li£ MLLAR PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA :
Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862.
| olitital.
.UUIIIOX Ot' bIiVUIY 111 THE DISTRICT OF
1 COLUMBIA.
tPEECH OF SENATOR LANDON.
SiMTE, Wednesday Afternoon, I
March 12, 1362. j
Tbe Senate re-assembled ut 3 o'clock, and
-ccteded to the consideration of Senate bill
s* 3°3 joint resolutions relative to tht-aboli-
JJ* very in the District of Columbia,
i e SPEAKER stated the question to be
cn tie amendment of Mr. Clymer, offered the
cur previous.
KJ3UBKSOF HON. GFORGE LANDON, IN PEPLT TO
SENATORS LAEBERTON AND CL\ Mn-R
Mr. LANDON Mr. SPEAKER: I merely
r j S e to introduce the discussion this afternoon
lu the few remarks 1 desire to make. The
other day 1 had my say upon this subject, and
occupied as much of the time of the benate as
would properly belong to me. I said all that
T intended to say ; and i may add, that 1 de
sirrd to soy at the time —not exhausting the
Hihjtct at a II, merclv giving my views in gen
c -a!. But alter the extraordinary positions
■ ken by the Senator Irom Berks, us well us
■ democratic colleague, toe Senator Irom
Clarion, yesterday, I feel constrained to ask
s further indulgence of the Senate for a short,
The specific amendment offered by the
• natnr from Berks, (Mr. Clymer,) allows the
:iion of slavery in the District of Columbia
... i d the assent of the people of s dd District
■rf' it tit ate of Jla> yUnd shall It Jirsl
t.UV'ed.
I; i> ;s but tbe n hash of an old, stule dish,
I ;st lit ion, for the ten-thousandth time, of
|.,t riuli-Mii-gnstitig ditty. It has been the
I uii • .-specially ot the party to which the
I.i'i,ui' r from Berks belongs, never to do any-
Idiiiig of any special importance, never to take
iDt politically impoitant or national step,
without adding that very amendment—"pro
• i;d the consent of ilia slaveholding S'ates
.-an be aud will be obtained." If their consent
- obtained and their privilege secured, then
• ey venture to proceed ; but if the consent of
v.,e slaveholders were not obtained, if they
i nitred anc > prosequi, then all proceedings
mast be quashed. 1 his in times past has been
riw Hifcdi.' rule of the party to which the gen
t :-rvan belongs, und too much the rule of the
who. country, it is now time that we took
t ir-sel of higher and uctler authority.
.S-' .itur,- ip'ju the other side make an egre
r :is mistake in their pcculiur mode of arguing
tn-.-se questions at this time. They speak of
tum-ry, of the constitutional r.g'.ts of slave
alders, of the obligation of the tree S'n'cs to
r >i •ct these tights, precisely as they did five
rears go. f getting entirely the change of
f rcinnfiiances, the change of i->sue, of means
and necessities. Why, sir, but last night 1
saw stalwort men enter private dwellings in
this town, and seize and carry into the streets
beautiful and valuable furniture. Under other
circumstariues the net would have been a
breach of the peace, an indictuule offence : but
as it was, —the /l imes crackling and curling
hard by—the act was a justifiable and merito
rious one Sentiments and deeds that five
tears ago would have been inexcusable, are
ll.Off not only justifiable, but an absolute ueces
•ty To have suspended then tbe writ of
hubtas corpus, would have been intolerable ;
i.o* it is praiseworthy. To have committed
wen to prison then, without judge or jury,
v J iuve been horribly despotic ; now the
aiange of circumstances makes it un act of de
Urisiued patriotism. Then slavery bowed sul
en!? to the supremacy of the general govern
ment, and we awarded it all its constitutional
guarantees ; cow it rears its head in treason*
able defiance to tiiat government, and we have
nothing to promise it but constitutional pr.nal
Kits. Is it not strange that men have become
*3 infatuated respecting the rights of slavery ?
It is not only strange, but painfully amusing
They urge on the destruction of shipping, the
t 5-cation of material property, the butcher
'i of traitors ; but when we reach the cause
' ait our troubles, they raiue their hands in
y horror, and cry halt ! As well might
fite.nen command, "out with the furniture,
vn with the walls, but take heed that you
''o i.ot throw water upon the flames." i sub
t.;; tbtt such augmentation is not only falla
cious, but puvrile.
