Year: 1860

Sir, | have been astonished to hear gen.
tlemen on this floor, who were Democrats,
and who say they are Democrats, char
ging upon the administration of Mr.. Bu-
chanan that it is wicked, that it is cor
rupt, that it is Infamous. Why sir, i~this
is so, | have learned the fact for the first
time. | think ! have watched the course of
the President as carefully as they have; and
although there have been many things that


| might not myself subscribe to, yet at the
same time | know the high responsibility
of that position kEow that but few men
can fill it without being surrounded with
difficulties: know that it is the most deli
cate, the highest, and the most honoura-
BILE position that a man can fill upon earth;
and alwas yield to the President of the
United States the highest possible respect


| entertain these sentiments, today, for the
present occupant of the executive chair


= < Why, sir, if any proof
were required Of the fact that the Repub-
lican party is aggressing upon the rights
of the people of the South, it may be found
in the platform of that party in the north
western States The platform of the par
ty in my own state contains doctrines
which are inimical to the rights of the
South, and the rights of the North even,
under the Federal Constitution. They
distinctly asseverate sir. that they
will resist the execution of the fugitive
slave law They denounce that law as
unconstitutional. They say distinctly that
they will never allow another slave state
to come into the American Union. Look
at the state of Massachusetts,. with her
personal liberty act; look at my own state
with her haJcus corpus act, referred to by
the gentleman from Alabama, Mr.. Cur
ry;l look at the fact that a very large pro-
portion of Christian ministers who FILL the
pulpits of the North are members of the
Republican party, and that they persist
emily denounce African slavery as a sin
against God and humanity. We see sec
tional church organizations /; we see those
organizations kept alive purely by this an
tagonism in the North to the institution of
slavery in the South. In the State Of Ohio
distinguished gentleman, who has oceu-
pied the bench there ever since my own
boyhood days, has been ostracised by the
Republican party for daring to stand up
and decide the fugitive slave law to be
constitutional. .sa ii-'' l'f .Asaf r.
.al- x s.. Now, Mr.. Clerk, it will
not be denied by the gentlemen upon the
other side, that there is a large and con-
trolling element in the Republican party
which is in favor Of making aggression up
on the rights of the people of the South.
They will not deny that there is large
and controlling portion of that party which
is opposed to the execution of the fugitive
slave law. They will not deny that there
is large element Of that party which will
never submit to the admission of another
slave State into the Union. 70.
a..t < are.*, There is one other signif-
icant fact; and that is, that you never
hear Republican speaker, here or at the
hustings. denouncing abolition sentiments.
| never heard one in my life, and [ have
seen it in no Republican press. Do you
denounce Wendell Phillips x y The
country is nothing in your view. The
rights of any portion of it under the Con
stitution are nothing in your view. You
march over them, tramp1e them down. car
rying out but the single idea of mere am
bilious projects to get control of the gov
ernmeut. =


Gentlemen on the other side, and Re
publican orators at the North, always ap-
peal to the declaration of Independence
that all men are created equal; and they
90 on to argue from that, directly and pos
itively, that these black men were inten-
dcd to be included in that Declaration and
to be Incorporated as citizens under this
system of government of ours. Now, sir,
this is a mere abstract statement. 1t
could not have been that jefferson meant
that all men were created with equal rights
under any particular form Of government;
for we know that government does not
proceed directly from God, but is the re-
suit of human thought, human intellect,
and human Will. What did he mean? 1t
is true that they are equal in the sight Of
God they bear the same relation to time
and eternity that we all do; but they are
not created with equal political rights, nor
was it ever so intended We know pre-
cisely the contrary, because slavery existed
at the time the Constitution was formed,
and if it had been intended to incorporate
these men in this political community it
would have been SO said in the constitu-
tion itself, < &. g., .r-.-..


Now gentlemen this question of slavery
in the Territories is purely an abstract
question in my view. When great par
'ty is organized upon principle, it is done
for the purpose ofacarrying out that prin-


iple upon some present or approaching oc-
casion, and not as mere abstraction +; not
for something hundred years hence, but
with reference to something that has to
be done here, now, this year, or next year.
viii you tell ME what practical question
can possibly come up this winter in regard
to any Territory of the United States ,
Not one. viii our friends on the other
SIDE, who are the impersonation Of the
idea of congressional intervention to pro-
hibit the extension of slavery, introduce a
bill prohibiting its existence in any Terri
tory? VIII they do it this session? Have
they done it for four years? In 1856
they Incorporated that idea in their plat
form. Have they attempted to carry it
cut in either branch of Congress during
the last four years? I think not They
we're elected last year upon the same
pledge. VIII they introduce such bill