THE STAR OP THE NORTH.
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VOLUME 8,
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SPEECH
or
CHARLES R. BUCKALEW,
DELIVERED AT TOWANDA, JULY 4TH, 1856.
IT will be appropriate after hearing read the
most famous of Mr. Jefferson's productions,
to consider the origin, career and character
of the party which he founded; and also the
existing condition of publio affairs, in order
to obtain a just comprehension of the course
we should pursue.
It is not by extravagant, high-wrought eu
logiums upon our ancestors, but by perform
ing the duties that press upon us, that our
country is to be conducted to the position for
which it was destined. But an examination
of the past in the light ol reason and truth,
will aid us in selecting the path we are to
pursue. In this spirit the examination of our
history is seldom made. The record of events
that have oocurred in our country, and the
writings oPable men who have distinguished
its history, are ordinarily examined simply
lor the purpose of giving force to a party
creed, or establishing some foregone conclu
sion. Therefore, the sincere, earnest inqui
rer, constantly encounters distorted statements
of history that tend to mislead his judgment
and corrupt his opinions. Be it our aim, with
in the brief limits which the occasion permits,
to bring forward, without perversion, some
historical facts necessary to the true forma
tion of opinion upon pending issues.
The Constitution ol the United Slates went
into operation on the first Wednesday of
March, 1789. The population of the States
and Territories in the year following was un
der four millions and their number seventeen.
The Stales and Territories are now thirty
nine in number and their population exceeds
twenty-five millions. Eight of the Territories
afford space for twice as many additional
States, and some of Ilia States already formed
will doubtless be subdivided. What a growth
is here! and what prospects yet present them
selves! In viewing this spectacle we are
provoked to enlarged thought and exuberant
language. We congratulate ourselves con
stantly upon the amazing power to which we
have attained, and cast hopeful glances to
the future. The glare of prosperity—the
bounding pulse of matured power—the omens
of greatness that present themselves—are not,
however, to be permitted to blind, to corrupt,
or to mislead us. There are weighty and
slert^ duties that challenge performance;
dangers that roquire grave consideration and
heroic effort ; difficulties that labor and pa
tience and patriotism must surmount. It is
everlastingly true that effort is the price of
security and success.
The Union under which we have prosper
ed arose out of certain national necessities
and is to be considered with reference to
them. The common defence of the States
against foreign powers; the preservation of
peace and the regulation of commerce be
tween them; the judicial determination of
controversies where State jurisdiction was
imperfect or wanting, the control of postal
communication and the subject of coinage;
were among those things which imperative
ly demanded a common government found
ed upon union. But nothing can be clearer
than that the powers of that Government are
to be strictly limited to the objects for which
it was instituted. Practically, they are meas
ured and defined by the written grants con
tained in the constitution ; for those grants
being express, particular, and limited, ex
clude all implication of power beyond them.
"Faithful and true" therefore have been
those public men of the country who have
relisted the exercise of ungranted and doubt
ful powers by the general government, and
have sought to direct its administration in
the plain path of its constitutional duties.—
And the public policy which they have pro
posed and defended, is every year becoming
more necessary to the welfare of the people
and tha salvation ol our institutions.
Not long after the organization of the gov
ernment, as was to have been expected, dif
ferences arose regarding the nature and ex
tent of its powers, and hence the formation
of parties, the struggles of which for supre
macy were determined in the first year of
the present oentury, in favor of the party
holding to a strict construction of the consti
tution. The author of the Declaration of
Independence was installed as President on
the 4th of March, 1801, and proclaimed a
declaration of principles which has since
constituted the creed of the party he estab
lished. New exigencies in public affairs, oc
curring from time to time, have required
new measures and a modified policy, bat
the principles of Jefferson yet constitute the
landmarks of parly faith with the democra
cy of the country.
The war of 18lt broke up the Federal
party and covered with peculiar odium that
branch of it which opposed the country in
its struggle. Those among the Federalists
who performed their dutiee to the country,
and with whom party malignily did not over
come patriotic impulses, were left in a re
spected position and with little inclinsiioo to
BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY; PA., WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1856.
oppose democratic supremacy: in conse
quence of which, in conjunction with other
circumstances, there succeeded under Mr.
