citizen of Kansas, I sbojild have insisted on ibis policy, but I should certainly have desired a vote on the quest ion of slavery a proposed by the late convention, disconnected from ailz>ther subjects, in preference to a vote on the constitu iton as aw hole. Tor its action th* ron vent ion ha" been most roundlv abused : and I do no! intend to come to its defence, for from many of the details of its proceedings 1 riic-eni. But it would not be candid to contend that ?fie:e was nothing in the hearing of ihe enemies <>f the convention to impel it to filly exhaust, if no! to abuse, the authority with which it had been clothed. The incessant menaces of the violent leaders of the republican party, who, in my judgment, never desired to have (tie controversy settled, was calculated to do this. The declaration that they would not judge of (he merits ol any form of government it might make, tint would reject it, if possible, at the polls, for reasons mischievous and rebellious, was also calculated to produce such action. Nor i" it candid fo contend that this class of politicians in the Territory, and others out of it, when they dwelt on the impor tance of submitting the constitution to the test of popular favor, had relerence to disputes about railroads, banks, corporations, courts, legislative functions. The question —the all-absorbing, and the only question—was, shall Kansas be a free or slave State? I believe Governor Walker wpnt rnach further : and vet the very men who threatened to rebel on his hands at Topeka, and who put him through the shorter catechism of Kansas politics,,. never would have met him there, nor mentioned the name of constitution, had it not been for the question of slavery. Thev said it is true, for the idea of a separate submission had not then been raised but even they had no other question on their minds than that of whether Kansas should be a free or a slave State. Throughout this broad land this has been treated as the question, and the only one. That question the people of Kansas had an opportunity to settle in June last, by electing delegates to carry out their will. They are to have another to-day, by voting ori so much of the constitution as relates to that subject. After all that has been said about fraud and trickery touching this issue, the great overshadowing fact cannot be denied, that the people of Kansas have had two opportunities to make her a free State. lam aware, sir, that the registry of voters at the election in June was very defec tive ; but that was no reason why those who were registered should not vote. That com plaint, however, cannot be made as to the vote on the slavery article, fur no registry is requir ed, and every white citizen above twenty-one years of age can vote. I regard the registry as very imperfect : but I cannot understand tbe picture presented by Governor Walker in a recent letter addressed to the President. He ! undertakes to show that less than one-half of j the voters were registered when the delegates ! were elected, ami yet the records show that ■ over nine thousand names wete registered in i June, and that the whole vote for the congress- j ional delegate in October last, after an exciting 1 •contest, and a large increase of population, was only a little over twelve thousand. How this | •mystery is to be solved 1 cannot tell, but the statements are singularly contradictory. What my action may be on the question of! admission, should the new constitution be pre-! sented, I cannot precisely foresee. The case is nol y*\ luVW WvvW.j,,vO.* i>. veil wlOll ; a day may bring forth in Kansas. Those who ! are to conduct the election upon the slavery ! article have been vested with large and danger ous powers, the use ot which they may, if they j • choose, abuse to such an extent as to forbid the '■ •recognition of the result, whatever it may be. Jfut if that election be fairly conducted, I shall t feel required to vote for the admission of the ; State either with or without slavery. I should ! do this under the firm belief that it is the best ■ mode possible of putting an end to the existing ! strife; for, after all, when we look at this j question practically, it does not involve half so jjpuch as some would make us believe. When the State shall have been admitted, not only j slavery, but all other institutions, will be subject to be changed and remodeled by the people. J They can, if they please, do this within six naontlu after Kansas becomes a State, and enjoy the same opportunity, whenever they desire i it, forever thereafter. Why then contest the question as though the institutions under which the Sta'e may be admitted were to be, like the ' laws of the Medes am.' Persians, unchangeable > I know it is .alleged fha.' the constitution cannot be changed prior to lSb-1 ; but that view cannot be luaintasued. Without discussing the terms oi the schedule, which simply prescribes the mode : in which the constitution . hall be amended ! after ISflf, the bill of rights .'s conclusive oil | this point, ft declares that— "All polii.f.il junver is inherent in the people, [of jvan-as.j •**'.! .ill ire-*! govrrtiuienfs a.'e loumted on the;r authority, and instituted lor their benelit, and therefore they have at all times an inalienable and indt'teasible night to alter, reform, or abolish their form of government in such manner as .hey may tbir.k proper." The mode of voting has also been a subject of criticism. Tile honorable senator main tains that the elector must give his sanction to all the olher provisions of the constitution before be can enjoy the opportunity of voting for or against slavery. This is clearly a mistake. The ba'lui, "constitution with slavery," or "constitution without slavery," involves ontv the slavery clause. It is simply the question ! of whether Kansas shall be a fr-e or a slave ' Stale, under the general forms agreed upon by the constitution. That tin* was intended by the convention is made clear by its proceeding* 1 if they have been given tome accurate!v by a gentleman from Lecomptju. 