Daily national era. [volume], February 25, 1854, Image 2

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WASHINGTON, D. C.
SATURDAY, FKBRUAUY 2ft, l?64.
JUDGE DOUGLAS AMD THE MEW HAMPSHIRE
DEMOCRACY.
POWERS OF A TER1ITORIAL LEGISLATURE.
The projectors of the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise are alarmed at tlifl excitement j
produced in New Hampshire, lent it may throw
that State in the approaching election into the
h audit of an anti-Administration majority. ;
?dmuud Burke, editor of the New Hampthtie
Reporter* avows bin approbation of the Hill, t
but be wishes the People distinctly to under- 1
stand that tho repeal of tho Compromise will I
be equivalent to a re-establishment of {Slavery
throughout the Territory of Nebraska.
" The Nebraska bill," he says, " if it shall
pa* both Houbch of Congress, repeals the Mis
souri Compromise. And what will be the effect
of Kuch repeal 1 Unquestionably to revive and
re-establish Slavery over that whole region.
When Louisiana was oeded to the United
States, the law of Slavery exinted over that
whole vast Territory. It required no law to
establish the institution?it then existed in fact
aud by law. And out of that Territory already
three slave States have been carved, and ad- ;
mittod into the Union, viz: Louisiana, Arkan- j
Bag, aud Missouri. When they came into the j
possession of the Union as Territories, Slavery !
had been planted, and was flourishing upon ;
their soil; and the whole Territory of Louisi- j
aua was under the dominion of the law which '
established aad legalized the institution. There- ]
tore, when those States came into the Union, !
the people did not have to establish and orda'n i
Slavery. The Missouri Comnromine repealed
and excluded the institution above the line of j
36 deg. 30 min. The repeal of that Compro
mise revives and re-establishes Slavery in all
the remaining territory of the Louisiana pur
chase. Therefore, the law whioh permits Sla
very will be revived, and Slavery will exist in
Nebraska and Kansas the very moment the
Nebraska bill receives the sanction of the
President. This is the only deduction whioh
oan be logically drawn from the premises."
The law of Slavery being against natural
right, and there being no power in the Fede
ral Constitution authorizing the enactment or j
continuation of suoh a law, we hold that when !
Louisiana came under the exclusive jurisdio- '
tion of the Federal Government, whatever laws
had prevailed there sustaiuing Slavery, bee aunt
that moment, invalid, " null and void." Of'
course, as we d4 not admit the premise of the
Reporter, we repudiate its conclusion?that the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise would re
vive Slavery throughout the Territory.
But, we need hardly say, that our theory of
Slavery is not that maintained by the South,
acted upon by Congress, and sanctioned by the
Supreme Court According to their theory, the
validity of the slave laws of Louisiana was not
affeoted by its transfer to the United States?
they continued in force throughout the whole :
of the Territory. This is the view of nineteen- I
twentieths of the politicians of the oountry,
Mr. Douglas included. It is not for them,
therefore, to impugn the reasoning of the New
Hampshire Reporter. If the view be eorrect,
its argument is sound. The Missouri Compro
mise left undisturbed the law of Slavery in
all of the Territory south of 36 deg. 30 min., j
and suspended it north of that l;ne. If it had !
been repealed the next Congress, the suspended
law would have again become operative?the
Tsrritory would have been remanded to its
original oondition. Thp delay of the repeal i
dom not affect the principle. To repeal the
Law of Freedom in the Territory is to revive
the fbde of Slavery, suspended by it. Let the
Democracy of New Hampshire be admonished
that; whatever assurance** they may receive to
the contrary, this is the argument which slave
holders will urge, should the Compromise be
repealed.
Mr. Douglas, in a letter to the editor of the |
Reporter, seouts this idea with a great display
of indignation, and arts?
M Do yon not know that the Southern men
deoy the eonietilulional power of Congretu to
estabinh Slavery tn the Territorial Vet in
the teeth of this undeniable fact, which is well
known to every man, woman, and child, who
has ever read a newspaper, your paper repre
sents these gentlemen as proponing to violate,
not only the Constitution, but their own oath*,
by voting to estahl th Slavery in Nebraska and
?an?u / After attempting to ttx this brand
of infamy on the brow of more than two-thirds
of the members of the United States Senate,
the writer of the article in question proceed*
to show the kindness of his heart and the pu
rity of his motives, by assuring your reader*
that he is no better than those whom he as I
sails, and therefore he approves the act, and
advisee iti consummation. '
We cannot allow Mr. Douglas to mystify
this queetion. Southern men do not propone
to establish Slavery in the Territories by a
positive law of Congress, and therefore his bill
embraces no such provision. They insist that
Congress shall pass no law to exclude Slavery
from the Territories, and therefore his bill
contains no sueh enactment.
Thns far, their course is open and above
board ; bnt here commenoes the double-dealing.
WiH the Pe tpie of a Territory have the right,
should the Bill pass, to exclude Slavery 1 On
Hue vital question the Bill itself is ambignoos.
intentionally so, although at first right it may
??Mi to the uninitiated plain euongh. " Inten
tionally ambiguous," we suy, because the au
thors of the Bill know that the so called Demo
crats of the Sooth differ Mo tmio from their
aaaonietss of the North, in relation to the power
of the inhabitants of a Territory in reepeet to
Slavery; so that, when it is sought to unite ;
tbsas hi the mppwt of a common measure, in
volving a question as to this power, it ia neeen
nary t$ fHpe the tonns of the act ho that they
opposite construe |
this purpose is aocom
MP consideration ;
The Nth a?Hon declares that the laws of
As United States Ann be in foree in the Ter
ritory, with the exception of the Missouri Com
premise net,
" Which, twine inconsistent with the nrinei- j
pie of ?ai tutytition by Congrees with Sla
very in the States aod Territories, en recog
nised by the legislation of 1850, commonly call
ed the ' Coeepromise Measures,' hi hnwfy dr L
olared inoperative and void * it being the true :
intent and meaning of thie not not to legidate |
Slavery into any Territory or State, nor to ex
ctude it then from, but to leave the people thereof
perfectly free to form and regulute their douus~
tit institutions in their own way, subject only to
the Constitution of the United States
"Subject oni.y to the Constitution ok
thk United Statkk. That Proviso is the
trap io which the North in to bo caught.
