Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1858-11-10


nance Of 1881, aud protected BY claus
: in the Constitution, and adopted by Con
gress, August 7lh, 1889. and 10 the righ
Of gsOvereign prOprietOrs. The COuI
looked 10 the wrong place to find th'
power of Congress to leglslate for Terrific
ries. :.
L was br saking down under the apaIl
ing attack which fell upon me when / wa
writing the Examination and hsd tC
leave some heads unfinished, and also t
add some part after had given up thu
world. Ny physc an DR.. May, saw will
sstouishmen ent that rose from what ht
kuew | considered the bed Of death, (anC
which be feared to be 50, and VENT to M
table and wrote. Twas adding something
to the Examination and could hardly
refrain from postscript; This is my po
htical testament, written With a dying
haod.' WE'LL did not die, bat ] have
to ;and will die upon the truth aud justice
Of what wrote.
Among the heads sketched. but mol
filed up, are the Florida Territorial trans
actions of 1891, in which Governor Jack
son, commissioned With a power of Cap
.sin General and Intendant of Cuba, un'
der an act of Congress continuing tempo
rarily the Spanish system Of Goveanmenl
in that Territory, aud in which he found
occasion to act up to the letter OF that Law
aud commission, uniting in himself The
supreme, civil, military, executive aud ju'
dicial functions, usiu z the military for hi'
arm, aud bis own fiat for authority, send
Iig Gov. CalIava to tue calaboose, and
having Judge Fromentin brought before
him at the point Of the bayonet for issuing
a writ of habsas corpus in behalf of the
imprisoned Governr; and laying divers
Others by the heels for completely in CAL
Isya's fault, to wit: refusing to deliver up,
aud intending to carry of judicial records
on which depended redress to orphan
children who had been despoiled Of their
fathers property for fifteen years; and all
which attings aud dolngs of Governor
Jackson, exercising over Florida the pow
els of Captain General and Inteudant Of
Cuba, were approved expressly BY the
Monroe Administration (aud you know
who composed that Administration } and
implicitly sanctioned by each house Of
Congress in their refusal TO act upon tue
complaints OF the incarcered officers; and
all upon the ground that the Constitution
Of the United States did not extend to a
Territory, and that no act Of Congress had
carried iuto Florida any OF its provisions
ANY habeas corpus act, aud jury trial, or
any warrant, general or special, or any se'
curity against seizure Of persons, search of
houses, or capture Of papers and effects
This head, growing out of the transactions
10 Florida, 50 recent in date, and so up to
the exigency Of cur argument. was merely
named and sketched In the Examination,
but afterwards we'll developed in the
forthcoming sixth volume Of the Abrldg>
ment,
In that same Examination will be seen
th9 manner in which the act abrogstlng
the Missouri compromise was passed, and
the object for which it was passed, and of
which it was the first step and the wedge;
whereof the good people of the United
States are at present profoundly ignorant,
for telegraph reporting has about killed
all popular knowledge of Congress pro-
ceedlngs, confning their reports to results,
too bret and meager to show how Con-
gress acts and yet this is almost the only
report o. Congress doings which people
will read in this gO'ahead age of steam
and electricity. -i9i
Itis q long time since we saw each
other; and what is called politics have sad
Iy run down since that time, and espe-
ciaIIy 10 the last Presidential term, pre-
senting but little for the attraction of any
man who has nothing but the public good
10 view; out here is question OF new
kind, national aud elevated, on which all
who are for the Constitution as our faith
ers made it. and they administered it 10
e.r day and geueratior,and the next gen.
Grafton Administered it (and that without
distinction Of party or default Of a man,
may come together and stand. For one,
l can give no political aid or comfort TO
any man or party, in any future election
who shall uphold the opinion Of the Su-
preme Court in declaring the nullity of
the Missouri Compromise; and in decree
ing the self extension of the Constitution
to Territories, carrying Slavery with 1t,
and preventing Congress and the people
of the Territories from saying yea or nay
to It's introduction or repulsion.
I am now we'll recovered, and working
as usual. and expect to finish the Abrldg,,
ment next Summer, and then to ada
another volume to the TWO Of the thirty
Years View, bringing down to ls60. II
I 1--we that long; at all events, to the tine
ofthe Pierce Administration, if we must
call by his name an Administration mi
which be was 80 imperative, and 10
which nulli6ers. disuuionists and rene
gsdes used bis name and his power for
their own audacious aud criminal pur~
poses. Respectfully
THOMAS H, BENTON.
Washington, Nov. l, 1857 aa
e..
THE GREAT CIvILIzER.- Charles