Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1860-10-11

rr Rrv. HonrRr ". HATFIELD.

SoME OF the opponents OF Nj
Douglas seem not TO be pleased witt
the means he is using to improve hi
prospect for the Presidency. And
is new and rather startling to see on
in his position perambulating tn
country. tempting his own merits
and begging for the votes of the peo
ylc. But this course is so in keepin,
with the character of the man. that i
should neither excite surprise nor sub
icct him to special censure. As tn
gentleman courts notoricty. and seem
determined to keep himself before ih'
people. it may not be amiss to cal
the attention Of your readers to tn
part he has borne, in other days, il
some matters that are now among tn
irrcvocable facts of history.
We shall not speak of his strenu
ous endcavors to secure the annexa
tion of Texas. nor of his advocacy o
the Fugitive Slave Law, nor of hi
nntiring cxertions for the repeal of tn
Missouri Compromise; though Oh
each of these topics chapter nigh
be written. We wish 20 notice hi
conduct on the occasion of the pres
entation of the Memorial of the Ne,
England ministersto the Senate Q
the United Statcs-bclicving as we d
that his course at that time gives u
an insight into the real character o
the man. During the pendancy OF tn
Kansas anil Nebraska bill in 1854,
protest agsinst its passage was cir
,ulatcd for signatures among the cler
gyman of New Ems land. This Mem
orial was brief, coachcl in respectful
language, aud protested in appropri
ate terms against he repeal or modi
fication Of the existing legal prohibi
tion of slavery in that part OF the ma
tional domain about to be organized
into the territories Of Kansas and Ne
braska. The proposed legislation wa
protested against as being mora
wrong, unjust to the moral principle
of the community, and fraught wit
peril to the peace and perpetuity o
the Union. This weighty and timel
document was one that any goo
minister of Jesus Christ might b
glad to sign, and more than thrC
thousand of the ministers of Ne
England appended their names t
it.
On the 1-ith of Marcia few day
after the passage of the obnoxious hi
this memorial was presented to tn
United States Senate. Mr.. Dougla
at once denounced it with characters
tic virulence The memorialists wer
aSsailed with coarse and foul -mouthc
abuse He charged them with the gro.
sest ignorance, AMI stigmatizcl then
as liars. These "ihree thousan
ministers he said have come forwar
with an "atrociouS falsehood, and a
"atrocious calumny" against the Sci
ate of the United States. They ha
"desecrated the pulpit" and PRO
tituted the sacred DESK" to the mi
erable and corrupting influence I
party politics. Their protest prove
them to be without any reliable il
formation on the subject" and it
evident that these men know NJ
what they are talking about" Th
reckless calumniator of the clergy
men of New England, is furthermo
moved to declare that they fought
be rebuked" and required to confil
themselves TO their vocation, ect.-
1t is now more than six years sin,
these arrogant and insulting wor'
were uttered by the Senator from |
linois.
The writer of this article was n
among the subscribers to the Minister
Memorial, and has no personal reason
for disliking Mr.. Douglas. or takir
exceptions to his course. on the occ
sion of It's presentation. In commt
with thousands of others, we ha'
} read the record Of that days procee,
ings. and have felt ourselves disgrac,
by the fact that a member of Il
United States Senate could use sue
language in speaking Of a body of m,
like the ministers of New Eng Ian
Stephen Arnold Douglass taking
upon himselfto denounce, in langua!
tit only for bar-room. the great boo
of Christian Teachers of every demon
inaiion in the New England state,
Had the man forgotten where he wa
or lost all sense of shame? Jeremi;
tells us of some IN his time who h;
lost all power to blush. And we ha
seen men who, through devotion
the brandy-bottle, or by other meas
have brought themselves into col
dition where blushing is an impos'
bility. We charitably hope th
Mr.. Douglas was not altogether hir
self on the 14ih Of March, 1854. :
r That man neither daft nor drum
should act and speak as he did I
that occasion, seems utterly iacredib'
The Old Hero Of San Jacinto repli
/, to his TRADE, and vindicated the ?
iitioners from the aspersions thst Ia
been cast upon them. He declar
that the protest was respectful. al
that If the signers believed that {
[, passage Of theKansas and Nebraska b