The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-05-29

18th and goth Nay, 1856.
Nr PEESlDESr;
v,,, are now called TO redress great trans
r-..s;on. Seldom in the history OF nations has
,eb a question been presented Iarihs, army
l.ius navy bills, land bills, are Important, ana
IL occupy YOUR care; but these all belong to
~. course of ordinary legislation. As means
and Instruments only they are necessarily sub
,li,,ta 10 the conservation of Government itself.
c,,ut Them or deny them, in greater or less
s,re- and YOU will inflict no shock. The ma
-. of Government will continue to move.
r.. state will not cease to exist Far otherwise
,tw;tb the eminent question now before you,
ior,lyiug. IS it does, Liberty in broad Terri
,,ry and also involving the peace of the whole
c,,o,rv with orr good name in history forever
more. 81 -
Take dsen your map, sir, and you will find
tbst me Territory Of Kansas, more than any other
10, occupies the middle spot of North Amer
=; equally distant from the Atlantic on the east,
and ,le Pacific on the west; from the frozen
,,,or. IF Hudson Bay the north hnd the tepid
CnIr stream ON the south, constituting the precise
editorial centre of the whole VAST Continent. To
s.,i, advantages OF situation, IN the very high
,r,r be-. wcen Two oceans, added a soil of I'M
s,r,l.sel richness, and a fascinating undula-
ti,s heaniv of surface, with health-giving
climate. calculated to nurture a powerful and
Generous people worthy to be central pivot of
american Institutions. \ few short months only
have passed since this spacious mediterranean
country was open only TO the savage, who ran
Wild in its woods and prairies; and now it has
already drawn to its bosom population OF free
m.q Larger than Athens crowded within her his
iurir gates. when her sons, under Mltiades, won
Liberty for mankind on the field of Marathon;
mare Than sparta contained when she ruled
G,-ece. and sent forth her devoted children,
ogirkcned bv a mothers benediction, to return
with their Shields or on them more than Rome
gathered on her seven hills, when, under her
lg-s she commenced that sovereign sway,
which afterwards embraced the whole earth;
more than London held, when, on the fields of
Crerv and Agincourt, the English banner was
carried VIGOROUSLY over the chivalrous hosts Of
France.
Against this Territory, thus fortunate in posi-
ton and population, Crime has been committed,
which is without example in the records Of the
Past. Not in plundered provinces or in the
craeties OF selfish governors will you find its
parallel and yet there is IN ancient instance,
which NAV show at least the path of Justice. In
the terrible impeachment by which the great
Roman Orator has blasted through all time the
nJme OF Yerrcs amidst charges of robbery and
s1crilegc the enornity which most aroused the
indignant voice of his accuser, and which stin
stands forth with strongest distinctness arresting
the sympathetic indignation of all who read the
story H. that away in Sicily he had scourged q
citizen OF Roms-that the cry . am a Roman
citizen had been nterposed in vain against the
lash of the tyrant governor. Other charges were,
that lac had carried away productions of art, and
that he had violated the sacred shrnes. Ii was
in the presence of the Roman Senate that this
arrangement proceeled in temple of the Fo
rum amidst crowds -such orator had
svrr before drawn Notwithstanding the por
ticos and cOlonnadeS, even clinging to the house
tops aud ncighhoring slopes and under the
anxious gaze Of witnesses summoned from the
scene oi crime. But audience grander far
OF higher dgniiy-of more various people and of
wider Intelligence the countless multitude of
Succeeding generations, in every land, where elo-
qlengc has been studied or where the Roman name
las been recoguised-has listened to the accusa-
tJa. snI thrubhed with condemnation of the GRIM
inai. sir, speaking in age light and in land
of Constitutional liberty, where the safeguards of
elections are justly placed among the highest
irpmphs Of civilization, | fearessly assert that
i.r wrongs of much-abused Sicily, thus memora-
Gle m history, small 10y the side of the
wrongs Of Kansas where the very shrnes of pop
nl5r Institutions, more sacred than any heather
altar, have been desecrated where the ballot
box. more precious than any work. in ivory or
marble. from the GINNING hand of art, has been
ianntefcd; and where the cry :" am an Ameri-
an citizen has been interposed in vain against
outrage OF every kind, even upon life itself. Are
'ou against Sacrilege? | present il for your ex-
eeratIou Are you against robbery? hold it
p 10 your scOrn. Are you for the protection OF
American citizens? | show you how their dear
81 rights have been cloven down, while Tyran-
"'l OsurpatiOn has sought to install itself on
heir very necks
6ui the wickedness which now begin to ex-
pose D. immeasuraby aggravated by the motive
NAlch prompted it. Not in any common lust for
power dli this uncommon tragedy have Its orr
sa 10 Is the rape of a virgin Territory, COM
i-l.Gg il 10 the hateful embrace of Slavery :;
and 10 may be clearly traced to a depraved long
lns Tor new slave State, the hideous offspring
Z" snch a crime, in the hope of adding to the
power OF Slavery 10 the National Government
les, sir. when the whole world, alike Christian
ana Turk is rising up TO condemn this wrong,
and TO make it Kissing 10 the nations, here in
COR Republic, torcc-aye, sir, FORCE-has been
'irhy employed in compelling Kansas to this
.o'Ai!on, and ali for the sake of political power.
There Is the simple fact, which you will vainly
~''er'pt to deny, but which in itself presents an
ESSENTIAL wickedHess that makes other public
'"mes seem like public virtues.
"u' This enOrmity, vast beyond comparison,
'srlis TO dimensions of wickedness which the
"I"shitian tolls IN vain to grasp, when it is I'M
ie''"oG that for this purpose are haZarded the
n''i'rS o! intestine feud not only in this distant
territory, but everywhere throughout the coun-
ny Already the muster has begun. The strife
= 10 longer local, but national. Even now, whiio
peak portentS hang On all the arches of the
"n]on, threatening TO darken the broad land
Shi,h already yawns with the mutterings of
VA war. The fury OF the propagandiSts of Sla-
''s' ahd tie calm determination of their oppO-
"eu'S, are how ditfuSed from the distant Terrific
'o'er widespread communities, and the whole
',dntfy. IN all It's -marshalling hostile
,"hl0hs and foreshadawing a strife, which, I'M
happily arerted by the triumph of Freedom,
wi become war - fratricidal, parrieidal war -
""n an accumulated wickedness beyond the
@"@elheSs Of any war in human annals; justly
Fo'oNing the ayenging judgment of Providence
-ll Tue avenging pen of history, and constituting
suiie, IN the language of the ancient writer,
''le ihan torayn, more than social, more than
80" but something compounded of all these
U"'S' aud in itself more than war; sed potius
@fL" q~ofdIm er omnibus, ct plus guam bettum.
p Hush IS the Crime which you are to judge.
:, ,1' Tie criminal also must be dragged into day,
l~' you may see and measure the power by
'h AL this wrong is sustained From no
On, 9aaon source could it proceed. In its perpe-
NJ a. was needed spirit of vaulting ambition
IN would hesitate at nothing; hardihood
Purpose which was insepsible TO the judgment
-aukind; a madness for Slavery which should
gard the Constitution, the laws and all the
eAamp!es OF our history; also a conscious
- ol power such as comes from the habit
= T"eri combination of energies found only
hundred arms directed by a hundred eyes
ana ''Foi OF Public Opinion, through venal pens
g.. prosiituted press; an ability to subsidize
MI I IN every vocation of life-the politician
ept+I. DIS local Importance, the lawyer with his
"a tongue, and even the authority OF the
in - ." 'he bench; and familiar use OF men
- places high and low. so that none, from the