Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1860-09-28

between freedom and slavery Missouri
a sacred thing, akin to the
Constitution itself, and he invoked the curse
of heaven on the hand Of the man who, with
impious arm, should dare to strike it down.
["l heard him say it, Then, he goes up
into the Senate of the United States, and, in
1854, as Chairman Of the Committee on Ter
ritories, he brings in the first Kansas bill,
that practically reiterated the same sentiment.
These, gentlemen, are the antecedents OF
Stephen A. Douglas up to 1854.
HIS AMBITION TO BE PRESIDENT.
Then great change comes DER the spirit
Of his dream. What now is the matter?
Why, Stephen wants to be President Of the
United States. [''But he can't bel Yet
Stephen thinks he will be, no doubt. The
ludcrous pride and delusive ambition of this
man remind me of remark made by old Tom
Patrick, a large, stout, sensible, good. natured
man, to young John Howard, great dandy,
and a near relation to Tom. This little pop.
Inlay was displeased at something Tom had
said, and he ruliled up and broke out, "'tom
Patrick, you are id rascal and a liar"
Tom, looking down at the little fellow with
great magnanimity, and laughing, said, IN his
suffering way for he stuttered-" Now,
Johnny, tina tina. that's nothing but your
f.e.foollsh ina ma imagination" Roars of
laughter.
Yes, for long time, among his other fool
ish aspirations, Mr.. Douglas has aimed at the
Presidency. The slave power, that makes
and unmakes Presidents, knew this, and,
when he had made this report allowing the
Missouri Compromise to stand, the King said:
"Stephen, we have been outstripped in this
race between freedom and slavery; although
we put up and put down Presidents, control
the foreign and domestic policy OF the govern
ment, and have always had sway in all things,
we are falling behind. 1t is true, we have got
Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Arkansas,
and Texas has been re-anneXed, with power
to bring in three more slave States whenever
the King shall decree, and we have built up,
out of the Territories of the old slave States,
these additional powers of Kentucky and
Tennessee, and so forth, yet the free States
are leaving us behind, and the political power
is about to pass from our hands. We must
have this free territory. We must break
down this landm TX of freedom, and populate
this country with slaves; therefore, Stephen,
we, the KING, are greatly displeased with your
report, the other day, in the Senate"
| STEPHEN HAS VISION AND REVELATION.
| Then was Stephen greatly troubled in his
mind, and it is said that, for three days and
nights, he refused to be comforted-t fasting
and mourning IN sackcloth and ashes. Laugh
ter Theo ne became suddenly pious; he
prayed, and he wrote to his good old mamma.
Laughter Let US not reproach her--she
has had calamity enough in bringing into the
world such son. Laughter. He wrote to
his mamma, and at length there was vouch-
safed an answer to his petitions, and he had
vision that came and stood before him, to
his eye vast, indistinct and undistinguishable
in form, and it said unto him, ooh, Stephen
where art thou?' And Stephen, bowling
himself down, cried out, "Lo! | am here
who art thou, and what woudst thou have
me to do?" Laughter.] And it answered
and said unto him, II am the Slave Power
[ am the King. have made and unmade
Presidents for the last three-quarters of a
century. know, Stephen, that you want to
be President, but | am sore dsp!eased with
your antecedents in this war between liberty
and slavery. In word | am Archie Dixon,
of Kentucky, the representative of the slave
power. You must retract your declaration
that the Missouri Compromise is a sacred
thing. change your report, and repeal that
law, or will be President instead of you,
Stephen" Then Stephen fell down upon his
face, and cried with loud voice, "Allah il
Allah! Glory to Slavery! There is no other
God but thee!" Laughter.] And straight
way Stephen rose up, went into the Senate,
and brought in the Kansas Nebraska bill,
breaking down the partition wall between
freedom and slavery. Is there in history
another such miserable tergyersation as this ?
HE INvENTS AN APOLOGY FOR HIS APosTAcY.
Now, Stephen we'll knew that it would
never do for him to come here to Illinois and
tell these men of large families and small
estates, who wished to move iato Kansas,
and, under the Republican homestead law,
take possession Of their tirthright, that he
had betrayed their trust bartered away their
interest, burned their title deeds, and sold the
land which vas their birthright to the slave
holders, in order that he night be President.
What then can he do? How can he escape
the populsr Indignation? Why, he matches
up this fraudulent popular sovereignty as a
sort of parachute to break his fall and he
says he did not want the shareholders to go
into Kansas, and did not believe they ever
woull go there but he wanted to maintain
the equality of the States. He did not want
to put badge of intcriorty upon our Southern
brethren; but let them take their property
into the territory purchased by the common
blood and treasure. That seemed to have
some fairness in it. 1t is true it reversed all
the antecedents of the fathers, and all the
actions and declarations of the Democratic
party. The fathers had refused to put the
word slavery" into the Constitution; they
had excluded 1t by Congressional enactment
from Illinois, and all toe rest Of the territory
which they owned; they had sanctioned this
enactment by a succession of decisions by all
the tribunals and a long series Of similar
enactments. But Stephen had found cut that
he was ga Daniel come to Judgment that
those who made the Constitution did not
understand it that the Constitution was itself
unconstitutional! Laughter and cheers !
TIE APOLOGY PROVES TO BE A FRAUD.
Well, we acquiesced God knows upon
what principle. Wcswent into Kansas in
| tending in good faith to carry out the will
Of the people. We from the slave States,
who had felt the unutterable woes Of
slavery, and you from the fec States who
had kno the inestiInah!e blessings of lib
erty, determined that it should befrc,. But
! what was our as tonishment to find that once
| more they ha" deceived US and broken faith
that they were playing the grab game,
takins by force what they could not fairly
win! But, thank Cod the revolutionary
spirit of our fathers survived; the blood Of
ZIG glowed in our veins, and the friend, Of
FIRE dorn and free men swept the Border
Ruff ans like IF before tbs wind and made
Kansas u free State with free Constitu-
ton. But where was Douglas Popular
Sovereignty all this time? Why, it was a
fraud and cheat from the beginning.
POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY WORKED OUT DY FIGURES.
Lei US see if it is in the power of the peo-
pie in the Territory to decide this question
for themselves. The sovereignty in this
country, which is popular sovereignty, is
divided into three equal and co ordinate
parts such is the language of the Consttu-
ton the executive, the legislative and the