Monroe a period described as "the era of
good feeling," when party spirit was at a
low ebb, and regular, formal, political divis
ions were almost unknown. The election
of 1824 re awoke the spirit of contest, and
there were formed parlies of administration
and opposition, the latter substantially a reor
ganization of the Democratic party, with ac
cessions from that branch of the Federal
party which had been least offensive in its
course in previous struggles. The Demo
cratic passions of this country took fire at
the congressional decision in the election of
President, and in 1828 Pennsylvania led the
way, under Mr. Buchanan and others, in
(be great popular decision in favor of Oen.
Jackson. The majority given by our State
on that occasion is one of the proud spots
in its history, and exhibited sagacity, a sense
of justice and a due appreciation of public
services on the'part of our people.
In the year 1840, a struggle of almost un
exampled violence occurred, resulting in the
defeat of the Democratic party and its ejec
tion from power. The causes of that reverse
lie patent upon the history of the limes, and
were mainly ronnected with convulsions of
the currency and consequent commercial
distress. Time has vindicated the parly then
defeated from the charges made against it,
and relieved it from the temporary obloquy
under which it labored, by proving the wis
dom and solidity of the measures it support
ed. Nor is it without instruction that we no
tice, that the party -then successful enjoyed
but s barren victory and was found incapa
ble of maintainiug the position it hud won.
The eleciion of Gen. Taylor in 1848 was
a popular iniejudgment, ihe causes'of which
ate to he sought in democratic divisions, en
thusiasm, for services'in a popular war, and
opposition to the then recent legislation of
1846 including the revision of duties on im
ports. In the year 1850 sectional passion,
which had been gathering head for some
years, formed practical issues regaiding the
Territories, producing new and unusual di
visions of public men and convulsiog the
whole country with agiiation. The adjust
me.ut then arrived at was followedsand sanc
tioned by the election ol 1852, and passed
into the history of Ihe country to the high
honor of those concerned in secuiing it. The
year 1856 opens upon !, under new condi
tions and with issues of a portentious char
acter, to which your attention will be pres
ently invited.
Aii obvious reflection upon the history of
parties, to which allusion has been made, is
the almost uninterrupted success of the De
mocracy. Rarely, and for short periods only,
have they failed in maintaining their ascend
ency, and the organizations in opposition,
when successful, have almost invariably
won their triumphs in a sinister or acciden
tal manner. The election of Mr. Adams in
1824 was not by the popular voice, but in
opposition to it, and through the instrumen
tality of Congressional action. The elections
of 1840 and 1848 can scarcelj be regarded
as party triumphs, and besides upon both
those occasions, in consequence of the means
used to insure success ;of the Dele of con
sistency and cohesion in the elements op
posed to us, and of the accidental decease
of the President elected, power speedily
passed into other hands. In fact, the admin
istration of Tyler which supervened upon
the decease of Gen. Harrison, became es
sentially democratic. The slavery issues of
1850 mitigated the partisan character of Pres
ident Fillmore's administration, to such an
extent that his nomination was refused by
the Whig convention of 1852. Excluding
his administration from account, there has
been no anti-democratic administration of
the Government for a full term since the year
1800, except that of Mr. Adams, which was
not placed in power by a vote of the people
but by a congressional election.
1 The amazing growth, progress and pros
perity of the country during this period of
more than half a century, have behr. under
Democratic rule, and constitute a fair claim
to popular confidence. Until, therefore, it is
shown that this organization is changed in
character, and become incapable of accom
plishing the objeols it has heretofore achiev
ed and giving to the country the blessings of
good government, there good reason for
continuing it in power. But is it not evident
that it is more neccessary at this juncture to
the public welfare, than at any former period
of our history. It is a national parly, con
fronting sectional factions, and the only par
ly competent to crush them and hold the
Union in harmony.
