The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1854-03-08
From tho Boston Post, Feb. IL.
JEFFERSON AND THE WILMQT PRO-
XISO


the Wilmot proviso than that Of the llustriou
Jefferson. From his earliest entyance into publ,
lie until Its hnal close he d. olired himse! op
posed to slavery; and his great mind con
i.nualiy dev,sng ways to rid his country of II
II wss his wide philanthropy and love for free
dom that prompted his early and bold course II
relation to it in the assembly of Virginia; in the
Congress that made the declaration of inde pen
dence; and in the action on the ordinance ,o
l7e7. It vas the latter action that supplies the
ground for alleging that he was the author o.
The Wilnot proviso. That action took placs
before the constitution was adopted; aud how
ever much 1t may seem to tsvor the later prohi
| bitory measure, yet subsequent opini',ns show
| clearly where, when the assertion OF il endang.
cred the Union, the great Patriot stood. e
We allude TO the Missouri question Of 1890
| This question wns, whether Missouri shou ID
come into the Union with or without restic-
| tons prohibiting slavery 1t was thus an npph.
| cation, in single case, of the general p' wei
| known as the Wllmot proYiso. To the exercise
| OF such restriction he was strongly opposed
His let,e, of this period-and democrats we are
sure will read them with deep interest--wiI
show more concluslvely that no one could b.
more deadly hostile TO the restrictive principle,
| or the exercise Of this unconstitutional power,
than was Thomas Jefferson
The first alIuson we find in his letters is un-
der the date of December 10, 1919, in a letter
addressed to John Adama He says:
" The banks, bankrupt law, manufactures,
Spanish treaty, are nothing. These are oc-
currences, which, like waves in storm, viii
pass under the ship. But the Missouri ques-
ton is breaker on which we lose the Missouri
country by revolt, and what more, God only
knows. From the batl!e of Bunker's Hill 10
the treaty of Paris we never had so ominous q
question. 1t even damps the JOY with which /
hear of your high health, and welcomes to me-
the consequences of my want of it. thank
God that shall not live TO witness its issue
Sed hac hectenus."
On the 18th of April, 1920, he wrote to Will
liam Short ."ft 50 Ea
" The old schisn Of federal and republican
threatened nothing, because it existed in, every
State, and united them together by the fratern-
ism of party. But the coincidence of q marked
principle, moral and political, with geogra-
psical line, once conceived, | feared would
never more be obterated from the mind that it
would be recurring on every occasion, and re-
newng irritations, until it would kindle such
mutual and mortal hatred to render sppara.
ton preferable 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 no great distance,
and the direct const quence Of this question; not
Dy the line which has been confidently count
ed on-the laws of Nature control lhs-but by
the Potomac, the Ohio, and Missouri, or more
probably the Mississippi upwards to north
ern boundary My only comfort and confidence
is, that shall not live to see this; and envy
not the present generation the glory of throw
ing away the fruits of their fathers sacrifices oil
| life and fortune, ard of rendering desperate the
| experiment which was to decide ultimately
whether man is capable Of selfgovernment
This treason against human hope will signalize
their epnch in future history, as the counter
part of the medal of their predecessors"
Mr.. Holmes, of Maine, member of Congress,
addressed to Jefferson letter, which drew from
| hin the following remarkable reply:
Monticello, April %, 1920
"i THANH you, dear Sir, for the copy you
have been 50 kind as to send me Of the letter 10
your constituents on the Missouri question: II
is perfect justification to them. l had for a
long time ceased to read newspapers, or pay
any attention TO public affairs, confident the
were in good hands, and content to be passen-
ger in our bark to the shore from which | am
not dstant But this n.omentous question, ike
a fire bell IN the night, awakened and filled me
with terror. | considered it at once as the knel
of the Union. 1t is hushed, indeed, for the
moment. But this is reprieve only, not a
| final sentence. A geographical line, coinciding
with marked principle, moral and political
once conceived and held up to the angry pas
sions OF men, will never be oblierated; and
every new irrta ion will mark il deeper and
deeper. can say, with conscious truth, that
| there is not man on earth W ho would sacrifice
more than would to relieve us from this heavy
| reproach in any practicable way. The cession
OF that kind Of property lor so it is misnanied)
| is bagatelle which would not cost me a second
| thought, if in that way general emancipation
and eTpatriat0n could be effected; and gradu-
ally, and with due sacrifices, | think 1t might
be. But as il is, we have the wolf bv the ears
and we can neither hold him nor safely let him
60 Justice is in scale, and self preserva
ton in the other. OF one thing an certain
| that az the pas of slaves from one S ate tc
another who would NOT be SO without it, so theil
diffusion over grl ater surface would make
them Individually happier, and proportionaly
facilitate the accomplishment Of their emanci
patton, by dividing the burden greater
number of coadutors. An abstinence, ten,
from this act OF po.er would remove the Jeal'
ousy excited by the undertaking of Con~ess to
regulate the condition of the different descrip
lions Of men conposinga Sta e Ihis certain
ly is the exclusive light of every State, which
nothing in the constitution has taken from them
and given to the general g,eernment Gould
Congres for example, sey, that the non-frre
men OF Connecticut sh-h be treemrn, or that
they shall not emigr-te into any other State ?
81 regret that lam now to die in The belief
that the useIesssacrlfice of the mseves by the
generation ING, to acquire self vernment
and bappi ess to their country, is to be thrown
awav b the unwise and unworthy passions Of
th,i. .sons. and that my only cons laton is 10
b that live not to weep over it. If they
would but dispassionatey weigh the blessiu y S
aha
cipe more likely to be effected by union than
by scission, they would pause Leto,e they would
perperate the act of suicide on the elves, and
of treason against the hopes of the world To
yourself, as the faithful advocate OF the Union,
| tender the offering Of my high esteem and
respect.
TIL. JEFFERSON."