Grand River times. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1851-18??, 1854-04-12
LETTER FROM HON JERE. GLEN
EMS OF ALABAMA.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 1856

My Dear Sir:--I have received your letter, in
which you say that some OF my friends are sur
prised at the position have assumed upon the
Nebraska question, and desire to be made nc
quainted with the grounds upon which my op-
position was based
| have determined not to be forced into the
political arena by anything an enemy might say
but that rule has no application to the misap-
prehension of friends. am opposed to the bill
of MIR. Douglas because it is supported upon the
avowed ground that the people of n territory,
while it remains n territory, may regulate the
subject OF slavery for themselves. This, you
will remember, was the doctrine of Gen. Cass's
Nicholson letter, which was repudiated by the
entire South in l84S. The wings charged it up
on him as a grevous political offence, and the
democrats evaded the issue by placing differ
ent construction upon the letter. Subsequent
y at the session Of lSl9-5O, when Gen. Cass
avowed the northern construction Of his letter
was the correct one, it was at once dsc|aimed
by the whole body of southern Senators, includ-
ing the present Secretary of War. Judge Doug
las, in aluding to the letter. stated that the
doubts entcrtaiDed by the then Senator from
Mississippi, Colonel Davis) had caused him to
be lukewarm in the support of Gen. Cass. Col.
Davis instantly replied: Il had doubts, fears
and apprehensions, which reached to a convic-
ton, that the Senator General Cass) was
wrong upon the question of the power of the
territorial inhabitants; yet, sir, took him as n
choice of evils. | say it in no terms of disre-
spect. The Senator from Michigan knows
thought it was wrong doctrine" &c. Col.
Davis was warmly sustained by Judge Butler,
and Colonel King emphatically declared that he
never did and never could, subscribe to the doe
trines held by Gen. Cass. There was no disa-
greement that am aware of among us-all
held that it was dangerous doctrine and one
which as eflectually excluded us from the terri
tories as the Wilmot proviso itself. Let me add
that such as The opinion now entertained by The
President Of the United STATES himself But a
te,c days since, IN conversation aoith q Northern
Senator and myself he gaue IL as his decided opin
ion, that Douglas bill acas a proposition IN ta
cor Of freedom" and added, thai fit should pass
although pe might absorb the phole of Merico
not another Stare Stale should erer come into thu
Union. He expressed great surprise at the op
position it met with from the North, and equa
surprise that the South should be willing to take
it. agreed with him fully, and could not hell
recurring to the stratagem by which the Greeks
effected the destruction of Troy.
The only quotation Mr. Calhoun was eve
known to make, was I" tinaeo Danaos, et donC
ferrentes," and if ever there was time that j
should be repeated as warning to the South
it is the present. A Northern man, unmasket
and unsolicited, brings forward proposition
professedly for our benefit, but in reality an in
sidious attempt to steal away from US all th
fruits Of our former trials and struggles. Th
citadel which has resisted every open assault, i
about to be destroyed by the foolish confidence
of its defenders in a delusive gift, which onl
serves to convey the enemy within the walls.
In 1850, the doctrine of the South was let u
alone" Weasked nothing from Congress-w
wanted nothing; the emphatic language of Judg
f Butler was heartily responded to everywhere
+ "All we ask is, that you will keep your hand
off. We want no extension. Let US alone
This is all we ask"
l hold to that doctrine yet; and that is tn
substance of my late letter to Mr.. Van BureI
about which so much has been said, but whc
no one has as yet attempted 10 analyzo and r'
= fute.
have other objections to Mr.. Douglas bl
which are insuperable of themselves. 1t pr'
; vides that a foreigner who has merely declare
t his intention to become citizen, shall be veste
= with the right of voting, and thus places it
the. power of foreign paupers and criminals
: deprive an American citizen Of his property, {
c drive him from the territory with bis slaves.