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THE CITIZEN, sA'i'flP.DAY, FEBRUARY-ill, 1854.
waving top! Fallen! Uprootcd! Doomed to the axe and the
hearth l" v V ' '
I almost feel the edge of the hatchet. bVoodman, spare that
tree !-Your imagery is so vivid that I am ready to raise my hand
to my head, to ascertain whether, like Phaaton's sisters, I has
foliage and bird's nests; the prophecy is terrific; and the effect,
like one of Mr. Barnum’s etfects, is “ thrilling."
You have a dislike to Moses, at which I do not wonder. You
say “ let Moses sleep." Then why did you cite that legislator in
your Iacturel It was your reverence that awakened him. In
order to make people believe that American Slavery is more har-
harous than ancient slavery, you told the Tabernacle that Moses
imposed restrictions upon the institution, and surrounded it with
dimculties and inconveniences, tending to produce abolition at
length. I followed you into the Pentateuch, and showed that
you did not read those five books aright. I demonslmted that
there were no restrictions at all, and no tendency to abolition, and
no intention of it, either rapid or gradual.
So Moses has become tedious to you. You beg me not to keep
“stumbling over the records of rude society four thousand years
ago.”-But pardon me, it was your reverence who stumbled; and
you are not suiiicicntly grateful to me for picking you up. You
say I “malts the Bible lie" (whatever that means); but you have
not shewn me where or how--I say that you falsify the Bible;
and I have sllewn you where and how. It seems to me, too, that
your avoidance of the subject is an admission that you did really
misrepresent the Mosaic law to support the abolition ticket-Is it
not a shame“? Do you think such a deed can be stoned for by a
tirade like t e followinrv, addressed to me thrillinv as it is?-
“I can not hide rmni myself that theria yet min.-iina for you a
dismal s, a desolate and cheerless solitude of indrlnitie . Time,
that wou d have carried you onward, garlandcd with achievements
worthy of a man living for men, and surrounded by the genial svrn-
pnthies of loving hearts, now, ' no you to a polar solitude,
without love, or ljympathy, or ity, or honor. on will sweep
coldly on upon a ark current, like an ever-rolling ice-berg, that,
rolling and resounding ever so much, '
place." ,
B21tZlif4‘lf$.l It doesaman good to hear you; in a rhetorical,
'melodr-amatical, and merely Barnumistic point of view. But where
is the inure? ‘Vho has taught you to call names at this outrage-
pips zrgwl-inother Iyiou comps‘: me ‘:2 llerculos spinning
re s; an again, caven. w t lst 's?- '
“Sormwfull , we mustieave you, like some flllse and hideous
image, around which, for the moment, chattering priests of oppres-
sion have burned incense, but soon to be cast out, even by them, a
detostcd and desecrated idol, forgotten of men, and remembered only
of vermin-lizards that crawl darkling beneath the twilight of po -
eonous weeds that grow and twine about it." .
Nowl also could find comparisons in the various kingdoms of
nature for you,)lr. Beecher. And I have a mind even to try your
own style, and show tllatl have taken a lesson front you-as thus:
i am a. rolling und resounding iceberg of the Polar seas,-very
wcll; you are a Geyser or boiling spring, copious enough to keep
the world in hot water; I may be like a dead tree; but what if
your reverence is very like awhalc; a whale of the blowing or
spouting species; blowing and spouting as if you meant to quench
the stars. Rather, indeed, you are the Great Sea-Serpent, that
)L' I 1- VQ‘. L .> Lt’ “-
no rest by changing
. 2
wondering mariners, now to starboard, again to port, and no man
hnowcth where to have him. He esleemeth iron as straw; and
the arrow cannot make him flea. lle lasheth the sea with his tail,
and all the morning papers of the universe resound with the splash
thereof. Ne lisber of woaian born lshallput shook between his
jaws: no mortal cook shall cut him up for ever: on his crest sits
hutnbug plumcd, from his mane he shukelh boundless Bunhuln
and in his convoluted spires there lurketh Capital! .
You sea’tis as easy as lying; but there is no use in all this: nor
would it throw light upon any question. Yet this very sort of thing
is the tissue of your eloquent letter to me. In one instance only
you lose sight of your prudent reserve and venture uporfan ac-
tual assertion. Bored to death as you are by Moses and the
Prophets, it is still evident you wish to make allies of them; and
thus you say, by way of contrasting American with Hebrew sla-
very, , .
“ Hebrew slavery admitted that a slave was a man with all ap-
ropriate human responsibilities, and made ample provision for his
religious and civil instruction." V I
It is painful to be obliged to say that you are again mistaken.
