Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1857-01-16
Aulitital.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF
GOV. HAMLIN.
Gentlemen Of the Sena,e
and House If fRr,r.sc,t,,:.

You have assembled to discharge the
Legislative duties dcvolved upon you by
the people Of the State. 1t becomes my
duty, under the provisions Of the Con.
stitution, to communicate to you such
Information as l may possess. upon the
condition of the State. and to recon-
mend such measures for your considera-
,ion as l may deem expedient. With a
lust reliance upon Divine Providenc to
sustain and direct us all in our d-libcr.
ations-with a sincere desire to main.
tain and advance the best interests of
our State, and to act in unison with
the prosperity and harmony of our whole
country-with thankful hearts that the
husbandman has been rewarded for his
toll. by an abundant harvest-that peace
and health have prevailed within our bor-
ders. and that the industrial pursuits of
the State are in a prosperous condition
let us enter upon the duties scverally
committed to our charge.
NATIONAL TorIcs-TmE SLAVERY
QUESTION.
Whatever relates to the whole coun-
try, interests and effects the people Of
Maine, as they constitute part thereof.
The country has just emerged from an
important and exciting Presidential elec-
ton; more important perhaps than any
which has preceded it. In the issues
involved in that contest. Maine, as one
of the States of the Union. had. in COM
mon with all the others, deep and di-
rect interest. The general result was
different from what was desired and
hoped by large majority of the people
Of the State. and from what was believ-
ed to be for the welfare Of the whole
country. and what they earnestly sought
to accomplish. Still it furnishes the
highest hope for the future. and foretells.
with unerring certainty. the ultimate tri-
umph of that great principle for which
we have struggled. Ten other States
have concurred with Maine in the effort
to restore the government Of the United
States to what its wise and patriotic
founders designed it should be. New
England stood in the contest substan-
tally where she was in the struggle of
the Revolution. Tha. was an effort to
establish fire c government. and she was
pre-eminent in her sacrifices and devotions
to accomplish that object, as she is no W
to preserve and perpetuate what was
then accomplished The true question
involved in the late election was substan-
TALLY, whether the Advancement of hui
man freedom should continue to be a
fundamental principle and pre-eminent
object of our National Government,
within line marked out by the Consti-
tuition, or whether its powers should be
perverted to the extension Of slavery
This it was that underlaid all other is
sues, however others may have mingled
with it, or whatever may be the results
that shall come out of it. 1t was an eff
fort on one side to make the Govern
m ent of tee United States, either by its
direct acts, or its acquiescence, or its
completely. aid in spreading the evils OF
slavery over territories where it did not
exist, but from which it had been ex-
Guided by positiVe law.
The history of the government shows
conclusively. that the wise and good
men instituted and laid its foundation
and those who framed our Constitution,
designed and expected that it should be
one Of Freedom and not Slavery, !:
was upon this idea that the Revolutions
ary War was successfully prosecuted and
the Constitution adopted.
Slavery, it is true existed in most o.
the States. as it had been forced upon
the colonies by Great Britain against
their earnest and eloquent remonstran'
ces. The fact was set forth in the orig
inal draft of the Declaration of lndepcn-
dence. As one of the causes of the Rcvo-
luton, when it came from the ha"d and
pen of jefferson. After our indepcn-
dence had been fully achieved, the insti'
tuition was regarded as one of temporary
character. and is not even named in the
Constitution. The acts Of the men o.
that day show their sincerity of inten
ton. They did not desire to found
government upon moral, social ane
political wrong. The history OF al
the past warned them it could not o.
done. Their recorded acts prove indis
putably what they did mean. Before
the Constitution was framed or adopted
and in Congress acting under the art'
cles of confederation, Mr.. Jefferson re-
ported. in a bill for the government o
the Territories, the following clause, VIZ
"That after the year 1900 of the Chris
tian era, there shall be neither SLAYER,
nor involuntary servitude in any OF sale
States, otherwise than in punishment o
crimes whereof the parties shall hav'
been convicted to have been PERSONAL!
guilty"
The provision applied to all the terri
tory belonging to the United States a
that time, and out of which the State
referred to were to be formed. That pro
vision failed to become law, for tn
want Of single vote, and by the absenc
Of single member. In l7s7 an ordl
nance for the government of the terrific
ries was adopted. and in that was includ
ed an article forever excluding SLAYER
from all the territories Of the Unite
States, with the addition that person
l.lJ 80 .>,w:~> - .u~, 0ksSa under III