Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1854-03-29

EProm ne Naahv,lle Banner, March is.I

Opinion Of the Nebraska Bill.
FProm the NaGhviiis Banner, March is.i
We take from the Huntsville Advocate the
following copy of letter, recently addressed by
ex-senator Clemens TO gentlemen Of that place,
stating the views entertained by him in relation
to the Nebraska Bill, and the grounds upon which
he is opposed to It. Those grounds are precisely
the grounds which we have occupied on the sub
Iject. President Pierce, according to Mr.. Glenn
ems, "in conversation with Northern Senator
and myself, be president Pierce gave il as his
decided opinion That Douglas Nebraska bill was
a proposition in favor Of freedom-and added that
if il should pass, although might absorb the tchoe
Of Meriso, not another saUe State tooud eVer coue
INTO the Union, He expressed great surprise at
the opposition met ioith from the North, and equal
surp' ise that The South should be WiLing TO take IT,
agreed with him fully, and could not help recurring
to the stratagem by which the Greeks effected the
destruction Of Troy" These declarations of Cen
eral Pierce, according to Mr.. Clemens, were not
made to him alone, but in the presence and hear
ing of "a Northern Senator"
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 1854.
MY DEAR SIR:-I have received your letter, in
which you say that some Of my friends are sur
lr,sed at the position have assumed upon the Ne
braska question, and desire to be made acquainted
with the grounds upon which my opposition was
based
/ had determined not to be forced into the po-
liticat arena by anything an enemy might say, but
tnat rule has no application to the misapprehen-
sion OF friends. am opposed to the bill of Mr..
Douglas because it is supported upon the avowed
ground that the people of Territory, while it re-
mains Territory, may regulate the subject OF
slavery for themselves. This, you will remember,
was the docrne of Gen. Cass' Nicholson letter,
which was repudated by the entire South in lS48.
The wings charged it upon him as grievous Po-
litical offence, and the democrats evaded the is
sue by placing a different construction upon the
letter. Subsequently at the session of lS49-5O,
when Gen. Cass avowed that the Northern con-
struction Of his letter was correct one, and was
at once disclamed by the whole body of Southern
.ena 'ors, including the present Secretury of War.
Judge Douglas, in aludng to the letter, stated that
the doubts entertained by the then Senator from
Mississippi, (Col. Davis,) had caused him to be
lukewarm in the support of Gen. Cass. Col. Da-
Wis instantly replied: al have doubts, fears and
apprehensions, which reached to conviction that
the Senator (Gen. Cass,) was wrong upon the
question the power ofthe inhabitants;
| yet, sir, / ok him as choice Of evils. | say 1t
IN no terms of disrespect The Senator from
Michigan knows that thought it was wrong
octr!ne," &c. Col. Davis was warmly sustained
by Judge Butler, and Col. King emphatically de-
clared that he never did, and never could sub
scribe to the doctrine held by Gen. Cass. There
was no disagreement, that | am aware Of, among
us-all held that it was a dangerous doctrine, and
cne which as effrctually excluded us from the ter
ritories as the Wilmot Proviso ITSELF Let me add
that such is the opinion now entertained by the
President of the United States himself But a few
days since, in conversation with Northern SEN
Ator and myself, he gave it as his decided opinion
nloc, 60 ifinn in fnHOr nj
freedom" and added that if should pass, although
we might absorb the whole OF Mexico, not anoth-
er slave State would ever come into the Union
He expressed great surprise at the opposition il
had met with from the North, and equal surprise
that the South should be willing to take it.
agreed with him fully, and could not help recur-
ring to the stratagem by which the Greeks effec-
ted the destruction Of Troy.
The only quotation Mr.. Calhoun was ever known
to make, was "timeo Danaos ct doaa terentes," and
ii ever there was time that it should be repeated
as warning to the South it is the present. A
Northern man, unasked and unsolicited, brings
forward proposition professedy for our benefit
but in reality an insduous attempt TO steal away
from US all the fruits Of our former trials and
struggles. The citadel which has resisted every
open assault is about to be destroyed by the fool
sb Confidence OF its defenders in delusve gift
which only serves to convey the enemy within
the walls.
In 1850 the doctrine of the South was "let us
alone" We asked nothing from Congress-we
wanted nothing; the emphatic language of Judge
Butler. was heartily responded to everywhere:-
"All we ask is, that you will keep your hands off.
We want extension. Let US alone. This is
all we ask."
hold to that doctrine yet; and that is the sub.
stance OF my late letter to Mr.. Van Buren,, about
which much has been said, but which no one
has yet attempted to anayze and reiute.
have other objections to Mr.. Douglas bill
which are insuperable of themselves Itprovdes
that foreigner who has merely declared his in.
tention to become a citizen shall be vested with
the right of voting, and thus places it in the pow.
er of foreign paupers and criminals to deprive an
American citizen of his property, or drive him
rom the Territory with his slaves. l do no,
speak Tor any mans constituents. There may
be communities who will sustain their represen
atves in this great outrage upon their rights, bu,
if their be ! pity the delusion under which they
are laboring. JERE. CLEMENS.
The Encendary Meeting nj COIuua huS