Orleans independent standard. [volume], March 21, 1856, Image 2

About Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871

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A. A. TABLE EMTOH.
IBASBIHGH, FRIDAY, MARCH 21, IS5G.
8. M. PKTTINGII-L & Co.. 10 State t-, Bov
twi. ni-l 119 Nassau t., Kw ork, ore authoriz
ed ntfut.ta for tlie Standard in both those places.
25
6
1
HATES OF ADVEBTISIXO.
i)-iiiilamu. one Tear.
Half "
Oie quiire, one Tear,
One iquore, six moiitln,
One nure, three vceki,
Twelve line, or les, make a tqiiare.
Doings of Council of Censors.
This body has at length completed its
Lbors, after having held three sessions,
two at Montpclier ami one at Middle
bury. The results of its deliberations we
published last week. Its recommenda
tions, it will be perceived, are of a most
weeping kind ; and if adopted, would
give m what might be very properly
railed, a new Constitution. Biennial
i-ssiun-i
of the Legislature ; the election
of all State and County officers for fvo
years ; the election in all cases by a plu
ndity instead of a majority rule ; the
choice of Secretary of State, State Treas
urer, Suite Auditor, Bank Commissioner
and Registers of Probate by the people,
und an entire alteration of the basis of
representation in both Nouses of the Le
gislature, are recommended, with other
changes of less importance. The pro
posed changes are certainly of a very
important character, and will, of course,
attract the serious attention of the peo
ple. Some of them we are inclined to
view favorably, and others with less fa
vor. But until we have given them a
more attentive consideration,, we shall
express no decided opinion for or against
uny portion of them. It is probable that
ome of our readers mav be desirous of
repressing their views in relation to them, J
through the columns of the Standard,
imd we hereby tender its columns for that
purpose-, and further, would especially
invite communications upon the subject.
The small towns, wc apprehend, will
not part with the representation they
have always enjoyed, without a struggle
to retain it. The Council of Censors
have frequently recommended a change
iu the basis of representation in the
House of Representatives, depriving such
towns of a representative each, but this
recommendation has always failed of
adoption. The Conventions called by
the Council of Censors to pass upon their
proposed alterations of the Constitution,
have hitherto been composed of one
member from each town tne same rep
resentation that the towns enjoy in the
House of Representatives, and the towns
have very naturally refused to disfran
chise themselves, and probably ever
would so refuse. Now, to avoid the
moral certainty of a defeat of the propo
sition to change the basis of representa
tion in the House if it were submitted
to a Convention composed of one mem
ber from each town the Council of Cen
sors have called a Convention to be com
posed of only ninety members, and these
to be elected by general "ticket in each
County, as Senators arc now elected.
Orleans County, tor instance, would have
but Jtoe members, instead of nineteen, as
formerly. Now, by what authority did
the Council of Censors make this ap
portionment ? Were they competent to
do it ? This is a very important ques
tion, and wo, apprehend that it must be
answered in tue negative, i tie consti
tution provides that " the said Council of
Censors shall have power to call a Con
vention, to meet within two years after
their sitting," &c. ; but it does not, in di
rect terras, confer any power to fix the
basis of representation in such Conven
tion. May this power be considered in
cident to the general power granted to
call a Convention ? We think not. It
never has been so considered by any
former Council of Censors; and that
body has hitherto been composed of much
abler men than those who compose it at
present ; and of men equally as anxious
as arc the present members, to take from
the small towns their present representa
tion in the House. All precedent, then,
is against this innovation.
The Constitution was formed by the
towns, each represented iu Convention by
one delegate. All the amendments ever
made to it, were made by the towns, rep
resented in like manner. As the Mont
pelicr Watchman and Journal truly re
marks, " the Convention which originated
Vermont as a State, and declared it to be
independent, consisted of the towns, rep
resented by delegates of their own elec
tion, or by letter." The very authority
that created the Council of Censors, was
the towns. Now can this body thus cre
ated, turn round and disfranchise the au
thority that created it ? Shall the created
destroy its creator i We are not now
arguing against the policy of depriving
the towns of their equal representation
in the House of Representatives ; but we
ore contending that they cannot be de
prived of this right without their consent
that the Convention to act upon this
proposition, must be a Convention of the
towns, and not a body arbitrarily consti
tuted by the Council of Censors. The
r pwnj are competent to give up the right
pf rrTerr;iti3 a? tcT", if th?v
see fit ; but we cannot, we think, be ta
ken from them without their consent.
