The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-07-01

though slavery did exitt in some States the
other States were not responsible for its exist
ence, and that the same was also true of the
United States Government-it had no power
or authority over the subject in the States anC
therefore no responsibility. Well do remem
Der the look with which those students hearC
from me the admission that slavery did exist il
some of the United States and the astonish
ment and almost despair with which my frienC
exclaimed-horribie horrible Ill NEST pa
possible que UOH dyes fescidUdge en- les Etdt
inns. If | had not then hated slavery with
my whole heart and soul, | should have done
so from that moment
In Dublin, ! accompanied friend to n tenn
perance meetng-it was while some controver
Sy was pending between Mr. Stevenson, our Min
lister to the Court of st. James and Mr. OCOn
nell My friend, who had the name Stevenson
associated with everything American, introdu
ced me to the meeting as Mr. Stevenson, from the
! United States The true Irish love of liberty was
Immediately aroused, and one and another began
to say, He is Shareholder lie is slave
breeder ~ "He sells women and children p
Put him out" Oh! the thief" "Put him
OUT - My friend was utterly amazed at the
confusion, until explained to him his mistake
When he had corrected the blunder to tho
meeting and my hostility to human bondage
was vOuched for, | was heard with respectful
attention You must make men insensible t.
such influences as these, if Ou.expect them e
let slavery rest in eternal quiet.
] also ask have you made success certain
know you have saved the great nation of Soutl
Carolina but the speech Of the gentleman from
that State Mr. ORR, in which that fact wa
I,ti.a
| the candidate it intended to benefit, mucl
as certseh articles in the Democratic Review
operated upon the fortunes of Judge Douglas.
You expect to purify the party, but of thai
you are not certain it seems doubtful if any
thing can drive off your friends in some of the
States You cannot drive off the politicians
they are too patriotic to be willing to sacrifice
all opportunities for future usefulness; no dose
you can possibly administer wilnauseate them
They will tell their friends at home, that the
resolutions are not 80 bad rs they might be
there are plenty of evasiOns and lodges that
may be pointed out. They will say that the
resolutions were read amid noise and confu.
sion, after some had left, and but few really
voting for them. and therefore that nobody in
particular il committed to their support and
finally, that they can endorse the candidates,
and repudiate the platform altogether, and that
each section can get up platform of its own.
Thus in New York they will vote for Pierce and
the Right of Petition, and in Ohio for Pierce
and Harbor Improvements. We have story
IN the West, of u man who was sued for DANA
gcs done to kettle he had borrowed he en-
plOved Il pettifogger who made to the magis-
tratc this defence first, said he, we can prove
that the kettle was cracked when we got it ;
second it was whole when we returned it and
third, we never had it. Gentlemen, you can
not purify the party Of men who have the in
genuity to frame or initiate such an admirable
defence
But suppose you should succeed in purifying
the party in part-and think it quite likely
that some thousands of honest voters, who have
nothing to gain by smiling in proportion as
they are kicked, and nothing to lose by loss of
party standing, will leave you-then are you
sure Of success If the party is too much pu-
'ified it will not succeed-for publication is a
leplctory process. Do you not care more for
uccess than for publication And if so, was it
lot bad policy to commence the work on the
We of an important election In forcing this
est on the party, are you likely to gain much
\ triumph in the Convention is not much, unless
'ou triumph in the election. A triumph in the
lection would only show that you have not
purified the Democratic party after ALL and the
great work Of publication will all have to be
lone over again
In the endorsement of the Compromises
fugitive bill and ALL think the managers of
he party were guilty of poor generalship
hnk the party was placed entirely at the mer-
" of the Wings; and if they did not profit 10y
t, it arsuos folly ,he:r pow, .~.i.o. .i,." -,
absence on yours Had they refused to endorse
hose measures | can scarcely believe there is
/ single Northern State they could not have
carried And the South should remember that
he North can elect President without their
help Whether such result is especially desi-
rable is for the South to say.
How far have you succeeded in rendering
,aie your peculiar institution You have ten
Tered to the country n sectional issue. Was
his wise think it poor policy to make such
IN issue in the present state of the country
We have thirteen and half millions of free
whites You have about six millions, and not
Ill of those, nor indeed, half of them, directly
II indirectly interested in your system. fyou
insist on sectional fight, the result must be
that the weakest will go to the wall"
You will lead to the formation, not perhaps
IF a party, but of league against you, that
will defeat all your policy. Men opposed to
he extension of slavery and to its varied pre-
tensions, will unite to defeat any candidate
that favors your views, just rs you now defeat
any candidate that does not sustain them,
Men will not leave their respective parties,
perhaps, but they will act in and through their
parties, and secure their result M certainly as
you have done. And even now the material
for such league is at hand Two hundred
and nincty-iiyc thousand in 1913 voted against
the doctrine of the Nicholson letter: and that
number of persons, and many more, are now
ready to vote against any candidates that sac
rice the interests of freedom to the demands
of the slave power They may not leave their
parties; they will not all denounce your can
didates; but you need not be surprised if your
expectations in future are often disappointed
Your allies are forcing you into extreme and
dangerous measures to serve themselves they
demand the endorsement of the Compromise M
a protection against the indignation of their
own constituents But where will this course
lead 1t will only hasten on the final issue
which you alone have to dread
Do you expect to catch your runaways any
better Thousands of genuine Democrats all
over the country will still believe the Fugitive
Slave Law to be unconstitutional Your mis-
cradle platform will not change their opinion
nor their course of action. They will treat it
aS Jefferson and Madison treated the alien and
sedtIon law, "as absolutely null and void DO
you say this is a breach of faith. plightcd in
the national compact | answer no Ohio
passed just such II law n her sister State Ken
lucky asked for, but it was set aside by de-
cslon OF the Supreme Court, and afterwards
repealed That law was passed in accordance
with the requirements of the constitutional com
pact, rs then understood but this is in plain
violation OF our State rights and will not be
regarded In some remarks formerly made by
me to tins House the gentleman from Mary.
land MIR. WALSH says perverted the resolu-
tons of % to serve the cause of f,lons and
thieves. quoted those resolutions 10 establish
the doctrine that powers not distinctly granted