" What?" those noisy politioiaumiry, iu utt'octed
surprise, '? can you DoiuooraUt of the North ques
tion the right of the People of a Territory to
regulate their own concerns? Does not the
Hill recognise their right to exolude Slavery,
and will they not exercise it, just as the People
of New Hampshire and California have done 1"
No? The Bill recognises no suoh right. It
simply leaves the People of a Territory free to
regulute their own institutions in their own way
SUBJECT ON I. Y TO TII1C CONSTITUTION OF THK
United States We are satisfied with this,
say the Southern Democrats, " for the People of
a Territory under the Constitution <f the Uni
ted States have no right to exclude Slavery. The
Constitution reeognises Slavory, recognises
property in human beings, spreads over this
property everywhere within the exclusive ju
risdiction of the Federal Government the broad
u)gis of its protective power. We ask no legis
lation from Congress to establish Slavery in the
Territories?nay, in the language of Mr. Doug
las, we deny the constitutional power of Con
gress to do so. Such legislation were a work
of supererogation ; slaves may be carried into
any Territory of the United States, and held
therein in virtue of the Constitution, and the
People of a Territory ean not legislate against
it, for that would be against the Constitution,
to whioh their legislation is made ' subject' by
this Bill."
We risk nothing in saying that this is the
view taken of the question by the so-called
Democratic Party of the South. The amend
ment introduced by Mr. Chase on the 15th
inst., is intended to expose the trap in the Bill,
to exolude all chance for double-dealing?to
bring the North and the South to a common
understanding of the phraseology employed.
We reprint the foregoing ambiguous provision
of the Bill, with the amendment of Mr. Chase,
which we enolose in brackets:
"It being the true intent and meaning of
this act not to legislate Slavery into any Terri
tory or State, nor to exolude it therefrom, but
to leave the People thereof perfectly free to
form and regulate their domestic institutions
in thoir own way, subjeot only to the Constitu
tion of the United States; [under which the
People of the Territory, through their appro
priate representatives, may, if they see fit, pro
hibit the existence of Slavery therein]
This, remember, is a distinct affirmation of
the very dootrine preached at the North by all
those so-called Democratic papers and politi
cians that are laboring to reoonoile the North
ern People to the support of the Bill. How
was it received in the Senate? It disconcerted
and perplexed the authors of the Bill.
Mr. Brown, of Mississippi, who had support
ed the provision as it stands, disclosed frankly
the Southern view:
" I have not, in my own judgment, and I
trust I have not in my aotion here, yielded the
principle that the people of the Territories, du
ring their Territorial existence, have the right
to exclude Slavery. I have not intended to yield
that point, and t do not mean that my action, in
future times, shall be so construed. As f am not
prepared with authorities to go on upon this
r:ise point this evening, I hope that I shall
allowed about fifteen minutes before the
vote is taken, when I will have the authorities
with me, to give my views upon this point, and
this alone."
This brought Mr. Cass to his feet, who said?
"The honorable Senator from Mississippi
[Mr. Brown] has touched on one of the main
questions connected with this bill, and which
has not betn touched upon before. It is a very
grave and a very important question. The
Ewer of the j;?oople of the Territories to legis
<6 upon their internal oonoerns, during the
period of these temporary <*overnmente, is most
clearly given in this bill, if the Constitution per
mits it.
Mr. Badger. Certainly.
Mr. Cam. If the Constitution does not per
mit, they have not got it.
Mr. Badger. That is clear.
Mr. Cans. Behind that stands the other ques
tion, which must be discussed here: and 1, for
one, am determined that my constituents shall
know my views on the point. It is one on
which the honorable Senator from Mississippi
and myself differ, and have differed radically,
but on which, as 1 trust, we differ, and shall
differ, properly. It is whether, by virtue of the
CimMitnfion of the United States, there is a kind
of motive poorer in Slavery that immediately
spread* it over any Territory, or by virtue of
which any slave may be taken to any Territory
of the United Stales, as soon as it is annexed io
the fJnion.''
Very well. We hope Mr. Cass will be ex
plicit. Let us have done with ambiguities and
dodges. Let the North and South com* to a
clear understanding of terms, and not try to
cheat each other. The amendment of Mr.
Chase must lie voted upon. It assorts the doo
trine whioh the Northern advocates of the
Nebraska bill promulgate at the North, and
of course they should insist upon ita adoption.
If adopted, the South will spurn the hill; for
it never has acknowledged, it never will ac
knowledge, the right ef a Territorial legisla
ture to exclude or prohibit Slavery. We tell
the North that it will not lie adopted. Tlie
effort will be made to avoid a direct vote upon
it, probably by laying it upon the table. But
whateysr the course devised for getting rid of
it, the failure to adopt it will stamp with false
hood the assertions of the advocates of the
bill in the free States, that it recognises the
right of the People of a Territory to exolude
Slavery.