Another reflection, suggested by a review
of our history, is the fidelity of the Demo
cratic party to the constitution, or rather to a
legitimate and just construction of it. It has
stood up, consistently, against all measures
and anjaline of public policy not plainly war
ranted by that instrument. And its successes
have arisen from this fact, inspiring as it has
done, the confidence of the people, end re
sulting as it has in a wise, sale and salutary
administration of public affairs. It may be
the proud boaat of our party that it baa stood
by the constitution'through good and through
evil report,' and has more than once under
gone defeat rather than abandon the princi
ples lo which It hald. It baa not "bowed
the knee to Baal," nor been unfaithful to its
constitutional duties, even when interest end
the clamor of the time invited it. As lately
as 1854, it refused "to go with ihe multitude
to do evil" in the proscription of adopted
citizens and the persecution of a religious
society. And becsuse it bss been thus faith
ful as well as consistent in its course, the
country has turned to it and may yat turn to
it for the preservation of its interests and
honor, and without hesitation or doubts may
continue in its hands both the symbols and
reality of power.
We open the campaign of 1856 with con
fidence and gladness of heart. The omens
are of good and not of evil. No doubtful,
desperate, or hopeless struggle impends, but
one in which patriotism and houor will di
rect our efforts and victory crown them. At
last, in fullness of time, when the pressure of
national necessities and the security or sound
principles demanded it, Pennsylvania is hon
ored and gratified with a Presidential nomi
nation. The choice of the Democratic party
has fallen upon her most distinguished citi
zen, whose nomination was desired by the
conservative and patriolio sentiment of the
country, and, in the judgment of many saga
cious observers, was requisite to the harmony
if not to the permanent union of the States.
The times demanded Mr. Buchanan's nomi
nation, and the popular voice indicated him
with a distinctness that could not be mista
ken or disregarded. The national conven
tion has therefore been true to itself and to
the country in its action, and deserves com
mendation and praise. Shall we not respond
to this decision of the national convention,
with signal alacrity and zeal, and put forth
our utmost efforts to procure its endorsement
by a decisive vole of the people ? No ordi
nary majority in this State, will be worthy
the occasion and candidate. Pennsylvania
has the opportunity of speaking for one of
her own sons, who has achieved reputation
for himself and for her, and bar voice must
be uttered with emphasis and power! She
must speak in no faltering or uncertain lone
in 1856, but with a generous enthusiasm
prompted by affection, confidence and re
spect.
The country at this lime requires a con
servative candidate, who, while true to prin
ciple, will inspire confidence and a sense of
security against an extreme or irritating ad
ministration of the government. And the
thorough union of the patriotic, intelligent
men ol ihe country against extreme opinions
and dangerous agilations, is bast secured by
the nomination of a candidate, who is every
where acceptable upon the leading issues of
the campaign, and whose nomination closes
debate upon irrelevant questions.
It is required also that our candidate have,
in his personal character and history, a basis,
of strength and popularity to withstand the
fury of assaults to be expected from the pe
culiar elements which constitute the factions
opposed to us. We know them of old, and
may count npori their pursuing their accus
tomed channels of action. Agitation, vio
lence, abuse and falsehood, are ordinary
weapons of faction, as distinguished from
parly, and especially of faction organized
upon fanatical and spiteful passions. But,
against a public established reputation of
forty years, illustrated by great services, un
sullied by dishonor, and culminating in a
unanimous nomination by the great party of
the constitution, the madness of the factiqns
will rage in vain. They wilt retire discom
fited from all the assaults they may adven
ture upon our candidate, and with a repeti
tion of the lesson heretofore given on more
than one occasion by the American people,
that detraction of the great and good men of
the republic is as profitless as dishonora
ble.
I have characterized the organizations op
posed lo us as fatliont, and that this lerm ac
curately describes them is manifest. Mr.
Madison, in the Federalist, says:—"by a fac
tion I understand a number of citizens,
whether amounting to a majority or a mi
nority of the whole, who are united and ac
tuated by some common impulse of passion,
or of interest, adverse to the rights of other
citizens, or lo the permanent and aggregate
interests of the community." It will not be
difficult to prove that this is a faithful de
scription of the existing Republican, Aboli
tion and American organizations, and as fac
tions aro justly odious the application of it to
them puts them under the ban of enlightened
public opinion.