11 is informa tion is, that, before the adoption of ttie Ibrru of voting, the sense of the convention was taken j on the proposition to submit the whole constitu- j tion to a vote of the people, which was deci ded in the negative, and never reconsidered. Subsequently, a motion to submit the slavery ' article was agreed toby a majority of two votes, j This view is clearly sustained by the proclama tion of the president of the convention, in which he says the vote shall be for or against the introduction of* slavery into th* State of! Kansas. The voting shall be by ballot, anci those ■ voting far Kansas a* a slave Stale snail vote a ! ballot with the words "constitution with sla- 1 very," and those voting for Kansas to be a free State shall vote a tiollot with the Words' "constitution witii no slavery." It must be | evident that if it had been intended to take the sanction of the elector on the whole consti- : tutioij, the ballot would have been **for" the i constitution. The honorable senator, and others I who take this view, will be the first to deny.! when the constitution is presented to Congress, that it has the sanction of the people. ° Rut the honorable senator has labored to main tain hi* position fey confounding the slavery j question with the .ordinary institutions of a civ i ilized community. Notice the extraordinary | character of the iollovving extract from his late i speech; "Sir, what would this boasted principle of popular sovereignty have been worth, if applied only to the and did not extend to the white mau I I)o you think we could have aroused the sympathies and tbe patriotism of this broad republic, and have carried the presidential election last year in the face of a tre mendous opposition, on the principle of extending the right of self-government to the m-gro question, hut ' denying it a> toall the relationsafferting v> bite inenf" * * * "Sir, J have spent too much strength | and breath, and money, too, to establish this great principle in the popular heart, riov to see it frittered away by bringing it down to an exception that ap plies to the negro, and does not extend to the beneist I of the white man." Now, Mr. President, can it be possible that j the senator I'rotn Illinois expected to make th i Senate and the Country believe that tile people 1 of Kansas are indebted to the famous organic act for their right to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property, and the ordinary institutions of a civilized community ? He scouts tbe idea that : the great principle of popular sovereignty i should be "frittered away by bringing it down | to an exception that applies to the negro, and not to the white man." Whatever tie may mean, his language is certainly calculated to make tbe impression that the Karisas-Nebiaska bill settled some dispute about the ordinary institutions of government in the Territories, i cannot agree, sir, that that view is either candid or allowaole. Who ever denied the right of the | people to make their ordinary institutions ? : When was (hat a question winch divided par- I ties, or shook the Onion to its foundation ? The ! simple truth is, that the question of'slavery, and j that only, was involved and considered in i passing the Kansas-Nebraska bill. It was to settle that dangerous sectional feud that tile jdoctiine of non-intervention was adopted. | The repeal of the Missouri line has in no way • affected the right ot the people to have all other ; domestic institutions either north or south of that line ; and when the senator asks what the i boasted principles of popular sovereignty would j have been worth if applied only to the negro, ! and "not to the white man," he utters a sen j timent which is unworthy of the subject. | What part aie negroes to have in the govern ; nient of Kansas, or who is proposing to restrict I any of the rights of the white man, unless it tie j himself, when he denies them the right to ! | make a government without the consent of | Congress { 1 know how presumptuous it is in I me to differ with that senator ; but i cannot forbear to deny that the question of railroads, I courts, banks, legislative functions, 6cc., were i many way involved in the repeal of the Miss- | ouri line, and the inauguration of the doctiine ' i of non-intervention ; and yet, sir, the senator j i has confounded the question of slavery, and that of the natural, inalienable, and undisputed rights of the people, in such away as to make | the impression, if jwssible, that ail these had i been granted, guarantied, and protected by a new bill of rights, adopted