Lancaster Examiner and Herald

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VOL. KXX;
LANCASTER, PA., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1856.
NEW SERIES, VOL. XVIII-NO. 2%
Aggressions and Usurpations
OF ¦¦>
THE SLAVE POWER.
DECtiBiTION OF PBIHCIPLEB AHD PtIEPOSES OP
THE EEPUBLICAN PARTY.
 ' : •	
ADDRESS OF THE REPUBLICAN CON¬ TENTION, AT PlTTBBiniQ, Peb. 22, 1856.
TO THE PEOPLE OP THE UNITED STATES.
Having mot in Convention at the'Jily of Pitleburg, in the State ol" Pennsylvania, Ibis 22d day of Feb¬ ruary, 185C, as the rcpresenlolives of Ihe people in various ijcctioris of the Onion, to consult upon 'the politiaal evilsby which the country is menaced, and the political action by which those evils may b" averted, we address to you this Declaration of our Principles and of the purposes which we seek to promote.
We declare, in the first place, our fi.\ed and un¬ alterable devoiion to ihe Consiitution of ihe Uuited States—to the ends for which it was established, and 10 the means which it provided fur iheir attainment. We accept the solemn protestation of Ihe People of tie Uiiited Stales, that they ordained it "in order lo form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote tlie general welfare, and secure the bleEsings of liberty tb thcmaelveaand their posterity." We be¬ lieve that the powers which it confers upon the Gov¬ ernment of the United States arc ample for the ac¬ complishment pf these objects; nnd that if these pow¬ ers are exercised in the spirit uf the Constitution itself, they cannot lead lo any other result. We re¬ spect those great rights which the Constilution de- Clares to bo iuviolable—Freedom of Speech and of the Press, the free exercise ot Religious Beliel, and Ihe right of the People peaceably to assemble and to pe¬ tition the Government for a Eedress of Grievances. Wo would prcserie tliose great safeguards of civil freedom, the habeas roRPua, the riglit of trial hy jury, and the right of personal liberty, unless deprived thereof for c'rinie by due process of law. We declare our purpose to obey, iu all things, the requirements of the Constitution and of all laws enacted in pursuance thereof. We cherish a profound reverence lor Ihe wise and patriotic men by whom it was framed, and a lively sense ofthe blessings it has conferied upon our country and upon mankind throughout the world. In every crisis of diflicnlty and of dan^'er we shall invoke lis spirit and pruclaii;! tlie supremacy of its authority.
In the ne.xl place, we declare our ardeni and un¬ shaken attachment to this Union of American Slates, which the Constilution created and has thus far pre¬ served. Wc revere it as the purchase of the blooil of our forefathers, as the condition of our national re¬ nown, and as the guardian and guaranty of that liberty which the Constitution was designed to secure. We will defend and protect it against all its onemies. We will recognize no geographical divisions, no local interesls, no narrow or sectional prejudices, in onr en¬ deavors 10 preserve the union of these States against foreign aggression and domestic strife. What we claim for ourselves, we claim for all. The rights, privileges and liberties which we demand as our in¬ heritance, we concede as their inheritance to aJI the citizens of this Republic. #
Holding these opinions, and animated by these sen¬ timents, we declare our conviction that ihc Govern¬ ment of the United States is not administered in ac¬ cordance with the Constitution, or for the preservation ¦ and prosperity of tiie American Union ; but that its powers are systematically wielded fok the rfiOMo-
TION   AND   EXTE.NSION   OF THE INTEREST OF SLAVERY,
in direct hostility to the letter and spirit of the Con¬ stitution, in flagrant disregard of other great interests of the country, and in open contempt of the public sentiment ofthe American people and of the Christian world. Weproclainiourbelief that the policy which has for years past been adopted iu the Administration ofthe General Government, tends to the utter subver¬ sion of each of the great ends for which the Consti- tution was established, and that, unless it shall be arrested by the prompt interposition of the People, the hold of the Union upon their loyally and affection will be rela.ved, Ihe domestic tranquillity will be dis¬ turbed, and all Constitutional securities for the bless¬ ings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity will be destroyed. The Slaveholding interest cannot be permanently paramount in the General Government without involving consequences fatal to Free insti¬ tutions. We acknowledge that it is large and powerful; that in the States where it exists it is entitled under the Constitution, like all other local interests, lo immunity from the interferences of the' General Government, and' that it must necessarily exercise through its representatives a considerable share of political power. But there is nothing in its position, as there is certainly nothing in its character, to sustain the supremacy which it seeks to eslablisli. There is not a State in the Union in which the slave¬ holders number one-tenth partof the free white popu¬ lation—nor in tlie aggregate do they number one filtieth part ot the white population of the United States. The annual productions of the other classes in the Union fnr exceed the total value of all the slaves. To say nothing, therefore, of the questions of natural justice, and of political economy which Slavery involves, neither its magnitude nor the numbers of those by whom it is represented entitle it to one-lenth part of tlie political powerff conferred upon the Federal Government by the Constitution. Yet we see it seek¬ ing, and at this moment yielding, all the functions ol the Government—e.vecutive, legislative, and judicial —and using them for the augmentation of ils powers and the establishment of its ascendancy.
From this ascendancy the principles of the Consti¬ tution, the rights of the several States, the safety of the Union, and the welfare of the people ofthe "United States, demand that it should bedislodged. JEOBTOEICAL ODIUNE OP THE PHOGBEES OP BI,AVEKY TOWABD ASOENBAXOT IN THE FEEERAL QOy- EBNMENT.
It is not necessary for us to rehearse in detail the successive steps by which tbe slaveholding interest has aeeured the influence it now exerts in the General Goverument. Close students of political events will readily trace the path ol Its ambition through the past twenty.five years of our national history.
It_was under the Administration of President Tyler, and during the negotiation which preceded the annex¬ ation of Texas, that the Federal Administration for the first time declared, in its diplomatic correspond¬ ence with foreign nations, that Slavery in the United States was a " poutioai, institotion, essential to
THE  PEACE, 8APETT AND  PRGSPERIT?  OF THOSE
States of the Union is whioh it exists;" and that the paramount motive of the American (jovern- ment, in annexing Texas, was twofold—First .• To prevent the abolition of Slavery within its limits, and. Second: To render Slavery more secure and more powerful within the slaveholding States of the Union. Slavery waa thus taken under the special care and protection of the Federal Government, It was no longer to be left as a State institution, to be controled exclusively by the States themselves; it was to be defended by the General Government, not only against invasion or insurrection of armed enemies, but against the moral sentiment of humanity and tlie natural de- velopment_of population nnd material power.
Thus was the whole current of our national history suddenly and unconstitutionally reversed.   The Gen¬ eral Government, abandoning the position it had al¬ ways held, declared its purpose to protect and per¬ petuate what the great founders of the Republic had regarded as an evil—-as al variance witli the principles on which our institutions were based, and as a source of weakness, social and political, to the communities in which it existed. - At the time of the Revolution Slavery existed in all the Colonies; but neither then, nor for half a century afterward, had it been an ele¬ ment of political strife, for there was no difference ol opinion or of policy in regard to it.   The tendency of affairs had been toward emancipation.   Half the original thirteen States had taken measures at an early day to free themselves from the blighting influence and the reproach of Slavery.   Virginia  and Norlh Carolina had anticipated the Continental Congress ol 1774, in checking the increase of their Slave popula¬ tion by prohibiting the Slave trade at any of their ports. sestijients of the eramers op the constitu- 'tion concerndio slavery. The Constitution, conferring upon Congress full power to prevent the increase of Slavery by_prohib- iting the slave trade,' out of regard for existing in¬ terests and vested rfghtH, postponed the exercise of that power over the States then existing: until the year 1808; leaving Congress free to exercise it over new States and over the Territories ofthe United States by prohibmng the migration or importation bf slaves into them. Wlthotit any restriction except suijh as its own discretioti might supply.   Congress promptly availed Itself of this permission by reaffirming that exeat Ordi¬ nance of Uie Confederation by which it wis ordained and decreed that all  the territory then belonging lo the United States should be forever free    Four new States were formed out of territory lying south ofthe Ohio river, and admitted into the Union previous to 1820; but the territory from which they were formed had belonged lo: States in which Slavery existed at the time of their formation; and in ceding it to tha General Government, or in assenting to the formation of new States within  it, the old States to which it belonged bad insertad a proviso against any regula¬ tion of Congress that should tend to the emancipation of slaves." -Congress was thus prevented from pro¬ hibiting Slavery in these new Slates by the action of the old States out of which Ihey had been farmed. But as Booa as the constitutional liinitation upon its power over the States then existing had expired, Congre8s"pro'''l>ited by fearful penalties the addition by importation of a single slave to the numbers already intho country.