As to the American order, bigotry the most
unjustifiable underlies it, and it might be de
nounced as a monstrous conspiracy against
equal rights and toleration l were it not that
•wertain ridiculous aspects it presents lend to
mitigate indignation and inspire contempt.—
Adopting the opinion of Weiehaupt, the
founder of the Illuminati, that "every secret
engagement is a source of enthusiasm," its
authors established it in oaths and privacy,
and, in fact, undertook to contend against
Catholicism upon a plan of aolion thoroughly
Jesuitical. The order of the Jesuits was a
secret association, in which the members
were bound by solemn forms of initiation,
and was established with the double object
of missionary service and the repression of
heresy. The sincerity of motive actuating
those who projeoled it, (which may be con
ceded without embarrassment,) did not pre
vent its degeneracy into an engine of mis
chief and evil. Originating in fanatical im
pulses, it was destined, from its very consti
tution, to become an instrument of ambition,
intrigue, corruption and tyranny. Singularly
enough, those who have been most eloquent
amongst us in denunciation of jesuitism, are
those who, acting upon its principles,
would establish the agency of secrecy and
oaths to control opinion, the polioy of the
government and the rights of the citizen !
But freedom has dever prospered with such
aids, nor evil ever been repressed by them.
Freedom is open, bold and manly. All its
triumphs have been won in the face of day,
and by unsworn defenders. It degenerates
or dies when it comes to use the weapons of
mystery and deceit, and to rely upon formal
obligations for the devotion of its followers.
Truth and Right—God and our Country.
The partial abandonment of secrecy by
the American lodges, is an unwilling but nec
essary concession to the spirit of the age ; but
the inevitable result of it must be their dis
bandment and the absorption of their mem
bership into other organizations. But, mean
time, much evil is done the effects of which
will long endure. Doubtless some religious
societies and persons receive a stain which
if not indelible should be felt as a wound at
a vital point. The apparent opportunity ol
dealing a blow at popery was a fatal tempta
tion to many devout and zealous men who
should have remembered the injunction a
gainßt "doing evil that good may come,"
and the admonition "that they who take the
sword shall perish by it." Nothing can be
clearer to an intelligent and dispassionate ob
server, than that the mode adopted by them
for putting down or crippling an obnoxious
seot, must always fail of its object and recoil
injuriously upon those concerned in it.
Nor are the effects of Know Nbthingism
upon morals to be overlooked. The cam
paign of 1840 was justly denounced as de
moralizing by reason of the tactics adopted
to insure success. Moderation and truth
were discarded and under the phrensy of the
lime, created by interested and unscrupulous
interests, a scene at once disgraceful and in
jurious was presented to the world. But that
scandal was temporary and did not rest in a
syalenf deliberately established for the de
bouchment, of the people. But 'American
ism, (so called,) originated in "malice afore
thought was concocted with deliberation,
and systematized into an instrument of sec
tarian and political aggression, upon modes
of procedure copied from the worst of the al
leged abuses of with
sacred obligations as the playthings of ambi
tion, interest and imposture. For the first
time in the history of the country, falsehood
became the chosen principle of a party; de
ceit was inculcated as a virtue, and its prac
tice secured by oaths. The consciences of a
million of men were put under bdnds of
crecy and obedience, by which they were
to be wielded and controlled at the pleasure
of leaders as fallible as themselves, and tempt
ed by all the seductions of ambition, passion
and interest to abuse- their power. Is it not
evident that the morale of the country must
suffer grievously in the carrying out of such
a system and in the results which it produ
ces? Take one feature-of the plan—that of
oaths. Ido not stop to iuquire whether such
obligations are criminal ID point of law, (al
though that question lies Within the field of
debate,) but whether they aM not demoraliz
ing. An oath consists in the oaifiing of the
Supreme Being to witness the truth of an as
serted fact, or the binding force of an assum
ed obligation. It brings to bear upon human
action a sanction the most tremeudous, con'
necling itself with the hopes and fears of the
future and with the invoked presence of Ihe
Almighty. Not lightly or causelessly is this
high and solemn invocation to be made, and
perhaps the occasions when it is permissible
should be prescribed by the laws. At all
events its limit, in use, should be to cases of
necessity and charity and thus its solemnity
and force be upheld and insured. Oaths ate
degraded when they become common, and
may even become scandalous in the mouth
of one to whom they are habitual.
