Belmont chronicle. [volume], July 30, 1857, Image 1

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SPEECH
SPEECH OF
SENATOR TRUMBULL,
OF ILLINOIS.
ON THE POLITICS OF THE DAY:
In Reply to that of Senator Douglas.
Delivered at the of Illinois.
JUNE 29, 1857.
, Fellow-Citizebs: In responding to the
call of come of the citizen of Springfield,
to address yon upon the political questions
of the day, it will bs my object to place be
fore you, aa clearly aa I can, the points at
issue between parties, an! toe views enter
tained by each, so far aa tbey can be gath
ered from their acts and avowals. Both the
great political parties of the day, the Re
publican and the self-s'yled Democratic,
contain within their ranks some persons
from all the political parties which have
heretofore existed in the conntry. Tbia is
consequence resulting from the disruption
of parties in. 1854, occasioned by the change
of policy which wsa then inaugurated in re
gard to the power of Congress over the Ter
ritories, and particularly in relation to Sla
very therein.
Prior to that time, the power of Congress
to govern the Territories was unquestioned
All the departments of the Government
legislative, executive and judicial bad ac
knowledged and acted upon it from the
foundation of the Government, period of
bore than sixty years. Every President,
from and including Washington, had in
tome form recognized the power af Con
gress to establish Territorial governments,
and acted upon the subject of Slavery Con
gress, In all instances where the Territory
was free when acquired, continuing it so;
In some instances, providing for making
free, territory which when acquired was
witiin a slareholding jurisdiction; and in
other instances Slavery was permitted to
continue in Territories where it existed at
the time of their acquisition. It ia not
strange, therefore, that so important a de
parture from the uniform aad well-settled
practice under the Constitution, as a denial
of the power of the Federal Government
over Territories, and particularly in regard
to Slavery, should have given rise to new
parties. As the Democratic party was in
power when this innovation was made, the
party opposed to the change in construing
the Constitution, ana in favor ol maintain
ing it as it had always before been inter
preted, took the name Republican, while
the advocates of the new version adhered to
the name Democrat, thinking, no doubt, that
because the name once embraced a party
distinguished for its devotion to equal rights
and the Constitution, it c'ould be used toad
vantage by those who were now about to
decry the one and undermine and subvert
the other.
Prior to the last Presidential election, the
Republican party had a convention which
proclaimed its creed. It avowed itself in
t avor of restoring the action of the Federal
Government to the principles of Washing
ton and Jefferson, from which the self-sly led
Democracy had departed; declared that the
maintenance of the principles promulgated
in the Declaration of Independence and
embodied in the Federal Constitution, were
essential to the preservation of our Repub
lican institutions; that the Federal Consti
tution, the rights of the States and the
Union of the Stales should be preserved;
that the Constitution conferred upon Con
gress sovereign power over the Territories
fr their government, and that, in the exer
cise of that power, it n as both the right and
the imperative duty of Congress to prohibit
in the Territories those twin relics of bar
barism Polygamy and Slavery; and that
they were opposed to ail legislation impair
ing liberty ot conscience or equality ol
rghts among citizens. These, in brief, are
the principles avowed by the Republican
party.
Tbe principles of Jefferson, e ndorsed by
them and li which they would bring back
the Federal Government, as announced by
himself, are:
"Equal and exact ju6ticeNto all men, of
whatever State or persuasion, religious or
political; peace, commerce, and honest
friendship with ail nations, entangling alli
ances with none; the support of the State
Governments in a'.l their rights, as the most
competent administrators for our domestic
concerns, and the surest bulwarks against
anti-republican tendencies; the preservation
of the General Government in its whole
constitutional vigor aa the sheet-anchor of
our peace at home and safety abroad; a
jealous care of tbe right of election by the
people, a mild and safe correction of abuses
which are lopped by the sword of revolution
where peaceable remedies are unprovided;
absolute acquiescence in the decisions of
the majority, the vital principle of republics,
from which is no appeal but force the vital
principle and immediate parent of despo
tism; a well-disciplined militia our best re
liance in peace, and for the first movements
in war till regulars may relieve them; the
supremacy of the civil over the military au
thority; economy in the public expense, that
labor may be lightly burdened; the honest
pavmeut of our debts, acd sound preserva
tion of tbe public laitb; encouragement of
agriculture, and of commerce as its -handmaid;
the diffusion of information, and an
arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the
public reason; freedom of religion, freedom
of the press, and freedom of the person un
der tbe protection of the habeas corpus, and
and trial by juries impartially selected."
Those were tbe principles forming the
bright constellation which went before our
Revolutionary ancestors, and guided their
steps through an age of revolution and re
formation, and to the attainment of which
the wisdom of our sages and the blood of
our heroes were devoted. They were" the
creed of the Republican party in the days
of Jefferson, they are the creed of the Re,
publican party of to-day, and what friend
ol Humanity, of Freedom, and of Constitu
tional Liberty can or will gainsay or assail
them! The enemies of republicanism, it
la true, assail that portion of our creed which
asserts the power of Congress to govern the
"Territories and prohibit Slavery therein;
but Jefferson, it will be remembered, was
the author of this prohibition. lie it was
Erst proposed excluding Slaveiy' from the
North-Western Territory, and afterward, as
President, approved tbe bill establishing
the Teiritory of Illinois, which adopted tbe
provision of the Ordinance of 1787, exclu
ding Slavery.
