Marshall County Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1855-1859, 1858-07-22

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clause in that constitution was not taken
un.il the 2lst Of the same month, nearly
two weeks after. | made my speech agains
that Lecompton monstrnsity solely on the
ground that il was q violation of The fun
damental principles of flee government:
on the gr. uni that it WIS not the act and
deed Of the people Of Kansas: that i: did
not embody th-i' will; hat they were averse
10 l.. and hence L denied the tight of Con-
gress 10 force il upon them, either as free
Safe or slave State. deny the right of
Congress to force slave holding State up
on an unwilling people. deny their tight
TO force free Safe upon an unwilling
people L deny their right to force good
thing upon people WHO are unwilling Ia
receive il. Ths great principle is the ri shi
Of every community 10 judge and decide
f'r i,self, whether thingis ishl or wrong,
whether it woull be good or evil for them
20 aiups 1t; anl the ri .ht Of free thought,
he right Df free Judgment upon the ques-
lion is dearer to every true American than
any other under free government. Ny
objecii"n TO the Lrcpmp!on contrivance was
hat it undertook to put cons i.uion orr
he people of Kansas against their will. in
opposi ion To their wishes. ahd thus viola
ed the great principl' upon Which all our
inatilu ions rest. Il is no answer To this
argument to say that slavery is an evil and
htnc. should not be tolerated. You must
allow the people To deciIe for themselves
whether i; is q goul or an evil. Yon allow
lem to decil- for themselves whether
they desire Maine Liquor law or not; you
illnw them tu decile for themselves what
kind OF common schools they will have;
what system of banking they will adopt,
whether they will adopt any at all: you al.
low them to decide for themselves the re-
laiions between husband and wife, parent
and child. and guardian and ward; in fact,
YOU ALLOW them TO decide for themselves
all other questions. and why not upnn this
question? Whenever you put limitation
upon the right of any people to decide
what laws they want. you have destroyed
he fundamental principle of selfgovern-
ment.
In connection viii this subject. perhaps
il will not be improper for me on this occa-
sion to allude To the posi- ion Of those who
have chosen to arraisn nv conGuc. On this
same subject. have observed from the
public prints that but few DAYS ago the
Republican party of tie Stale Of Illinois
assembled i'll convention a, Springfield. an |
not only laid down their platform. bul
nominated candilae f,r the United
States Senate as my successor. take
great pleasure in saying that have known
personally and Intimately. for about a quar-
ter of a century. the worthy gentleman
who has been nominated for my place. and
will say that regard him as kind.
amiable and Intelligent gentleman. good
citizen and IN honorable opponent; and
whatever issue [ may have with him will
be of principle. and no; involving person
alities Mr.. Lincoln made speecl. before
that Republican convention which unani
mously nominated him for he Senate-a
speech evidently well prepared and careful
ly written--in which he states the basis on
whirh he proposes to carry on the campaign
during this summer. In it he laws down
two dis met propositions which shall no.
lice. and upon which | shall take direct
and bold issue with him.
His first and main proposition | will
give in his own language. scripture quota
lion and all: give his exact language
"a house divided against itself cannoi
stand Ibelieve this government cannot
endure. permanently. half stave and half
free do not expect the union to be- dis
solped. | do not expect the house to foH;
but do expect it TO cease TO be divided.
IL will become oil one thing or ali the 9TH
er"
In other words, Mr. Lincoln asserts. as a
fundamental principle of this government,
that there must be uniformity in the local
laws and domestic institutions of each and
all the States of the Union; and he there
fore invites all tn. non -slaveholding States
to bind together. organic AS one body. and
make war apon slavery in Kentucky. upon
slavery in Virginia. upon slavery in the
Carolinas. upon slavery in all Of the slave
holding States in this Union. and to perse
we're in that war until it shall be extermi-
mated. He then notifies the slaveh ,lding
STATE S to stand together as a unit and make
an aggressive war upon the free States OF
this Union. with a view of esiabli hing
slavery in hem all: of forcing it upon III
inois. of forcin, it upon New York. upon
New England. and upon every other free