There was no provision at all, either ample or little, for the religious
or for the civil instruction of the foreign slaves of the Jews 2 and as
to their “ responsibilities,” they had, to be sure, all “ appropriate"
responsibilities,-that is such as are appropriate to a slave. and no
more All their slaves (except those casual and temporary slaves
who were of the tribes of Israel) were simply and absolutely (as
American slates are) the chattels of their proprietors. To worry
you with proofs of this would he cruel. You are tired of the Perl.
tateuch : and will no more hear Moses and the Prophets ; but proba-
bly you will see the expediency of reading a little before you rattle
Moses about people’: ears again. The aut.horiti:l I cited, you call
rubbish: am! you W -'‘Y"“ We in your library heaps oftrash" of
that sort 14" “SW” 7”“ "W" Yliu would find your account in
reading some of themin!"“’l'=iSIIb:: hours: what is’ the use of
having heaps of books in I man’: library iflle will not mad ghunl
1 Lung wall enough where you got your new and strange imerpmg.
stions of Scripture it was from Mrs. Bcocbu Stowe (lmle “Kgy"),
who again got them from Professor Stowe, who got mm. 1-,.o,,,
Barnes, or else Dames from Stowe. It is a perilous thing, this
reference for ever to ens’: own little clique and circle for authority
and ‘lntelloctual pabulum: the supply noon dries up: and, if you
will have another Polar eilnilitude, I shall liken you in this matter
to a Greenland bear. sticking his own paws Ru food in the hard
weatlm, . -
You say there is “ an issue between me and the American pub-
lic." This l in not know before. I knew that there was In issue
between me and a small knot of noisy Tabernacle lecturers, who
affect astonishment on finding that one who has protested against
oppression, is yet unprepared to denounce as oppression “hat
they, the Tabemacls lecturers, call by that name ;-and who are
shocked to see a man in the nineteenth century with no ‘more or-
alted idea of freedom than the henlghted “Elsliington had. I.
apprehend, air, that you and the Tabernacle men am not the Ame-
rican public ;-very far short of it indeed. But, here is the issue
that you say has been raised bc-tw .n me and the said public :-
“ “'hat was the liberty which you asserted for lrelandi Was
it u lzbertyfomldcd upon the inalienable right of err human being
to lift, liberty, and happiness? or was it a liberty ounded on the
right of the strong to oppress the weak? This is the question
which American newspapers are just now discussing."
Are they! I am sorry that I can render them no assistance.
As to the lirst question, I am not aware that every human being,
or any one, has “ an inalienable right to me, libeny, and lmppi.
ness." People often forfeit life and liberty, and as to “ happiness"
I-lo not even know what it is. On the whole; I fear this is jar-
gon. For the second horn of your dilemma, “Was it alibcrty
founded on the right of the strong to oppress the weakl" I must
confess that I do not undrrstnml the dialect. Therefore, I
tions I am consent to answer, NEITHER.
Wluzt liberty it was that I aspired to for Ireland, it would be use
less totell you again-you would never understand me. And it
would only disgust you if I were to refer to the rude ages again,
and to say that it was just the sort of liberty-no better and no
worse-which the slaveholding Corcyreans asserted against Co-
rinth, and the slaveholding Corinthians fought for against Route,
and the slaveholding Americans wruno from the English. It was
National Independence. Q
But I am tired of the subject. And I do not believe that any
single individual really sees the least inconsistency in my senti-
ments or behavior. The whole controversy is hctitious and facti-
tious: it is an afair of tickets and platforms. You seem to think
it a small matter, sir, to exnspcrate your fellow-citizens of the
South by unmeaning viliiication; nothing to shake the founda-
tions ofths Union; nothing to pour discredit upon Republicanism
itself, and to insult your own grand country, while you lay your
disloyal incense at the feet of the cruel, eanting, English (lovem-
ment-provided only you oan win some sanctimonious votes for
the great gospel of Free Soilism, and can get yourself and your
literary circle patronized and patud on the back by the treacherous
and brutal British Press. Yes: I had your abolition to be not
only nonsense but treason. Englishmen oome over here as its
apostles, and it has on it the slime and trail of Exeter Hall. And
do you believe that the exterrninalors of Ireland, the rouabshod
riders of India, the armed speculators in Chinese lives, silica;-rely
wish for the liberty of any lacing, any-where under the sun l Do
you think the English care about this whole question of American
slavery, save as a machinery for breaking up the great Republican
confederation whereof England and every other power has such a
mortal jealousy and fear. Excler Hall shapes its balmy benevo-
lence in the form of a wedge, to drive between North and South 2
and you, reverend gentleman, hammer upon that wedge with
your might every time you thump your cushion, and the British
Press cries Bravo! Beecher!
