechanic arts furnish lucrative em
ployment to all their people ; end their popula
tion is steadily and rapidly increasing. Turn
again to Virginia. There is scarceiy a new
town, except at one or two points, within her
whole borders. Iler ancient villages wear the
appearance of mournful decay. Her minerals
and timber are unwrought. Her noble water is
but partially occupied. Her fine harbors are
without ships, excecpt from other ports ; and
her seaport towns are without commerce, and
Falling to decay. Ask yourself the cause, sir,
and I will abide the answer. ,
It is essential to the existence of republics
that education should be generally diffused
among the people. Slavery prevents this.—
Rich men employ private tutors, or send their
children abroad. But the children of the peo
ple generally cannot be educated without the
instrumentality of district schools. In slave
States, where the plantations are large, the
white population is too sparse to maintain them.
Besides there is another fatal obstacle to them
in the aversion of the rich to associate with the
poor. The poor white laborer's children could
never be permitted to mingle in4he same schools
and sit upon the same benches with the rich
man's sons. That would be offensive.
Slavery enfeebles a nation in wares well as
in peace. It is impossible that a nation of mas
ters and slaves can be as powerful and formida
ble either in offensive or defensive war as a na
tion of freemen. A large portion of the pop
ulation must remain at home to prevent the re
bellion of those who are constantly in a state of
latent rebellion with their oppressors. I know,
sir, we have hail n most alarming description of
the prowess of the south. We have heard their
cannon roar seen their bayonets bristle ; beard
the war-cry of the charging cavalry, and seen
their bowie knives gleam within this hall, in
the vivid picture of the terrible gentleman from
North Carolina, (Mr. Clingman.)
We have often been modestly reminded of the
" blood and treasdre, and the 'gallantry of the
South." This Ido not dispute. I ain proud to
admit that she has furnished many gallant sons,
whose names will adorn the brightest pages of
our history, both for the war of the revolution,
the war of 1812, and the war which we lately
assumed as the ally of Texas and of slavery. I
give her full credit for her patriotism in furnish
ing most of the men who have born the official
burdens of the government both in the civil and
military list. I know, too, that she has fur
nished the kind of men for our armies who are
apt to be distinguished when great deeds are
done. For it is only the officers and command
ers of armies who live in story. The stout
hearts and strong arms of the common soldiers
that fight the battles and win the Victories are
unknown to fame. Their birth place is not
sought for ; their graves are undistinguished.
And the South has always furnished officers for
our army ; Presidents for the Republic ; most
of our foreign ambassadors; heads of depart
ments chiefs of bureaus ; and sometimes, in
her proud humility, has consented that the
younger sons of her dillapidated houses should
monopolize the places of clerks and Messengers
to the government. • But whence are diraWn the
common soldiery, the men who peril their
lives, and win victories for your glory t Almost
entirely from the free states, except in cases of
sudden emergency, when volunteers are called
nearest the seat of danger. The present Secre
tary of War, a southern gentleman of great abil
ity, and strenuous for Southern rights, says in
his Report :
"According to the practice which has long
prevailed, the great majority of enlistments is
made in the northern Atlantic cities and the ad
jacent interior towns, whence the recruits are
sent to the general depot for instruction, and ft- '
natty distributed to the southern and western
posts, according to the wants of the service."
Yes, sir, our northern freemen have always
fiilled the ranks of the regular army. The
south has lent us the gentlemen to wear epau
lettes and the sword; to take command of our
troops and lead them to southern and south-wes
,
HUNTINGDON, PA., TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1850.
tern climates to fight the frontier 'battles ' and
whiten your fields With their bores.
I am opposed to the difbision of Slavery, be
cause confining it within its present limits will
bring the States themselves to its gradual abo
lition. Let this disease spread, and although it
will render the whole body leprous and loath
some, yet it will long survive. Confine it,' and
like t he cancer that is tending toward the heart
it must be eradicated or it will eat out the vi
tals. The sooner the patient is convinced of
this, the sooner he will procure the healing op
eration.
The learned and able gentleman from Vir
ginia, [Mr. Mcana,) in a pamphlet which he
laid upon our table takes the same view of it.
