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VOL. .3.-KO. 17.
BY S. B. EOW.
CLEARFIELD, PA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 185G.
KINDRED SOULS.
Why may not the spirit hold communion
With kindred spirits here below
Souls bound by no earth-bonds of union,
Nor ever hope auch bonds to know ?
Why must we quench this higher nature,
The souls divinest. noblest feature,
. The loftiest gift of our Creator
Ah '. why must this be so ?
Oh. how a glanco of recognition
From earnest eyes, when souls have met,
Fills all our life with joys Elysian,
. And joy wc never can forget!
Yet we must check the fountain's gushing,
; Vhii"h oft from soul to soul is rushing,
. While its rich waters might be Hushing
0"er a heart alone as yet.
'Ah! why this ever restless longing
To meet a soul whose every tone,
The hopes and fears around it thronging,
Are but a re Bex of your own ?
Oh, i.s it wrong this ceaseless yearning.
The hidden foul s voicnuio burning?
liay not that soul, in all its turning,
ho to another known ?
Oh. God ! why deep within thy spirit.
This subtle essence hast thou placed,
If none its fullness may inherit
If we must wander through life's waste,
With none to know the fount of feeling
Which seeks for aye its own revealing,
And longs, from echoes backward stealing,
One little draught to taste ?
It is not life this constant aching,
The soul unanswered and unknown.
Oh. Father! when the heart is breaking,
Which feels ol earth alone alone '
Where can it flee but up to Heaven,
Hoping, its latest earth-throb given.
To d we'll where nevermore arc given,
Spirits of kindred tone !
I)R. FR.V.KLI.'S O.MY SON.
While the name of Dr. Franklin lias been so
prominently before the pnblie of Lite, in con
nection, with the celebration at Boston, it may
not be uninteresting to give some account of
liis only son, William, about whom wo think
little is known Ly the community at large.
Unlike bis father, whose chief claim to vene
ration is for the invaluable services lie rer.det
cd his country in her greatest need, the son
was, from first to last, a devoted loyalist. Be
fore the Revolutionary war he hel l several ci-
il and military ofliccs of importance. At the
commencement of the war he bold the office
of Governor of New Jersey, which appoint
ment he received in 17G3. When the difficul
ties between the mother country and the colo
nists were corning to a crisis, he threw his
whole influence in favor of loyalty, and endea
vored to prevent the Legislative Assembly
from sanctioning the proceedings of the Gen
eral Congress at Philadelphia. These efforts,
however, did little to stay thj; tide of popular
sentiment in favor of resistance to tyranny,
and soon involved him in difficulty. lie was
deposed by the Whigs to give place tc William
Livingston, and sent a. prisoner to Connecti
cut, where he remained for two years in East
Windsor, ia the house of Capt. Ebcnezer
Grant, near where the Theological Sominary
now stands. In 1778 he wa3 exchanged, and
son alter went to England. There he spent
the remainder of his life, receiving a pension
from the British Government for the losses be
lwl sustained by his fidelity, lie died in
1S18, at the age of eighty-two: !
As might be expected, his opposition to the
cause of liberty, so dear to the heart of his
father, produced an estrangement between
them. Fcr years they had no intercourse.
When, in 1761, the son wrote to his father, in
his reply Dr. Franklin says : "Nothing has ev
er hurt me so much, and affected me with such
keen sensations, as to find myself deserted in
my old age by my only son ; and not only de
serted, but to find him taking l.p arms against
me in a cause wherein my good fame, fortune,
and life, voce all at stake." In his will also
he alludes to the part his son had acted. Al
ter making him some bequests, he adds: "The
part he acted against me in the late war, which
is of public notoriety, will account for my
leaving him no more of an estate which he en
deavored to deprive mo of." The patriotism
of the father stands forth all the brighter when
contrasted with the desertion of the sou.
Acubunjporl Herald.
E0"W TO GET RIO OF EATS
There is a public liouso on the St. John,
called Rat Tavern. The name originated thus:
An American was travelling np the river du
ring a tluiw in winter, when snow and water
were nearly knee deep. Late in the afternoon
be came to this tavern, cold, wet and hungry,
and called for dinner. He was told rather
roughly by the landlord that the dinner hour
had passed, and he must wait till tea. Jie
then asked for a cold lunch, as ha was faint
and hungry. After some grumbling this was
fcroutrht on. Tho stranger ate and asked for
his bill.
