Year: 1861

Honest John Davis" l went there and
made speeches to elect John Davis. but he
was beaten Our candidate was not elected
by the people, nor vas the ether man in lS42,
but he was elected by the Legislature, aud
next year be beat US one vote. The third
year we had national fight. and we beat
them in Massachusetts, but we were beaten
ourselves in the country iu 1874 and that
same Governor who signed this Personal Lib
erty bill and the Negro Equality bill, was
sent into the Senate for the best Office in New
England. nominated by Mr.. Polk, and every
Democratic Senator voted for him, knowing
that that was the fact, if they knew anything
about it; but do not know whether they
knew it or not. If they did, they would net
care fig about it, if be was on their side,
but they would say: This man probably
had to get it by promising the Abolitionists
to do something if he got their votes )" and
that is the way he did get in. Their idea is,
" it will do very well if our folks do it only
let it work for the benefit of the Democratic
party, and you may pass Personal Liberty
bills or Negro Equality bills TO your hearts
content" But now they get up here and
lay these bills to the Republican party, when
the first Republican Governor elected in
Massachusetts brought to the notice Of the
Legislature the very provisions in that bill
which were wrong. and that Legislature al
tered them, although thoy had been on the
staute-book twelve years with all sorts of
Governors, and nobody ever thought of them.
And yet these are the grave charges thrown
up here against the Republican party, and
made the occasion for breaking up this Gov
ernment-sush kind of things as these.


do not care. ..what.kind of laws they pass
in Georgia or South Carolina affecting US
only do not like to see those laws impris-
oning our sailors because they are poor fell
] lows. South Carolina made law of that
kind but when she wanted to get trade with
England, she repealed it in reference to for
eign countries, but kept it on in reference to
her own brothers. That is the way they
treat us; but we are not going to fight about
1t, or quarrel over it. Our law il Rhods Is


land was passed six or eight years before
there ever was Republican party there
and there were more than six times as many
| Wings who voted against it as there were
Democrats. Two of the leading Whig MEM
bers made speeches against it; but they were
beaten. After ward, one of those men who
opposed it came to be Chief Justice of our
State. He was on the Committee to revise
the statutes-to make G code and be pared
that thing all down. and got it SO that it was
offensive and said that, if it were not for
making noise, he would strike it out alto
gether. They pared it down, and, when all
the virus was out, it was voted for unanl-
mously by Republican Legislature, after
stitutionalty was taken out. We do not
want any unconstitutional laws in Rhode Is
land, nor do they in Massachusetts,. / know
they have been pretty higa-Strung in Mass
sachusetts ever since knew them. l never
did like them any too much. They banished
our ancestors, hung the Quakers, and killed
folks for being witches. Laughter. do
not believe in that doctrine but still, Mas
sachusetts is pretty considerable State
She was thought SO in the time of the Revo-
luton and made up my mind. on account
of what she did then, never to harbor any
hard feeling toward her for what she had
dons before, although she had done good
many bad things. do not mean to have
any hard feelings toward any State, or the
people Of any State but cannot 60 quite as
far as the Senator from New York for /
thipk the millennium has not come, though
| have full faith that it will come. / do not
know of any man in the country who could
say as much as be did with as much propri-
ETY.. 1t is something like pendulum-the
furtheri it swings one way, of its own mo-
mentum, it will swing just SO much further
the other way. l keep pretty nearly right
up and dowb, as we'll as l can. I do moi
want to be SO straight that | must lean over,
although I am bent little By age and
therefore do not mean to go very far from
my mooripgs. have always held to these
opinions, and do not mean to change them if
| can help it. There may be circumstances
which will oblige me to do so. But regret
ted, more than anything else in this debate.
to see a disposition to heap everything upon
this Republican party, as if they made this
fuss. The Senator from Illinois. (Mr. Dou-
glass; says, 81 told you so three or four
years ago." I do not know but he did
There is great deal of logic in facts; and
we have been "told so" until We have car
ried pretty nearly all the Free States. A
great deal of it came from its being told that
we meant to ruin the country. have said
for the last three years to my friends of the
South, that have met at the Springs, that
believe they had got to this pass. that moth
ing would convince them that we were not
pack of pickpockets and thieves, but for us
to get power, and then their stump-orators
would cease to be liars; because we should
show them We had no intention of hurting
them, and nothing else would prove it but
our acts. consider it Presidential that we
have gct power so that these distinguished
men, before we all die out-old fogiss as
they call us-may see that this Government
can be administered by Republican Presi>