Between the Northern and Southern ,Stales of this Republic, I
apprehend, there is but little real condict of interest or feeling.
The questions of State pulley and Territorial arrangement which
exist, would. all I believe, settle themselves, if you and your
little seconddland Eioter Hall would let them alone. Whatever
bitterness has mingled itself with the oontroversy, you and the con-
vrnticlcs have infused the poisonous drop. When we hear a Mr.
“'sde, in the United States Senate at ‘Vashington, howling about
Nebraskl being made a. “ Sodom and Gomorrah,"-uttering dis-
mal prophecies like these-"he saw a cloud already, larger than
a man‘s hand-that cloud would soon gather all round from the
North and “lest-the whole heavens would be lighted up with fires"
-and so forth-the man is speaking the language of the Taber-
nacle: ha is inspired by the Conventicles: he Beecherizcs. ll
there be any tloud impending over the business, it is the dreary
cloud of fanaticism, which has shadowed many a noble cause and
broken ntilny a glorious confcdemcy before now. What are these
" ‘ “- ‘ Puritans that they should presume to curse, with all
the curses of En-lulphus, American citizens of the South-that
they should term their property a robbery, and their homes Sodom
nnl Gomomb! - ,
hull docs it ever occur to you to consider whether those South-
l-rn planters can liberate their slnvesl NVhether the slaves wish
it-whether if they did, it would be good for them, or for those
who would have the misfortune to be their neighbors instead 0
owners! Have you considered the condition of Haiti! Of Jamai-
ral And if you urge the generous example of your friend: the
Enalish, I will tell you what that generosity consisted of-bcrrow-
g,,., 100 millions of dollars, (which they never intend to pay,) in
oriler to add it to the “ national debt," and soto take additional accu-
'l ‘ uinst Revolution and llrpuhlicanism at home. Have you
iiich Enancisl operation as this to l7"9'l7""9 "7 Aulerlml V0’ '10
x-nu want to take the property of those citizens from them vutllout
Illly compcnsntionl Have you considered any one of all these
things! Or is all this Tabcrnacletalk pun rantl II it all Capital.
making and cant l-Gr-at is Cant. Kl hat is Man that‘ho should
withstand itl ‘ ,
Itako my lcave'of you now, and rise auto’: ‘plmlc subjlet-it.
inn: ran 1 say to the pathctitrol-l.l‘“"“"‘“ W" “’ I‘ , 3“ “‘’"“ “ '
your letter-"Coma back to us, John Mitchel-It Ii not yet too
laln." Ah! your rt'Vel'I'I1cn will unite nle : it is not too late. but
' . . ;
decline to impale myself upon that llorn also :-to your pair of quas-
89
too early. You belong to a sect and a school of social rcforlnerl
that I have always kept at arm‘s length. By your tongue llalow
you-you are the men who all: about the " rode ages four thousand
It is you who cry out for the abolition of “ the gallows and the bar-
barous, rattling guillotine,"-two ins,trumeuLt, Wilho which, the
planet would be uninhabitable. You an! the Apootll of Human‘
Progress and Benevolism, and all sorts of l.nora.L phyei :3] and intel-
lectual perfectihilitics,-endin(.r in loud cheers and subscriptions.
toasts, t.-ibernacles and trash. Come back to you! Why, when
was I ever amongst you l “that eye has seen me moving in the
ranks of “ Huulan Progress 1" W'ho has heard me blowing trum-
pets at the corners of streets '.-or talking the blaruey of Benevo
‘Hun! or landing British "freedom," at the expense ofArusrlca.u
Republicanism '!--No, no. Cant, indeed is strong. and the star of
‘ Humbug is high and culminant; but at any rate a man is not obli
glad to make himsalfst home with hulnbug, to ding himself intothe
arvns ofhumbug, and contentedly take up house with humbug. I
um, thou art my sister Lind mother.
B.-edler, thou art my pastor and master.
7 Once more, and finally, Adieu,
Jolln Mln:nu..
Neither will I say unto
Nun Yarlc, lbruary 7th, lS.'>t.