I have already staled that Congress, un
der all administrations and with the con
sent of all parties from the foundation of
tbe Government down to Pierce, exercised
the power of governing the Territories, and
excluding Slavery Irom then. Acts of Con,
gross new exist excluding Slavery from
Minnesota and Oregon. Tbe Constitution
teelares that "Congress shall have power
to dispose of and make all needful rules end
regulations respecting the Terrritory or
other property belonging to the United
States." This clause presupposes that there
was or might be territory belonging to the
United States and expressly confers upon
Congress the right to make all needful rules
and regulations respecting it. Congress,
': acting under the Csnstitution, must deter-
mine what rules and regulations are needful
, and best adapted far the government of a
Territory so long as the Territorial condi
lion continues. If Slavery is an evil, and
" believed by Congress to be prejudicial to
the beat interests of a Territory, it is its
. - r i i n rv n vrx r n i i Ov n n rr pv n n r n rm
I I I V I I II I a f J I I 1 1 I f X I II I I I 111 I I I I B m I I I I II I
D THOBURN EDITOR & PROPRIETOR. 'HE E0 LOVES HOT HIS COUNTRY CAN LOVE NOTHING.' LTEBJIS $1,50 A YEAR IN ADVANCE
NEW SERIES, .VOL. I, NO 31. ST. CLAIRSVILLE, OHIO, THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1857 L WHOLE NO 9SS.
duty to exclude it. Republicans believe.
and many Democrats, so callea. proiess 10
believe Slavery wrong, aud are prompt to
declare that if in a Territory they weuw
oppose its introduction. Tube corsistent
they should be as ready when performing
their constitutional duty ot presenting a
form of government Tor a territory to pro
vide against the introduction of an admitted
evil anions those ho are to go there, as
they would against its admission into their!
own local community. A man who would
euard his own locality against Slavery as a
6 t- :
nPBt m snr.ietv. and who refuses when in
r .
his power to gura an imam cuuiiuuuuy
committed temporarly :o his charge against
the same pest, shows that he is governed
wholly by selfish motives. This is prerise-
ly the condition of all these sen-sty lea dem
ocrats who, while advocating -the powers of
Congress over the Territories and profess
ing to abhor Slavery, will do nothing to
prevent its expansion. The denial of the
oower is of a very recent origin. It is not
only expressly given, as has been shown,
by the Constitution, but it has seen always
acted upon and is sanctioned to the fullest
extent by the former decisions of the fcu-j
preme Court of the United States.
In the case of the American insurance:
Company against Carter (1 Pet. 542). that
Court in discussing the power ot congress
over the Territory of Florida, before it be
came a State, said:
"In the mean time Fiorina continues to
be a Territory of the .United States, gov
erned by that clause of the Constitution
which empowers Congi ess to make all need
ful rules and regulations respecting theter-
itory or other property of tbe Lnited states.
Perhaps the power of governing a Territory
belonging to the United btates, which bas
not by becoming a State acquired the means
cf self-government, may result necessarily
from the fact that it is not within the juris
diction of any par'icular State, and is within
the power and jurisdiction ol tbe United
Slates. The right to govern may be tbe
neviuble consequence of the right to ac
quire territory, wnicnever may ue me
source from which the power is derived the
possession of it is unquestionable." '
In another part of their opinion in tbe
same case, the Court say, "In legislating
for them (the Territories) Cingress exer
cises the combined powers of the -General
nd State Governments." Ibis was the
lam'uane of the Supreme Court of the Uni
ted States when it was presided over by j
Marshall, who wrote the opinion. It is full j
nd conclusive as to the power of Congress
over the Territories. That was the ques-
on before the Court. They invest'gated
t fully, laid down the general ru'e that
Congress possesses the combined powers of
tbe General and State Governments in leg
islating tor Territories, and decided that in
exercising that power Congress had author
ity to establish Territorial Courts in Florida
f a different character from those required
y the Constitution to be established in the
States Many other decisions of the Su
preme Court, aud of different State Courts
might be cited to the same effect, and if
ny question under the Constitution couid
be regarded as settled bcyoqd dispute in
1854, it was that ot the powei of Congress
to legislate for and govern the Territories.
It possessed this power to the same extent
as a State in the establishment of courts;
it must possess it also to the same extent
in the exclusion of Slavery, unless there is
something in the Constitution of the United
States allowing its exercise in the one case
nd denying it in the other; but no such
clau.-e can be found. That instrument con-
ains no provision establishing Slavery; if
it did, Slavery would be universal through
out the Republic, and there would be equally
lack of power to prohibit it in a State as
i a Territory. With a plain provision of
the Constitution, the practice of the Gov
ernment under it for more than 6;xty years,
and the decisions of the judicial tribunals
of the countrv all in its favor, It would seem
hat the Republican creed asserting the
power o uongress over me .territories,
and to exclude Slavery therefrom, rested
pon a foundation which could never be
shaken, more especially as under this inter
pretation of the Constitution, the United
States had gone on peacefully settling Ter
ritory after Territory, and adding State after
State to the Republic, till tbe number had
more than doubled; the population, wealth
nd resources of the country increased many
fold, and when it was in the full tide of
prosperity, advancing with rapid strides in
all the elements which contribute to the
reatness ol a nation and add to the happi
ness and renown of its people. But in 1854
a new policy was inaugurated, and since
then a new interpretation bas been given
to the Constitution, and these are the cause
of all the woe which has since befallen the
country, and now threatens with destruction
the best and fairest system of government
constructed by human hands. Tbe depart
ure from the former policy of tbe Govern
ment in 1854, consisted in tbe repeal of the
Missouri Compromise, wheicby the Terri
tories of Kansas and Nebraska were opened
to Slavery, although in consideration of the
admission of Missouri into the Union as a
slave State, they bad, in 1820, been set
apart for Freedom. The Northern pretense
under which the Missouri Compromise was
repealed is now abandoned. We no longer
hear its repeal justified on tbe ground that
it was necessary in order to establish the
principle of Territorial self-government, or
to enable the people of a Territory t regu
late tbe subject of Slavery for themselves,
through their Territorial Legislature.
The advocates of the repeal now insist
that the people while in a Territorial con
dition, have no right to exclude Slavery,
but that, in the formation of a State Con
stitution, they will possess that right. The
repeal, therefore, conferred no additional
right upon the people of the Territory, for
it it clear that the Missouri Compromise
would not have prevented an exclusion of
Slavery by the people in the formation of
tbeir State Government. Hie only effect,
therefore, of its repeal was to open Kansas
and Nebraska while Territories to Slavery,
and not to confer upon tbe people of those
Territories any great principle of self-government
or anything else except Slavery.
Mr. iSuchanan telia us in his inaugral
message that it U of but little practical im
portance at what time the people of a Ter
ritory are permitted to decide the question
of Slavery for themselves whether wnile
the territorial condition continues or not.