We repeat, that the towns originated
Vermont as a State the towns formed
our Constitution the towns have from
time to time amended this Constitution
and it has ever been considered the set
tled constitutional policy of the State,
that our organic laws could only be al
tered by the authority that created and
has from time to time amended them,
viz: the towns, represented in Conven
tion by delegates. They are the source
of power, so far as the Constitntion and
amendments to it are concerned. They
created the body known as the Council of
Censors, and this body cannot slay its
own parent.
If this view of the matter be correct
then the whole doings of the Council of
Censors must fall to the ground, inas
much as there can be no such Conven
tion as thev have nrovided for. What
say the freemen of this County, of this
matter? What sav the towns to the
proposition to take from them their pres
ent representation in the Legislatcrre?
Speech of John P. Hale.
We publish this week such portions of
Mr. Hale's speech as we think will be
most interesting to our readers. The
speech is very lengthy, else we should
give it entire. It is, we thmk,one of the
most masterly efforts he has ever given the
country. Mr. Hale is a strong man, and
he uses strong arguments, because he
deals in facts and nothing but facts. Had
the North a few more such men as him, she
would not long endure the deep disgrace
which has fallen upon her, by the acts of
her recreant representatives. From his
first appearance in the Senate chamber,
Mr. Hale has ever maintained his integ
rity and fought manfully for the right, no
matter what were the odds ajrainst him.
He has his reward in the affections of his
constituents scattered over the whole
North, and wherever freedom has a
friend or oppression an opponent.
"There was a Sound of Revelry
by NiGrrr." The Dancing School Pub
lic at Whipple's Hall, on the evening
of the 14th inst., was very respectable as
to numbers and appearance. Altogether,
it was very creditable both to teacher and
landlord. We took no part in the festiv
ities of the occasion, because the talent
that layeth in our heels is not so fully
developed as in many of our neighbors.
Lifroit Law in Derby. On Fri
day the 14th inst., Mr. Henry Field of
Derby, was arraigned before Justice
Carpenter on an indictment for selling
intoxicating liquor as a beverage. He
plead not guilty, when witnesses were in
troduced, proving two offences since the
first of January. He was fined $20 and
costs, the whole amounting to S3G.
Dkoppki Dead-. By politeness of a
friend in Grotou, we learn that Mr. Low
ell of that place dropped dead while in
the woods, chopping, on the 25th ult.
He had been engaged in felling a tree,
and as it seemed inclined to go a differ
ent way from what he wished to have it,
he began to trim a small tree in order to
get more purchase, and dropped in the
act of trimming it. He was about 72
years of age.
A man named Joseph Chapman
of Barton, was found dead in his bed on
the morning of the 10th inst. He re
tired the night before in perfect health.
Aged 72 years.
Sir Spring is really coming, for already
the weather is more milder, nor it was.
A Terrible Disaster!
Ferry Boat on Fire Tlurty Dead and
Missing.
Philadelphia, March 15.
About half-past nine o'clock to-night
the ferry boat " New . Jersey," while
crossing the Delaware to Camden, took
lire in the middle of the stream. There
being a great deal of floating ice in the
river, much difficulty was experienced in
managing the vessel, and she was finally
run upon the bar opposite Arch street.
About one hundred passengers were on
board, mxny of whom jumped into the
river and were rescued by boats, and oth
ers saved themselves by clinging to float
ice. It is feared that a large number are
drowned. The boat is now burned to
the water's edge. Great confusion pre
vails, and it is impossible to gather au
thentic details. It is now asserted that
not less than thirty lives have been lost.
The Latest. Three bodies found
altogether John Little of Camden, F.
Fitzpatrick of Philadelphia, and Abra
ham Jannie. The origin of the fire is
unknown. It burst suddenly from the
fire-room, and spread instantly. The
pilot house fell in as the boat was near
ing the wharf, rendering her unmanage
able from disarrangement of the tiller
cables. Her head sheered from the
wharf and the engine could not be stop-
pea, because the engineer was driven
from his post by the flames, and the boat
carried the remaining passengers away
from the land. Number dead and miss
ing, about thirty.
SPEECH OF. JOHN P. HALE.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR SLAVERY.
