Daily national Democrat., 1859-06-07
The Dred Scott DecisiOn-.A " Funda-
mental Error" i'm Law of Nature, &c.
SMARrsv1LLE. Yuba Co. 1870.

| popular sovereignty for the citizen to take
up and investigate any question of the day.
Freedom of speech and of the Press, are the
guardian powers of American liberty. With
Louis Napoleon and Leeompton Buchanan,
it is treason to differ from the executive head.
But we deny the treason, and defy the die
tation.
Many Republicans, who have come over
to popular sovereignty, as matter of policy
only, stand back and refuse to join us, because,
they say, popular sovereignty leaves the
Dred Scott Decision an operative and insup-
erable bar to our acceptance of popular soy =
ereignty upon principle; as promising full
and final remedy for every political griev-
ance. 1t is to talk to those men that wish
to overhaul this question, and to show them
that popular sovereignty is full remedy for
error committed by the JUDICIARY as we'll as
the Legislative and Executive departments.
The physical, moral and intellectual histo-
ry of this Planet, proves that PRooREssIoN,
from grossness to refinement, from barbarism
to civilization, from despotic to free govern
ment, is fixed, organic, and immutabe law,
" the constant mode of operation of the in
finite God" Amongst the early nations, up
till the Grecan Dominion, slavery was con
sidered a dictate Of Nature That is, if
man or nation could overcome another that
was foreign, by cunning fraud, or force,
perfect right existed to subject that person or
nation to service or slavery; the same if he
or they were brutes of the field or forest.
And it was not until the great intellects Of
the Roman Forum and Senate bent their
eagle ken upon the great questions of NAT
uRAL LAW, that it was finally settled that the
superiority of the human over the brute
kingdom, entitled man to a distinctive differ
ence of position in the ascending scale of Ma
ture; and that man, by natural law, could
not oaon' property IN man-but that itrequired
an act Of the laO making power to create the
condition Of Slavtry Hence the Roman
origin of "passing conquered people under
the yoke" Without a decree to this effect,
a conquered people became a province, or
other integral part of the Empire. And
this principle thus settled and established bv
the Nation of the Pandccts. has ever since
been received and acted upon as sound NAT
URAL LAW 10y all civilized peoples For these
facts, see a careful review of the slave ques-
ton in an early number of the Democratic
Review-(the number | don't now remem-
ber)-also, Bancroft's History of U. S. And
if it was Democratic once, can Democracy
plunUpf T. IL n ia V,ifb Iio o,,i,,
ion that we hear the English aphorism,
Slaves cannot breathe in England" Why
not2 Because England has, atlirmativelv,
passed no law creating right above tie
right Of nature, that man may, upon her soil,
own property in man. Therefore the mo-
ment slave touches upon English ground
he is free, because he is restored to his rights
in nature, or rather natural law is in force
there. This right being above nature, is
not perS0lldL, and does not attach to the per-
son of the master. 1t is strictly lea ioci rel
sitti Law local to the land, or country Dau-
nicipai boundary, where created And if the
slave owner takes his slave property outside
Of that boundary, the natural state immedi-
ately attaches to the slave and restores him
to his right of liberty.
There is nothing in the Constitution of the
United States, creating this state above ma
ture. Its silence can only be construed to
suffer the right to remain upon the lands or
oundaries-States-w it already exis-
ted 10y State law. No unprecedented legal
mind, North, South, or in Europe, will assert
that its silence, or even its express dicta,
could 90 further than to create the state
above nature upon the soil or 0ifhin tie
boundary held at tile time of the adoption Of
the Constitution Slavery is not the person
al right, but liberty is Liberty can 90 by
silence of the Constitution but slavery
must he created upon the soil of those ha0.
ing at the time 1t is created the sovereignty of
the soil 1t is lea loci rel sitii.
But, says the South, the new Territories
have been acquired by the common blood
and treasure; shall we MT have rs good a
right to go there as the North answer,
yes upon the same footing lciM the North
with all your NATURAL RIGHTS But If YOU
wish to use there the right above Nature,
the will of the majority of the people ex-
pressed in Legislation II The North goes
there with its horses mules, cattle, house
ho'd goods. DC, dc. and so may you But
the other question is one for the adjudication
of popular sovereignty. You have no higher
rights than the North on free soil And here
it is that Popular Sovereignty ought to com
mend itself on principle to our Republican
friends, who are willing to accept it on ex-
pediency. The South has discovered that if
popular sovereignty becomes ar established
principle in our government, that they can
never Obtuin another slave State north of the
Texan line Under that principle, slavery
can never be fixed upon soil natural to free
labor nor will free labor be fixed upon soil
natural to slave labor. The fens, and swamps
and burning suns of the tropical and semi
tropical ATTITUDES, are the voice of God in
Nature, warning and driving away the tenn
perate zone man, from the cline of the Afri-
can. As the great Daniel Webster said, "the
God of Nature has marked the slave labor
line by climate and products and the South
in fighting God Almighty to fix it further
North, will find Master who, so far from
fearing fire eaters will keep that article on
hand for the use Of His deserving enemies"
The great difficulty that Mr. Douglas and
others, have found in fixing their point at
which Sovereignty may step in and say, free
or slave, is entirely obviated by discarding
that erroneous decision; for then, slavery be-
ing question not provided for in the Con-
slituti0n of the Old Thirteen, and being in
contradiction of, or above natural law. can
only exist rhen created By the la'o making
poUer, the peopie Of the TEuRToRY, or STATE
See into what gulf the view that the Con-
sttution of the United States creates the
State above nature, plunges its advocates -
The Federal Constitution is the paramount
law of all the States, and no State can pass
Constitution or law prohibiting slavery in
its boundaries.
The President, in his late Pastoral Letter"
throu0h Mr. WASHINGTON admits and so in