.:n the mariner is enveloped in the storin,
•t i> wise in hiru to look carefully to the posi
tion and course of his vessel. Imitating his
v.\cii-e, al: 0 w me to state my precise position
; r the subject under discussion ; and then,
1 can, to s v.e the position of Senators upon
(Lt '' ,r side. This will euabie us to move on
ondersta/it/.f^lj
F* corny long years I have regarded the
*s/iieui of slavery as morally wrong ;
s ' h p 'c<- believed that all moralists were not
y justiliiiblf, but bound to bring ail po>sible
E ' jra: a l'piauces to bear upon the institution,
gb tt*ii the masses, elevate public ooiniou,
•i. us:or as possible, to ameliorate the con
iof the slave hirmelf. But under our
i "j'compact, I never could sec how we
toaij legislate it out of existence, so long as
~ u |'i' ders bowed to the behests of the Con
of ilm; land. The adoption of such a
u.'se of interference would be but another
tame for revolution. But now, when the de
-tUers of the institution themselves have ig
u your Constitution and ail your govern
mental pcrogattves,inaugurating both rebellion
revolution, I meet them upon their own
- 'en ground, aud claim that they shall take
"' e consequence®.
Congress should abolish slavery in the Dis
•ll of Colombia upon terms equitable and
-• 1 Trien they should declare the slaves of
a . rebels f reCi a8 t [ ie y veritably re ; and I
'" 9 sophistry of a Berks lawyer to prove
j-t contrary. This being doDe, some plan like
3 oae recommended by the President, should
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
be adopted for the removal of slavery from
the loyal slaveholding States. With our eye
upon the future, we should, when the proper
time comes, provide a separate home and pro
visional government for these millions of unfor
tunate beings ; saying to tbe school teacher
aud the missionary, " come on with your books
luid appliances aud help us evangelize and ele
vate this race."
Such would be my plan ; and such a course
strikes cay judgment as philanthropic and God
like. It not only awards justice to whom jus
tice is due, but it promises tbe permanent
peace and salvatiou of the country.
The mode of removing this evil may be a
debatable subject ; hut the absolute necessity
of the removal itself, is as fixed and certain as
fatulity. We find ourselves to-day as a nation
floundering in a sea of troubles, with the mon
ster slavery, heavier than a mill stone, lashed
to our necks ; uud the very waves that surge
and dash abrut us are conjured up by the mad
dened struggles of our giant enemy. The great
question we have to meet is this : shall we
break the chain—swim ourselves, but sink the
enemy—or hold the chain and both go down
together. For myself, I fall back upon na
ture's first great law, self-defence, and would
save the uatiou by destroying that which seeks
its life.
On the contrary, the position of Senators
who adreessed us yesterday is this: Congress
should not abolish slavery in the District of
Columbia. They admit that Congress has the
power, but they deny to it the justice, right
aud expediency. They have averred, in the
next p.ace, that instead of declaring the slaves
of rebels free and taking initiatory steps for
the ultimate freedom of the slaves of loyalists,
the seceded Slates are to come back into the
Union as aforetime, with ail their iinmun : ties,
all their institutions, and associations, and that
slavery with its slave representation in Con
gress, with the lash and bowie knife, with the
1) mueratic party as a necessary appendage,
like tbe tail of a Behemoth, shall be restored
to its former pride and domination. Ilere we
stand, facing each oilier. I plead for tlie just,
legui, certain suppression of this institution ;
they plead for it> perpetuation ad infinitum
Upon this basis 1 uin willing to go to the
country—uxn it, I am willing to meet them
here, elsewhere, or anywhere.
What a beautiful perpective nmst arise to
the imagination of Senators as they throw
their glance along the track way of coming
ages, and see this petted i stitution of theirs
(which they desire to baptize into an earthly
immortality) striking its roots deeper info the
heart of the nation, lifting its boughs hicher,
and spreading them wider aud still wider over
thj land, withering, blasting, damning every
crren thing within the circle of its shadow
It may be poetical to them—it is not to me.
