St. Paul weekly Minnesotian. (St. Paul) 1860-1861, 1860-11-09

bed. SO deep, so violent, 50 fierce ia ths
public feeling on this question of slavery
in q community half continent from any
possibility of its reach. And yet this doc,
trine Of Mr.. Douglas proposes to plant sht
discussion and the settlement of the aues-
ton, right in the middle OF the people, to
be affected by ito make that practical
which is otherwise theoretical Ito bring
the same violent, fierce feeling to bear, moi
on slavery in the abstract, but on the ques.
ton of slavery or no slavery right at ths
doors of the disputaats And that which
ends in bloodshcd in Pennsylvania, is, you
are told, to find pcaceable solution on
the plains OF Kansas!
Mississippi is slave state. There is no
effort to make it otherwise and but q dis
tant hope that it ever viii be otherwise.
Yet, suppose, my friends, that you or I 90
there and denounce slavery as it appeared
among the sireeks and Romans. Plato
said man was "a biped without feathers =
whereupon Diogenes piucked chicken
and setting it down called ii, Plato s
man." Well, you or ], after oar lecture ia
Mississippi, would probably, If no worse
fate befell US, reverse Plates definition and
Fsesst long saolualy ofA Eipes
nth ieathe And YET IL IS one % thsss
citizens Of MISSES ipps 41iens iii bowiS
knife and revolver, into whose hafds tiis
peaceful solution Of the slavery question
is to be placed. He who has, all his life,
treated the ebullitions of struggling free
dom with the lash, and the advocates Of
liberty with the tar pot and feather bag, is
now to walk peaceably up to ballot box,
deposit small piece of paper therein,
walk quietly off full of charity and liberty
to all mankind, and await the issue We
have heard of one Seth Jones, who, when
indignant at his wife for some domestic
provocati0n, vowed he would freeze himself
to death, and proceeded to sit out of doors
with the thermometer considerably below
zero. In few moments, however, he re-
turned into the house and said, 'Ae be-
tseUed he could carry out a .fsso blankets as
at soas darned cold out Msre ~. The cold
process vf freezing was not more congo
NAL to Seth's warm temperament. than.
would be the methodical process Of the,
ballot box to the MisSissipian. Nor did
Seth fall back with greater delight upon
the blankets than would the Mississippian
on the old-fashiened adjudicators, the bowie
knife and revolver. "'
And yet, my friends, the comparison is
not fair one. Pennsylvania and Miss;s-
sippi are old States, long, settled well or.
ganized, devoted to law and order. And
yet, in them, the discussion of Slavery in
the abstract can scarcely be tolerated with
out bloodshed. What results, then, may
we anticipate where there is neither wealth,
nor organized society, nor scarcely law;
where the population, instead of being ho-
mogeneous, is hurriedly congregated from
the most distant localities, and represent
ing the most divergent sentiments and
where, too often, south of $50 80 min.,
we find the people ruder than the Indians
they displsce. You have seen the account
of traveller in Arkansas, who, while
ashore in village on the river bank, wit :
messed fight in which two men were kill
ed. No arrests were made, and the mur-
derers walked deliberately off. my
heavens" exclaimed thu traveller, g don't
you arrest men for murder here?" "Oh,
no." said bystander, 1--WE amt incorpo-
rated!"
The whole doctrine is farcicaI. That
which distracfs the ATHEIST delberative body
in the world, the American Congress, and
which has disruptured the Democratic
party, held together by old associations,
and by unity of object, is to meet q
peaceable solution on the great plains, at the
hands Of men struggling for their pressing
interests, and held together by nc tie save
a common color and common language
Suppose, my friends, that when the
English Parliament was agitated and con-
vulsed, as this country now is, with the
working out OF the disease of Slavery,
more particularly with the question of Sla-
very in the Colonies of Great Britain, some
man, fearing to espouse either side, and
protesting indifference to both, had arisen
and proposed to throw the burden off the
shoulders Of Parliament, and leave tho
whole question to the turmoil, the violence,
the narrowness and the selfishness of the
Colonies themselves. What would have
been his answer? He would have been
sent covering from public life, leaving his
name 9. wreck, a mock, jeer, and a blister
for all coming time. He would have been
denounced as one who, when sent up to
leglslate for the people, and save them
from their own passions, sought through
fear of the people, to throw back upon
them, nay, upon crude portion of them,
the perilous work he had been chosen to
perform.
Says Guizot, speaking of the English
Parliament of 1910, "They had reached
such pass that the two parties could no
longer live together sit within the
same walls" sat @
Says Mr.. Breckenridge, speaking Of the
American Congress, "a stranger visiting
Washington would suppose the President
Of the United States the ruler Of two dis
tinct and hostile nations"
At this critical moment, when the ma
ton is all finder, waiting for the spark
when the GREAT WORK, proceeding peacea-
bly,, walks amid shadowy dangers, Mr..
Douglas comes forward with the denoue-
ment. s &c
"True, my friends" he says, in effect,
" we cannot settle this question here our
officers cannot keep order; and parlia--
mentary rules amount to nothing we viii
come to blows and murder each other,
which would be neither respectable nor.
pleasant. There is a great empty region
west of US. You, Southerners pick out
your best men; and you, Northerners,
yours send them forth and let them fight
it out. For my part / don't care which
wins" And so he washes his hands of
the whole matter, as did Pontius Plate
when he handed over Christ to his execa-
TONERS. .. 49,
And this, we are told, is great policy +
This is great craftsmanship This is,
j" Popular Sovereignty :
If the object is to pluck such dema-
gogucs as Mr.. Douglas out of the trough
Of the sea, when the conflicting waters Of
sectional strife smite and shatter each other,
then, grant you, this policy viii accom-
plish it. II the object is to have states
men who fill the places Of the leaders Of
the nation, draw their pay with great re-
gularity, and yet are unable or unwilling
to lead the nation, then this policy win ac-
complish it.
"Is removes this question:" says Mr..
Douglas, "from the halls Of Congress
tits Their the great end of Eesman-
ship to remove questions from The halls Of
Congress--to dodge issues to change the
venue of agitation
1t was said in condemnation of William
pitt that he fro ,sfarrad the prnlearra SsY,fptss