Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1860-08-17
From the Hsnpsl~c Journal.
The slave.code Gems that lately a'orn.
ed Ephraim's Brow.

Not content with rolling IN the mirc Of
Tccomptoni.m, As has already been shown,
Smart followed Mr.. Buchanan in the doc.
trine Of dcHyHg dR SorrdsHiy 10 NE p,oPie
Of N, trr,tou,s or,r me question Of ,Iarcry
and thence To the inevitable SLAVECODE
theory. Of which Breckinriisc and Lane are
the exponent. to day. When Mr.. Buehan.
an entered upon ll' oIicc, Smar, was IN &c.
.,acic- over his inaugural Address. Hear
how lovingly and with what affecting and
aud flial attachment he then spoke oi tho
President In Publishing that famous Ad-
dress OF the "Old Public Funetionary" in
the Free Pre-. Of March 10, 1857, Ephraim
thus eulosiIel il:
AFTER reading it. one falls as II h had
b,cH u'h fdihfr. wHo nan PLACED His n'ND
GENTLr oN rnE HAD 30 ms soN. and spOA,H
rord, II hHdHui. Encouragement and pro.
irhoH. It's truly an admirable paper in
tone aud spirit
Thu. Inaugural was the forerunner Of the
Drcd Scot, dcci.ion--and the Dfed Scott de-
cision is the c1rncr-stone Of the Slaye-cOde
faith. Mr.. buchanan took occasion to
lorc.halow tho nature of that decision, and
declared that by il "hs question: Of popular
,Jrp,igniy ~ he ierri'onJ rouH D. p,oj'iy
and finally sdil,d." The decision was pro-
mulged at once. and Smar, 10 the FREQ Press
of March ~. endorsed the whole Of It.
After reci,ius the main points OF tsc deeI''
ION. Smart thus formally ablndonel tho
doctrine ol territorial SJrerngHiy. III, said /,
"In deciding these main points. the Su.
premc Court determined the following met
dental point
A. Congress does not possess power TO
make .nactments relative 10 the persons or
property of citizens oi the United States ~
a Federal Territory. other than such a- tho
Constitution confyrs. 90 u cannot coR1iiI.
.Ioaaily d,lsgdis dHy nch po,rsri % i'rriio.
r,ai government organised By u uHdcr he
CoHsiiiuiipH.
Under the decision of the Cour, and the
opinion oi the President, the people OF each
territory will he lett free to admit or exclude
slavery ,rhsE Msy form Aais Government.
The language Of the Inaugural upon this
subject SHOULD BE A GUIDE AND \
LIGHT TO Us ALL.
IL ha, been (say. Mr.. Buchanan) my in-
dividual opinion that under the Nebraska
act. the appropriate period TO act upon the
slavery que.tIunl will bo when the number
OF actual residents in the territory (kansas)
hdR iudify the formation of a constitution
irRh rirr fO as Gd,hIoiOH as AGie INTO
hs UHioH."
After thu. placing himself 50 distinctly
and directly on the ground now occupied by
Breckinrldgc and Lane, Smart found no dil.
dculty whatever in endorsing the remarka.
bic letter o: President Buchanan TO Profc..
sor SlllIman and - other, Of Connei,icut,
who had respectfully pctiiioned for far play
IN Kansas. In that letter writ.,n m Aug
1867. Mr. Buchanan stated tho following
astounding doctrine:
slavery existed at that period, (lSji.)
and s,ill exists IN Kansas, uidc' me CoHsii
iui,on Of he UaRei SGio. Thi. point ha.
AZ last been finally settled by the highest
tribunal known to our Laws. Hoe n GDuhi
hare bceH seriously doubteds a mystery"
Thi. Jadidai S'are-oods dociras, thus for.
mally announced, startled the public aud
caused many Democrats to halt and not a
few to iurH square rouHd. Smart however.
swallowed IL without an effort. lie pub
lished the Presidents letter in the Free Press
Of Sept. 18th. and accompanied It with the
following explicit approval Of its abomina-
blc sentiments
"The reply of the President !. admirably
written. aud ~ triumphant ylndicatlon Oi
the policy OF the Presidert against the as
-lulis ol those white neck-clOth gentlemen.
No doubt they were sincere enough. but
zeal without knosledge isa very poor weap'
on Of assault. We conceive the reply =
parlec, answer to their complaints, and
those which have found their way into the
abolition presses. II DaodrCHi, ooHnderdis
r,slr Of fLssuljcci. and WiR fad q hedriy re-.
spoa,e from ihs AmriedH people. The han.
,a, shriekrs may as irsH sare thar brtGih 10
cool thar pouidge."
Wishing still further to emphasize his
approval of the Slaye-codo doctrine. as 1t j,
understood by the southern cOn.,ruetionis,'
of the Kansas Nebraska bill. Smart IN the
Free Pres, OF Nov. ~. in giving historical
resume VI the slavery question under the
Pierce and Buchanan reg'me, used the fol-
lowing language:
"Ths nsI, question Whirh arose ,rd' ne
construction Of the RaAsd,..Ns6ra'Sa biH.
Southern men coptended that, alter all, the
legislatures OF the territories had no power
20 exclude slavery, and that the bill In that
sense wa. ialIacy. The Southern oOniiri'e-
iioR prSrdiitd
IL va. conceded by oil tha, nhen a STATE
,ras r,as'y 10 form Constitution, IL had u
right TO settle the slavery question fairly
aud by an expression OF the people"
That Is just what Breckinridge and Lane
say to-day. They claim that the southern
construction OF tho Kansas-Sebraska bill
prevailed" )" and Smart was more than two
years in advance Of them in making tho
declaration. In the same article he again
incidentally assumes tho " Southern con-
struetion' as the true and undoubted ono.
Ilo said
Wl.. al. r.....on;.a ,n aa an vas vassel