Looking upon it with sickening heart, I can
only exclaim with England's liberty loving
poet : " Hail horrors 1" I tru-t a better fate
is in store for us. That Providence which
gleaned all Europe for good seed with which
to plant the continent originally, and stood by
the fathers during a seven years struggle for
freedom, has doue too much for th s country
to aliow ruthless tyrants at last to bury ii alive,
and riot upon its sepulchre. The country will
not be ruined until the people of the free
States consent to its des'ruction When they
restore and perpetuate slavery, their consent is
given, the die rast, the deed done. Y'ou have
then, only to wait in melancholy mood for the
iiitter harvest of retributive justice. If that
harvest fail to come, then are the laws of na
ture reversed, and the divine government a
failure.
Allow me now, sir, to notice more specific
ally the positions taken and principles arivo
rated by the Senators from Berks and Clarion.
They both agree in having great sympathy tor
Iota! men in the South. How eloqueutly they
dilated upon tlie trials ana devotion of such
men, whose heart of hearts, they affirm, is
with the Union and with us, notwithstanding
their dangers, persecnlions and sufferings ; aud
those S nators appealingly inquire if we can
have the hardihood to crush down the rights
of such men. I aoswer, No ! Those gentle
men shall not surpass me in doing homage to
patriotic loyalty in this day of struggle. But,
in reply, I ask them to-day and here if they
are prepared to respect and regard the rights
of all loyalists in the South ? Will they abide
by their own affirmed principles? When they
find meu by the thousand in Carolina—men
with brawny muscles, with marrow in their
bones, and prayers for the country's success
in their beurts—men ready to lay their all
upou the altar of that country, help fight its
battles and share its victories—men who dodge
pistol balls and swim rivers to get within our
army lines—when they meet with such, I wish
to know if they will recognize their loyalty
and guarantee their rights. When tle Buru
side expedition was winding its way through
the serpentine channel, among islands and
shoals, who guided the expedition? A colored
man. When your forces reached Hilton Head,
who was it that came there witL important
tidings ? Colored men When your army was
marching upon the savannahs of the west, who
followed that army and whispered in their car
of the schemes, plans and machinations of the
rebels? Loyal colored men. Yet gentlemen
tell us, "you must restore the States to their
former position, with all rheir peculiar institu
tions— that any thing short of this would be a
violaiion of the Constitution." They avow that
we must respect the rights of loyalists, and in
the sume breath propose to take millions of
loyalists, apply afresh the branding iron, and
hand them over to the re damnation of slavery.
Their position is alike void of both humanity
and logic, aud only suggests to us that class of
men w hose tender mercies are cruelty. Differ
ent should be my reward for southern loyalty.
1 would in the name of my country twine upon
its brow the fadeless wreath of freedom and
open np to it the untold joys of " life, liberty
aud the pursuit of happiness." These Seaa
tors agree that tho wuy to maintain the Con
stitution is to hold up and perpetuate slavery,
and they looked lugubrious when charging
opou others the fancied crimes of desecrating
that sacred document by proclaiming liberty
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. 0. GOODRICH,
to tbc slaves of rebeb. My answer is this :
The Constitution affirms that, "The United
States shall guarantee to every State a repub
li .an form of government and shall protect each
of them against invasion and domestic insur
rection." It also makes it the sworn duty of
Congress "to suppress insurrection." It like
wise adds, " Congress shall have full power to
make all laws which shall be necessary and
proper for carrying into execution the forego
iug powers " I submit, sir, that these clauses
give Congress, in this time of rebellion, unlim
ited aud constitutional control over the whole
subject of slavery ; and if its abolition will aid
in suppressing the rebellion they are impera
tively bound to hurl it out of existence. Sin
gular iudeed it is if Congress have constitu
tional power to confiscate property, to levy
enormous taxes, to burn shipping, cripple com
merce and slaughter armies, but no right to
interfere with the very institution that has
created the necessity for such dire expedieuts.
Are the rights and relations of slavery the
only ones that are sacred ? And mu3t these
be respected though all others be over home ?
The Constitution was made for the protection
of the country ; and that is a fallacious inter
pretation which would muke it not only pro
tect slavery but sacrifice the country. Jiff.