The framers of tbe Constitgtion, although the his- toriMl record of their opiniona proves that they were MTBWt iini andividtd In thtir ditliki of SUw;,
and in their conviction that it was hostile in its nature and it£ influences to Republican Freedom, after taking these steps to prevent its increase, did not interfere with it further in the States where it theii existed. Those States were separate communities, jealous of their sovereignty, and unwilling to enter into any league which should trench, in the least degree, upon their own control over their own affairs. This senti¬ ment the framers of the Constitution were compelled to respect, and they accordingly left Slavery, as they left all other local interesls, to the control of the sev¬ eral Stales. But no one who reads with care the de¬ bates und the recorded opinions of that'age, can doubt that the ultimate removal of Slavery was desired by the people of the whole country, and that Congress had been empowered to prevent its increase, with a view to ita gradual 'and ultimate e."Stinction. Nor did the period of emancipation seem remote. Slave labor, employed as it was in agriculture, was less profitable than the free labor which was pouring in to take its place. And even in the States where this consideration did not prevail, other influences tended to the same result. The spirit of liberty was then young, generous, and strong. The men ofthe nation had made sacrifices and woged battles lor the vindi¬ cation of their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and it was not possible for tbem to sit down in the quiet enjoyment of blessings thus achieved, without feeling the injustice as well as ihe inconvenience of holding great numbers of their fellow-men in bondage. In all'the Slates, therefore, there existetl a strong tecdency toward emancipation. The removal of so great an evil was felt to he a wor¬ thy object of ambition by the best ond most sagacious statesmen of that age ; and Washington, Jefii;rson, Franklin, and all Ihe great leaders and representa¬ tives of public opinion, were active and earnest in devi»jng measures by which it could be accomplished. But the great change prodiifed in tho industry of the Southern States, in llie early part of the" present century, by the increased culture of cotton, the intro¬ duction of new inventions to prepare it for use, and ita growing importance to the commerce ofthe cimn- Iry and the labor of the world, by making slave labor more profitable than it had ever been before, checked this tendency lovvard emancipation and soon put an end to it altogether. As the demand for cotton in- creased, the interests of the cotton-growing States became more and more connected with Slavery ; the spirit of Freedom gradually gave way before the spirit of gain; the sentiments and the language of the Southern States became changed; and all at¬ tempts at emancijiaiion began to be regarded, and re¬ sisted as assaults upon the rights and the interesls of the slaveholding section of the Union. For many years, however, this change did not affect the politi¬ cal relations of the subject. Slates, both free and siaveijolding, were successively added to the Confed¬ eracy without exciting the fears of either section. Vermont came into the Union in 1791 with a Consti¬ lution, excluding Slavery. Kentucky, formed out of Virginia, was admitted in-1792; Tennesse in 1796; Mississippi in 1S17, and Alabama in 1819—all Slave States, formed out uf territory belonged to Slave States, and having Slavery established in lliem at the time of their formation. On the other hand, Ohio was admitted in 1803, Indiana in ISIG, and Illinois in 1818, having formed Slate Governments under acts of Congress which made it a fundamental condition that their Constitutions should contain nothing repug¬ nant to the ordinance of 1787—or, iu other words, that Slavery "should be prohibited within their limits forever. In all these occurrences, as in the admission of Louisiana in 1812, there had been no contest be¬ tween Freedom and Slavery, for it had not been generally felt that the interests of eithi-r were seriously involved.
THE ^nsSOUHl COSIPROMISK. Thu firstcontestconcerningthe admispioii of » new State, which turned upon the question of Slavery, oc¬ curred iu 1819, when Missouri, formed out of terri¬ tory purchased from France in 1803, applied lo Ci-i- gress for admission to tho Union as a lilaveholding State. The application was strenuously resisted by the people of the Free States. It was everywhere felt that the decision involved consequences of the last importance to the welfare of the country, and that, if the progress of Slavery was ever lo be arrest-- ed, that was the time to arrest it. The slaveholding interest demanded its admission as a right, and denied the power of Congress to impose conditions upon new States applying to be admitted into the Confederacy. The power rested with the Free States, and Missouri was denied admission. But the subject was reviewed. The slaveholding interest, with characteristic and timely sagacity, abated something of its pretensions and settled thecontroversy on tbe basis of compromise. Missouri waa admitted into the Union, by an act bear¬ ing da-le March 6,1820, in which it was also declared that " in all that Territory ceded by France to the United States, under tlio' name of Louisiana, which lies norlh of S6 deg. 30 min. of north latitude, not included within thb limits of the State of Missouri, Slavery and involuntauy servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimiea whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby forever P60HIBITED." In each House of Congress a majority of the Members from slave- holding States voted in favor of this hill with this pro¬ vision, thus declaring and exercising hy their votes the constitutional power of Congress to prohibit Sla¬ very even in territories where it had been permitted by the law of France at the date of their cession to the United States. A new Slave State, Arkansas, tormed out of that portion of this territory lying south of 36 deg. 30 min., to which the prohibition was nol extended, was admitted to Iho Union in .1836. Two Slave States thus came into the Confederacy by virtue of this arrangement; while Freedom gained nothing by it but the prohibition of Slavery from a vast region which Freedom had made no attempt to penetrate.
Thus ended the first great contest of Freedom and Slavery for position and power in the General Govern¬ ment, The slaveholding interest had achieved a vir¬ tual victory. It secured all the immediate results for which it struggled ; it acquired the power of offsetting in the Federal Senate two of the Free States of the Confederacy; and the time could not be foreseen when, in the fulfilment of its compact, it would yield any positive and practical advantage to the interests ol Freedom. Neither then, nor for many years there¬ after, did any statesman dream that, when the period should arrive, the slaveholding interest would trample on its bond and fling its faith to tho winds.
A quarter of a century elapsed before the annexation of Texas. Slavery had been active, meantime, in fas. tening its hold upon the Government, in binding polit- ical parties to its chariot, and in seeking in Congress to stifle the right of petition, and to crush all freedom of speech and of the press. In every slaveholding State, none hut slaveholders, or those whose interests are identified with Slavery, were admitted to fill any office, br exercise any authority, civil or political. Free whites, not slaveholders, in their presence, or in the midst of their society, were) reduced to a vassalage little less degrading than that of the slaves themselves. Even at this day, although the while population ofthe slaveholding States is more thon six millions, of whom but 347,525, or less than one-seventeenth, are the own¬ ers of slaves, none but a slaveholder, or one who will act with exclusive reference to Slavery, is ever allow¬ ed to represent the Suite in any National Convention, in either branch of Cpngresa, or in any high position of civil trust and political power. The slaveholding class, small as it ie, is the governing class, and shapes legislation and guides all public action for the advancement of its own interesls and the promotion of its own ends. During all that time, and from that time even to the present, all slaveholding delegates in National Conventions, upon whatever else Ihey may difier, always concur in imposing upon the Con¬ vention assent to their requisitions in regard to Slavery, as the indispensable condition of tlieir support. Hold¬ ing thus in their hands power to decide the result of the election, and using that povver undeviatingly and sternly for the extortion of their demands, they have always been able to control tbe nominations of both parties, and thus, whatever may be the issne, to se¬ cure a President who is sure to be the instrument of their behests. Thus has it come to pass that for twenty years we have never had a Presideet who would appoint to the humblest office within his gift, in any section of the Union, any man known to hold opinions hoslile to Slavery, or to be active in resist¬ ing its aggressions and usurpations of power. Men, the iiiost upright and most respectable, in States where Slavery is only known by name, have been in¬ eligible to the smallest trust—have been held unfit to distribute letters from the Federal post-office to their neighbors, or trim the lomps of a light-house upon the remotest point of our extended coast. Millions of our citizens have been thus disfranchised for their opin¬ ions concerning Slavery, and the vast patronage of the General Government has been systematically wielded in its service and for the promotion of its designs.