' "Fifty cents," was tho reply, in a growling
tone "Dinner is a quarter, but a lunch is out
of season, and you must pay fifty cents.'
The traveller paid the bill, and sat down to
dry himself. Soon & cheese was brought in
bv the maid very much mutillatcd by the rats
The whole race of rats rcceiveda volley of
abuse from the enraged landlord.
"And why do you keep rats V said the Tan-
tec ; "I can give you a recipe that I can war
rant you will keep every rat away. '
"Ah ! and how ranch will you charge 7"
"O, about filly cents."
The landlord, somewhat complacent, return
ed the half dollar, and "now," said he, "for
ilie recipe."
"Well, sir," said the Yankee, "whenever a
rat comes to your house, cold, wet unit nun
err, jrive him a cold lunch and charge him
half a dollar, and I'll be lnnd he'll never
SINGTJLAX AND MELANCHOLY CASE. f
Maid, Wife and Widow is 20 Mixites.
Dr. James II. Bogardus, of Kingston, Ulster
county New York, died at the Girard Ilouse,
in .New York City, on Sunday, after a very
short illness, under singular circumstances.
The 'Herald' says :
The deceased was 43 years old, of the high
est respectability, and ranked the first in his
profession in the country in which he resided.
For about two years he bad been engaged to
Miss Isabella Hamilton, a young lady, also a
resident of Kingston, and on two occasion,
days were fixed for their nuptails, on each of
which death presented a barrier to the con
summation of . their wishes. On the former
instance, the death of his brother's child ren
dered a postponement of the day of their con
templated marriage necessary, and both the
doctor and his afiianced bride attended the fu
neral. On the second occasion fixed for their
union, Miss Hamilton's sister lost a child, and
again they attended a funeral service instead
of their own marriageceremeny.
On Monday of last week, Dr. Bogardus came
to the city and put up at tho Girard Ilouse, in
Chambers slrort, and on retiring complained
to Mr. Davis, with whom ho was well acquain
ted, that he was quite unwell. The following
day, not feeling able to leave his bed, Doctor
Saver and other eminent physicians were cal
led in and consulted. Alter several diys' at
tendance, they came to the conclusion that
there was something more "than disease of the
body in the case of their patient, and they in
timated to him the fact, whereupon Dr. Bogar
dus frankly informed his medical advisers
that he was deeply attached to a young lady,
whom he was to be married on Tuesday, (yes
terday ;) that their marriage had been twice
frustrated by death, and that he now feared
that his own illness would provo a third inter
position to his happiness.
Dr. Sayer, perceiving the sad effect which
the fear of auothcr disappointment had upon
his mind, suggested the propriety of sending
a telegraphic despatch to Miss Hamilton to
come to Now York without delay, forlhe pur
pose of carrying out the w ishes of Dr. Bogar
dus. Tho despatch was accordingly sent, and
Miss Hamilton arrived about four o'clock on
Sunday morning, and, as early as possible,
some of their friends residing in Newark were
sent for to attend the marriage ceremony. At
one o'clock the same day, Dr. Sayer, visited
his patient, and found him so much better
that he considered that it would be unneces
sary for him to attend again.
At half-past 2 o'clock, the parties were uni
ted, and Dr. Bogardus expressed his thankful
ness ot being enabled to carry out his inten
tions of marriage to the lady in question.
Their friends then retired for a few moments,
for the purpose of partaking of some refresh
ments. He then remarked that he felt so
much better that he would get up, and at once
proceeded to raise himself in bed. His bride,
perceiving his efforts to rise, went to assist
him, only to discover that he was expiring iu
her arms. She instantly sprang to the bell
and rang for assistance, but before their friends
could reach the room he was a corpse, and
yesterday afternoon his remains were taken to
Kingston, on board the steamer North Ameri
ca, for interment.
Tiie Fi ll Ticket. While waiting for a car
recently, we overncard the following dialogue :
A half-dozen native Greeks were discussing
the chances of the election, vhen a seventh,
, , r ., it - ;,wwj ,
fresh from the polls joined theill.
"Ah ! here comes Mike," cried one, "Mike
have von voted?"