Divis uud Senators upon this floor reason from
different premises, but come to the same con
clusion. The former says, " let us destroy tbe
Constitution, that we may uphold sluvery," the
latter responds, " let us prestrve the Constitu
tion and thus maintain slavery." My rejoiud
er is, " hold fast the Constitution, exercise its
full powers in defence of the country, crush in
surrection and place the government beyond
the possibility of a future pro slavery rebellion,
by annihilating this institution—your most im
placable enemy and the source of ail your
troubles" Years ago, John Qiiney Adams, '
upon the floor ot Congress, affirmed aud dem
onstrated these very positions, to the utter
discomfiture or his antagonists. lie declared,
as long since as 1831, that though it might
thou he inexpedient to abolish slavery in the i
District of Columbia, yet in case of a foreign I
invasion or domestic insurrection, it would be I
the constitutional right of C uigress to assume
eutire control of slavery; and should the emer
gencies of the country demaud it, they not only
iiad the right, but it would be their imperative
duty to abolish the whole concern. But the
sage of Q iincy stands not alone. The leading
Republican statesmen of this day endorse the
same view. A large meeting was lately held
in New York city to consider this Tory subject,
A' that meeting, letters were read from the
leading minds of the nation. Oie of these
letters, written by Montgomery Biair—a man
from a slave State, aud member of the Cabinet
—ha3 been largely quoted from by the Sena
tor from Berks, but he paused in his quota
tions jest when it suited his lame and limping
argument. Let me add a quotation—the few
la-t lines of the letter, which prove that even
B iir recommends the emancipation of the
slaves, and their removal to a separate home.
Hear him :
"It need*, therefore, bat the a-snrance
which would be {riven by providing home 9 for
the blacks elsewhere that they are to be re
garded as sojourners when emancipated, as in
point of fact they are, and ever will be, to in
sure the co operation of the non slaveholders
in their emancipation. Nor would thev require
immediate, universal or involuntary transport
ation, or that ui.y injustice whatever be done
to the blacks. The enterprising would soon
emigrate, and multitudes of less energy would
follow if such success attended the pioneers, as
the eure with which the Government should
foster so important an object would doubtless
iusure ; and, with •tich facilities, it would re
quire but few generations to put the temper
ate regions of America in tho exclusive occu
pation of the white race, and remove the only
obstacle ton perpetual Union of the State."
Senator Wilson writes thus :
" Humanity, justice and patriotism all de
mand that the American people should never
pardon the great criminal that has raised the
banner of revolt against the unity and author
ity of the republic. The blood of our fallen
sons demands that the Government for which
they gave their lives should walk up to the
verge of constitutional power in in?:ctiog con
dign punishment upon their murderer. The
uatiou, imperilled by slavery, should use every
legal and constitutional power to put it iu pro
cess of ultimate extinction. To that end I
would at once abolish slavery in the District
of Columbia, repeal the black code that dis
honors the National capital, tender to the loy
al slaveholding States the treasure of the Fed
eral Government to aid them in the work of
emancipation, deal justly and liberally with the
loyal men of the rebel States, but free the
bondmen of rebels."
David Wilmot adds his testimony as follows:
" The national life must bo preserved, by
applying the knife to the cancer that is
eating the very substance aud life of the nation.
The nation must make a a proclamation of
freedom to the slaves of every traitor ; and as
a matter of policy, not of strict right, provide
for making compensation to loyal slaveholders,
for the temporary loss iucideut to the speedy
emancipation of their slaves. Less than this
we cannot do with honor or safety. We have
a right to do more. We have a light, instant
ly and at once, to uproot aud eradicate forever
any local institution, law, custom, usage, that
puts in imminent peril the national life. Wc
have a right to kill Slavery, that the natiou
may live."
While the Democratic Warrior governor of
Rhode Isleud, publishes these noble and pa
triotic sentiments,l recommend opposing Sena
tors upon this floor,to sit for a time at his feet
aud learn from his lips the true Demecrutic
creed. What says he ? Listen :
" It is a superficial view, therefore, of the
present national crisis,which supposes that this
confl.ct can end and leave things as it found
them. * * * *
We must cross this flood that swells and foams,
or abandon the national hopes of our glorious
future. This issue already made between op
pression and liberty mast be foogbt oat to the
end now, or re fonght hereafter, and perhaps
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANT QUARTER."
under aggravated circumstances. Slavery re
established, and the same consequence essentially
would follow again. * * * *
" There is really DO possible hopeful end to
this conflict but the end of slavery. There is
no such easy escape from our national troubles
as some seem to imagiue—no prospects of the
war being short but by being useless, or else
by being radical and determined, and, I, may
add, in regard to false principles, most unspar
ing. To purpose, therefore, that the Union
shall survive and its glory and power be trium
phantly restored and perpetuated, is virtually
to doom slavery to speedy extinction. The pre
servation of the Union and the destruction of
Slavery are inseparable ; aye, identical now ;
and he who votes for the one necestarially votes
for the other. * * * * *
Surely,sir, we may consider this overwhelming
testimony of warriors, patriots and sages, as a
] sufficient offset to the vapid declamation of the
Senator from^Berks.