It was hy such a discipline, and under such in¬ fluences, that tbe Government and the country were prepared for the second great stride of Slavery to¬ ward new dominion, and for the avowal of motives by which it was attended. ANNEXATION OP TEXAS AXD THE 'WAR "WITH
5IEXIC0. Texas was admitted into the Union on the 29th of December, 1845—with a constitution forbidding the abolition of Slavery, and a stipulation that^bar more States should become members of the Confederacy, whenever they might be fornied within her limits, and with or without Slavery, as their inhabitants might decide. The General Government thus made virtual provision for the addition o! five new Slave States to the Union—practically securing lolheslave- holding interest ten additional members in the Senate "r^^Presenting States, it might be, with less than 1,000,000 inhabitants, and outvoting five of the old States with an aggregate population of 11,000,000. Ihe corrupt and tyrannical Kings of England, when votes were needed in tho House of Lords to sustain them agamst the people, created Peers as the emer- gency requited. Is there in thia anything in more flagrant contradiction tb the principles of Republican * reedora, or more dangerous to the public liberties, thsB in the iystem practiced by the slaveholdina inter- •tt rtpMHntfiJ in th« G«Mt»l'OoTamm»nt.
But a third opportunity was close at hand, and , by an armed force. Yet the President of the United Slavery made a third struggle for the extension bf its; States, in a special Message sent to Congress on tho domain and the enlargement of its [lower. 24th of January, 1856, declares that they have been
The annexation ofTexas involved us in war witli enacted by the duly constituted authorities of tho Mexico. The war vvas waged on our part with vigor,! Territory, and that they are of binding obligation upon skill, and success. It resulted in the cession to the ' the people thereof And on the Ilth of February, United States of New Mexico, California, and i)ese-1 1858, ho issued his Proclamaliou denouncing any ret, vast territories over which was extended by Mex-1 attempt to resist or subvert these barbarous and void ican law a prohibition of Slavery. The slaveholders ¦ enactments, and warning all persous engoged in such demanded access .'o them all—resisted the admission i attempts that they will be opposed not only by the of California and New Mexico, which the energy of i local militia, but by any available forces belonging'to
freemen, outstripping in ils activity the Government and even the slaveholding interest, had already con¬ verted into Free Slates, and treasonably menaced Congress and the Union with overthrow if its demands were not conceded. The free spirit of the country was roused to indignation by these pretensions, and for a time the whole nation rocked to the tempest which they had created. Untoward events aided the wrong. The death ofthe President throw the whole power of the Administration into timid and failhles's hands. Party resentments and party ambitions in¬ terposed against the right. Great men, leaders of the people, from whom in better days the people had learned lessons of principle and patriotism, yielded to the bowlings of the storm and sought shelter, in submission, from ils rage. The slaveholding interest was again victorious, California, with her free con¬ stitution, was indeed admitted to the Union; but New Mexico, with her constitution forbidding Slavery within her borders, waj denied admission and re¬ manded to the condition of a Territory: and while Congress refused to enact a positive prohibition of Slavery in the Territories of New Mexicoand Deseret, it was provided that, when they should apply for ad¬ mission as States, they should come in with or with¬ out Slavery, as their inhcbilants might decide. Ad¬ ditional concessions were made to the Slave Power : the General Government assumed the recapture of fugitive slavoF, and passed laws for the accomplish¬ ment of that end, subversive at once of State sove¬ reignty, and of the established safeguards of civil freedom. Then the. country again had rest. Wearied with ils efforts, or content with their success, the slaveholding interest proclaimed a truce.
When Franklin Pierce, on the 4tli of March, 1858, became President of the United States, no controversy growing out of Slavery waa agitating the country. Established laws, some of them enacted with unusual solemnity and under circumslonces which made them of more than ordinary obligation, had fixed the char¬ acter of all the States, and ended the contest concern¬ ing the Territories. Sixteen States were Free States, and fifteen States were Slave Slates. By the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Slavery was forever prohibited from all the Louisiana Territory lying norlh ofthe line of 36 deg. 30 min.; while over that Territory lying south of that line, and over the Territories of New Mexico and Deseret, no such prohibition had been ex¬ tended. The whole country reposed upon this arrange¬ ment. All sectionsand all interesls, whetherapproving it or not, seemed to acquiesce in its terms. Tho slave- holding interest, through all its organs, and especially through the General Government, proclaimed that this was a final a'nd irrepealable adjustment of the struggle botween Freedom and Slavery for political power— that it had been affected by mutual concessions and in the spirit of compromise—^and that it should be as en¬ during as the Union and as sacred as the Constilution itself. Both political parties gave it their sanction in their National Conventions—the whole country as¬ sented to its validity; and President Pierce, in his first official message to Congress, pledged himself to use all the power of his position lo prevent it from being disturbed.
But all these protestations proved delusive, and the acquiesence and contentment which th,ey produced afforded the opportunity not only for new aggressions on the part of Slavery, but for the repudiation of en- i{aj»eiiients into wliich ilsogenlshad solemnly entered. Less than a year had elapsed before these pledges were broken, and the advantages which they secured lo Freedom wilhdrawn by the slaveholding power, REPEAL 01' THE MISSOURI C0MPR0M3E. In the course of time and the natural progress of population, that portion of the Loiiisiu -¦» Territory, lying west of the Missi.isippi River and ..onii of the line of 36 dog. 30 min,, came to be desired for occu¬ pation ; and on the 24th of May, 1854, an act was passed erecting upon it the two Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and organizing governments for them both. From this whole region the slaveholding inte¬ rest thirty-four years before had agreed that •' Slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the pun¬ ishment of crime, should he forever prohibited," and had received, as the price of this agreement, the ad¬ mission of Missouri, and subsequently the admission of Arkansas, into the Union, ^y the Kansas and Ne¬ braska bill, this prohibition was declared to be "in¬ operative and void,'^ and the intent and meaning of the bill was furtlier declared to be, "not to legislate Slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude il therefrom; but to leave the people thereof per¬ fectly free to form aud regulate their domestic insti¬ tutions in their own way, subject only to the Consti¬ tution of the United Slates," Thus, without a single petition fur such action from any quarter of the Union, but against the earnest remonstrances of thousands of our citizens—against the settled and profound convic¬ tions of the great body of tbe people in every portion of the country, and iu wanton.disregard ofthe obliga¬ tions of justice and of good faith, the Missouri Com¬ promise of 1820 was repealed, and the seal which had guaranteed Freedom to that vasl Territory which the United States had purchased from France was snatched from the bond, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Deseret, and the new State acquired from Texas north of 30 deg, 30 min;, by compact, were all opened up to Slavery, and those who might first be- cofiiethe inhabitants thereof were authorized lo make laws for its establishment and perpetuation. IHE INVASION OP KANSAS AND ACTION OF THE OENERAI, GOVERNMENT, Nor did the slaveholding interest stop here in ils crusade of injustice and of wrong. The first election of members for the Territorial Legislature of Kansas was fixed for the 30th of March, 1856, and the law of Congress prescribed that at. that election none but "actual residents ofthe Territory" should be allowed to vote. Yet, to prevent people of the Territory them¬ selves from exercising the right to prohibit Slavery, which the Act of Congress had conferred upon them, the slaveholding interest sent armed bands of men from the neighboring State of Missouri, who entered the Territory on the day of election, took possession of the polls, excluded the legal voters, and proceeded themselves lo elect members of the Legislature with¬ out the slighest regard to the qVialifications prescribed by law. The Judges of Election appointed under the authority of the Administration at Washington aided and abetted in the perpetration of these outrages upon the rights of the people of Kansas, and the President of the United States removed from office the.Governor whom he had himself appointed, hut wJitS" refused to acknowledge the Legislature which the slaveholding invaders from Missouri had thus imposed upon the Territory.
