The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1860-02-16

took care not TO disgrace that instrument
with the word slavery" and, before adop
ting IT finally, blotted ont from the extraci
ton clause the word "servitude, aeoecsaiy
because Il sigzifed the coHaa4on Of Il STARE.
and substituted the word service" svowed
" beccn IL IsigH.fed the cor aitioa OF free
Thus Mr.. Douglas dares to speak of
all those true men. who, after having pro-
claimed their principles in the Declaration.
endeavored TO introduce them into practical
life IN almost every State. in the way of
gradual enaancPatioRt That they have
failed in this, is it a fault Of theirse Ii shows
but that subsequent generations were hardly
worthy of SO noble an ancestry Applause.
There is Mr.. Douglass version of your
history. He despairs of converting you
without slandering your fathers. His pres
ent doctrines cannot thrive. unless planted In
a cafumny on the past. He vindicate the
signers of the Declaration of Independence
Indeed. they need it sadly. l see the illus
tr!ous committee of five rise from their graves
at their head Thomas Jefferson. his lips curl
ed with the smile of contempt, and | hear
him say to Mr.. Douglas: Sir. you may
abuse IS much as YOU please, but have the
goodness to spare with your yindlcshons
of character and motives" Great
laughter and applause.
1t is a common thing that men Of a coarse
cast of mind so lose themselves in the mean
pursuit of selfish ends, as to become insensi
bic to the grand and sublime. Measuring ev-
cry character aud every event in history bv
the low standard of their own individualities,
applying TO everything the narrow rule of
their own motives. incapable OF grasping
broad and generous ideas, they will behttle
every great thing they cannot deny, and
drag down every struggle of principles 10
the sordid arena Of aspiring sehshness. or
of small competing. interests. Eighteen hun
dred years ago, there were men who sav
nothing in incipient Christianity but a mere
wrangle between Jewish Theologians. gotten
/ up by a carpenters boy, and carried on by
few crazy fishermen. Three hundred years
ago, there were men who saw in the great re-
forfnatory movement of the sixteenth eentu-
ry, not the emancipation of the individual
conscience, but mere fuss kicked up by a
German monk who wanted to get married.
Two hundred years ago. there were men
who saw in Rampden's refusal 10 pay the
ship money, not a bold yindication of consti :.
tulional liberty, but the crazy antics Of a
man who was mean enough to quarrel about
a few shillings. And now. there men
who see in the Declaration of Independence
sud the American Revolution, not the reor-
ganization of human society upon the basis
: of liberty and equality, but dodge Of some
English colonists who were unwilling to pay
their taxes. Applause
: But the dignity of great characters and the
glory OF great events, find their vindcaotin
in the consciences of the people. Cheers !
Its vain for demagogusm to raise its short
arms against the truth OF history. The De-
claration of Independence stands there. No
Il raaI. xvtbout 4
!, feeling that every word Of it was dictated by
deep and earnest thought. and that every sen
tence Of it bears the stamp of philosophical
generality. 1t is the summing up of the re-
: suits OF the philosophical development of the
age; it is the practical embodiment of the
progressive ideas, which, very far from be-
ing confined to the narrow limits of the Eng
{ lish colonies, pervaded the very atmosphere
of all civilized countries That code of human
, rights has grown on the very summit OF civ
, ilizaiion, not In the miry soil of South Car
olua cotton field He must have dull mind
or disordered brain, who misunderstands
its principles, but he must have the heart of
villain, who knowingly nsisrepresents them.
| Loud cheers.
Mr.. Douglass ambition might have been
satisfied with this ignoninious exploit. But
, the necessities Of this popular sovereignty
does nOE STOP k1eEe. fAittrt HAVING tFltu
: explain away the fundamental principles un-
: derly lying this Republic. which hostile
to slavery and its extension, Mr.. Douglas
: finds it exceedingly convenient to encounter
facts which prove, beyond doubt, that these
principles, from a mere theoretical existence,
rose to practical realization. Popular sover.
! eignty, which is at war with the doctrines
OF the Declaration of Independence, de
: rnands the slaughter of the Ordinance Of II.
, 81, and Mr. Douglas is-up to the task. Hs
does no, stop at trifies.
And here we must return to the Harpe,
Magazine Manifesto. He leads US through q
: century of colonial history, in order to show
! that the people of the colonies claimed the
right to legislate on the subject of slavery
; And remarkably enough all the instance.
Z quoted show uniform tendency averse e
the peculiar institution. Mr.. Douglas ther
proceeds to discover the germs of his popular
, sovereignty doctrine in the first Congression
al legislation concerning the Territories
| | will not undertake to criticise tha. sineula,
historical essay, although some of its state
T raeuts are such as to make the freshmen O
e our colleges smile. The statesman" Doug
l las does not seem to be aware that the abli
e " 10 read history ought to precede the a.
tempt 10 write it. Laughter and cheers l.
He leads Us back to the Congress of 1884
+ Mr.. Jefferson and his colleagues have Jus
executed the deed OF cession of the North
o western Territory, and .he same Mr. Jeffer
i son. as Chairman Of committee, then sub
= mits a plan for the temporary governmen
P OF the Territories cedsd or to be ce
4. .ded BIZ the individual States to the Uni,ec
: States Mr.. Douglas proceeds to describ.
: how the Territorial Governments were to b,
: organized, what rights and powers vera pa
!, mo the hands OF the people. and how tbey
L were to be exercised; and. after having de
: mon strated that the term new States mean
o the same thing which is now designated b,
81 t,o1 70 ba 81.