Our exchanges announce the fbrthoom
ing of a History of the Origin, Formation, and
Adoption of the Constitution of the United
States, with sketches of its principal framors,
in two volumes 8vo, from the pen of Mr. (targe
Tfcknor Curtis, of the Bar of Boston aa4?&th*
.Supreme Court, and one of the literary execu
tors of Mr. Webster The sources from whioh
Mr. Curtis has derived the material for his
work ars said to be original and authentic, vis:
Mm journals of Congress and the public and
private letters of the eminent man who assisted
to build up our political system.
A resolution in favor of an amendment of
the United Stales Constitution, so that the Su
preme Court Judges shall he elected by the
people, and hold their offices only eight years,
has been ad noted with only five negative rotes
in the Ohio House.
IB THEHK AU1TATI0H ?
Tbe legislature of Maim, a Democratic
State, bat* testified against tbe ropeal of tbe
Mwwmri Compromise, by tbe election of \\'m.
Pitt Fessenden, a believer in the principlos of
the Independent Democracy.
The Legislature of Masstukuselts, with much
unanimity, has passed resolutions against it;
Whigs, Old Line Democrats, and Independent
Democrat*, voting tor them.
The Miotle Island Legislature ban resolved
unanimously against it.
The State Conventions of both the old par
tie* in Connecticut have resolved against it.
The Legislature ol New Yurie, without dis
tinction of Party, has resolved against it.
The Legislature of Wisconsin has just voted
to engross resolutions against it?forty-seven to
twenty-six.
Other free States will pursue the same course.
The only reason why there is some hesitation
at decided aotiou is, that the so-called Demo
cratic politicians dislike to assume an attitude
of hostility to the Administration. The People
are right, but the Politicians obstruct them.
In the face of all this legislative action, of
the powerful protests of the Radical and Con
servative, the Religious and Secular, the Whig,
Democratic, and Independent Democratic Press
of the North, and of the proceeding# of im
mense meetings throughout the free States, the
advocates of the Bill here in Washington af
fect to believe that there is no excitement
among the Northern People?all tho demon
strations of opposition to tbe Bill, they say, are
got up by demagogues!
A pretty story, this! The advocacy of the
Bill in the Northern States is oontinod chiefly
to that portion of tho press which draws its
support from the patronage of the Administra
tion, and to those olasaos of politicians inter
ested direotly or indirectly in Government fa
vor.
When we see religious papers, and conserv
ative political papers, that sustained the legis
lation of 1850; "Silver Grays" and "Hunker
Democrats," who have never affiliated with
Anti-Slavery men; the Democratic and Whig
Journals, independent of Federal influence,
and the People, who have no expectation of fat
jobs or offices, all protesting against this in
iquitous measure, it is simply brasen impudence .
to pretend that such opposition is tbe work of
demagogues.
Let us assure those Washington politicians
that they will see still more formidable demon
strations. As their arts fail them, as tbe Peo
ple beoome fully awakened to tbe real enormi
ty of the meditated outrage, as the hollowness
of the olamor about the right of the inhabitants
of a Territory to regulate their own concerns
shall be exposed, and as it shall grow more
and more manifest that the real intent and ef
feot of the Bill are to exelude all aotion against
Slavery, as well by the Territorial as Federal
I Legislature, the voice of the People will be
| heard in still clearer and sterner tones of repro
j bation.
THE PEOPLE AROUSED.
The meeting at New York last Saturday
1 evening, to protest against the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise, represented the "bone
and sinew of the community." We have been
assured by those who were present that five
thousand people and more were in attendance.
The pro-slavery papers here of oourae dispar
age it, but let us hear what the New York
. Express says, a journal not to be suspeoted of
; any fondness for Anti-Slavery demonstrations:
" The Tabernacle Anti-Nebraska Meeting.?
We do not approve of a great many things
! said at this meeting, especially by the reverend
| gentleman, who has the advantage of all b:s
associate editors, in not only writing all the
1 week, but in preaching on Sunday?what we
of the laity are not allowed to do; but duty
and candor compel us to say, as misrepresenta
tions are sent abroad, that it was a great meet
ing, a telling meeting, and a meeting which,
in our judgment, now bat expresses the almost
general filing of the city. It is very true, as
is said, the Abolitionists go to suoh meetings,
and use them to spread uieir especial tenets ;
but it was no Abolition meeting, no Anti-Sla
very meeting, in the general meaning of that
word, but a meeting held to maintain what the
people here believe in?the faith of treaties, of
compacts, of compromises."
Thero now hangs up before us an immense
handbill, on which we oount some three thou
sand names, calling a Mass Convention of the
People of tho 20th Congressional District, New
York, to meet at Home, on tbe 23d February.
The signers were obtained within two days,
and hundreds more names were handed in too
late for the Press. Party distinctions are lost
sight of. Among the speakers announced are
tbe Hon. Joshua A. Spencer, tbe Hon. Timo
thy Jenkins, and other well-known political
men.
A similar meeting was held on the evening
of the 17th, at Roohester, in pursuance of a call
signed by some thousands of oitizens without
distinction of party. The Roohester Daily
Union says:
" The charaoter and political affinities of the
offioers and others who participated in tbe pro
ceedings are worthy ot passing notioe. And
we would remark that, notwithstanding all the
offioers named were not present, every one had
been consulted, and approved of the object of
the meeting. Tbe Chairman, Hon. John Wil
Hams, is the present worthy and popular Mayor
of the city. He has all along been olaimed ns
an Adamantine, and wa* recently nominated
i for re-election by that1 section'?a fact whioh
| shows be is not ohargeable with Anti-Slavery
! fanaticism Hon. Messrs. Pitkin, KempehalJ,
Hastings, Boodr, and Strong, and Messrs.