And he aad tbe lesser lights of the self-
styled Democracy, including Gov. Walker,
of Kansas, still talk about the great princi
ple of sell-government and popular sover
eignty which allows a people when they
come to form a State to regulate the sub
ject of Slavery for themselves, as if that
were a question between parties. No man
:
j
of either party denies this right, certainly
no one of the Republican party, though it
may be a necessary consequence of a recent
decision that the people of a State cannot
exclude Slavery.- The whole controversy
is about Slavery in "the Territories of the
United States, and not in the Slates of the
Union, and what mockery it is for men to
harp about the great principle of popular
sovereignty being guaranteed to the people
of a Territory, when they deny them the
the rieht to act for themselves so long as
the Territory lasts, even if it be thirty year3,
.t :.t. i:i.: Ti. D.
as was the case with Michigan. Tbe Re
publican party differ with Mr. Buchanan ss
to the importance of keeping S'avery out of
the Territories. The poet tells us that, "as
the twig is bent the tree is inclined" a
wiser than he has 3aTj, "train up a child in
the way he should go, and when he is old he
will not depart from it." We believe if
Slavery is tolerated in a Territory it will
most likely be continued into the State.
When the -people of a slaveholding Terri
tory form a State Government, what is to
be done with the slaves among them? It
would be unjust to deprive their owners of
them without compensation, which it may
be inconvenient tor the people to provide;
free negroes are objectionable; it is always
difficult to change existing institutions.
All these considerations combined will be
very apt to make Slave States out of Slave
Territories. .
How many of the self-styled Democratic
party in the North would have sanctioned
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, had
it been candidly avowed at the time that
the consequence would be what we now
see! Many good men deolored the repeal,
who subsequently acquiesced in the meas
ure, under the belief that the people of the
Territory had the power, and would exercise
it, tc keep Slarery out; and had they then
been told that the author!! of tha, repeal
would eventually deny them that right, and
insist upon tbe doctrine that Slavery could
be taken into a Territory in spite of tbe
wishes of its inhabitants to the contrary,
they would never have sanctioned the deed.
I call upon all such to come out from this
Pro-Slavery party now they see whither it
is leading them..
But the extension of Slavery into Kansas,
bad as it is, is not the worst of the conse
quences which have followed the repeal of
the Missouri Compromise. That measure
has led to others which are subversive of
the Constitution, of the principle of self-
government and the rights of the people,
and which must speedily lead to the cies
traction of the Government, uuless the peo
ple, seeing the darger, shall rouse in their
strength before it is too late and rescue the
Government from the hands of those who
are now using it, not merely to spread Ne
gro Slavery, but to trample under foot the
dearest rights of Free White Men.
With many of the professed principles of
the self-styled Democracy, as enunciated in
their platform, I concur. They consist
cniefly of a declaration of those g?neral
principles which distinguish the Domocrcy
in the days when the name Democrat meant
something different from an advocate of the
expansion of Slavery. But their professions
and their acts are quite different things.
They professed in repealing thej Missouri
Compromise, to confer upon the people ot
Kansas, while in a Territorial condition.the
right to regulate thrir own domestic affairs
through a Territorial Legislature to be cho
sen by themselves; practically they havejde
nid them the right to electa legislature at
all, and now orenly repudiate the idea that
a Territorial Legislature has any right to
regulate the domestic affairs of the Territo
ry by excluding Slavery. Professing to
love and revere the Constitution, they Ihave
trampled under fott it most sacred previs
ions; professing to be observers of law and
the order party, they have repeatedly viola
ted all law, and inagurated a reign of anar
chy and tyranny in one portion of the coun
try; professing devotion to the Union, by
their, acts they have put to hazard its exist
ence, and many of their most distinguished
leaders have threatened dissolution, if a ma
joritj of the people, in the constitutional
mode, should elect the President of their
choice; professing to place their trust in the
intelligence.patriotism and discrimminating
justice of the American people, they have
not only hung out false colors by which to
conceal their own actions and deceive the
people, but they malign and misrepresent
tbeir political opponents, and appeal to the
bad passions and p-ejudices of tne ignorant,
ihat they may enlist tbem in their service;
professing not to cherish the interests of
one portion of the country above another,
they have built rrp a sectional interest which
now controls all the patronage and power
of this great Government; professing to af
ford an equality of rights to every citizen of
every section ofthe Union, and to protect
his person and property from domestic vio
lence, they have refused, when in power, to
afford that protection, and have actually
aided and abetted, through their officers, in
assaults upon both; professing to practice
economy in our public affairs, the Adminis
tration of Franklin Pierce expended more
money than was ever before expended dur
ing the same period by any Administration,
even in lime ot war; prolrssing to regard
as cardinal principles of their faith the lib
eral principles embodied by Jefferson in the
Declaration of Independence, they assail
that instrument, attempt to explain away
its plain words, and hoot at those who quote
them, falsely attributing to them a detire
for the amalgamation of the white and black
races, and to place them upon terms of so
cial and political equnlity.
This, my friends, is no fancy sketch. Jt
is all a sad reality. Every one of the charges
upon which 1 have arraigned the self-styled
Democracy here to-night, is susceptable of
demonstration Do you ask when it violat
ed the Constitution! I point you to Kansas
ruled over by the self-styled Democracy,
through a Legislature forced upon its in.
habitants in violation ofthe professed prin
ciple of self-government and of law, pass.
ing and enforcing laws abridging the free.
dom of speech and of the press, Jby making
it a Penitentiary oliense to speak or publish
anything denying the right to hold slaves in
that Territory. Witness the disarming of
the peopU of Kansas, when assembled in
sell-defense against invaders, and their dis
persion by Federal troops when peaceably
assembled for a redress of grievances, iu
direct violation of those clauses of the Con
stitution which declare that the right of the
people to keep and beir arms shall not be
infringed, nor their right peaceably o as
semble for a redress of grievances be
abridged.