He says, Virginia has a slave population of
near half a million, whose value is chiefly de
pendent on southern demand." Let us pause a
moment over this humiliating confession. In
plain English, what does it mean? That Vir
ginia is now only fit to be the breeder, not the
employer of slaves. That she is reduced to the
condition that her proud chivalry are compelled
to turn slave-traders for a livelihood ! Instead
of attempting to renovate the soil, and by their
own honest labor compelling the earth to yield
her abundance ; instead of seeking for the best
breed of cattle and horses to feed on her hills
and valleys, and fertilize the land, the sons of
that great'State must devote their time to se
lecting and grooming the most lusty sires and
the most fruitful wenches, to supply the slave
baracoons of the South ! And the learned gen
tleman pathetically laments that the profits of
this genteel traffic will be greatly lessened by
the circumscription of slavery ! This is his
picture, not mine. .
The same gentleman says in the same
speech, "If we intend to submit to the
policy of confining the slaves within their
present limits, we should commence forth
with the work of gradual emancipation ;
it is an easier task for us than for our
children." The eloquent zentleman from
Alabama, [Mr. HILLIARD,] is of the same
opinion. lie said : "We must make up
our minds either to resist the interdiction
of the progress of slavery, or to submit to
an organic change in our institutions."—
Yes sir; this admitted result, is to my
mind, one of the most agreeable conse
quences of the legitimate restriction of
slavery. Confine this malady within its
present limits. Surround it by a cordon
of freemen, so that it cannot spread, and
in less than twenty-five years every
slave-holding state in this Union will ;
have on its statute books a law for the
gradual and final extinction of slavery.
'Chen will have been consummated the
fond sat wishes of every patriot's heart.
Then will our fair country be glorious
indeed ; and be to posterity a bright ex
ample of the true principles of govern
ment—of universal freedom.
I nm opposed to the extension of sla
very into territories now free, for still
graver reasons—because I am opposed
to despotism throughout the world. I
admit that this government cannot
preach a crusade of liberty into other
States and nations, much as she abhors
tyrants and tyranny. Then she can only
mourn over the existence of wrong.--
But when the question of government
is within her own control, and she per
mits despotism to exist, and aids its dif
fusion, she is responsible for it in the
face of the civilized world, and before
the God of Liberty. In my judgment,
not only the slave states, but the Gen
eral Government, recognizing and aiding
as it does slavery, is a despotism. Ido
not use the word in a declamatory, but
strictly legal signification. That gov
ernment is despotic where the rulers
govern subjects by their own mere will
—by decrees and laws emanating from
their uncontrolled will, in the enactment
and execution of which the ruled have
no voice and under which they have no
right except at the will of the rulers.—
Despotism does not depend upon the
number of the rulers, or the number of
the subjects. It may have one ruler, or
many. Rome was a despotism under
Nero ; so she was under the triumvirate.
Athens was a despotism under her Thir
ty Tyrants; under her Four Hundred
Tyrants ; under her Three Thousand
Tyrants. It has been generally obser
ved that despotism increases in severity
with the number of despots; the respon-
sibility is mote divided, and the claims
more numerous, the triumvirs each de
manded his victims. The smaller the
number of subjects in proportion to the
tyrants the more cruel the oppression,
because the less danger from rebellion.—
In this government, the free white citi
zens arc the rulers—the sovereigns, as
we delight to be called, All others are
subjects. There aro, perhaps, some six
teen or seventeen millions of sovereigns
and four millions of subjects.
The rulers and the ruled are of all
colors, from the clear white of the Cau
mien tribes to the swarthy Ethiopian.
The former, by courtesy, are all called
white, the latter black. In this govern
ment the subject •has no rights, social,
political or personal, He has no voice
in the laws which govern him. He can
hold no property. His very wife and
children are not his. His labor is an
others. He, and all that appertain to
him, are the absolute property of his ru.
lers. He is governed, bought, sold, pun
ished, executed, by laws to which he
never gave his assent, and by rulers
whom he never chose. He is not a serf
merely, With half the rights of men like
the subjects of despotic Russia ; but a
naked slave stripped of every rizlit which
God and nature gave, and which the
high spirit of our revolution declared
inalienable—which he himself could not
surrender, and which Irian could not take
from him. Is• he not then the subject of
despotic sway 3
The slaves of Athens and of Rome
were free in comparison. They had
some rights—could acquire some prop
erty, could choose their own masters,
and purchase their own freedom ; and
when free could rise in social and polit
ical. life. The slaves of America then
lie under the most absolute and grin
ding despotism that the world ever saw.
