Year: 1859

ter rlSht 10 slaves because tney wan
them. than the people of Georgia have
to buy them in Africa, want him tc
do it. / think it can not be done. /
it is Popular Sovereignty for tn,
people to have slaves if they wan
them, it is Popular Sovereignty fol
them to buy them in Africa ii they
want 10.


l know that Douglas has recent,
made a little effort mot seeming tC
notice that he had a different theory
to get rid of that. lie has written /
letter addressed to somebody, / think
who resides in Iowa, declaring his op
position to the repeal of the laws tha,
prohibit the African Slave Trade, and
he has placed it upon the ground thai
these laws are themselves one of tn,
compromises of the Constitution oI
the United States. Now it would bC
very interesting to see Judge Douglas
or any of his friends turn TO the Con
stitulion of the u. s. and point out
that compromise. to show where thcr,
is any compromise in the Constitution
or provision in the Constitution, ex
press or implied. by which the Adj
ministrators of that Constitution arc
under any obligation to repeal tn,
African Slave Trade. | know, or a
least | think / know. that the trainers
of that Constitution did expect that
the African Slave Trade would bt
abolished at the end of twenty years
to which time their provision for it.
not being abolished extended. think
there is abundant cotemporaneous his.
tory TO show that the trainers of the
Constitution expected it to be abolish
ed, but while they so expected they
were not paid for that expectation,
and they put no provision in the Con
stitution requiring it should be SO
abolished. The migration or impor-
tation of such persons as the States
shall see fit to admit shall not he pro-
hibited, but certain tax might lie
levied upon such importation. But
what was to he done after that time?
The Constitution is as silent about
that, as it is silent personally about
myself. There is absolutely nothing
in it upon'that subject. There is only
the expectation of the trainers of the
Constitution that the Slave Trade
would be abolished at the cud of that
time and they expected it would be
abolished, owing to public sentiment,
before ythat time, and they put that
provision in, in order that it should
not be abolished before that time, for
reasons which suppose they thought
to be sound ones, but which | will not
now try to enumerate before you.


But while they expected the Slave
Trade would be abolished at that
time, they expected that the spread of
Slavery into the new Territories should
he restricted. 1t is as easy to prove
that the trainers of the Constitution
of the United States expected that
Slavery should be prohibited from ex-
tending into the new Territories, as it
is to prove that it was expected that
the Slave Trade should be abolished
Both these things were expected. One
was no more expected than the other,
and one was no more compromise of
the Constitution than the other. There
was nothing said in the Constitution
in regard to the spread of Slavery into
the Territory. l grant that, but there
was something very important said
about it by the same generation Of
men in the adoption of the old Ordi-
nance of 'S7. through the influence of
which you here in Ohio, our neigh
bors in Indiana, we in Illinois, and
our neighbors in Michigan and Wis
consin are now happy, prosperous,
teeming millions of free men. That
generation of men, though not to the
full extent members of the Convention
that framed the Constitution, were
to some extent members of that
Convention, holding seats, at the
same time in one body and the other,
so that if there was any compromise
on either of these subjects, the strong
evidence is, that that compromise was
in favor of the restriction of Slavery
from the new Territories.


But Douglas says that he is unal-
terably opposed to the repeal of those
laws, because, in his view, it is COM
promise Of the Constitution. You
kentuckians, no doubt, are somewhat
offended with that! You ought not to
be- You ought to be patient! You
ought to know that if he said less than
that. he would lose the power of lug
ging the Northern States to your sup
port. Really, what you would push
him to do would take from him his
entire power to serve you, and you
ought to remember how long. by pre-
cedent, Judge Douglas holds himself
obliged to stick hy compromises
You ought to remember that 10y the
time you yourselves think you are
ready to inaugurate measures for the
revival of the African Slave Trade,
that sufficient time will have arrived
by precedent. for Judge Douglas to
break through that compromise. lie
says now nothing more strong than in
lS49, when he declared in favor of the
Missouri Compromiso-that precisely
four years and a quarter after he de-
clarcd that Compromise to be sacred
thing which mo ruthless hand would
ever dare to touch, he himself brought
forward the measure, ruthlcssly to de-
stroy it. BY q mere calculation ol
time it will only be four years more
until he is ready to take back his pro-
fcssion about the sacredness of the
Compromise abolishing the Slave
Trade. Precisely as soon as You are
ready to have bis services in that di-