The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-07-04

charges which he prefers against US is that we
make too broad r distinstion between right and |
wrong Another is, that we are inpatient men |
too impatient, always, 10 give heed to the admo-
milton Of ST. Paul that we are not TO do evil |
that good may cOme'-too impatient to wait for
the slow progress of moral causes in the improve
ment Of mankind In his bill of indictment he
has one other complaint Ii is said we deal with
morals as with mathematics, and that we think
what is right may be distinguished from what is
wrong with the precision Of an algebraic -equa-
tiOn. Well, Mr.. Chairman, we do think the ques-
lions OF morals, when applied to freedom and sla-
very, are more clear than any question in algebra
The former requires the slow process of reason,
the latter are elf-evident-springing instantane-
ously from our moral Consciousness Wonderful
charge The Free Soil men may feel proud of
such allegations, coming from their most distin-
guished political opponents in this great contro-
versy. But the time has been when the cause Of
civil liberty was better understood even by the
complainant himself Let me read an extract
from his eloquent speech, delivered in Faneuil
Hall, August 2, 1926 in commemoration of the
lives and services Of John Adams and Thomas
- A-, >s~.>s,-r Nv .Se,.5o IreeaOn, he
said: True eloquence does not consist in
speech
The graces taught in the schools the costly orna-
ments and studied contrivances of speech, shock
and disgust men, when their own lives and the
fate Of their wives their children and their coun.
try, hang on the decision fthe hour. Then words
have lost their power, rhetoric is vain and elabo.
rate Oratory contemplate. Even genius itself ther
feels rtbaked aud subdued as in the presence o.
higher qualities Then patriotism is eloquent
then self-devotion is elOquent-rhe clear cOneepiO,
0nrURaiHg the deductions Of iOgic-ths high purpose
the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit speaking Oh
the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every
feature, and urging ths whOls man Onrdyd, night on
TpdTd, 10 has Object. This is eloquence; or, rather
IS something greqter and high>r Than all elOqance-
it Is action-noble, sublime gOdliEe action"
These, Mr.. Chairman, were the Free Soil prn
ciples of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and their
compatriots Of 1875; they are the Free Soil prn
ciples of 1850; they are not merely theory with.
out action; they unite both with fraternal affec.
tion-the highest principle of our nature; they
Srepos4 YSeaDS 10 ends-the deliyerance-of o1y
country and our cOuntrymen from oppression ;
they practically acknowledge the great truth, that
e-4.f'N-.A-sS... -. =. .fa2RAa9
dwell on all the face of the earth But alas with
some Of our public men how things have changed !
Ia 1896 the cause of liberty was clearer than
reason. Now, it is "fanaticism y to believe il
deducible from reason. No wonder we have heard
the ordinations" Where an I?D and " Where
shall gO2n
Sir, have said this much in our own defence
against the charges of the Massachusetts, Senator.
will now dismiss the subject by asking him a
question, if he will condescend TO answer it, After
We have paid two hundred millions of dollars to
expatriste the free blacks Of our country, aban-
doned the Wilmot P!oviso, and created four new
slave States from Texas and expended all our
energies in cltching runaway slaves, how much
moral force will be left TO the evils of sa-
very and other public crimes that afiict our coun-
try7 This presume, can be solved with mathe-
maticat precision, if the more abstluse question
cannot, viz; Tie right a man has 10 himself When
this is satisfactorily answered we shall have more
confidence in the distinguished Senator as an ex-
FOUNDER of the Scriptures not to say an expounder
of the Constitution, and political guide in the
affairs OF State
Mr.. Chairman, there are some other political
creeds and rules brought forward here, concern
ing which would like to say word allude to
the doctrines promulgated by the gentleman from
New York, Mr.. DuER and the gentleman from
Pennsylvania, Mr.. Ross The gentleman from
New York lays down principle, in speech that
he recently delivered Ia this hall, that completely
annihilates individuality by consigning the con-
science TO the control of majority In all questions
Of right and wrong connected with the political
affairs OF our country. Speaking of our duties
under the extradtion clause of our Constitution
he says:
do not doubt sir that there good strongly OPP
who desire TO discharge their obligations God
who disturbed with scrupes their duties under
provisions Of the Constitution. There In something
pnDaut to their feelings In TIE arrest and surrender Of
mug tive not r I'm justice but from respect
scruPes thnh however that they have origin part
y In to the tn constitutional requi
son and partly in shallow philosophy that conses the
boundaries that separate the acs OF which conscience
the guide, from those which fall within the province
government to direct II governments be legitimate they
have their funetons and TO laws passed in the exercise
snch functions obedience IL due This duty enoined
ChfiRtianitV. lis a
harder thing surrender fugitive slave than hang
innocent man yet where the question Of guilt or
has been determined IN accordance forms
II the duty of the sheriff the
Equally Is II the duty of soldier TO fight in battle without
subectng TO preliminary review the judgment his Gov
srnment in declaring Otherwise IL every ind vidua
we're to sit in judgment the acts OF his Government
to obey dsobey according TO his notions the
ought TO be- should be exposed anarchy home
be undefended against aggression from abroad"
Sir, look upon this kind of sophistry rs more
peTnicious than the open advocacy of absolute
despotism. 1t amounts to this You nlav commit
any CRIME, erea murder aseH If you only haze The
n1yoruyS sanction 10 protect you IA IL, under he
forms Of iar Sir, wish to enter my most SOL
emn protest against this idea of committing our
conscences to the care of others IL is at variance
with religion and common sense. Christianity
inculcates our submission to wrongs inflicted, but
invariably fOrbds our inlcting wrongs upon
others, even should the civil law require it. The
gentleman's philosophy reminds me of an annecdote
that was told of slave who was seen walking in
the rain with his hat under his arm. Being ac-
costed BY some one who inquired why he did not
wear his hat on his head he replied that his hat
was his own, but that his head was bis masters
So 1t is with this class of political philosophers
Their consciences-their very souls-belong TO
their party If their party be in power; otherwise
to the party Of their political opponents who hap
pen 10 be in the ascendency Under this rule
our own Washingtons, aud Jacksons, and Jeffer-
sons; the Mitchells and 0'Briens of down-trodden
Ireland; the Kossuths and Ujhszys of Hungary
would be stamped as counterfeits-for they only
submitted to that which was right, scouting the
standard thus sought 10 be furnished for their
consclences Sir these are not the enlightened
sentiments of Christianity. They belong to the
religion Of the Brahmins Let me here read
short extract from their creed: Whoever
desires to be happy must constantly endeavor
to conquer himself and become like the original
essence. To accomplish this, he must accustom
himself not to act, think, feel, or desire" Their
directions on this head were summed up In this
precept ERde0UoT 10 annitilQts thyseT; for as
soon as thou ceasest to be myself thou becomest
one with God, and returnest into his beingp With
politicians whose allegiance is stronger to party
than to correct principle, it should read thus;
"Ihou becOmea one run ny party and rstmrea pao
us bsngy" Sir, shall we become mere antoniatoas,
or shall we continue Ren?
have dwelt longer than intended upon this
sentiment Of the gentleman from New York, Mr.
DUER, because, in this age Of degeneracy, IL is a
prevailing error that we have licence to violate
the laws Of God in public life, which we have not
in private-as if our political life could be sepa-
rated from private and the one be set above the
other.
Let me now, Mr. Chairman, advert to the Dem
ocrntic creed Of 1914, advocated few days since
by the gentleman from Pennsylvania mir Ross