LIBRARY OF CONGRESS >^ cO .0^ ^^^/hr. ■:^^^ C r» •^.♦H^v^i^,- o -Si '%cf .V /Xv ^^r*"^ ^^ V^^«^ ^"^ ^im^^o \ ^. "^' .%^ u*.. -^ A> ^. V' .^^^fLr-^ * . 1 * ■*' ,. ■ • ■ / • SPEECH OF THOMAS MORRIS, OF OHIO, •- , ,- IN THE U."S. SENATE, FEBRUARY 9, PUBLISHED BY" JACKSON & C It has been deemed advisable to re-publish the Speech of Mr. MORRIS in the Senate of the Unit- ed States, in 1839, in answer to Mr. Clay's labored defense of the slave system. The step appears to us peculiarly appropriate at the present time. The perforinance has great merit of itself It presents with force and fidelity the promuient points of the controversy which has so long, and with such varied effects, been pressed, between uncurbed tyramiy, on the one hand, and constitutional, just freedom, on ihe jither. The position of the two men is interest- ing in itself Mr. Claj!-is now the Presidential candidate of a powerful party, who wield unscrupulously any means to secure his election. Mr. Morris, too, is the candidate for Vice President of a young, grow- ing, enthusiastic party. They urge his claims on the score of principle, honesty, and capacity. The Injers now have a lair oppoi* unify to judge between them. Mark well their habits of thinking, strength of reason, and currents of moral feeling, and decide upon (heir merits respectively in these aspects. Let il not be forgotten, that the Speech of 18.39 'is Mr. Clay's present creed. He has recently refer- red to it, and re-endorsed it, as the summary of his ■faith on the subject of rights' and freedom. What that says he nmn holds to ! He, too, is the emhod- iment of Whig principles, as ihey (the Whigs) assertf! The circumstances under which Mr. Morris ap- peared before the Senate are worthy to be noted. It was near the close of his first term of service. From the popularity he had long enjoyed with his party, his re-election was quite sure, if he would .smother the convictions of his own bosom, and abandon'freedom to the grasp of its deadliest ene- mies. Thomas Morkis was not the man to do either. He spoke the language of a true Democrat and an hontst heart. A party corrupted to the core by the embraces of despotism, thrust him out, and by the infamous deed, in the eyes of good men, sealed their reprobation. He lives to plead the cause of the poor man — the equal rights of all men. — Thousands of tioie hearts gather around him, as the r^resentative of justice — mercy — equality .' Will not Democrats of the old school burst from the arms of a party which is the emblem of rottenness itself, and leap for joy to support tliis genuine son of ancient Democracy '? Mr. Morris is a plain, straight-forward talker, thinker, acter — the champion of the masses. He has had long and varied experience in public affairs. THE PUBLISHERS. Utica,/«?v/20,1844. INTRODUCTION. ^ Mn. President : — I rise to present for the con- sideration of the Senate, numerous petition.s signed by, not only citizens of my own state, but citizens of several other states, New York, Pennsylvania, Mich- igan, Illinois and Indiana. These petitioners, amounting in number to several thousands, have thought proper to make me their organ, in commu- nicating to Congress their opinions and wishes on subjects which, to them, appear of the highest im- portance. These petitions, sir, are on the subject of slavery, the slave trade as carried on within and from this District, the slave trade between the dif- ferent states of this Confederacy, between this country and Texas, and against the admission of that country into the Union, and also against that of any other state, whose constitution and laws re- cognize or permit slavery. I take this opportunity to present all these petitions together, having de- tained some of them for a considerable.tinie in my hands in (irder that as small a portion of the atten- tion of the Senate miglit 1)0 taken up on their ac- count as would be consistent with a strict regard lo the .rights of the petitioners. And now I present them under the most peculiar circumstances that have ever probably transpired in this or any other country. I present them on the heel of the petitions which have been presented by the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay) signed by the inhabitants of this District, praying that Congress would not re- ceive petitions on the subject of slavery in the Dis- trict, from any body of men or citizens, but them- selves. This is something new ; it is one of the devices of the slave power, and most extraordinary in itself. These petitions I am in duty bound to present; a duty which I cheerfully perform, for J consider it not only a duty but an honor. The re- spectable names which these petitions bear, and be- ing against a practice, which I as deeply deprecate and deplore as they possibly can do, yet 1 well know the fate of these petitions; and I also know the time, place and disadvantage under which I present them. In availing myself of this opportunity to ex- plain my own views on this agitating topic, and to 4 explain and justify the character and proceedings of ilieso petitioners, it must bo obvious to all thnt 1 am iiurroutided with no ordinary discouragements. The srrpn'g prejudice which is evinced by the ))etilioner3 loC^the District, the unwillingness of the Senate to hear, the power which is arrayed against me on this 'occasion, .Hs well as in opposition to those whose lights 1 am anxious to maintain ; opposed by the v(M:y lipns of debate in this body, who are cheered on by an applauding gallery and surroundmg inter- ests, is enough to produce dismay in one far more able and eloquent than the lone and humble indi- vidual who now addresses you. What, sir, can there be to induce me to appear on this public are- na, opposed by such powerful odds? Nothing, sir, nothing but a strong sense of duty, and a deep con- viction that the cause I advocate is just ; that the p3- titioners whom I represent arc honest, upright, in- telligent, and respectable citizens ; men who love their country, who arc auKious to promote its best interests, and who are actuated by the purest patri- otism, as well as the deepest philanthropy and be- nevolence. In representing such men, and in such a cause, though by the most feeble means, one would suppose, though on the floor of the Senate of the United States, order, and a decent respect to the opinions of others, would prevail. From the causes which I have mentioned, I can hardly hope for this. I expect to proceed through scenes which ill become this hall ; but nothing shall deter me from a full and faithful discharge of my duty on this important occasion. Permit me, sir, to remind gentlemen that I have now been six years a member of this body. I have seldom, perhaps too seldom, in the opinion of many of my constituents, y)rcssed my- self upon the notice of the Senate, and taken up their time in useless and windy debate. I question very much if I have occupied the time of the Senate du- ring the six years as long as some gentlemen have during six weeks or even six days. I hope, there- fore, that I shall not be thought obtrusive, or charg- ed with taking up time, with abolition petitions. I hope, Mr. President, to hear no more about agita- ting this slave question here. Who has begun the agitation now ? The Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay.) Who has responded t'o that agitation, and congratulated the Senate and the country on its re- sults ? The Senator from South Carrjlina (Mr. Calhoun.) And pray, sir, under what circuinstan- ces is this agitation begun ? Let it be remembered, let us collect the facts from the records on yonr ta- ble, that when I, as a member of this body, but a few days since offered a resolution as the foundation of proceedings on these petitions, gentleinen, as if operated on by an electric shock, sprung from their seats and objected to its introduction. And when you, sir, decided that it was the right of every mem- )mt to introduce such motion or resolution as he pleased, being responsible to his constituents and this body, for the abuse of this right, gentlemen seemed to wonder that the Senate had no power to prevent the action of one of its members in cases like this, and the poor privilege of having the reso- lution printed, by order of the Senate, was denied. Let the Senator from South Carolina, before me, remember that, at the last session, when he offered resolutions on the subject of slavery, they were not only received without objection, but printed, voted on, and decided ; and let the Senator from Ken- tucky reflect that the petition which he offered against our right was also received and ordered (c be primed, without a single dissenting voice ; mid I call on the Senate and the country to remember, that the resolutions which T have offered on the same subject have not only been refijsed the printing, but have been laid on the table without being debated or referred. I^sterity which shall read the pro- ceedings of this time, may well wonder what power could induce the Senate of the United States to pro- ceed in such a strange and contradictory manner. Permit me to tell the country now what this power behind the throne, greater than the throne itself, is. It is the power of Slavkry. It is a power, accor- ding to the calculation of the Senator from Kentuc- ky, which owns twelve hundred millions of dollars in human beings as property, and if money is pow- er, this power is not to be conceived of, or calcula- ted ; a power which claims human property more than double the amount wdiich the whole money of the world could pm-chase. What can stand before this power ? Truth, everlasting truth, will yet over- throw it. This power is aiming to govern the country, its constitution and laws ; but it is not cer- tain of success, tremendous as it is, without foreign or other aid. Let it bo borne in mind that the bank power, some years since, during what has been called the panic session, had influence sufficient in this body, and upon this floor, to prevent the rece])- tion of petitions against the action of the Senate on their resolutions of censure against the President. The country took instant alarm, and the political complexion of this body was changed as soon as possible. The same power, though double in means and strength, is now doing the %ame thing. This is the array of power that-even now is attempting such an unwarrantable course in this country ; and the people are now also moving against the slave as they formerly did against the bank power. It, too, begins to tremble for its safety. What is to be done ? 'Why, petitions ai'c received and ordered to be printed against the right of petitions which are not received, and the whole power of debate is thrown into the scale with the slaveholding povvei;. But all will not do; these two powers m?ist now be tmited ; an amalgamation of the black power of the south with the white power of the north must take place, as either, separately, cannot succeed in the destruction of the liberty of speech and the press, and the right of petition. Let me tell gen- tlemen that both united will never succeed ; as I said on a former day, God forbid that they should ever rule this country. I have seen this billing and cooing between these different interests for some time past ; I informed my friends of the political party with which I have heretofore acted, during the first week of this session, that these powers were forming a union to overthrow the present ad- ministration : and I warned them of the folly and and mischief they were doing in their abuse of those who were opposed to slavery. All doubts are now terminated. The display made by the Senator from Kentucky (Mr Clay) and his denunci- ation of these petitioners as abolitionists, and the liearty response and cordial embrace which his ef- forts met from the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Calhoun) clearly shows that new moves have taken place on the political chess-board, and new coalitions are formed, new comjn-omises and new bargains, settling and disposing of the rights of the country for the advantage of political aspirants. 3 Tho genllemaii from South Carolina (Mr. Cal- houn) seemed at the conchision of tho avgumont mado by tho Senator from Kentucky, to bo filled iint only with delight but with ecstacy. Ho told us that about twelve months since he had ofliired a resolution which turneil tlio tide, in favor of tho great principles of state rights, and says ho is hiirh- ly pleased with tho course taken by the Kentucky Senator. All is now safe by the acts of that Sena- tor. Tho south is now consolidated as one man ; it was a great epoch in our history, but wo have now passed it ; it is the beginning of a moral revolution ; slavery so far from being a political evil is a great blessing; both i-aces have been improved by it : anrl that abolition is now dead, and will soon bo forgot- ten. So far tho Senator from South Carolina, as I understand him. But, sir, is this really tho case ? Is the south united as one man, and is the Senator from Kentucky tho great centre of attraction ? What a lesson for the friends of the present administration, who have been throwing themselves into the arms iif tho southern slave power for support ! Tho black enchantment I hope is now at an end — tho dream dissolved, and we awake into open day. No long- er is there any uncertainty or any doubt on tlii.s sub- ject. But is tho great epoch passed; is it not ra- thiH- just beginning ? Is abolitionism dead — or is it just awaking into life? Is the right of petition strangled and forgotten — or is it increasing in strength and force? These are serious questions for the gentleman's -consideration that may damp tho ardor of his joy, if examined with an impartial mind, and looked at with an unprejudiced eye. Sir, when these [r^eans were sung over tho death of abo- lilionists, and of course their right to liberty of speech and tho press, at least in fancy's eyes, we might have seen them lying in heaps upon heaps like the enemies of the strong man in (!:'y> of old. Hut let me bring back tho genlln., :' ! ';mi:!i ihis delightful scene of abolition.: n- alities and solemn facts, [have i - , i a:! UK! tho names of thous:inds of livini; wilncsses iliat shivery has not (entirely concpierod liberty ; that ab- olitionists (for so are all these peiitioncr.s called) ;ir to suit tho occasion, and by whom I know not. It is the Cincinnati Republican of the 'Jd inst., which contains au e>;tract from tin- Louisvilli; Adviu'tiser, a paper printed in Fventncky, in Ijouisville. our sis- ter city : and though about one hundred and lifty miles below us, is but a few hours ilistauf. That iKiper is the leading Administration journal, too, as I am informed, in Kentucky. Mear what it says "0 the death of abolitionism : " Adoi.ition — Cincinnati — Thk Lotnsvrr.r.E Adv. — Wo copy tho following iiotii-i^ of an article which wo lately ))ublished, upon the subject of abo- lition movements in this quarter, from llu! Louis- ville Advertiser : " Atior.nroN. — Tho reader is referred loan inter- esting article which we havi; copied from tho Cin- cinnati Republiciui — a paper which lately supported the principles of Democracy ; a paper which has fumed, but not quite far enougli to act with the Adamses and Sladcs in Congress, or the whig abo- litionists in Ohio, It does not, however, give a correct view of the strength of tho abolitionists in Cincinnati. There they are in the ascendant. They control the city elections, regulate what may be; termed the morals of the city, give tone to public opinion, and " rule tho roost" by virtue of their su- perior piety and intelligence. The Republican tells us that they are not laboring Loco Focos — but " drones" and " consumers" — the " rich and well born," of course; men who have leisure and moans, and a disposition to employ the latter, to equalize whites and blacks in tho slaveholding states. Even now the absconding slave is perfectly safe in Cincin- nati. We doubt whether an instance can be addu- ced of the recovery of a runaway in that place in the last four years. When negroes reach the "Queen city," they are protected by its intelligence, its pie- ty and its wealth. They receive the aid of the elite of tho Buckeyes, and wo have a strong faction in Kentucky struggling zealously to make her one of the dependencies of Cincinnati! Let oiu- mutual sons go on. 