The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-04-03
WASHINGTON, d. G..
For the National Fra.
MEADE OF THE SLAVE POWER.

For the National Fra
IDECADE OF THE SLAVE POWER.
.-,u pRFsERv ALTON, PROPAGATION, AND PER-
n.r,,,rIoN OF SLAVERY, THE VITAL AND
,n,rv.TTYG SPIRIT OF THE NATIONAL GOV
TRNAlENr"-JoHS QUrscY ADAMS
No. 10.
Va have come down to events so recent as
n ba almost too familiar to be recounfed. "A
traf Summary will, however, serve to revive
collection of their course and mutual bear
inss
n NAV be no more than justice to President
Pierce TO suppose that he was not in the most
intimate secrets of those who had put him in
his Mace. and had not yet been informed OF the
ax,an, Of what they would exact as the price
of b;s elevation, when, in his message to his
e.st Congress. in December, 1853, he declared
,bo, 81 far as he. could control affairs, nothing
ertber sboaid follow 10 exasPerate or humble
,be;r voting subjects. "The acquiescence of
DISTINGUISHED citizens" said he, referring to
,bo COMPROMISE Measures of 1850, "has given
,.nswsl gigor to our institutions, and restored
q. ssn,e of repose and security to the public
mind throughout the Confederacy. That this
,.nose IS to suffer no shock during my official
,.rm. If | have power to avert it, those who
rlaeal me here may be assured"
Bat whatever may or may not have been the
nr;vitv of Mr.. Pierce to what was going on,
hare had been. simultaneously with his aces
SON 10 power. premOnitions, such as wise men
could read Of another impending tour de force
Missouri and Arkansas, parts of the Louisiana
purchase living south Of latitude 360 30/, had
been ORGANIZED as slave States, under the stip-
ulstion of the Missouri Compromise of 1920,
and one for thirty-two years, the other for
seventeen, had helped to govern the Union in
sc the long-deayed compensation. Settlers,
in sufficient numbers to call for Territorial
organization, had found their way into Nebras-
ka, another part of the Louisiana purchase, ly-
ing north of the division line. Accordingly, a
bill for the establishment Of Territorial Gov.
eminent over it, which passed the House of
Representatives,, February 10, 1853, compre-
hended the exclusion of Slavery as thing of
eoarse-as a thing settled, by solemn contract,
generation before. The bill was arrested in
the Senate 1t was delayed in the Territorial
Committee Of that body till the I'd of March,
and on the Sd, the day before the final ad-
purnmeut, was laid on the table. Mr.. Atchi-
son, Of Missouri, avowed, in the debate, Con-
Sressional Globe, XVI, 1,ll3,) as one of his
tRO objections to it, that the provision of the
Missouri Compromise "would be enforced in
the Territory, unless it was specially rescind.
ed" of which he professed that he had "no
hope The profession will pass for what it
may be worth. The hint was an effective one.
The ueedful arrangements having been made
in secrecy before the meeting of the next Con-
g7ess, Mr.. Douglas, Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Territories, on the 4th day OF
January, four weeks after the delivery of the
Presidents Message above referred to, intro.
dalel ais bill, giving Territorial Government
to Nebraska, with an abrogation of the exclu-
son Of Slavery therefrom. Words would be
but wasted in characterizing this prodigious
cheat. Ii was not, however, beyond the capa-
city Of the perfdious power that rules US. The
apshot was that two Territories were organized,
Kansas aud Nebraska, with full liberty to the
saVeholders to install themselves in both 1t
vas argued by the Committee, in their Report,
that this further measure was but a necessary
bflcal sequence Of the measures of 1850.
The bill passed the Senate at daylight of March
: 1884, by e vote Of % to IA. 1t came before
Inc House, March Il, under the care of Mr..
richardson, of Illinois, and after the usual
aNggle, under the usual disadvantages for
f'7edom, was carried late in the night of May
l'A' by ll3 votes against 100. The President
'''hd nothing in his professions, at the begin
MnS o. the session, to forbid his affixing to it
his Signature.
No tine was to be lost, after this victory, in
'7'in{ the question of the complete abase-
A7A' Of the Northern people. An occasion
immediately arose, or was made, for an expert
n'n' On their temper, upon an imposing scene
Aai scale. black named Burns, who had
iolnl his way to Boston, was arrested on the
cam Of one Suttle, of Virginia, and imprison
- IN the Courthouse of the county of Suffolk,
'O0s'on,l I'll Commissioner should make out
Tue papers for his surrender. The thing took
SAu' and able counsel appeared in his behalf
= was proved that he was in Boston before the
u'ae when his claimants swore that he was in
rsinla; and among other good points in his
Ue'enee' 1t was held by lawyers inferior tc
H0ne' that terror-stricken confession of his
uaaT on being arrested by Sutte if admitted
d all should be taken as a whole, in which
SS'e II would have established his freedom
through the resolute fidelity of his legal friends
~ ~ case obtained full hearing. For week
~puohe excitement was intense. The claim.
- y one time agreed to quit bis prey for q
s, -ni ., money of his own naming, but gGs per
S@fu by urgency and threats from his home
sS' Ssldl to fall back from his bargain. The
f,9'h chamber in the Courthouse. held BY a
,s ayng party, was rashly and Intellectually at
M .tu one night, and one of the guards was
go whether by the assaiants, Or by an &C
i pos.' oi MS frightened associates, is unknown
4 perhaps never contained so many peo
/ ~ on The day when the victim was carried
| hs -. n BODY Of special police, gathered from
s,.. He'S ana brothels, and armed to the teeth
| Cur. v1nded him in the procession from the
/ rs:;.tlogse to the wharf Detachmenta o
and ,cu states marines from the Navy Yard
,ns loops from the fort with cannon loaded
NJ nsG'ed match, protected the guards. The
daT mad Illegally devolved his power for the
9, % 'he Commanding General of the militia
| t5 e LIE array Of which kept the streets OF
/ ,asn Ie OF march, and afterwards received each
Pra.; ms pay from the National Treasury. The
;vs a'ueh' OF the United States had been in act
| yr.n nIShm1ncation all the while, by the tele
An fn, WIN the Marshal and District Attorney
CAM assistant Adjutant General of the ARM
csrr.o VI ron. Washington, and troops of th'
d.. al New York received marching or
ssfs No circumstance of insnlt and bnm;l;a
HOa was Xantinn IT, aL-l-.: e Il