That Legislature met on the 2d of July, 1855. Its first act was to exclude those members, duly elected, who would not consent to Ihe enactment of laws for ihe admission of Slavery into the Territory. Having thus silenced all opposition to ils behests, the Legisla. ture proceeded to the enactment of laws for the gov¬ ernment of Kansas upon the subject of Slavery. The laws of Missouri in regard to it were first extended over the Territory. It was then enacted that every person who should raise an insurrection or rebellion of negroes in the Territory ; every person who should entice away a slave with intent to procure his free¬ dom ; every person who should aid or assist in so en¬ ticing away a slave within the Territory; and every person who should entibe or carry away a slave from any other State or Territory of the Union, and bring him within the Territory of Kansas, with theintent to effect or procure his freedom, upon the conviction thereof should tuffer Death. It was further enacted that if any person should write, print or publish any book, paper, argument, opinion, advice or inuendo, calculated to produce a disorderly, dangerous or re¬ bellious disaffection among the slaves in the Territory, or to induce them to escape from their masters, he should be deemed guilty of a felony, and be pun¬ ished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term not less than five years; and that if any free person, by speaking or writing, should assert or maintain that persons have not the right to hold slaves in that Ter¬ ritory; or should introduce or circulate any book, paper, pamphlet or circular containing any such de¬ nial of the right of persons to hold slaves in that Territory—he should be deemed guilty of felony, and be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term not less than two years. It was still further enacted by the same Legislature that every free white male citizen of the United States, and inhabitant of the Territory, who should pay a tax of one dollar and take an oath io support the Constitution ofthe United States, the act organizing the Territory of Kansas, the Territorial laws, and the act for the recapture of fugitive slaves, should be entitled to vote at any elec¬ tion in said Territory—thus making citizens of Jfis. souri or of any other State legal voters in Kansas, upon their presentation at the polls, upon taking the oath {prescribed, aud upon payment of one dollar— in direct violation of the spirit ofthe act of Congress, and in open disregard of the rights ofthe people of the Territory. And having made these enactments for the establishmeeht of Slavery, the Legislature ap¬ pointed Sheriffs, Judges and othei: officers of the Ter¬ ritory for their enforcement; thus depriving the peo- pie of all power over the enactment of their own laws and the choice of officers for their execution.
That these despotic acts, even if they had been pass¬ ed by a Legislature duly elected by the people of the Territory, wolild bave been null and void, inasmuch as they are plainly in "violation ofthe Federal Constitu¬ tion, is too clear for Argument. Congress itself is ex¬ pressly forbidden by the Constitution of the United States to make any'laws abridging the freedom of speech and of the press; and It is absurd to suppose that a Territorial Legislature, deriving all iu power from Cobgress should not be subject to tbe same re- ttrictiohi. Bat Uieee laws were not enacted by the p«^l« of EtMU. . Tha; w«t« iapoHd apon-tbtn
the regular army of the United States. .Thus has the Federal Government solemnly recognized the usUrpa- tion set up in Kansas by invaders from Missouri, and pledged all the power of the United States to its sup¬ port. American history furnishes no parallel to the cruelty and tyranny of these acts of the present Ad- niinislralion. The expulsion of aliens and the penal¬ ties inflicted upon citizens for exercising freedom of speech and of the press under the Alien and Sedition laws, which were overthrown by the Repu'blican party of 1798, were lenient and mild when compared wilh the outrages perpetrated upon the pebple of Kansas, under color of law, by the usurping invaders, sustained hy the Federal Government.
Wilh a full sense of the importance of the declara¬ tion, wc offirm that the execution of these threats by the President of the United States upon the people of Kansas, would be an unconslilutional e.vorcise of Ex- ecutive power, presenting a case of intolerable tyranny —that American citizens cannot submit to it and re¬ main free, and that if blood shall.he shed in the prose¬ cution of so unlawful a purpose, thoae by whose agency it may be spilt will be held to a strict and stern ac¬ count by the freemen ofthe Republic. So plain, pal¬ pable and deliberate a violation of the Constitution would justify the interposition of the States, whose du¬ ty it would be, by all the constitutional means in their power, to vindicote the rights and liberties ofthe citi- zcn against the power of the Federal Government; and we take this occasion to express lo our fellow- citizens in Kansas, against whom these unconstitu¬ tional acts are directed, our profound sympathy wilh them in the resistance which it is their right and their duty to ipake to them, and our determination to make that sympathy efficient by all the means which we may lawfully employ.
—Thus for a period of twenty-five years has Slavery been contending, under various pretcxls, but wjth con¬ stant success, against the tendencies of civilization anJ the spirit of our institutions for the extension and perpetuation of its power. The degree in which the General Government has aided its efforts may be traced in the successive steps it hiis taken. Iu 1787, all the States in the Confederacy united in ordaining that Slavery should be forever prohibited from all the territory belonging lo the United States. In 1789, the f^rst Congress of the United Stales passed a'law re¬ affirming this ordinance and reenactin? the prohibition of Slavery which it contained. In 182(), the slavehold¬ ing interest secured the admission of Missouri as a Slave Slate into the Union, by acceding to a similar prohibition of Slavery from the Louisiana territory lying north of 36 deg. 30 min. In 1854, that prohibi¬ tion was repealed, and the people of the territory were left free to admit or exclude Slavery in their own discretion. In 1856, the General Government pro. claims ils determination to use all the power of the United States to enforce upon the people obedience to laws imposed upon them by armed invaders, establish¬ ing Slavery and visiting with terrible penalties their exercise of freedom of speech and of the press upon that subject. While two thirds ofthe American people live in Stales where Slavery is forbidden by law, and while five sixths of the capital, enterprise and productive industry of the country rest upon Freedom as their basis, Slavery thus controls all departments of their common government, and wields their powers on its own beholf.
THE PLEAB I.'ROED IN UEPENiBE OF THESE AQORES- SIONS OP SIAVERr,
As a matter of course, for all these acts and for all the outrages by wliich they have been attended, the slaveholding interest pretends to find a warrant in the Constitution of the United States. All usurpation, in countries professing to be free, must have the color of law for its support. Nooulrnge commiUed by Power upon Popular rights is left without some attempt at vindication. The partition of Poland, the overthrow of the Constitution of Hungary, the destruction of Irish Independence, like the repeal of the Missouri Com¬ promise and the conquest of Kansas, were consum¬ mated with a scrupulous observance of the forms of law,
THE rr.EA THAT THE  .MISSOURI COMPROJIISE WAS NOT A COMPACT.
I, The repeal of the Missouri Compromise, it is urged on behalf of those by whom it was eflected, in¬ volved no violation of good faith, because that Com¬ promise was merely an act of Congress, and as such repealable at pleasure. Regarded as a legal technical¬ ity, we are not disposed to contcst^this plea. The Com¬ promise was undoubtedly embodied in a Congressional enactment, subject to repeal. But in this cise, by the very nature of ihe transaction, the failh ofthe parties was pledged thaltli is enaclment.s-/iou/tZ7zo;ie repealed. The spirit of the law, whatever ils form, was the spirit of a compact. Its enactment w;ib secured by an ex¬ change of equivalents. The slaveholding interest pro¬ cured the admission of Missouri into the Union by con¬ senting and voting through ils represenlatives in Con¬ gress that norlh of ils southern lino in Ihe Territory of Louisiana Slavery should be prohibited forever. Without Ihat consent and that vote the admission of Missouri could nol have been secured; nor would the prohibition ofSIavery until lg54, or until any olhor dale or for any other time than that specified in the act, namely,ybrcDer—have purchased the asstntof the Free Slates to the admission of Missouri nsa Slave.,Slate into the Union, The word forever, therefore, was a material part of the law, and of the comideration for its enactment. Such a law may be repealed, but ils repeal is a rupture of the compact—the repudiation of a solemn covenant. The Missouri Compromise has been -regarded as such a compact from the dale of its enactment in all sections and by all the people of the country. Successive Preaiuents have invoked for it a respect and an obligation scarcely inferior to that of the Constilution itself; and Senator DoueLAS himself, as late as in 1845, declared that it had been "canon¬ ized in the hearts of Ihe American people os a sacred thing, which no rulhlesa hand would o?er be reck- less enough to disturb." Whatever, therefore, the mere form of the bond may have permitted, good faith on the part of the Representatives of the slave- holding interest required that it should he kept invio¬ late.