1 may pass then to another point. lie affims
that not slavery but tricksters of the south aud
| fanatics of the north actuated by helish pur
poses have caused all our troubles. Mark ! in
j his judgment the offence of southerners has
I reached to trickery, while the crime of northern
fanatics has towered up to the terrible climax of
; hellish. What have these poor "tanatics" dpne
—these abolitionists that you talk so much
about 7 Geutlemeu waxed eloquent as they
contemplated the fact that Weudell Phillips
sometimes lectured upou the subject of slavery.
: Their eyes opeuevl wide wheu they affirmed
that many years ago Win. Lloyd Garrison es
tablished a paper in the city of Boston. They
seem astonished that men should talk aud write
upon the subject .of slavery—that is what has
I been done at the uortb. They admit, to be
sure, that there have been some tricksters in
I the south who have cooperated with those
men—but certaiuly with uo g'eat fraternity
! between the two parties. I repeat,what have
these abolitionists done ? Have they invaded
any man's rights I "Yes," the response was,
" Johu Brown did." Yes, he did, sir. Aud
theu the double charge is that those abolition
ists sung a song to his memory. I never did,
because I have uot the ability to sing, but if 1
had 1 would at least have joined in the chorus. I
With regard to John Brown 1 have to say this: |
1 did not introduce him ; the Senator from
Clarion made the introduction. 1 have only to
say that iu mauy things he may have been a
mistaken rnau ; but for all that, his name will
live when the uaiue of the Governor who UuDg !
him is forgotten in rotteuness ; aud as the j
one goes down lower aud lower, the memory ;
of the other will rise higher and higher as ;
a man, though of fallability, yet of heroism, j
of manhood aud philanthropy. But as to the j
song, the Senator told us that our soldiers {
were uot gangrened with this fanaticism
Why, sir, 1 am sorry his reading is so limited.
Who marched deliberately, treading to the
beat of the drum down the great street of the
city of Mew York 7 Was it not one of the
regiments of your brave soldiers ? And, as
they went, they sang that same terrible song:
" John Brown, though his body is in the dust, I
his soul is marching on and the people by
the thousand aud teu thousand along the ;
street and from the balconies aud windows
with tearful eyes and tremulous voices joiued i
in the chorus. " Fauatieisin" becoming quite '
general, affecting your regiment of soldiers, a? '
well as the common people, even in the city of i
Mew Yoik. The fauat.es have gone thus far,
they have dared to Think and talk and write
upon slavery—they have even sung a soug—
and this is HEI.LI-H ! On the other hand,what
have your slaveholders done ? Who has rifled !
the northern mail bags and pronounced nor- 1
them prints incendiary documents 7 Who has .
impeded travel and subjected the country to an
oppressive system of espionage. There &tauds
a Senator, (Mr. LOWRY,) (aud every man to
look at him would know that he was half
heart and a good part of the balance brains—
he wonld not hurt anybody,) a gentleman, as
he is, who,upou goiug dowu into Virginia,was
seized, and forty meu appointed to guard him.
J do uot wonder at the fact that John Brown
with sixteen men, two negroes and a cow,held
the Commonwealth of Vt-ginia for eight and
forty hours 1 Who was it that maltreated
and stripped christian ministers and sent them
afloat down the Mississppi river on a slab ?
