Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1862-02-07

vermont irem lozl 10 1873, and from
1925 to 1927, and again from lS4lt to
lS43. s..-.s--.. as7-
During his last term in Congress he
stood firmly by the side Of John Quincy
Adams, in the advocacy of the Right of
Petition-no matter who were the peti.
TONERS, or what was the subject matter of
the petition. A rule of the House of
Representatives declared, That all petit
lions, memorials, resolutions, propositions
or papers, relating in any way, or to any
extent whatever, to the subject of slavery,
or the abolition of slavery, SHALL without
being either printed or referred. be laid
upon the table, and that no further action
whatever shall be had thereon" This
rule was adopted by a large majority-:he
whole South and nearly the entire North.
voting in it's favor IN addition to this.
any Member of the House presenting
petition on this subject was met with in
| sult abuse and threats of personal yio-
lence, and even Of assassination. Regard
less of these threats. and in defiance Of
what he. declared to be "a disgraceful and
unconstitutional rule"-he repeatedly pre- r.,
sented such petitions as were sent to him
and upon presenting to Congress q peti.
ton from some Of his constituents for the
abolition of Slavery in the District of
Columbia, he said, 81 present this Pc
tion, not for the idle purpose of voting,
myself, against it. but because l believe, n,
in my soul, that the prayer thereof ought
to be granted, SO as to free this land of
liberty from the national and damning sin
of slavery in this our own Bailiwick, the
District of Columbia" In commenting,
upon his course on this subject, and the
remarks above quoted, in circular to his
constituents he said the richest legacy he
could leave to his children would be the
fact that they had father who had the
courage to utter such sentiments at that
time and at that place. ,.r - ....,-.
In 1888 he was elected Judge of the
Supreme Court of Vermont, and re-elect-
ed in 1884, when he declined a reelection. 4
The reason of his dcclination has always
been mystery to many of his friends,
and the general opinion seemed to be,
either that the duties of the office were
distasteful to him, or that he conceived in
his own mind that he was not qualified to
discharge, in a proper manner, the duties
thereof, and was too honest to retain the
office with those views. Neither of these
reasons is correct. Domestic affections
led him to the step. In a letter, which
one of his associates describes. as /" elo-
quent with aAliction," after mentioning the
cause, he says, /" shall hold no more
courts. Some other Judge must finish
the spring terms. and the moment it is
over / shall resign. 1t is fxcds no re-
monstrance. Ii is a matter of feeling
of which none but myself is any judge
in my case. This is touch of real
trouble the first in my life" He, also,
declared his determination to retire, final
ly and foreverdto private life. Hewas
subsequently, however, as we have SEEM
; elected to Congress--and in lS4S was tho
candidate of the Wing party for the Office
> of Governor, to which, after receiving a
majority of the plurality vote. he was
elected by the Legislature, in joint assem-
: bly,. .aoo4dlou cn,s5
In his message to the, General Assem-
bly,. he calls their attention to the subjects
of Education and the Militia, says that
the abolition of capital punishment in
my opinion, would be fraught with evils
of a most direful kind speaks of slavery
: in the district of Columbia as IAN inef-
: fable curse" - @ ga spectacle fit
only for tyrants to behold; = and says
that congress have sllenced remonstran-
ces of sovereign States against these griev-
) Gus wrongs, and excluded the petitions
! of the people, He recommended the pas
! sage of a law prohibiting !" all magistrates,
acting under the authority Of this State,
! from taking cognicance Of or acting under
the Fugitive Slave Law ofl7s3 aud also
!. prohibiting sheriffs or other officers from
assisting in the capture Of 'fugitives--or
,f OBTAINING them . in any Jail orother build.