teed I remind jou how many persons in
that illlated Territory have bren deprived
of lite, liberty and pruperty, within the last
two years, ic direct violation of the Con
stitution and of law, by the assent and con
'I
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nivance of the late Administration! How
long is jt since the Missouri River was closed
against travelers from one-half of the States
of this Union! The act admitting Mis-onri
ii, to the Union, as eil as numerous other
acts of Congress, declared that the Missouri
River should remain a public highway, for
ever free to all the citizens of the United
States; yet this self-styled Democracy, be
ing in power, professing to be the peculiar
friends of law and order, aRd declaring in
their political platform that every cif'zen of
every section f the country has a right to
demand anJ insist upon an equality of rights
and privileges, and to be afforded by the
Federal Government complete and ample
protection in his person and property, suf-
fered Jha.t great, national ijghwy to
closed to the immigration to Kansas from
tbe Free States nearly tbe whole of last
season. Numbers of persons from our own
Slate were last year deprived of tbeir liber
ty and property upon that river, in direct
violation of uumerous acts of Congress, nnd
yet the Administration raised not a finger
lor their protection, or to prevent the out
rage. What an example is this of an
equality of rights to citizers from sections
ol the country, protection to person and
property and of the administration of law
by the self-styled Democracy! Had a negro
slave escaped a id been found in Bos!on,the
whole power of the Government, though
the army and navy, would have been brought
to bear, if necessary, to execute the law of
Congress for his recapture; but hundreds of
free while men could be imprisoned and
ro bbed, in violation of law, on a public
highway of the United States, and the Gov
ernment refused to interfere. In the esti
mation of the self-styled Democracy, the
recapture of a siugle negro slave escaping
from bondage is of more consequence than
the protection of hundreds of white men.
Shame on an Administration aud a party
which can enforce laws to protect Slavery,
but refuses to enforce those which protect
freemen.
The struggle now going on in Kansas is
not whether it shall be a Free or a Slave
State, though it is doubtless involved in the
issue; but the great and nil important ques- I
tiou is, whether the white -people of that !
T. . .lilt .
eruiury snau nave an opportunity to as
sert their rights an J be free, or whether
they shah longer be forced to submit to the
usurpation which has been established over
them by aid of the Federal Government.
Shall the people of Kansns be permitted to
form their own Stale Constitution, or shall
mey oe lorcea to submit to a Construiiou
having its origin in fraud and violence and
imposed upon them against their conset!
this issue the great principle of self-gov-erumeut
and tree iustiiutions is indeed in
volved, and is vastly more important than
whether negro slavery shall or Ehall not
hereu'.ter exist in Kansas.
The true question is, shall the white po
pulation be permitted to asserc tlieir rights,
shall they be enslaved by a- cunningly
deiised system of fraud and violence, which.
sought to be carried out under the forms
law. It is known to you all that the Ter
ritorial Legislature which first assembled in
Kansas was elected by Missourians, and not
the people of that Territory This
Legislature, as w as r.utural, took steps to
perpeludte its power, imposed test oaths as
qualification for voting at future elections,
and undertook to pass divers other unconsti
tutional acts. The people nf the Territory
have stoutly refused to recognize the validity
its proceedings, and by a voluntary move
ment of their own, got up an organ izatior ,
formed a State Constitution and asked for
admission into the Union. This lias hither
to been refused by Congress, though a bill
that effect passed the House of Repre
sentatives. In the mean time a second
bogus Legislature assembled under the au
thority of the first, and passed an act calling
Convention to form a State Constitution,'
prescribing a registry of voters, their quali
fication, &.C., and retaining in their own
hands the exclusive control of the election.
Having originally usurped authority, nnd all
them as well as all the Territorial officials
throughout the Territory, holding their
places against the wUhcs of a large majori
ty of the people, it was hardly to be expect
ed that men who had attained power bj such
means, would provide a peaceable way for
their own overthrow. They knew that
through the registry of voters to be made
their instruments, they held in their own
bauds perfect control of the election. In
perfect accordance with the fraud perpetrat-
when Kansas was first invaded, to Com
missioners to register . voters made just
such lists as would insure a triumph to the
Pro-Siavery or self-styled Democratic party;
person whose name was not on the list
being allowed under the law to vote. The
lisis returned embrace only about half the
coubties in the Territory, and upon those
returned the names of Pro-Slavery men
alone as a general . thing appear at all
events (hey constitute a majority of the
listed voters; The free men, constituting a
large majority, and some sny fuur-fi ths of
population, refused under such circum
stances to have anything to do with the
election. Indeed but few of them could
have voted, had they desired to, as they
were not generally registered.
Wi;h a full knowledge that an election
was to be held under the proclamation of
acting Gov. Stanton in only about one-half
the counties in the Territory, and that in
those the Free-Slate men had not been gen
erally registered, Gov. Walker had tho ag
surar.ee on arriving in the Territory to is?ue
address to the people, telling them (hat
they were imited to participate freely and
fairly in the election of Delegates to frame
(Jouslilu:ion and State Government.'
What effrontery to tell the people of Kan
sas that an election to be held under such
circumstances was free and fair, and that it
would be their own lault if they did not
vote. Tantalus, afflicted with a raging
thirst, and invited to drink ofthe water in
which he stood, which was made to recede
often as he made the attempt, was not
more completely deluded cr grievously for
uiented than would have been the Free
State men of Kansas, had they attempted to
participate in the election to which Gov
ernor Walker they were invited.
Many persons wishing well to Kansas
have thought the free Slate men ought to
have participated in the recent election of
delegates, but il the fuels be as reported, it
would have been utterly for them to have
attempted it, and they were wise in leaving
the matter wholly in the hands of the self
styled Democracy. If as is s inn-times, con
tended.tliat party is as much opposed to the
spread of Slavery as the Republicans, they
will now have a lair opportunity of showing
The Republicans having failed to par
ticipate in'the lection.the self-styled Demo
crats have had it all their own way. They
have the entire Convention and can show
tSrjViUilBwlll be'eonducted than was that
by prohibiting Slavery that they are oppo
sed to its introduction; on the other hand,
should they fail to insert such a provision.or
insert one allowing SNvery. the evidence
will be conclusive that their pretensions in
this respect, as in many others, da not tally
with their acts, and that as a party they are
for Slaevry. It will then be apparent that
if.Freedom is to be maintained anywhere,
the country must rely upon Republicans to
do it.