II, Nor is this charge u( bad failh, brmight against Ihe slaveholding interest, for having repealed the Missouri Compromise, answered or evaded by the pleas urged in its defense—that originally it was forcibly imposed by the Free States upon the Slave States, with¬ out their consent—that it was subsequently violated by the Free States, in their refusal lo eitond ils pro. visions over New-Mexico and Utah—or that its repeal, having been offered by Ihe Free States themselves, could not be resisted or refused by the represenlatives of Slavery, (1.) Even if it wero true tlmt Ihe prohi¬ bition of Slavery norlh of 30 deg, 30 min, was origi¬ nally enacted hy tbn Free States, against the votes of the South, ihe fact that the admission of Missouri was accepted as the price of that prohibition, would liave made the slaveholding interest a party lo the trans¬ action, assenting to its terms and bound by its obliga¬ tions. But the fact is not so. The act of March 6, 1820, which admitted Missouri and prohibited Slavery in the Louisiana Territory nortli of 36 deg. 30 min., received in the Senate the voles of fourteen mem¬ bers from slaveholding Slates, while ouly eight were cast against it—and in liie House of Repre¬ sentatives thirty-eight meniber_g from .Slave Slates voted for it, and thirty-seven ago inst it. A majority of the votes from slaveholding Slates, in (.-ach branch of Congress, were thus given for the bill; and so far were the representatives of Slavery from regard¬ ing it as having been forced upon them, that Charles Pinckney, one of their greatest and ablest leaders, declared on the night of its passage that "it was re¬ garded by the slaveholding States as a triumph." (2.) Still moro absurd is it to say that the refusal of the North to extend the provisions ofthe Compromise over other regions was a violation of its terms, or in any way released the parties to it from their obliga¬ tion to abide by its requirements. (3.) It is true that the ostensible author of the proposition to repeal it was a Senator from a free State; but that fact does not authorize the inference that Ihe sentiment of the Free States wag justly and truly represented by his action. There was, indeed, no room to doubt that it waa condemned hy the unanimous voice of the Free Slates, and that it would be regarded by them, and by the country at large, as a very gross and wanton vio¬ lation of obligations which had been voluntarily as¬ sumed. No matter from what geographical quarter of the Union it came, it was brought forward in the interest and on behalf of the slaveholders. This, in¬ deed, is among the worst of the effects ot Slavery, and among the most signal proofs of ils ascendancy, that able and judicious men should enlist in its service nnd volunteer to perform offices on ils behalf which its representatives would scorn to perform themselves— from the conviction thatTiy that path the honors and dignities of thfi General Government are to be secured. The slaveholding interest owed it to honor and good faith to resist the temptations which such men might hold out for the repudiation of its obligations.
THE PLEA THAT CONGRESS  HAS   NO POWER TO PROHIBIT SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES.
Ill, But it is urged that the original enactment of the Missouri Compromise, by which Slavery was pro¬ hibited from entering a portion of the Territory ofthe
United States, was a violation of the Constitution;	
that Congress has no rightful power to make such a prohibition, but that into any Territory over which the Constitution is extended, tho slaveholder has a right, by virtue of its provisions, to take his slaves.
In reply to this we answer.
First.- -That .whether the plea be true or false, it comes too late: that the slaveholding interest conceded tho constitutionality of the prohibition by assenting to its enactment and aiding it by the votes of itsrepre- nBtatiV(i:-r
Second: That if the plea were true, the enactment was null and void, by reason of its unconstitutionality, and its repeal, therefore, was a needless ostentation of bad faith: and
Third: That the plea is not true, but is directly contrary to the plain letter as well as to the spirit of the Constitution, and to the uniform practice of the Government from its foundation.
The Constitution declares that " the Congress shall have power to inake all needful rules and regulations respecting the Territories, or other property belong¬ ing to the United States." This language ia very plain and very broad. ItiinposeB no limitation upon the power of Congress to make rules and regulations respecting the Territories, except that thoy shall he such as are " needful;" and this, of course, it lies in the discretion of Congress to determine. It assumes that power to legislate for the Territories, which are the common property of the Union, must exist some¬ where ; and also that it may most justly, and most safely, be placed in the common Government of the Union. The authority of Congress over the Territo¬ ries is, therefore, without any other limit than such as its judgment of what is "needful"—of what will best promote their welfare, and that ofthe whole country to whicli they belong, may impose. If Congress, therefore, deem it expedient to make a rule and regu lation which shall prohibit Slavery from any Territory, we find nothing in the Constitution which removes such a prohibition from the sphere of its authority. The power of Congress over the Territories of the United States is as complete and as full as that pos¬ sessed hy any State Legislature over Territory be¬ longing to that State; and if the latter may prohibit Slavery within its own Territory, so may the former also.
It has been urged, we are aware, that the rules and regulations wliich Congress is authorized to make respecting the Territories, arc restricted to them re¬ garded as property ; and that Ibis clause of the Con- stitution confers no Governmental power over them whatever. But this cannot be so—because it is under this clause that Congress does govern the Territories— that it organizes their governments and provides for their ultimate admission as Stales, There is no other clause of the Constitution from which this power of government can be inferred; as il unquestionably ex¬ ists, therefore, it must rest upon this provision. But from whatever source it may be derived, the authority to govern necessarily implies the right to decide what policy and what laws will beet promote the welfare of those on whose behalf that authority is exercised. If Congress, therefore, believes that the well-being of the Territories and nf the country at large will be pro- moled, by excluding Slavery from them, it has, be¬ yond all question, the right thus n prohibit and ex¬ clude it.
This view of the authority of Congress over the Territories ofthe United States is sustained by other clauses of the Constitution. In the ninth section of the first article, it is declared that " the migration or importation of such persons as any of the States nouj existing may think proper to admit, shall not be pro. hibited by Congress prior to the year 1808." This is not-a grant of power. On the contrary, it is a restric¬ tion imposed upon power assumed to exist. The lan¬ guage ofthe clause takes it for granted that Congress had power to prohibit the migration and the importa¬ tion of Slaves—a power doubtless conferred by the au¬ thority "to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States,"—for, whether Slaves are to be regarded as persons or as property, commerce of necessity relates to both, Thisclauseof the Consti¬ tution, therefore, imposes upon the authority of Con¬ gress to prohibit the migration or importation of slaves, a specific and a limited restriction—namely, that this power should not be exercised over any of the States then existing, prior to the year 1808. Over any State not then existing, and by still stronger implication, over ony Territories of the United States the exercise of its authority was unrestricted; and it might prohibii the migration, or importation of slaves into them, al any time in ils own discretion.
Nor do any considerations connected with alleged rights of property in slaves contravene ihe existence or the exercise of this authority. The Constilution docs not recognize slaves as property in any instance br to auy extent. In the clause already cited they are called "persons." In the clause respecting their escape intoolher States they are to be returned, not as properly, hut as "fugitives from justice." And in the apportionment of representation and of direct taxes it is provided by the Constitution that to the whole num¬ ber of JFree persons are to be added three fifths of all other "persons." In all its provisions which have re¬ ference to slaves they ure described and regarded as persone. The idea of their being property is careful¬ ly and intentionally excluded. If they are property at all. therefore, it.is not by virtue of the Consiitution, but of local laws and only within their jurisdiction. The local laws of any State are excluded from the territories of the United Slates by the necessity ofthe case as well as by the exclusive .sovereignty confer¬ red upon Congress,
THE PLEA OF POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY. I'ailing thus to establish the right of ihe slave¬ holder to carry his slaves as property, by virtue ofthe Constitution, into territory belonging to the United Stales, the slaveholding interest has been compelled lo claim, for the inhabitants of the Territories them¬ selves, the right lo provide for excluding or admitting Slavery, as a right inherent in their sovereignly over their own ofiuirs. This principle of Popular Sover¬ eignty, as it is styled, was embodied in the bills for or¬ ganizing New Mexico and Utah, ond is made the sub¬ stitute for the prohibition of Slavery in the Missouri Comjiromise, which it repealed; and the slaveholding interest is now sustained by the Federal Government in this new position, aa it bos been in all the positions it has successively assumed. The principle of Popu¬ lar Sovereignty is fundamental in our institutions. No one doubts that the People are sovereign over all the Territories, as well as over all the States of the Confederacy. But this sovereignly is subject lo lim¬ itation and definition, and can only exist within the limitations ofthe Constitution. Tire People are sove. reign in the House of Represenlatives, but their sov¬ ereignty may be overruled by Ihe Senate, or defeated by the veto of the President. The Slates are sover¬ eign ; but only within certain limits, and in subordi- nation to the sovereignty of the nation. Two sover¬ eignties over tho same country and on the same sub- ject it is manifest cannot coexist; one must of neces¬ sity exclude the other. But the Consiitution, in express and unmistakable terms, makes Congress sov¬ ereign over tho Territories, by conferring upon it power to make "alt needful rules and regulations re¬ specting them." The doctrine of Popular Sovereignty in the people of the Territories finds no warrant or sup¬ port in the Constitution. In the language of Mr, Cal¬ houn, "it involves nn absurdity; if the sovereignty over the Territories bo in their inhabitants instead of the United States, they would cease lobe the Territo¬ ries of the United States the moment we permit them to be inhabited." So long as they remain Territories ihey are the po.=session and under the e.xchisive domin¬ ion of the United Slates; and il is for the General Government to make lor them such laws as their wel¬ fare and that of the nation may require.