Who is it that has held northern meu in con
finement for their unexpressed principles and
suspected ideas ? Oh ! sir, it is only these gen-
Uo. Southern Ir.thera whose offences never
rise higher than trickery. I tell these Senators
frankly and plainly, they are the direct advo
cates of slavery aud the indirect apologiests of
rebels, the principles they have proclaimed
here are better suited to the traitor Congress
iu Richmond than to the Senate of Pennsylva
nia, and if uttered in the former place would
call down the applause of the House. The
Senator from Berks affirms that he who lifts
his hands against the government, has no right
to protection in person, property or life.—
Good I true ! I agree with him there. But
if these seceded States, that have lifted both
bauds agaiust the Government, have uo right
to protection as regards property or life, how
do you get along with this next declaration
that these same men.are to be allowed to come
into the Government and plead the immunities
of the Constitution. The Senator says they
have no right to protection either in person,
life or proper v ; yet he claims that "iu the
wi:iding op every one of them shall be permit
ted to come into a national court, aud take po
sition behind the Constitution, and plead all
its privileges in their favor. I leave him to
harmonize it,and it is but one of many contra
dictions that I commend to his second sober
thought. The Senator from Berks puts this
question to us very earnestly. Said he :
" Would it not be terrible to strip these inno
cent people in the District of Columbia of
their property—they have got their property,
their hard earning, iuvested there in their
slaves, aud would it not be terrible to strip
them of their property f" Mr. Speaker, this
State most pay its sixteen million of dollars
per annum to save the country. IB it not ter
rible 7 If we all have to make sacrifices to
save the country, ought not slaveholders to be
willing to bear their part in the sacrifice 7 It
is terrible for each one of us to have onr dol
lars decimated ; but if it is uecessnry, iu or
der to save the country, very well ; and we
say to those slave owners : " You, gentlemeD,
must bear your part. We will not ask yon
to bear more, but you must contribute your
quota iu some form, mauner or shape, tc save
the coantry."You observe, sir, I do noteularge
upou tbese points—ouly touch them—for I de
sire to be very brief. Both of those Senators
agree in declaring that the democratic party
is the conservator of the country and Consti
tntion. Now, no man must find fault with me
for alluding to partyism here in the Senate. I
did not introduce the subject, but rather the
Senators on the opposite side; aud I am ready
to follow them in all their windings npon this
question. Tbcy affirmed that the great demo
cratic party is the conservator of the Constitu
, tion and of the contry, aud, as usual, they put
j you and myself, and our associates, upon the
j defensive. That is the custom, here and else
: where. We, miserable fanatics, are the ones
who have done all the mischief, and, lik Mil
ton's sin, we are the ones who have brought
all the evils upou the country. Before the peo
ple, in the papers, aud everwhere, we must
stand upon the defensive. Mow, let us reverse
that. While we may be accoautable for seme
thiugs.l tell you there is a heavy accouut that
they must square np
The modern, degenerated Democratic party
is the great conservator of the country, is it 7
The impersonation of patriotism! The embodi
ment of political wisdom—the very hyperbole
of party purity !! What party has for years
co-operated with slaveholders in this country,
worked with them, coalesced with them, and
faithfully d >ue their bidding ? The Demoerat
!ic party, Mr. Speaker. Ido not wish to ridi
; cule any great association of men ; but I re
member to have seen (aud you have seen the |
i same,) in the streets of this city a smail man
with a crust of bread iu his fingers. He holds
up the crust, whistles, and forth steps the dog
—a long haired, devil eyed mongrel hybrid j
Mark tbo drill that follows : Speak 1 The
dog yelps. Lie dowu J He obeys. Rollover! .
He hesitates not for dirt. Go lie down in the !
corner ! He goes, looking as a subdued, |
complacent dog only can look. Slavery has j
for the past twenty-five yearsjtreated the Dem- i
ocra'.ic party precisely in this manner. Hold- 1
iug the presidency or some other office iu its
thumb and finger, it has whistled, and that,
party has said, " here am I." It held op the
crust and that party laid down ; it said " roll
over in the dirt," and the party rolled over ;
and wheu it had made sufficient use of the
party, it said, "go lie dowu in the corner."
I do not ridiculo unybodv ; but I say that
slave leaders have made the party speak and
lie dowu as they desired. Gentlemen have ;
come hero and talked about compromise.—
Good Heavens ! Why did they not compro- j
mise with their brethern at Charleston when
the old craft ran aground and when they run
it iuto the dry dock of Baltimore for repair ?
