The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1860-09-20

out from the extradition clause the word
"servitnde, "avowedly because it signifed
the condition of slave, and substituted
the word Service" avowedly because a
saemlfed The condition Of a freeman Thus
Mr.. Douglas dares to speak of all those
true men, who, after having procaim d
their principles in the Declaration. en-.
dearored to introduce them into practi.
cal life in almost every State, in the way
of gradual enancipataon! That they
have failed in this, is it fault of theirs!
1t shows not that they were less great
and sincere, but that subsequedt genera
tious were hardly worthy of so noble an
ancestry [Applsuse.
There is Mr.. Douglass version of your
history. He despairs of converting you
without slandering your fathers. His pre-
sent doctrines cannot thrive, unless plan
ted in a calumny on the past. He vindi-
cate the singers Of the Declaration of In
dependence! Indeed, they need it sadly.
| see the illustrious committee of FIVE
rise from their graves, at their head
Thomas Jefferson, his lips curled With
the smile of contempt, and hear bin
say to Mr. Douglas: "Sir, you may a.
huse us as much as you please, but have
the goodness to spare US with your vindi-
cations of our character and motives. y
Great laughter and applause,
1t is common thing that men of a
coarse cast of mind so lose themselves in
the mean pursuit of selfish ends, as to be-
come insensible to the grand and sublime.
Measuring every character and every e.
vent in history by the Low standard of
their own individaalities, applying to ev-
erything the narrow rule Of their own mo-
tives, incapable of grasping broad and
generous ideas. they will belittle every
great thing they cannot deny, and drag
down every struggle of principles to the
sordid arena of aspiring sel6shness, or of
sma all competing interests Eighteen hun.
dred years ago, there were. men who saw
nothing in incipiept Christianity but a
mere wrangle between Jewish theologians,
got up by carpenters boy, and carried
on by few crazy fishermen. Three hun
dred years ago. there were men who saw
in the great reformatory movement of the
sixteenth century, not the emancipation
of the individual conscience. but a mere
fuss kicked up by German monk who
wanted to get married. Two hundred
years ago. there we're meu who saw in
Hampden's refusal to pay the ship mon
eY, not bold vindication of constitu-
tional liberty, but the crazy antics of
an who was mean enough to quarrel a.
bout few shilliHgs. And now, there
are men who see in the Declaration of In
dependence and the American Revolu-
tioo, not the reorganization. of human So
ciety upon the basis of liberty and equal
ity, but dodge of some English colo
nists, who were unwilling to pay their
taxes. Continued applause.
But the dignity of great characters ard
the glory of great events find their vindi-
cation in the conssiences of tee people
[Cheers.] It is in vain for demagoguisn
to raise its short arms against the truth
Of history. The Declaration of Inde-
pendence stands there. No candid man
ever read it without seeing and feeling
that every worn of it was dictated by
deep and earnest thought. and that every
sentence of it bears the stamp of philoso-
phical generality. 1t is the sumipg up
of the results of the philosophical devel-
opment of the age; it is the practical en-
bodiment of the progressive ideas, which,
very far from being cou6ned to the mar
row limits of the English colonies. perva-
ded the very atmosphere of all civilized
countries. That code of human rights
has grown on the very summit of civiliza-
ton, not in the miry soil of South Car
olina cotton-feld. He must have dull
mind or disordered brsin, who misuuder-
stands its principles; but be must have
the heart Of O vilIaiu, who knowiDgl y mis-
represents them. Loud cheers.
Mr.. Douglass ambition might have
been satisfied with this iguo uinious ex-
ploit But the necessities of the popular
sovereignty doctrine do not stop there
After having tried to explain away the
fundamental principles underlying this
Republic, which are hostile to slavery
and its extension, Mr. Douglas finds it
exceedingly inconvenient to encounter
facts which prove, beyond doubt, that
these principles, from mere theoretical
existence, rose to practical realization
Popular sovereignty, which ia at war with
the doctrines of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, dcm snds the slaughter of the
ordinance of 1857, and Mr.. Douglas is
up to the task. He does not stop at tri-
fes.
And here we must return to the Hsr-
per. Magazine manifesto. lie leads Us
through century OF colonial history. in
order to show that the people OF the CO.
lonies claimed the right to leglslate on
the subject of slavery. And remarkably
enough all the instances quoted show
uniform tendency adverse to the peculiar
institution Mr.. Douglas then proseed
to discover the germs of bis popuar-sov
ereignty doctrine in the first Congress
sional legislation concerning the Territor
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