Is it voting you mane, an' I afther voting
the
full ticket?" replied Mike, showing his
teeth by an elongated smile, lull of fun and
?t. m . .11 . t r 11
seif-approbation
"Well, Mike, an' who were you afther vo-
ting for?" j
"Why, the full ticket, didn't I tell you !" J
"The full ticket 7 But what full ticket?)
Did you vote for Fillmore, Buchanan, or Fre
mont ?''.
"Yes, shure, an' I suppose I did. It was
the full ticket, I tell you; shure an' it must
uv been for them all. X. Y. Dispatch.
A good anecdote is told of a Methodist
preacher, who rode a circuit a few days ago.
While going to oue of his appointments he
met an old acquaintance, who was one of the
magistrates of the county. He asked the min
ister why he did'nt do as the Savior did ride
an ass. "Because," said the divine, "tho peo
ple liavo taken them nil to make magistrates
of."
"How do you get along with your arithme
tic ?" asked a father of his little boy. "I've
cyphered through add it ion, parti! ion, subst Tac
tion, disiraction, abomination, justification,
hallucination, derivation, amputation, crea
tion, and adoption." He'd do for au engineer
on a short line railroad.
...... 1.... a ,.: i ,k
Iters IS iv !. --ew- ... ..s ". ..
hoops : Little Uoy. ".na, w nac u Miusn r
Mother. "Why, my dear ? why do you ask ?"
Little Boy. "Because I asked sister Jane yes
terday, w hat made her new dress stick out so,
and she said 'hush.' "
- Pass Him Eocxd. A disappointed old bach
elor, out West, says it makes little difference
whether a man commussiHc.uc or ...awoU
Whatanrgly daguerreotype the fello mnst
L AST ANNUAL. MESSAGE OF
FRANKLIN PIERCE, .
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
Heal in Congress, Tuesday See. 2, 136.
Fellow Citizens of the Senate and i
of the Uwsf of Representatives :
The Constitution requires-that the Presi
dent shall, from time to time not only recom
mend to the consideration of Congress such
measures as he may deem necessary and expe
dient, but also that he shall give information
to them of the stato of the Union. To do this
fully involves exposition of all matters in the
actual condition of the country, domestic or
foreign, which essentially concern the general
welfare. While performing his constitutional
duty in this respect, the President does not
speak merely to express personal convictions,
but as tho executive minister of the govern
ment, enabled by his position, and called tip
on by his official obligations, to scan with an
impartial eye, the interests of the whole,, and
of c wry part of the United States.
Of the conditiou of the domestic interests of
the Union, its agriculture, mines, manufac
tures, navigation and commerce, it is neces
sary only to say, that the internal prosperity
of the country, its continuous and steady ad
vancement in wealth and population, and its
private as well as public well-being, attest the
w isdom of our institutions, and the predomi
dant spirit of intelligence and patriotism,
which, notwithstanding occasional irregulari
ties of opinion or action resulting from popu
lar freedom, has distinguished and characteri
zed the people of America.
In the brief interval between tho termina
tion of the last and the commencement of tho
present session of Congress, tho public mind
has been occupied with the care of selecting,
for another constitutional term, the President
and Vice President of the United States.
The determination of the persons w1k arc
of right, or contingently, to preside over the
administration of the government, is, under
our system, comrnitttcd to the States and the
people. We appeal to them, by their voice
pronounced in the forms of law, to call whom
soever they will to the high post of Chief Ma
gistrate. And thus it is that as the Senators
represent the respective States of the Union,
and the members of the House of Representa
tives the several constituencies of each State,
so the President represents the aggregate pop
ulation of the United States. Their election
of him is the explicit and solemn act of the
solo sovereign authority of the Union.
It is impossible to misapprehend tho great
principles, which, by their recent political ac
tion, the people of the United States have sanc
tioned and announced.
They have asserted the constitutional equal
ity of each and all the States of the Union as
States: they have allirmed the constitutional
equality ol each and all of the citizens of the
United States as citizens, whatever their reli
.eien, w herever their birth, or their residence ;
they have maintained the inviolability of the
constitutional rights of the different sections
of tho Union; and they have proclaimed their
devoted and unalterable attachment to the
Union and to the constitution, as objects of in
terest superior to all subjects of local or sec
tional controversy, as the safeguard of the
rights of all, as the spirit and the essence of
the liberty, peace and greatness of the Repub
lic. In doing this, fhey have, at the same time,
emphatically condemned the idea of organi
zing in these United States mere geographical
parlies: of marshalling in hostile array toward
each other the tlillerent parts of the country,
North or South, East or West.
