Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-08-24
SPEECH or hon. HOMER BARTLErr

| received last evening an invitation TO meet n
lew OF my fellow citizens here to-day, TO con.
suit, ms suppose, upon some measure which
might conducc to the welfare Of Massachu.
sets ana OF the Union, decided to come and
! hear ana sec, and am gratifind. it gives mo
pleasure to say, with what / have seen md
with much that ! have heard. supposed
we should como here to consult and to act
together as n band Of brothers, and as Mas.i.
chusetts men, laying aside old party organiza-
tions, and, if You choose to call them 80
party prejudiccs, and to Look as-~rT1zensS
this State and OF tho Union ut the great o,es-
ton which is now agitating this country
from ono end to the other | am ready tn
meet it, Cheers
have no confessions to make, gentlemen
about the past | am great sinner no
doubt, Tlaugbter,l but | thank him who
rulcth in the heavens that have been an
Ihtl-slavcry man, straight out, SO long that |
, 90 not remember when | was not one am
II Wing of the old school. and went down
with them in the old ship of State but came
up again, and am ready, hope, to d, some
service yet, not in Office, but in labor
lou have heard an interesting account of
what took place in 1915; I remember the
campaigns Of 1875, '46 and a.. Good.
glorious times they were, and good, sound
anti slavery doctrine was then put forth. /
was trained IN an anti-slavery school but I
never believed in anti-slavcry resolutions.
on Will lind cord OF them upon the re-
c"ruN' puu thcy amount to nothing. ! want
20 see men take their ground and stand upon
| 1t. Talk OF the Union being in dancer II
was in danger in lS2O it trcmblod then to
Its base, and it has never since stood as firm
us 1t would If the North had been true. The
only thing which cndangers the Union j.
slavery aggression and Northern weakness.
| cllnS 10 the Constitution and love it, but the
! constitution never contemplated the cNtcn.
sion OF slavery; that is no part Of it what.
| ever, and the Union is not so safe to-day II
1t was when it saved over and over. and
over again in 1880. There were Union savers
all over the country, and it was saved hv
Shody OF every party, and from that
une thrre mas been no organization Of the
old parties of any influence in Massachusetts.
speak on my own responsibility alone. when
say that the party to which belong had
its back broken in 1850 1t has not had since
that time the moral power it had before, and
1t could not have, because it was in two
parts. There was kicking of the heels, and
don't know what the head was about.
! [I.augl ter.
Their" woro some rrottv hard things said
( ',le m"f'l". about the Viii. Iart,. ana Cd I,
that sort OF thing. Now let me say am not
gong to abuse the good old Wing party
Let old Massashusetts speak upon that sub
J'ct' from the western line to the farthcst
eastern limit. Let her speak by her senti-
ments and acts for the last twenty-five wears
Look at your water powcrs-your fertile val
leyss, fields and hills, and everything else.
and sec what Wing policy has done for Mas
sachusetts. Am ! to turn around and assai
the Wing party Not ut all. Blessed Ice
God that it has existed for twenty-five years
and nobly done its duty. ! have had sma II
share-but let pass. fCheers and laughter
The question is not, what has been done,
but what Is the State Of the country, and
what should a man do : What is the condi-
ton Of affairs in the nited States A deadly
conflict has been thrust upon us, for we have
| not sought 1t, and we must now take our
stand or yield to aggression 1t is either
freedom or slavery for this whole land thi +.
is as true rs the Bible is true, and there is
no cant about it. \ STAKEHOLDER with his
slaves will come into Boston and he will hold
his slaves here. under legal decisions, or We
are to roll back the tide of slavery aorra.-
sion. Cheers.
We cannot stand now where we are they
have taken one leap too many. | will talk
very plainly, sir, They were not satisfied
with the concessions Of the North in 1850.
which We're the hardest to swallow of any
]
compromises Of that year were sorter passinr
quietly along sorfer, that is the word-and
the country believed the matter at rest but
encouraged by the course Of the North thew
! brought up the Kansas and Nebrask a iniou-
| ny. aud that was the Feather that broke the
cainels back 80 1t was little too heavy
load. Applause.
Now, under these circumstances, what
arc we to DO That is the question. We
are t. meet 1t. Well, shall we repeal those
bills don't know that care to do that
let the South do IT ii they choose. Let it
AK to restore the Comprons" as it was. he
fore the passage OF these bills But let the
North take higher ground, and insist that
only tree States shall be admitted into the
Inl"n, until the compromise be restored by
the South and no slave State ought to be-
admitted into the Union. The slave power
has gone quite too far already [Chcers
We do not want to multiply principles
let u- unite only upon the great principle.
ana we shall he strong and united Do not
let us distract ourselves by IA thousand little
slde-lssues, that amount to nothing If YOU
can take that strong ground. and bring the
people to stand there firmly and understand
ingy, you are safe. Let no man get an
election from free State, who is not in prn-
PIE ana to the death, opposed to the admis-
sion OF another slave State it seems to
me. that is the whole story. Annlonsn
Perhaps differ somewhat from centIo.
man who did not speak here few minutesaro.
and resrcct him So mnrh tbo, - ,no,in ~,
feel a difidence in regard IN nv own cnursa
but have come 10 \ different c1nrInsinr t.a,n
that at which he has arrived VIII, ns
am, you will find me Tomorrow the same man
that was six months or n wear AGO no.
ileYe greater amount of good can be accom-
rI ShaI nv III ell -.
a new or. ,nizntion. than Nv cnn,inu;n', ~