Mr. President, it cannot have escaped
vour ear, it cannot have escaped the ear
of any honorable Sesator who is within
the sound of my voice, that when the
subject of slavery is introduced, gentle
men from those States in which it exists
turn around and say, reproachfully, "We
found the institution ; we did not bring
it here ; it was entailed upon us by the
cupidity of eastern merchants; it was
entailed upon us by the British Crown ;
it was entailed upon us by those who had
the control and agency long before we
rnme unon the stacre of beins." Grant
it. I am willing to give to gentlemen
who are disposed to make such a plea, all
that they can take by it ; and what is
the lesson that it teaches us? Sir, it
teaches us, who in this our day occupy
these seats, that if in the coming future
it shall be so destined in the counsels of
Omnipotence that the Territory of Kan
sas shall groan under the blighting influ
ence of the institution of slavery, those
who feel its withering effects may not
stand up and reproach our posterity by
telling them, "Your fathers forced it on
this soil." Nor sir, we wish to stand clear
of that reproach, which is so often and so
freely cast on our fathers.
Ia the very debate whieh took place
in the Senate on the Kansas bill, if I
mistake not, in the speech of an honora
ble Senator from North Carolina (Mr.
Badger) not now a member of this
body that very reproach was hurled
back on the inhabitants of the free States.
and they were told that it was to their
agency and their eupidity that the South
owed the existence of the institution
among them. I do not remember, sir,
during the many years that I have been
at this capitol, to have met with more
than three individuals who have not been
willing to admit, and have not admitted.
that, if the question of slavery were a
new one, for the first time introduced, and
if the question was submitted to them as
they were about to plant themselves on
the virgin soil of their native State, and
they had the control of it, they would
not have slavery with them. If they
would have it with them, if it were an
original question in their own State, I
ask them in the name of justice, in the
name of humanity in the name of that
Christianity which teaches us "to do on
to others as we would they should do un
to us' why should they seek now to fas
ten it upon another Territory? Sir, the
position which I occupy, and which is
occupied by those with whom I act, is,
that it may never be a reproach to us or
to our posterity that, through our agency
and through our want of fidelity to the
principles which we profess, this institu
tion which we condemn shall be fastened
upon this Territory.
Mr. Butler. Will the Senator al
low me to give him a matter of statis
tics? Mr. Hale. Certainly.-
Mr. Butler. I knew the Senator
would do it, because he is a ready man.
At one time, sir, I thought it probable
that I might have to go to Boston to per
form a duty which my friend from Geor
gia Mr. Toombs has done so much
better than I could ; and with that view
I prepared myself with some statistics
on this subject, which I desire to present.
I desire to state them now, for I know of
no other way to getting them before a
certain class unless through the speech
of the Senator from New Hampshire.
He says that, so far from being tainted
with the sin and agency of introducing
slavery, the North would hold themselves
bound by all obligations to which he has
referred. With the view which I have
mentioned I sent to the custom-house in
Charleston to obtain certain information.
Most of the registers were lost, but from
those that remained I obtained some in
formation which I will state.
When the slave trade was suppressed,
it was suppressed by the common vote
of the North and the South ; and when
it was restored, it was restored by the
common vote of the North and the South;
but after it was restored it was through
northern merchants that slaves were ta
ken from Africa. They were brought
in northern vessels. Out of forty thou
sand that was the number, for I recol
lect it expressly two thirds were of the
North. Five thousand were on account
of one northern State, six thousand were
oa account of another, and but two
thousand on account of South Carolina.
So far as regards the sin of brin"in
them here, I do not think that we are to
be responsible if we should attempt .to
throw it back on those who introduced
them.
Mr. Hale. Mr. President, I am glad
to nave tins piece of information. It
was the very train of argument which I
was pursuing. I said that you reproach
ed our fathers, and justly, I have no
doubt. I have no doubt the Senator k
historically correct.
Mr. Butler. What I have stated is
according to undoubted statistics.
Mr. Hale. I have not the slightest
doubt of it, and I am glad I have got it :
but what I mean, please God, is, that it
hall cot be true ia the future. I mean
that if another land is to groan under the
evilofslavery.no Senator from South
Carolina, or from any other State, sliall
have a right to stand up in his place and
point at New Hampshire, and say "lou
did it." I take all the censure which the
Senator means to administer to the north
ern States. I have no doubt that the
cupidity of commerce yielded much, very
much, and that there is great blame. 1
have no doubt, further, that the same cu
pidity which induced northern merchants
to take the course which the Senator from
South Carolina brings to my mind, is still
left in the country, and it would do the
same thing again, unless restrained by
law.
the power of congress over slave
ry IN THE TERRITORIES.
