The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1856-06-25


rope Of the cursed diplomatic incubus that squatng
its bosom .#M #. M
From the Pennsylvania.
MR.. BUCHANAN ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION.
In l845 during the debate the admission Of Texas
Mr.. Buchanan uttered the following sentences;
"In reviewing the humble part which have taken in
public affairs during period not short there moth
ing which can review with pleasure than the course
have pursued on the subject of slavery, When first
much violent than 1t Is at present The mails were
then loaded with pictorial representations calculated
the passions of the slave and excite him vengeance
The danger Of servie insurrecon imminent Those
engaged in the agitation believed they doing God
service Honest anaticsm in the history of race has
done as much evil and shed as much human blood any
other The agitation threatened the existence of the
Union 1t cond not be supposed that fathers and mothers
who went 10 bed trembling at night lest their mansions
might be involved in flames before the morning. and all
the horrors OF servile instruction might be their fate
would long cling to Union with people which encour-
aged such enormes. Seepreservaton is the first law Of
nature and above all other laws.
aSurrounded by these circumstances | took my stand
on this question: from which have since departed
Under the constitution the southern States have rights
guaranteed to Them and these rights determined to main
tain, come veal, come wo determined that would
risk the blessings of this glorious conederacy with
all the benefits it holds out only TO ourselves but to
the whole human race for the sake of unavaipg phi
lanhropy The constitutional rights Of the South under
constitutional compact much entitled to protee
ton NJ those OF any other portion of the Unic.l
~ stand by the constitution" as At is; and =
Know --Jorliy ofmy const.aent have approved
my course. ~ff'O'eo
Before the aia agitation Of abolition arose. this happy
event GRADUAL emancipation in Of the States ives
approaching ITS consummation. The Of public opn-
ion was running strongly in that direction In the house
Of delegates Virginia. the grandson Of Mr. Jefferson had
introduced proposition having in view general emancipa-
ton which, ifmy memory serves me- lost by single
sp me snoion eAce@ent once put an end to these
bright prospects adhere to the con-
stituuon as il is. May it be perpetualp
The most proper mode Of obtaining accurate under
standing of the principles and opinions Of statesmen is
70 eyiew his public and to psruse MS own declara
TONS The mere ssn % partisan scribbers and decaim
err garolng nerpolang such expressions may suit
their purpose influence the decision Of any upright
citizen in the pursuit Of truth. And therefore II Is
purpose to make quotations from various addresses and
speeches Of Mr. Buchanan They viii speak for themselves
and furnish better reuiaton of the ISLANDERS Of his
mics than any thing which could be written by his friends
The constitution ITSELF a crisis like the present
should be carefully perused by every who loves his
country and would have it ruptured by sectional a
tation the evil so much dreaded by Washington In il he
win find no authority for assang the domestic institu
lions Of the Souhno clause for limiting abolishing,
extending the Of slavery but he win find that the
slave recognised property and guaranteed both pro-
lection and representation and decisions Of the Supreme
Court OF the United States have been rendered accordingly
Such the agreement embraced in the compromises Of
the constitution and the authority upon which Mr. Bucb-
anan founded his distinct declaration
In the fourth article ofbe constitution ocour, the PILLOW
ing clause;
@The citizens OF each State shall be entitled TO all the
privileges and mmunes Of citizens in the several Sates
Therefore the citizen Of Virginia may take his property
with him into any territory well the citizen Of
Massachusetts,.
It Is true act Of Congress- passed than thirty
years after the late Of the constitution THE Missouri Com
promse limited the extension Of slavery Ia direction
one only. That act approved by Mr.. Buchanan It
approved by the South but like any other act It
subject TO repeal And think Mr. Chief Justice Mclean
said II HaeoHsttiond II repealed and re.
pesed by northern and the whole question remains
precisely where at the beginning Of the government
when General Washington was the President Of the United
States
But u we listened to the Muckewraths OF the present
day, might suppose the South guilty Of every
species Of aggression whereas the wild fanatics whilst en-
gagged in their offensive enterprises against what they de-
nominate the "slave power" in reality wagng dead
y upon the Union, and struggling to bury the con-
stitution beneath Its ruins.
Our faith must be in the intelligence aud virtue OF the
descendants Of those whose representatives in the conven
ton presided by George Washington framed the in
strumep which has hitherto bound together one
pie And instead Of laborng TO produce dangerous ex
elements upon false issues II might be better for political
leaders permit their pusatons hrob in unison
with the honest heart Of the great American public