'lHo day of our mutual retribution is at hand — much nearer than is now imagined. Tho Republican, which still looks with a friendly eye to the slaveholding states, warns us of the danger which exists, although its new born zeal for whig- gery prompts it to insist, indirectly, on the right of petitioning Congress to aboli.sh slavery. There are about two hundred and fifty abolition societies in Oliio at the present time, and from the circular is- sued at head quarters, Cincinnati, it appears that agents are to bo sent through every county to dis- tribute books and pamphlets designed to inllamethe public mind, and then organize additional societies — or, rather, form new plans, to aid in the war which has been commenced on the slaveholding states." I do not, sir, underwrite for the truth of this state- ment as an entire whole, much of it I repel as an un- just charge on my fellow citizens of Cincitmati ; but as it comes from a slaveholding state — from the state of the Senator who has so elorpiently anathe- matized abolitionists that it is almost a pity they could not die utidcr such sweet sounds — and as tho South Carolina Senator pronounces thorn dead ; 1 proiliioe this from a slaveholding state for the spe- ii;i! ') n-Miisolation of the two Senators. It (■ • ircc to which I am sure both gen- ii'' ' i;ivo credit. But suppose, sii-, that aliolll iiinisiu i> dead, is liberty dead also and slave- ry triumphant ? Are liberty of speech and the press, and the right of petition also dead ? True, it has been strangled here ; but gentlemen will find them- selves in great error if they suppose it is also stran- gled in tho country ; and tho very attempt in legis- lative bodies to sustain a local and individual inter- est, to tluj destruction of our rights, proves that those rights are not dead, but a living principle which slavery cannot extinguish; and be my lot what it may, I shall, to the utmost of my abilities, under all circumstances, and at all times, contend for that freedom which is the common gift of tho Creator to all men, and against the power of tliese two great interests — the slave power of the south, and tho banking power of the north — which are now uniting to rule this country. The cotton bale and the bank nolo have formed an alliance; tho credit system with slave labor. Those two congenial spirits have at last met and embraced each other, both looking to the same object — to live on the un- requited labor of others — and have now erected for themselves a common platforin, as was intimated during the last session, on which they can meet, and bid defiance, as they hope to free principles and free labor. With these introductory remarks, permit me, sir, to say here, and let no one pretend,;to misunderstand or misrepresent me, that I charge gentlemen, when they use the word abolitionists, they mean petition- ers here such as I now present — men who love lib- erty, and are opposed to slavery — that in behalf of these citizens I speak ; and, by whatever name they maybe called, it is those who are opposed to slavery, whose cause I advocate. I make no war upon the rights of others. I do no act but what is moral, constitutional and legal, against the pecu- liar institutions of any State ; but act only in de- fence of my own rights, of my fellow citizens, and above all, of my state. I shall not cease while the current of life shall continue to flow- I shall, Mr. President, in the rarther considera- tion of this subject, endeavor to prove, first the right of the people to ])etition ; second, why slavery is -wrong, and why I am opposed to it; third, the power of slavery in this country, and its dangers, next, answer the question so often asked, what have free states to do with slavery ? Then make some remarks by way of answer to the arguments of the Senator from Kentucky (Wr Clay.) PETITIONS OF THE PEOPLE. Mr. President, the duty I am requested to per- form is one of the highest which a Representative can be called on to discharge. It is to make known to the legislative body the will and the wish of his constituents and fellow citizens; and in the present case, I feel honored by the confidence reposed in me, and proceed to discharge the duty. The peti- tioners have not trusted to my fallible judgment alone, but have declared, in written documents, the most solemn expression of their will. It is true these petitions have not been sent here by the whole people of the United States, but from a portion of them only ; yet such is the justice of their claim, and the sure foundation upon which it rests, that no portion of the American people, until a day or two past, have thought it either safe or expedient to pre- sent counter petitions ; and even now, when coun- ter petitions have been presented, they dare not jus- tify slavery, and the selling of men and women in this District, but content themselves with objecting to others enjoying the rights they practice, and praying Congress not to receive or hear petitions from the people of the states — a new device of slave power this, never before thought of or prac- ticed in any country. I would have beon gratified if the inventors of this system, which denies to others what they practice themselves, had in their petition attempted to justify slavery and the slave trade in this district, if they believe the practice just, that their names might have gone down to posterity. No sir; very few yet have the moral courage to re- cord their names to such an avowal : and even some of these petitioners are so squeamish on this subject that they might, from conscientious principles, be prevented from holding slaves. Not so, sir, with the petitioners which I have the honor to represent: they are anxious that their sentiments and their names should be made matter of record : they have no qualms of conscience on the subject — they have deep convictions and a firm belief that slavery is an existing evil, incompatible with the principles of political liberty, at war with our system of govern- meiit, and extending a baleful and blasting influence over our country, withering and blighting its fairest prospects and brightest hopes. Who has said that these petitions are unjust in principle, and on that ground ought not to be granted ? Who has said that slavery is not an evil ? Who has said it does not tarnish the fair fame of our country 7 Who has said that it does not bring dissipation and feeble- ness to our race, and poverty and wretchedness to another, in its train ? Who has said it is not un- just to the slave and injurious to the happiness and the best interests of the master ? Who has said it does not break the bond of human affection, by sep- arating the wife from ihe husband, and children from their parents ? In fine, who has said it is not a blot upon our country's honor, and a deep and foul stain upon her institutions ? Few, very few ; per- haps none but him who lives upon its labor, regard- less of its misery ; and even many whose local in- stitutions are within its jurisdiction, acknowledge its injustice, and deprecate its continuance, while mil- lions of freemen deplore its existence, and look for- ward with strong hope to its final termination. — St,AVERY! a word; like a secret idol, thought too ob- noxious or sacred to be pronounced here but by those who worship at its shrine, and should one who is not such a worshipper happen to pronounce the word, the most disastrous consequences are imme- diately predicted, the Union is to be dissolved, and the South to take care of itself. Do not suppose, Mr. President, that I feel as if engaged in a forbidden or improvident act. No such thing. lam contending with a local and "peculiar^ interest, an interest which has already banded to- gether a force sufficient to seize upon every avenue by which a petition can enter this chamber, and ex- clude all without its leave. I am not now con- tending for the rights of the negro, rights which his Creator gave him and which his fellow man has usurped or taken away. No sir ! I am contending for the rights of the white person in the free states, and- am endeavoring to prevent them from being trodden down and destroyed by tlwt power which claims the black person as proper/y. 1 am endeav- oring to sound the alarm to my fellow citizens that this power tremendous as it is, is endeavoring to unite itself with the money power of the country, in order to extend its dominion and perpetuate its ex- istence. I am endeavoring to drive from the back of the negro slave the politician who has seated himself there to ride into office for the purpose of carrying out the object of this unholy combination. The chains of slavery are sufficiently strong without being rivited anew by tinkering politicians in the free states. To say that I am opposed to slavery in the abstract, they are but cold and unmeaning words — if, however capable of any meaning whatever, they may fairly be construed into a love for its exis- tence ; and such I sincerely believe to be the feel- ing of many in the free states who use the phrase. I, sir, am not only opposed to slavery in the abstract, but also in its whole volume, in its theory as well as practice. This principle is deeply implanted within me; it has "grown with my growth, and strength- ened with my strength." In my infant years I learned to hate slavery. Your fathers taught me it was wrong in their declaration of independence ; — the doctrines which they promulgated to the world, and upon the truth of which they staked the 'issue of the contest that made us a nation. They proclaimed " that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un- alienable rights ; that amongst these are life, liber- ty, and the pursuit of happiness." These truths are solemnly declared by them. 1 believed then, and believe now, they are all self-evident. Who can ac- knowledge this and not be opposed to slavery ? It is, then, because I love the principle which brought your government into existence, and which have be- •come the corner stone of the building supporting you sir, in that chair, and giving to myself and oth- er Senators seats in this body — it is because I love all this, that I hate slavery. Is it because I con- tend for the right of petition, and am opposed to slavery, that I have been denounced by many as an abolitionist? Yes; Virginia newspapers have so denounced me, and called upon the legislature of my state to dismiss me from public confidence. Who taught me to hate slavery, and every other oppres- sion ? Jefferson, the great and good Jefferson ! — Yes, Virginia Senators ! it was your own .leffer- son, Virginia's favorite son, a man who did more for the natural liberty of man, and the civil liberty of his country, than any man that ever lived in our country ; it was he who taught me to hate slave- ry ; it was in his school I was brought up. That Mr. Jefferson was as much opposed to slavery as any man that ever lived in our country, there can be no doubt ; his life and his writings abundantly prove the fact- I hold in my hand a copy, as he penned it, of the original draft of the declaration of inde- pendence, a part of which was stricken out, as he says, in compliance with the wishes of South Caro- lina and Georgia. I will read it. Speaking of the wrongs done us by the British Government, in in- troducing slaves amongst us, he says : " He (the British King) has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred right of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people, who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into SLAVERY in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. — This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his prerogative for suppressing every le- gislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execra- ble commerce, and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms against us, and purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them by murdering the people on whom he also ob- truded them, thus paying off former crimes commit- ted against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another." WRONG OF SLAVERY. Thus far this great statesman and philanthropist. Had his contemporaries been ruled by his opinions, the country had now been at rest on this exciting topic. What abolitionist, sir, has urged stronger language than Mr. .Jefferson has done ? "Cruel war against human nature," " violating its most sacred rights," "piratical warfare," "opprobium of infidel powers," " a market where men should be bought and sold," "execrable commerce," "assemblage of horrors," "crimes committed against the liberty of a people," are the brands which Mi\ Jefferson has burn- ed into the forehead of slavery and the slave trade. When, sir, have I, or any other person opposed to slavery, spoken in stronger and more opprobrious terms of slavery than this '! You have caused the bust of this great man to be placed in the centre of your Capitol, in that conspicuous part where every visitor must see it, with his hand resting on the de- claration of independence, engraved upon marble. Why have you done this ? Is it not mockery 7 Or is it to remind us continually of the wickedness and danger of slavery ? I never pass that statue without new and increased veneration for the man it repre- sents, and increased repugnance and sorrow that he did not succeed