Mum ford, Mathews, Rocljaster, Montgomery,
and Gorton, are well known ss among the
stanoheet' Silver Grays' in thia county. The
first two gentlemen named have been Mayors
of this city: the next, a member of the Legisla
ture ; Mr. Boody, a member of Congress: Mr.
Strong, a Judge, &o., &c. Gen. Gould is well
known as a Democratic politician, throughout
this and other States; Messrs. C. M. Lee, J. B.
Robertson, and Mitohel Loder, are known as
' Hards,' or Adamantines. And it is worthy
of remark, that Hon. Jonathan Child, the Arrt
Mayor of Roohester, and a prominent ' SUver
, Gray,' was also present at the meeting; as
well as ex-Mayor Richardson. Wm. Brewster,
Aaron Eriokson, and many other old and sub
stantial citizens, whose faces we have never be
fore seen at a public meeting.
" Ws have no disposition to dwell at length
upon the prooeedings of this meeting. The
only object we have in referring editorially to
them, is to repel, in advanoe, the imputation,
oertain to be cast upon the meeting, that it was
an Abolition affair; and that attained, we leave
the subject."
Tbe Albany State RegiMtr (Silver Gray)
?an:
? There is a deep, Mettled, and firm determi
nation pervading every free State of the Uuion
to uphold the Comprouiiao of 1820, and those
ot 1850. The Whig party are united ax one
man m this, throughout |he free Stateei and a
vttMt majority of the Demouruoy are with them
on this question. Neither party will consent
to an advauoe of Slavery towards the North.
I hey wiU be content to leave it where it is, but
they will not consent to its further progress/'
Ihe Monroe (N. V.) Democrat says:
" A large and influential meeting of tho oiti
itenK ol Syracuse, of all parties, wax hold in that
city on Saturday evening. Mayor McCarthy
presided, and speeches were made by several
prominent individuals. The following resolu
tion was unanimously adopted:
" Resolved, That we, the citzens of Syracuse,
without distinction of party, do unitedly re
monstrate and protest t gainst the organisation
of Nebraska and Kansas under the law now
proposed in the Senate of the United States
because it permits a dedication to Sluvery of
that territory which our lathers consecrated to
Freedom"
Of the meeting in Towanda, Bradford eoun
ty, Pa, the Bradford Reporter (Administration
paper) says;
^ " The meeting held in the Court-House on
1 ueaday ovening last, in pursuance of a call
signed by several hundreds of our citizens, of
all parties, despite the inolewcncy of the weath
er, was one of the largest and most rospectable
ever held in that place. It was distinguished
by the earnestness which pervaded the assem
blage, as ii those who had met there to protect
against the perpetration of a great wring were
fully sensible of their high duty to their eoun
try, and of the seriou* and woighty business in
which they are engsgod. There was not bo
much ot the noisy enthusiasm which usually
marks political gatherings, as there was of
that earnest but determined action which dem
onstrates the fulness if conviction, and the dis
position to express a lense of right.
" U pon no questioc of public importance has
there ever been suoli unanimity of sentiment
as in regard to the proposed repeal of the Mis
souri Compromise. Its advocates are the ex
ceptions. Even those who have maintained the
right of tho South to participate in the occupa
tion of Territory, viiw this proposition with
alarm and abhorrence, as a violation of a sol
emn covenant, and the indication of a disposi
tion to tramplo uncer foot all compromises
when they are suppoted to militate against the
free spread of Slavery"
Extract of a tetter, dated Marlboro1, Middlesex
co., Mass.. Feb. 20, 1854.
" An adjourned meeting has been held at our
town hall, this evening, to protest against the re
peal of the Missouri Compromise. The poople
are arousing, and woe to the Northern man in
Congress that falters The most conservative
Whigs and the moat hunker Democrats united
in the above meeting with the most" fanatical "
Free Democrats, and adopted a aeries of strong
resolutions, which are to be sent to the Era for
publication. The President of the meeting
was a Democrat, assisted by two Whig Vine
Presidents. All partial feel that is a question
upon which they oan unite, and not all the
edicts of Caleb Cushing, or the Administration,
oan crush out the rising hostility to this gross
outrage upon the sacred rights of the North
and of Freedom."
Illinois is as much agitated as any other of
the free States. The demonstration made in
Chicago has been followed in other parts of the
State. A few extracts from the newspapers of
Illinois will Bhow the temper of the People:
Douglas and the Nebraska Bill.?Being
born and reared in the far Sonth, amid all the
practical workings of the peouliar institution,
we profesB to know sofficient of Southern char
acter to venture the assertion, that there is
not one Congressman from that region, that is
so utterly regardlers of' pre-existing law, so
utterly recklesa of all the pure, patriotio feel
ings and sentimeotB of the Amerioan People,
and so essentially mean, traitorous, and dis
honorable, as to propose, directly, a bill, to in
troduoe the awful curse of Slavery into a Ter
ritory whioh not only God and all Nature
have pronounoed free, but,Jalso, whioh the sol
emn enactments of the American People have
long sinoe consecrated to Freedom. But it is
human nature, when prejudice, self-interest,
aud all the peculiar associations of a long life,
draw hard upon an individual, though in many
respeots worthy, not to soruple to employ an
other to do an act, from doing which himself
he would shrink with utter horror.?Illinois
Timet.
The Western Press on the Nebraska Bill.?
As far as there has been any expression of the
press of this State, there are but two papers
(the State Register and Qutncy Herald) that
have the audacity and presumption to openly
advocate the course of Douglas on the Nebraska
question.?Ibid.
