The true Democrat., 1856-02-26

 taton which it opens to our view, and on which It urges government to enter.
 The problem of domestic slavery was one of the most delicate and difficult which the fra mers of the federal constitution had to solve The institution then existed in nearly all tba States, including New York; and was deenIv interwovcn with the social habits and indns. trlal pursuits of our people. It had been fas. tened upon us by the cOercvs policy of the mother country, undeviatingly and perssverins- iy pursued through an hundred years; and one question was, whether it was compatible with that republican form of governmenr' which the united States Were about to "guaranty to every State Tn this Union." If it was not, no Unlon could be formed, and the hopes and as- plratlons Of the patriots who looked upon this as essential to complete the great work of the revolution, and secure its fruits, must perish- Our fathers, with Washington at their head. deliberated upon it, not in the spirit of anti-sls- very republicans, but like men on whose deci- sion hung the fate of a nation; invoking the spirit of peace, of mutual forbearance. concilia. ton and compromise They balanced the countless practical and certain advantages of Union, against the vain hope for theoretical per- lection Tn government, and our present consti luton IS the fortunate result of their decision No one who believes that their decision was wlse, and thanks God for bringing their coun sels to such termination, can consistently say that republican form of government is in- compatible with the toleration of American sla. very. And no one we believe will say so who truly revers the constitution, and meditates no assault now or hereafter, on its beneticient ad- Justment and wise compromises.
 The antl-slavery republican party, however, invites us to aid m giving ascendancy to men who have said and do say so, and who strive to make thelr dogmas the foundation of govern mental action, as well as the test and limit of political faith. Men who, had they stood by when Washington and his compatriots finished thelr laoors, and given utterance to their pre- sent views, would have denounced the consti- tuton as |" a covenant of blood!" They admit that it tolerates slavery, and that, while it pro. vides for the return of fugitive slaves, it is inn presslvely silent as to the admission of new slave States, and imposes no express duty to interfere with the subject anywhere, or in any form. They admit indeed, that it treats sla- very as an affair of local sovereignty, which the people Of each of the original States at least, may deal with as they please, irrespective of the views and wishes of the people of other States. And though they rail against its con- promises, they admit too--for they cannot fa- sify hstory-that the Union could not have existed lf their spirit, instead of the spirit of peace, had prevailed. No one moreover will probably deny, that had some prophet rent the | veil of the future, and revealed the time when Congress was to act in accordance with the new | lheorles now proposed, every southern State would have refused to join the coufederacy.- And suppose even that the power to enforce | these theories could be found in some ambigu- ous clause of the constitution, ard that, if ex- ercised, astute legal philologist might be able to maintain it. Still the question is not one of law alone, nor of philology, nor metaphysics; but of practical statesmanship of wise govern mental cXpediency, of good faith, honesty and fair dealing And we put it to you as such, aud ask you again, ought the power to be ex- ercised?
 Conceded power in government is not always to be put In requisiton; doubtful power never. What lawyer tells us we can do, is not an l unerring test of human conduct even in the most lnconslderable affairs of private life; but other considerations frequently remain to con- l tro the course of duty. This is peculiarly so Tn public affairs as to matters where the govern ment is left free to act or forbear. Many for midable powers which Congress possesses by universal consent, have been wisely suffered to
 
 domestic commerce, and in respect to bank ruptcy. On these and other subjects it has stu died forbearance as the true policy of govern ment, seldom obtrudng on the field of local sovereignty, even when its power to do so was undoubted, except in accordance with some supposed and imperious public exigency and then retiring as the exigency ceased. The prin- ciple should be extended to every case where federal power may be safely dispensed with, especially If the right to interpose it is serious ly doubted by intelligent men, and bad con sequences are likely to flow from its exercise.
 Nothing is clearer, fellow citizens than that the policy of anti-slavery repubcanism, if pro- secuted in the reckless spirit which has thus far characterized it, will lead to consequences which no one can contemplate without dislnay. Other exercises of congressional power as to slavery have shown some respect to constitu- tional limits, to the prevailing temper and exl- gencies of the times, and to the issues of good or evil likely to result. Whether they were prompted by one motive or another is ques- tlon of no moment now, except with those who hope to rise and prosper by turbulent and r- relevant appeals to mere prejudice and pas sion.
 These and all other measures should be iudg- ed to-day, as they will be in after times, by their practical adaptation to the just ends of government, and their tendency to secure the peace and well being of the country. What ever else may be said of them, they were not animated by that spirit, which, repudiating the constitutional definition of republican form of government" and vauntng its indifference to the fate of the Union, denounces the citizens of one section of 1t as the special object of go- vernmental "abhorrence," and asserts that the orth nd pati if oh other! It was not so with the act called the Missouri compromise, which was the result of most anxious, patient and patriotic endeavors to harmonize conflicting views, and allay for the time the frenzy of sectional strife. Nor with its repeal, which assumed to banish the spirit of discord from the council chambers of the nation, by limiting the range of federal action, and enlarging the domain of local so. vereignty. The temper and policy of ant-sla- very republicaniSm, however, Is far different It abhors conciliaton. It disdains peace. It calls back the spirit of discord It will have nothing to do with local sovereignty of any kind, and least of all with that which looks for its warrant to the consent or choice of the peo- pe It invokes the arm of the nation, and proclaims Congressional war war without truce or relenting, and, for aught we see, war without end And so sublimated are its theo- ries that its adherents cannot advance one ar gument for their adoption, founded on the plain principles of the constitutions; nor any argu- ment indeed, except such as proves, if it proves anything, that slavery should be assailed every where, and at all times, in spite of constitutions and compacts.
 We invite you to consider, not merely the outward form of their creed, but its inner life and irrepressible tendencies. They ask for Congressional intervention on the assumed ground that ve-holding, under all circum- stances is absolutely incompatible with religion as we'll as republican principles; so much so. indeed, that government cannot innocently let tt alone And when told that the constitution was fashioned upon different theory, they ad- init and lament the fact, exat themselves above the constitution, above the government, and appeal to "higher law!" The light by which our fathers walked and toled will not do for