Schemes of this nature, fraught with incal
culable mischief, and which the considerate
sense of the people has rejected, could have
had countenance in no part of the country, hud
they not been disguised by suggestions plausi
ble in appearance, acting upon an excited state
of the public mind, induced by causes tempo
rary in their character, and it is to bo hoped,
transient ia their influence.
Perfect liberty of assocation for political ob
jects, and the widest scope of discussion, ore
i the received and ordinary conditions of gov
ernment in our country. Our institutions, tra-
j "led in the spirit of confidence in the intelli-
pence ana integrity 01 me ueuuic, uu uui 101-
J". r ' 4n,livi,I Lllv or associated
, together, to attack bv writing, speech or by
any other methods short of physical force, the
i Constitution and the very existence of the
, , .v .... , 11VS an1
j ot the'-rovernment they assail.associatioiis have
1 " .. ... .
been formed, in some ol the Mates, ol indi
viduals, w ho, pretending to seek only to pro
vent tho spread of tho institution of slavery
into the preseut or future inchoate States of
the Union, are really inflamed with desire to
change the domestic institutions of existing
States. To accomplish their objects, they ded
icate themselves to the odious talk of depre
ciating the government organization which
stands in their way, and of calumniating, with
indiscriminate invective, not only the citizens
of particular States, with T.hoso laws they find
fault, but nil others of their felow-citizens
throughout the country, who do not participate
with them in their assaults upon tho Constitu
tion, framed and adopted by our fathers, and
claiming for the privileges it has secured, and
! the blessings it has conferred, the steady sup-
port and grateful reverence of their children,
j They seek an object which they well know to
! be a revolutionary one.
I They are perfectly aware that the change in
I tho relative condition of the white and black
j races in the slaveholding States, which they
would promote, is beyond their lawful author
I ity; that to them it is a foreign object; that
j it'car.not be ellected by any peaceful instru
I mentality of theirs; that for them, and the
; States of which they arc citizens, the only
! i;ith to its accomplishment is through burning
cities, and ravaged fields, and slaughtered
populations, and all there is most terrible in
foreign, complicated with civil and servile
war
and that the first step in the attempt is
the forcible disruption of a country embracing
i in its broad bosom a degree 01 i.ocnj , .m
I nnionnt. of individual and PUOlIC prosperity
. . . II. .1 i liiufjrv nnI
to which there 13 no paranei iu ...a.,,, ..
substituting in its place hostile governments,
driven nt once and inevitably into mutual de
vastation and fratricidal carnage, transforming
the now peaceful and felicitous brotherhood
into a vast permanent camp of armed men like
Hi. rival monarchies of Europe and Asia.
Well knowing that such, and sucti oniy, are
. anjt,ltf consennencc. of theirplans
j "J if thcv endeam to prepare th
people of the United States for civil war by
doing everything in their power to deprive
the Constitution and the laws of moral author
ity, and to undermine tho fabric of the Union
by appeals to passion and sectional prejudice,
by indoctrinating its people with reciprocal
hatred, and educating them to 6tand face to
face as enemies, rather than shoulder to shoul
der as friends.
It is by the agency of such unwarrantable
interference, foreign and domestic, that the
minds of mauy,' otherwise good citizens, have
been so inflamed into the passionate condem
nation of the domestic institutions of the sou
thern States, as at length to pass insensibly to
almost equally passionate hostility towards
their fellow-citizens of those States, and thus
finally to fall into tenqorary fellowship with
the avowed and active enemies of the Consti
tution. Ardently attached to liberty in the
abstract, they do not stop to consider practi
cally how the objects they would attain can be
accomplished, nor to reflect, that, even if tho
evil were as great as they deem it, they have
no remedy to apply, and that it can Le only
aggravated by their violence and unconstitu
tional action. A question, which is one of
the most difficult of all the problems of social
institution, political economy and statesman
ship, they treat with unreasoning intemper
ance of thought and language. Extrenus be
get extremes. Violent attack front the North
finds its inevitable consequence in the growth
of a spirit of angry defiance at the South.
