St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1860-10-04

OCTOBER 4 |
public conceived this necessity they assumed
this high responsibility. They never could
have done so, except for the crisis Of the rev.
! olution, which kindled on unknown fire Of pa
triotism within the bosom Of the people, and
enabled them for brief period to elevate
themselves up above temporary and ephemer-
| al interests and prejudices, and to use to the
great test Of organizing and constituting
free and purely popular government. The
people understood the great principle on which
| it was to be founded-the political equality of
! the whole people and that they did 40 under
stand it you will see in the fact that by the
Declaration Of Independence they lay the
foundation Of the great Republic on the great
truth that all men are created equal, and have
inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pur-
| suit Of happiness. But it was not the good
fortune Of our fathers to be able to find full
and ample materials all of the right kind, for
| the erection of the Temple Of Liberty, which
they constructed. Providence has so ordered
| it that uniformly perfect materials for any ed
ifce which the human mind is required to de-
! wise and the human hand to construct, cannot
be found anywhere. If you propose to build
! lime stone house here, you may excavate the
ground on which it is to be placed and take
| from the quarry the needed rocks and lay
them all away in their proper places in the
foundation and walls and vaulted roof; but
other materials besides the lime stone enter
! into the noblest structure you can make
There must be some lime, and some sand, and
| some iron, and some wood, and one must COM
bine perfect with imperfect materials to make
any human structure. Even the founders Of
| great Republic like this, wishing and intend
| ing to place it on the principle Of the equality
of man, had to take such materials as they
| found. They had to take society as it was, in
which some were free and some were slaves,
! and to form Union in which some were free
States and some were slave States. They had
the ideal before them, but they were unable to
| perfect it all at once. What did they do -
! They did as the architect does who raises
structure Of stone and lime, and sand, and
wood, and iron; where there is weakness of
| material, and where the strengh of the ediice
would be impaired by it, he applies braces
| and props, and bulwarks, and buttresses to
strengthen and fortify SO as to make the weak
part combine with, and be held together in
solid connection with the firm and strong
That is what our fathers intended to do, and
did do, when they framed the General Govern
| ment. Seeing this element of Slavery which
they could not eliminate, they said, 'We will
take care that it shall not weaken the edifce
and bring it down. We will take care that al
! though we cannot get rid Of slaves now, the
number of slaves hereafter shall diminish and
the number of white men shall increase, and
that ultimately the element Of free white men
shall be so strong, that the element Of slavery
shall be inadequate to produce any serious
danger, calamity, or Disaster How did they
do this They did it in a simple way author
izing Congress to prohibit, and practically,
by prohibiting the African slave trade after.
| the expiration of twenty years from the estab-
lishment Of the Constitution supposing that
if no more slaves were imported, the American
people, then almost unanimously in favor of
! emancipation, would be able to eliminate from
the country the small amount If slavery which
would be left to decay and decline for want OF
invigoration by The African slave trade. They
did another thing. x They SGT apart the Terri
tory North West Of the Ohio River, nearly all.
Of the unoccupled domain of the United States
for frecmcn only, declaring that neither, sla:;
very nor involuntary servitude should ever en-
ter on its soil. They did one thing more
They declared that Congress should pass uni
form laws Of naturalization, so that when the
importation Of African slaves should cease,
voluntary immigration of freemen from all
| other land should be encouraged and stimula-
! ted. Thus, while unable to exclude slavery
| from the system, they provided for the rapid
! development and perfection, of the principle
that all men are born free and equal. And
| suits Eof that wise policy. Certain Of the
States concurred partially in the policy of the
fathers. hardly need tell you what States
| they werc. They were Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New
Jersey, and Pennsylyania. ft Some other States
! did not, q It is. scarcely necessary to name
them. They we're the six Southern States of
the Union: the six Southern States said al
though the Constitution has arrested the slave
trade and invited emigration and adopted the
policy Of making all the men Of the new States
4 free and equal, yet We will adhere to the sys-
| TEN Of slavery. You see how it has worked in
the cities of Boston, New York and Philadel-
! phia You see it, in the wheat fields Of New
! York, of Ohio, of Indiana, of Illinois, of Wis
consin. You see it in the fecks and herds of
Vermont and New Hampshire; you sec it in
the cattle. that multiply. upon ten thousand
hills you see it in the million Of spindles in
the manufactures Of the East, and in tho for
l ges and furnaces of Pennsy lvania; you see it
in the crowded shipping Of New York, and in
her palaces and towers, emulating the magnif-
|of the Old World, and grasping for itself the
Icommerce Of the globe. You see even in Cali
fornia and Oregon tho same results; you see
them in the copper ore dug ont. on the banks
Of Lake Superior, the iron in PENNSYLVANIA,
the gypsum in New York, the salt in Ohio aud
, New York, the lead in Illinois, and the silver
and gold in the'free States in the Pacific coast.
In oil these you see the fruits Of the policy
Neither in forest. nor in mines, nor in manu-
. factories, norin workshop, is there found one
African elave that turns q wheel or supplies
( the oil which keeps-the machinery in motion
Applause, j. On the other hand, you see mil.
, liong of freemen crowding each other in per
petpal waves, rolling over from Europe on the
Atlantic coast, apd flowing on on a and forming
great States op the western base Of the ALE Ale
ghany Mopntaiqssm77stil IL rolling on again per
:. which. is built Nh here in. Minnesota in nipi