Delaware State journal and statesman., 1862-02-04

sible conflict of which now the whole world il
witness (Cheers.) II has been common
thing for inen disposed to carp nt The American
States to point ut this blot upol their fair fame,
and to compare il with the hoaslel declaration
of equality in their deed and declaration Of in
dependence but we must recellect who sowel
this seed of trouble, and how and by whom il
has been cherished. Without dwelling upoa this
for more than II moment, | should like to real
to you paragraph from instructions proposed
to be given to the Virginian delegates to Con-
gress in the month of August, l771, and from
the pen of Mr. Jefferson, perhaps the nbest
man produced in the United States ut tho time,
and actively engaged in its affairs, and who was
afterwards believe for two periods President
of the republic, He writes this from a Slave
State-irom the State Of Virginia :--u For the
most trihiug reasons. aud sometimes for no con.
ceivable reason at al, his Majesty has rejected
laws of the most salutary tendency The abo-
liiOn Of domestic slavery is tho great object of
desire in those colonies where il was unhappily
introduced in their infant state But previous
to the Acknowledgement of the slaves, VIZ hear it
is necessary to exclude all further importaions
from Afrio,. Yet our repeated attempts to cf-
feet this by prohibitions and by imposing duties
which might amount to prohibition, have been
hitherto delested by his Majesty's negative, thus
preferring the immediate advantage of ii few
British corsairs to the lasting interests of the
American States. and to the rights of human
nature, deeply wounded by this Infamous prae.
ticen tLoud cheers l read that merely TO
show that, two years before the declaration of
Independence was signed Mr. Jefferson, acting
on behalf Of those he represented in Virginia,
wrote that protest against the British Govern
meni which prevented the colonists abolshing
the slayC-trade, preparatory 10 tho abolition of
slavery itself The United States constitution
left the slnvo question for every State to manage
for itself. IL Was IL question then too difficult
to settle apparently; but every man had the
hope and belief that in few years slavery
wonll become of itself extinct. Then there
happened that grent event in the annals of man
nlaclurcs AMI commerce; il was discovered Tint
in those States that article which wn in this
country so much depeud npon aoul he produced
of the host quality, enough for manufacture, and
at moderate price and, from TINT day TO this.
the growth Of cotton has increased there, it's
consumption has increased here, and valne
which man dreamed Of when Jefferson wrote
TINT paper Inns been given to slaves and slave in
dusiry, md thus il has grown up to that girnn-
tic institution which now threatens either ita
own overthrow, or the overthrow of that which
is million times more valued--the great Re.
public of the United States (Iiou1 cheers In
the crisis TO which we have arrived now. / s0v
that We, after all are na much interested in tho
speech in the city Of Boston or New York The
crisis which has now arrived was inevitable; |
say that the conscience Of the North, never
satisfied with the institution. was constantly
bringing some men forward Who took n more
extreme view Of the uueat0n, and there crow
up naturally s"eliOn-it may he not u very
numerous one-in favor of abolition. A grea
and powerful party resolved Mt last upon the
restraining and oautrol Of slavery, so that il
Oh
area which it now occupies.
But now, if we look at the Government Of the
United States, almost ever since the union. we
shall find that tho Southern power has been
mostly dominant there. If you take six-,nd-
thirty years after the formation of the constitu-
tion, you will find that for thirty-twO of those
years every President was Southern man and
if you take the period from 1928 until 1860
you will find that, on every election of President
the South voted in the majority. Well, we know
what an election is in the United States for Pre-.
siaent. There is most extended suffrage and
there is ballot-box. The President and the
House of Representatives are elected by the
same electors, and generally they are elected at
the same time and it follows, therefore, almost
inevitably. that the House of Representatives is
in complete accord iu public policy with ihe
President for the time being. Every four years
there springs, from the vote created by the whole
think the world atiords no finer spectacle than
this. think it affords no higher dignity, that
there is no greater object of ambition on the po-
litical stage which men are permitted to move
You may point, If you like, to hereditary royal
ty to crowns coming down through successive
ages in the same tnmlies, TO thrones based on
prescription or on conquest, to sceptres welded
over veteran legiOns or subject realms but to
my mind there is nothing more worthy OF rever-
nt,l ntaasltn al tl.u.,
the authority of the freely chosen magistrate Of
great and free people. cloud oheers,) And
If there be on earth and amongst men any right
divine to eovern sutey it rests with the ruler so
chosen and so appointed, (Cheers.) This pro
cess of great election was gone through a year
ago and the South, that had so long been sue
eessfnl, found itself defeated. That defeat was
followed instantly by secession, usurrection, and
war. In the multitude of articles which have
been brought before US in the newspapers within
the last few months, have no doubt you have
seen, as have seen, it stated that this question
wns very much like that upon which the oonies
originally rcvolted against the Crown of Eog.
Land. 1t is amusing, however, how little many
newspaper writer's know, and how little they
think you know. (Laughter.) When the war
Of independence commenced in America ninety
years ngo, or mOre--thcro was no representation
there Mt ALL The question was whether n
horonphmongering parliament at Westminster
aould impose taxes upon three millions of Eng
lish subjects, who had left their country aud
established themselves in North AmercH. But
now the question is not OF under.represent
or of no representation, because, as is perfectly
notorious, the representation of the South is not
only complete but 10 excess, for in distributing
the number Of representatives to the number Of
people, which is done every ten years in the
MT nf al
counted for the South, MS if they were white men
and free men, and the number Of members given
TO them is so much greater than il would be If
the really free men and white men only wcro
counted and it Inns followed from that that the
South has had in the House of Representatives
about twenty members more than il ought in
right to have, upon the principle upon whirh
mcmbcra Were apportuned to the Northern aud
the Free States Therefore, you will sCc that
there Is no kind CT comparison between the
state of things when the colonies reyOlted aud
the state Of things now, when this fearful and
wicked insureeetion has broken out. But there
is another cause which s sometimes in England
assigned for this great misfortune which s the
protective theories in operation in tho United
States, and the maintenance of the high tariff.
1t happens in regard to this that no American,
certainly no one ever met with, attributes the
disaster to the Union to that cause 1t is an
argument made use of by ignorant Englishmen,
but never by informed Americans.
Have not already shown you that the South
during almost the whole existence Of the Union
has been dominant at Washington and during
that period The tariff has existed. That there has
been dissatisfaction occasionally with it, there
can be no doubt, aud at times the tariff has been
higher than was thought just or reasonable, or
necessary, by some of the States Of the South.
But the very first act of the United States which
levies duties on imports-passed Immediately