But, who are the despots 'I The rulers
of the country—the sovereign people!—
Not merely the slave-holder who cracks
the lash. He is but the instrument in
the hands of despotism. That despo
tism is the government of the slave
States;
and the United States, consis
ting of all its rulers—ail the tree citi
izens. Do not look upon this as a para
dox, because 'you and 1, and the sixteen
millions of rulers are free. The rulers
of every despotism are free. Nicholas,
of Russia, is free. The grand Sultan
of Turkey is free. The butcher of Au
stria is free. Augustus, Antony and
Lepidus ; were free while they drenched
Rome in blood. The Thirty Tyrants ;
the Four Hundred ; the Three Thousand
were free while they bound their country
men in chains. You, and 1, and the six
teen millions, are free, while we fasten
iron chains, and rivet manacles on four
millions of our fellow men ; tear their
Wives and children from them ; separate
them; sell them, and doom them to per
petual, eternal bondage. Are we not
,then despots—despots such as history
will brand and God abhors 1
But we are told that it is none of our
business. That Southern slavery is a
matter between the slaveholder and their
own consciences. I trust it may be so
decided by impartial history, and the
unerring Judge, that we may not be
branded with the great stigma, arid that
a grevious burden may not weigh upon
our souls. But could we hope for that
justification, if now, when we have the
power to prevent it, we should permit
this evil to spread over thousands of
square leagues now free, and settle, upon
unborn millions 1 Sir, for myself, I
should look upon any Northern man, en
lightened by a Northern education, who
would directly orindirectly, by omission
or commission, by basely voting or cow
ardly skulking. permit it to spread over
one rood of. God's free earth, as a trak
torte liberty and recraant to his God !
Slavery lends to make the people
among whom it is planted arrogant, in
solent, intolerant and tyrannical towards
the freemen of other parts of the Union.
The honorable member from Virginia,
from whom I have already quoted, [Mr.
MEADS,] says speaking of slavery, "Our
past history testifies to the fact that it
elevateS the character of the white man.—
Though we have been in a numerical mi
nority in the Unzon for fifty years, yet du=
ring the greater part of that period we have
managed to control the destinzei of the
Union. Whether on the battle field or in
the council, the sons of the South have
taken the lead : and the records of the
nation afforded ample testimony of their
superior energy and skill !" Sir, 1 do
not complain of this statement. The
former part of it is both candid and true.
But I cannot listen to the recital without
feeling the burning blush on my counte
nance, that the North with her overshad
owing millions of freemen, has, for half
a century, been tame and servile enough
to submit to this arrogant rule.
The South imprisons Northern free
men when found within her borders, if
they happen to be guilty of a dark skin,
and carry it "between the wind and their
nobility." And when a Northern State
sends a learned and venerable ngent to
test the legality of such imprisonment
before their own tribunals, he is driven
with violence and indignity from their'
shores. Massachusetts has suffered f and
I trust, remembers the insult.
How often have these walls been pro
faned and the North insulted by the in
solent threat, that if Congress legislate
against Southern will, it should be dis
regarded, resisted to extremity, and the
Union destroyed. During the present
session we have been more than once
told, amidst raving excitement, that if
ur; dared to legislate in a certain way,
the South would teach the North a les
son ! that their minds were made up to
extreme resistance! Is this the place
to use threats instead of arguments ?
Are the representatives of freemen to be
thus treated 1 True, you are not wholly
without justification in the belief that it
will be effectual. You have too often
intimidated Congress. You have more
than once frightened the tame North
from its propriety, and found "dough.
faces" enough to be your tools.
d\7o
ex•ourntt.L
And when you lacked a given number,
I take no pride in saying, you were sure
to find them in old Pennsylvania, who,
in former years has ranked a portion of
her delegation among your most sub
missive slaves. But I hope, with some
fears, that the race of dough-faces is ex
tinct. I do' not see how it could be oth
erwise. They were an unmanly, an
unvirile race, incapable according to the
laws of nature of reproduction. 1 hope
they have left rro descendants. The did
ones are deep in political graves. For
them I um sure there is no resurrection,
for they were soulless. Now, when the
whole civilized world unite in denounc
ing slavery as a curse, a shame and a
crime, I trust that when the great battle
between liberty and slavery comes to be
fought on this floor, there will be none
found hiding among the stuff, nohow!.
ulent concealments, not one accursed
Achim in this whole camp of the repre
sentatives of freemen.
The eloquent gentleman. from Virgin
ia, [Mr. SEDDON] the other day, in his
beautiful peroration, personated the
great States of Virginia, Kentucky and
Louisiana, and in their name apostro
phized the good, and I will add the great
man who now occupies the executive
chair; and besought hint as he loved the
place of his birth, the place of his nur
ture, and the place of his residence, not
to forsake hie Southern brethren in this
emergency, but to stand by them in the
defence of human bondage. How much
more eflective, enduring and hallowed
would that eloquence have been, had the
orator's lips been touched with a coal
front the Altar of Freedom!