in 1854-, in "the shape of the Ivansas-Nebraska law. i hen, again, as the vote on the slavery clause, he says : "Let me ask, sir. is the slavery rtause fairly sub mitted, so that the people can vote for or a"eiiist it? Suppose I were a citizen of Kansas, and should go up to the polls and say, "I desire to make Kansas a slave State; here is my ballot." They reply to me, "Mr. Douglas, just vote for the constitution first, if you p|ea>e." *Oh, no! 1 cannot, conscientiously. " This, Mr. President, is hardlv nlaueiM*- ch inas e already shown trie tallacy of the sena tor's assumption, that the elector is to be re quired to approve the constitution entire, be fore fie can vote for or against slavery. I now propose to show that the senator's plan would be liable to nearly the same objections. He insists that the constitution, as a whole, should be submitted. Now, suppose this had been done with the slavery article in it, and he had made his appearance at the polls as a pro slavery man. Looking at the constitution, he finds that he cannot approve of the other pro visions. He says, "I wish to vote for slavery, but it is not possible that I can swallow the bank and tailroad scheme, and the plan for courts and corporations in this constitution. 1 cannot conscientiously do this; and I must be deprived of the right to establish slavery in the Territory. ' 1 hen suppose he appeared as a free State man: the constitution in the main is very acceptable to him, and lie is ex ceedingly anxious to approve it, but it contains the provisions recognizing slavery, which lie cannot approve: and again he is driven from the polls. It will he s-en how easy it is to complain; but how w ill the senator "guard a- i I gainst the repetition of similar hardships, under I any law Congress may pass? Certainly, lie will 1 not propose to prescribe all the action of the ; people in convention. This has never been done j and never can be done. The truth is, that the j senator, in his ardor to maintain what he con ceives to be ajust position, has been driven into the use ol abstract technicalities, and, in more instances than one in this discussion, has dwelt Upon alleged wmugs in the proceedings of the Lecomption convention, against the repetition of which he can in no way protect the people. In another pari of his speech the honorable j senator remarks: i "But I atn beseeehed to wait until 1 hear from the ; ele.-t.on on the 2l sf December, lam told That pernaps that will ;„,t u all right, and will save the I whole difficulty. How .an it/ Perhaps there may be a large vote. There may be a large vote return . *d. ? [Laughter.] Here, again, n is dilficult to determine what lie means to ailege. He says "there rnav he a Ji-rge vote returned." His language would seem to in. ply an imputation upon somebodv or pow er con/lected with the election. Upon whom is it to nil? Not upon his friend, John Cal houn, whom lie has endorsed to one of the de partments in this citv as a worthy and compe tent man fo' surveyor general. From whence, then, is the .'rand to come? No department of the government here will have an opportunity to do this, ana none would embrace it. Then where is it to be practised? By those who con duct the election in the Territory? How they may act, I cannot say; but i| there are no hon est men in Kansas to hold the election, then the senator cannot h3ve a fair election under his proposed remedy; unless, indeed, he has conclu ded that the republicans out there have more honesty than his own party friends. He will be slow to say, however, that men who have re sisted the laws from the beginning, and so often incurred his just indignation for their folly, "are more reliable than the democratic party. I can only sav that, if he thinks this, he has changed his esiimate of tiie chaiacter of both parties within a brief period. But, he this as it may, the senator ha. lamented an ev;l which he cannot remedy. Then, again, he savs " care not how the vote may stand. J take it for granted that it will be voted o nt. I think I have >een enough in the last three rfays to make ,t cer tain that u will be returned out, no matter how the vote may stand." [Laughter^ Here is a second edition of anticipated fraud. . neard with pain and regret these words a? -ft bey fell from the senator's lips. How does he know that the slavery article will be "returned I out," no matter how the vote may stand? VVhal i had the senator seen within three davs to force j this conclusion upon his mind? If be hasknowi j edge of a scheme of base fraud to cheat the pe<> pie, or to impose on Congress, I know he is the man to develop it. and when so developed, no jinan will go further than myself to punish the offenders. It he cannot do this, then whv allude to it at all? Why, in this unhappy manner and offensive spirit, cast imputation upon those who have been, and are still, his friends? I can readily perceive—and it is that j which I most regret—how such a sentiment from so high a source is calculated to produce discontents and clamor about real or imaginary wrongs when the result shall have been ascer tained. It is virtually an invitation to ma Icons i tents to continue the strife. Ihe honorable senator, in his diligent efforts to render the doings of the Lecompton convent tion odious, has dwelt on that