in driving slavery entirely from the country. Sir, if I am an abolitionist, .lefferson made me so ; and I only regret that the disciple should be so far behind the master, both in doctrine and prac- tice. But, sir, other reasons and other causes have combined to fix and establish my principles in this matter, never, I trust, to be shaken. A free state was the place of my birth, a free territory the thea- tre of my juvenile actions. Ohio is my country, en- deared to me by every fond recollection. She gave me political existence, and taught me in her politi- cal school ; and I should be worse than an unnatural son, did I forget or disobey her precepts. In her constitution it is declared, " That all men are born equally free and independent," and that " there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the state, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes." Shall I stand up for slavery in any case, condemned as it is by such high authority as this ? No, never ! but this is not all. Indiana, our younger western sister, endeared to us by every social and political tie, a state formed in the same countiy as Ohio, from whose territory slavery was forever ex- cluded by the ordinance of July, 1787 — she too, has declared her abhorrence of slavery in more strong and emphatic terms than we have done. In her constitution, after prohibiting slavery, or involuntary servitude being introduced into the state, she de- clares, " But as to holding any part of the human creation in slavery, or involuntary servitude, can originate only in tyranny and usurpation, no alter- ation of her constitution should ever take place, so as to introduce slavery or involuntary servitude into the state, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes whereof the party had been duly convicted." Illinois and Michigan also formed their constitutions on the same principles. After such a cloud of wit- nesses against slavery, and whose testimony is so clear and explicit, as a citizen of Ohio, I should he recreant to every principle of honor and of justice, to be found the apologist or advocate of slavery in any state, or in any country whatever. No, I cannot be so inconsistent as to say I am opposed to slavery in the abstract, in its separation from a human being, and still lend my aid to build it up, and make it perpetual in its operation and effects upon man iu this or any other country. I also, in early life, saw a slave kneel before his master, and hold up his hands with as much apparent submission, humility, and adoration, as a man would have done before his Maker, while his master, with outstretched rod, stood over him. This, I thought, is slavery ; one man subjected to the will and power of another, and the laws affording him no protection, and he has to beg pardon of man, because he has offended man, (not the laws) as if his master were a superior and an powerful being. Yes, this is slavery, boasted American slavery, without which it is contended even here that the union of these states would be dissolved in a day; yes, even in an hour! Humilia- ting thought, that we are bound together as states by the chains of slavery! It cannot be ; the blood and the tears of slavery form no part of the cement of our Union — and it is hoped that by falling on its bands they , may never corrode and eat them assunder. — We, who are opposed to and deplore the existence of slavery in our country, are frequently asked, both in public and private, what have you to do with slavery ? It does not exist in your state ; it does not disturb you ! Ah, sir, would to God it were so — that we had nothing to do with slavery, nothing to fear from its powers, or its action within our own borders, that its name and its miseries were un- known to us. But this is not our lot; we live upon its borders, and in hearing of its cries ; yet we are unwilling to acknowledge, that if we enter its terri- tories and violate its laws, that we should be punished at its pleasure. We do not complain of this, though it might well be considered just ground of com- plaint. It is our firesides, our rights, our privileges, the safety of our friends, as well as the sovereignty and independence of our state, that we are now called upon to protect and defend. The slave inter- est has at this moment the whole power of the country in its hand. It claims the President as a Northern man with Southern feelings, thus making the Chief Magistrate the head of an interest, or a party, and not of the country and the people at large. It has the cabinet of the President, three members of which are from slave slates, and one who wrote a book in favor of southern slavery, but which fell dead from the press, a book which I have seen in my own family thrown musty upon the shelf. Here then is a decided majority in favor of the slave interest. It has five out of nine judges of the Su- preme Court; here, also is a majority from the slave states. It has, with the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the clerks of both Houses, the army and navy ; and the bureaus, have, I am told, about the same proportion. POWER OF SLAVERY. One would suppose that, with all this power op- erating in this government, it would be content to permit — yes, I will use the word permit — it would be content to permit us, who live in the free states, to enjoy our firesides and our homes in quietness ; Jbui this is not the case. The slaveholders and slave laws claim that as property, which the free states ,know only as persons, a reasoning property, which of its own will and mere motion, is frequently found in our states; and upon which thing we sometimes i)estow food and raiment, if it appear hungry and perishing, believing it to be a human being ; this, perhaps, is owing to our want of vision to discover the process by which a man is converted into a 'jHiNG. For this act of ours, which is not prohibit- ed by our laws, but promj)ted by every feeling, christian and humane, the slaveholding j)owcr en- ters our territory, tramples under foot the sover- eignty of our state, violates the sanctity of private residence, seizes our citizens, and disregarding the authority of our laws, transports them into its own jurisdiction, casts them into prison, confines them in fetters, and loads them with chauis for pretended of- fenses against our laws, found by willing grand juries upon the oath (to use the language of the late govern- or of Ohio,) of a perjured villain. Is this fancy, or is it fact, sober reality, solemn fact ? Need I say all this, and much more, is now matter of history in the case of the Rev. John B. Mahan, of Brahen county, Ohio. Yes, it is so ; but this is but the beginning — a case of equal outrage has lately occurred, if news- papers are to be relied on, in the seizure of a citizen of Ohio, without even the forms of law, and who was carried into Virginia and shamefully punished by tar and feathers, and other disgraceful means, and rode upon a rail, according to the order of Judge Lynch, and this, only because in Ohio he was an ab- olitionist. Would I could stop here — but I cannot. This slave interest or power seizes upon persohs of color in our State, carries them into States where men an; property, and makes merchandise of them, some- times under sanction of law, but more properly by its abuse, and sometimes by mere personal force, thus disturbing our quiet and harassins: our citizens. A case of this kind has lately occurred, where a col- ored boy was seduced from Ohio into Indiana, taken from thence into Alabama and sold as a slave ; and to the honor of the slave States, and gentlemen who administer the laws there, be it said, that many who have thus been taken and sold by the conniv- ance, if not downright corruption, of citizens in the free States, have been liberated and adjudged free in the States where they have been sold, as was the case of the boy mentioned, who was sold in Alabama. The slave power is seeking to establish itself in every State, in defiance of the constitution and laws of the States within which it is prohibited. In or- der to secure its power beyond the reach of the States it claims its parentage from the Constitution of the United States. It demands of us total silence as to its proceedings, denies to our citizens the lib- erty of speech and the press, and punishes them by mobs and violence for the exercise of these rights. It has sent its agents into free States for tiie purpose of influencing their legislatui-es to pass laws for the security of its power within such State, and for the; enacting new oflences and new punishments foi- their own citizens, so as to give additional secuiity to its interest. It demands to be heard in its own person in the hall of our legislature, and mingle in debatt; there — Sir, in every stage of these oppressions ami abuses, permit me to say, in the language of the declaration of independence — and no language could be more appro])riate — we have petitioned for rcdrcs^i in the most humble terms, and our repeated peti- tions have been answered by repcatetl injury. WHAT HAVE WE TO DO WITH SLAVERY ? A power, whose character is marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to rule over rt free people. In our sufferings and our wrongs, wp have besought our fellow-citizens to aid us in thrr preservation of our constitutional rights, but influ- enced by the love or gain of arbitrary power they have sometimes disregarded all the sacred rights of man, and answered in violence, burnings, and mrn-- der. After all these transactions, which ;>.re now oi' public notoriety and matter of record, shall we ni the free states tauntingly be asked, what we have to do with slavery ? We should rejoice, indeed, if the evils of slavery 'were removed far from ns, that it could be ?aid with truth, that we have nothing to '!o villi slavei^. Our citizens have not entered its ter- liiDiies fi)r lIio jiurpose of obstructing its laws ; nor tlo we wisli to «lo so, nor would we justify any indi- vidual in such act ; yot wo have been branded and stigmatized by its friends and advocates, both in the free and slave States, as incendiaries, fanatics, dis- organizers, enemies to our country, and as wishing to dissolve the Union. We have borne all this, without complaint or resistance, and only ask to be secure in our persons, by our own firesides, and in the free exercise of our thoughts and opinions in speaking, writing, printing, and publishing on the subject of slavery, that which appears to us to be just and right; because we all know the power of truth, and that it will ultimately prevail, in despite of all opposition. But in exercise of all these rights, we acknowledge subjection to the laws of the State ill which we are, and our liability for their abuse. We wish peace with all men ; and that the most amicable relations anol free intercourse may exist between the citizens of our State and our neighbor- ing slaveholding States; v/e will not enter their slates, eillier in our proper persons, or by commis- sioner, legislative resolution, or otherwise, to inter- fere with their slave policy or slavo»la\vs ; and we shall expect from them and their citizens a like return, that they do not enter our territories for the purpose of violating our laws in the punishment of our people for the e.xcrcise of their undoubted rights — the liberty of speech and of the press on the subject of slavery. We ask that no man shall be seized and transported beyond our state in violation of our own laws, and that we shall not be carried into and imprisoned in another state for acts done in our own. Wo contend that the slaveholding power is properly chargeable with all the riots and disorders which take place on account of slavery. We can live in peace with all our sister states ; if that pow- er will be controlled by law, each can exercise and enjoy the full benefits secured by their own laws, and this is all we ask. If we hold up slavery to llic view of an impartial jTublic as it is, ami if such view creates astonishment and indiynaiimi, surely wo are not to be charged as libellers. A slate insti- tution ought to be considered the pride, not the shame, of the state; and, if we fiilsify such institutions, the disgrace is ours, not theirs. If slavery, however, is a blemish, a blot, an eating cancer in the body poli- tic, it is not our fault if by holding it up, otliers should see in the mirror of truth, its dofonniiy, and shrink back from the view. We have nnt. ;iii(l \v(^ intend not, to use any weapons againsi >Livrry. but the moral power of truth, and the forco of |iulilic opinion. If we enter the slave slates, and tamper with the slave contrary to law, punish us; we de- serve it; and if the slaveholder is found in a free state, and is guilty of a breach of the law there, he also ought to be punished. These petitioners, as far as I understand them, disclaim all right to enter a slave state for the purpose of intercourse with the .slave. It is the master whom they wish to address ; and they ask and ought to receive protection from the laws, as they arc willing to be judged by the laws. We invite into the arena of public discussion in our state, the slaveholder; we are willing to hear his reasons and facts in favor of slavery or against ab- olition ; we dp not fear his errors while we are our- selves free to combat them. The angry feelings which in some degree exist between the people of the free and slaveholding states on account of slave- ry, are, in many cases, properly chargeable to those who defend and support slavery. Attempts are al- most daily making to force the execution of slave laws in the free States; at least, their power and" principles ; and no term is too reproachful to be' applied to those who resist such acts, and contend' for the rights secured to every man under their own laws. We are often reminded that wo ought to take color as evidence of property in a human be- ing. We do not believe in such evidence, nor do we believe that a man can justly be made property by human laws. We acknowledge, however, that a man, not a thing, may be held to service or labor under the laws of a state, and if he escape into another state, he ought to be delivered upon claim of the party to whom such labor or service may l)e due; that this delivery ought to be in pursuance of the laws of the state where such person is found, and not by virtue of any act of Congress. MR. CLAY'S PETITIONERS. This brings me, Mr. President, to the considera- tion of the petition presented by the senator from- Kentucky, and to an examination of the views he has presented to the Senate on this highly important; subject. Sir, I feel, I sensibly feel, my inadequacy in entering into a controversy with that old and veteran senator; but nothing high or low shallprc- vent me from an honest discharge of my duty here. If imperfectly done, it may