3 NEBRASKA.
In other columns of ‘this week's Cir-lzl;.v will be found the rul>
stance of what has transpired since the publication of our last,
touching the vexed question which is now uppermost in the public
miml, and is more or less agitating every portion of this bmad Un-
ion. i It is needless to say that we were: to the bill under discussion
in tho United States Senate for the Organization of a territorial gov-
ernment for Nebraska. The compromise lncasuncs of lS5O were
zttlerilled with an agitation that sllook the Union from Maine to
'l'er:is, and from the seaboard of the Atlantic to the waters of the
Puolnc. The great trio-tllc three men than regarded as the great-
est in the country,all ofvvhom hale since passed away-Clay, Cal.
houzt, and “‘ebstu-, took a distinguished and a leading part in the
oontl-oversy. “hip and Dgnrocmts at length laid aside Lheirpnrty
prejudices for a season, and the result was that Lhe fugitive hlave
law was adopted, and the Territories ot’Cta.h and New Mexico were
organized by Congress, without regard to the Missouri act, which
prohibited the existence of “ involuntary servitude" in the Territory
of Louisiana, north of‘dE degrees ‘30)rninutes. Though New Mer-
ico Utah were both north of that line, and both included porv
tious of the old French territory, the inhabitants were left to their
own choice in regard to slavery. It was then believed by the poo-.
plv llllsl the general quaitiun was settled by the'ss precedents, and
generation, again disturb the harmony and repose of the country.’
But here now, after the lapse of four short years, we behold the
cauldron once more seething with "toil and trouble," and white
spirits and black spirits, blue spirits and grey, mingling around,
dtruu . - .
I-‘ronl various indications, especially the important vote in mg
Senate on Monday last, and the debate whit-ll preceded and fol.
lousd, it is more than probable the bill will pass inthat body. My.
Ullzlse, the leader of the opposition, moved to have the vital sec
tion struck out. The Senate refused to do so, by avole of 31 lo
13; and it is to be observed that some of those who voted in the
minority, such as General Cass, did not so vote because they were
opposed to the principle ofthe bill, but because they collsiderrd the
pbraseology of the sect ion not suflicienlly sLrou g or technically exact.
There can be little doubt thercforelhat the bill will pass the Senato,
either in its present shape, or in a still more decided form, declar-
ing the Missouri Compromise, not merely '1 superseded by,” or
“ inconsistent with," Ills compromise mca sures of 1850, but repealed
by the present measure of 1854 as an unconstitutional act, which
tr.-nscendod the powers of Cullgfesl, and which ought never to have
been passed. This last would certainly be the most desirable form in
which to adopt tlle bill, as It would completely settle the nllols
slavery question as far as it can be settled by Congress, and leave
no loophole for future agitation in regard to the territories. For
aflcrgall there was a screw let’! loose in the acts of i330.
Senate, u hich ll the more con.-ervative branch of the notional
l1>gial:l.turc,ive in: by no nu-.-in; equally confident of in success in the
popular branch.‘ Ewen there, however, the chances appear to bg
in its favor. A majority of the House or Rcpresentatiies is demo-
cratic, and in the progress of the question’ through the Senate, and
in its discussion outside, it is evident that esery llourit is assuming
more and more of: party shape. it will therefore be probably car.
rird in the House as a democratic measure, though nidml, in some
(0 1.5‘, pin), quegmn, for it concerns the integrity of the rspublig
and the welfare of the whole people. For our part, we would hail
its adoption as cmutller tnumph oftlie patriulism and cod aeles
ofcongn-sn over the l.0lly,.il-lnnilttlilll, and treason which would
tlionelnlvcr this glorious union. by the vain pursuit of an empty
hll(lIl0W to tlljllmta and deslrIuctionrn‘f the substance.
It iea gran mist 9. In a vuso o unguswe, to call the Missou '
Colnpronlise a roulpact bo'tn'cen North and South. If it was lit‘
the nature of: conlpnct, it ls rrndrred null and void by a later one.
the mmpmmlso or I850. If it is contended that the first alone is
valid, than we reply tllrt there is one older still and far more bind-
ing-the compact of the Constitution. Bur. there can be.no com-
pact made by (‘en es in its legislation for all the States in com-
mon. It cannot pass a law to lllnd its successors and posterity for >
all future K)l'l'lB.; and least of all, can a gmglrlphicnl line prevail
over a great pnnrlplc and any, “ thus for shalt thou mine, and no
further." T e principle now at stake is, that the people in eve
State and every territory have a right to make llruir on n laws. an
no (‘ongrcss has the power to pfPI'9[I un-in
l
years ago," as iftho thing that was virtue then were crime today. .
will never say unto Barnum, thou art nly brother, and unto Bunls- ,
Illa‘ the anti-slavery agitation would not, for at- least the present ‘
each throwing into the “ hrll-broth" an ingredient of mischief and "
degree, by the votes of anutherll vnhigs. It ought not, however, '
. Though there is every probnhility oftlle bill being adopted by the ’ ’
“ii
gr