Having gone thus far on this train of
remark, I come now to another point of
the case ; and I propose to examine the
question of the power of Congress over
slavery in the Territories ; and I shall do
it, I think, fc- the apprehension ot the
popular and of the legal mind. The
ground which I take is, that Congress
has an undoubted constitutional power to
prohibit slavery.from going into any of
the Territories of the United States; and
to that point I wish the attention of the
Senate. In the first place I suppose,
when you wish to settle a question as to
whether tie Congress of the United States
has a cer ain power or not, the simplest,
readiest, and easiest way of settling that
question is to turn to the Constitution it
self. The Constitution is a plain instru
ment, nade by plain men. It is a uni
versal law governing States and individ
uals ; and being made by plain men, for
the government of everybody within the
country, States as well as individuals, one
would naturally suppose that it would be
written in a language which plain men
might understand. Well, sir, by looking
to the Constitution, what do you find?
You find it there written, " the Congress
shall have power" to do what? "to
dispose of ard make all needful rules and
regulations respecting the territory or
other property belonging to the United
States."
Some hae said that this cannot mean
all rules, because there must be certain
limits. Urdoubtedly there are limits, but
what are they ? The limits are to be
found in other parts of the Constitntion ;
and if there are any restrictions en that
grant, the grant is thus far restricted ;
but if there be no restriction, it is unlim
ited. Ths language of the Constitution
is exceedingly plain. "The Congress
shall have power to make" how many
rules? "all needful rules." How do
Congress make rules ? By law. How
do they make the rules and regulations
concerning the Navy ? By law. How
do they make the rules and regulations
concerning the Army ? By law. How
do Congress make any rules or regula
tions ? By law ; and in no other way.
Then, how many regulations may they
make in regard to territory ? All. If
the prohibition of slavery is a regulation
coming within the comprehensive descrip
tion of " all regulations," it is what Con
gress has a right to make : but if it be a
regulation outside ot "all," and not in
cluded in the adjective " all," we must go
somewhere else to find it. What did the
men who made the Constitution think ?
What did they understand? What di.l
they suppose they had done ? Why, sir,
it appears, fortunately for the elucidation
of this history, that in the convention
whieh framed the Constitution there were
twenty men who were also members of
the first Congress under the Federal Con
stitution. There was John Lansrdon. of
New Hampshire, a man of some note in
his day a man enjoying the confidence
of the Democracy of this country, and
who was nominated for the office of Vice
President by that party when Jefferson
was President a nomination which he
declined on account of his age. He was
a member of both bodies. There were
also in the Federal Convention and in the
First Congress, Nicholas Gilman, of New
Hampshire; Elbridge Gerry, Rufus King,
and Caleb Strong, of Massachusetts;
William S.Johnson, Roger Sherman, and
Ellsworth, of Connecticut ; William Pat
terson, of New Jersey ; Robert Morris,
John Clymer, and Thomas Fitzsimmons,
of Pennsylvania; George Read and Rich
ard Basset, of Delaware; Daniel Carrol, of
Maryland ; James Madison, of Virginia ;
Hugh Williamson, of North Carolina;
Pierce Butler, of South Carolina ; and
William Few and Abraham Baldwin, of
Georgia. All these gentlemen whom I
have named were members of the con
vention which formed the Federal Con
stitution, and also members of the First
Congress under it. George Washington
was the presidingofficer of the convention,
and he was the first President of the
United States under the Constitution.
Several of the gentlemen whom I have
named were also members of the Con
gress which passed the ordinance of 1787,
besides being members of the convention
and of the First Congress under the Con
stitution. THE EARLY POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT
ANTI-SLAVERY.