be ascribed to the want of ability, not intention. If the power of mind, and the strength of my body, were e(jual to the task, I: would arouse every man, yes, every woman and child in the country, to the danger which beset them, . if such doctrines and views as are presented by the senator should ever be carried into effect. His denunciations are against abolitionists, and under- that term are classed all those who petition Con- gress on the subject of slavery. Such I understand to be his argument, and as such I shall treat it. — I, in the first place, put in a broad denial to all his- general facts, charging this portion of my fellow- citizens with improper motives, or dangerous de- signs. That their acts are lawful, he does not pre- tend to deny. I call for proof to sustain his charges. None such has been offered, and none such exists, or can be found. I repel them as calumnies double- distilled in the alembic of slavery. I deny them,. also, in the particulars and inferences; and let us see upon v\'hat ground they rest, or by what process of reasoning they are sustained. The very first view of these petitioners against nur rip:!n ef petition, strikes the mind that more is iiiKMhlid iliaii ;ii first meets the eye. Why was the coin;iiinee on tlie District overlooked in this case and the senator froiri Kentucky made the organ of communication ? Is it understood that anti-aboli- tionism is a passport to popular favor, and that the action of this District shall present for that favor to the public a gentleman upon this hobby ? Is this petition presented as a subject of fair legislation? Was it solicited by members of Congress, from citizens here, for political effect ? Let the country judge. The petitioners state that no persons but themselves are authorized to interfere with slavery in the District ? that Congress arc their own legisla- ture ; and the question of slavery in the District is only between them and their constituted legisla- tors ; and they protest against all interference of others. But, sir, as if ashamed of tliis open posi- lion in favor of slavery, they in a very coy manner say that some of them are not slaveholders, and might be forbidden by conscience to hold slaves. — There is more dictation, more political heresy, more dangerous doctrine contained in this petition, than I have ever before seen couched together in so many words. We ! Congress their own legislator in all that concerns this District ! Let those who may put on the city livery, and legislate for them and not for his constituents, do so ; for myself, I came here with a different view, and for different purposes. I came a free man, to represent the people of Ohio; and I intend to leave this as such representative, without wearing any other livery. Why talk about execu- tive usurpation and influence over the members of Congress ? I have always viewed this District in- fluence as far more dangerous than that of any other power. It has been able to extort, yes, extort from Congress millions to pay District debts, make District imj)rovements, and in support of the evil and criminal jurisprudence of the District. Pray, sir, what right has Congress to pay the corporate debts of the cities in the District more than the debts of the corporate cities in your State and mine ? None, sir. Yet this has been done to a vast amount; and the next stop is, that we, who pay all this, shall not be permitted to petition Congress on the subject of their institutions; for, if we can be prevented in one case, we can in all possible cases. Mark, sir, how plain a tale will silence these petitioners. If slavery in the District concerns only the inhabitants and Congress, so do all municipal regulations. — Should they extend to granting lottery, gaming houses, tippling-houses, and other places, calculated to promote and encourage vice, should a represen- tative in Congress be instructed by his constituents to use his influence, and vote against such establish- nients, and the people of the District should in- struct hitn to vote for them, which should he obey ? To state the question is to answer it ; otherwise the boasted right of instruction by the constituent body is " mere sound," signifying nothing. Sir, the in- habitants of this District are subject to State legis- lation and State jiolicy ; they cannot complain of this, for their condition is voluntary ; and as this city is the focus of power, of influence, and con- sidered also as that of fashion, if not folly, and as the streams which flow from here irrigate the whole country, it is right, it is jiropcr, that it should be subject to State policy and State power, and not used as a leaven to ferment and corrupt the whole body politic. EFFECT OF REPEATED PETITION. The honorable senator has said the petition, though from a city, is a fair expression of the opinion of the District. As such I treated it, am willing to ac- knowledge the respectability of the petitioners and their rights, and I claim for the people of my own State equal respectability and equal right that the people of the District are entitled to : any peculiar rights and advantages I cannot admit. I agree with the Senator, that the proceedings on abolition petitions, heretofore, have not been the most wise and prudent course. They ought to have been referred and acted upon. Such was my object, a day or two since, when I laid on your table a resolution to refer them to a committee for inquiry. You did not suffer it, sir, to be printed. The country and posterity will judge between the people whom I represent, and those who caused to be print- ed the petition from the city. It cannot be possible that justice can have been done in both cases. The exclusive legislation of Congress over the District is as much the act of the constituent body, as the general legislation of Congress over the States, and to the operation of this act, have the people within the District submitted themselves. I cannot, how- ever join the senator, that the majority, in refusing to receive and refer petitions, did not intend to destroy or impair the right in this particular. They certainly have done so. The senator admits the abolitionists are now formidable; that something must be done to produce harmony. Yes, sir, dojustice, and harmony will be restored. Act impartially, that justice may be done : hear petitions on both sides, if they are offered, and give righteous judgments, and your people will be satisfied. You cannot compromise them out of their rights, nor lull them to sleep with fallacies in the shape of reports. You cannot con- quer them by rebuke, nor deceive them by sophistry. Remember you cannot now turn public opinion, nor can you overthrow it. You must, and you will, abandon the high ground you have taken, and receive petitiffns. The reason of the case, the argument, and the judgment of the people, are all against you. One in this cause can "chase a thous- and," and the voice of justice will be heard when- ever you agitate the subject. In Indiana, the right of petition has been most nobly advocated in a pro- test, by a member against some puny resolutions of the legislature of that State to whitewash slavery. Permit me to read a paragraph worthy of an American freeman : " But w^ho would have thought, until lately, that any would have doubted the right of petition in a, respectful manner to Congress ? Who would have believed, that Congress had any authority to refuse to consider the petitions of the people ? Such a step would overthrow the Autociat of Russia or cost the grand Seignior of Constantinople his head. Can it be possible therefore, that it has been re- served for a Republican Government, in a land boasting of its free institutions, to set the first pre- cedent of this kind ? Our city councils, our courts of justice, every department of government, are approached by petition, however ujitinswerable, or absurd, so that its terms are respectful. None go away unread or unheard. The life of every indi- vidual is a perfect illustration of the subject of petitioning. Petition is the language of want, of pain, of sorrow, of man in all his sad variety of woes, im- ploring relief, at the hand of some power superior to himself. Petitioning is the foundation of all govern- ment, and of all administrations of laws. Yet it has been reserved for our Congress, seconded in- directly by the vote of this legislature, to question this right, hitherto supposed to be so old, so heaven deeded, so undoubted, that our fathers did not think it necessary to place a guaranty of it in the first draft of the Federal Constitution. Yet this sacred right has been at one blow, driven, destroyed, and trodden under the feet of slavery. The old bul- warks of our Federal and State Constitutions seem utterly to have been forgotten, which delare, that the freedom of speech and the press shall not b<> abridged, nor the right of people peaceably to as- semble and petition for the redress of their griev- (CL,\SSIFI(JATION <.U«' ABOLITIONISTS. These sir, -.in' tin- srntii.iPiiH whirl, ,nake aU,li- aijiiHt;; I'uriirhhiMi' :nnl sri :il imiiuhl ail youf COUII- eils inl' llril- (ISC! I hli)','. . i'lii' llnliin ;ihle SCIlUtOr ,,ot iiiilv ;i.!m;i!- iliii :i ! i> ■ ' I imi , i J s ani lorniidable, tiutili.il ilii'.ci, ,!■ ,1 -. f-i's. Tlie fViHud.s of hinii iii!r\ Mi.u ;: .> ■ , > ■ actiuited hy tho.^e prjnci|ilivs, LMiMpus,. ,i;m- i-iii--.. Iliese form a very numerous cla.,s aii(i the acknowlfdgm.MiC of ih.; senator proves tiio imrnutal)le principk'S upon whiL-h •opposition t(> slavery ivsls. Men are oppcjsid to it from principles of humanity cind justice — men are abolitionists, he admits, on that a,c:rouiit. We thank the senator for teachinic us that word ; we intend to improve it. The next class of abolitionists, the senator says, are so, apparently, for the purpose of advocating- the right of prtition. What are we to understand from this? That the right of petition Jieeds advociicy. Who has denied this right, nv who has uttemplod to abridge it .' The slavehold- ing power, that power which avoids open discus- sion, and the free exercise of opinion ; it is that power alone which renders the advociicy of the right of petition necessary, having seized upon all iho powers of the government. It is fast uniting together those opposed to its iron rul(^ no mailer to what polilical i>aiiy thi'y have li.-retolnr,- lielong- ed ; they are united with the first class, aiid aci from principles of humanity and juslici" ; and if the ini-is Tifid shades of siavevy were t)ot llii> atiiai-^liliere in which gentlemen were enveloped, ihey would see constant and increasing numbt.'rs of our most worlliy «nd intelligent citizens attaching themselves to the two cliisses raentioneil, and rallying under the ban- ners of abolitionism. . They are compelled to go there, if the gentlemi;n will have it so, in order to • defend and perpetuate the liberties of thi; country. The hopes of the oppressed spring up afresh from diis discussion of tln' gentleman. The third class, the senator says., are those xvlio .■,o accomplish their ends, act without regard to con- sequences. To them, all tlie rights of projierty, of he States, of the Union, tlie senalm- says, are noth- ng. He says they aim atpiher objects than those chey profes.s — emancipation in the District of Co- lumbia. No, says the senator, their object is itni- versa! emancipation, not only in this District, but in the territories ajid in the .Stales. Their ohje.-i is to set free three millions of negro slaves. Who made the senator, in bis place here, the censor of his fellow citizens / Who authorized hira to charge them with other objects than tluise they profess? How long is it since the senator himself, on this floor, denounced slavery as an evil? What other inducements or objects had he then in view? Sup- pose universal emancipation to b<^ the object of these petitioners; is it not a nobJe and praiseworthy ob- ject; worthy of the christian, the philanthropist, the statesman, and the citizen ? But the senator says, they [the petitioners] aim to excite one portion of the country against another. I deny, sir, this charge, and call for the proof; it is gratuitous, uncalled for, and, unjust towards my fellow citizens. This is the language of a stricken conscience, seeking fur the palliation of its own acts, by charging guilt upon others. It is the language of those who, failing in argumein,, endeavor to cast suspicion upon the char- acter of their opponents, in order to draw public at- tention from themselves. It is the language of dis- B gusie and con-.u'tdment, and not that of fair and honorable investigation, the object (jf which is truth. I again put in a broad denial f> tliis charge that any portion of these pi'tiiioiiei , n-Jimih I represent, seek to excite one porl ion ul ihe ((niiii i \ a^ainst another; and without proof! cannot adinli that the assertion of the honorable senator establishes the fact. It is but opinion, ami naki'd assertion only. The senator complains tliat the means and views of the abolition- ists are no confined to securinof the riglil of petition oiiiv; no. they resort to other means, he afhrmsj to tJie' BALLOT BOX; and if that fail, says the sena- tor, ilieir next apjieal will bo to the bayonet- Sir, no man who is an .American in feeling and in heart, but ought to repel tins charge in-tantly, and without any reservation whatever, that if they fail at the bal- lot box they will resort lo the bayonet. If such a fratricidal conise shoidd ever be thought of in our country, it will not be by those wdio seek redress of wrongs, by e.\ercising the ri^dit of petition, but by those only who deny tiiat right to others, and seek to Usurp tlie whole jjower of government. If the bal- lot box fail them, the bayonet may be their resort, as mobs and violence now are. Does the senator believe! that any porlion of the honest yeomanry of the country entertain such thought ? I hope he does not. if thoughts of this kind exist, they are lo be found in the hearts of aspirants to ofSce, and their adla-reuis and none others. Who, sir, is ina- kiim ihis qnesii.a. a polilical affair.? Not the peti- iiouers. It v\as ilie slavehojding power which fiist made this niovi^ i have noticed for some time past that many of the public prints in this fiity, as well as elsewhere, have been filled with essays against abolitionists for exercishig the rights of free- men. APTLY THE B.ALLOT BOX. Both polilical parties, however, have courted them in private and denounced them in -public, mid boih have e pially deceived them. And who shall diire say that an abolitionist has no right to carry his principles lo the ballol box? Who fears the ballot box '! The honest in heart, the lover of our coimlry and its institutions ? No, sir ! It is feared by thi; tyrant; lie who usiir[)S power,, and seizes up- on the iiherty of (ithers ; he, for one fears the ballot. box. Where is the slave to party in tliis country who is so lost to his own digniiy, or so corrupted by interest or power, that he Joes not, or will not, carry his principles and his judgment into the ballot box? Such an one ought to have the mark of Cain in his forehead and be sent to labor among the ne- gro slaves ol the Soutli. The honorable senator seems anxious to take under his care the ballot box, as he has the slave system of the country, and direct who shidi or wlio shall not ulse it for a redress of what they deem a political grievance. Suppose the pow- er of the Executive chair should take under its care the right of voting, and should prosciibe any portion of our citizens who should carry with them to tho jiolls of election their own opinions, creeds, and doc- trines. This would at once be a death blow to our liberties, and the remedy could only be found in rev- olution. There can be no excuse or pretext for rev- , olution while the ballot box is fjee. Our Govern- ment is not one of force, but of jjiincipl"^ ; its foun- dation rests on public opinion, and its hope is in the morality of the nation. The moral power of that of the ballot box is suiScieni to correct all abuses. 