The weekly Mississippian. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1859-1864, 1860-09-05
AN INFAMOUS SPEECH.
Douglas Offers to Become the Supper
ter Of a Black Republican Admin
istration. q

AN INFAMOUS SPEEC6.
Douglas Offers to Become the Suppor-
ter Of a Black Republican Admin
istration.
Below we publish extracts from the iate
speech pronounced at Norfolk by Douglas,
the semi-Abolition candidate for the Presden-
cy. It is the elimination of his treachery and
of his alliance with the Black Republican par
ty-an alliance which was commenced dur
ing the Kansas struggle, and is now in the
full bloom of its complete Development
Douglas candidacy for the presidency has no
other object but the defeat of the Democratic
party and the election of Lincoln. This was
before apparent to any man of the least dis
cernment, but his profered championship
of Lincoln's prospective administration against
the uprising of an outraged and insulted peo-
pie, clinches the testimony. His avowal that
the South should bend her neck and accept
the Black Republican yoke, is interlarded
with the usual common places of Seward and
Greedy about the "Union and resistance to the
laws" but under all these velvety phrases,
the forked- tongue of the Abolition adder dis
tills its vernon His reference TO Gen. Jack
sons administration is an outrage upon the
memory Of that great man. The Tariff ques-
ton of that day, was mere feather to a
mountain, compared to the causes OF the pre-
sent agitation, The issues ofthis day involve
the very existence of the slaye-holding States,
whose people are struggling to save them
selves from the clutches Of worse than
Russian despotism.
We understand that there are few men
who enthusiastically boast their orthodoxy on
the slavery question that are disposed to cavil
because the delegates to Charleston and Balti-
morne did not come nearer to their selt-as-
sumed unapproachable eminence, and who with
disgusting inconsistency are, in the mean
time, in the habit Of lauding Douglas, the
disorganizer and traitor, to the skies. We
suppose that since he has pelted them with
the rotton eggs and carrion of his Norfolk
TRADE, and has threatened them with the halt
er if they treat the election of Lincoln as the
covert act" they have been brought to their
senses. We will see. Meantime, we shall
hold ourselves ready to vindicate the action
ofthe Southern delegates to the National Con-
yention from all assaults, high or low, open
or masked. Blows can be given as well as
received:
From an Exchange
In the middle of Judge Douglas address, a
slip Of paper was handed to him. 1t was cut
from the Norfalk Daily Argus, and contained
two polite queations for Judge Douglas,
Having ascertained the questions as thus
propeunded, he said: e.s i,
| am not in the habit of answering ques.
| tons propounded to me in the course of an
address, but on this occasion l will comply
with the request, and respond, very frankly
and unequtvocally, to these two questions.
The first question is, if Abraham Lincoln b
elected President of the United States, will
the Southern States be justified in seeding
from the Union.
To this l emphatically answer no. [Great
| applause. The election of man to the Pre-
| SlueuCJ ny tuo hulcIlCdu pcople,
ty with the Constitution of the United States
would not justify any attempt at dissolviDs
this glorious confederacy. Applause. Now
I will read to you the next question, and theI
answer it.
Question.-If they, the Southern States
secede from the Union upon the Inauguration
of Abraham Lincoln, before he commits al
overt act against their constitutional rights
| H.,
to their secession
Voices-"No, no7
Mr.. Douglas.-I answer emphitically tina
it is the duty of the President of the UniteC
States, and all others in authority under him
to enforce the laws of the United States a
passed by Congress and as the courts ex
pound them, (Cheers,) And /, as in dut,
bound by nv oath of fidelity to the Constitu
ton, would do all in my power to aid the gov
eminent of the United States in maintainn
the supremacy of the laws against all resis
lance to them, come from what quarter
might. (Good.) In other words, l think tn
President of the United States, whoever h
may be, should treat all attempts, to break u
the Union, by resistance to its laws, as Oh
Hickory treated the nullifers in 1882. GAP
plause.) The laws must be enforced, but a
the same time, be it remembered, it is the dut,
-of 4st.tte, and
public functionary, to preserve, maintain am
vindicate the rights of every citizen and tn
rights of every state in the Union. holC
that the Constitution has remedy for ever,
grievance that may arise within the limits o
the Union. l am very frank in answerin.
these questions. | am not in favor of any
policy which would tend to give rise L
complaints or murmurings, much less to suct
as would call for resistance from any quarter
acknowledge the inherent and inalienablt
right to revolution whenever grievance be-
comes too burdensome to be borne l ac
| knowledge the right of every man to rebel anC
change the form of government under which
he lives whenever it proves detructive to the
ends for which it was established. That is a
| right, however, never to be resorted to until
| the operations of the government becomes
more grievous than the consequences of revo-
luton. And therefore l say that the mere
Inauguration ola President of the United States
whose political opinions were, in my iudg-
ment, hostile to the Constitution and safety
of the Union, without an overt act on his part.
without striking blow at our Constitution or
our rights. is not such grievance as would
Justify revolution or secession. CHEERS y
Hence say whoever may be elected Presi-
dent of the United States he must be sustain
ed in the exercise of all his Just constitutional
prerogatives and powers.
Mr.. Douglas.-Lincoln has no hope ofbeing
elected except through the efforts of the Sc
cessionists, who have divided the Democratic
party-supposing that Breckenridge would
carry every Southern State-though it now
seems he is not going to carry a single one by
the people. Still, by dividing the North,
he gives every one of the States to Lincoln,
thus allowing him to be elected by popular
vote. Why, what was the true aspect of the
contest before the secession Lincoln had
no show whatever for more than two States
till the Breckenridge division took place, and
would have beaten him in every State but
Vermontand Massachusetts. As it is, think
/ will beat him in almost all of them vet.
(Cheers). But should Lincoln be elected, the
secessionists, who nominated, and now sup
port Breckenridge, will be entitled to the
credit of ii, and upon them will rest the
responsibility of having adopted the fatal
policy and dreading the result of their own
rash and unpatriotic acts, which gives to
Lincoln chance of success, they come for
ward and ask me if l will help them to
dissolve the Union in the event of Lincoln
being raised to the Presidential chair. tell
them, no-never on earth. CHEERS, and cries
of "Good.") l am for putting down North
ern abolitionism, but am also putting down
Southern secessonists, and that, too, by the
exercise Of the same constitutional power.
("Good.") / believe that the peace, harmony
and the safety of this country depend upon
destroying both factions. (Cheers.) Both
parties they can be called. are allies in a COM
mon cause for however hostile they may be
to each other, however opposed in purposes