We deny that Congress may abdicate a portion of its authority, and commit to the inhabitants of a terri¬ tory power conferred upon it by the Constitution. Such an abdication is an abandonment of duly, and cannot be justified on the pretended principle of pop¬ ular sovereignly. That principle, indeed, is discarded in the very act of Congress in which it is claimed lo be embodied. If sovereignty exists-, it must be ex¬ ercised through the organized departmenl of Govern¬ ment—the legislative, executive, and judicial. But the act lo organize the Territories of Kansas and Ne¬ braska prescribes the requisites of cilizensliipand the qualifications of voters, confers upon the President and Senate the appointment of a Governor, who is clothed wilh the veto power, and of judges by whom the law shall he interpreted. Each deportment of the Government thus rests virtually in the power of the President of the United States, To style the small remnant of power which such a law k-aves to the people, " popular sovereignly," is an abuse of lan¬ guage, and an insult to common sense.    Yelevei
even this has been effectually destroyed by the invasion of armed men, sustained by the General Government in their high-minded endeavor to force Slavery into Kan¬ sas against the will of the hardy settlers who have made it iheir home.
The whole syslemof doctrine by which Slavery seeks possession of the Territories of the United States, either by asserting the sovereignty of their inhabit¬ ants, or by denying the power of Congress tu exclude and prohibit Slavery from them, is novel and alien to the principles and the administration of our Govern- ment. Congress hosalwaysasserted and exercised the right of prohibition. It wa.s exercised by the vote of the first Congress, in 1789, reaffirming the ordinances ofthe old Confederocy by which Slavery was prohibit¬ ed from the territory northwest ofthe Ohio River. It was exercised in 1820, .in the prohibition of Slavery from the Louisiana territory north of 38 deg, 30 min. It was exercised in 1848, when Slavery was prohibited from the Territory of Oregon.
Nor is it in the least degree impaired by llie argu¬ ment that these Territories, when they become States and aro admitted into the Union, can establish or pro¬ hibit Slavery, in their discretion. Their rights aa Stales do not begin until their obligations as Territo¬ ries end. The Constitution knows nothing of "in¬ choate Slates." Congress hos power to make " all needful rules and regulations" for litem as Territories until they are admitted into the Union as members of the common confederacy, OF..NERAL TENDENCY OF FEDERAL LEGISLATION ON THE SUBJECT OF SLA"VERY.
In all these successive acls, in the admission of Mis¬ souri and of Arkansas, in the annexation of Texas and the provision for admitting four new States from her territory, in the war with Mexico and the conquest of her provinces, in the repeal of the Missouri Compro¬ mise, and in the cruel war now waged against the people of Kansas for the extension of Slavery into that territory, we trace the lootsteps of a powerful interest, aiming at absolute politieal power and strid- ijijf onward to a complete ascendancy over tbe Gen¬ enil Government,   It finds powerful alUea and an
open field in the political arena for the prosecution of its purposes. Always acting as a.compact unit, it finds itsopponents divided by a variety of interests. Partisan alliances and personal ambitions have hith¬ erto prevented any union against ils aggressions, and nol feeling or fearing the displeasure of their consti- tuents, representatives from the Free Stales have been induced to aid in the promotion of its designs. All other interests have been compelled to give way before it. The representatives of freedom on the floors of Congress have been treated with contumely, if they resist or question the right of supremacy of the slaveholding class. The labor and commerce of sections where Slavery does not exist, obtain lardy and inadequate recognition from the General Gov¬ ernment, which is swayed by ils influence and for the accomplishment of its ends. The Executive of the nation is the willing,fiervant of ils behests, and sacrifices to its favor the rights and the interesls of the "other sections of the country. The purse and the sword of the nation are.at its command; A hundred millions of dollars were expended in the annexation of Texas, and the war with Mexico, which was part of its price. Two hundred millions have been offered for Cuba, and war with all Europe is threatened, if necessary, to prevent tlie emancipation of its slaves. Thus is the decision of great questions of public policy, touching vasl interests and vital rights, ques¬ tions even of peace and of war, made to turn, not upon the requirements of justice and of honor, but upon its relation to tbe subject cf Slavery—upon the effect it will have upon the interest of the slavehold¬ ing class.
The people ol the Free Slates have cherished the hope that the efforts made to extend Slavery which have fallen under their notice were accidental, and in¬ dicative of weakness rather than ambition. They have trusted that the sagacious statesmen of the slaveholding States would gradually perceive and acknowledge the inconvenience and the danger of Slavery, and would take such measures os they might deem wise and safe for its ultimate removal. They havo feared the effect of agitation upon this subject, relied upon the good faith and honor of ihe slavehold¬ ing States, and believed that time, the natural growth of population, and the recognized laws of political and social economy, wonld gradually and peacefully work out the extinction of a system so repugnant to justice and the national character and welfare. It has seemed to them incredible that in this late age, when Christianity has for nearly two thousand years been filling the world wilh its light, and when almost every nation on earth but our own has abolished Chattel Slavery, the effort should be made, or the wish cher¬ ished, by any portion of cur people, to make the interest of Slavery predominant, and to convert this Republic, the only government which professes to be founded upon human rights, into the mightiest slave empire the world has ever seen. But it is impossible to deceive ourselves longer. The events of the past two yeara have disclosed 'the designs of the slave power, and the desperate means it is prepared to use tor their accomplishment. We cannot shut our eyes longer to the fact that the slaveholding interest is deiermined lo counteract the tendencies of time and civilization, by its own energy, by its bold appropria¬ tion of all the powers and agencies of the Govern¬ ment, and by the violation, if need be, of the most sacred compacts and compromises. It is resolved that Slavery shall he under the protection of the na¬ tional flag—that it shall no longer be the creature of local'law, but that it shall stand clothed with all the sanctions and sustained by allthe power of this great Republic. It is determined that the President shall do its bidding,'and that Congress shall legislate ac¬ cording to its decrees. It is resolved upon ihe de¬ thronement of the principles ot Republicanism, and the establishment in their stead of an Olioarciiy, bound together by n common interest in the owner¬ ship of slaves.
Nor have we any reason to believe lliatSlavery will be content with Ihis absolute supremacy over the Fed¬ eral Government, which it has already so well nigh achieved. On the contrary, the dark shadow of its scepter foils upon the sovereignty of the several States and menaces them wilh dire disaster. South Carolina, abandoning her once-cherished doctrine of State Rights, asserts the Federal supremacy over laws made by States, exclusively for the protection of their citizens. The Slate of Virginia is contest¬ ing, in courts of law, the right of the State of New York to forbid the existence of Slavery within her limits. A Federal court in Pennsylvania has denied the right of that Slate to decree freedom to slaves brought by their masters within her borders, and has proclaimed that Slavery exists by the law of nations. The division of California and the organization of a Slave State within her limils have been proposed, A Senator on the floor of Congress has demanded the restoration of the African slave trade, and the demand ifi repeated by Southern journaisand by Icadiiigpublic men in the Southern States.
When these great objects shall liayo been uccom- plisbed—when the States, aa well as the General Government, shall haye become subject lo the law of Slavery, and when 350,000 slaveholders shall hold despotic rule over the millions of this Republic, Sla¬ very cannot fail, from the necessity of its nature, lo aitempt outrages which will awaken storms that will sweep it in'carnage from the face of the earth. The longer tyranny is practiced unresisted, the fiercer and the more dreadful is the resistance which in tlie end it provokes. History is full of instances lo prove that nothing is so dangerous as a wrong long unre¬ dressed ; that evils which at the outset it would haye been easy lo remove, by. sufferance becomes fatal to those through whose indifierence and toleration they have increased. The tendency of the measures adopted by the slaveholding interest to secure its own extension, through the action of the Federal Govern¬ ment, is to give 10 Congress jurisdiction of the gene¬ ral subject; and ils representatives must be sagacious enough to perceive that if they establish the principle that Congress may interfere with Slavery for ils pro¬ tection, it may interfere with it also for its destruction. If, therefbre, they succeed in such an enlargement of the power of Congress, having already discarded the principle of compromise from legislation, they iiiusl foresee that the natural effect of their encroachments upon the rights and liberties of the non-slaveholding population of the country, will be lo arouse them lo the direct exercise of the power thus placed in their hands. Whether it is safe or wise for that interest to invite such a contest, we need not here consider.