The first Congress met shortly after
the formatioa of the Constitution. Prior
to the adoption of that Constitution, the
Congress of the old Confederation passed
an ordinance by which slavery was ex
cluded from every inch of territory then
subject to Federal jurisdiction. When
the First Congress met, what did they
think? What did those twenty men,
fresh from the formation of the Constitu
tion, think of its powers? What did
George Washington, the presidingofficer
of the convention, thmkr What aid
James Madison think ? Why, sir, yon
can find their opinions in an act of Con
gress passed without division and signed
by George Washington, and now in lull
force unless it has been repealed by being
found to be inconsistent with the com
promise of 1850. On the 7th of August,
1789, they passed an act in these words :
" WTiereas, In order that the ordinance of the
United States in Congress assembled, tor the gov
ernment of the territory northwest of the Ohio,
mny continue to have full effect, it is requisite
that certain provisions should be made,, so as to
adapt the same to the present Constitution of the
United States."
And then they went on in two sections
to make a few alterations which were ne
cessary merely by a change of the officers
provided for under the Confederation.
In the opinion of those men, when they
made those alterations, merely requiring
a change of officers, they thought- per
haps in their weakness, perhaps in their
folly that they had done all that was
necessary to adapt the ordinance of 1787
to the Constitution of the United States
George Washington affixed his signature
to that act, and it stands on the statute
book to-day; and no man can challenge
the assertion,, that is was the opinion of
George Washington, (so far as his official
acts are any indication of his opinion)
of James Madison, who did more to pro
duce the adoption and ratification of the
Federal Constitution, perhaps, than any
other man, with the exception of Alexan
der Hamilton ; the opinion of John Lang
don, of Rufus King, of Pierce Butler, of
South Carolina, of Mr. Few and Mr.
Baldwin of Georgia, and those other men
whom I have named that Congress had
power under the Constitution to prohibit
slavery in the Territories. They did it
and their act has remained, from that day
to the present, unchallenged and unre
pealed. Let me ask you, sir, if, in the
history of this Government, from the time
of the adoption of the Federal Constitu
tion down to the present day, any Presi
dent of the United States has suggested
to Congress that the existence of that
statute was not warranted by the Consti
tution, and ought therefore to be repealed
No sir. And I do not believe that there is
a man rash enough at the present day to
venture his reputation upon such an on
slaught as that would be on the judgment.
the intelligence, and the patriotism of the
Father of bis Country who helped to
form the Constitution,and who signed this
very aet
Then, sir, look at the acts organizin
territorial governments ever since i and
you will find without exception, that Con
gress have taken jurisdiction on this sub
ject, unchallenged prohibiting slavery
in some cases, regulating it in others.
You will find that in laws organizing ter
ritorial governments for even Southern
Territories of Louisiana and Mississippi,
Congress did take cognizance of the sub
ject of slavery, regulating and limiting
k in those cases and restricting it in
others. '
The country reposed in safely, peace,
security and harmony under this con
struction, until these latter days, when in
the new-light revelations of the present it
has been discovered that Washington,
Madison, Langdon, King, Ellsworth,
Gerry, and all their compatriots who were
engaged in making and administering the
Constitution-, died in happy ignorance of
what its essential provisions were. I con
fess that, for one, I am willing to take my
chance of being mistaken, with those dead
fathers of the past, rather than run the
doubtful chance of getting illumination
from the new lights of to-day.
WnAT ANTI-NEBRASKA MEN WANT.
Now, sir, what do we want ? What do
we ask ? We ask that the country shall
come back to the point from which it
started. We enter upon no crusade against
any Southern rights. We ask for no new
doctrine, no new experiments, no rash,
doubtful, or untried measures. We are
satisfied with the wisdom of the past. We
are satisfied with the inheritance and the
legacy which the patriots of the Revolu
tion have left us. We are willing to take
the Constitution as they understood it, and
the law as they framed and administered
it. Is it arrogance for us to ask that you
come with us there ? We ask you to go
no further : we merely ask you to come
with us and take counsel of the departed
patriotism of the fathers of the Revolu
tion. We ask you to listen to their doings
when the wounds of the revolution were
not yet healed over, when the blood and
dust of the battle were hardly wiped from
their brows, and when their locks were
hoary with the frosts which have fallen
upon them as they stood sentinels round
about the camps of liberty. That is what
we ask, and we are willing to abide by it ;
and when we ask that, and when we de
mand it, how are we met? We are told
that we are aggressive; and we are threat
ened that if our agressions do not cease,
it our tauntings do not come to an end.
and if the spirit of Northern fanaticism.
which is continually making aggressions,
does not cease, this Union cannot be main
tained. Sir, I feel obliged to believe the
sincerity of gentlemen when they get up
and talk about Northern aggressions, but
it is one of the hardest things I am bound
to believe. Bound as I am to believe it
on their word, I have never had the face
to go home and tell my constituents so ;
because they would tell me that, how
ever I might believe it, they know better.
