The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1838-01-02

States, but for the purpose of showing what slavery
was. Ho quoted It as nc would aIc''o"u'y' inc
Sneaker decided, that he was in order
Robinson, OF Virginia, moved an adJourhmeh'
Not in order, Slade having the foor' ii
Slado then proceeded TO discuss the question OF
sI,verv on the religious ground, with great force
o,d lrCodo;n II yas a pure abolition discourse, and
fho manner Of the warmestreIgIouJ controVersinst
upon that subj Several attempts were made
to stop him, by calling to order Gnt the speaker
sustained him, and on ne went ITO Is man not
easily inundated or stopped.
THO whole assembly arc in high state Of excite
ment De It remembered that all this discussion
was started and brought on by Calhoun, He sue
ceeded Yesterday in compelling the Vermont Sena.
tors to withdraw their Legislative memorials uhu
Tuesday next.
Siado went on with his speech. He maintained
that all the evils Of slavery which he dweIt upon
AZ some length grew out Of, and were natural and
necessary results from, the monstrous propo'i tion
that man could have property IN man. rms iae",
ho untainGd, was not only repudIaled ny reiIg'on
hut he proceeded to read from the declaration Of
Independence and from several of the State consl-
tuons, Ior the purpose OF showing, that TINS same
prnciple of tho inaenable liberty Of man, was
made the foundation of cur own independence, and
the basis Of system of government. These
doctrines were now denied as mere theoretical fan
cics, of no practical application. Wo did not think
so, when we had occasion to vlndcato our own no
critics When we desired to bring ourselves within
The guardian protection ofhese abstract propositions,
we thought them practical enough. AS II further
illustration ofthe weigh which these principles, IN
their application 10 slavery, ad win The LEADERS OF
the revolution, he read two letters of MIR Jefferson,
written in 1875, the other in 1904, upon the
subject Of slavery in the Slate of Virginia. and the
efforts he had made to procure its abolition there.
These two letters very remarkable and appear
to go the whole length the most ultra doctrine
the subject of immediate abolition, Slado then
said that he had other document which he
would read, with which no could well sympathlse,
and the spirit of which he couldlweil understand.
He was about to read it, when he was called TO
order by Wise, on the ground that lie had no right
to read. Besides SAID Wise, he is discussing slavery
in tho State of Virginia slavery in my State, and
in my district. He has been permitted by the Speak
err to discuss it. therefore invite all my colleagues
from Virginin, to leave tho House with me- in order
that we may hold a solemn consultation upon the
matter, and deliberate what we ought to do. Rob-
ertson, DIVA, who seemed TO be in high state of
excitement, seconded the motion, and was proceed
ing TO speak upon it, when he was stopped by the
Speaker. But Robertson was no sooner down,
than up jumped Dawson, Rhett, and half dozen
others--all talking al the time. SGde con.
tinued 10 address the chair from time to time, and
TO insist npon his right to the floor For some min
utes the House was in perfect confusion. AT last
the Speaker succeeded in gaining the of the
House. He said, he considered it duty 10 himself
to state precisely what the condition OF the sub
ject before the House The member from Vermont
had moved the reference OF the petition he had pre-
scented TO special committee, with instructions to
report bill for the abolition of slavery the Dis
trict of Columbia. Under this motion the gentle
man had proceeded to discuss the abstract merit OF
slavery. Whatever he might think in other res
poets of the propriety Of that course, he could not
say that the gentleman was olt Of order lie would
have done any thing in his power to have put stop
to the debate, but he could not consistently with his
parliamentary duty, prevent the gentleman from
going Tho gentleman then proceeded to read
certain papers If any one objected This would not
be allowed, but no one had objected, and therefore
the gentleman had been permitted 10 60 He
now proposed to read another paper, but the read
ing was objected TO, and therefore could not be al
lowed without permission Of the House.
Slade then ask ed permission to read the document,
which he said had nothing whatever 10 do with
slavery in Virginia. lie wished 10 state to the
House what the document was; but the Speaker
refused to permit him, saying that there 7cas nothing
IN tkc rule 00tciRg member to Stdte ,ctat 1t
that he desired to 9c0I TThe document was UNI
Lcrstood to be, mutual pledge entered into by the
members of the old continental congress, for the
suppression of the slave trade.] The question was
about to be put, when Robertson, of Virginia, got
the floor and began speaking. The Speaker stop
ped him. with the enquiry if he going to speak
80 point of order He had honesty enough to say
Rhett had no such scruples. He declared his
intention to speak to point of ordcr and having
thus got the igor, he announced, what Robertson
had been prG&nted from doing, that the southern
members assembling in the Of the COM
mtteo the District Of Columbia, where 10 invited
all of them to attend. Before the question could be
put, whether Sade should have to read, Mackay of
North Carolina called him to order, on the ground
that ho discussing slavery in Virginia. lie had
merely alluded to it by way of illustration, but the
Speaker decided, he did the other day in the cas-
of Mr. Adamss alluson to the Alton affair, that he
had discussed slavery in Virginia, and therefore was
out Of order, and must take his seat. Slade asked
liberty to proceed, in order. What no wished to
say had nothing whatever to do with slavery in Vlr-
gna, That was subject which he had no design
nor desire TO discuss. Some one objected to his
proceeding, in which case, according to the rule lie
must have the PERMISSION Of the House. The per-
mission was asked and the yeas and nays were de-
mand6d. They were about to ho taken, when
: Dawson, Of Georgia, moved an adjournment. On
this motion the yeas and nays demanded, and
the adjournment was carried, ayes 106-nays 60
The adj ournment was no sooner declared than
Campbell, Of South Carolina, appeared in the hail
and announced himself a messenger from the
Southern Convention, assembled in the Committed
Room Of the District Of Columbia, sent to invite the
attendance of all southern members
When Wise called upon his colleagues to retire
with him, slight laugh ran through the hall. He
Immediately left his and went out Most OF
the Virginia members followed him, and Of course
did not vote on the question of adjournment. The
was the with the South carolina and
most of the Georgia members. J. O.. Adams was in
high glee all the time He a sort of stormy petrol
who rejoces in the tempest. Before Wise made
the call, the thing had been arranged Preston, of