10 Let me, then, proclaim here, from this high arena, to the citizens not only of my own state, but to the country, to all sects nnd parlies who are entitled to the right of suffrage, to the ballot box! civrry with you honeiil, though opposed by power aixl influence — that ab(»litionists, though few in number, are greatly to be feared ; one, as I have said, may cliase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight; and, as their weapons of warfare are not " carnal, but mighty to the pulling down of strong holds," even slavery itself, and as the ballot box is the gn-at moral lever in political action, the gentleman would exclude abolitionists entirely from its use, and l~dr opinion's sake, deny them this high privilege of every Ameri- can citizen. Permit me, sir, to remind the gentle- man of another text of holy writ. " The wicked flee when no man pursueih, but the righteous are bold as a lion." The senator says thst those who have slaves, are sometimes supposed to be under too much alarm. Does this prove the application of the text I have just quoted/ " Conscince some- times makes cowards of us all." The senator ap- peals to abolitionists, and beseeches them to cease their efforts on the subject of slavery, if they wish, 5av9 Jie, "to exercise their benevolence." What! abolitionists benevolent? He hopes they will select .some object not so terrible. Oh, sir, he is willing they should pay tithes of " mint and rue," but the weightier matters of the law, judgment and m^rcy, he would have them entirely overlook. I ought to thank the senator for introducing holy writ into this debate, and inform him his argument sare not the sentiments of Him, who, when on earth, went about doing good. APPEAL TO MINISTERS. The senator further enti-eats the clergy to desist from their efforts in behalf of abolitionism. Who authorized the senator, as a politician, to use his in- fluence to point out to the clergy upon what they should preach, or for what they should pray? — Would ihe senator dare exert his power here to bind the conscience of men ? I think not. By what rule of ethics, then, dues he undertake to use his, influ- ence from this high place of povver, in order to gain the same object, I am at a loss to determine ? Sir, this movement of the senator is far more censurable and flangerous,as an attemjttto iHiite church and slate than were the petitions against Sunday mails, the report in opposition to which gained for you, Mr. President, so mnch applaiije ill the cotintr}-. I, sir, also appeal to the clergy to maintain their rights of' conscience; and if they believe slavery to be a sin. we ought to honor anrl respect them for open denun- ciation of it, rather than call on them to desist, for, between their conscience and their God, we have no power to interfere ; we do not wish to make them political agents for any purpose. APPEAL TO WOMEN. But the senator is not content to entreat the cler- gy alone to desist; he calls on his countrywomen to warn them, also, to cease their efforts, and reminds tliem that the ink shed from the pen held in their fair fingers when writing their names to abolition peti- tions, may be the cause of shedding much human bloodf Sir, the language towards this class of petitioners is very much ciianged of hile; they formerly were pro- nounced idlers, fanatics, old women and school-miss- es, unworthy of respect from intelligent and 're- spectable men. I warned gentlemen then, that they would change their language ; the blows they aimed fell harmless at the feet of those whom they were in- tended to iiijure. In this movement of my countrywo- men I thought was plainly to be discovered the opera- tion of Providence, and a sure sign of the final triumph o^ universal emnneijialinn I All history, both sacred' and profani?, both ancient and modern, bears testi- mony to the efficacy of female influence and power in tlie cause of human liberty. From the time of the pri'servntion. by the hands of women, of the great .leu isii lawgiver, in his infimtile hours, and who was preserved for the purpose of freeing his countrywo- men from Egyptian bondage, has n-oman been made n powerful agent in breaking to pieces the rod of the oppressor. With a ])ure and uncontaminatod mind, her actions spring from the deepest recesses of the human heart. Denounce her as you will, you cannot deter her from duty. Pain, sickness, want, poverty, and even death itself form no obstacles to her onward march. Even the tender virgin would dress as a martyr fi>r the stake, as for her bridal hour, rather than make sacrifice of her purity and duty. The eloquence of the Senate, and clash of arms are alike powerless when brought in opposi- tion to the influence of pure and virtuous woman. — The liberty of the slave seimied now to be commit- ted to her charge, and who can doubt her final tri- umph f I do not. You cannot fight against her and hope for success; and well does the senator know this; hence this appeal to her feelings, to ter- rify her from that which she believes to be her duty. It is a vain attempt. Thesonato^r says that it was the principles of the Coiistitiifion which carried us through the revolution. Surely it was; and to use the language of another senator from a slave state, on a former occasion, these are the very principles on which the abolition- ists plant themselves. It was the principle that all men are born FitliK and i^quaL that nerved the arm of our forefathers in their contest for independence. It was f )!• the natural and inherent rights of man they contended. It is a libel upon the Constitution to say that its object was not liberty, but slavery for millions of the human race. DISSOLUTION OF THE UNION. The senator, well fearing that all his eloquence and arguments thus fararebntas chaff, when weighed in the balance against truth and justice, seems to 13 find oonsolatian in Hip ulca, and says that which op- poses the ulteriar object of abolitionists, that the general governim^nt has no power to act on the svib- ^ect of slavery, and that ih'- ( 'on~l itntion or Union would not last an hr •led ercised by Congress. U is .•ihiucrij, /.ken, not lib- erty, that maken us one people. To dissolve slave- ry, is to dissolve the Union. Why require of us to support the Constitution by oath, if the Constitution itself is subject to the power of slavery, and not the moral power of the country? Change the form of the oath you administer to senators on taking seats here, swear them to support slavery, and, according' To the topic of the gentleman, the Constitntion and the Union will botli be safe. We hear almost daily threats of dissolving the union, and whence do they come? From citizens of free states? No! From the slave states only. Why wish to dissolve it? — The reason is plain, that a new government may be firmed, by which we, as a nation, may be made a slaveholding people. No impartial observer of pass- in": events, can, in my simple judgment, doi^bt the truth of this. The senator thinks the abolitionists in error, if they wish the slaveholder to free his slave. He asks, why denounce him ? I cannot admit the truth of the question; but I might well ask the gen- tleman, and the slaveholders getierally, " why are you angry at me, because I tell you the truth ?" It is the light of truth which the slaveholder cannot en- dure ; a plain unvarnished tale of what slavery is, he considers a libel upon himself. The fact is, the slaveholder feels the leprosy of slavery upnn him. — He is anxious to hide the odious disease from the the public eye, and the ballot boK and the right of petition, when used against him, he feels it a sharp reproof; and being unwilling to renounce his errors, lie tries to escape from their consequences, by mak- ing the world believe that he is the persecuted, and not the persecutor. Slaveholders have said here, during this very session, " the fact is, slavery will not bare examination." It is the senator who de- nounces abolitionists for the exercise of their most unquestionable rights, while abolitionists condemn that only whi.-h the senator himself will acknowl- edge to be wrong at all times and under all circum- stances. Because he admits that if it was an origi- nal question whether slaves should be introduced among us, but few citizens would be found to agree to it, and none more opposed to it than himself. The argument is, that the evil of slavery is incurable; that the attempt to eradicate it would commence a struggle which would exterminate one race or the other. Wliat a lamentable picture of our govern- ment, so often pronounced the best upon earth I The seeds of disease, which were interwoven into its first existence, have now become so incorporated in- to its frame, that they cannot be extracted without dissolving the whole fabric; th.it we must endure the evil without hope and without complaint. Our very natures must be changed before vi'e can bo brought tamely to submit to this doctrine. The evil will be remedied; and to use the language of .lefferson again, " this people will yet be free." The senator finds consolation, however in the midst of this exist- ing evil, in color and taste. The black race (says he) is the strong ground of slavery in our country. Yes, it is color, not right and justice, that it is to continue f.irever slavery in our country. It is pre- judice ag-ainst color, which is the strong ground of the slaveholder's hope. Is that prejudice founded in nature, or is tt the effect of a base and sordid i terost? Let the inixed race which we see her from black to almost perfect white, springing froi white fathers, answer this question. Slavery has r just foundation in color; it rests exclusively upc usurpation, tyranny, and oppressive fraud and fore These were its parents in every age and country ' the. world. THE TWELVE HUNDRED MILLION DOl LARS STOCK. The Senator says, the next or greatest ditlicuii to emancipation is, the am'>unt of property it won! take from the owners. All ideas of right and wroi are confounded in these words; emancipate propi^ ty, emancipate a horse, or an ox, would not only I an unmeaning but a ludicrous expression. To ema cipate is to set free from slavery. To emancipu is to set free a man, not property. The Senator p timafes the number of slaves — men now held bondage — at three millions in the United States, this statement made here by the same voice whi( was heard in this Capitol in favor of the liberties Greece, and for the emancipation of our South Amc ican brethren from political thraldom ? Itis ; and h all its fervor in favor of liberty been exhausted upi foreign countries, so as nf)t to leave a single wh per in favor of three millions of men in our ov country, now groaning under the most galling c pression the world ever saw? No, sir. Sordid i terest rules the hour. Men are made property, ai paper is made money, and the Senator, no doul sees in these two peculiar institutions a power whi if united, will be able to accomplish all his wislie He informs us that some have computed the slav to be worth the average amount of $.')00 each. I will estimate within bounds of $400 each. Maki the amount twelve hundred millions of dollars' woi of slave property. I heard this statement, JM President, with emotions of the deepest feeling, what rule of political or commercial arithme does the senator calculate theamount of property human beings? Can it be fancy or fact, that I hf s ich calculation, that the people of the Unit States own twelve hundred millions (double I amount of all the specie in the world) worth of p perty in human fl.'sh! And this property is owm the gentleman informs us, by all classes of socie forming part of all our contracts within our o country and in Europe. I should have been gli sir, to have been spared the hearing of a declarat of this kind, especially from the high source and i place from which it last emanated. But the ass tion has gone forth that we have twelve hundi millions of slave property at the south ; and can r man so close his understanding here as not plai to perceive that the power of this vast amount property at the south is now uniting itself to banking power of the north, in order to govern destinies of this country ? Six hundred million! banking capital is to be brought into this coaliti and the slave power and the bank power are t to unite in order to break down the present adn istration. There can be no mistake, as I believe this matter. The aristocracy of the north, who, the power of a corrupt banking system, and the a tocracy of the south, by the power of the slave s torn, both fattening upon the labor of others, now about to unite in order to make the reigi each perpetual. Is there an independent Ameri 14 I be fouiicl, who will become the recreant slave to jch an unholy combination ? Is this another Dmpromise to barter the liberties of the country for Brsonal aggrandizement? " Resistance to tyrants is Ijeriience to God." The senator further insists " that what the law lakes property is property." Tliis is the predicate ' the gentleman ; he has neither facts nor rpa>on I prove it ; yet upon this alone does he rest the hole case that negroes are property. I deny both le predicate and the argument. Suppose the Ic- slature of the senator's own state should pass a w declaring his wife, his children, his friends, in- ;od, any white citizen of Kentucky, property, and lould they be sold and transferred as such, would e gentleman fj|d his arms and say, " Yes, they ■e property, for the law has made them such ?" — o, sir: he would denounce such laws with more 'liemence than he now denounces abolitionists, id would deny the authority