Now Americanism liasscatlered oaths broad
cast over the land, and those too neither of
necessity or benevolence, nor recognized by
constitution or statute, but in 'derogation of
both. No one oonlends that ihey are bind
ingin law, and I think it clear that they are not
binding in morals. Bat ill informed, and ten
der consciences are entrapped, and thousands
find their engagements impelling them in one
direction and ibeir convictions of public duty
in another. This struggle between duty and
conscience, however determined, is to the
abasement of freemen and leaves behind it
the sting of self reproach. By large masses
such obligations will be broken, as is proved
by what has taken place and is taking place
around us. Some break away from them
with reluctance and doubts, while others
spurn them with contempt. But to each class
they constitute an influence and a recollec
tion for evil, and the example presented to
the community will be misconceived to the
injuryof many. So true is this, that that man
would be a public benefactor, who, with
abilities and leisure for the work, would ex
plore fully this question of obligation in extra !
judicial oaths and would plainly demonstate
to Ihe popular mind their futility and immor
al tendency. Many honest men would there
by be relieved of harassing doubts, und the
casting off of fetters forged by craft and folly
would appear to all, as it really is, a work of
duty, virtue and patriotism.
Upon this point I may dwell a moment.—
Uosseau exclaims "that to keep a criminal
oath is 'o commit a second crime," and a
greater author has pronounced that "no one
can be compelled to do a dishonorable ao
tion even though bound by oath to its per
formance." Dr. Paley slates the following
position that "as the obligation of a prom
ise depends on the circumstances under
which it was made, it oannot be enforced if
it was unlawful at the time in which it was
made, or if it has become ao since, or if it
was extorted: * * * promises are not
binding where the performance is unlawful
* * * there may he guilt in making
such promises, but there can be none in
breaking them : and moreover, if in the in
terval between Ihe promise and its perform
ance, any illegality presents itself, the prom
ise ought to be broken to which he adds,
in another place, that "promissory oaths are
not binding, where the promise itself without
the oath would not be binding." Milton in
Ihe fifth chapter of his work on Christian
Doctrine propounds similar sentiments and
defines unlawful oaths to be those, "ol which
the purport iB unlawful, or which are exaoted
from ue by one to whom they cannot be law
fully taken." Now oaths administered with*
out legal authority, by persons not qualified
and under circumstances which amonut to
duress ; which oblige to the performance of
acts inconsistent with the duties of a citizen,
and whioh constitute the bond of a union or
conspiracy against the constitutional rights
and equality of a portion of the people, are
as plainly within the condemnation of the
doctrines quoted, as they are hostile to the
spirit and nature of republican institutions.
In a word, they are unlawful and therefore
invalid, because unwarranted and against ex
isting rights ; nor can their extent, or the lact
that those who administer and those who
lake them go unpunished, change tjieir es
sential character.
Lei, therefore, the sincere, patriotic men
who have joined the American party without
due reflection, abandon it at once and forev
er, without regard to void obligations or en
gagements, and act hereafter with the great
national Democratic, and truly American
party, opposed to proscription and sectional
ism, and to all new fangled notions and isms
in political action. This is the best amends
they can roske for the error into which they
have fallen, and from which, as good citizens,
they should extricate themselves as speedily
as possible.
But another topic demands notice. We
are required to turn our attention to the ge
ography of the country. For the first lime
in our. history a formidable parly appears,
locateJ exclusively in one part of the Union
and inspired bj resentment and distrust of
another pait. We are required to renew our
school-boy studies on the subject of Slate
boundaries and location. What is predicated
of parly in one region is not true in another.
