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

In now opening this great matter, am not in
sensible to the austere demands of the occasion |;
but the dependence of the crime against Kansas
upon the Slave Power is so peculiar and import
ant that trust to be pardoned while l impress
it by an illustration, which to some may seem
trivial 1t is related in Northern mythology, that
the god of Force, visiting an enchanted region,
was challenged by his royal entertainer to what
seemed a humble feat of strength-merely, sir,
to lift cat from the ground. The god smiled
at the challenge, and, calmly placing his hand
under the belly of the animal, with superhuman
strength, strove, while the back of the feline
monster arched far upwards, even beyond reach,
and one paw actually forsook the earth, until at
last the discounted divinity desisted; but he
was little surprised at his defeat, when he learn
ed that this creature which seemed to be q cat,
and nothing more was not merely a cat, but that
it belonged to and was part of the great Ter
restrial Serpent which, in its innumerable folds,
encircled the whole globe. Even so the creature,
whose paws are now fastened upon Kansas, what
ever it may seem to be, constitutes in reality a
part of the Slave Power, which, with loathsoms
folds, is now coiled about the whole land. Thus
do | expose the extent of the present contest
where we encounter not merely local resistance.
but also the unconquered sustaining arm behind.
Bat out of the vastness of the Crime attempted,
with all its woe and shame, | derive a we'll
founded assurance of a commensurate vastness
of effort against it, by the aroused masses of the
country, determined not only to vindicate Right
against Wrong, but to redeem the Republic from
the thradom of that Oligarchy, which prompts,
directs and concentrates, the distant wrong.
Such is the Crime and such the criminal which
it is my duty in this debate to expose, and, by
the blessing Of God this duty shall be done COM
pletely to the end But this will not be enough.
The Apologies, which, with strange hardihood,
have been offered for the Crime, must be torn
away, 80 that it shall stand forth, without sim
gle rag, or fg-leaf to cover its vileness. And,
finally, the True Remedy must be shown. The
subject is complex in its relations, rs it is trans
cendent in Importance; and yet if | am honored
by your attention, hope to exhibit it clearly in
all its parts, while conduct you to the inevita-
BILE conclusion, that Kansas must be admitted at
once, with her present Constitution, as a State
of this Union, and give a new star to the blue
field of our National Flag. And here | derive
satisfaction from the thought, that the cause is
so strong in itself as to bear the in6rmities
of its advocates; nor can it require anything be-
yond that simplicity of treatment and modera-
ton of manner which l desire to cultivate. Its
true character is such, that like Hercules, it will
conquer just so soon as it is recognised.
Ny task will be divided under three different
heads first, THE CRIME AGAINST KANSAS, in its
origin and extent; secondly, THE APOLOGIES FOR
THE CRIME and thirdly, the TRUE REMEDY.
But, before entering upon the argument, must
say something of general character, particu-
larry in response to what has fallen from Senators
who have raised themselves to eminence on this
floor in championship of human wrongs mean
the Senator from South Carolina, Mr.. BUTLER, |
and the Senator from Illinois, Mr.. DOUGLAS,
who, though unlike Don QuixOte and Sancho
Panza, yet like this couple, sally forth together
in the same adventure | regret much to miss
the elder Senator from his seat; but the cause,
against which he has tilt, with such activ-
ity of luminosity, demands that the opportunity of
exposing him should not be lost and it is for
the cause that speak. The Senator from South
Carolina has read many books of chivalry, and be-
lieves himself chivarous knight, with sentiments
of honor and courage. Of course he has chosen a
mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who,
though ugly to others, is always lovely to him ;
though polluted in the sight of the world is chaste
in his sight mean the harlot, Slavery. For her,
his tongue is always profuse in words. Let her
be impeachcd in character, or any proposition
made to shut her out from the extension of her
wantonness, and no extravaganza of manner or
hardihood of assertion is then too great for this
Senator. The frenzy of Don Quix0te in behalf
of his wench Dulcinea del Toboso, is all surpassed
The asserted rights of Slavery, which shock
equality of all kinds, are cloaked by fantastic
claim of equality. If the slave States cannot
enjoy what, in mockery of the great fathers of
the Republic, he misnames equality under the
CONSTITUTIONAL other words, the full power in the
National Territories to compel fellow men to IN
paid toll, to separate husband and wife, and to
sell little children at the auction block-then sir,
the chivalric Senator will conduct the State of
South Carolina out of the Union Heroic knight
Exalted Senator A second Moses come for a
second exodus
m NOT rnp wbi
we have been twice told was measured" the
Senator, in the unrestrained chivalry of his ma
tare, has undertaken to apply opprobrous words
to those who differ from him on this floor. He
calls them " sectional and fanatical )" and oppo-
sition to the usurpation in Kansas, he denounces
as an uncalculating fanaticism" To be sure,
these charges lack all grace of originality, and
all sentiment of truth but the adventurous Sem
ator does not hesitate He is the uncompromi-
sing unblushing representative on this floor of
a fragrant sectiondiism, which now domineers over
the Republic, and yet with a ludicrous ignorance
of his own position-upable to see himself as
others see him-or with effrontery which even
his white head ought not to protect from rebuke,
he applies to those here who resist his sectionals
the very epithet which designates himself The
men who strive to bring back the Government to
its original policy, when Freedom and not Slavery
was national, while Slavery and not Freedom was
sectional, he arraigns as sectional. This will not
do. 1t involves too great a perversion of terms.
| tell that Senator, that it is to himself, and to
the organization of which he is the "com-
mitted advocate that this epithet belongs |
now fasten it upon them. For myself, care little
for names but since the question has been raised
here, / affirm that the Republican party Of the
Union is in no just sense sectional, but, more than
any other party, national; and that it now goes
forth to dislodse from the high places of the
Government the tyrannical sectionalism of which
the Senator from South Carolina is one of the
maddest zeaiG,S,
To the charge of fanaticism l also reply Sir,
fanaticism is found in an enthusiasm or exagge-
ration of opinions, particularly on religious sub
jects; but there may be a fanaticism for evil
as well as for good. Now, will not deny, that
there are persons among us loving Liberty too
well for their personal good, in a selfish genera
tiGI, Such there may be, and, for the sake of
their example, would that there were more In
calling them fanatics" you cast contumely upon
the noble army of martyrs, from the earliest day
down to this hour; upon the great tribunes of
human rights, By whom life, liberty, and happi-
ness, en- earth, have been secured; upon the long
line of devoted patriots, who, throughout history,
have truly loved their country and, upon all,
who, in noble aspirations for the general good
and in forgetfulness of self, have stood out be-
fore their age, and gathered into their generous
bosSu,s the shafts of tyranny and wrong, in
order to maze {. pathway for Truth. You dis
credit Luther, when alone he hailed his articles
to the door of the church at Wittenberg, and
then, to the imperial demand that he should re-
tract, firmly replied, "Here l stand l cannot
do otherwise, so help me Godl" You discredit
Hampden, when sioLs &c refused to pay the few
shilings of ship-money, and shook the thr0ns
of Charles [; you discredit Milton, when, amidst
the corruptions of heartless Court, he lived