The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1850-03-12


that those who make the noise arc the only
inhabitants of the field that of course, they
are many in number; or that after all they
are other than tho little, shriveled, meagrc,
hopping, though loud and troublesome in
sccts of the hour"
For one. sir; do not recognize the hon.
orable member and his half dozen COM
peers on this floor, as my flc-leadcrs,o or as
my fuglemen in this campaign. do not
beleng 10 " the Root and branch party" |
shall not march N the tap Of their drum.
shall not vote against any bona. fde, prac-
tica. and seasonabe measure, simply be-
cause they originate il; but give my con-
sliuenis and the country notice, once for
all, that they arc not 10 Judge Of my scuii-
met.is upon the great questions Of the dav,
by any votes which may give, or which |
may not give, upon their amateur abslrac-
tons or their precipilale insiructions.
shall vote for them, or vote against them,
or not vote at all, just as il happens TO suit
my own views, and certainly moi al all with
view 10 suit their purposes.
The honorable member, in the course Of
speech in which lie has misreprescnled
ans assnied at least one hall ofthe North>
ern members Of this House, has told us that
he is a member of" the reriied Free Soil
sect" Good Heavens, sir if they are the
reyiled, who nre the revllers, and. what
must they be! Never, in the whole his
tory ol our counlry-never, since the exis-
ience Of political parties anywhere, ,-has
there hcen party, which, under the prelex,
oi philanthropy, has so revelled and luxurl-
ated in malice, hatred and uncharitableness
in viiuperation, caumny, and sI0ndcr,-
as this 4" rerifed Free Soil eect," | sneak
Of their prlnc2 pal leaders and organs, as
know Them in my own part Of the country.
and not ol the great mass of their followers,
there or elsewhere, who, ! doubt not, are
led along by honest impulses, and many of
whom, | as little doubt, are disgustcd with
the music Of their own lrumpetcrs. New
er, sir, repeat, has there been Witnessed
in this country, or on the face of the globe,
such an audaciiy Of false statement and
lalse accusation, rs that with which some
of their presses have .eemed. Never have
there been baser slabs al character, than
those with which some Of their speeches
have reeked.
need not say, that | have had my
full share, and more than my full share,
Of their Misrepresentation and abuse.
bear no special malice towards MEM
bers Of this House, who deal with me
in this style, because know that, after
all, they are but the instruments aud
moulh-pieces OF others afar off, There
is little nest Of vipers. sir, in my own
immediate district and lis vicinity, who
have been biting file for some three or
four years past and who, having fairly
used up their own teeth, have evidently
enlisted in their service the fresher
fanas of some honorable members of this
House. "OdisSe gucm iodcris." Con-
scious that they have wronged mo, they
now hate me and having been thor,
oughly put down at home, they have
turned promptcrs and panderers TO as
saults upon me here. Let them go on
in their manly and magnanimous voca-
tiou. II they only succeed in doing
themselves half as much injury as they
do me good, they will speedily merit my
sympathy, instead of my scorn.
Sir, have already had occasion du-
ring the present session, to allude to one
Of the false statements which has been
frequently made in regard to me at
home, and which has been repeated here
by the honorable member from Ohio on
my right (Mr. Giddings). That honor
able members speech, | take occasion
to say, as printed for the use Of the
Fourth District i'll Massachusetts, is a
mere tissue Of perversion and misreprc>
sentation, SO far as my own conduct is
concerned. But the most that can do,
on this occasion, is To notice one OF the
charges which it contained, and in regard
to which, it will be remembered, drec,
issue was made up between us.
The honorable member seems 10 have
thought it important 10 his Justification
among his constituents, for his vote "a,
ganst me for Speaker two years ago,
that he should imp'ca,e me in the origin
of the late derlorable war with Mexico.
lie knew perfectly well, that my mere
vote for the bill. by which the existence
Of that war was recognized, and by
which provision was made for the rescue
of our little army on the Rio Grande,
would not answer his purpose, He knew
that, whether that vote were right or
wrong, it was given in company with
those who we're altogether Invulnerable
by his malignant shafts. lie knew that
he could not strike al me, on this point,
without striking also at Corwin and Vim
ton, and Schenck, of his own State, and
Marsh and Foote, Of Vermont, and |
know not how many others, from the
North and from the West, whose char
acters would be an ample shield against
all who should attack them, and whom
he would not, then at least, have dared
to charge as supporters of the war
And So, sir, he sets himself to work TO
prove me an accessory before the fact,
and charges me with having gone to a
Whig Caucus, before the War Bill was
introduced, and with having made an
appeal to the Wings, to vote in favor Of
a Bill. in regard to the intended charac- |
ter of which had no more knowledge |
than the man in The moon Sir, never |
heard of this Wing Caucus, to the best
Of my knowledge and belief, until
saw this account of il in letter of the
honorable member TO his constituents,
eighteen months afterwards. And dilh-
cult as il almost always is for any one to
prove a negative, it is fortunately in my
bower, this day, to furnish such conclu-
live testimony that attended no such
meeting. and made no such speech
hat even the honorable member himself
will blush at ever haviag made the state
nent.