Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-10-15
Mr.. SEWARD's =" HIGHIR LAW" "SPEECE

Mr.. SEwARD's " HIGHER LAW SPEECH.
THIS speech produced profound sensa-
ton in Congress and throughout the coun-
try. 1t aroused strong feeling Of resent
ment and Indignation among the Southern
WnIgs,snd menaced the unity Of the party.
was at that time assisting A. G. BuIl'tt
10 the editorial department of the Republic.
the organ Of General Taylor's admlnlstra-
ton. Builitt was a favorite of General
Taylor, having written the famous Allison
letter which smoothed the way for the
Wings to support his nomination. He
had discussed with me the speech of Mr..
Seward, and, at my instance, had conclud-
ed to pass it over In silence, as delicate
thing to handle, under all the circumstances
of the case. The day after its delivery
we met Senator Mangum on the avenue.
He was overfowing with wrath at what he
denounced as the monstrous declarations OF
Mr.. Seward. Il have just had a conver-
sation with General Taylor" said he,
" and l told him, in the plainest language,
that if such were the doctrines Of the ad-
ministration l was its decided opponent
henceforth, and if those were Wing doc
trines I was Locofoco." A few mo-
ments afterward we encountered General
Taylor, quite excited by the outbreak OF
the North Carolina Senator. He had q
slight stammer when speaking under the
i.fuence of strong emotion. "A-al-eck,
| said he-this was his usual mode Of ad-
dressing Built" Aleck, this is nice
mess Governor Seward has got us into
Maugum swears he'll turn Democrat il
Seward is the mouthpece OF my admins
tration. The speech must be dlscalmed
at once, authoritatively and decidedly
Don't be mealy-mouthed about it, but use
no harsh language. We can't stand for q
moment on such principles. The const'
tuition is not worth one straw if every mar
is to be his own interpreter, disregardlng
the exposition OF the Supreme Court
Under this inspiration Bullitt wrote al
elaborate and very powerful criticism up
on the speech, commencing IN these words
When Senator rises iu his place anc
proclaims that he holds his credentials
from Almighty God, authorizing him tt
reject all human enactments and this
was the keynote to the whole article
Tue effect was tremendous. MIR. Seward
and his friends were filed with consterna'
tion, while feeling of exultatlon equal IL
strength pervaded the minds OF the Silver
Grays or Stuff takers, as the conservative
Wings were termed by their radical breth
rem. But mark the sequel. Such was th'
tact and address of MIR. Seward, and h
skill in impressiug himself upon those b.
whom he was surrounded, that he soon re
gained his influence with General Taylor
and in few short months the latter per
r1,tted the cabinet, cooperating with Sc
ward, to drive BuIlitt out of the Repu6La
for writing the article which ne had IN
spired and ordered to be written. L Wa
At Niagara Falls with Bullitt IN the follow
ing July when the news of the death
General Taylor reached US, and this Wa
his exclamation: Il mourn for the kind
hearted old man as would for father
He never acted wrong on his own motlon
The 6libuster,ng knaves who practlsed up
on his credullty and good nature will nos
get their deserts, and justice will be don
to all parties. -" Recotlections of a
Old Stager," in Harper's Magazine.