The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-05-29
THE NATIONAL ERA: WASHINGTON, D. c. MAY 20, 1856

Il arOunu WHICH cluster the REGARD anu commence
| of the country-the Tract Society, powerful cor
poraton, which scatters its publications freely in
| every corner of the land-the Bible Society, an
| Incorporated body, with large resources, which
| seeks to carry the Book of Life alike into Terri
| tories and States-the Missionary Society, also
an incorporated body, with large resources, which
| sends its agents everywhere, at home and in for
eign lands? BY what title do all these exist 2
Nay sir, by what title does an Insurance Compa-
| ny in New York send its agent to open Office
| in New Orleans, and by what title does Massa-
| chusetts capital contribute to the Hannibal and
st. Joseph Railroad in Missouri, and also to
| the copper mines of Michigan? The Senator
| inveighs against the Native American party; but
his own principle is narrower than any attributed
| to them. They object to the influence of emil
grants from abroad he objects to the influence
| of American citizens at home, when exerted in
| States or Territories where they not born
The whole assumption is too audacous for respect
full argument. But since great right has been de-
MED, the children of the Free States, over whose
cradles has shone the North Star, owe it to them
| selves, to their ancestors and to Freedom ITSELF
that this right should now be asserted to the fullest
| extent. BY the blessing of God, and under the
| continued protection of the laws they will 60 to
Kansas, there to plant their homes, in the hope of
elevating this Territory soon into the ssterhood of
Free States and to such end they will not hest
| tate, in the employment of all legitimate means,
| WucJuoT ny companies OI men or COnJrlDuUlCNS
| of money, to swell virtuous emigration, and
they will Justly scout any attempt to question
| this unquestionable right. Sir, if they failed to
do this, they would be fit only for slaves them
| selves.
God be praised Massachusetts, honored
Commonwealth that gives me the privilege to
plead for Kansas on this floor, knows her rights,
and will maintain them firmly to the end. This
| is not the first time in history, that her public
1 acts have bppn arraipned and that her public
men have been exposed to contumely. Thus was
it when, in the olden time ~sle 55egan the great
paiiftf whose fruits you all enjoy. But never yet
has she occupied position so lofty as at this
hour. By the intelligence of her population
by the resources of her industry-by her COM
| merce, cleaving every wave-by her manufactures,
various as human skill-by her institutions of cd
ucatiOn, various as human knowledge-by her in
| situations of benevolence, various as human suffer
ing-by the pages other scholars and historians
by the voices OF her poets and orators, she is now
exerting an influence more subtle and commando
| ing than ever before--shOoting her far-darting
rays wherever ignorance, wretchedness, or wrong,
| prevail, and flashing light even upon those who
| travel far to persecute her. Such is Massachu-
| sets, and am proud to believe that you may
as well attempt, with puny arm, to topple down
| the earth-rooted heaven-k kissing granite which
crowns the historic sod of Bunker Hill, to
change her fixed resolves for Freedom everywhere,
| and especially now for Freedom in Kansas. ]
exult, too, that in this battle, which surpasses
| far in moral grandeur the whole war of the
Revolution, she is able to preserve her just emil
| nence To the first she contributed larger
number of troops than any other State i'll the
Union, and larger than all the Slave States to-
! gether; and now to the second, which is not of
| contending armies, but of contending opinions,
| on whose Issue hangs trembling the advancing
| civilization of the country, she contributes,
| thrOu0h the manifold and endless intellectual
| activity of her children, more Of that divine
| spark by which opinions are quickened into life,
| than is contributed by any other State, by all
the Slave States together, while her annual pro-
| ductve industry excels in value three times the
whole vaunted cotton crop of the whole South.
| Sir, to men on earth it belongs only to deserve
| success not to secure it and know not how
| soon the efforts of Massachusetts, will wear the
crown of triumph. But it cannot be that she
| acts wrong for herself children, when in this
| cause she thus encounters reproach. No; by the
| generous souls who were exposed at Lexington;
| by those who stood arrayed at Bunker Hill by
| the many from her bosom who, on all the fields
of the first great struggle, lent their vigorous
arms to the cause of all by the children she has
| borne, whose names alone national trophies,
| is Massachusetts now vowed irrevocably to this
work. What belongs to the faithful servant she
will do in all things, and Providence shall deter
mine the result.
| Apologies for the Crime against Kansas
III. From this ample survey, where one obstruc-
ton after another has been removed now pass in
the third place. to the consideration of the parous
| remedies proposed ending with the TRUE REMEDY.
The Remedy should be co-extensive with the
original Wrong; and since, by the passage of the
Nebraska Bill, not only Kansas, but also Nebraska
Minnesota, Washington, and even Oregon, have
been opened to Slavery, the original Prohibition
should be restored to its complete activity through
out these various Territories. By such happy
| restoration, made in good faith, the whole coun-
try would be replaced in the condition which it
enjoyed before the introduction of that dishonest
measure. Here is the Alpha and the Omega Of
| our aim in this immediate controversy. But no
| such extensive measure is now in question. The
| Crime against Kansas has been special, and all
| else is absorbed in the special remedies for it.
| OF these shall now speak
| As the Apologies were four-fold, so are the
| Remedies proposed four-fod and they range
themselves in natural order, under designations
which so truly disclose their character as even
| to supersede argument. First we have the Rem
edy Of Tyranny; next, the Remedy of Folly; next,
the Remedy of Injustice and Civil War; and
fOurthly, the Remedy of Justice and Peace. There
are the four baskets and you to determine
| which shall be opened by Senatorial votes.
There is the Remedy Of Tyranny, which, like its
| complement, the Apology of Tyranny--thOugh
espOused on this fOor especially by the Senator
| from Illinois-proceeds from the President, and
| is embodied in special message. 1t proposes to
enforce obedience to the existing laws of Kansas,
| "whether Federal or local." when, in fact, Kansas
| has no "local" laws except those imposed by the
| UsuIpation from Missouri, and it calls for adj
dtional appropriations to complete this work of
| tyranny.
| | shall not follow the President in his elaborate
| endeavor to PREJUDICE the contested election now
pending in the House of Representatives for this
whole matter belongs to the privileges of that
| body, and neither the President the Senate
| has right to intermeddle herewith ! do not
touch it. But now, while dsmissing it, | should
not pardon myself, if failed to add that any per-
son who Pounds his claim to a seat in Congress
on the pretended votes of hirelings from another
| State, with no home the soil of Kansas, plays
the part of Anacharss Clootz, who, at the bar of
the French Convention, undertook to represent
nations that knew him not, or If they knew him,
scorned him. with this difference, that in Amer
| lean case, the excessive farce of the transaction
cannot cover its tragedy But all this | put aside
| to deal only with what is legitmately before the
| Senate.
| expose simply the Tyranny which upholds the
| existing Usurpation, and asks for additional ap-
| preparations. Let it be judged by an example,
| from which in this country there can be no ap-
peal Here is the speech of George III, made from
the Throne to Parliament in response 10 the COM
| plants of the Province of Massachusetts, Bay,
| which, though smarting under laws passed by
| usurped power, had yet avoided all armed cp-
| position, while Lexington and Bunker Hill still
slumbered in rural solitude, unconscious of the
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