The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-07-24

| trate our Government and our institutions from
the stigma brought upon them by this great
this lamentable outrage.
This can only be done BY excluding the per-
petrator from our body. The moral sensibili-
ties of the nation have been shocked, and it is
our duty to expel the member. That is recon-
mended by the committee. They have report
ed resolution expelling him from this House
shall feel constrained to vote for it. | would
have preferred a resolution not merely expel
ling him, but adding to that expulsion clause
declaring him incapacitated to hold a>seat. in
| the present Congress. think that would more
| perfectly comport with the feelings and the ex
pectations of the People. l shall, however
offer no amendment, but content myself with
voting to confirm the action of the committee
MIR. Speaker, feel Inundated, as a member
of this American Congress, when / read the
comments which have appeared in the Euro
pean press upon this subject, and learn the pain
and modification to which it has subjected the
advocates of Liberty and free government in
England and on the continent. Let those
friends and presses in foreign lands know that
the advocates of human progress in these U nj
ted States feel deeply the reproach which this
transaction has brought upon the Government
instituted by Washington and his compatriots !;
| yet it does not discourage them, nor does it i'm
| pair their confidence in this greatest of all po-
litical experiments, to test the capability of man
to govern himself Grave as the outrage must
be regarded it is but an incident in our politi-
cal history, which, if properly regarded and
condemned by the people, will not be likely to
| occur again.
1t has resulted from the manners, customs,
and habits, of our slaveholding population.
Human bondage had its origin in violence, and
is sustained by force. Persons bred up in
saveholding communities become accustomed
to see the rights of personal security violated !;
Gods image is daily assaulted, disfgured, and
mutilated, before their eyes. The slave is
scourged, beaten, and sometimes murdered, in
their presence. These things beget disregard
for this body, this habitation of the human
soul. Hence the frequent scenes of violence,
the fsticufs, street fights, shootings, assassina-
lions, and murders, among our slaveholding
| population.
If man speaks disrespectfully of another,
the injured party seeks his revenge in vio-
lence. If a man insult another, the injured
party feels at liberty to shoot him. With them,
the remedy for personal injury appears to be
| the iniicton of bodily pain, or suffering, or
death, upon the offending party.
Mr. Jefferson, speaking on this subject, de-
clared, there must doubtless he az unhappy
| influence on the manners of our people pro
duced by the existence Of Sarery among as.
| The aohote commerce (says he) bet,oeen master
and staoe IS an exercise Of the most boisterous
passions, the most unremiting despotism"
Not so with the free population of our North
ern States. There higher degree of civiliza-
ton exists. If a man treats another disre-
| specially, the matter is referred, by common
consent, to the Judgment of their peers, the
people around them. They censure or con.
denim, as justice requires. The penalty affects
the moral, the social, and political position of
the offender. From these penalties he cannot
! escape.
If a man utters language offensive to an
| other, either In bar.roOm or drawing room,
in the pulpit or at the bar, or in the legislative
halls, he is held to answer for such violation of
propriety before the tribunal of popular opin-
ion. That opinion is always intelligent, impair
| tial, and just We place an unlimited conf
dence in its wisdom, and its judgments are
always satisfactory. Nor does this system in
terfere with judicial proceedings. 1t is above
the decisions of municipal courts. They are
bound down by statute laws, and trammelled
| by rules of evidence but no matter what their
| Judgments may be, the popular mind will award
the appropriate penalty to all offenders against
social, moral, and political propriety. Hence,
| ARRAYS, street fights, shootings, and violence,
are unknown among our people. / have resi-
ded more than half a century in my Congress
sional district; l have during that time liter
ally mingled with the people; but never saw
a man strike another, in either of the counties
| which l represent. Such is the case in all com
munities of sufficient intelligence and refine
ment to practice selfgovernment.
| This contrast which have drawn between
| the manners and customs Of the free and slave
| States was never more marked than it has
| been in this debate. Every Southern member
who has expressed an opinion on the question
has declared the severity of the language used
| by the Senator from Massachusetts good cause
for the assault made upon him; while every
member from the free States who has spoken
has expressed his decided opinion that it could
afford no cause, excuse, or justification, for
such an act. AS have stated, Mr.. Butler
spoke On the subject of Kansas thirty-sx times
during the present session; the people judged
| of the merits of his several speeches. The
speech of the Senator from Massachusetts, was
published, and the people will do justice to that
also; and no act of the accused can affect the
| opinion of the country in regard to its merits.
| lie, however, took upon himself the RESPONSE
bility of avenging what he regarded a griev-
ance, and popular opinion will also pass judg-
ment on his act, and those who come after us
| will do Justice to all concerned.
! While my venerable associate from Massa
chusetts Mr.. Adams was on trial for perform
ing plain constitutional duty, he was assailed
with the bitterest invectve by Shareholders
The member now on trial from South Carolina
has heard from the Representatives of our free
States no word of personal unkindness. Never
| was the contrast between our free institutions
of the North and the Slavery of the South more
distinctly marked, nor their effect on society
more visible. Violence, brute force, appeal to
weapons, and blOodshed, mark the pathway of
one, while reflection, reason, Justice, and the
Gospel of Peace, control the other.
| Mr.. Speaker, this case has arisen from efforts
| to abridge the freedom of debate The blows
which fell upon the head of the Senator from
Massachusetts were aimed at the freedom of
| speech. That Senator had, in his place, dis
charged the duty which he owed to himself, to
his State, and to mankind. / feel that every
word was true and just and such are the feel
ings of nine tenths Of the population of the free
North. But, for this discharge of duty, he was
barbarously stricken down in his place. / had
supposed the freedom of speech in Congress to
have been regained. Our "gag rules" as they
were called, have been repudiated and stricken
| from our Manual, and for years we have spo-
ken as freely in this body as we have in our
| popular assemblies. But now the contest has
been suddenly renewed, and its renewal has
been literally marked with blood; and how long
it will continue, is unknown.
Sir, this renewed attempt to restrain free
| speech has awaked in my breast sad and pain
full recollections. 1t was my fortune to be one
of the earliest victims of that lliberal and pro-
scriptive spirit For years | sat in this body
| with my lips sealed. We we're not permitted
to speak of Slavery in any other than the most
respectful terms. No member was allowed to
utter the doctrines of Jefferson or franklin, of
Hancock or Adams. To regain the freedom
| of speech, labored long and assiduouslv.