clause oi the proposed constitution interdicting the mi? g r aiiou i f free negroes to Kansas. He was can| did enough to admit that the constitution of liii own State contained the same inhibition: and] we all know that tbe Topeka party, by a )>opuf ; lar vote, have instructed the legislature to pash a law to the same effect. But the senator shoufr have done "the Lecompton concern," as he'j ; pleased to term it, the justice to sav, that at ; this point, at least, it had conformed to the pop I ular will; for both parties have spoken again! i the admission of free negroes. Nor has he evt? told us that his native State, Vermont, practif ed that great measure of wrong upon the pea ! pie, it wrong it be, of asking admission for tfr : State before the people had voted on the con stitutioo; nor that his adopted State came ink the Union without an enabling act half so g ;ol as the Kansas-Nebraska law; and that thissam- State, no longer since than lS4S,set the exam ple for the late action of Kansas by submittal; a part of the constitution to a vote of tlr j people. | The senator will pardon me for looking a lit tle further into his views. In an address dt. liveredat Springfield on the 12th of June las, i touching Kansas affairs, he says : j "Kansas is about to speak for herself througl i her delegates assembled in convention to fori! | a State constitution, preparatory to admissio* | into tile Union.' "I be law under which her i delegates are about to be elected is believed t) i be just and fair in ail its objects and purposes' j "There is every reason j to believe the law will be fairly interpreted and i j impartially executed." * * * ♦ "The election law is acknowledged to be fair j and just, and the rights of the voters are clearlt 1 defined, and the exercise of those rights will be efficiently and scrupulously protected." Then, again, he says ; "The organic act secures to the people of! Kansas the sole and exclusive right of forming and regulating their domestic institutions to suit themselves , subject only to the Constitution of the United States." He denounces all neglect of, or resistance to, the movement for a convention, and says, that if a portion of the people refuse to vote for del- i egates, and Kansas should become a .slave State ' through their neglect, upon them should the responsibility fall. I should prefer to give Ihp 1 1 - • *-vU. , 0v tend my remarks to so great a length. \6w* lot us turn to what he said in the Senate the other day: "It you apply these principles to the Kansas ' convention, you find that it had no power lo do any act as a convention forming a government; you find that the act calling it was null and void trom the beginning: you find that the leg islature could confer no power whatever oil the convention. I hat convention was simplv an assemblage ol peaceable citizens, under the Constitution of the United States, petitioning for the redress of grievances, and, thus assern- i bied, had the right to put their petition in the | form of a constitution if they chase ; but still it ; was only a petition, having the force of a peti : tion, which Congress could accept or reject, or dispose of as it saw proper. That is what 1 un j derstarid to be just the extent of the power and authority of this convention assembled at Le -1 compton." How to reconcile these sentiments I cannot see In the Spiingfield speech, he says, "Kan sas is about to speak for herself through dele gales assembled in convention to form a State constitution," and that the law under which her delegates were about to be elected is believ ed to be just and fair in all its objects and pur poses. In the Senate, he says : "'Von fiml that the act calling it [the convention] was null and void trom the beginning: you tind the legislature could confer 110 power whatever on the convention." Then, again, at Spring field, he says : '•The organic act secures to the people of Kansas the sole and exclusive right of forming and regula -1 ting their domestic institutions to suit themselves, subject only to the Constitution of the U. States." In the Senate, he says that the convention, ' which was, from its very nature, an assemblage jof the people, through their representatives, •"was simply an assemblage of peaceable citi zens, under the Constitution of the U. States to petition for the redress of grievances;" | which petition Congress could accept, or reject, jor dispose of as if saw proper. Comment is scarcely necessary. Jf the right of the people I in the matter of making a government for them selves be limited only by the constitution, as ; claimed by the senator in ft is Springfield speech, I should like to know where he finds the au thority for congressional interference. Nor can I see how he could designate a law as just and fair in all its purposes, which he at Ihe same time field to be "null and void from the begin ning;" or what he could mean by saying that Kansas is about to speak for hersell, holding at the saine time that she cannot speak at all with out the permission of Congress. But this is not all, sir. I want to call atten tion to another view of this Springfield speech, which 1 have before nie. Ihe honorable sena tor has maintained in this body that the failure on the part of the convention to submit the con stitution to the approval of the