Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1854-04-12
Jeaerson and the Missouri Ccmpro-
mise.

Ihomas ienerson, the great apostle OF tue Amer
ican Democracy, as a witness to support them in
their opposition this measure. They constantly
assert that Jefferson was in favor ofthese restrc
tive measures, and would have the people believe
that he approved the Compromise of 1920; but
they fail TO ndduce single iota of proof from his
writings to warrant their assumption. His writ
ings at that period, while they show that he was
opposed to the institution of slavery, furnish un-
mistakable evidence that he was no less opposed
to that measure, regarding it as unconstitutional
and dangerous assumption of power. Let the
llustrious witness speak for himself. In letter
to William Short, of April 10, 1920, speaking of
this subject, he says; .......-
Although I had laid down as law to myself
never to write talk, or even think Of politics, to
know nothing of public affairs, and therefore had
ceased to read newspapers, yet the Missouri ques
ton aroused and filled me with alarm. The old
schsm of Federal and Republican threatened no.
thing, because it existed in every State, and united
them together by the fraternism of party. But
the coincidence OF marked principle, moral and
political, with geographical line, feared ,oud
nerer more be CELEBRATED from the mind; that it
would be recurring on euery occasion, and renelo-
ing trritattonS, and it would kindle such mutual
and moral hatred as to render separation pretera
bic to eternal discord have been among the
most sangune in believing that our Union would
be of long duration. now doubt it much, and
see the event at great distance, and the direct
consequences of this question, not by the line
which has been so confidently counted on,--the
laws of nature control this,-but by the Potomac,
Ohio, and Missouri, or, more probably, the Mis-
sissippi upward to our northern boundary.
''My only comfort and confidence is, that shall
not live to see this; and envy not the present
generation the glory of throwing away the fruits
of their fathers sacrifices of life and fortune, and
Of rendering desperate the experiment which was
to decide ultimately whether man is capable Of
sslf-government This TREASON AGAINST HUMAN
HOPE will sgnalize their epoch in future history as
the counterpart of the medal of their predeces-
sors.'
In letter to John Holmes, dated April %,
1920, he said:
~ had for long time ceased to read newspa-
pers, or pay any attention to public affairs, conf
dent they were in good hands, and content to be a
passenger in our bark to the shore from which
am not distant. But this momentous question,
like .fre-GeA in the night, acakened and filed me
actM terror. considered it at once as the knell
Of the Union. 1t is hushed, indeed, bu, this is q
reprieve only, not final sentence"
How true prophet he was! How soon after
he departed this life was this agitation commence
ed, and it has been continued from that day to
this: .
GA geographical line coincidng with marked
principle, moral and POLITICAL once conceived and
held up to the angry passions of men will never
be obliterated."
What he thought never would be done is now
about to be done. He proceeds
"And every new irritation will mark it deeper
and deeper. can say with conscious truth, that
there is not man on earth who would sacrifice
moe than would to relieve us from this heavy
reproach in any practicable way. The cession OF
that kind of property (for so it is misnamed) is a
bSgatelle which would not cost me second
thought, if, in that way, general emancipation
and repatriation could be effected; and, gradually
and with due sacrifices, ! think it might be- But
as it is, I'VE have the wolf by the ears, and we can
neither hold him, nor safely let him 60. Justice
is in one SCALE and seli-preservation in the other
OF one thing am certain, that as the passage oil
slaves from one State TO another would not make
slave ofa single human being who would not be
so without it, so their diffusion over greater sur.
face would make them individually happier, ant
proportionally facilitate the accomplishment o
their emancipation, by dividing the burden on Q
greater number of coadutors.'
And again, he says:
An abstinence, too, from this act of power
would remove the jealousy excited by the under
taking of Congress to regulIte the condition o
the different descriptions of men composing
State. This, certainly, is the exclusive right o
every State, which nothing in the Constitution
has taken from them, and given to the Genera
Government"
Here he denies its consttutionality directly:
Could Congress, for example, say that th
non -freemen of Connecticut sha II be freemen, o
that they shall not emgrate into any other State! !!
| In letter to John Adams, dated January 90
1921, he says:
"Our anxeties in this quarter are all concen
trated in the question, What does the holy ali
ance in and out of Congress mean TO do with III
on the Missouri question! And this, by the by
is the name of the case. 1t is only the John Do,
or Richard Roe Of the ejectment. The real ques
ton, as seen in the States affected with this un
fortunate pulation, is, Are our slaves to be pre-
srnted with freedom and dagger! For if Con
gress has the power to regulate the conditions o
the inhabitants of the States within the States,
will be but another exercise of that power to de-
clare that all shall be free. Are we then, TO SEE
again Athenan and Lacedemonian confedera
ces! To wage another penopennesian war tc
settle the ascendency between them! Or is i
the tocsin of merely a servile war! That remain.
to be seen. But not, hope, by you or me. Sure
ly they will parley awhile, and give us time tt
get out of the way. What bedlamite is man!'
The illustrious witness, called by the agitator.
to sustain their position, deals them rather hare
blows. He denounces their sacred compact a.
unconsttutonal-its promoters as the holy ALI
ance Observation-Disclosures having committed TREA
SON against human hope-as being counterpart
of their predecessors. Call your next witness
gentlemen.
Look out for COunterlcits.
The New York TIMES says within the pas
few days that city has been flooded with counter