The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1860-10-13
Speech of
HON. WILLIAM 81. SEWARD,
TO THE PEOPLE OF KANSAS.

HON. WILLIAM q. SEWARD,
To THE PEOPLE OF KANSAS.
FELLOW CIrIzESs : A long cherished de-
sire of mine is fulfilled at last, long de-
ferred duty is about to be paid-the desire
of my heart to see the people of Kansas
the duty that felt / owed 10 the people of
Kansas, to see them in their own homes
and in their own houses. / have visited
your chief cities, Leavenworth, and Law
rence-where the army of mercenaries sent
by the Slave States battered down the ho-
tel, under an indictment and conviction in
court of the United States as nuisance,
because it sheltered the freemen who had
come here to see freedom established in
Kansas. And have looked, also, upon
the Constitution Hall, in Topeka, where the
army of the United States, for the first time
in the history of our nation, dispersed
lawful and peaceable assembly of citizens
of the United States, convened TO hold coun
| sci upon the best means of protecting their
lives, their property and sacred honor
You, people of Kansas, whom have not
been able to see in your homes, have come
up here to greet me, from the valleys of the
Kansas, the Big Blue, and the Neosho. and
| from all your prairies and valleys.
/ seem not to have journeyed hither but
to have tloated across the sea-under bright
autumnal skies, waited by genial breezes
into the free heavens ''where [ would be. :"
l am not sorry that my visit has occurred at
this particular time, so sad in its influence,
when nature, that sends its rains upon the
unjust as well as the just, has for year
Withdrawn its genial showers from the soil
of Kansas. 1t is well to see ones friends
in darkness and sadness, as well as in the
hour of joy.
have beheld the scenes of our former
conflicts. l have also looked upon that
beautiful eminece on the banks of the Kan
widow, cheers and laughter desolate and
mourning, ambitious but unfris ed struc-
lures showing how high is the ambition of
Slavery, and their desolation showing how
easy after all, is its downfall. I would
have seen more of Kansas, if had been
interrupted and impeded in my course hith-
er by the hospitality and kindness of the
people, which could not turn aside.
have been excessively retentive at Leav-
enworth and Topeka, refusing to open my
lips, unless my jaws were pried open, be-
cause do not like to do things by piece
!
the broad day light, in the hearing of the
women as we'll as men OF Kansas and here,
where l have renewed the memories of the
| contest upon this soil, while revolt at toe
implements with which that contest was
waged by the aggressors under the plea oil
popular sovereignty, which left the people
perfectly free to do just as they pleased,
subject to the Constitution of the United
States. which they were left perfectly free
to interpret as they pleased, while the au-
thorities at Washington have never been
able to interpret it to their own satisfaction
or that of the American people.
| When look at field after field, and cabin
after cabin, and church after church, and
schoolhouse after schoolhouse, were but six
years ago was the unbroken land of savages,
l am prepared here-not expecting to es-
cape being heard on the Pacific as well as
the Atlantic COAST am prepared to de-
clare, and do declare, you people of Kasas
the most intelligent, and the bravest anc
r most virtuous people of the United State, Of
of the whole earth. Applause. That il
the most intelligent, and bravest and mos
virtuous people, which can take the banner
of Human Freedom when it is trailed in the
Dust, by the government of its choice, anC
can and will lift it aloft and protect it, ant
bear it to success and honor-and that with
out bloodshed and violence.
People of Kansas you are at once tn
: youngest, the newest people-the newes
= State, as well as the youngest of all tn
( thirty-four American States; you are tn
poorest and the least favored with politica
power-for you are nearly disfranchised-
and yet you are the most infexible, ard tn
most constant. The two richest States il
- the union are Massachusetts and New York
1t though they are SO merely because the
are the freest, the wisest, and the most lib
rty-loyeing State of the Union. appre
bend that you scarcely under stand your
selves, the importance of the position whicI
8 you hold in this Republic. You will per
= haps be surprised. when I tell you that tn
il secret of all the interest ! have felt in 20
IF has been merely this: that you occupy
e pivotal position in the Republic of the Uni
t ted States, with regard to Slavery and Free
dom. There is no difference on this sub
iect, along the line of the Northeaster
States, for they are all in favor OF FreedoI
there is ne difference on the line of th
Southern States, for they all are in favor {
Slavery. But there is an eternal strife b.
r tween Freedom and Slavery, for the estat
lishment of Freedom or Slavery in all til
IN rest OF the United States, that is all Cd
United States reaching from the Missouri I
: the Pacific. If freedom was to triumph
there was no point where she could expe(
lie to meet the enemy, except on the very plat
e. she has met there. And if you had bee
false, Slavery would have swept alon
through the Indian Territory. New Mexic'
and the whole of the country, including Il
- Rocky Mountrins. to the Pacific ocean.
: California was imperfectly secured to Free
dom, and with compromise. You opene
n new campaign here, and crowded it wit
u a complete vitory. Henceforth. the bait
is ended; henceforth, the emigrant fro
the Eastern States, from Germany and Ir
IN IN land, the free labor, In short, from evel
N land on the earth, when he reaches the Mi
nd souri, River, can safely pursue his onwal
er path, and under the banner OF Freedo
a reach the foot of the Rocky Mountain:
: and there the hosts of freemen from Il