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

ular sovereignty sprung from the idea, that man
has certain inalienable rights which the majority
shall not encroach upon, Mr.. Douglass doctrine
rests upon the idea that the highest development
of liberty consists in the right Of one class Of men
to hold another class Of slaves, If they see
fit to do so. (Applause.) While Mr.. Jefferson
excluded slavery from the territories. n order TO
make rom for t-,ss popular s9Usrsiguty Mr.. Doug
las invents his false popular sovereignty in order
to make room for slavery The ordinance Of 1877,
the true ''Jefforsonan plan" was indeed, no mere
accident, mere occasional act Of legislation. It
| sprang from tho idea, Madison expressed il,
% that republican institutions would become fall
lacy, where slavery existed" and in order 10
guarantee republican institutions TO the terrific
ries, they excluded slavery. (Cheers)
The ordinance of l7S7 was the logical offspring OF
the principles upon which your Independence and
your constitution founded; il Is the practical
application Of the Declaration Of Independents Of
the government Of the territories. It's very eI-
istencs sets completely at nought Mr.. Douglass
doctrine, and historical construction, and the
dwarfsh hand Of the den9gogus tries in vain to
tear this bright page out of your annals (Cheers)
The ordinance Of 1877 stands written on the very
gateposts of the northwestern states; written on
every grain field that waves in the breeze. on
every factory that dots the of cir rushing
waters, every cottage that harbors thrifty free
men written in every heart that reioices over
the blessings Of liberty. (L1ue continued ap-
plause.) There il stinis in characters Of light.
Ouly q DitQl man cannot see IT, OllV a IoOt eau
misunderstood it; only a knave can willfully mis-
interpret it. IRepeated cheers
Such is Mr.. Douglass principle Of popular SOW
ereignty in lis loyict and historical aspect; ap-
parentIy adopting the doctrine that slavery is the
creature of local law ONLY and fighting against
congressional slave code, but the other hand,
admitting the very princi pie on which protection
to slaves property become logical necessity; and
again assuming the ground, that slave property
may be introduced where there is no local law,
but explaining away the logical consequences Of
that doctrine by tae transparent sophstry Of un-
friendly legislation; dragging the proudest ex-
plOits Of American craftsmanship into the dust,
culating the Declaration of Independence be-
| causs incompatible with its principles, setting
aside the ordinance Of 1857 because that stern fact
Is a conclusive historical argument against IL; a
jesuitcal piece OF equivocation and dOubledeaing;
unable to stand before the criticism Of logical
mind because it is a mixture Of glaring contra
dictiOns unable stop the Of principles
and interests, because it is at with itself
(Applau-e) 1t is true, its principal champion
worked hard TO cover with bullying boisterOus-
ness the moral c0wardce from which IL sprang ;
but in vain. He mistakes the motive power
which shapes the actions Of free nations
Having moral convictions Of his own t. staud
upon, he could never address himself TO the moral
sense Of the people. LSensation.l Having no
moral convictions Of his own This is grave
charge, but l know what l say. | respect true
convictions wherever | fad them. Among the
fre-eaters Of the South there are men, who speak
Of the moral basis of slavery, and believe in 1T,
who speak Of the blessings Of serviude and believe
in it who assert that slavery and believe it.
AtrociOus as their errors may be, and deeply as L
deplore them, vet 1 respect their convictions as
soon as I find them out. But look into the record
of the champion of 4" popular sovereignty !;
scan it from syllable to syl bic, and then tell me,
you Douglasites of the south, do you find one
word there indicating a moral conviction that
- rio bt Avl off fha
North. who in the habit Of telling US that you
the true auti-slavery men. and that popular
sovereignty viii surely work the overthrow of the
institUtiOn,-did yonr master ever utter a similar
sentiment Do you find in his record one word
Of sympathy with the d0wn-tr0dden and degraded1
One spark Of the humane philosophy Of our age )?
One syllable in vindication Of the outraged digni
" of human nature One word which might in
dicate a moral conviction that slavery is wrong?