Then could he have gone with friend
ly anxiety to that noble benevolent and
heroic man, and admonished him, that
although he had gathered all the earthly
laurels that can be reaped by the sickle
of death, yet if he would have his name
descend to posterity with increasing
lustre, he must by one great, just and
patriotic example, wipe out the only spot
that obscures the sun of his glory. lie
might with propriety have taken with
him the learned gentleman from Ala.
barna, PIT. HILL/ARP] an together they
might have pointed to that solemn hour,
which to him, and to all of us that are
treading the down hill of life, must soon
arrive, when the visions of ambition and
of earthly wealth shall have passed from
before his eyes, and left him nothing
but a gaping grave, and an eternal judg
ment.
The accomplished gentleman from Al
abama, [Rev. Mr. Hitmatin] might ; with
peculiar propriety, do what with profane
lips I dare not ; go to his illustrious
friend, and with fervid piety and elo
quence more thrilling than that which
made Felix tremble, implore him by a
love deeper than that of birth place, of
1 1 nurture, and of residence, by the love
lof his own immortal soul, to be warned
in time by the awful, the inexorable
doom—" Accursed is the man stealer."
He might, perhaps, have pointed him to
the gloomy journey that leads through
the dark shadow, and shown him how
ineffably brighter are the glories of that
Kingdom where all are free. Perchance
too, he would hate noticed the throng
ing thousands traveling to that same
dread tribunal, summoned to give evi
dence of deeds done in the body ; some
of them were boadmen and slates on
earth, but whose. disembodied spirits
were then disenthralled i erect, tall as
the proudest of earth's oppressors; and
asked him to enquire of his own con
science, who was meet likely to meet a
hearty welcome there—he, whose cause
was advocated by the supplicating voice
of thousands with whom ho had dealt
justly on earth, and made free indeed ; Or
he whose admission should be withstood
by myriads of crushed and lacerated
souls, showing their chains, their stripes
and ir wounds to their Father, and
to his Father; to their God, and to his
Judge.
For the Journal .
American Aristocracy.
It most be distinctly borne in mind that we
are now arguing the affirmative of our original
proposition ; that we are examining the facts
and circumstances, on which those who practice
the principles of aristocracy, build their system.
And if in such examination we fail to prove sat
isfactorily to the minds of all, that the elements
of aristocracy exist in this country, no blame
should attach to us. For we never alleged that
we would prove its existence beyond the least
shwlew of doubt, independent of every consid
eration, and in (letiance of all that might or can
be said or urged against it.
All we can -do, romianeel as see are,
is to take the facts and circumstances of
the case as they exist, and if they do not appear
within themselves sufficiently strong to pro
duce the conviction of the truth of the affir
marine, the fault must certainly lie in the system
itself. If it devolved on as to prove incontio
vertibly the existence of the system, and we
did so, on sound and logical principles, would it
not bo considered great absurdity and presump•
tion in us, to endeavor afterwards to show that,
it does use exist, which is the negative of our
original proposition 1 "It is impossible for
the same thing to be and not to be." Such a
mode of reasoning would remind us of a propo.
VOL. XV, NO, 11.
sitioa of a certain distinguished Plireuologiat,
who undertook, orsone occasion, to prove that
tile fore/tit of memory hoe so locality, and yel
lies eawitriirc. Just as if anything can be con
ceived existing, whether material or immateri
al, without position.
We stated in our last, that aristotracf s tle
practical development feelings excited in the
mind by the influence of a combination of exter
nal circumstances, or even a single external cir
cumstance. Indeed it can originate in no other
way if it exists at all. Fur no man in. hilt sen
ses, who has at all examined the pr inciples of
the human mind, will argue that the elements pr
arisfo'cracy are innate, whether practised
this, or in foreign lands, under any form of gov
ernment ; unless he first proves that mankind
are not born equal. Man indeed has 'the inen
tal capacity, and by the perversion and distor
tion of his passions and faculties, lie forms and
reduces sash principles to practice; but that
does not argue they are iranite, But it mhy
be alleged that there is no such thing as aristoc
racy, and therefore no necessity for the evidence
of such a poposition, until at least after it is
shown there is.
Well, in answer to this we soy, as it is Ifni ,
versally admitted there is in other countries,
under different forms of government ; and as all
men are of like passions and feelings, and liable
to be influenced in their views by similareir
cumstauces there can be no reasonable doubt.of
the possibility of its existence mom. us. The
theory of our government is certainly..eot of . an
aristocratical nature; nor is the tendency iirthe
majority of our popular institutions ; but be
cause these are facts, it does not follow the
prineiple4 of aristocracy caneut exist here.