Why did they uot compromise then and not
reprove me for refusing to compromise now ? ,
What did one of their leaders say years ogo 7 i
Said he : "we, through the inflaence of sin.- J
very at the south and the Democratic party
at the north can hold the government ; and
when the time shall come that we cannot bold
it we will separate and destroy it." That i 9 ;
what Calhoun said who plundered the treasu
ry 7 A Democratic agent. Who stole your
natioual arms 7 A Democratic officer. Who
preached treason in Cougrcss until the nation
al countenance turned pale ? Democratic Sen
ators. And, sir, they ought to have hung i
higher than Ilumau instead of being allowed '
to depart, as they were. Who sat in the
Presidential chair, tied had aud foot, I admit, j
and under borfß and mortgage —who sat there '
looking feebly on while the ation, with throb
ing heart and quivering energies, appealed to
him to nerve himself up and put his foot, like
Jackson, upon the treason, but who sat there
like the mummied fungus of au overshadowing
power aud did nothing—who was it! A Dem
ocratic President. YVho abrogated the Mis
souri Compromise and alarmed the fears of the
millions of the North 7 The Democratic par
ty. Who turned the fields of Kansas into afield
of blood 7 The same party. Who throng our
national prisons, put in durance vile for social
collusion with open traitors, members of the
same party ? Who constitute the rebel army?
Democratic brethern, whom the Senator from
Berks proposes to restore to full communion
and fellowship. Aud yet, sir, even hero, con
tinuing the same old ditty, that party claims
superior excellence. It resembles the hand of
the corrupt, dying monarch, who had become
so accustomed to singing lies and death war
rants, that when smitten with the chils of
the grave,his fingers still the motions
They began wiib the glories of democracy and
wind up with the sacreduess of slavery,remind
ing one, (and I shall draw an illustration ger
mane to my subject,)—remindiug one of the
poor slaveholders who was not able to own a
whole negro,and whose daily prayer was, "Oh
Lord bless me, my wife, and my half of Cuff."
So, sir, with the democratic party; they wind
up eternally with "their half of cuff." Now,
I want the gentlemen if they see fit, here or
elsewhere to defend those things,l desire them
to reconcile their party claims with their party
conduct. When this rebellion first broke out,
the cry was "change the Constitution,compro
mise, do anything," they were ready to amend
the Constitution ; they were ready to neutral
ize it, expugate it, it inside out upside
down,any way at all, in order to accommodate
the provisioasof that Constitution to the wish
es of their southern masters. Now we see
the hopes of the slavholder rest npon the Con
stitution remainiug as it is, and he being per
mitted—if unable to destroy that Constitution
—to come into coart and plead its immunities
and protection. The Senators from Clarion
and Berks are most eloquent in claiming Jtbat
the Constitution shall remain as it is, and the
Democratic party will protect it intact and
save the Union withont a mar. You |see the
point, sir. When it was necessary in order to
answer the purpose of slavery, the Constitution
could be cbaoged ; when no change will best
VOL. XXIX. NO. 46.
subserve tbe interests of slavery, then they
are opposed to any change. I belieye tbey sre
both good lawyers. Now I would like to ask
them if that is the way tbey treat unsocce&s*
foil thieves, burglar* and incendiaries. When
those gentlrmrn (?) try to fire houses and aca
caught in the act and brought iDto court, do
these Senators who are their counsel, plead be*
fore the court thaß : "these gentlemen did try
to sncceed in breaking into a house for such
and such perposee, |but they failed, they did
not socceed and are brought before you ; we
claitn that they shall have tbe same privileges
as are guaranteed to iuuocent meu is that
the way tbey plead ? Yet these slaveholders
are moving heaven and earth to destroy the
Government, and these Senators claim that if
they cannot succeed, tbey shall at least be al
lowed to come in and enjoy its protection.—*
Mr. Speaker, there was a law in Athens that
theft was honorable if the thief was not detect*
ed. If the man was caught he wasdisgraced
—not because of the theft but that be
wa3 so imprudent as to be disoovered \a
cordiuglv, sir, it is recorded in history that
a man once stole a fox. He clasped in his
arms, wrapped his mantle around it an I start
ed with it. As you would suppose, from the
nature of the animal, it was not very qqiet ;
but being parsued, and fearing detection, the
man held on and clasped him to bis bosom
1 while the fox tore away into his very vitais.