of human legislation accomplish an object so clearly beyond its power. Human laws, I contend, cannot make human be- 2:s property, if human force can do it. If it is mpetent for our legislatures to make a black man operty, it is competent for them to make a white in the same; and the same objection exists to the iwer of the people in an organic law for their own vernment; they cannot make property of each ler, and, in the language of the Constitution of In- ana, such an act "can only originate in usurpation d tyranny." Dreadful, indeed, would be thecon- ;ion of this country, if these principles should not ly be carried into the ballot box. but into the Pres- 3ntial chair. The idea that abolitionists ought to y for the slaves if they are set free, and that they ght to think of this, is addressed to their fears, d not to their judgment. There is no principle morality or justice that should require them or r citizens generally to do so. To free a slave is take from usurpation that which it has m ide pro- rty and given to another, and bestow it upon the htful owner. It is not taking properly from its le owner for public use. Men can do with their 'n as they please, to buy their peace if they wish, t cannot be compelled to do so. RETARDING EMANCIPATION. The gentleman repeats the assertion that has en repeated a thousand and one times ; that abo- lonists are retarding the emancipation of the slave d have thrown it back fifty or a hundred years ; It they have increased the rigors of slavery, and used the master to treat his slave with more se- rity. Slavery, then, is to cease at some period : d because the abolitionsts have said to the slave- Ider, " Now is the accepted time," and because thinks this an improper interference, and not vingthe abolitionists in his power, he inflicts his igeance on his unoffending slave. The moral of s story is, the slaveholder will exercise more cru- y because he is desired to show mercy, I do not /y the senator the full benefit of his argument. It no doubt a true picture of the feelings and princi- ;3 which slavery engenders in the breast of the ister. It is in perfect keeping with the threat we nost daily hear; that if petitioners do not cease !ir efforts in the exercise of their constitutional hts, others will dissolve the Union. These, how- =r, ought all to be esteemed idle assertions and e threats. The senator tells tis that the consequence arising from the freedom of slaves, would be to reduce the wages of the white laborer. He has furnished us with neither data nor fact upon which this opinion can rest. He, however, would draw a line, on one side of which he would place the slave labor, and on the other side free white labor; and \ooking over the whole as a general system, both would appear on a perfect equality. 1 have observed, for some years past, that the southern slaveholder has insist- ed that his laborers are, in point of integrity, moral- ity, usefulness, and comfort, equal to the laboring population of the north. Thus endeavoring to raise the slave in public estimation, to an equality with the free white laborer of the north; while, on the other hand, the northern aristocrat has, in the same manner, viz : by comparison, endeavored to reduce his laborers to the moral and political condition of the slaves of the south. It is for the free white American citizen to determine whether they will permit such degrading comparisons loneer to exist. Already has this spirit broken forth in denunciation of the right of universal suffrage. Will free white laboring citizens take warning before it is too late? AMALGAMATION ! The last, the great, the crying sin of abolitionists in the eyes of the senator, is that they are opposed to colonization, and in favor of amalgamation. It is not necessary now to enter into any of the bene- fits and advantages of colonization ; the senator has pronounced it the noblest scheme ever devised by man ; he says it is powerful but harmless. I have no knowledge of any resulting benefits from the scheme to either race. I have not a doubt as to the real object intended by its founders ; it did not arise from principles of humanity and benevolence to- wards the colored race, but a desire to remove the free of that race beyond tlie United States, in order to perpetuate and make slavery more secure. The senator further makes the broad charge, that aboli- tionists wish to enforce the unnatural system of amalgamation. We deny the fact, and call on the senator for proof. The citizens of the free states, the petitioners against slavery, the abolitionists of the free states in favor of amalgamation ! No, sir! If you want evidence of the fan, and reasoning in support of amalgamation, you must look into the slave states ; it is there it spreads and flourishes from slave mothers, and presents all possible colors and cemplexions, from the jet black African, to the scarcely to be distinguished white person. Does any one need proof of this fact? let him lake but a few turns through the streets of your Capital, and observe those whom he .shall naeet, and he will be perfectly satisfied. Amalgamation, indeed ! The charge is made with very bad grace on the present occasion. No, sir, it is not the negro woman, it is the slave and the contaminating influence of slavery , that is the mother of amalgamation. Does the gen- tleman want facts on this subject? Let him look at the colored race in the free states ; it is a rare occurrence there. A colony of blacks, some three or four hundred, were settled, some fifteen or twen- ty years since, in the county of Brown, a few miles distant from my former residence in Ohio, and I was told by a person living near them, a country merchant with whom they dealt, when conversing with him on this very subject, he informed mc he 15 knew of but one instance of a mulatto child beiiie; born amongst ihem for the last fifteen years ; and I venture the assertion, had this same colony been settled in a slave State, the cases of a like kind would have been far more numerous. I repeat again, in the words of Dr. Clianniiig, it is a slave country that reeks with liceiiliousuess of this kind, and f"r proof I refer t(i tin- opiiiKuis of .Judge Harper, of North Carolina, in his defence of southern slavery. The senator, as if tearing that he had made his charge too hnjud, and might fail in proof to sustain it, seems to stop short, and make the inquiry, where is the process of amalgamation to begin ; he had heard of no instance of the kind against 'aholitinn- ists ; they (the aholitionists,) would begin it with the laboring class; and if I understand the senator correctly, that abolitionism, liy throwing together the white and the black laborers, would naturally produce this result. Sir, I regret, I deplore, that such a charge should be made against the laboring class — that class which tills the ground and in obedi- ence to the decree of their Maker, eat their bread in the sweat of their face — that class as Mr. Jeft'er- son says, if God had chosen people on earth, they are those who thus labor. This charge is calculated for eftect, to induce the laboring class to believe that if emancipation takes place they will be in the free States, reduced to the same condition as the colored laborer. The reverse of that is the truth of the case. It is the slaveholder now, he who looks upon labor as only tit for servile race, it is him and his kindred who live upon the labor of others, endeavoring to reduce the white laborer to the condition of the slave. They do not yet claim him as property, but they would exclude him from all participation in the pub- lic affairs of the country. It is further said, that if the negroes were free, the black would rival the white laborer iu the free States. 1 can not believe it, while so many (acts exist to prove the contrary. Negroes, like the white race, but with stronger leel- ings, are attached to the place of their biith, and the home of their youth; and the climate of the South is congenial to their naiures, more than that of the North. If emancipation should take place at the South, and the negro be freed from the fear of being made merchandize, they would remove from the free States of the north and west, immedi- ately return to that country, because it is the home of their friends and fathers. Already in Ohio, as far as my knowledge extends, has free white labor, (emigrants,) from foreign countries, engrossed al- most entirely all situations in which male or female labor is found. But, sir, this plea of necessity and convenience is the plea of tyrants. Has not the free black person the same rigut to the use of his hands as the white |lersoii ; the same right to con- tract and labor for what price he pleases ? Would the gentleman extend the power of the government, to the regulation of the productive industry of the country ? This was his former theory, but put down effectually by the public voice. Taking advantage of the prejudice against labor, the attempt is now being made to begin this same system, by first op- erating on the poor black laborer. For shame ! let us cease from attempts of this kind. STERILITY OF THE SOUTH. The senator informs us that the question was asked fifty years ago tfiat is now asked, Can the ?iegro be continued forever in bondage ? Yes; and it will continue to be asked, in still louder and louc er tones. But, says thu senator, wo are yet a proi perous and hafjjjy nation. Pray, sir, in what pai of your country do you find tliis prosperity and hnj piness ? In the slave States 1 No ! no ! Thei all is weakness, gloom, and despair, while in th free Stales all is light, business, and activity. - What has created the astonishing difTerence betwee the gentleman's State and mine — between Kentuck and Ohio? Slavery, the withering curse of slaver is upon Kentucky, while Ohio is free. Kentucky the garden of the West, almost the land of promist possessing all the natural advantages, and moi than is possessed by Ohio, is vastly behind in popi lation and wealth. Sir, I can see from the wii dows of my upper chamber, in the city of Cincinnat: lands in Kentucky, which I am told, can be purchase for from ten to fifty dollars per acre; while lands < the same quality, under iho same improvements and the same distance from Ohio, would probabl sell for from one to five hundred dollars per acrt I was told by a friend, a few days before T lei home, who had formerly resided in the county i Bourdon, Kentucky — a most excellent county t lands adjoining, I believe, the county in which th senator resides — that the white po[)ulation of the county was more than four hundred less than it wa five years since. Will the senator contend, after knowledge of these facts, that slavery in thiscountr has been the cause of our prosperity and happiness No, he can not. It is because slavery has been e> eluded and driven from a large proportion of ou country, that we are a prosperous and happy people But its late attempts to force its influence and pow er into the free States, and deprive our citizens c their unquestionable rights, has been the movinj cause of all the riots, burning, and murders tha have taken place on account of abolitionism ; and i has, in some degree, even in the free States, causei mourning, lamentation, and wo. Remove slavery and the country, the whole country, will recover it natural vigor, and our peace and future prosperit; will be placed on a more extensive, safe, and suri foundation. It is a waste of time to answer thi allegations that the emancipation of the negro raci would induce them to make war on the white race Every fact in the history of emancipation proves th reverse ; and he that will not believe those facts has darkened his own understandnig, that the ligh of reason can make no impression: he appeals ti interest, not to truth,for inlormalion on this subject We do not fear his errors, while we are left free ti combat them. The senator implores us to cease ai commotion on this subject. Are we to surrende all our rights and privileges, all the official station of the country, into the hands of the slaveholdinj power, without a single struggle? Are we to ceus( all exertions tor our own safety, and submit in quie to the rule of this power? Is the claim of despot ism to reign over this land, and the voices of freemer to be no more heard ? This sacrifice is required o us, in order to sustain slavery. Freemen, will yoi make it ? Will you shut your ears and your sym pathies, and withhold from the poor famished slave a morsel of bread ? Can you thus act, and expeci the blessings of Heaven upon your country ? I be^ seech you to consider for yourselves. CONCLUSION. Mr. President, I have been compelled to entei 16 I to this discussion from the course pursued by the ehate on the resolution I submiiti'd a few days nee. The cry of abolitionist has been raised lainst me. If these resolutions are abolitionism, len am I an abolitionist from the sole of my foot 1 the crown of my head. If to maintain the rights ; the State, the security of the citizens from vio- nce and outrage, if to preserve the suprpmiicy of le laws, if insisting on the I'ight of petition, as a edium through which every person subject to the ws has an undoubted light to approach the con- itutional authorities of the country, be the doctrines ' abolitionists, it finds a response in every beating jlse in my veins. Neither power, nor favor, nor ant. nor misery, shall deter me from its support hile the vital current continues to flow. Condemned at home for my opposition to slavery ^ly and single handed here, well may I fee)»tre- lor and emotion in bearding this lion of slavery in is very den and upon his own ground. I should irink, sir, at once from this fearful and unequal )ntest, was I not thoroughly convinced that I am istained by the power of truth and the best inter- ;ts of the country. I listened to the senator from entucky with undivided attention. I was disap- )inted, — sadly disappointed ; I had h^ard of the nafor's tact in making compromises and agree- ents on this floor, and though opposed in principle all such proceedings, yet I hoped to hear some- ing upon which we could hang a hope that peace nuld be restored to the borders of our own State, id all future ajjgression upon our citizens from the ive Stales be prevented. Now, sir, he otters us >thing but unconditional submission or political 'ath : and not political alone, but absolute death, 'e have counted the cost in this matter, and are itermined to live and die free. Let the slaveholder ig his sv-tein to his bosom in his own State, we ven, sir, here in this District, this len miles square common property and common right, the sinve iwer hrts the assurance to come into this very hall, id request that we — -ves, Mr. President, that my nstituents — be denied the right of petition on the bject of slavery in this District. This most