I The old and remarkable feature in political
struggles ol almost every township and neigh
borhood throughout the United States being
divided, and not often unequally divided,
between political patties, ho longer exists.—
A parly appears, struggling for triumph and
presumptuous of success, without an electo
ral ticket in fifteen Stales, or the intention of
forming one therein except for purposes of
bravado or insult, and resting its hopes ol
success in pitting one section, as such, a
gainst another. All the arts by which ani
mosities between neighboring Slates and
countries are blown into a flame, are resort
ed to. And we havp the impudent and dis
graceful spectacle of an attempt to destroy
the spirit of harmony and mutual good will
which is the very lite of the Union and the
pledge of its perpetuity. In view of this,
let us cast our eyes over the country and
see where the lines ol division naturally fall,
and the character of that separation of parts
which if not formally proposed may be re
garded as possible.
Two remarkable mountain ranges separate
the United Stales into three parts, and give
each of these parts peculiar and distinct
features. Sixteen Stales lie along the At
lantic, abutting upon the Alleghenies, and
comprise the seal of most of the wealth and
power of the Union. They sllflch through
twenty degrees of latitude and present great
varieties of productions and striking diver
sities of race, climate and scenery. Early
settled, mo6t densely populated, their names
connected with signal historic events, they
are the leading and dominant States of the
: Union. Passing beyond the first great moun
-1 lain chain Ihe richest and mosl extensive
valley of the world opens out before our
vision. Between us and the far distaut ac
clivities of the Stony or Rocky Mountains
are interposed majestic rivers, broad prairies
and plains, forests, farms and piantaiions,
the seats of advancing civilization and pow
er. This great valley, consisting of fourteen
States and three Territories, is entire, united
in its whole extent by the hand of nature,
the course of settlement and Ihe brilliant
hopes of the futnre. The Pacific side of the
continent, just rising into notice and conse
quence, consists of a single Stale and four
territories and its leading features are the
coast range of mountains, the strip of land
interposed between it and the ocean, and
the plains and valley's inland. Thus our
country presents three great divisions, the
bounds between which run north and south,
indicating that political divisions, if they
are to occur, should be of a corresponding
character. No line of division running east
and west corresponds with natural bound
ariea, or can in any event be permitted. To
break the long stretch of Atlantic const com
municated, divide the Mississippi valley by
a cross line and sever connection between
Ihe regions drained by the Columbia and
those drained by the Saciamento, is not a
project of folly merely but of madness; nor
if entertained would such division terminate
the process of disruption. It would proba
bly go on until half a dozen governments
would suoceed the single government of the
Union, und the country would be parcelled
out of the advantage of ambitious aspirants
aud the general detriment of the people.—
Our own State from a central State would
become a border one, subject to the shock
of war if it arose between the fragments of
the Uninn and a theatre wiihin which na
tional disputes would be settled by the arbit
rament of the sword.
Far different has hitherto been our cureer.
Instead of divisions, extension; a going out
and spreading abroad of our institutions and
national power instead of a contrary process;
a deepening and strengthening of the foun
dations of our greatness with the onward
course of the years.' Large parts of oar ter
ritory have been acquired since the organi
zation of our government by the sagacity of
our fathers or the precipitation opon us of
recent events. Indian title to large districts
(by the way, one ol the lowest and most
imperfect of all titles,) has been obtained by
the general government and in common with
our ether acquisitions has been or is held in
trust by-it for the common use and advantage
of all the States or rather of the people tbeie
of. By the extinguishment of Spanish title
in the Floridas we obtained not merely land
for extended settlement, but a valuable coaat
line for national security. By tbe acquisition
of Louisiana and Texas we obtained control
of the mouths of our great river, of the great
streams that are connected with It, in a com.
mon system of out let, and of soil, the fertil
ity and capacity of which required enter
prising American skill for their development.