Thus in the progress of events we had reach
ed that consummation which the voice of the
people has now so pointedly rebuked of the
attempt, of a portion of the States, by a sec
tional organization and movement, to usurp
the control of the government of the United
States.
I confidently believe that the great body of
those, who inconsiderately took this fatal step
are sincerely attached to the Constitution and
the Union. They would upon deliberation,
shrink with unaffected horror,from any consci
ous act of disunion or civil war. But they have
entered into a path, which leads nowhere, un
less it be to civil war and disunion, and which
has 1,0 other outlet. They have proceeded
tli us far in that direction, in consequence of
the successive stages of their progress having
consisted of a series of secondary issues, each
of which professed to be confined w ithin con
stitutional and peaceful limits, but which at
tempted indirectly what low men were willing
to do directly, that is, to act aggressively
against the constitutional rights of nearly one
hall of the 31 States.
Iu the long series of acts of indirect aggres
sion, the first was the strenuous agitation, by
citizens of the Northern States, iu Congress
and out of it, of the question of negro emanci
pation in the Southern Slates.
The second step ni this path of evil consist
ed of acts of the people of theNorthern States,
and in several instances of their governments,
aimed to facilitate the escape of persons held
to service in the Southern States, and to pre
vent their extradition when reclaimed accor
ding to law and in virtue of express provisions
of the Constitution. To promote this object,
legislative enactments and other means were
adopted to take away or defeat rights, which
the Constitution solemnly guaranteed. In or
der to nullify the then existing act ol Congress
concerning tho extradition of fugitives lrom
service, laws were enacted in many States,for
bidding their officers, under the sevtrest penal
ties, to participate in the execution of any act
of Congress whatever. In this way that sys
tem of harmonious co-opeiation between the
authorities ol the United States, and of the
several States, for the maintenance of their
common institutions, which existed in the
early years of the Republic was destroyed;
conflicts of jurisdiction came to be frequent ;
and Congress found itself compelled, for the
support of the Constitution, and the vindica
tion of its power, to 'authorize the appoint
ment of new officers, charged with the execu
tion of its acts, as if they and the oflicers of
the States were the ministers, respectively, of
foreign governments in a state ot mutual iios
tility, rather than follow magistrates of a com
mon country, peacefully subsisting urnJer tlie
protection ol one well constituted union.
Thus, here, also, aggression was followed Py
reaction ; and the attacks upon the Constitu
tion at this point did but serve, to raise up
new barriers for its defence and security.
Tho third stage of this unhappy sectional con
troversy was in connexion with the organization
of territorial governments, and the admission of
new States into the Union. When it was proposed
to admit the State of Maine, by separation of ter
ritory from that of Massachusetts, and the State of
Missouri, formed of a portion of the territory ce
ded by Franco to ihe United States, representa
tives in Congress objected to the admission of tho
latter, unless with conditions suited to particular
views of public policy. Tho imposition of such a
Condition was successfully resisted. Hut at the
same period, the question was presented of impo
sing restrictions upon the residue of the territory
coded by France. That question was.for the time,
disposed of by the adoption of a geographical line
of limitation.
In this connection it should not be forgotten
th;it France of her own accord resolved, for con
siderations of the most far-si?htcd sagacity, to
cede Louisiana to the United States, and that ac
cession was accepted by the United States, the lat
ter expressly engaged that "the inhabitants of the
ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union
of tho United Stctes, and admitted as soon as pos
sible, according to the principles of the Federal
Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights,
advantages and immunities of citiiens of tho I'ni
ted States ; and in the meantime they shall be
maintained and protected in the free enjoyment
of their lihrrly. projirrty and the roMgion which
they profess" that is to say. whilo it remains in
a territorial condition, its inhabitants are main
tained anil protected in the free enjoyment of their
liberty anil property, with a right then to pass in
to the conditiou of Status on a footing of perfect
equality with the original States.