Some suppose that if a Slavery Constitu
tion is framed. in Kansas, it will hare to be
submitted to the people for adoption, and
that it will then be in their power to vote it
down. Such people seem to suppose that
the election upon the adoption of the Con
for1 the election of delegates: but what
reason have we for believing that such
will be the case! The same party will have
the fixing of tbe qualification of voters and
the control ofthe wbolo working of the elec
tion, and if tbey submit the Constitution
when framed to a vote.it will most probably
be uuder such circumstances as will be sure
to keep the control in their own hands. So
difficult is it to get rid o! a usurpation when
once established, and w!in the usurpers
have under their control the forms of law,
that I can see no way of escape while the
people submit to give expression to their
sentiments only in the way which their usur
pers point out.
1 hope the people in Kansas lies ir. them
selves, and though I will not undertake to
point out the mode by which they are to find
relief from the despotism which has been
established over them, but to which they
have never, further than compelled by Fed
eral power, submitted, I trust they will find
some way of escape. Had the numbers and
strength of their invaders not been so great
as to render the strange utterly hopeless,
they wou.'d have been justified in resisting
at the outset by all the powers which God
had given them the invasion by which the
first election was carried. Then the forms
of law, us well as justice and right were all
on their side, and President Pierce would
not nave hai' eve" ,be semblance of usurped
legislation behind which to shelter himself
ln St'nJin Uuked States troops to tramph
upon their rights. Now, Mr. Buchanan
makes use of the same bogus Legislature
by which to tvrinnize over the majority of
the people. Following in the footsteps of
Pierce, he bas appointed to the most impor
tant offices in the Territory many of the per
sons who were instrumental in driving the
settlers frooi the polls and foremost in the
outrages which have desolated Kansas for
the last three years, and now'he has the ef-
r- J .
Iroutery, through his recently appointed
Uovenior, while confirming this usurped
legi.ilaiion, known and pioven to be such.to
invite the people under it as free and fair,
to talk to them of the suund principle of
sflf government, and of the importance of
spcurjnnto every people a full and free ex-Pr-iio4
of their 'opinions at the ballot-box.
What is this but adding insult to injury! To
hat evils has the repeal of tbe Missouri
Compromise not led!
It opened Kansas to Slavery, under the
plea that it was an infringement upon the
ri"ht of self-gwrernment not to allow the
people of the Territory to net upon the sub
ject of Slavery , and introduce or exclude it,
as they should thick proper. Next, fearing
that the Free-Stale men, in the exercise of
this right, might exclude the institution, it
led to the tr tripling under foot ofthe prin
ciple of self-government, and a complete
subjugationvof the people of Kansas to a
foreign despotism. Not satisfied even then,
but fearing that the people might at somo
time throw off this despotism, and, acting
for themselves, expel Slavery, it has at last
led to the total abandonment and repudia
tion of the doctrine of popular sovereignty
and self-sovernment. and to the establish
ment of Slavery in all the Territories, with-
out the ability on the part of either Cou-
gress or the people of the Territories, or
both combined, to exclude it. Beginning
in the assertion of the greit principles of
self-government and popular sovereignty, in
allowing the people to settle the question
of negro Slavery for themselves, it, has, in
less than three years, ended in not on'y
denying them this right, but in subjuga'ing
the whites themselves to a foreign usurpa
tion ;a,id we now hear those who were ever
loudest in proclamation the sivereignt right
of the people of a Territory to regulate their
own domestic affairs, advocating the total
repeal of the act organizirg onejof our Ter
ritories, placing its inhabitants under the
sole and exclusive jurisdiction ofthe United
States, and subjecting them to trial for of
fenses, not to a jnrJ..nf the vicinags, but to
be transported to a foreign jurisdiction for
trial as England once did the inhabitants of i
her colonies in North America, and what is
stranger than all, the advocate of this mea-
sure still prates of his devotion to the great
principle of popular sovereignty and self
government! In the face of a plain consti
tutional provision that every person acensud
of a criminal offense 'shall enjoy tho right
to a speedy and public trial by "an impartial
jury "of the State and district wherein the
crime shall have been committed, which
districts shall have been previously ascer
tained by law, the advocate of this measure
in regard to one ofthe Territories h is tbe
effrontery, while professing peculiar regard
for the Constitution to recommend that the
people of Utah be placed under the sole and
exclusive ju isdiction of the United Slates,
and its inhabitants taken hundreds of miles
to Iowa for trial. For more than sixty years
the country had gone on prosperously, and
its Territories been peaceably settled. Con
gress retaining its authority over them; but
the principle of Territo-ial self-government
and popular sovereignty inaugurated in 1354
could not stand the test of three years before
its authors practically aband.in the sub
stance, though still professing to hug the
phantom.
To show the working of this great princi
ple of popular sovereignty, I beg leave to
read an extract from a proclamation of the
President and rulers of the Mormon Church
which, after finding fault with the Re
publican party for including their 6acrcd in
stitution in the phrase of 'the twin relics of
baibar'sm,' they declare that:
'The Democratic Convention inJCincin
nati, which nominated James Buchanan for
President, passed the following resolution:
'Resolved, That Congress has no power
under the Constitution to interfere with or
control the domestic institutions of the sev
eral stales, and that all Kuril States are the
sule and p'oper judges of everything apper
taining to their own uffuirs and prohibit")!
by the Constitution.'
'This is the principle ofthe Democratic
party, which tiey have extended to Terri
tories as well as States, nnd the doctrines of
sovereignty apply to us in the desert as well
to the settlers in Kansas or Nebraska.
I
i 1
of
by
no
in
'
in
it.
a
the
it
a
be
-I
on
not
as
The Democratic party is the instrument,
in God's hand,by which is to be effected our
recognition as a sovereign State with the
domestic institutions of Slavery and Polyp
amy, as established by the patriarchs and
renewed to the Saiir.s of latter days,througa
God's chosen rulers and prophets.'