1 lie purchase qf Louisiana was an act testing
upon grounds of high necessity and policy,
the commanding, imperative character of
which can now be seen by the humblest
citizen. The extension of our limits still far
ther west toward the Pacific I think was also
without reproach, justified by the most
weighty reasons, and of incalculable value
to civilization and the national welfare.—
Since the thirteen colonies after a common
struggle and urged by common interests and
necessities united together, we have gone on
step by step toward the west, removing from
our faith the jurisdiction of other govern
ments and the wigwams of savage tribes,
until the leet ol our brethren pftss the golden
sands ol the Pacific, and from ports opening
toward the setting sun. Commerce com
mences to hold intercourse with the oldest
countries of the earth, and the fornMr seats
of opulence and power. Whose jfe does
not kindle, whose heart does not beat proud
ly in view of this spectacle? With hesitation
and doubts, but with reliance upon Provi
dence and -some confidence in the people oL
the American States as superior to those ol
former republics, the sages of 1787 united
the Atlantic Slates then organized, und com
menced the experiment of free government
which is still going.on amongst us. Not
without difficulty; not wilhout labor and ef
fort was their work accomplished. The at
tentive student only can duly appreciate that
period in our history. The common sympa
thies, and if you please passions, of the rev
olution were necessary to the work, which
otherwise would scarcely have been accorm
plished, or so well accomplished upon mere
I considerations ol interest. Nor is their work
to be preserved by the force of mere material
considerations. The just and generous spirit
with which they acted, must alill inanira mJ
direct us, In order that their work be preserve
ed and all the beneficent results of it within
our reach be secured.
There are certaih features in our American
experiment which have never been duly con
sidered. Never in the history of the world
were so many different races brought together
in tbe same community and made to live
! and act together without constraint or ar.y
external influence whatsoever. The whole
; process has been voluntary, and eminently
' successful. Discord has been kept down,
I internal peace preserved, industry made
| secure in its legitimate gains, labor stimulated
ir.to unexampled activity and ita fruits dis
| Iributed among the population upon principles
ol equality that have never heretofore ob
tained in the history of governments, at least
I for any considerable period; and in short, all
, the blessings of civilization and all the ad
| vantages of great nation* I power have been
' enjoyed by a people whose lineay may be
traced directly back to a dozen nations ol the
old world. That peace should have been so
long maintained among these virions sorts of
inhabitants and their utmost capacities for
improvement and progress been developed,
is to the credit of our system and proves its
excellency. These populations have not been
| crushed together by military force nor united
by fanatical impulse, nor been kept together
1 by a common struggle against a foreign
power. The peculiar beauty and merit of
the fact is, that it rests on voluntary action—
the uncoerced choice and determination of
all the individuals concerned. We have
' nearly overthrown the long established
' falsehood, that men cannot live except under
| powerful restraints from the civil power, and
the demonstration has been made, in part,
with what would have been described as
unpromising tnd discordant materials.
In the next place, never before were so
many religious socts established in the same
country, in other words never were a peo
ple ao much divided in opinion regarding
religious affairs and worship. Unity of faith
has not been accomplished though striven
for by overy sect (each desirous of making
its own faith the standard of uniformity,) nor
is it apparently to be obtained within any
reasonable period, or until some great change
occurs in existing conditions. We have suc
ceeded, however, in holding the various
religious organizations in tolerable harmony,
and their respective capacities for useful
ness have been directed powerfully to the
education and improvement of the people.
Whore else upon the face of the earth was
there ever seen such a number of religious
societies working separately and yet in con
cert to the public good, and without the
slightest interference or direction from the
government of the country? No one of our
sects is allied to the State, or the object of
either State patronage or hostility. Each
and all are left to pursue their own courso,
so far as government is concerned, without
receiving its assistance or incurring its hos
tility. The attempt recently made to em
broil the civil power in religious disputes is
fast dying out and will he seen, in the re
sult, to have been a signal failure.
Very rarely has a country under a single
government been as extensive as ours.—
[Two Dollars per Annnn.
NUMBER 26.
I
The contrasts of climate, production and
scenery which it affords aro extreme. Our
territory abuts upon the two main oceans
of the globe; its northern parts approach
the regions of severe cold, while its southern
lie within the heated tropics. But instead
ol any part oi the country having broken
off from us, additions to it have been re
peatedly made in a peaceful and proper
manner without convulsion and by consent
of all who have been attached to us. '. he
provinces of Rome came by conquest and
were held by force, and all other govern
ments over extended territory have been
founded in violence, injustice and nmbition.