people, is a reason why the State should not be admitted: and yet, in this Springfield address, though made after Ihe appearance ol the inaugurals of Governor Walker and Secretary Stanton, no reference whatever is made to a vote on the con stitution. He made special note of the elec tion for delegates, but nowhere hinted that there was to be an election on the constitution after it was formed by that convention. If he knew the law calling the convention to be null and void,' and that the convention would not be vested witfi authority to make a consti tution and State government, I can hardly see how he could fail to say so. I may be mista- j ken, but it seems to me that, as the statesman ! above all others who has had this subject in I e harge, and the people of Kansas in keeping, j ie might have admonished them of the mistake t liev were about to make, or at least hinted to e hem that their proceedings, though not against - aw, were irregular, and could be of no avail. - . can hardly imagine tow the senator could e lave refrained from doing this. Nor do 1 see 0 low he could sav to the tree Stale men that, if e hey neglected to vote for delegates, Kansas / would become a slave Slate through their rieg- V lect. if he at the same time held that the dele j gates which were to he elected would have no sright to make a constitution of any kind. Hold ting now that the question of railroads, batiks, fand corporations must be voted upon by the e people before the State can come into til" Uni f on, is it not a little singular that, at the oppor tune date of his Springfield speech, fie failed -to drop the remotest hint that it was necessary that the people should vote on these questions, soron even the all-absorbing question ofdomes - tic slavery—the only question that ever was 1 involved in the affairs of Kansas? Whilst the • senator was notifying the free state nv-n of Kun s sas of their rights and privileges, and the mode by which they could prevent Kansas from be coming a slave State, is it not strange that he failed to inform them that they would have an oppo rtuity of voting down the slave constitution, when submitted to them for ratification, if at that time he held such a submission was essen tial to its validity? But where are our friends on the other side to be found on this new issue? They cannot object to the informalities and irregularities at Lecompton, fur they have contended for noth ing else at Topeka. They have urged the ad mission of Kansas as a State on the proceedings of a party convention, gotten up without the color of law, and in derogation of the authority of the territorial and United States government. Nor, indeed, can they complain that all the people have not had an opportunity to partici pate in the decision on the slavery question ; for it was an article in their faith, declared in the Fremont convention, that not only a por tion, but all the citizens, should be deprived ol this right. They claimed the right for the peo ple of the States, acting through Congress, which was virtually saying that those who did nut go to Kansas should iuflence that decision, and that those who did go should have no rep resentation on this subject. Mr. President, lam nearly done with this j ! subject. I have mainly followed the senator j j from Illinois. Without sitting down to syste- ! J matize my views, I have pursued the several j I topics pretty much as lie, presented them. On ! ! some points I may have fallen into error: on i others perhaps J may have manifested too much j ! feeling; but I beg to say to the Senate, and es- j pecially to the senator from Illinois, that I have ! i in this matter but performed what I conceive to j ibe simply a light and a duty on my part as a | senator. Whilst having laid down those rules and prin ciples which are the result ol my humble judg- ! rnent alter all the reflection I could give the ! subject, 1 shall, above all things, be controlled by a desire to give peace to the country, and to j silence forever a dangerous feud that ai limes menaces the stability of our great government.' What I mean to say is, that if the exigency ari ses, there shall be on my part no want of con cession or compromise that w ill secure the ad justment ofthis unhappy controversy; nor will * , the great question which is the leading idea in this discussion. No man shall say, because of the remarks I have made, that lam against giv ing the people the right to make their own laws,\ or that 1 would circumscribe the use of those great inalienable and fundamental rights which lie at tlie foundation of our republican system. I intend no such tiling; but considering this quest ion in all its bearings, I have been impres sed with the belief that it was an exigency which should be disposed of at the first reason able opportunity, by admitting Kansas as a; Stale. Sir. it is painful to reflect on the aspect of this question. Ido not know what may be in progress in Kansas at this moment. If any thing I have said on this occasion, has minister ed to Iheagitation which exists there to-day, and which some fear may approximate to civil war, I pray forgiveness. I stand pledged to unite with the senator from Illinois in the patri otic sentiments which he uttered when lie de clared his desire to secure to the country peace on the slavery