Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1860-02-16


Declal alton of independence and the
American Revolution, not the reorgan-
ization of human society upon the
basis of Liberty and Equality. but a
dodge of some English colonists who
were unwilling to pay their taxes
Continued applause.)
But the dignity of great characters
and the glory of great events find their
vindication in the consciences of the
people. CHEERS 1t is vain for dem
agoguism TO raise its short arms
against the truth of history. The
Declaration of independence stands
there. No candid man ever read it
without seeking and feeling that every
word of it was dictated by deep and
earnest thought, and that every SEN
tence of it bears the stamp of philo-
sophical generality. 1t is the sum
ming up of the results of the philo-
sophical development of the age, it is
the practical embodiment of the pro-
gressive ideas, which, very far from
being confined to the narrow limits of
of the English colonies, pervaded the
very atmosphere of all civilized coun-
tries. That code of human rights has
grown on the very summit of civiiza-
ton, not in the miry soil of a South
Carolina cotton field. He must have
dull mind or a disordered brain, who
misunderstands its principles; but he
must have the heart of a villain who
knowingly misrepresents them. Loud
cheers.
Mr.. Douglass ambition might have
been satisfied with the ignominious
exploit. But the necessities of the
popular sovereignty doctrine do not
stop there. After having tried to ex-
plain away the fundamental principles
underlying this republic, which are
hostile to slavery and its extension,
Mr.. Douglas finds it exceedingly in
convenient to encounter facts, which
prove, beyond doubt. that these prin-
ciplcs, from a mere theoretical exist
ence, rose to practical realization
Popular sovereignty, which is at war
with the doctrines of the Declaration
of independence, demands the slaugh-
ter of the ordinance of 1887, and Mr..
Douglas is up to the task. He does not
stop at trilles. And here we must
return to the Harper Magazine mani
festo. lie leads MS through century
of colonia, history in order to show
that the people of the colonies claimed
the right to legislatc on the subject of
slavery. And. remarkably enough all
the instances quoted show uniform
tendency adverse to the peculiar insti-
tuition. Mr.. Douglas then proceeds to
discover the germs of his popular SOW
ereignty doctrine in the first congress-
ional legislation concerning the Terri
tories. | will not undertake to criti-
else that singular historical essay, al
though some of its statements are such
as to make the freshmen of our coll
leges smile. The statesman Doug
las does not seem to be aware that the
ability to read history ought to pre-
cede the attempt to write it. Laugh
and cheers He leads us back to the
Congress of 1884. Mr.. Jefferson and
his colleagues have just executed the
deed of cession of the Northwestern
territory, aud the same Mr.. jefferson,
as Chairman OF a committee, then sub
mits "a plan for the temporary gov
ernment of the Territories ceded or to
be ceded by the individual States to
the United States Mr.. Douglas pro-
ceeds to describe how the Territorial
governments were to be organized,
what rights and powers were put in
to the hands of the people, and how
they were to be exercised; and after
having demonstrated that the tenn
new States meant the same thing
which is now designated by Terrific
ries,' he comes to the conclusion that
the spirit pervading that plan was in
exact consonance with his doctrine of
popular sovereignty Mr.. Douglas
ostentat;ously calls this the Jefferson
plan 1t was says he. the first
plan of government for the Territories
ever adopted in the United States. 1t
was drawn by the author of the Decla-
tion of Independence, and revised and
adopted by those who shaped the is
sues which produced the Revolution.
and formed the foundations upon which
our whole system Of American govern
ment rests But Mr.. Douglas skips
rather nimbly over the significant fact,
that the same author of the Declara-
ton of Independence put into that
plan proviso, ercluding Harsry from
tie Territories. Was that a mere acci-
dent? Mr.. Jefferson showed thereby
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