The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-08-07

II there be man here who believes So let him
speak, for him have offended Sir, there is no
such man. The Constitution has nothing to do
with the rights of Northern men in your Southern
States. You know that it has been entirely per-
verted in these latter days, to the extension, up
holding, cherishing, and spreading of the insti-
tuition of Slavery.
have been amazed in studying the history
ofmy country, to reflect the difference between
this day and that when the word Liberty" was
loved. 1t reminds me of the speech of Cicero,
on a certain occasion, when, in the degenerate
days of old Rome, the same idea crossed his
great mind. He spoke of Liberty, how once re-
vered and loved by the Roman people, but now
(said he) trampled down. How is it here to-day
How is it with the great Democratic party, and
their representatives within my hearing? There
is no word in the English language that is so pro-
scribed by them as the word "Lberty." These
Democrats hate it a mad dog hates water.
Liberty The moment the word is spoken he
that speaks it is at once transformed into an
Abolitionist "Lbertyl" Freedoml" of all
words in our language, their utterance soonest
puts man in Coventry. One Senator believes
that a man should be put in Coventry who makes
use of these terms indiscreetly. Why is it thus?
Sir, Liberty was the polar star that guided our
fathers in the great struggle fer independence.
If that word had been stricken from the calendar,
not a single man would have been found to face
| the British bayonets for "a moment. 1t is in vim
dication of Liberty that | am here to-day. 1t is
not less in jeopardy now than it was then. Aspi-
| rations for Liberty stimulated them, and enabled
them to go through the dreadful struggles of the
Revolution; but now, at this era, in the Senate
of the United States, am supposed to be an in
| termeddler in other mems business, not my own,
| for avowing my love for it. For maintaining this
| principle am put beyond the pale of all promo
| ton in the so-called Democratic party. Their
leaders are now courted, trusted, and honored, in
proportion to their servility and hatred of Free
| dom.
| All Senators know that there exists here an
unconstitutional test of office. do not respect
| it, and told you in the beginning that never
would. Lest he who occupies the Executive chair
should make some great blunder, and not put into
office tool of this slave power, you inquire
into what he has done; and if the smell of Liberty
| is on his garment be it ever so faint or remote,
| he is prescribed. He can no more receive an
Office at the hands of the Democratic party, than
| if he came from penitentiary. The love OF Lib
erty operates as a conviction for crime III de-
prives him of the rights of an American citizen.
He can hold no Office of trust or profit under the
United States, if he happens to believe that men
are created equal, and have certain inalienable
rights, among which are life liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. This is the degeneracy to
which your Democratic party has come. am
Inundated by it | am put beyond the pale OF
Office There is not one of the majority in the
other House, calling themselves Republicans, who
were elected by overwhelming majority OF the
free people of the United States, whose Repre-
sentatives they are who is not, under your Demo-
cratic rule as effectually prescribed from receiv
ing an Office at the hands of the Democratic party,
though he was the inmate of a penitentiary.
Why? Because he has undertaken to resist your
attempt to make Slavery in these United States
universal and perpetual forever.
These are some of the reasons why | stand
here to inveigh against your institution 1t has
corrupted public men; it has overturned the
Government You have erected rules and prin-
ciples utterly inconsistent with those of the
fathers of the Republic. You know that preach
no more than the truth-nay, half the truth has
not been told on this subject | desire to reason
with men and ask my Democratic friends OF
the South, do you suppose, for one moment, that
Il proud people, jealous above all things OF their
rights, whose fathers perilled their lives to OBJ
tain those guarantees of Liberty which we are
defending-I ask you in sober reason, Invested
of all acrimony, is it reasonable 10 suppose that
it is entirely safe to drive that class of men to the
wall Do you expect that it will be safe to deny,
forever, those great principles of Liberty which
are cherished by majority of the people OF the
United States as the apple of their eye? II you
do, | tell you you will wake up some morning,
and find that you have gone step too far. The
patience of people, on this subject, has been
more severely tried than vas that of their fathers.
| If those venerated sires could look down on us
| to-day, they would reproach us for our patient
| submission for so long time. He who went
| through every battle from Bunker Hill to York
| town, would ask me, Why is it that you have
not stood forth before, the bold advocate of
| hose rights which were bestowed upon you by
my labors perils, and blood2" lie would re-
proach me as an undutiful son. for having been
Il inEn it.lx fiap han ha
men of the Revolution, under the aggressions of
Great Britain.
know that "A majority of the people of the
United States feel that they have been delinquent
| in not having risen before to assert their rights.
Will you be lured, by the recreant men who hap
| pen to slip in here against the wishes Of their
constituents by such accidents frequently take
place, to believe that the people of the North, in
whose veins flows the blood of the Revolution
have really lost the spirit of their ancestors
Will you be lured to believe that it is perfectly
| safe to disregard their rights2 ] ask you to
pause. / tell you these men are not safe coun-
| sellers | know that you regard me as your
enemy; and yet am really your best friend, be-
| cause stand here to advise you of the danger of
being lured to destruction by men who seek their
own advancement, caring nothing what may be-
| fall you. Like those who, in times gone by, have
| been the honest bearers of unwelcome intelli-
| gence, know shall be treated rs your enemy T;
but still will not shrink from the path Of duty.
have said, Mr.. President, that in l652 the Com
/ promise Measures were declared to be final and
| eternal but two years did not pass away before
| an agitation took place in this country, notwith-
standing your resolutions of Conventions and OF
/ the Senate compared with which al others are
| as the idle wind. You had not ceased to sing the
glories of the fnality, which all pledged them
selves to stand by forever, before you were tempted
by false counsellors who cared not for your inter-
ests into utterly fatal to the great prin
| ciples of American Liberty. The act which caused
this agitation voted for by my friend from
| Kentucky--for | will call him my friend, because
in past times he and |, though far apart, and not
knowing each other, fought shoulder to shoulder
with great zeal and perseverance in the great
| battle in which we were engaged for the success
of the principles of the Wing party. l endeav-
ored, in my humble way, with equal zeal with
my friend from Kentucky, any other man, te
elevate the great statesman, Henry Clay, an honor
to this any other nation, to the highest station
within the gift Of the American people. depior'
failure in that great battle for if we had beer
successful the sagacity, the wisdom, the patriot
ism, and sense ofjustice, of that great man. would
have saved me the necessity of standing up nov
| TO advocate American Liberty. He himself woulC
) have indicated it. He not the man to preach
that Slavery divine institution; but shortl!
before his death, among the last deeds of his life
though prompted by every consideration tina
3 could move man in opposite direction h
stood here pledgng his word, that with his con
sent Slavery should never be extended one incl
into free territory. Honor, eternal honor, sir, Il
= his name, for having resisted the temptation
D which surrounded him, and stood forth though o.
the verge of the grave, to vindicate his manhoo
!, and the rights of man.
The gentleman from Kentucky told us yestef
day that he stood here as an advocate for the oil