extra- dinory petition against the right of others to peli- )n on the same subject as theii'S, is graciously re- ived and ordered to be printed ; paeans sung to it the slave power, while the petitions I offer, from honorable, free, high minded and patriotic Amer- \n citizens as any in this District, are spit upon, id turned out of doors as an unclean thing. — snius of liberty ! how long will you sleep uuder this )n power of o])pression ? Not content with ruling er their own slaves, they claim the power to in- duct Cong-ress on the question of receiving peli- )ns ; and yet we are tauntingly and sneeringly told at we have nothing to do with the existence of ivery in the country; a suggestion as absurd as it ridiculous. We are called upon to make laws in /or of slavery in the District, but it is denied that ? can make la%vs against it; and at last the riglit petition on the subject, by the people of the free ates, iscompleined of as an improper interference, leave it t* the Senator to reconcile all these diffi- Ities, aBsurdities, claims and requests of the peo- E> of this District, to the country at large; and I nture the opinion that he will find as much difii- ity in producing the belief that he is correct now, that he has found in obtaining the same belief that he was before correct in his views and political course on the subject of banks, internal improve- ments, protective tariffs, &c., and the regulation by acts of Congress, of the productive industry of the country, together with all the compromises and coa- litions he ha* entered into for the attainment of those obiects. I rejoice, however, that the Senator has made the display he has on this occasion. It is a powerful shake to awaken the sleeping energies ,of liberty, and his vo'ce, like a trumpet, will call from their slumbers millions of freemen to defend their rights; and the overthrow of his theory now, is as sure and certain, by the force of public opinion, as was the overthrow of all his former grand schemes, by the same mighty power. I feel, Mr. President, as if I had wearied your patience, while I am sure my own bodily powers ad- monish me to close; but I can not do so without again reminding my constituents of the greetings that have taken place on the consummation and ratification of the treaty, offe-nsive and defensive, between the slave- holding and bank powers in order to carry on war against the liberties of our country and to put down the present administiatien. Yes, there is no voice heard from New England now. Boston and Faneuil Hall are silent as death. The free day-laborer is. in prosjject, reduced to the political, if not the moral con- dition of the slave; an ideal line is to divide them in their labor; yes, the same principle is to govern on both sides. Even the farmer, too, will soon be brought into the same fold. It will be again said, with regard to the government of the country, "The farmer with his huge paws upon ihestaiutebook.wTiat can hedo''" I have endeavored to warn my fellow citizens of the present and approaching danger, but the dark cloud of slavery is before their eyes, and prevents many of them Irom seeing the condition of things as they aj'e. That cloud, like the cloud of summer, will soon pass away, and its thunders cease to be heard. Slavery will come to an end, and the sunshine of prosperity warm, invigorate, and bless our whole country. 1 do not know, Mr. President, that ray voice will ever again be iieard on this floor. I now willinsly.yes, gladly, return to my coiistitueiils, to the people of my own State. I have spent my life amoust them, and the greater por- tion of it ill their service, and they have bestowed upon me their confidence in numerous instances. I feel per- fectly conscious thai, in the discharge of every tru.st which they have coininilted to me, 1 have, to the best of my abil- ities, acted solely with a view to tlie general good, not suf- fering myself to be influenced by any particular or private interest whatever: and I now challenge those who think 1 iiave done otherwise, to lay their linger on any piihiic act of mine, and prove tn the country its injustice or uiiti-re- publicau tendency. That I have often erred in the selec- tion of means to accomplish important ends I have no douht, but my belief in the twth.of tiie doc trine of the declaration of independence, the political creed of Presi- dent Jcireison remains unshaken and unsubdued. My ;rreatest regret is that I have not been more zealous and done more for the cause of individual and political liberty than 1 have don". 1 hope, on returning to my home and my friends, to join tliein again in rekindling the beacon fires of lilicriy upon every hill in our State, until their broad glare shall enlighten every valley, and the song of triumph will soon be heard, for the hearts of our people are in the liaiids of a just and holy Being, (who can not look upon oppression but with abhorrence,) and he can turn them whithersoever he will, as the rivers of waters are turned. Thougfi our national sins are many and grievous, yet repentance, like that of ancient Nineveh, may divert from us that impending danger which seems to hang over our heads as by a single hair. That all may be safe, I conclude that the negro will yet be set /rcc. V,, .. u . ^'^ 17 ^1 snmp in rear of the tents, so that when tite batteries of the enemy were coinpleted and mounted, and his fira opened, tlis tents of the Americans being struck and removed to the rear of tha traverse, were completely sheltered and protected. A severe lire was now kept up on both sides until tlie 4th of May, when intelligence reached the camp of the approach of the expected rein- forceminls, composed of a bri^^ade of Kentucky militia under General Grem Clay. General Harrison immediately determined to make a bold effort, by a sortie from the camp, comlniied with an attack of the enemy's lines by Genertil Clay, to raise the siege. Orders accordingly were despatched to General Cl:iy, requiring him that, instead of forming an imme- diate junction with the garrison, he should detach eight hundred of his men on the opposite sida of the river, where two of the British batteries were, turn and take the batteries, spike tha can- non, and destroy the gun-carriages, and then regain the boats as speedil;,' as possible, whila the remainder of the brigade should land and fight their way into tlie camp, so as to favor a sortie to be made by the garrison against the third and only remaining Bruisli battery. This Elan was ably conceived, and promised the best results. General Clay, after detaching Colonel ►udley to land on the west side of the Miami, fought his way safely into the camp. A part of tha garrison also, under Colonel (now General) Miller, consisting in part of regular troops and the residue militia and Kentucky volunteers, gallantly assaulted and carried the battery on the east- ern bank, made a number of prisoners, and drove the British and Indians from their lines. Meanwhile, Dudley had landed his men, and charged and carried the two batteries without the loss of a man. Unhappily these gallant citizens were not sufficiently aware of their exposed situation, and of the necessity of retreating to their boats, in punctual observance of their orders, 60 soon as they should have destroyed the enemy's artillery. Instead of this, they were, with- out due consideration, drawn into a fight with some straggling Indians, and so detained until Proctor had time to ItUerpose a strong force between them and the means of retreat. The result was the destruction rallier than defeat of the detachment, for three-fourths of it were made cap- tives or slain. The British arms were again dislionored by giving up the prisoners to be mas- sacred by the Indians. Dudley and many of his companions were tomahawked at once. Others of the prisoners were put into Port Miami, for the Indians to stand on the ramparts and fire into the disarmed crowd. Those Indians, who chose, selected their victims, led them to tht gateway, and there, under the ei/e of General Proctor and in the presence of the whole British army, murdered and scalped thevi. Not until Tecumthe came up from the batteries did tha slaughter cease. " For shame ! it is a disgrace to kill defenceless prisoners !" — lie exclaimed, thus displaying more of humanity and civilization than Proctor himself. Unfortunate as this incident was, the events of the day satisfied Proctor that he could not continue the siege with any hope of success. He resolved to retreat, to cover which, he sent in a flag of truce, requiring the immediate surrender of the American post and army, as "the only means left forijaving the latter from the tomahawks and scalping knives of the savages." Con- sidering this base and insolent message unworthy of any serious notice, General Harrison simply admonished Proctor not to repeat it. With which manly and decided answer Proctor being perforce content, hastily broke up his camp, and retreated in disgrace and confusion towards Maiden. In May following, however, Proctor, thinking to surprise Fort Meigs, made a second attack upon it, with a large force of British regulars and Canadians, and several thousand Indians under Tecumthe, but was again obliged to I'etreat in disgrace. After which. Proctor landed a part of his force at Lower Sandusky, with a view to reduce Fort Stephenson. This was a mere out-post of little importance; and General Harrison, acting with the unanimous advice of his council of war, had sent orders to Major Croghan, who commanded the garrison, to evacuate the fort, and make good his retreat to head-quarters, provided the enemy should approach the place with artillery, and a retreat be practicable. But the first step taken by Proctor was to isolate the fort by a cordon of Indians, thus leaving to Major Croghan no clioice but between resistance and submission. He then demanded of Croghan to surrender, adding his customary declaration, that otherwise he could not protect the garrison from massacre by the Indians in case the fort should be taken. To this atrocious threat, as unjustifiable by any of the usages of war as it was cowardly and discourteous, Croghan calmly replied, that " when the fort should be taken there would be none left to massacre, as it would not be given up while a man was able to fight." With his small garrison this brave young officer gallantly maintained the post, and repulsed the assaults of Proctor. Much idle censure has .been cast upon General Harrison because of this aflfair. To which it is sufficient here to say that, while his orders were such as the circumstances justified and required, and were fully approved and sanctioned by the most competent judges on the spot, Croghan himself bearing witness to the penetration and able generalship of liis measures, so the defence itself, so s^lccessfully made in compliance with tha very contingency contemplated in the orders, was in the highest degree honorable to the brave garrison and its young commander. BATTLE OF THE THAME.S. The time was now at hand when General Harrison and his army were to reach the full com- fletion of all tha contemplated objects of the expedition, 2 18 Among the earliest reeommendations of General Harrison to the Government the year betore, and immediately after he commenced operations, had been that of constructing and equipping a navnl armament on the Lakes. In one letter he says: "Admitting that Maiden and Detroit are both taken, Mackinaw and St. Joseph will both remain in the hands of the enemy until we can create a force capable of contending with the vessels which the British have in Lake Michigan, &;c." And again, in another letter: " Should an offensive operation be suspended until sprmg, it is my decided opinion that the cheapest and most effectual plan will be to obtain command of Lake Erie. This being once effected, every difficulty will be removed. An army of four thousand men, landed on the north side of the Lake, below Maiden, will reduce that place, retake Detroit, and with the aid of the fleet, proceed down the Lake to co-operate with the army from Niagara." These sagacious suggestions being i-epeatedly and strenuously urged by him, and reinforced also from other quarters, were adopted and acted upon by the Government. Com- modore Perry was commissioned to build, equip, and command the contemplated fleet; and, on the 10th of September, with an inferior force, he met the enemy, and gained the brilliant victory of Lake Erie. Meanwhile, Colonel Richard M. Johnson, then a Member of Congress from Kentucky, had devised the organization of two roginients of mounted militia, which he was authorized by the Government to i-aise, as well for service against the Indians as to co-operate with Harnson. Colonel Johnson crossed the country to Lower Sandusky, where he received orders from the War Department to proceed to Kaskaskia to operate in tiiat quarter; but, by the interference of Harrison, and at the urgent request of ColonelJohnson, — who said for himself and his men that the first object of their hearts was to accompany Harrison to Detriot and Canada, and to partake in tlie danger and honor of that expedition, under an ofucer in whom they had confi- dence, and who had approved himself "to be wise, prudent, and brave," — the orders of the De- partment were countermanded, and Colonel Johnson attained his wish. General Harrison now prepared to strike the great blow. Aided by the energetic efTorts of Governor Meigs, of Ohio, and Governor Shelby, of Kentucky, he had ready on the southern shore of Lake Erie, by the middle of September, a competent force destined for theimmediate invasion of Canada. Between the 16th and the 24th of September the artillery, military stores, provisions, and troops, were gradually embarked, and on the 27th the whole army proceeded to the Canada shore. "Ilemember the river Raisin," said General Harrison, in his address to the troops, " but remember it only whilst victory is suspended. The revenge of a soldier cannot be grati- fied on a fallen enemy." The army landed in high spirits: but the enemy had abandoned his sti'ong hold, and retreated to Sandwich, — afcer dismantling Maiden, burning the barracks and navy yard, and stripping the adjacent country of horses and cattle. General Harrison encamped that night on the ruins of Maiden. No tune was lost in resuming the pursuit of Proctor. Colonel Johnson's mounted regiment came up and supplied the cavalry wanting for the pursuit. Two days only were occupied in re-establishing the civil government of Michigan, and assigning to it a defensive corps, in orga* nizing a portion of the army for rapid movement, and in giving to the whole of it an order of march and battle. It was not until the 5th of October that Proctor was overtaken, at a place ever memorable as the battle ground of one of the most honorable and