How unkind, after the Mormons have
taken shelter in the bosom of the self-styled
Democracy, and embraced its 'great princi-
pie of popular sovereignty and self-govern-
tuent,- ana tins sen same democracy, in
speaking of .hem. should declare itself not
satisfied with any half-way measures, and
say .t is 'the duty of Congress to apply the
knife, and cut out this loathsome, disgusting
ulcer. Hut u the self-stvled Democracv.br
their false professions, Dave misled the Mor
mons, it is same satisfaction to know that
they are now subscribing to the Republican
creed, by rei-ognizing the power of Congress
over the Territories. According to that
creed.there was never any difficulty in deal
ing with tbe Mormons. Republicans have
believed the authority of Congress over the
Mormons in Utah for the purpose of repres
sing crime and licentiousness as complete
as is that of the State of Illinois over its in
habitaiits,and think Congress just as culpa
ble in tolerating poligamy in Utah a3 the
Legislature of Illinois Would be in tolera
ting it in this State. Mr. Morrill of Ver
mont, at the last session of -Congress, sug
gested several modes of dealing with the
Mormons:
1. We may disapprove' of all 1 lie laws of
the Territory that we please, auj thereby
annul them, and fur such reasons as we iniy
appear proper.
'2. We may circumscribe the boundaries
of the Territory, and give the inhabitants
much narrower limits.
'3. If the second proposition be adopted,
we may then abandon them.and leave them
to fight out their own independence and ea!
vulion, spiritn illy a:i'i t emporally, in their
own good time.
'4. We inny cut up the Territory, and
annex It to the various adjoiuingTerrituries.
5. We may organ ze a Territorial Gov
ernment on the old plan of a Council, coii
sisthig mf a Governor and Judges not Mor
mons, and with a military force sufficient to
maintain it.'
Either ofthe plans might be adopled.and
would be infinitely preferable to a total re
peal of they organic act and plaain:; thf
whole population outside of any jurisJiclion
where they could be constitutionally ttie3
for cjiminal offense; and now that the self-
styled Democracy h is repudiated as no lin
ger useful, th'; humbugs of Territorial sov-
erei-jnty and self-sovcrnmenr, it is to be
,.-.,. . ...
hopej that the next Congress will adopt
some constitutional and appropriate legisla
tion to suppress and punish crimes commit
ted in Utah.
The most dangerous an J alarming conse
quence, because the most general in its
bearinw ,.m.-1i-I rultcil fioro , hrr rrrpml
of the Missouri Compromise, remainsyet to
noticed. I allude to the decision of lhe Dred
bcott esse Before commenting up.n the
cae itself, I wish to call your attention to
the character of th Court, as at present or
ganized. It is composed of nine Judges.
Five of these Judges are from the slave -hi'hlipg
States, containing less than one
bird ofthe white population ofthe Union,
while the Free Slates, with more than two
thirds of its white population.have four Jud
ges. Judge M'Lean's circuit alone, embra
cing the Slates of Ohi o, Indiana, Illinois,
and Michigan, contains at this time very
nearly as many while population as all the
circuits of thefiive Si uthern Ju Iges together;
and this is the Court thus cons' ituteJ.wliich
made the decision in the Dred Scott case;
and the most objctionible parts of that de
cision are concurred in by the Southern
Judges only. Judges M'Lran and Curtis
dissent into. Judge Nelson of New-York
places his decision upon grounds not invol
ving the power of Congress over the Terri
tories,and Judge Grier of Pennsylvania cou
curs with Judge Nelson and differs substan
tially from the sectional in ijority.
It has become a question how far this de
cision is binding upon tbe country and
ought to be followed as authority by olln r
Courts. Strictly spenking.it is decisive only
the case then before the Court, and it is
entirely competent for the same Court or
any other Court to decide differently in
another case orecisely similar. This, how
ever, would he regarded as overruling the
principle s.-ttled by the first decision, mJ
seldom, though it does Sometimes happen;
but all that is saij in a case not ral'ed for
the decision rendered in obiUr dic-um,of
authority whatever as a Lreccdeiit.eilhar
the Court rendering it, or in any other
Court. Juilge Taney ,who announced the de
cision of ths majority in the Dred Sec tt case.
(states distinctly, in the conclusion of his
opinion, what the point decided v. as. He
says:
'Upon the whole, therefore, it is the judg
ment of this Court that it appears by the
record before us that the plaintiff in error is
not a citizen of Missouri, in the sense in
which that word is u ed in the Constitution;
and that the Circuit Court of the United
States, for that reason, had no juris liction
the case, and could give no judgment in
Thus you see tin! only point decided by
nmjontv wrs that (he plaintiff was not
citizen of Missouri, and or that reason
alone they dismiss the case for want of juris
jdiction. All that is said by Judge Taney,
therefore .and his sectional association.nbout
unconstitutionality of the Missouri Con
prouiise.the right to hold slaves in the Ter
ritories, and the freedom or slavery nf Dred
Scott, was clearly extrajudicial, and is eu
titled to no respect whatever as a decision
ofthe United States Court, because it was
said in a case not involving those questions,
according to the decision made. Kvery per
son knows that a d urt, after deciding that
has no jurisdiction to rscder judgment in
case, has tin business logo on and pass
upon its merits. Judge M'Lean.-iIluding to
this part ol the Court's opinion, says:
'Nothing that has been said by them which
not a direct bearing on the jurisdiction
ofthe Court agaiust nhch they decided.can
considered as authority. 1 slia'l not re
gard il as such.' And Judge Curtis says:
do not hold any opinion of this Court, or
other Court, binding, when expressed
a question not legitimately before it.'
But the i-piniun expressed by the section
al majority of the Supreme Court, ahkough
of judicial authority .are vastly important
indicating the principles of the self
styled Democratic parly which now has con
trol ol lhe Government This opinion was
doubtless wrung from them, thus extrajudi
cially by tbii' party, to bolster up its waning
fortunes, and they encorso it in full. I pro
pose, therefore, to examine some of its doc
trines. Judge Taney thus states the ques
tiuu before tho Court:
-slavery
l
b-
ol
!
i
!
e-ery
to
in
as
the
the question is simply this: Can a negro
wnose anrestors were imported into this
country ,tnd sold as slaves.becume a member
ol the political community founded and
brought into existence by the Constitution
ofthe United States St as such become enti-
tied to alt the rights and privileges and im
...mine xuardiueeu 0y mat instrument to
me cu:zen one ot which r "hta i h
privilege of sueing in a Court orthe United
Stales in the cases specified in the Consti
tution.'
