Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-03-10
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1858.
The Death of the Topeka State Gov.
ernment and the ssPeopIe,s Consti.
tutfOn,s


state government organized undtr it. I
was clothed with the precious name of III,
peoples constitution" and the a. neonIa'
government around it they rallied, by i
they swore, and they rallied and swore viii
an ardor and devotion which have no exam
pie In their estimation all other forms q
government in the territory of Kansas wer,
bogus, were usurpations, were not to be toll
Grated. 1t was to them as the ark of the
covenant, it was holy; and it was given out in
mass conventions and in addresses and proc.
iamations that the people who had made il
would die before they you'd desert it. II
was the sovereign will of the lawful and law.
abiding citizens of the territory erected in
opposition to Border-ruffianisnl; and who per.
lsned In sustaining and defending it would
perish as martyrs to the cause of liberty
There was indeed some blood spilled and
some martyrs made by it. These were herald
ed as the seed of the church; and each sue
ceeding horror closed with the moral. "a
brighter day coming" Every straw of en-
durance was proclaimed as the last and the
o lie that was inevitably to break the camels
meat occupying four hundred thousand fee,
OF newspaper correspondence and comment.
the most extensive work of the kind ever ey
hlbited, has come to its end; the entertain
ment is now concluded, and the audience is
dismissed with an :" address," the chief beau
ties OF which we present below.
It's history is an admixture of crime and
fOllV-Of IDpYcnSabIa
ihstigators and of pitiful folly in their igno-
rant and misguided followers. 1t Involves a
wholesome moral in that it shows the inter
utility OF attempting to erect government
or power In territory in defiance of well
known and established law Such ATTEMPTS
VIII, as In this case, always. we trust. result
In abortion. The fundamental lesson of re-
publicanism is obedience to law. II is the AL
phabet of liberty, no less than it il the last
hnlshed essay and perfect demonstration of
liberty. Its antithesis is the whole bloody
volume of anarchy and crime If the laws
are dlstasteflIl to us, we NAV wipe them ont
and write others in their place. And this is
done through the ballot-box, and the appoin
tees OF the ballot-box, and not otherwise. The
death OF the Topeka movement is an examine
hut the elements are still in Kansas. and
'nougn they nave abandoned the boosted the
sacred peoples government" they are pur-
SUNG course but little less criminal and
mischieyous. They deied the laws when they |
refused to vote for delegates to the copstitn- |
uonal convention-they did what was eouiva-
lent when they refused to vote Oh the slavery
clause OF the constitution when il was submit- |
Ted to them, connected with their sepseIess |
cutlery against that constitution Rut r. tho
law shall be sustained in this case ~ il yas in
the other, we shall soon be rid of the sicken-
Ing Kansas imbroglio altogether
We present below the concluding norton
Vi the address, which may be appropriately
termed funeral Grafton, by the moutners at
the Topeka death 1t is signed bv N.ssrs
WIN. A. PHILLIPS, j. NJ HENRY. w + NJ
Army WIN. HUTCHINSON, J. NJ. WARDEN, Is. ID.
NEWTON, IL. MARTIN and CHARLES MAYO. who
represent themselves in the caption a, In.
'Jolnt committee of the Senate and Hons, of
Representatives under the peoples constitu-
tlon.' They give brief history of the move
ment, Its cause, its glory and its prosp.cts
and charge that Gov. Walker came into TN.
territory, as the serpent entered Eden. with
hoheyed phrases upon his tongue. and he
gulied many of their friends from their filth
Inc part we present is its own commentary
and shows very clearly what was tho n,li,v ,
and motives of the Topeka party-wheh i, I
now the anti-LecOmpton party. Alter SAY 9
ing that the detection prrc,pitat Il by {
ambitious men who had failed 10 s.cur. from I
the people, posts that they coveted. and who /
were ADMITTED TO the conferences of the willy
agi'ator ("alker), aud were used as actiy. Z
agents against what had always been I'M, {
avowed policy of the free-state partv.u the |
address proceeds: !
ITO escape the odium of desertiop tbay ~ a
suhea that the Tree state party only reanir.d {
us mempers 10 DC In favor OF "A free state Nv n
my means. The tree state party up 10 that ,
time had two distinct objects in on. motley
winch they had given to the world in Mat e
orlis Oh aii occasions the first was n rrpu- il
itiou VI tne Missouri usurpation; tnc second,
,dherence to the peoples c)nstituLio,. GOV :.
walker formed party in the free stc 10 par.y
hostile TO those two objects, and without II
any avowed policy. In June lat. tn, state d
legislature again assembled. A codifying nj
committee had prepared laws for the com1letp
u sauiZauon OF the government
The design was TO have these quietly accent il
- - 'ur peopie without seeking or causing q
my collision, and thus To have given broad :,
md healthy roots TO the peoples government, L
Iov. Walker exerted himself To defeat this y
which he forsaw would result i'm the t.iumnb il
y the people. Ia his dispatch to Secretary I,
Iass, at that time, he admits that the result Of Il
leierring such action, which deferring was Sc "
ured by the active excrtions of several nror,- CT
In "a a.. -.
lis triumph, and, as he says, the commence n
nent OF the disintegration OF the free stat.
arty, and the organization of a national dem !"
cratic party" The free state u .opl, w,r,, Il
ext Induced to participate ia t.ie October Il
lection. IL the design had been Ia abandon ! d,
ne topeka constitution, or kill il eli, ctually.
us "ouid nave been very proper; but weak "
heu tnough IL was the people would not CON III
1ht to such abandonment Those therefore. Oh
no urged such participation most actively. N,
JON tue ground that II was done merely 10 :.
silence tue little Lecompton lEittt nv :" and Il
lake steps To give validity TO the pe,pic'- IN
overnment- There was indeed. even linen. a az
arIy IN the iree state party hostile to the 70. "a
eha constitution, but II Was at that time too /,
eaA I'd avow It's real objects. Many men. "
airing that the new policy was 10 Ia. du,ii- ST
ant. attached themselves 10 n in bon' ~ m;
:culrlng any prestige that might flow from IL "a
harged with being "hctiuus'; ard .imu.,c y"
cable" and urged 10 p..rticipat.. that tn. "A
government might be r-muy, d. the RI
eople reluctantly did 20. Ia
lhe tools OF the olgirchy once mors pre- -
'hded that they had carried the election by -
ie preposterous . Oxford" and other frau.s. OF
nraged, tue people were preparing To fall th
aek win renewed devotion to tneir old con- ~,
atution, when Gov. Walker reject Il IN. OK .
'ru ana Mcs'hee Frauds and thus the un.opl,. w
ere bound 10 the territorial government, al
meah"hiie The pro-slavcry minority framed IA
slave constitution, which they r,.t,,s "A ,o-,Is a