question. It has been magnified at every step; it has been aggravated every hour; and now, alter a struggle of four years, the aspect is worse than ever. How are we to settle it! One party in Kansas is acting in a rebellious spirit, without authority oflaw: anoth er lias attempted to mak*- a constitution by au thority of law, and under the supervision of the federal government. We are to have, per- ! haps in a very few* days, a contest between these i propositions. When that contest shall come, I know where the senator from Illinois will be. He will go with those who have acted accor i ding to law*. I think I know him well enough • to know that he estimates the recognition of resistance to law or rebellion as one of the most unhappy incidents that could be connected with legislation at Washington. I have said all that I desire to sav, except, simply, that whatever is to come out of this un happy embroglio in future, 1 feel authorized to j pledge myself first to the maintenance of justice and principle, and then to every reasonable concession to give peace to the country. are pleased to see that our voting friend B. F. LEADER, has been appointed Assistant Post Master at this place. Frank is a good Democrat and a graduate of the Gnzett office. Hjp-Jt was our good fortune to be invited to dinner at the "Bedford Hotel," on New Year's day. Col. Hafer sets a table tiiat is hard to be beaten. hundred revolvers have been sold in Lancaster since the Manheim tragedy. !CP*l be Neiv-Y or'; papers say that there is more gold and silver in circulation in that citvat Ihe present time, than was ever before known. [LP*Jt costs the New York Central Railroad Company one million three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year for wood. TP"Lucy Stone refuses to pay taxes at Orange \. \ ~on the old revolutioary principle of "no taxation without representation,"and the collec tor is about to levy on her goods. Backer will be inaugurated as Governor 011 Tuesday the 19th ol January. !IP"Col. Gearv, one of the ex-Governors of Kansas, is in Washinglon, and, we see it stated, is decidedly favorable to the President's policy in relation to that Territory. Jlllili BLACK ON W AKfIINtiTON, Dec. 2.0, ]S">7. (J'entltwen :—1 am honored by yonj invitation to ttie meeting of Monday next. I cannot lie there, but I believe your | urpose lobe just, and I trust J at" not without a good reason for the faith that if wifhin me. If the President has done his iity Well, his fellow-citizens ought to express tii'ir approbation freely. That he has meant well for his country, will not be denied by any reasonable man who knows him He has no object of earthly ambition, except to per form the functions of bis good office, so that when he retires from it he may read his history in the eyes of a contented and prosperous nation. What has lie done in this affair of Kansas that is worthy of death or bonds? Difficult, com plicated, and entangled as that subject has al ways he.n. wherein has he failed to meet it like a patrioticsfatesman ? Let his accusers stand forth and specify what act he has committed which should frfeit the confidence of the Demo cracy in " tlie leader they love, and the chief they admire." When his Administration !>pgan he found a portion of Kansas like Utah, in a state of organi zed and open rebellion against the laws. The most infamous crimes had been habitually com mitted. Murder, arson and robbery were com mon things. Some of the immigrants were bad inen, andtu'ent there for base piurposeg. They would t>efriled by nothing but t'le baronet ; and according!! two thousand bayonets were sent there to lo j p them in order. But the very la test advices show that even the presence of the army has not been sufficient to awe them iuto submission,or prevent (turn from committing the most atrocious outrages. The natural desire of the President's heart, and every honest heart in the country, was to put an end to the reign of terror, conflagration and blood as soon as possible, am t) substitute in its place the supreme and peaceable rule ul the law. The army might do for a while, but it was a rii-grace to the American fume that a military force was ne cessary to kep one portion of the people from cutting me "throats- of another. It was plainly seen by every one who took the trouble lo think about it, that no progress could be made in suppressing tlie.se disorders, while the came and the excuse for them remain ed. So far a> they were not prompted by the mere 1 lie of p!und> r and blood, th-*y were tlie offsprings ofone relentless feud, one fatal dis pute, arising out of a single subject, and that subject was negro slavery. This split the peo ple asunder, and made them hate each other with tlie deepest intensity of hatred. There was 110 other divison among them. Every band of combatants was ranged under a pro-slavery or an anii-slaveiy banner. Every violent act of aggression or defence was by one of these par ties against the other. When a life was lost the news of the victim's death was always accom pany d by a slatementof the side he had taken on tbe slavery issue. It a general riot took place the killed and wounded were enumerated accor ding to their classification on this question. The abolitionists organized their party into the form of a State government, with