The time draws nigh, fellow-countrymen, when you will be called on to decide upon the policy and the principles of llie General Government. Your votes al the approaching Presidential election will deter¬ mine whether Slavery shall continue lo be Ihe para¬ mount and controlling influence in the Federal Ad¬ ministration, or whether other rights and other inter¬ ests shall resume the degree of consideration lo which Ihey are entitled. The issue is upon us by no act of ours, and it cannot be evaded. Under a profound con¬ viction of impending dangers, the grounds whereof we Jiave now set forth, we call upon you to deliver the Constitution and the Union from the subjugation which threatens both. Holding, with the lute Mr. Calhoun, that "the obligation to repel aggression is not much less solemn than that of abstaining from making aggression, and that the pony which submits to it when it can be resisted is not much less guilty and responsible for consequences than that which makes it," we invoke a surrender of all party prejudices and all personal feelings, and a cor¬ dial and earnest union for the vindication of rights and liberties which we cannot surrender without degradation and shame. We summon you lo send Delegates, in number three times as' large as your representation in Congress, to meet in Convention at Philadelphia, on the 17lh day of June next, lo nomi¬ nate candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presi¬ dency ofthe United Stales, Let them come prepared lo surrender all personal preferences, and all sectional or local views—resolved only lo make such nomina¬ tions, and lo take such action, as shall advance the principles we hold and the purposes we seek lo pro¬ mote. Disclaiming any intention to interfere with Slavery in the States where il exists, or lo invalidate those portions of the Constitution by which it is re¬ moved from the national control, let us prevent the increase of its political power, preserve the General Government from ils ascendancy, bring back ils ad¬ ministration to the principles and the practice of its wise and illustrious founders, and thus vindicate tha ConElitution and the Union, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
WHAT OITB MAN MAT DO.
I was ridmg with an intelligent friend throngh one of the most chormiag villages of Nevr England. Tho last days of spring -wcro passing away nnd the fair haired summer queen had already thrown out her advance pickets of gold and crimson flowers, upon the hills and meadows. The red sriuirrcls chirped a cordial greeting to us, from the tree tops, as we passed, and tbe birda cni- oUed forth their sweetest songs of welcome. The natural beauties of thi! landscapo had been increased by the band of man. White cottages snggestWe of pleasant associations, nestled snugly in the ahmbbery beside the winding; road. From the plain small church on the green, near the centre of tho vil¬ lage, rose a graceful spire; and cloBo at hand iros tho village store and post olEoo. Tho villogo was evidently the abode of peace and prosperity, of com fort and happiness; and I doubted not that there dwelt within it many lovinf; hearts and many nohlo and manly aools. And yet was there ever a hamlet in which soma jealousies and heart burnings fonnd no abode ?
While those thoughts wero passing through my mind, I could nol but objcrvs the remarkable neatness which pervaded everything around. The roads wi-rii hard and smooth, and npon either side, planted at regular inlorvalu, wer^ growing, young and thrifty elm and raaplo trees. The nicely painted hou.si-. wero hair shrouded from sight beneath clustering vines ot fragrant honey ¦ suckle and roses. In front of almost every house a small plat of ground wiia devoted to flower beds, which no weeds were suffered to invade.
' What a paradise is thia I' I exclaimed, as I gazed around. ' How beauli. ful is everything in this village ! What a wonderful change since we pnsse.l through here last! Tell me, what good fairy wrought the work of converting this neglected and almost desolate Anhurn of ten years ainco into a hlooming Eden,'
' Ah ! the good fairy waa not ono of Titania's obedient subjects, my entliu- aiastic friend,' was ths reply.    ' I will point him out lo you.'
At that moment, passing a bend in the road, we came in view of am ol" thn lovelioat little cottages imagmable. It waa located some distance from Ihe road. In front of it was a beautiful, carefully cnltivafed garden, and in iLe back ground beyond tho substantial barn, I fancied I could diecover an orchard of flouriahing fruit trees. Upon a piazza in front of the house sat an old bd.v knitting; and trimming a grape vine, which run over an arching trellis, waa a little spectacled old man, arrayed in white jacket and overalls. He nodJcl to us with a cheerful smile, as wc rattled rapidly by.
'There is the good fairy who made our village what it is,' said my friend ; ' who introduced a healthful emulation among tho villagers and learned them to take a pride in the appearance of their homes. Mr, Guild ia an old mer chant, who returned to this, his native town, about seven years since, after a life spent in unsuccessful bartering for wealth. He brought back with him, however, enough to render him—in tho humble manner in which he proposed to live,—independent, Ue purchased a small farm, and erected that beauti¬ ful cottage. Around his houso he set out shmbo nnd vines, and in front of it ho planted ornamental shade trees. His neighbors at first looked at him with a auspicious eye. They did not underatond hia object in thus transgresaing [he established rules ot 'auId.Lang Syne," and regorded him aa one who was conspiring against the rights ot which they were the hereditary heirs. Grad¬ ually, howevei', these unohatitablo toolings wore away. As they bccam': ac¬ quainted with him they liked him for his social qualities, and genial humor, and respected him for the soundness of hia judgment nud tbe excellence of his heart. In time they began lo look up to him, to ask his opinion in mat¬ ters of business, and to make him arbiter in oases of dispute.
At length, through his influence, n strong feeling in favor ot local improve¬ ment was excited in the village. A ' tree association' was formed among tli.j young men, nnd trees were set oat in the streets. He gave to the farmer.^ slips of the prairie rose and honeysuckle, and taught them how to prune and train Ihem. Under his auspices, flower gardens were planted before scvcra' houses, and a condition of pablic feeling was induced, which led the men to repaint their houses, and rebuild tbeir tattered fences. The tide of improve¬ ment being once npon the flow, increased in rapidity and strength. The little stream which ran through the village waa checked a short distance below the road by a dam. A mill was built beside it. New houses were constructed iu ihe vicinity and tho villago began to grow. It ia now ono of the most thriving places ia tho county. That littlo old man in spectacles wns tho fairy who brought it about. It was through him that the work was commenced aud carried on.   He is the guardian genius of Brookhollow.'
3fy friend paused here, as if wailing for comment; but I was too deeply absorbed in reflection to reply. I thought how much good that old rotircil merchant had accomplished in his own quiet and unobtrusive way; and I thought how many men there were, scattered throughout Ihe pleas.ant towns and villages of our land, moro advautageously situated in respect to worldly posseaaiona and position, who are doing nothing by way ot example or encour- ngfemcnt for the welfore of tbeir fellow citizens, for tho improvement of the neglected atreeta, dilapidated fencea, and wretched gardena ot tbeir village homo ; who might do ao much, and who continued to do so little, for tho world beyond their doors.
An Excited Horse.-—The 'Peru Chronicle,' an Illinois paper, gives tbe following statement. The ferocity of the horse is, by other newspapers, at¬ tributed to hydrophobia, though it ia not apparent that the animal was afflict¬ ed with that horrible disease :
A few days since Jlr, Hannan, of our city, observed hia horse, a fine ani¬ mal, acting strangely. He wonld lay hold of everything that came within his reach with'.hia teeth, and ahake it savagely, much as a rftt terrier worrit s his victim. Wliilo tbo geatleman was watching him the animal reached iuto a pig-peu tliut stood niljacoDl to the Jotwhcrc he was conSned, nnd laying boI--i of a good sizeJ sis monllia old pig, thre'w it up in the air. Tbis font Ut re¬ peated, and then settling his teeth iu tho body of the pig, crushing it into Ihi-- earth, guawiog and mangling it fi-igbttully. Tho horse then t.:iok a si'cr-is-l pig, and treating it in a similar manner, nnd then a largo two raontli.n u'-l calf, which he tossed into the nir aa lightly as a cat would a mouse.
