Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1860-01-24
8 sPERCH
Hon, BENZ. F. WADE, Of Ohio,
Deltosrsd H. IL the Senate Of the United States, o.
The l4th ef Dec, 1859. =. y

- 4AS4 AunoHlAS ais ti4S ZCo ouClatAAAe5E E1S-
marks of Hon. B. F. Wade, on the
amendment Of Mr.. Trumbull, to the res
olution offered by Mr.. Mason on the 5th
tprox., providing that committee be APP
i pointed to- inquire into the invasion of
.Harper's Ferry. The amendment Of Mr..
Trumbulf was to the effect that said
committee also inquire into the facts at
tending the invasion, seizure, and rob-
! berry, in December, 1855, of the arsenal
of the United States, at Liberty, in the
State of Missouri, by mob or body Of
armed men, and report whether such
seizure and robbery was attended By re-
4. sistance to the authoritiess of the United
States, and followed by an invasion of
the Territory of Kansas, and the plan
der and murder Of its inhabitants. $
Mr. Wade.introduced his remarks thus:
1t was not my intention, Mr.. Presi-
dent, to, say anything upon the subject Of
this resolution until late yester lay, " hen
my name was called in question by one
4 or two of the Senators; on this floor. /
made up my mind, on the" introduction
Of this resolution, that l would vote for
lit; not, however, with the hope that any
beneficial result would flow from 1T, for
it seemed to me from the first that the
: only effect it would have would be to
Increase that state of excitement that
seems already to be sufficiently strong,
at least for all practical purposes. But
upon this resolution themhoie subject of
controversy between theaNorthern and
Southern States has been discussed and
!. l have been alluded to in such terms as
renders it essential that l Should say
Something l have no desire to speak
frequently on this most hackneyed sub
.Iiect.s *sles5 x x fs x e- X :, !
Mr.. PRESIDENT: L am not one OF
those who suppose that all shareholders
are deeply criminal, | know very we'll
how habit and custom, and even neces-
sity, modify all our abstract opinions. ]
understand that we'll, and / never men
i tion it in the North without thetprope1
qualifications, Notwithstanding the Sen
ator thinks l hate slaveholding and
Shareholders so much. l give you here
on this floor, my worst version Of youl
institutions aIlhold no such doctrineas
the Se1iatorseharges us with. l. do not
, Fcharge Thomas, Jefferson, nor Mr., Mad
lison, nor General Washington, nor Mr.
Randolph. nor Mr.. Tucker, nor any ctthe,
: foff the great statesmen to whom we Hook
Fup;with such reverence, with hypocrisy
, or anything sinister or swrongi because
I When they; made. this declaration, and
declared that the word 'tslave" should
not be in the instrument which they werc
S framing, for the reason that it grated
harshly,o on theirsear and they. knew ii
was an infringement on natural right
they held slaves in the States themselves
The fact that they held Slaves did not
prevent their making this declaration
tnof did it prevent them, son all gocca,
sions,l from inyeighing against the insti
+ tuition, and wishing they. could find some
means by which they could do away
with it. General Washington himself
was, according to your understanding O.
, it, just as much an Abolitionistz as yor
charge me with being He believed ths
system wrong-morally, politically, il
4 every way-and he hoped some means
would be found whereby it, might b.
abolished. Yes, sir, that was the word
He wished that some means would bt
found by which. this system should zbt
done away with, and he declared that
! whenever there was an opportunity, hi
vote should not be- wanting to accom-
plish it. How long do yousuppose tina
:, he could remain on the soil of Nirgini;
to-day, with this declaration upon hi
tongue? So ''37t' ='''s-' 4'R
In the administration of public affairs
youacannot governia nation upon an alb
Z straction.l You cannot impeach maj
with Inconsistency because he canno
live in the administration Of public af
fairs up to the fnest-spun theory tl4a
you may produce q All I ask of ythes,
!, great menth they performed. They sfeune
themselves surrounded with this institu
tion; they saw its working and its ope
ration; they saw that it was all wrong
, in policy and in theory; they .thatil
moralsit was equally wrong, rand the,
wished to get rid fit; and;Qn all prone
occasions they constantly declared it t.
be wrong, and they invoked the peopl
), about them to come up to the work, and
j as fast as it could be done, to do away witt
? it. Therefore, sir, they were consistent
They knew-that their slaNehol olding in, tn
States was in direct contradiction of tha
great and Godlike declaration that the,
; had put forth to all mankind, and the,
: sought5to get rid ofiit. u g7.nEosslii
Mr, President, it is not a great ,whil'
ago since the view that those great mel
, entertained on this subject was universal
North South, East, and West: I wisl
Senators would bear that in mind; be
cause, perhaps, it would moderate Their
asperity .!of, feeling against those, wht
still stand where, but very, short time
!, since, we all stood together. That Sla
very is to be justified as divine institu
ton, is a doctrine that is not. five years
old, in my Judgment. Mr.. Clay, at tht
head of the old Wing party, denouncet
, it down to very late period in his val
! liable life, in stronger, infinitely stronge
terms than could denounce it upon thi
floor, as wrong, continually wrong ane
: the, great party that adhered to his stan
dara in the South were all equally or
thodox upon this subject; there was NJ
discordant note 9there;N there was not. {
: Clay Wing in all the South who woule
. stand up and say, athis institution o
! ours is to be justified upon principles o
moral right and JUSTICE not one.
So well known was this fact, that
remember it is not much more than fou
years ago:since the speakers in the South
o and the. leading papers in the South, pu
forth that doetrine-the Charleston Her
cury, recollect, was one-that the fran
fers of our Institutions were all Abolition
) lists, agreeing precisely with our doe