all its machi neiy, civil and military, and ranging themselves under it they swore fierce defiance and deadly hostility to the regularly constituted authorities of the United States, simply because of their views on slavery. This was not all. The con- • .t.' K.V-H tjw.i. rvimsas tome uttermost ends of (he country. It became a great section al controversy and everywhere the burden of all that was said and sung upon it was slavery. The union itself was in dan.e ;;n 21 ea! &. immi nent danger— no one dreamed of ascribing that danger to any cause except the unsettled con dition of tile slavery quest ion in Kansas. In these unhappy circumstances, the legal and satisfactory settlement of this exasperating dispute was a consummation most devoutly to he wished. To extirpate this root of bitterness was the first tiling to be done towards pacifica tion. But how was it to be effected ? Our political opponents thought and 1 suppose are still of the same opinion that the people of the ! nited States, through their representatives in Congress, might decide it without consulting Kansas, whose people, according to their theory, should be treated with utter contempt. But the Democratic party determined to leave it with those who alone were directly concennd in it. This latter doctrine was triumphantly sustained in Congress, at the polls and by the judiciary. After that the General Government could do no more than protect the people of Kansas in doing the work assigned them. How they should do it, by what agents or organs, w as not prescribed; they were to do it 11 in their own way"—by such representatives as they might see proper to choose. But unfortunately the Abolition party had become so rancorous that the olive branch was offered them. Ih y insulted and blasphemed j the laws which left the matter to their own decision.— rhe regularauthorities could do no more than give all a fair chance of voting. The : Legislature first passed a law submitting the • question of "Convention" or "no Convention" ; to a popular vote. The next Legislature alter wards in accordance with the known wishes of the people, and by virtue of their own rightful authority, enacted another law for, the election of delegates to a Convention. The delegates were chosen at a fair and free election, after a lull notice to all the voters. Whether the vote was large or small, it is not possible to deny the right of those who were chosen. To say that a portion of the electors by absenting them selves from the polls could invalidate an elec tion otherwise legal St regular, is simply absurd. 1 he members ol the Convention thus chosen met at Lecompton, and then was raised the new alarm that the delegates, or some of them, intended to make a siave Constitution in opposi tion to what they knew to be the will of the people. While the President saw* that he had no right to interfere between the people of Kan sas and their own representatives, and while lie knew very well what was known to every oth er lawyer and statesman in the country, that it was for the Convention to shape the Constitu tion and to decide upon the form of its submis sion, he nevertheless expressed his opinion fiee ly, that in the circumstances of the case, and with reference to that question of slavery, the Constitution ought to be submitted. It was submitted—so submitted that ifthere was a ma jority opposed to slavery, they had nothing in the world to do but go to the polls and sav so. But the moment the Abolitionists saw Ihe whole disposition ofthe slavery subject placed in their own hands, they abandoned apparently all their hostility to it. They will not conde scend, not they, to vote on a question so trifling. The principle for which thev were willing to drench the country i n blood,'has all at once be come too insignificant to be worth a ballot. Something else in the organic law never thought of before, and not specified even now, has sud denly become so important in their eyes that daw, doth tfep®e ami say, Ibat Si;, 1 was a victim tothat worst ol IN■ IMIIIIMIIII ii WMII , ' all( j Ilia! i„ its worst form. My tely e nre > a " tl when > ort3er tu the slavery f orc e myself to swallow a I hern for attfle stomarh would immediately n-vv and un.h fo.'h with *he .pitH®. AJbj . . . ' jth th* ague; each atTack bo redressed |W(flvPf s0 lb at, with perfectly Cleßr , t [ vvas reduced as 1 thought prompted either ight 1 must die, my physician else by hypocrisy l* h was n, y con.'iT'ori, wh-n / ' „ ■ vith a bottle of his nr>- frjyT- ■ ' ,n s mr ' w ° ik a If the Convention ho- with littl** confidence, make a Constitution wiUt was its restoia- whole of it to a popular Void, ,0 return, my, tut ion ought to be treated as a n^""' d whosoever denies the general powero from a pie to clothe their representatives with'/iY? thority to make a Constitution binding on them selves and their constituents, knows not where of he affirms. All reason as well as precedent is against him j'be power of the Lecompton Convention was certainty not restricted, except on the sub ject of slavery. But if its members abused f t-i r authority by fraudulently inserting anv other provision which they knew to be wrong or be lieved to be disapproved by their constituents and dishonestly refused to submit it them, it should be regaided with the contempt due