Again, in speaking of this class of pers-
una, Luc iuiei justice says:
They are not iucluded, and were not in
iiiiiucu iu uu inciuueu, unuer me word 'citi
zens in the constitution, and can therefore
claim none of the rights and privileges
wuicu mm instrument provides for and se
cures to citizens of the United States.
They had for more than a century before
(the Declaration of Independence was
formed) been regarded as bcinjrs of an in
ferior order.and altogether unfit to associate
with the white race, either in social or po
litical rciations;anaso lar inferior that thev
had no rights which the while man was
bound to respect.
He theu quotes from the hws of various
Stales to show tiiat negroes have been treat
ed as an inferior race, and intermarriages
between them and whites prohibited. Re
ferring to that clause of the Declaralijn of
Independence which declares that all meu
re "created equal; that iney are eudowed
by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; that among those are lile, liberty
aud the pursuit of happiness," Judge Tanev
says:
"It is too clear for dispute that these
words did not include the iuslaved African
race," for i!" they did, "the conduct of the
distinguished meu who framed the Declara
tion lucepeudeuce would have b.-ea utterly
and flagrantly inconsistent (villi the prin
ciples they asseried."
1 shall enter iulo no argument with Judge
Tuney, or any one else, as to the degrada
tion of the negro race, their amalgamation
with the whites, by allo.ving inierinarria-es
between the races; nor as to placing ue
...I .1 r - .i
jroco, wueuier uonu or iree, socially gor po-
liticai.y, on a level with the white race,
know of no parly in the country advocating
such repusive notions. Tuey are certainly
no part o: the itapual.caa creed, which
seeks to preserve tiie tree while labor and
wn.e men irom cuuiuniiuaou with nero
by keeping it out of the free ter
tontories. Ail the indiguuliou, therefore
which the lesser lights of the sell-styled De
mocracy, calchiug up the ideas of Jud 'e
Taoey, are stirring up in the country about
striking the word ulitte oal of the Constitu
tion, allowing negroes to vote, making them
eiigible to the legislature, to the bench, to
tue guveroship, lo Congress, to the presi
deucy, to all oilier places ol honor, profit or
trust, aud allowing them to marry white wo
men ou un cualliy filth white men, Qjay
go lor naught, so tar as- 1 am coucerued.
am not to be drawn irom tue real is.sue be
fore the country, or into the defense of ob
noX.ous uieaauil'S, because somebody thinks
proper, lor lhe purpose of misleading the
puoliu niiud, or lor any other purpose, to as
sail what neither pariy is for; aud I can
only account for the declamation which we
near inrougu tne country against puttiug
uegroes ou an equality with white peop:e,
LBurrying and associating with them, &i
upon lhe same principle vn which an ancient
poet ouce forgave the n.sjil of a iauy. The
vene runs soiutliiiug l.ke this:
A laJy once loid me, and iu her own Iicuse,
S.ie Old Uo-: can tor nie ihrce skis ol u I,. use.
lo.-ave indeurcrcalure t,M wuai shj baa aiJ,
or lauics Kill laik. oi wh.il r-iu in uieir had. '
I woula not accuse lhe seh-stvlej Demo
cracy with fuvonnga mixture ol wbi'ewilh
Aliicau blood, bet th -y are as much lor it as
the Republican pany, and practically we
know the fact that in the section of the
Union wnere that piny is supreme, the
blatk race is fast bleaching.
To that part ot Judge 1 aney's argument
which asulls the Declaration ot Indepen
dence, und seeks to explain away its plain
auj obvious lueuuiug, 1 have this to say:
Without going in i u the history of the negro
lace at t ie lime of the Declaration of In-depeniieiu-e.auu
showing, as ii cau be shown
that Judge Tauey has grossly misunder
stood or misrep esented the facts of history,
the declaration that "all men are createJ
equal" is, to my u-ind, a self-evideut truth;
nor is llierj anything iu declaration incou
sisleut with the acliou of our Revolution
ary Fathers when properly understood.
Tuey did nut meau that all men were creat
ed of the same size', weight, color, mental
or physical capacity; but they did mean to
repudiate the idea of a super. oray of birib,
by wlnci: the divine rigiu oi kings and. of a
hereditary aristocracy was upheld in the
old w or id, and which is uow sought by the
sell-sly led Democracy to Le transplanted
into the new; and they meant to assert that
in a natural tati all uieu weie equally!
eniiiieu to lic, to oe tree, and to pursue
happiuess. Living in a state of nature,
uiicjiiiu ctcd with other individuals, ail men
must necessarily Le eijual, lor Ihe.e wu d
no superior to make a law other than He
who is the author of our being. Tctsv
were great natural truths wh.ch the framers
of lhe Declaration of Independence wished
impress upuu 'the minds, ot the people
when they were bursting asunder tue bauds
tyranny the ties which bound them to
the iu itlur country, and resolving society
ito us oriental elemeuls with a View to the
lonnalioii ol a lie a system ot government.
They knew that every .'orui of government
was an ei croichui Mit upon the natural
rigi.l, of man, aud that on entering society
mail gate up u part of his absolute
rghts, in consideration of receiving and be
ing rote. t ;d iu 'he advantages of mutual,
harmonious and Irieiik'ly intercourse, with
oat which liberty, and even li'e itself, are
but dreary things.
A i well niiglu t be said that the distin
guished men whe framed the Declaration ol
Iedependence wer flagrantly incous.steni
with the principles they asserted" when
they established any form of government
whti tever, for all interfere with lhe natural
liberty ol mau to do whatever he uleses,as
sy they were i cons stent in dec arihj
that "all men are created equil," bectiiise
the government they established they
not make them so. This declaration is
equally true in regard to H e creation ot man
il : to his finl exit, fur h brought noih-
inginto lhe woria anu ran take lothirg
awaj as true to-day as when uttered SI
years ng, ir when cieat-on dawned and the
morning stais lire; sang lneili- r.
Keeping lhe great truth of msn's equality
beloie them as the polar star never to be
iost sight of in the o, matin of a new gov
ernment, our Revolutionary ancestors train
ed a Constitution interfering little with
of
in
in
of
to
the
as
all
and
lo
she
she
this
ble
no
verv
by
her
her
In
but
by
into
and
the
to
most
she
she
uufl
has
which
ing,
her
things
no
her
in
ieet
The
If
being
in
admit
aud
noble
when
the
that
sun
taint
pass
tne
we
natural rights of man, as in their judo-
ment was consistent with the then condit
ion of the people, their local governments,
and the peace and good order of society.