Sir, they have made as much progress as
Mr. Everett had made on the Nebraska
bill; they not only know it themselves,
but they know that everybody else knows
it ; that there is not only no truth in it,
but that the exact reverse is the truth of
history, the truth of the past, the truth of
the present and may God grant that it
hall not be the truth of the future !
WHAT "WRONG HAS THE N OK 11 Bi"
GUILTY OF ?
I have now a word or two to say to the
honorable Senator from Tennessee, Mr.
Jones. and I shall speak to him more
kindly than be did to me, but perhaps
not so eloquently. The Senator from
Tennessee represents his State ably, bril
liantly I say it in no Pickwickian sense.
He came here with a very high reputa
tion. I am a much humbler man, of more
moderate powers, and vastly less preten
sions, representing the small State of New
Hampshire. Now, I will put it to the
honorable Senator from Tennessee, as
between our two States, what harm on
earth have we ever done him ? Have we
ever injured the hair of a man's head in
Tennessee 2 Have we of the State of
New Hampshire ever withholden our ap
preciation of a public man because he
lived in the State of Tennessee ? No,
sir; twice in solid column have the unal
terable Democracy, of whom I spoke to
you, gone up in unbroken phalanx to the
polls and recorded their votes for two
citizens of Tennessee for the highest of
fice in the gift of the Republic I con
fess, that with my reading of history, I
am at a loss to discover in the history of
either or both States a single iota of
evidence that could convict New Hamp
shire, or one man in it, of injuring, by
word or deed, or even thought, the State
of Tennessee, or a single citizen of that
State.
The best way to examine all questions
is to take them in detail one from the
mass, and examine it. So far as my
humble State is concerned, might I not
go through with every State of the Union
and put the same question, and would not
every man be at -a loss to gainsay it ?
Certainly he would. Then, I would say,
in the language of Brutus though I am
not going into the Roman oratory " If
we have offended any man let him speak
If there is any man who has suffered
wrong or injustice at oar hands, where is
he ? I do not know it. . Why not look
at this matter in the light of the truth of
history ? Why not lay aside these angry
appeals, why not lay aside everything
except the solid, substantial truth of his
tory, and look it right in the face? When
we do that, I am not at all afraid when we
are tried before any tribunal in earth or
heaven, but that the skirt3 of our gar
ments will be found clean of any offence
against any of our sister States.
Mr. President, I read some remarks
which were made by the honorable Sena
tor from South Carolina, Mr. Butler,
when the Kansas bill was under consid
eration in the Senate two years ago. I
am not able to give his exact words, be
cause I cannot 6peak so eloquently as
that Senator ; but I remember that he
said, speaking in regard to the South,
that the South wanted her heart relieved
more than any practical burden taken off.
I may not have given his very language,
but that, I think ; is the idea; I remem
ber it, for I read it last night iathe Globe
Sir, I confess that when I read that re
mark, it thrilled my very heart. An ap
peal of that sort made to the North will
never be made in vain ; but such has not
been the spirit in which gentlemen en-
taining the opinions thut I do have been
accustomed to be addressed by gentlemen
from the South. Let me tell you, sir,
and I think I can speak in behalf of my
own state, that when an appeal is made
to them from the Southrorthe West, or
anywhere else in that spirit, they would
com their very hearts to buy peace,
they would pour out their very heart's
blood like water to wash out the least
and the last offence.
WHAT THE KORTH CANNOT YIELD.
But, sir, I appeal to the truth of histo
ry I appeal to the convictions of every
man who hears me, if we have ever been
addressed in any spirit like that? No,
sir, far, very far indeed from it. I shall
not endeavor, however, to awake those
angry passions which I am deprecating
by a repetition of the course which had
been heretofore pursued towards us.
am willing and desire that so far as
past occasions of offence are concerned,
they should be past lam willing that
that the dead past should bury its dead
I desire to live in the present, in the lan
guage of the poet
"-Heart within, and God't o'er head."
mindful of all the obligations which the
.Constitution, or which our duty, or de-
j mands of justice make upon n. Thus
iuuvu T.v ........ & tv gle. new;-
go far, very far, .for peace ; but let tt.
say, I am not used to the lam
:uage of
menace ; I am not used to the utterance
of threats; but I tell you that on tht
subject of human slavery, we have eo6
victions which we cannot sacrifice
have opinions which it were treason to
our moral nature to retrain from expre;.
sins on all suitable occasions. Ud tmi,..
mark we must stand. We must say,
those of old have said, when we reach a
point where duty, conscience, conviction
must be surrendered, we cannot go.
