Year: 1874



 slavery movement in its early develop menk Such spirit alone could inspire that religious devotion which gave to the believer aH the stubborn energy of fanat- icism; it alone could kindle that deep en- thusiasm which made men willing to risk and sacrifice everything for great cause; it alone could keep alive that unconuuer. able faith in the certainty of ultimate suc- cess which boldly attempted to overcome seeming impossibilities. It was indeed a great spirit, as, against difficulties which threw pusillanimity into despair, it pain fully struggled into light, often bafied and as often pressing forward with devo- ton always fresh; nourished by nothing but a profound sense of right; encourag- cd by nothing but fine cheering sympathy of liberty blowing mankind the world oyer, and by the hope that, some day, the con science of the American people would be quickened by full understanding of the dangers which the existence of the great wrong wonld bring upon the republic. No scramble for the spells of office then. no expectation of a speedy conquest of pOwer,-nothing but that conviction, that enthusiasm, that faith in the breast of small band of men, and the prospect of new, uncertain struggles and trials. sgN

 At the time when Mir. Summer entered the Senate, the hope of final victory ap- cared as distant as ever; but it only ap- peared so. The statesmen of the past period had just succeeded in building up that compromise which admitted Cali fornia as free state, and imposed upon the republic the fugitive slave law. The compromise, like all its predecessors, was considered and called final settlement. The two great political parties accepted it as such. In whatever they might differ, as to this they solemnly proclaimed their agreement. Fidelity to it was looked up- on as a test of true patriotism, and as a qualification necessary for the possession of political power. Opposition to it was denounced as factious, unpatriotic, revo- IutIonary. .demagogism, little short of trea- :o0. An overwhelming majority of the American people acquiesced in it. Mate rial interest looked upon it with satisfac- tion, as promise of repose; timid and sanguine patriots greeted it as a new bond of union; politicians hailed it as an as. surance that the fight for the public plumber might be carried on without the disturbing intrusion of moral principle Tn politics. But, deep down, mems con- science like volcanic fire was restless, ready for new outbreak as soon as the K, And just then the day was fast approach ing when the moral idea, which so far had only broken out sporadically, and moved small numbers of men to open action. should recevie a reinforcement strong enough to transform forlorn hope into an army of irresistible strength. One of those eternal laws which govern the de- velopement of human affairs asserted it. sell, ,-the law that Q great wrong, which has been maintained in defiance of the moral sense of mankind, must finally, by the very means and measures necessary for its sustenance, render itself so insup- portable as to insure it's downfall and de- struction.

 So it was with slavery. I candidly acquit the American sIave.power of will ful and wanton aggression upon the lib- critics and general interests of the Amer ican people. If slavery was to be kept alive at all, its supporters could not act otherwise than they did. Slavery could not live and thrive in an atmosphere of free inquiry and untrammeled discussion. Therefore free inquiry and discussion touching slavery had to be suppressed. Slavery could not be secure, if slaves, es. caping merely across state line, thereby escape the grasp of their master Hence

  peratively demanded. Slavery could not protect it's interests in the Union unless its power balanced that of the free states m the national council Therefore bv colonization or conquest the number of slave states had to be augmented; hence the anexation of Texas, Mexicanwar, and lntngues for the acquisition of Cuba. Slavery could not maintain the equiIibri- um of power, If itspermitted itself to be excluded from the national territories. Hence the breaking down of the Missouri compromise and the usurpation in Kansas.

 Thus slavery was pushed on and on by the inexorable logic of its existence: the slave masters were only the slaves of the necessities of slavery, and all their seeming exactions and usurpations were merely struggle for its life. Many of their demands had been satisfied, on the part of the North, by submission or com promise. The northern people. although with. reluctant ennscience, had acduiesced m contrlvances of politicians, for the sake of peace, But when the slave-power went so far as to demand for slavery the great domain of the nation which had been held sacred for freedom forever, then the people of the North suddenly understootl that the necessities of slaves demanded what they could not yield. Then the conscience of the masses was relieved of the doubts and fears which had held it so long in check; their moral impulses were quIckened by practical perceptions; the moral idea became Q practical force, and the final struggle began yH was made inevitable by the necessities or slavery; it was indeed an iFrepressible conflict.

 These things were impending when Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, the architects ot the last compromise, left the Senate. Had they, with all their far-seeing states manship. never understood this logic of things? When they made their compromise d:d they only desire to postpone the final struggle, until they should be gone. so that they might not witness the ter rible c0ncussion?A Or had their great and manifold achievements with the states manship of organization and expediency so deluded their minds, that they really hoped a compromise which only ignored, but did not settle, the great moral ques. tlon could furnish an enduring basis fol future developments?

 One thing they and their contempora. Eies had indeed accomplished, under thei] care the republic had grown so great and strong, its vitality had become so tough that it could endure the final struggl, without falling 10 pieces under its shock Whatever their errors, their delusions and, perhaps, their misgivings may hay, been, this they had accomplished, ant then they left the last compromise totter ing behind them, andl turned their face to the wall and died. And with then stepped into the background the states manship of organization, expedients ana compromises; and to the front came ready for action, the moral idea whicl was to fight out the great conflict, ant to open new epoch of American history

 That was the historic significance of tn remarkable scene which showed us Henr, Clay walking out of the Senate chambe never to return, when Charles Sumner sal down there as the successor of Danie Webster.

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