! Now, sir, while for years and years, as a
| country, we have been hugging this one iusti
. tutioa to our bosom, it has been gnawing and
; gnawing into our vitals, aud now it has got at
| the very heart striugs of the country, aud is
tearing out its soul, noting upon its dearest
interests, and pressing its complete dismem
berment. Yet gentleman predicate that iusti
tution upon the law of the great GOD, aud say
it shall remain intact. They demaud that it
shall dig away at tbe palpitating heat of tue
nation, and when the nation is virtually dead
it shall still be allowed, like an insadiato hyena
to crouch upon its bones. When wc talk of
saving the country, of killing the varapyre by
emancipating the bouduiau, they are thrown
into political ppasms and paity hysterics. They
denounced it as a fanatical uoveity.
Let me remind gentlemen that emancipation
is no new nor isolated idea, generated in the
whiriiug biaiusof modern fanatics. Its records
are old as the pyramids ; its footprints are
upon the sands of tbe Nile. Modern sophists rasy
sueer at it.but ages since the "ancient of days"
tlung before its redeemed hosts the banner of
fire aud cloud,and constrained the waves of the
sea to beat a retreat at their approach. The
history of emancipation constitutes a bright
page the in annals of England. For tweoty
long years such men as Wilberforce aod Clark
sou labored assiduously for the suppression of
the slave trade and the abolition of slavery it
self. Tbey were dirided and hissed at. Never
faltering, they wearied uot, but poured the
truth upon the nation's frozen heat,as fall the
sun's rays upon the glacier, till icy selfishness
aud prejudice melted into streams of justice
nnd mercy, affording a fit illustration of the
great fact that—
" Truth crushed to earth will rise agsfn.
The immortal years ofGo are hers :
Wbiie error wounded, writhes in pais
And dies amid her worshippers."
Russia is lifting the joke from the necks of
miilious of serfs. Your political fatbe s taught
it. Everj man knows or should know, that
Madison erased from the origiual daaft of the
Constitution the word slave, declaring that in
that sacred document there shoali not be a
single word that could possible acknowledge
the right of property in man. Coatemplatiug
the enormities of slavery upoa one hand and
divine retribution upon the other, "I trenble
for my country when I remember that GOD
is just," said Jefferson. Franklin was president
of the first abolition society iu Pennsylvania,
while Washington avowed the removal of this
system was the great desire of his heart,and
for its accomp'ishment his vote nit.*r should
be wanting.'' The free state have taught this
doctrine by example, and the present cotton
states, years since, when the public mind was
less polluted than now, held abolition meet
ings and passed anti slavery resolutions. Here
is a history, in which wo find the noblest men
advocating a great jrrinciple, and that princi
ple, when reduced to practice, producing the
most benigu results. We fiud toq that our
country is trembling and bleeding at every
pour from the attacks of slavery. We appeal
to those redoubtable Democratic statesmen in
this emergency, iu the name of sacred history,
by the precepts of their fathers, by the exam
ple of other lauds, by the claims of patriotism
and philanthropy to join with us and help save
the country by striking to the heart its dead*
liest foe.
The Senator from Burke.? affirmed that there
was uo higher governmental law in earth or
heaven than the Constitution ; and put on the
look of the statesman, not to say the dictator,
and added, " he who says there is, is either a
fauatic or a traitor." Ido not know that the
gentlemaD was conscious of the wide sweep of
that remark. I hardly think he was aware
upon what different subjects, teachings and
principles that circle touchefl, and which he
would sweep away by the assertion that there
is uo higher law Jin governmental matters
than the Constitution, and who says there is,
is a fanatic or a traitor. Let us look at it.—
A man must look at some things very closely;
and I will ask you to look at this carefully—
I will not declaim npon it. Troth, justice, equi
ty, right and Tirtuo are eternal principles.—
Mr. Speiker, they do not change with the cli
mate uor with place ; truth in Pennsj Ivania is
truth in New York, at the North Pole or at
the Equator. Jastice is ditto. These are ev
erlasting principles. Truth is the attribnte of
GOD, old as eternity, existing: before the foun
dations of the world were laid, before the
morning stars sang together for joy. Now, sir,
these principles among men spring from the
very relation of things. A thing is obligatory
because of certain relations—a thing is right
because of certain relations—another thing is
wroDg because of those relations. For instance
there is a father, he holds a certain relation to
bis child, and because of that peculiar relation
[Cfnrhuded on fourth pagt