The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1860-08-10
House of Representatives, as Senator of

House of Representatives, as a Senator of
the United States. Applause.
Whatever emergency has arisen, he has
shown ability and courage to meet it as
statesmen ought. You find him entering
the National House Of Representatives, and
putting at ease the heart Of Andrew Jack.
son, because, in regard to declaring martial
law at New Orleans, Mr.. Douglas placed
Gen. Jackson's defence upon the proper
ground, permitting the old hero to 90 down
to his grave with this painful subject re-
moved from his thoughts. In the Senate of
the United States it has been the fortune of
Mr.. Douglas to encounter our cOuntry's
brightest intellects ard, let me say, that,
since the death of Clay and Of Webster, he
has stood in that Senate without a peer aud
without an equal [Great applause.
In his onward march, it has become ne
cessary for him to encounter at times the
prejudices of his own constituents it has
become his duty to brave the opposition OF
Senates and Presidents. He has met them
all without shrinking, and, in defence of the
right, has marched on, though Presidents
frowned and Senates opposed. [Cheers.]
In concluding these hasty remarks, fellow
citizens, let me impress on your minds the
fact that there is but one mode by which
we can get rid of this vexatious and irri-
tating slavery question, and that is by
adopting the doctrine which is recognized
by the Constitution of the United States, of
leaving the question to each separate Or
gained community to dispose of it for them
selves, thus making the discussion local, not
national. We oppose the one party of the
South, and the other OF the North, because
they propose to make the question national.
We desire to make it local, to leave it to
the people in the Territories, in the States,
and in the District of Columbia.
This, it seems to me, is ground upon
which all conservative men can unitedly
stand. Here let me say that, though Judge
Douglas and myself have been warm, de.
voted friends for twenty.seven years, and
though there is no man upon the earth
whom l would rather see President than
him, yet above his political advancement,
prize the peace and harmony Of the coun-
try and if we can succeed in banishing this
agitation from the national legislature, it is
OF minor consequence how mere questions
as to men are determined. l invoke you,
then, you national men, you conservative
men, who think it your duty to transmit
this Government with all its blessings to
your children, bright and unimpaired as
your fathers gave it to you, rally around
this conservative doctrine, this conservative
platform. Casting behind US all local and
temporary considerations, it is our duty in
this great emergency, when the peace of the
country is menaced, when our institutions
are In danger, to forget men, to look only at
great principles.
FellOw-citizens, this Government is all the
heritage that received from my father; it
is the only patrimony that l expect to trans.
NIT to my children. l would rather give it
to my boys as my father gave it to me, with
every avenue to fortune and to honor open,
than bestow upon them all the mines OF
California. Hence it is that would rise
above every mere consideration as to men,
if we can unite upon great principle-a
principle that will secure peace and harmony
in this Government. When such an issue
is involved, men sink into insigni6cance and
are utterly lost. Applause.
l am going, fellow citizens, in few days,
to my home in the Northwest. Iexpect to
enter actively into the battle there. 1 shall
stand beneath that Democratic flag under
which l have stood from boyhood's hour up
to this time. Applause.
l expect to deal some hard blows at the
Republicans, and l expect to receive some
blows in return. do not anticipate that /
shall be obliged there to talk against Mr..
Breckinridge; for there are not enough
Breckenridge men there to make mile posts
along the public highways. Laughter.
Whatever doctrines may have obtained,
whatever heresies may have sprung up, these
people of the Northwest are not in favor OF
making this Government great establish
ment to propagate slavery, and do nothing
else. But l expect to fight the doctrines Of
the Republicans, which, in my judgment,
are equally dangerous to the peace of the
country. l shall oppose those doctrines
with all my power, and wherever the oppor-
tunity may offer. l shall endeavor to per
suade the members of the Republican orga-
nizatiOn to abandon their position and to
stand by the rights of the people of the ter :
ritories; to preserve our Institutions as our
fathers gave them to US, and to leave this
Government, when we 60 hence, standing,
like the angel in Revelation, with one foot
upon the land and the other upon the sea,
with her countenance beaming upon the
sons and daughters of the nation, and invok-
ing the down-trodden and oppressed of every
cline to come here and be free.
The speaker retired, amid enthusiastic,
long-continued cheering.
WHILE Tom CoRw1N was holding forth
in GAINESVILLE, upon the corruptions Of "Od