Year: 1859




s-t@.s-.s-sa


was valid or not. The Court said it was
not; that there was no power under heay-
en- to make laws in Territory but Con-
gress. adi AEFfa' 4 a


Now, my brother Democrat. what was
the reasoning of Chief Justice MARSHALL?
He was no fool but, If there was an in
tellect ever vouchsafed by God to man,
that was competent to unravel the soph-
istries Of men. it was John Marshall to
whom it was given. Why, he said. How
is this; how can this be ? Congress has
the power to acquire territory by treaty,
and who will the territory be conveyed
TO To the Territory /? No To any State?
No! To the United States the cession is
made. Spain conveys New Mexico and
California to the United States. What
follows ? If there is any law to be made
for that Territory that was yesterday a
foreign Territory, it is by the legislative
department of the Government of the
United States. Congress-. That was his
reasoning. 1t is very simple, very plain,
and utterly and hopelessly conclusive
against those who have got up this new
doctrine. p D


Well, is not that enough? |? Must there
not be an end to the question some day ?
Must we not know some day what is the
meaning of our constitution For sixty
four years the Courts of the United
States have so decided, and Congress has
so decided, and Cabinet Ministers hav e
so decided /; Presidents, Of every COM
plexion and degree Of political partizan-
ship. have agreed to it. and now, all at
once, we throw it away we are told that
they did not know anything about it all
the time. That is playing at the old game
of "go deviP' and patent plow, over
again. s.4 iaa


Next year suppose Chief Justice Taney
to die. Will not that decision be revers-
ed +? Now wish you to understand that
l don't believe that the Court has decided
that question at all, because the question
was not before it, and we never regard a
decision of court upon any point of law,
unless that point was in the case. But
if they have, what have they done ?
Overruled their predecessors-and such
predecessors. hold to the judgment of
Marshall. my brother Democrat, before
that of Mr.. fancy, if he has decided it.
| hold it as case where every brother
has right to his private judgment, see-
ing that the same court has decided 9TH
erwise, when they were more likely to
know more about it than we do or can.


INHERENT RIGHTS. ~
| l want now to read, for the benefit of
weak brethren. [laughter] passage or
two from one Of the apostles. [ Laughter.
don't use these words in any sense of
levily. atall. They occur to me as being
very appropriate. On or about the 4lh
Of March, 1850. l was present when this
speech was made /" In claiming the
right for the inhabitants, unassisted by
Congress, to legislate for Territory, in
this proviso, it is assumed that the sover-
eighty over the Territory is vested in the
Territory" q Squatter Sovereisnty"-
do really think they might have invent.
ed better adjective that that to go before
the word Sovereignty. = +" squatter,'-
there is something in it to raise laugh.
80 Or to express it," he continues, /" in
the language used by the resolution Of
fered by the Senator from Texas Hous-
ton, they have the same inherent right
of 'aself-government as the people OF
States" That is the way it is broached
to us now. Some of the people on the
other side of the river say that they have
an inherent right to SO and take man
of my color and whip him. But l should
think that they would get into scrape
in doing it. if they could not show that
he was born slave. We have no inher-
ent rights Some people on my side ol
the river say that no man shall take a flu
gitive slave back from here, because he
has an inherent right to freedom. There
is. | tell you, no such thing as an inher-
ent right. All our risks are given us
by the compact of the Constitution. We
see there what rights every citizen shall
have, and what rights every man in the
States shall have. 1t was sealed by the
blood Of your fathers. sancti6ed by the
martyrdom of your fathers. and he is a
recreant dog who will not fulfill the COM
pact of your fathers. There is no such
thing as sovereignty in these States God
alone is sovereign. as we'll as omnipotent