Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1860-02-03

the federal constitution He will neither
be bold enough to do the first, nor honest
enough to do the second he will be coward
ly enough to do neither. (Applause.) He
Is in the position of that democratic candI-
date for congress in the west, who, when
asked 50 Are you Buchanan or a Douglas
man !? " answe ed 4" [ am, (Great
laughter and cheers) If you ask Mr.. Doug
las "DO you hold that slavery is the creature
of local law, or that STAKEHOLDER has the
right to introduce his slave property where
there is no local law ?" he Will answer :
4 do" Continued laughter and ap-
pausc"
Such is Mr. Douglass doctrine Of popular
sovereignty. But after having given you
Mr. Douglass own definitions in his own
words, | see you puzzled all the more, and
vOu ask me again - What is il ?'' | will
tell you what Judgment will be passed upon
1t by future historians. who may find it
worth while to describe this impotent at
tempt TO daily and triae with the logic Of
things. They viii say '' Il was tie dodge
ola man who was well aware, that in order
70 be elected president Of the United States,
the vote Of a few northern States must be ad-
ded to the united vote of the South. Know
ing by experience that the democratic road
to the White House leads through the slave
holding states, ne broke down the last geo
graphical barrier to the extension Of slavery.
50 he meant to secure the South But in
conceding undisputed sway to the savehold-
ing interests, he saw that he was losing his
fOo,hold in the northern states necessary to
his election he avalled himself Of the ire
sistible pressure OF Tue tree stttG movement
in Kansas, and opposed Jic LtcJmpton con-
sJirution. So be saved al, ssnat0rship in
Illinois, as the champion Of free labor, But
the South frOwned, and Immediately after
his victory he went into tue 81 v'hOlding
states, and admitted Iu his speeches. that
slavery may 90 into Toe territories without L
special act OF territorial legislation. BslIev-
ing the South satisfied, and eius MS chances
in the North eudange ell, he wrote his Hlr-
per Magazine essay, assuming that slavery
can exist only by virtue OF local law. The
South frOwnIng t- in, he endeavOred to
make his peace VITO the shareholders by de-
caring that te would submit to the Charles
ton convention. dnd instructng his nearest
friends IN the House t. vote for the admins
tration candidate for the >peakership. So
he endeavored % catch both sections Of the
Union successiyely in the trap Of a double
faced sOphistry. lie tried to please them
both in trying to cheat them both But he
placed himself between the logic of liberty
On one and the logic Of slavery on the other
side he put the sword OF logic into the
hands OF bis opponents, aud tried TO defend
himself with the empty scabbard Of " un-
friendly legislation. (Applause.) Unfriend-
ly legislation, which in one case would have
been unnecessary. in the other unconstitu-
tional-the invention of a mind without
logic and of a neart without sympathies ::
recognized on all sides as a mere subterfuge,
behind which the moral c5wardice Of a pres
idential candidate entrenched itself -
Cheers
such viii be the verdict OF future histori-
ans. They VIII indulge in curious specula-
tions about the times when such doctrines
could be passed of as sound craftsmanship,
Ia statcsmanship indeed, the prototype of
winch may be found, not in Plutarch but
IN Arlstophane-,l but they viii be slow TO
believe that there We're people duh enough
to be deceived by it. (Applausa.)
Leaving aside the stern reputation which
Mr. Douglas popular sovereignty has re-
ceiycd at the hands of the people at the
last state electous all over the Union, il is
a characteristic sign of the times, that even
one of his political friends, an anti-Lec0mp-
ton democrat, recently went so far as to de-
clare on the floor of Congress- that he would
not vote Tor Mr.. Douglas, if nominated by
the Charleston convention, unless clear and
unequIvUcal construction We're affixed to the
re-atHrmatlon OF the Cincinnati platform
A wise precauti0u indeed But whatever
construction might be given to the Cincinnati
platform, what will that gentleman do with
the double-iaced platform, which Mr.. Doug
las has laid down for himself? What will
the abstract pledge Of a convention be worth
to him, If Mr.. Douglass own pledges are
worth nothing. What will he do with a
man, who when pressed to take an unequivo-
cal position, Is always ready to sneak be-
hind a superior authority, declaring that
- these are questions TO be settled by the
courts 80 daughter and applause)
Mr.. Douglas situation is certainly verv
perplexing one. On one side he is ostra-
cised by the administration democracy for
his illogical and unconstitutional doctrine,
that the legislature Of a territory has
control over slavery and on the other
hand, one Of his nearest friends, Mr. Morris,
of Illinois, in his recent speech on the Presi-
dents Message, denounces the doctrine, that
slave property may be carried into the terrific
ries, just like other property, as an atrocious
'abOmination.
Was Mr. Morris not aware. that this
abomiuation Is the identical doctrine
advocated by Mr.. Douglas in his New Or
leans speech ? Let Mr.. Morris examine the
record of Judge Douglas, and he will find
out, that whatever denominations Mr.. Bu-
chanan brings forward in his message, he
advocates none that is not a direct logical
consequence of Mr.. Douglass own admis-
sOns.
see the time coming, when those who
rallied around Douglass colors because they
believed in his principles, will, from his
most devoted friends, become his most indig-
nant accusers. They are already unwilling
ly denouncing his doctrines when they in
tend to defend him they will not be spar
ing in direct dcnunciations as soon
as they discover how badly they had been
deceived and how ANONYMOUSLY they were to
be sold. We might indeed feel tempted to
pity him, If we had not to reserve that gen
erous emotion OF our hearts for those who
are wrong by mistake and unfortunate with
out guilt. (Applause.)
Mr.. Douglas s ambiguous position. which
makes it possible for him to cheat either the
North or the South, without adding a new
A"0OAAS'1N0iSJ W tLlOS6 dlTeduN committed,
makes 1t at the same time necessary for him
to put his double-faced theories upon an his
torfcal basis, which relieves him of the nee
esslty OF expressing moral conviction on
the matter of slavery either way. To say
that slavery is right, would certainly dis
please the North to say that slavery is
wrong, would inevitably destroy him at the
South.
In order to dodge this dangerous dilemma
he finds 1t expedient to construe the history
OF this country 50 as to show, that this ques-
ton OF right or wrong in regard to slavery
had nothing whatever to do with the tuuda-
mental principles upon which the American
republic was founded.
Dealing with slavery only as a matter of
fact' and treating the natural rights of man
ana the relation between slavery and the re-
publican institutions as matter of COM
plete indifference, he is bound to demonstrate,
that slavery never was seriously deemed in