Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1858-04-29
THE SUICIDE or SLAVERY.
SPEECH OF nON. Eli TNAYEE,
OF MASSACHUSETTS.
MARCH 10Th, 1888.

that at this Zine | should say some
thing in defense oil the Pilgrims. and
of tn State OF Massachusetts,; for they
have been repeatedly assailed on this
floor, within the last two weeks. But
| shall make no defence. There are
some things which never attempt to
defend Among these are the Falls OF
Niagara. the White Mountains of New
Hampshire. the Atlantic Ocean. Ply
mouth Rock. Bunker Hill. and the
history of Massachusetts. Any man
may assail either or all of them with
perie.t impunity, 80 far as ain con-
ccrncl Any words of diSparagcment
or vitupcra;ion dirc.ted against either
Of these objects. by any as.ailant. ex-
cite in me feelings very different from
those of indigna,ion---whe;hcr the as
sailant comes with bow as long as
that Of the bold Robin Hool, or with
bow of shorter range. like that of the
gentleman from Alabama. Mr. Short.
er.) Laughter. But l depreeate
the disposition that iinpels these shafts
against the sister States of this Con-
icdcracy. ] deprct this sectional
animosity whenever and wherever ]
see it cvinced have heard too much
OF the aggrcssions Of the North and oil
the aggressions of the South, in the
past. to be very much in love with
either of these ideas. | have never
been accustomed to speak of the ag-
grcssionS of the Slave power, and /
have no purpose OF doing it now or
hereafter. Ii the one-hundredth part
of the people of this country can make
dangerous aggrcssions on the rights
and interests of the other nincty-nine
hundrcdth parts of the people, either
by the force of strength. or by the arts
of diplomacy. ! assure YOU that will
be the la,t man to complain of it. ]
think that this Slavery question is al
together too small a question to disturb
so great a people as inhabit the United
States of America.
For myself, | was always in favor
Of popular sovereignty. rightly so
called. ] am ready. for one, to agree
to-day that tn, Tcrritoric, belonging
to this Government; shall bc open to
settlement at any time when Congress
thinks fit so to open them, and that
the people of all parts Of the country
shall 20 into them with the assurance
of absolute and ,omptetc non-interpen-
ton, with the assurance that whenever
any chief Executive, official, or non
resident, shall interfere, 10y fraud or
violence, in their affairs. he shall eth
er be impcachei or hanscl; with the
assurance that when the people shall
have the ratio of representation re
quircd by law. and shall come to Con
gress with a Constitution republican
in form. they shall be admitted into
the Union as State. This. sir. Is
popular sovereignty. and it is what
was practiccd in this country two cen
turtles ago.
The people of the Plymouth colony
had the privilege Of choosing their own
Governor. and of making their own
laws. The same was true of the New
Haven colony, and Of the colony of the
Providence Plantations. They always
did it. l believe the Crown OF Eng
land never appointed a Governor for
these colonies; certainly not for the
last two. But were those people,
without ever having exercised the right
of seli-governmcnt, better prepared to
govern themselves than are our pco-
pie. educated under our State Gov
ernments, who 60 into our Territories?
WHY then, should we continue to have
an "Ahab to trouble Israel" while he
laws the blame of his misconduct upon
the cmigrant aid societies? Why not
cut oil these Territories from all con-
ncc,ion with the General Government,
legislative or executive? Then we shall
have no more agitation in Congress,
and no more contention in the Terrific
rics. But SO long as this connection
continues. so long as we have the
President trying to bias. by his ap-
pointments, and perhaps by the troops,
the will of the people. so long shall we
have agitation, and we shall have
enough oi it.
We'll, sir. l have nothing to find
| fault about. ! am very well pleased
with the present tendency of events
But, sir, there are those who arc dis
satisfied. and who are inclined TO in
woke a certain deity-I think a false
which prcsides over portion
of this Union; deity which has been
invoked by great men on great occa-
sions, and by little men on little occa-
sions, for long t.me pasta deity in
whose expected presence both tho peo-
pie and the politicians have sometimes
stood aghast-"when he" in pros
pect only, from his horrid hair shook
pestilence and war" This sulphurou,
god is Disunion. The Capitol Hill
has been a veritable Mount Carmel
for the last quarter OF a century. upon
which experiments have been tried
with this bogus deity One day upon
Mount Carmel was sufficient to deter.
mine the destiny of Baal and hi
prophets. But here we. the most pa
tient people in the world, witness these
invocations year after year. with ex
cmplary endurance, expecting that tn.
great ls-to-be will some time come
| And you and l, Mr.. Chairman, ever
{ during the present session of Congress
have witnessed attempts to kindle herr
the fires upon tho alter of Southern
: rights. But the sacrifice. the alter
anl the spectators. were as cold as al
sbaster. The prophets only were warm
, but they were wsrnl. not from tn
presence of the god. but from his ab
sense. He does not make his appear