We cannot consent to surrender ny
opinions, convictions, or sentiments.
What then ? Must this Union be lk
solved? Sir, I do not believe it. I
not believe gentlemen will pardon me if
I say it, for it is an opinion 1 ao tw
believe that the popular opinion of ifo
great masses of the people of this counts
is represented, when gentlemen talkqu
so flippantly as I have heard some tali
about a dissolution of this Union. I j.
lieve to-day that ours is the strongest
Government on the face of the earth.
believe that its foundations are the firm,
est, the most enduring. What are they?
The popular j udgment the popular hem.
There it is, sir; there is the solemn, ft,e
broad, and the everlasting basis upon
which the institutions of this country res.
My own opinion is, that such never will
be found to be the case whenever and
wherever infatuation shall be led to tn
the experiment. I believe that if, listen-
ing to evil counsels, pushed on by the
purposes of ambition or any other, a par
ty, large or small, shall be so far forsakes
of God and of good counsels as to ven
ture on that rash experiment, the con
servatism, the patriotism, the intelligence,
and the humanity of this great people
will teach such men a lesson which thev
nor their children, nor their children
children to the latest postery will forge;.
The New Hampshire Election,
The defeat of the adminstration in "ctr
Hampshire was far more signal than w
had at first reason to suppose. A larg;
opposition loss was anticipated, and fears
were entertained that wins; to local issues
the administration party might carry the
State. They had the liquor law, the re
organization of the judiciary, and other
prominent measures of the last Legisla
ture of which to make party capital, asi
industriously did they use them. Cfc
the other hand the mnjority of the oppo
sition last year was so large, and its de
ments were so incongruous, that a reac
tion might have been- reasonably expect
ed in the natural course of events. Tit
friends of the administration had good
reason for entertaining confident hopes a
carrying the State, and their disajuivtA
ment at the result is proportionably greal.
Although the opposition has met with
considerable losses, their majority is si
ficiently decied for all practical purpose!
They have really swept the State, and
Democracy is as effectually prostrated i
it was last year. The Concord Statesmn
has returns of the votes for Governs'
from all but nineteen small towns, whid
foot up as follows : Metcalf ( Americar
31, 357; Wells (Dem.) 30,472; Got
win (Whig) 2441. The same tows
gave, last year, Metcalf 31,041 ; Bake:
(Dem.) 25,313 ; Bell (Whig) 4552. I:
will be seen that the American vote hs
actually increased this year over las
though not in proportion to the Demr
cratic. Taking the aggregate opposite
vote, there has been a loss of only 1"?
votes, which, considering the distractii:
issues introduced into the campaign s
really remarkable.
According to the returns of the &ato
man the opposition have elected 165 E
resentatives against 130 Democrats, li-
American candidates for Senator ha
been elected in districts two, three, fc"-'
five, seven, nine, ten,- and eleven ia i
eight Senators. The Democrats ha"
elected in the remaining districts in
four Senators. There being no cho
for Governor by the people, the elect
will be made by the Legislature on 'f-
ballots, and Metcalf will be chosen bj
very decided majority.
The American candidates for the Com
cil are probably chosen, taking the Go
ernor vote for the basis of calculation, J
the 1st, 3d. and 4th Districts. The I
seems in great doubt, and the Democr
succeed in the 5fh.
The Statesman intimates that false
ports of the election were industriofcf
circulated from Concord for political i
feet in towns where the elections
not completed on Tuesday, and le
that at Exeter the gun and cartrUf
were kept in readiness for a salute in h
or of the election of Mr. Wells br tj
people. At Nashua, the friends of '
Wells had a boisterous jubilation, B
belief that they had carried the State-'
Boston JowrnaL
53 A rich old spinster died at '
New Hampshire, lately, leaving $38--
She was all her life getting ready '
married, and had stored up 182
63 coverlids, 50 blankets, 27 beds;
U20 pounds of feathers, 54 towe-';'
table covers and 45 handkerchief "
the whole amount of her wearing
rel did not exceed ten dollars