Were the proposition for the repeal of the
Compromise of 1820 made openly aud above
board, were the plan of throwing open that
large traot of ooontry west of Missouri and
north of 36 deg. 30 min. to the occupation of
Slavery, brought forward as a distinct propo
sition, they oould both be considered with more
patience. But a subterfuge and a cheat are
made to bare the brant. We are to be coaxed
into the support of his measures, under the
pretence that we are only applying the princi
ples of 1850, by which we have all agreed to
abide. The trick is as shallow as the objeot in
transparent. Slavery to-day exists in Nebras
ka in defianoe of law; its legalization and do
mestication there are the true objects of the
scheme Mr. Douglas has put on foot. We
cannot swallow the doae.?CMlena Jejfersonian,
(Democratic.)
The objeot is to introduco Slavery into the
now free Territory of Nebraska. The land is
free, the soil is unencumbered with no law to
bind the slave to bis master. On the oontrary.
tho law of Congrosa, ever since 1820, has shut
out and "forever prohibited involuntary servi
tude " on this anil. The curae is abolished by
the National Legislature for all time to oomc.
so far as the Congress of 1820 had power to
effect the great and benevolent object. On 1
this question of Slavery in Nebraska, there is
to be no trifling. The North is fixed unaltera
bly, and will tolerate no playing of fast and j
loose with interests of anch magnitude. Tho
Northern man who ahall play this game, will
sink deeper than plummet ever aounded.?Belle
ville Advocate, (Democratic.)
The party drill may prove successful, and a
sufficient number of votes be reoeived to carry
the measure into effect, but woe to the North
ern Senator or Representative who lend* his
influence to the scheme, and thus re-opens an
agitation, the existence of whioh has been so
muoh condemned by the very men who are
now for extending the area of Slavery.?Peoria
Republican.
First, we oannot concede, as Mr. Douglas
assumes, that a refusal to extend the Missouri
Compromise line was a violation of that Com
promise. There is nothing in the 8th section
of the resolutions admitting Missouri into the
Union which, even by implication, requires an
extension of the line therein agreed upon. Nor
is there a provision to thia effect in any other
Congressional enaotment of whioh we have
knowledge. A refusal to extend the line, there
fore, oannot in any wise impair or be said to
violate the enactment establishing that line.
Secondly, if a quasi violation of the Miaaouri
Comf remiss in 1848 prateced the agitation
and sectional asperities of that period, ought
not the remembrance of that flwt to have fur
nished oar Senator with tie strongest possible^
reason fur not advocating a bona fide violation
of the game Compromise in 1854 '
Thirdly, if it wa< the part of wisdom and
patriotism on the part of Mr. Douglas, in 1845,
to advocate the extension of the Missouri Com
promise line through Texas, and in 1848 to
advocate its extension to the Pacific, by what
rule of logic or of political necessity can it be
said to be the part of wisdom or patriotism, in
1854, to advocate the abrogation of the line as
originally prescribed. ? Chicago Democratic
Prevt
We observe that in our uiidst a number of
petitions aro circulating, and are already full
of names, remonstrating against the bill of
Senator Douglas, which eeeks to extend human
Slavery over the Territory of Nebraska, contra
ry to the provisions of the Missouri Compro
mise. Some of theee remonstrances are direct
ed to Congress, and others to our State Legis
lature, for it* action upon the subject. They
are signed by almost all, irrespective of party.
Now and then some ultra partisan, who prob
ably expects to go to Senator Deugla* when he
dies, refuses to sign; but these exoeptious, we
are glad to be informed, are exceedingly rare.?
Alton Telegraph.
^Senator Douglas's bill for a Territorial or
nization of this Territory, embraoing the
iuoiplc of Slavery, is exciting the attention
and indignation of the whole country north of
Mason aud Dixon's line. That a Senator rep
resenting a tree State should thus propose to
extend the area of Slavery, and violate a sol
emn oompact made in the Missouri Compro
mise, is indeed astounding, and fills the lover of
Freedom with disgust for the North Carolina
slaveholder. But Douglas is just the mau ca
pable of suoh an act.?Lacon (III.) Gazette.
The Nebraska bill is not meeting with many
supporters. It is arousing the consistent and
moderate Anti-Slavery sentiment, Baying noth
ing about the moderate and fanatical. It is a
blind statesmanship, at this age of the world,
and in this Demooratio Government, that would
seek out a method by which the extension of
slave territory may rest upon a oontinuenoy of
population over soil which should be forever ex
empt from the ourse.?Belwdere (III.) Standard.
There are three papers iu Massachusetts that
advocate the Nebraska bill, viz: The Boston
Post, the Lawrence Sentinel, and the Taunton
Democrat. The Post is paid with the cream of
New England Government pap; the editor of
the Sentinel holds an offioe in the Boston cus
tom-house; and the editor of the Dtmoctat
holds a $2,000 post offioe. Disinterested pa
triotism this.?Chicago Tribune.
F0EE1GN NEWS.
By reference to our telegraphic head, it will
be perceived that the Europa has at length
arrived; that there has been another decline
in breadotiiffd; that ootton has slightly ad
vanced ; and that the prospeot of war is still
more lowering. A few facts are indeed stated,
upon which a faint hope of conciliation may
be based; but the general tenor of the news is
far from encouraging suoh a hope. The die
asters and distresses to the respective armies,
and to t)be inoffensive inhabitants of the Prin
cipalities, are of a most deplorable character.
When we reflect that this wretched work is all
done in the name of religion, we cannot but be
amased at the little progress the world has
made after the lapse of so long a period since
the dark era of the Crusaders themselves.