Tl.n pniiptmpnt. vliifh nstnltlivliprl tli rptr!p-
tive geographical line, wa3 ucquh;sced-ni rather
than approved by tho States of the Union. It
stood on the statute books, however, for a number
of years, and the people of the respective States
acquiesscd in the re-enactment of the principle as
applied to the Sjate of Texas ; and it was propo
sed to acquiesce in its further application to the
territory uctpircd by the United States from Mex
ico I5ut this proposition was successfully resisted
by the representatives from the Northern States,
who, regardless of the statute lino, insisted upon
applying the restriction to the new territory gen
erally, whether lying north orsuth of it, thereby
repealing it as a legislative compromise, and, on
tho part of the North, pcrsistentlv violating the
compact, if compact there was. thereupon this
enactment ceased to havo binding virtue in any
pense, whether as respects tbo North or the South ;
and so in effect it was treated on the occasion of
the admission of the State of California, and the
organization of the territories of New Mexico, U
tr.h. and Washington.
Fuen t th etat of this jesfoB, vfcea toe
timn jrrivod for thu organization of the Territo
ries of Kansas and Nebraska. In the progress of
constitutional inquiry and rencclion, 11 uaa now
ct length come to In? seen clearly that Congress
does not possess constitutional power to impose re
strictions of th is character upon any present or fu
ture State of the Union. In a long series of deci
sions, on the fullest argument, and after the most
deliberate considt ration, the Supreme Court of the
United States had finally determined this poiat,
in every form under which the question cou.u a
rise, whether as affecting public or private rights
in questions
s of the public domaiu. of re.iiun.
of navigation, and of servitude.
Tho several Slates of the Union arc, by force of
the Constitution, co-equal in domestic legislative
power. Congress cannot change a law of domes
tic relation iu the State of Maine; no more can it
in the State of MUsouri. Any statute which pro
poses to do this is a mere iiullity; it takes away
no right, it confers none. If it rcinaits on the
statute-bock unrepealed, it rv mains there only as
a monument of error, and a beacon of warning to
the legislator and the statesman. To repeal it nill
be only to remove imperfection from the statutes
without affecting, either in the sense of permission
or of prohibition, the action of the States. orof
their citizens. Still, when the nominal restriction
of this nature, already a dead letter in law, was in
terms repealed by the last Congress, iu a cl ause of
the act organizing the Territories of Kansas and
Nebraska, that repeal was made the occasion of a
wide-spread and uaugcrous agitation, it was al
leged that the original enactment being a compact
of perpcuid moral obligation, its rtpcul constitu
ted an odious breach of faith.
An act of Congress, while it remains unre
pealed, more especially if it lc continually
valid in the judgment of those public function
aries whosi duty it is to pronounce on that
point, is undoubtedly binding on the con
science of each good citizen of the Bepublie.
But in what sense can it be asserted that tlu
enactment in question was invested with per
petuity and entitled to the respect of a solemn
compact ? No distinct contending powers of
tne government, no sepcratc sections of the
Union, treating as such, entered iuto treaty i
stipulations on the subject.
It was a mere clause of an act of Congress, !
and like any other controverted matter ol legis
lation, received its filial shape and was passed
by compromise of the conflicting opinions or
sentiments of the members of Congress. But
if it had moral authority over men's conscien
ces, to whom did this authority attach Not
to those of the North, who had repeatedly re
fused to confirm it by extension, and who had
zealously striven to establish other and incom
patible regulations upon the subject. And if,
as it thus appears, the supposed compact had
no obligatory force as to the North, of course
it could not have had any as to the South, for
all such compacts must be mutual and of recip
rocal obligation".
It has not unfrcqueritly happened that law
givers, with undue estiuution of the value of
the law they give, or in the view of imparting
to it peculiar strength, make it perpetual in
terms; but they cannot thus bind the con
science, the judgment, and the will cf those
who may succeed them, invested w ith similar
responsibilities, and clothed with equal author
ity. More careful investigation may prove tiie
law to be unsound in principle. Experience
may show it to be imperfect in detail ami im
practicable in execution. And then both rea
son and right combine not merely to justify,
but to require its repeal.
The Constitution, supreme as it is over all
departments of the government, legislative,
executive, and judicial, is open to amendment
by its very terms ; and Congress or the States
may,in their discretion, propose ameudment to
it, solemn compact though it in truth is be
tween the States of the Union. In the present
instance, a political enactment, which had
ceased to have K'gal power or authority of any
kind, was repealed- The position assumed,
that Congress had no moral right to enact such
repeal, was strange enough, and singularly so
in view of the fact that the argument came
from those who openlv refusedolH-dier.ce to
existing laws of the laud, having the same pop
ular designation and quality as compromise
acts nav, more, who unequivocally disregar
ded and condemned the most positive and ob
ligatory injunctions of tiie Constitution Itself,
and sought, by every means within their reach,
to deprive a portion of their fellow-citizens of
the equal enjoyment ol those rignts and privi
leges guarantied alike to all by the fundamental
compact ot our Union.