to a cheat. But where is the evidence of anv such fraud ? The Convention had no motive to com mit it. They and their constituents did not dif fer on the necessity of having a Constitution, nor on any but one subject embraced within its provisions. On every other subject the una nimity of opinion was as perfect as it ever w, in any ol those States where a Constitution not submitted at all. It is easy enough lo these men, but a fair minded person will rirtt. accuse them without proof, nor suspect them in the absence of a motivp. For myself, I think it uas not unfair, certainly no! fraudulent, tor them to adjust all the undisputed points of their Government by the exercise oftheir delegated authority and to leave the subject on which there was division to a fair vote nithe people. The President seeing a Constitution about to be established for Kansas by legal authority, u hat could he do'? He might regret some things that were done—he might disapprove of others —he might wish that it had been different in many respects; butslili it was the lawful work ot a lawful body. Could he set it aside f Could he order the election not to be held un der it ? Could he drive the people awav from the polls? He had no more power to do anv of these tilings than he had to veto an act of the Pennsylvania Legislature. Since then there was to be an e]ectonon the direct question of slavery, and an opportunity given fur a full show of hands, he expressed hi* wish fervently and freely that all the people, laying aside their animosities and prejudices, should come to the polls and there peacefully decide a question which, as long as it remained open, would produce nothing but excuses for crime and rebellion, lie believed that a decis ion of the question by a clean majority of votes would give peace and order to Kansas, and with a!! his heart he wished her to enjoy those bles sings, even though she should purchase them at the expense of postponing the adjustment of other points to a future and more propitious time. If these sentiments have caused the op jjosition to abuse him it cannot be helped ; if they have afflicted the conscience of any honest man, lam sorry —if any intelligent Democrat misunderstands them, an appeal to his reason an.li i Oof h*rr r'.iib* Ol ono thing I am sure : that James Buchanan is the last public man in the country who need fear the place which will be assigned to him in the his tory of these proceedings: and tfiis will be pro ved to the heart's content of all who live lone enough to see the accounts made up. I am, with great respect, vours, See., J. S. BLACK. u. W. BEN FORD. JJ. f, MEYERS. BEWFORD k MEYERS, Attorneys at Law. Bedford, Pennsylvania. M ill prompt/ if attend to all legal business en trusted to their care. [Jan. 8, 1858.] LOOK HERE! The subscribers wilt sell at private sale, their '.veil known farm on which thev at present reside, containing 250 f acres of land, and hav ing thereon erected a good dwelling-house plas tered within and without, with a kitchen at tached thereto, a double log barn and wagon shed with other sheds, good hog-house and also a good granary house. There is a never failing spring of good fresh water at the house also a tine orchard of bearing fruit trees, and young orchard hearing lor two years past, about i of a mile from the dwelling. There is, likewise, another good dwelling house, one mile from the one just mentioned, which is at present occupied by a tenant, and has near it a good orchard of apples, plums and cherries, and a spring of good cold water that never fails, at the door. A stream of water flows through the whole farm, the distance ol one mile, which is sufficient to drive a saw-mill six months in a year: a saw mill site was leveled on it last spring. There is good timber on the place for sawing, that will! last for years to come. One hundred acres are cleared ; thirty acres are in meadow and a good' quantity more can be made. The farm lies 2 miles West of Schellsburg and i mile from the turnpike leading to Pittsburg, adjoining landsof John Bowser and Hairy' Egulph, in Napier Township, Bedford county, Pa. JOHN* R. MOWRY. ANDREW MOWRY. Jan., 1, 185 S. NOTICE. ALL persons are hereby notified not to meddle with the following described property which belongs to me, the subscriber, and which was left, in my own discretion, to the care of Sam uel C. Longenecker, in Middle Woodberrv !;>• viz: one bay mare, one biack horse, one sorrel,, two bays and one black colt, three cows (two. red and one white spotted) one heifer, two year ling calves, (one white and one red,) two red calves, twelve sheep, (7 ewes and 5 lambs from last spring) six fat hogs, four shoats, one car riage for double and single use, one two horse wagon, three setts of horse gears,one sett har ness, one saddle and bridle, one windmill, two ploughs, one harrow, three shovel ploughs, (two single and one double) one bureau, one cup board, one cooking and one ten-plate stove, 115 bushels of corn in the ear, 150 bushels of wheat, 200 bushels of oats, 175 bushels ofirye, 7 bush als of cloveiseed, 6 tons of hay, also all the grain in the ground on the farm on which S. C. Longenecker resides, containing about 17 acres, and divided in three fields. SIMON BEARD. Woodberry, Jan. 1, 1858.
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