The Mystery Explained.?A Roman Cath
olio writer in Franco furnishes, in the Vnivers,
an explanation of the prevalence of spirit rap
ping in the United State*, to which it is to be
hoped due attention will be paid:
"Eminent theologians explain why the devil
has more liberty in the United States than in
Europe, where the holy sacrifices of the mass
are celebrated at vast distances apart, and
where so many millions of men, descendants
of Protestants, have no religion whatever, and
are not even baptized. This rarity of the sacra
ments leaves the devil greater sway over men ;
he dares to come nearer the earth, not being
driven afar by the frequent immolation of the
Divine victim, and he enters into communica
tion with the human race by the mysterious
means which God leaves open to him.
A CoRKF.spoNDEifpi,?Mr. Botts's recent let
ter on the Nebraska bill having been very
roughly reviewed in the Richmond Enquirer,
that gentleman has addressed a note to Mr. R
A. Pryor, one of the editors of that paper
charging him with the authorship of that ob
jectionable article, oomplaining of its abusive
character, and inquiring whether the intent of
certain portions of it was to impeach his " per
sonal honor and integrity." Mr Pryor replies,
avowing the authorship of the article, affirm
ing that Mr. Botts's public oourse on the Ne
briska question justified the severity with
which it was oritioissd, but stating that the
article was intended only to reflect on Mr. '
Botts's public course, And not to impeach his
honor or integrity. Tins explanation Mr. Botts
accepts as satisfactory, and requests the publi
cation of the correspondence.
Thx War in EiRorr?The Courner de?
htat? Unis, of Thursday morning, publishes a
portion of a private letter from Paris, in which
the following passage occurs: "Here, at Paris
nothing very positive is known in regard to
what passed between M. do Kisselort' and M
Drouin do l'Huys, but 1 am able to affirm that
the following questions and answers have been
exchanged between the Frenoh and English
Government*.
"Immediately after it had reoeived informa
tion of the Csar's response, the English Gov
ernment telegraphed the following despatch to
the Tuileries: ' It is agreed that we shall send
30,000 men, and you 50,000. Our 30,000 men
are ready?are yours?' The French Govern
ment replied ' Our 50,000 men are ready, but
not the means of transport.' To which Lord
Clarendon answered: ' We will snpply means
of transport This statement differs from the
commonly received one as to the number of
troops to be sent respectively by the two Gov
ernments, but agrees substantially with the re
port that the F.nglish Government had consent
ed to supply something more than men."
1 ? "
The Whig papers in Preston's distriot, the
7th,. of Kentucky, all oppose the Nebraska bill.
Close not a letter without reading it. nor
drink water without seeing it. <
_Beautifsl marble, sunoeptible of a high pol
ish, and said to be equal to any of the import
ed marbles, has lately been discovered in Illi
nois.
All of the Chioago newspapers. Democratic,
Whig, and Free Soil, have come out in opposi
tion to tho Nebraska bill.
When the English were good Catholios, they
usually drank the Pope s health in a full glass
after dinner; au bon pere; whenoe the word
bumper.
Some boys at Tahulh, Miss , on the 24th ult,
tied crackers to a dog's tail, and the dog ran
ink' a ootton shed, setting fire to the ootton,
and oaosing a loss of $200 000.
Incessant activity leads to bankruptcy in
strength.
Miss Robinson (Miss Bourcioanlt) is playing
j at the Boston Museum.
I It is estimated that 9,000 pianos are mads
I "very year in ths United States.
WHO BCfPOHT THE XJkJB&ABKA Bil l 1
Fairfax, the regular Washington correspond
ent of the Richmond Enquirer, says :
"The President feels a deep interact iu the
Pftl*ag? <>f the Nebraska bill, and he fails not
to openly express it. The Cabinet also, with
out a single exception, (I speak positively upon
this subject,) in (or the bill. Much as has been
said and predicted about the faithlessness of
the Softs 1 ,n this matter, 1 believe that, in
the end, they will he found more true thai, the
Hards Whilst Edmund Hurke, one of the
leading ' Hards,' virtually op|?oses ii, and whilst
nearly all the ' Hard' journals in Ohio, and
some of them in Now Vork, oppose the bill
many of the authoritative organs of the ' Softs'
support it. The Ohio Statesman is for it, show
ing that Medary and his wing of the party are
true ; whilst all the papers in the interest of
Allen and his friends oppose it."
Whoever will take the trouble to analyse
the lbregoing will discover its import to he,
that that section of tho Domooractiu party in
the North that is now in receipt of the patron
age of tho General Government is in favor of
the President's measure, and that that section
that possesses and hopes for no such favor op
poses his schome.
Mr, Crampton, the British Minister, gives a
sploudid dinner party to day?having behaved
badly on the occasion of Jullien's concerts
whilst playing the National Quadrille, he is
said to be making preparations for u magnifi
cent dinner in honor of Washington's birth
day, to make up for his want of propriety on
the oooasion above alluded to ? Wash. Cor.
ft is easy to start, but hard to stop, the cir
culation of a mischievous story. On the occa
sion alluded to, at Juflieu's concert, the writer
of these lines was present, and he, and others
whose words will not be questioned, noticed
that there was quite a number of persons l?o
sides the British Minister who did not rise du
ring the performance of the national air, and
that among them was one member, at least, of
the American Cabinet.
(CP" The New Vork Evening Post says that
Senator Chase struck, in Congress, the first
blow at the Nebraska Bill, and it was a bold
and powerful one. No ablt'r examination of
the whole question has yet uppeared.