This argument against the repeal of tho stat
ute line in question, was accompanied by an
other of congenial character, and equally with
the former destitute of foundation iu reason
and'truth. It was imputed that Jhe measure
originated in the conception of extending Ihu
limits of slave labor beyond those previously
assigned to it, and that such was its natural as
well as intended effect; and these baseless as
sumptions were made, in the northern States,
the ground of unceasiug assault upon constitu
tional right.
The repeal in terms of a statute, which was
already obsolete, also null for unconstitution
ality, could have no influence to obstruct or to
promote the propagation of conflicting views
of political or social institutions. When the
act organizing the Territories of Kansas and
Nebraska was passed, the inherent elfcct upon
that portion of the public domain thus opened
to legal settlement, was to admit settlers from
all the States of the Union alike, each with his
convictions of public policy and private inter
est, there to found in their discretion, subject
to such limitations as the Constitution and
acts of Cor.gress might prescribe, new States,
hereafter to be admitted into the Union.
It was a free field open alike to all, whether
tho statute line of assumed restriction were re
juialed or not. That repeal did not open to
free competition of the divers opinions and
domestic institutions, a field, which without
such repeal, would have been closed against
them ; it found that field of competition alrea
dy ope.ncd, in fact and in law. All the repeal
did was to relievo the statute book of an objec
tionable enactment, unconstitutional in its ef
fect and injurious in terms to a large portion
of the States.
Is it the fact that, in all the unsettled re
gions of the United St ites.if emigration bo left
tree to act in this respect for itself, without
legal prohibitions on either side, sl.ive-lalor
will spontaneously go every where, in prefer
ence to free labor"? Is it the fact, that the pe
culiar domestic institutions of the Southern
States possess so much of vigor, that, whereso
ever an avenue i freely open to all the world,
they will penetrate to the exclusion of those
of the Northern States? Is it the fact that
the former enjoy, compared with the latter,
such irresistibly superior vitality, independent
of climate, soil, and all other accidental cir
cumstances, as to be able to produce the sup
posed result, in spite of the assumed moral and
mttaral obstacles to ita acccanplishiSMA, ted
of the more numerous population of fhe Nor
thern States t
' Of course, these imputations on the inten
tion of Congress in this respect, conceived as
they wer? iu prejudice and disseminated ia
passion, arc utterly destitute of any justifica
tion in the nature of thiugs, and contrary to a!l
the fundamental doctrines of civil liberty and
self-government.
The argument of those who advocate tlm
enactment of new law s of restriction, and con
demn the repeal of old ones, in cfl'ect avers
that their particular views ot government hav
no self-extending or sell-sustaining power of
their own. and will go nowhere unless forced
ly act ol Congress. And if Congress do but
pause for a moment, in the policy of stern co
ercion; if it venture to try the experiment of
leaving men to judge for tUmselvcs what in
stitutions will best suit them; if it Iks not
strained t:p to perpetual legistive exertion on
this point ; if Congress proceed to act thus in
the very spirit of liberty, it is at once charged
with aiming to extend slave labor int all the
new Territories ot the United States.
Wnile, therefore, in general, the people of
the Northern States have never, at any time,
arrogated for the federal government the pow
er to inteifere directly with the domestic con
dition of persons in the Soutbean States, but
on the contrary have disavowed all such inten
tions, and have shrunk from conspicuous affil
iation with those few who pursue their fanati
cal ol jects avowedly through the contempla
ted means of revolutionary change of the gov
ern:ue.t, and with acceptance of the necessa
ry cons -cpuences a civil and servile war yet
many citizens have suffered themselves to be
drawn into one evanescent political issue of
agitation after another, appertaining to tho
tame set of opinions, and which subsided as
rhpidly as they arose when it came to be Seen,
as it uniform I v did, that they were incompat
ible with the compacts of the Conititution and
the existence of the Union. Thus, when the
acts of some of the States to nullify the extra-
.. .. - n . , J .