The owner in the meantime had sent for Charles Streuver, the popular \':iv rier, but when Mr. Streuver arrived the horso was somwhat quieted, iiii-i Mr. Ilannnn ventured inside the enclosure and called the horse to him. Tin- animal came up quietly, but as soon as he was near enough caught Mr. llai; nan by Ihe shoulder and threw him violently to Ihe ground, face downw;uJ, ond then setting his teeth in his back, crushed, gnawed, and shook him, i^hiio his eyes wero glassy with rage. The imminent peril of Mr. Hannan rou=i:-ii Mr. Streuver to instant exertion; he sprang onthe fence, pulled off n riiil, and succeeded iu knocking the animal down, but not until Mr. Hannan wii„ horribly bruised. The animal was then shot. Mr. Hannan will not be el" fccled wilh tho virus, inasmuch ns the teeth ot tbe horse did not penetrate the clothing, and consequeutly did not lacerate, but bruised the flesh. He is not supposed to be fatally injured.
B^'Wc were complaining, a short lime aiuce, to a frieuJ, of the loliuus prolixity of counsel in a caae WB happened to te interested in, and queried whether it would not save lime and answer tbo ends of justice equally vrell f-> do awny with all argument to the jury,
' That might do sometimes,' said my legal friend; 'but I'll give yon nn instance to show that it is not always safe. I once ha-J a case against n man in the country, which «fts as clear aa daylight in my ijivor—the fellow had not even a shadow ot defence for refusing to pay his debt—but, by the cuunin?. of his lawyer, he had contrived to avoid coming to trial for about two years, in hopes that he might worry mo into n compromiae. At last tho cisc was called, late in thi term and lato in a hot day, tho court and jury tired and impatient. I stated the facts, produced the ovidence, which was all on m} side; the .iudgc asked tho council whether they wished to argue the cnse, stating that he thought it hardly uecessnry in ao plain a matter. The l.iw . yer& agree lo submit it without argument; the jury went out, and immediate ly returned with a verdict for the defendant! I prayed the judgo to overrule the verdict as contrary to law and evidence, and ntter some time this war-, done, nnd I got Judgment. Bnt ns soon ns the oourt adjourned I sought the foreman of the jury, n worthy hut not very brilliant man, and asked him hovr, ia the name ot common sense, they came to render such a verdict,
' 'Why, you see,' said he, 'we didn't think much of the lawyer aglu you.
and it wan't atrauge he didn't have nothing to say; but Squire, the fact i.-i,
we thought you was about one of the smartest lawyers in thia county, aod it
yon couldn't find anything to say ou your aide, it must be a purty hard ca-f-:j.
and 60 wo had to go agin you!''
 ^«—.	
Idleness .AN Evil,.—It baa been well said that • idleneaa ia tho parent nj- many cvil.-i,' and we find Ihnt in thoae countriea where industry prevails, the iDhnhitnnts arc more virtuous, and consequently moro happy than in Ihoie countries whero the people arc addicted to sloth and inactivity. Accordingly in the Tyrol, in Switzerland, in Korway, ond other mountainoua counlrir.s generally, where the soil is sterile, nnd constant labor is requircl tn iimko it productive, the people are remarkable for tbo frankness and simplicity of tbeir habits, and for the manifestations of content and tranquility which are witnessed on every side. On the other hand, in those genial climcH, whore summer reigns throughout the year, whero, the earth leema spontaiioou.-^ly with her richest fruits, where labor is not necessary to secure llie meanH. oi" subsialcnce—wc find tbe inhnbitanls arc lazy, eS^minale, and liccntiniH—ad¬ dicted to immortality, and destitute of physical or mental vigor. ,S;i.^ii are the inhabitants ot the Brazils, and of the La Plata—where nature provide.-! with a bountiful hand, not only all the necessaries hut the lu.xuries uf life— nud man hns little else to do than to live in idleness and ' enjoy thi-ni.' Tht- •nhttbitanta ot these productive countries, however, seem nol to be aw.ire that a man can enjoy nothing that he has not worked fur—nnd tlie harder he labors lo eifect any object, the greater will be his pleasure in its accorap1i.-<h- ment.
TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES
The People of tho United Stales, without legnril to past political differences or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of tho Slissouri Compromise, to tho policy of the preaent Administration, to tho exteusiou of Sla¬ very into the Territories, in favor of the axlmissioii of Kansas as a free State, and of restoring the action of the Federal Government to the principles of Washington and Jefferson, are iuvited by the National Committtee, appointed by tho Pittsburg Convention of the 22d of February, 18o(i, lo send from each State three Delegates from every Congressional District, and six Delegates at large, to meet in PHIL-ADELPUIA, os the .sBVEN-rEcxTU DAY or June next, for the purpose of recomiuending candidatea lo be supported for tho offices ol' I'l-t-sident and Vice-President of the United States.
By order of the National t'oniiiiiltf^i
Wasuixoton, March 29,1856.
Tenacity ov Life in a Tortoise —A wau-r tarioiae in the posaeasion of Mr. James G. Shute, of Woburu Mass,, an amateur zoologist, died lately, after living in water two years aud six months without food, li is be¬ lieved that this exceeds very much any known instance of thia reptile's wonderful tenncily of life. Redi, a diatinguiahcd Italian physician, kept one fasting eighteen montha : and a land tortoise, in which he had removed its entire brain, lived and was active more than six months afterwards. It seems that thia lowly animal, enclosed in a strong suit nt armor, in wbioh it ordinarily Uvea above a centory, ia no less dilatory iu the process of dying than in ita motions, which have passed into a proverb. ,
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Punctv.\tion.—A country schoolmnstcr, who found il riilber diinenlt lu make his pnpila obsorvo the differouce in reading between ii cmima nn-l .i luil point, ndoplcd a plan of his own, which, he flattered  hinisi-lr. Ihcni proficients in the art of punctuation; thus, in reading, wiit-i. i Ui ll cotuin.'i, they were to suy tief., and rend on to a cohm «r ^piiii.-i lic/<\ iiiid   when a ful!   point, lif^, tick, tick.    Now, it  so  liiii'peiif-l worthy Dominie received notice lliiit the parish minister w:i^ li- pn.v ¦ exttmiiDition to his seliool, and as he wns desireus Ihnt I'i-^ [iit-i'.- ^ntn tt, the best ndvanlnge, ho gave them un extra drill the lin.v l-i-I'i"'; ili- nntion.    'Now,' said   he, addressing hia pupils, 'when y-m leift ''* niinititer to-morrow, you leave out tin- li''f.'-^. though yim riiii-t t'ii,:'.i you go along, for the sake of eloeutimi.'   So fnr .'-o g<iu.|.    N"\i •!¦' nn.l with it the minislw, ushered iuH' the schoul-n.oiii by iln- U-.uv, with amilea nnd hows, hoped that Ihc tr.-iiiiing of the sohti!i: iipprovnl.    Now, it to Imppcncd   that tiie first hoy < had been absent, the precciiing day, nnd in the hurry, ten to give him inslrunions how to net.    The miiiistui- a chapter iu ihe Old T.-t.-imeni, uhieli he pointed oi and in hia best accent bi-gnn lo re.-iil—-Anil Ihe Lord spik.; ing tick; speak unto the children of Israel, siiyiog («;/.¦, tal thou aay unto them fie.'.; Iir/:, (i.-/,-'    This nnrurtunnte s:illy. in  his i.nii -i.> acted like a shower b:itb an the  poor  Dominic, whilst lii,;  niiiil<liT -ii..l riends almest died of laughter.-(.'o»«  SchoolJour.uit
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WnionT or Hobse.i.—Ordinnry sized fiirm horses weiph rr,-i:i 12 l-- I;; i-v.. riding or hurueaa horst-s from 10 to 11 i-,vt.    Amongst tlie hi-;ivv weit;lil- \. a horso which belonged to the Cnrron Company, and weigheii 18^- cwi.; nt- ot the heaviest horses in London belong-* in Biirclny. I'erkius & Co., the lu-r.-: era, which wcigb.s net one ton.
Worth KitowiNC.—The great difficulty of getling iiorsea ti-.an u -Im! where surrounding buililinga nre in a stnte of conflngrntion. is well l:ii.-.-.'; and that in consequence of auch difficuity, aiinlng fioiii ,he uiiiui.-i! ^ -ii'-;i-l • stirring from the scene of destruction, miiny valuable horses havp jn-ri-lu--t the flames.    A gtatleman whose horsea hud beeu in grent peril Irom -"I'o cause, having iu vain tri^ to save them, h-t upou the exfi-ririn-ni^ "i  !. i»' them harnessed as though they were going to their usiml w-.iJ,'. viim. ¦¦¦ sstonlshment, they were led from the stablo without difliculiy
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