1 be clergy do not seem to pay any attention
to the plaintivs remonstrances of the Washing
ton Union against fanaticism. The Worcester
Daily spy has the following paragraph:
" Anti-Nkbrasxa Preaching. ?- We learn
that moat of the preaohers in this city dis
coursed to their hearcrH,on Sunday last, against
the contemplated repeal of the Missouri Com
promise. R?v. I)rs. Hill and Sweetser spoke
out in their respective pulpits, as the olergy
Mould speak in a crisis like this. Rev. Dr.
Smallev repeated his discourse of the previous
Sabbath, on the same topic, at the Central
Church to a large and sympathizing audience,
on Sunday evening; and such was the eager
nessi ol the pnblic to hear, that hundreds were
unable to obft&io fidiiii&ttion."
Larox Salk or Nkoroks ? We learn from
?, ?ar'boru' Gazette, that Messrs. George W
and De Rosy Carroll, administrators of M. B.
arroll, deceased, sold on Tuesday sixty-seven
negroes, belonging to the estate of said deoeas
ed. A woman and two infant obildren sold
tor $1,800; a man for $1,600. The men sold 1
lor from $1,000 to $1,200 each; boys, 12 to 17 '
years old, for $800 to $5*00; and women for I
$800 to $1,000. This is the largest sale of ne- I
groes held in that county for many years. The
gross receipts of the sales amounted to $37 000 I
Terms cosh, or oity acceptance at four months.
Port Tobacco (ASd) Times.
Although aware that the largest portion of
our readers are not pecuniarily interested in
the market priccs of men, women, and children,
we doubt not there are many who will perute .
the foregoing with an interest of some kind.
" ?
A Grxat Diamond?One of the largest dia- j
monds known was deposited lately at the Bank
of Kpgland by a London house, to whom it was
consigned from Rio Jaueiro. Its weight is 254
carats, and its estimated value, according to
the scale, $280,000. It is said to be of the finest
water, and without Haw, and was lbuud by a
negro slave, who received his freedom as a re
ward.
If slavery is a blessing and freedom a curse
to the negro, why give him ? his freedom as a I
reward f"
The Legislature or Wisconsin have had be
fore thom the subject of opening Nebraska to
Slavery. Kesolntious condemning Douglas's
hill wore considered and debated mi the Win
consin Assembly, on tho lAth inst. Mr. Horn,
the Speaker, offered u substitute, affirming the
right of HluvcholdeiH to enter Nebraska with
their property; it wan laid on the table. Mr.
Know I Ion offered another again H agitation, and
in favor-of oomproiniHc; it wan lout bj thirty
four votes to twenty. Since Mr. Duuglaa and
bis associates call for agitation, the anHwer in,
let it ootne Finally the resolutions panned, to
be engnwted. by a vote of forty-seven against
twenty-six.
The Pittsburgh (iazette says that the amount
at issne in the Hint* brought in that city, for
the violation of the law prohibiting the issue
of bank note* under five dollar*, is from
$80,000 to ??0,000
? -" #
The American Telegraph Confederation,
oomposed of the representative** front all tho
Morse Telegraph linen in Amorioa. hold their
annual meeting in Washington city (?u the 6th
of March.
Mrs. Prinna, a widow, formerly well known
in I<ondon m Miwi Healey, aotren* and voeal
ist, has been scut to prison by tho Lambeth
magistrate, lor twenty one days, at her own
request, for being drunk in tho streets.
Constantinople baa been hemogtd twenty
four-times?eighteen times without success.
A man named Tonilinson was frozen (o
death, near Albany, on Monday. But rum ex
posed him to the danger.
Tho custom-house valuation of theoigars im
ported into the United States, last year, wa?
$3,311,935.
Miss (Greenfield (the " Black Swan") has
been singing at Liverpool.
OUTUABT.
Died at the house of her parents, near Adrian,
Michigan, the 10th of February, at 4 o'clock
P. M., of inHammation of the lungs, after an
illness of one week. Miss Phebk M. Ai.lkn,
yonngest daughter of Stephen and Deborah
Allen.
The subject of the above notice powessed u
mind nnoommonly mature and appreciating
(at her age,) with a discriminating moral smmh
Social in her intercourse, and highly converse
ble, rich in original thought, she neglectod no
opportunity of contributing to the comfort and
oneer of thorn she entertained ; thus drawing
a group of friends, who forme<l a oirole of de
light about her. Rntertaining a bright hope
of A Messed immortality, she bowed submissive
to the rod of affliction, and rearl the article ot
death with quiet composure. C. D. T.
WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH CHUJiCH
It would appear, by a late article in tbe
Edinburgh Review, that the wealth of the
English Church has Li en greatly exaggerated.
The whole number of parochial ministers is
| 17,155, including 4,885 curate*, who have, iu
; the aggregate, an muotno of ?3,479,460.
! About Jt'283 apiece id the average animal
I iucouie of the iuuiuubentd, exclusive of the
; ourates. Thin is but little above the average
inootne of the clergy of the Protectant Epia
oopal Churoh iu America, or even of the I'resby
terian Churoh, when the difference in the coat
of living, at* between England and the Uuited
States, in taken iuto consideration. Moreover,
theae incomes are more equitably distributed
than ia the popular imprcsbion. For instance,
out of the 12,270 benefices in England and
Wales, there are only one hundred and seven
ty-tour which amount to a thousand pouuda a
J ear, and only a thouaand which bring in live
undred ponnda a year. But a thousand
pounds in England will not go further than
half that amount here, aud live hundred
pounds will uot support a family better than
twelve hundred dollars. The emoluments of
the British olergy are, therefore, not bo very
much greater, after all, than those of their
brethren in the United States.