Ours is the first instance of great extension
by peaceful and voluntary means. And it
differs from others also, in this, that all its
parts remain united not by compulsion but
of choice.
All wealih is the product of labor, and
the great wealth of our country, created in
a short period from its settlement, indicates
industry, skill and perseverance in the peo
ple. A greater amount of labor by an equal
number has never been performed else
where ia all history. Attendant upon this
fact of industry has been an enterprising
and inventive spirit which has given wings
to production and hurried us on yet more
rapidly in our race. But we have both ser
vile and free labor. The former extends
through fifteen States, the latter in the re
mainder; and it is upon this fact, or rather
upon questions growing out of it, that the
attempt is now being made to organize po
litical parties. Greatly is it to be desired
that it should fail ignominiously and finally,
for it is full of danger and evil and without
a redeeming feature.
Political parties have always existed in
free States and have exited with us from
our first attempts in constitutional govern
ment. They are probably inseparable from
free institutions, and, at all events, may be
expected to continue ftmongst us. But his
tory teaches us that by their corruptions and
violence many good governments have been
overthrown and blasted and
destroyed. With us they have never here
tofore seriously menaced our national exist
ence or welfare. But if they should come
to correspond exactly with geographical di
visions of the country, the case would be
widely different. But without proceeding
further in this lino of remark, let us inquire
what particular leading feature in our sys
tem distinguishes it from most others and
corioiitnten its peculiar excellence. The. an.
swer in short is, its allowance of local govern
ment for local concerns. The school district,
township, county, borough, city and state,
manage respectively their own affairs in
their own way and at their own pleasure.—
No officials from abroad are put upon them
to dictate to, or oppress them. No costly
and corrupt government from adistant point,
lays upon them its heavy hand to oppress
or to plunder them. The life of the govern
ment instead of locating itself at a central
point is in all parts, and with equal vigor in
all parts. State governments aro largely
curbed and limited by constitutions, and
the powers of the national government are
cautiously and sparingly dealt out to it in an
instrument which indicates throughout a
fear that extensive powers would be abused.
The people hold in their own hands largo
powers which they have never granted, re
tain extensive control over government state
or national, and through the various munici
pal organizations or bodies in each State se
cure the transaction of such business as per
tains to each locality. The division and
subdivisions of political power, the retention
of popular control over all government es
tablishments, and the reservation by the
people in their own hands of all powers not
strictly necessary to government purposes,
are the features of our system that have
caused its success, and if maintain
ed will insure its continuance. Our
boundaries may be extended from one
ocean to the other, as they have been, and
from the great northern lakes to Mexico,
without daager because along with the ex
tension and with the course of settlement
there goes tho principle of local government
for all local concerns. And this is the prin
ciple of the Nebraska bill. It is strictly,
logically in accordance with our system, and
therefore through good and through evil re
port is to be defended and maintained. No
misconception or clamor, no seduction of
intorest, no invocation to peace, must cause
its abandonment. By its enactment, what
ever may be said to the contrary, we stand
by the old landmarks of principle and vin
dicate our American system from a palpa
ble and pernicious error.
A mistake was made in 1820, in the as
sumption and exercise by Congress of leg
islative power over unsettled territories,
and it arose in this manner: Missouri ap
plied for admission as a State with every
reasonable claim to admission under that
cL.use of the constitution which provides
for the admission of new States without
other condition than that their constitutions
shall be republican. Resistance was how
ever made to her admission and a slavery
agitation begun which Was disposed of by a
provision prohibiting slavery in territory
west of the proposed State. This wasscarce
ly an act of legislation, for it had no practical
effect and in fact nover has operated for a
single moment upon any human being. It
was a congressional declaration looking alone
to the future and dependant for its effect up
on future events, it effected the State of Mis
souri then to be admitted in no way whatev
er, and it could not affect the territory Wist
of it until that territory came to be settled.
It was therefore simply a congressional dec-