These may have, and I have no doubt. of it, a
destructive influence, and still may never beat'e
to effect anything very serious Or tktrinient,, I,
because the opposite influence will ever pr9,ors
&rate, and v. ill ton great extent eB,,nteract the
other. And see think a reference. to a' bangle
circumstance of every day life and ob,ervation,
will satisfy the, mind of any honest and candid
man of its existence among vs. We had thought
thata truth so self evident as this, Would not
require any proof on our part—that it was al
ready too plain to admit of any mode of reason
ing or demonstration to make it plainer. In
deed we regard it in the light of a geometrical
axiom—something unsusceptible of proof, hear
ing within itself the evidence of its own exist
ence.
Now I suppose that no one will hate the her•
dihood to deny that society generally ie divided
into classes. (For if this be denied, I can
only refer each one to his own observation and
experience.) All, ve think, who possess the
organ of vision most see this, and it is not only
seen, but often very painfully idt. It is a fact
which not uufrequently excites in the mindpe
culler sensations, and causes often great 'em
barrassment. It is a - teeth of which every
American ought to he ashamed, and mourn on
account of its leprous influence. Why it is
known that there are not less than five or six
classes of persons even in our little town,
which have scarcely any sociability or inter
course With each other. And all these differ
ent classes are composed of or contain many re
spectable, intelligent, virtuous, honest and in
dustrious citizens. We all know there 'is a
great want of social intercourse among the peo
ple of this place: It cannot be denied. It is
too evident, and we all ought to feel the force of
this truth; and it is said it must be principally
attributed to aristocratic feelings- and views
entertained by many of the citizens. Well now
if this classification exists, what is the cause of
it ? What has introduced so many different de
grees of respectability among us 1 Why are
there more classes known than the Scriptures
recognize I To what can this state of things ba
attributed f To nothing else most certuhlly
than to a feeling of superiority—a disposition to
regard others your inferiors. To the grand
AIILI name principle Of aristocrarP. The same
principles which were considered aristocratic
in governments of that nature, are considered
so among 113 and their consequences have been
exactly similar. It was publicly proclaimed
the other day in the Halls of 'Congress by a dia.
tinguished member froth Pennsylvania, that the
slave holding system is an aristocrat, instil..
lia, He
_urged this as a truth from- the Manta
of tha system itself: The-principles of aristoc
racy are the same wherever found aqd practiced.
Now; if his position is correct, then certainly
aristocracy does exist in America.. And hi is
.authority which cannot be doubled,for he is-an in
..
itivid .
ual of very extensive sitainments, profound
research, and looks, at, mid takes things as they
really are. Tlois it Must appear evident to ev
ery candid mind that the principles of aristoc
rags pre developed and practiced among us, We
stated in our last paper one circigustance
which tended - to give rise to these elements.
Another is the possession Of wealth,legardiest of
the manner and means by ;whlch it is attained.
This immediately creates in the mind: the idea
of superiority, an I forms a strong disposition to
regard those who are not similarly situated, as
inferiors. As a inan increases in opulence his no
tion of superiority never loses -shy of -its
strength. Ile conceives it throws dignity, re
spect and powerful influence in all his actions.
This we give as a general rule, bitt these are
some noble exceptions to t. And if the.possrs
sion of wealthhas this. tendency, and those Who
are in opulent circunintsucas imbibe it, and usir
it to theif own advantage, who ouglit to com-•
plain They have a right to dravVa lino of
separation. Its tendency is to mitge Troth -con
taminations of low society, and- induce a man to
think he is of some notoriety. The different
professions might Iv, cited as having a tendency
to exTite notions of superiority and form Ills
opinion of the justness of classification, but we
refrain at present.
Now it seems to me that tine indleithial who its
totally insetisibie to the facts to which I have
alluded. Air the purpose of showing this t the
priaciples'of aristocracy exist, and ere practised
among us, lboks only at the surface 'of things,
malt. w very imperfect knowledge of human
nature, and this may answer for the affirmative.
ry-Thirty,roir miles of the railioad
running' from Indiarropolis eastward', to
welds- Bellefontaine, to connect with - the
Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad, will be
completed, it is sail!, and brought into
use this year.
Ctr-'1 ha Hon. Hamar Denny, has
granted to the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company a frco right of Way through
his Sprinizfield farm, about a indolfrum
Pittsburgh.