dition law imposed upon Congresstue u'J
passing a new one, tiie country was ';
bv agitators to enter into party organization
for its repeal; but tliat agitation, speedily cea
sed I V reason of the impracticability of its ob
ject. So, when the statute restriction upon
the ir titutions of new States, by a geograpnt
cal line, bad been repealed, the country was
urged to demand its r. torution, and t: e pro
ject died almost with its birth. Il'.enlollow-
ed the cry of alarm from the Norm againsi
imputed Southern encroachments; which cry
sprang in reality from the spirit of revolution
ary attack on tlie domestic institutions of tho v
South, and, after a troubled existence of a
few months, has been rebuked by the voice or
a patriotic people.
Of this last agitation, one lamentable feat
ure was, that it was carried or at the immedi
ate expense of the peace aad happiness of tho
people of the Territory of Kansas. That was
made the battle field, not so much of opposing
factious or interests within itself as ol the con
flicting passions of the whole people ot th
United States. Revolutionary disorder in
Kansas had its origin in projects of Interven
tion, deliberately 'arranged by certain mem
bers of that Congress which enacted the law
for the organization of the Territory. And
w hen propagandist colonization of Kansas had
thus been undertaken in one section of the
Union, lor the systematic promotion or its
views of policy, there ensued, as a matter of
course, a counteraction with opposite view,
in other sections of the Union.
In consequence of these and other incidents
many acts of disorder, it is understood, havo
been perpetrated iu Kansas, to the occasional
interruption, rather than the permanent sus
pension, of regular government. Aggressivo
and most repieh- rsible incursions into tho
Territory were undertaken, both in the North,
and in the South, and entered in on its nor
thern border by the way of Iowa, as well as on
the .-astern bv way of Missouri ; and there has
existed within it a state of insurrection against
the constituted authorities, not without coun
tenance from inconsiderate persons in each of
the great sections of the Union. But tho di
msii ir in t!. t Ti-rifnr li3v been extrava-
iCntlv exaggerated for purposes of political
agitations elsewhere.
Ths number and gravity ot the acts 01 vio
lence have been magnified partly by state
ments entirely untrue and partly by reitera
ted accouuts of th same rumors or facts.
Thus the Territory has been, seemingly nuea
with extremis violence, when the whole a
mount of such acts has not been greater than
what occasionally passes beforo us ia singl
cities to the regret of all good citizens, but
without being regarded as of general or per
manent political consequence.
Imputed irregularities in the elections bad
iu Kansas, like occasional irregularities of tb
same description in the States, were beyond
the sphere ot action of tho Executive. Bat
incidents of actual violence of organized ob-s-'ruction
of law, pertinaciously renewed lrom
time to time, have lieen met as they occurred,
by such means as were available and as th
circumstances required, and nothing or this
character now remains to rffect the general
peace of the Union. The attempt of a part of
the inhabitants of the Territory to erect a rev
olutionary government, tho-.-gh sedulously en
couraged and supplied with pecuniary aid
from active agents of disordet in some of th
States, has completely failed. Bodies of arm
ed men, foreign to the Territory, have been
presented from entering or compelled to
leave it. Tredatory bands, engaged in act
of rapine, under cover of the existing politi
cal disturbances, have been arrested or disper
sed. And every well disposed person is new
enabled once more to devote himself m peac
to the pursuits of prosperous industry, for tha
prosecution of which be undertook to parti
cipate iu the settlement of the Territory.
It affords me unniingled satisfaction thus t
announce the peaceful condition ol things la
Kansas, especially considering the meaus to .
which it was necessary to have recourse for
the attainment ol the end, namely, the em
ployment of a part of the military force of th
United States. The withdrawal of that forco
from its proper duty of defending the country
against loreign foes or the savages of the fron
tier, to employ it for the suppression of do
mestic insurrection, ia, when the exigency oc
curs, a matter of the most earnest solicitude.
On this occasion of imperative necessity !t
has been done with the lest results, and rny
satisfaction in the attainment of such results
by such means is greatly enhanced by the con
sideration, that, through tb wisdom and ener
gy of the present Executive of Kansas, andth
prudence, firmness and vigilance of tbe milita
ry ecra on doty tkm, tsawyiUit ha bwft
ccrae fyrajn."
Dare