Negro slaves were then here and held con
trary to natural right by virtue of iocal law;
tbey did not thins it best to interfere with.
Slavery as an existing institution, but left
it to be perpetuated or got rid of as best it
might by the States that toierated it giving
to Congress, as we insist, complete power
to prevent its introduction into Territories.
It is argued, however, that to recognize
the right of a free negro to sue in the Unit
rd Stages Courts wonld necessarily recog
n'ze him as entitled to all tbe prlvelegts
and political rights of white citizens, but
such consequences by no means follow. As
well rnujjtitbe said that if you dety him
one of thoughts of a cilizea yeu den him
all and reduce him to the level of tbe brute,
to be trampled upon or slain with impunity.
Ont of these courses of reasoning is jutt
sound as the other, and so Judge Taney
seems to concede by his argament, for he
speaks of negroes havinf "no rights which
the white man was bound to respect." I de
ny the correctness of this reasoning. The
ree negro may and does have some rights
without possessing alL acd to allow him to
sue as a citizen in tbe United States Court
would nojmore confer unon him the rights
of voting and holding office, than it does up
on a female or a minor, both of whom are
duaitted to possess this right , though nei
ther ha? the privelege of voting or holding
mca. What, I would ask. is the coneitioo
of a fc eigner during trie first five of
[CONCLUDED ON SECOND PAGE.]
[For the Chronicle]
Female Excellence.
BY IDA DE FORREST.
There is no theme amid life's variagaleJ
bjects more attractive to tbe contemplation
the refined and truly educated man, than,
tbe perfections of womanhood. Of tomto
her diversified conditions and relation..
ise men have spoken, poets song, sages
philosophised, and divines discoursed. She
fleets upon society the brilliant light of
e most exalted virtues, socializes man
enhances .bis amiability and happiness
smoothes the rough and bn)ecomin?
perities of h;s o ature, elevates him ia
the scale cf existence, and at once maks
in a noble being. This she does by tbe
amiable qualities of her heart and mind when
adorned with the captivating emblishments
f an accomplished education, and with an
extensive acquaintance not with the litera
ture of the day, but the rieh and luxuriant
thoughts of the Bible. For when she fails
attend to those two great departments
her influence is lost acd she becomes a blank
society and is regarded as an inferior
being. When her heart is softened by the
deep influences of permanent pietty, her
mind regulated with high toned sentiments
Christianity, and well stored with an in
exhaustible fund of sound biblical literature,
such communicates an influence that But
only will be co-extensive with hsrexistance
but will continue to widen long after her exit
another world, though her tongue lies
silent in the icy fetters of death, yet she
speaks. She bas left a moral influence upon
age in which sho lived which like the
limpid stream deepens and widens as it r
ceds from the ftuntain bead.
The true excellence of female character
doubtless will be readily admited, by no
means consists in a lordly dictatorial spirit,
the traits which may appear iu tho
compound elements of female character,
none certainly can appear more displeasing;
unbecoming than this. It is never
found in the composition of fc refined and
intelligent lady, it is found alone among th
t er classes where lhe emMlishments of
female dignity have never appeared, and
where the tender beamings of her lex have
never penetrated.
Woman may advise or suggest, but Then
dictates she is moving out of her appro
priate sphere and forgets the bight position
should occupy. There is something in
so foreign to her nature, so incompati
with her true character we have accus
tomed ourselves to think that as soon as
women assumes the office of dictitrix she
begins to exhibit a forwardness that is by
means suited to her nature and certainly
destructive to her influeuce.
Wunvin was not made to be repulsive but
her amability to attract.
Here is the glory and noble triumph of
6ex. She embalms herself in the af
fection of all by her winning manners and
courteous and refined bearing in society.
this she is peculiarly successful in her
influence upon ber partner. If she gain tbe
asceudency over him it is not done by as
suming in authoraiive or dictatorial tone
by the aggressive power of kindness.
K'udness becomes the tremendous artillery
which she storms his hert ami brings it
subjection to her unpretending authori
ty and is swayed with all imaginable ease
grace.
Woman should be cautious here about
use of her power, standing upon a point
elevated and so conspicuous sbe has m
superlative opportunity of evincing to the
world the true virtues of her sex.
We aie proud to make the assertion that
woman his ever been upon the sice of
virture, has supported her causa through the
firey opposition.
Religion bas been ber theme in all ages;
was the first to proclaim a risen Saviour,
was the last to forsake him. In every
condition, she bas been the unwavering and
nching iriend f the dispised cause of
Christianity. Along the mournful paths of
sorrow, woe and grief, she has travelled with
patience and fortitude unknown to man. She
borne on through life the misfortune
alone are peculiar to her sex.
Again behold her clad in a garb of meorn
bending over the remains of some dear
departed friend, and taking a last fond look,
heart is filled with anguish to deep for
language to express, but with humble sub
mission aud fortitude she bears it all sub
mit ing to the will of him who doeth all
well, keeping in view that blissful
eternity, where p-irted friends meet to part
more.
Tie bible is foil of ber deeds, and its an
ering lines record ber holy purposes and
heaven inspired sentiments.
The New Testament is not foregetful of
character and calling, but presents ,her
all tho loveliness of humility and devo
tion. One moment siitingat the Saviour's
wioing them with the hairs of her head.
next publishing with astcnishmsntand
the all pleasing story of s risen
Redeemer.
we are sometimes made sad cvar para
dise lost by Eve we are made to rejoice with
uuuterable joy over the thought of Heaven
opened by the Son of Mary.
But when we thus con'emplate woman
her Christian and heathen "condition, we
while we review ths past that Greece
Rome presented to the world so in
peciuicns of female dignity, but
compared with Ruth's and Mary's of
bible they pass away like a fair flower,
in the mornings blooms, but ere trie
with all its golden beams shed the last
ray on these fair forms, they fade aad
. yes, they have passed away like
morning stars befurw the luminous ap
proach of day. "Christian women. then
mar say 'all nations may call Ser bless
MARTINSFERRY, July 1857.