The Placer herald., 1859-05-07
A Slap at the Demagogues.

Hon. Eli Thayer, a Republican member of
the House of Representatives, in recent
speech in Congress said:
"There is another class, sir, composed of
the political Cassandras of the Republican
party, who are always prophesying, in the
middle of one great disaster, that another
still greater is about to come-who are con-
tinually saying that slavery has always had
its own way, and always will have it-that
slavery, under the Dred Scott decision, will
yet be established in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire-that secret intrigues are going
on for establishing it in Canada, as well as
putting the White Mountains and Cape Cod
under the lash. Laughter. | have an ac
count to settle with these men. ! have met
them, and found them great impeachment
to the progress of freedom in this country.
In the contest for free men and free labor
in Kansas, | affirm here that they were
greater obstacle to our progress than the
border rutlians, the Cabinet and power of
President Pierce, or the bad travelling in
the State of Missouri-for they were filling
the country with the cry that Kansas was
lost With quivering lips and moist eyes,
they went about crying that all was lost
The effect was to send hundreds and thou
sands of men, who would have joined our
good colonists in Kansas, shivering away to
the cold regions of Minnesota. | have no
sympathy with these men. OF this class
was Uzza in the days Of David, who thought,
that because the oxen stumbled, the ark Of the
Lord would surely fall; and he stretched out
his trembling hand in support of Omnipo-
tence Smtten by the power which his
doubts had insulted faithess Uzza died upon
the spot. Why he died, ask no commen-
tary to tell me. Why any such is left is not
SO clear. Without faith, either in the power
of God or the destiny of man, they libel free
dom and slander treemen. They have no
JOY in the present, or no hope in the future.
They seem predestned to disaster and de-
feat; and woe to the party or project in
which they assume authority or exercise in
luence. TO a man of this class the present
life is one perpetual nightmare; and what the
future will be, who can say? Can he be
saved? Can a man be saved without faith,
or hope, or works, with onl y repentance
and even that consisting not in sorrow for
his own sins, but for other peoples virtues!
Laughter Why, what if by some chance
he were once in the Holy City!-he would
be no more saved than he was before. He
never would see the tree of life or the river
of life, never would have harp in his hand
but spy-glass, and skulkipg about the
battements and peering off into ilimitabe
space, aughter if he should chance to see
bred Scott or the Supreme Court, even
though they might be beyond the great gulf
he would think they were coming to estab-
lish slavery on the golden pavements of the
New Jerusalem. Laughter.
In another part Of his speech, he says
"If it had not been for Executive interven-
ton and for the cowardly predictions of
fainthearted anti-savery men of the North,
that Kansas would be lost, think, sir, that
the contest might have been ended before
the year 1856. But as it was, notwithstand
ing all the obstacles in her way, the contest
began to grow inspid during that year for
want of opposition from the pro slavery side,
and | left it as Atchnson and Stringfellow
had already done. Since that time we know
very well what has been the history of Kan
sas. 1t is now apparent that there ale at
least eight or nine free state men in that
Territory to one slave-State man"
We commend the above to some Of our
Republican demagogues and sensationsts in
this State. s. +. Call.