Not one
But one thing he does tell you " I do not
whether slavery be voted up OF down -
There Is then a human heart that does not care
Sir, look over this broai land, where the strug-
gle has ragged for years and years and
the two oceans, around the globe. to the point
where the far West meets the far East over the
teeming countries where the cradle Of mankind
stood and over the workshops Of civilization in
Europe, and over those my sterious regions under
the tropical sun, waeh have not emerged yet from
the night Of har5dri-u TO the daylight of civil
Hzsd life and then tell me, how many hearts do
YOU ful tal 10 not trembIe with mortal anguish
or exC.tant joy as the scales of human freedom
human bondage e. up or down Look over the
history Of the world from the time when infant
mankind felt in its heart the first throbbings Of
aspiring dignity, down 10 our days when the
rights OF man have at last found a bold and pow
ertu champion IN a great mighty republic -
where is the page that is not spotted with blood
and tear shed in that all-absOrbing struggle
where chapter that does not tell the tale oublant
triumph or heart-breaking distress, as the scales
Of freedom OF slavery went up or down Loud
applause.l But to-day, in the midst Of the nine
teeth century, in republic whose programme was
laid down in the Declaration of Independence there
comes a man to you and tells you with cynical
GOODNESS, that he does not care And because he
does not care, he claims the confidence Of his
countrymen and the highest honors Of the repub-
ic ? Because he does not care, he pretends 70 be
the representative statesman of his age
Sir, L alw Us thought that he can be true
statesman whose ideas and conceptions are not
founded upon profound moral convictions of right
and wrong. tApplause.l What, then, shall We
say Of him, who boastingiy parades his indifference
as a virtue May we not drop the discussion
about the craftsmanship, and ask What is ne
worth a man? Repeated eheers.1 W ne
mistakes the motive power which names the
events of history. fad that II ths life of free
nations mere legal disquisi' ,ons never turned the
tide OF events, and me- constitutional construc-
.rUIS ~ ue'eI ue'e lined the tendency of an age
ir0 lOe enings goes its steady way, immoTa-
oie 70 -.oquence and deaf to argument a. Shapes
~ changes laws and constitutions according to
its immutable rules. and those adverse t. it will
prove no efectua obstruction to its onward march.
In times of great conflicts the promptings and
dictates of the human conscience are more potent
than all the inventive ingenuity Of the human
brain. The conscience of a free people, when
once fairly ruling the action of the Masses will
never fail - make new laws, when those exist
ing contrary to its tendency or it will put its
construction upon those that are there. Your
disquisitions and plausibilities NAV be used as
weapons and stratagems in a fencing-match Of
controversing parties, but powerless as thew are
before the conscience Of man, posterity will re-
member them only as mere secondary incidents Of
battle OF great principles in which the strongest
motive powers Of human nature were the the true
cembatants.
There is the slavery question +; not a mere oc-
casional quarrel between two sections of country
divided BY geographical line I; not mere como
test between two economical interests for the prea
ponderance not a mere wrangle between two
pollticai parties for power and spoils but tbs
great struggle between the human conscience and a
burning wrong, between advancing civilization
and retreating barbarisn, between two antago-
nlstie systems of social organization. (Cheers)
In vain will ourmock- giants endeavor to make the
test question of our age turn on a ridiculous Io0i
cal qulo6le, or paltry legal technicalty (ap-
,, IL va" VIII tuey invent small lodges
and call them great principles =" in vain viii
they attempt to drag down the all-absorbing con-
test 10 the level Of mere pot-house quarrel be-
tween two rival candidates for presidential nom
nation (Applause.) The wheel Of progressing
events Will crush them to atoms as it has crushed
so many aonormities (cheers), and q future gen.
Grafton will perhaps read on Mr.. Douglass tomb
stone the inscription Z" Here lies the queer sort
OF statesman, who when the great battle Of
slavery was fought, pretended TO say that he did
not care whether slavery be voted or voted
down." (Cheers.)
But as long as the moral vitality of the na-
tion is not entirely exhausted Mr.. Douglas and men
like him will in vain endeayor to red1ca tba -
PIE 70 that disgusting state of moral indifference.
which ne himself is not ashamed to boast Of
solemniy protest that the American people is
not 10 DC measured by Mr.. Douglass low moral
standard However degraded some of our poll
tielans may be, the progress Of the struggle will