As compared with other professions in Eng
land, the'Churoh, according to the Edinburgh
Review, is really worst paid of all. That jour
nal instances a ease in which a re ttor receives
a thousand pounds a year, and proves that, af
ter making necessary deductions for poor rates,
charities, and inevitable charges on the in
oome, the nett amount is but ?625. The rec
tor in question, according to the Edinburgh
Review, has a brother who is a county judge,
and reoeivcH ?1,000 salary; but in this ca?o
the deductions ore slight, so that the nett in
oome is $950. The parallel, if oarried up to
the dignitaries of either profession, exhibits
similar results. There are twenty-eight bish
ops and archbishops in England, receiving in
comes of about five thousand pounds a year.
There are twenty-two principal judges, how
ever, who reooivo an average of six thousand
pounds apiece anuually. Moreover, these
twonty-eight mitres are competed lor by 17,155
clergymen, while for the twenty-two judge
ships, these competitors are but 4,000. Tho
chances of winning one of the greut u prizes "
is consequently four to one for a barrister as
against a clergyman. These statements are
verified by official documents, and correct ideas
about the English Cliurcb, which have been
widely disseminated, and whioh have often
brought it into undeserved discredit.
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.
Curious Cask.?It will be remembered by
the readers of the Dispatch, that in 1852 we
published a statement of the trial, in Jefferson
oouuty, of negro Heury, a slave, charged with
?tabbing and inflicting dangerous wound*
upon the body of Mr. H. A. Anderson. The '
oharge was sustained, and the prisoner sen
tenced to receive five hundred lashes, to bo
given not to exceed thirty-nine at any*one time,"
and under the direction of the physician of tho
jail.
In a late communication by Gov. Johuaon to
the Legislature, upon the subject of " Reprieves
and Pardons," it is stated that, according to
a petition fur pardon, presented by the owner
of the slave, twice thirty-nine lashes have been
indicted upon the prisoner, aud that the laat
whipping occurred more than a year ago. The
physician to the jail then resigned. The ouurt
then tendered the appointment to another phy
sician, who declined; then to another, aud eo
on to a fourth, who would not aot to carry the
sentence into execution. It was a part uf the
sentence that the whipping should be under
the direotion ot the physician, and the sheriff
refuses to execute the sentence without suoh
direotion. So there is no prospect of executing
the sentence, the owner is deprived of the ser
vice of his stave, and may loee him altogether.
He has no remedy. The Governor asks the
Assembly to provide some remedy, at least for
similar oases. We pcroeive that Mr Parker,
of the Senate, has offered a resolution having
that object in view.?Richmond Dispatch.
False Akcumknr.?It is said that if the
Missouri Compromise should be repealed by
the Southern members of Congress and others '
of their friends, the North will, in retaliation,
repeal the Fugitive Slave Aot, and make no
more compromises with the South about Sla
very. That there will be gnat dmmtimt at
the North, if the Mirsouri Compromise should
be repealed, we do not doubt; very likely, it
will be so great that she will nut return again
to Congress such of her members as voted for
its repeal. Nor have we any more doubt that,
in the event supposed, she would h# well in
clined to repeal the Fugitive Slave Act. But
she cannot, for the same majority that would
enable Mr. Douglas and his coadjutors to re
peal the Missouri Compromise, would also en
able them to prevtut the repeal of the Fugitive
Slave Aot. Their motives to do the oue, and
not let the other l*e done, would be precisely
the same ?Phil. Daily Register.
This proceeds on the supposition that the
North would lamely submit, as it always haa
done.?Ed Era.
Walkino on W ATKa.-?The perilous experi
ment of "walking on water" wo* recently
repeated, before a concourse. of Dohhn specta
tors, ky the Hon. Mr. Swift. This gentleman's
former experiment wan that of "walking" by
sea from Venice to Trieste, a tout by which
his life wan well nigh forfeited. 4o repeating
the attempt in Dublin harltor, between the
eostom-house and the pigeon-house fmt, he on
countered no risk, and was thoroughly suo
cetaful. His apparatus consists of twiMiir-tight
tin floats, twenty feet in length, tapering to a
narrow point at each end, and joined together
by bar* of iron. Standing on the floats, Mr.
Swift propels himself by a double-bladed oar
which he usee with great dexterity.
More Emancipation?The Augsburg Ga- .
zttle announces that the Emperor of Austria
has definitely signed the decreo uonminimntiug
the emancipation of the peasantry in Bohemia,
Moravia, Hungary, Serbia. Arabia, the Ban at,
and the Waiowod'ina, from all statute or *er
?ioe labor hitherto paid to the nobleman, or
original owner of the soil. The decree pre
scribes that the pensant shall roeeire a farm,
with the necessary buildings en it, m a word,
a homestead. :vs his own property. The worth
of It ? valued, leaving the per <ant to pay it on
easy terms, which are settled by a special com
mission, formal to mediate Ik the matter be
tween the nobles and peasantry, lueompleto
at this emancipation may be, it assnres inde
pendence to the I'eople, severs all the ties be
tween master and peasant, and redeems the
latter from the extortions and right of arbi
trary ejection, hitherto exercinod by the Ibrmer.
I The value o! the homestead once paid, the
peasant is free and wholly independent, master
I of his land, time, and labor. This we may eall
the best of the measures forced on the AuKtrian
Government by the revolution of 1848.
Forty two )>erson* were taken to the watch
house in Newark, N. J., ono night last week,
the greater part of whom were brought them
on account of intoxication.
Certain books are written, not to instruot
you, but to let yon know that the author knew
something.
There Is to be a gfeat mass meeting of the
people of Tompkins county, to protest against
th* Nebraska bill It will be held at Ithaos,
on the 2d of March.