decisive actions fought during the war. On that day the enemy was discovered in a position skilfully chosen, in relation as well to local circumstances as to the character of his troops. A narrow strip of dry land, flanked by the river Thames on the left and by a swamp on the right, was occupied by his regular infantry and artillery, while on the right flank lay Tecumthe and his followers, on the eastern margin of the swamp. But, notwithstanding the judicious choice of the ground. Proctor had committed the error of forming his infantry in open order. Availing himself of this fact, anel aware that troops so disposed could not resist a charge of mounted men, he directed Colonel Johnson to dash through the enemy's line in column. The movement was made with brilliant success. The mounted men charged with promptitude and vigor, broke through the line of the enemy, formed in the rear, and assailed the broken line with a success seldom equalled, for nearly the whole of the British regular force were eitherkilled, wounded, or taken. On the left, the Indians rushed on the mounted men there, and fiercely contested the ground tor a short time, until 'I'ecumthe fell, when his men gave way to the Americans. Proctor, who had saved himself and a part of his suite by a base desertion of his troops, in keeping with his character, was now strenuously but unsuccessfully pursued. But the defeat of the enemy was now complete. All his baggage and military stores, together with his official papers, fell into Harrison's hands, fceveral field pieces also, which had been taken from the British in the revolutionary war at Saratoga and Yorktown, but which Hull had shamefully surrendered at Detroit, were again captured, and were honorable trophies of victory. In this battle Governor Shelby, of Kentucky, commanded the troops of his State, and Colonel (General) Cass and Commodore Perry acted as volunteer aids to_General Harrison. " Thus fortunately terminated an expedition," says General Armstrong, " the results of which were of high importance to the United States: a naval ascendency gained on Lakes Erie and Superior; Maiden destroyed ; Detroit recovered; Proctor defeated ; the alliance between Great Britain and the savages dissolved, and peace and industry restored to our widely extended Western frontier." In a word, Harrison had gloriously accomplished, by his own abilities and the co-operation of the gallant people of the West, all that he undertook in assuming the command of the American forces in the Northwest. 19 The news of this great victory was received throusjhout the United Slates with univeraal rejoicings and gratulations. in his Message to Congress of the 7ih December, 1813, Mr, Madison spoke of the result as " signally honorable to Major General Harrison, by whose mihiary talents it was prepared." " 'i'hc victory of Harrison," said Mr. Clievcs on the floor of Congress, " was such as would have secured to a Koinan general, in the best days of the republic, the honors of a triumph." He put an end to the war in the uppermost Canada." " Tiie blessings," said Governor tinyder, of Pennsylvania, in his message to the Legislyture of thai State, "of thousands of women and children, rescued from the iscalping-knife of the ruthlesi savage of the wilderness, and from the still moi-e savage Proctor, vest on Harrison and liis gal- lant army." It was well said by a prominent Virginia press, of Harrison's despatch after the battle, that in his letter he had done justice to every one but himself; and that the world must therefore do justice to the man, who was too modest to be just to himself. And without referring to other colemporaneous testimonies of public gratitude and respect, it will be suiticient to add the following resolution, passed by both branches of Congress, and approved 4th of April, 1818: "ivfA-y/yc(Z by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Stales of America in Con-' gress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they arc hereby presented to Major General WiUiain Henry Harrison and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky, and through ttiem to llie officers and men under their conunaiid, for their gallantry and good conduct in deleating the com- bined British and Indian lorces under Major General Proctor on the Thames, in Upper Canada, on the 5th day of October, 1813, capturing the British army, with their baggage, camp equipage, and artillery ; and that the President ot the United Stales be requested to cause two Gold Medals to bo struck, embleniaiical of this triumph, and presented to General Harrison, and Isaac tShelby, late Governor of Kentucky." Having thus entirely defeated the enemy in Upper Canada, Plarrlson advanced with a part of his army to the Niagara frontier, and thence to yackctt's Harbor, where he left the troops and proceeded to the seat of Government, and then to Ohio, where his immediate duties required his presence. In the plan of the ensuing campaign General Armstrong, the Secretary of War, saw fit to assign to General Harrison the command of a no w comparatively unimportant dis- trict, while active service against Canada was entrusted to others. That an officer in the prime of life, bred to combat under Wayne, who had signalized his name in the memorable triumph of Tippecanoe, won the brilliant victory of the Thames, and by his courage and skill given peace to the Northwest, reconquered Michigan, and gained possession of a large part of Upper Canada,^that such an officer should not be continued in active service naturally occasioned sur- Erise. But though the causes of it were veiled from the public eye, yet the agency and motives ecame visible, when the Secretary of War, soon afterwards, not only designated a subordinate officer within General Plarrison's district for a particular duty, but also transmitted directly to that officer orders to take troops from the district without consulting its commander. On receiving notice of this, General Harrison, justly indignant, addressed to the Department a letter of resignation, with a notihcation to the President. Hearing of this, Governor Shelby wrote a remonstrance to the President, expressing the highest opinion of Harrison's military talents and capacity to command, derived from actually serving under him, and declaring the belief that in the arduous duties he performed no officer had ever displayed more energy or exhibited greater capability. But the Secretary of War hastily assumed the right, Mr. Madison being absent in Virginia, to accept General Harrison's resignation, without which, it is believed, the President would have decided otherwise; and thus, in the subsequent campaigns, the country was deprived of the abilities of him " who," in the words of Colonel Johnson, " during the late war was longer in active service than any other general officer, was perhaps oftener in action than any of them, and never sustained a defeat." For General Harrison, with the disiterestednesa and love of honor which has always distinguished him, would not continue to enjoy the high rank he held in the army, and the emoluments it conferred, without he could be rendering at tha same time an equivalent service to the P>,epublic. INDIAN COMMISSIONER. But General Harrison did not the less continue to receive new marks of the confidence ol Mr. Madison. In the summer of 1814, he was appointed, in conjunction with Governor Shelby and Gene- ral Cass, to treat with the Indians in the Northwest, at Greenville, the old head quarters ol General Wayne. In 1815, after tha peace of Ghent, and in the execution of the provisions therein for the pa- cification ol the Indians, General Harrison was placed at the head of the commission for treating with the important tribes of the Wyandolts, Shawaneet, Ottawas, Winnebagoes Chippewas, Delawares, Senecas, Potawaiimas, and Miamis, at Spring Wells. MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND OF THE OHIO LEGISLATURE. Hitherto, we have followed General Harrison through a long series of public duties and services, both civil and military, for a period of twenty-five years of active life ; in fifteen of which we have seen him employed in the highest and most arduous public trusts, whether u 20 the poUlical head or the military commander, in the great region ot the West, which has been the sceneof his toils and his triumphs. Pre-erninentas he was in the field when hiscounlry called him there, yet in the character of a civil ruler, as a negotiator, as a chief magistrate, — which for the greater part of the time he was, — he had shown himselfequaily preeminent. For a short period only ol his early life he had appeared befoie the nation as a member of a legisla- tive body ; but then with distinguished capaci;y for public useUilness. In I^IG, he became again a 'member of Congress, being elected a Representative trom the St te ot Ohio, and con- inuing for three years, alter which he became a member of the Senate of that State ; and in 182-1, he vias elected a Senator in Congress Irom that State. General Har- rison was amply qualified for the legislative duties he was thus Culled to perlorm, not merely by the possession of a high order of intellect, a cultivated mind, long and intimate fa- miliarity with afiairs, and great political and general acquirements,but also as an animated and ready speaker, fluent m language, plain, but not ungraceful in manner, eminently happy in extemporaneous address, and endowed with apt and ready skill in bringing the resources of his mind to bear upon any given subject; — all which traits characterised his cursory debates as well as more formal speeches in Congress. It would far exceed the necessary limits of these Outlines, to enter minutely into the review ol General Harrison's acts and opinions during the period of this his service in Congress. These alone, with the otficial papers which proceeded from his pen, v^hilst at the head of af- fairs in the Northwest, would constitute a volume. Of the subjects, however, which received particular attention from him, some deserve to be mentioned, for their intrinsic importance, and the value of his efforts in regard to them. Such are the organization of the militia; the introduction ol a more equal system ot military educa- tion than now exists; the recognition of the independence of the Spanish American repub- lics; the improvement of the moral condition of the army by augmenting the inducements to respectability on the part of the non-commissioned ofircers and soldiers; the introduction of nniformitv as to military pensions; and above all, his strenuous exertions in behalf of the claim.i ol'the surviving officers and soldiers of the Revolution. MINISTER TO COLLMBIA. In 1828, General Harrison was appointed, by Mr. Adams, Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Columbia. He arrived in the midst of that unhappy period, when Bolivar, for- getful of that example of Washington, which it had been his pride in early life to follow, was engaged in those efforts to change the constitution of his country, the failure of which, and the chagrin they brought upon him, consigned him to a premature grave, the broken-hearted victim of bitter disappointment and unavailing regrets. An elaborate letter of General Har- rison's to Bolivar, in reference to these maUers, is justly admired lor the noble and just senti- ments of republican liberty and of pure patriotism, which it is replete w4th. General Plarri- son did not remain long in Columbia, however; the change of administration which ensued in the United States, producing his recall. CONCLUSION. Such, without enlarging to refer to other trusts of less general importance at different periods confided to General Harrison, have been the great public employments, which, in the course of his diversified and eventful life, he has been called to fill, with honor to himself and to the Union. The traits of character, which distinguished him in those employments, have been described briefly, as they came successively in review. Some of these traits, of a personal nature, de- serve" to be more distinctly spoken of by themselves. Disinterestedness and integrity in pecuniar}" matters have marked all his actioRS. As Governor of Indiana and as Superintendent of Indian Aiiairs, large sums of money passed through his hands to be disbursed at his discretion, and with few of the checks now pro- vided in reference to such things. He gave no security, and the Government had no guaranty for the faithful application of the funds entrusted to him, but his prudence and honesty. But he was conscientiously true to his dut)' ; neither accumulating wealth by speculation upon the public money or lands, nor becoming a debtor of the Government. During the war, as commander-in-chief in the Northwest, he had liberty to draw on the Government to an unlimited amount, and was daily passing large sums of public money through his hands, but not a cent did he ever divert to his own use ; and at the close of his military services, there v.'as no charge against him on the books of the Treasury, except for moneys faithfully and truly accounted for by him, and allowed as such. Meanwhile, his situation in life, more especially when Commander-in-chief, subjected him to many and great personal charges ; not only those directly incidental to his military duties, in travelling and otherwise ; but, charges, also, of a difl"erent kihd, imposed by the peculiar de- scription of the forces he led, and the consequent necessity he was under al times, of keeping free quarters for the reception of his fellow-citizens, whom his duty to the Government, and the depeiidance of the country upon volunteer troops, made it important he should conciliate. Add 21 to which, that at his own expense, he continually supplied clothing and other needful comforts for his side and wounded soldiers. Hence, though he lived as frugally and fared as hardly in the field as any soldier in the ranks of his army, yet his expenses at that period exceeded his pay, and the balance came from his private property. Since tlie war. General Harrison has been the principal representative of the military class of our citizens in the region in which he lived ; and the old soldier, the veteran, who had servi under Wayne, St. Clair, and others, and still more, they who had served under himscli", came to him to present their claims for lands and pensions, and regarded him in the light of a protector and a friend. Hospitable by nature and habit, the old soldier always found a welcome at fireside. Not only were his expenses increased, but much of his time also employed, in the duties of charity or friendship, to these his brave companions in arms. Nor did he at anytime seek to avail himself of those means, which came in his way, to add to the regular appointments of the stations he held. While (Governor of Indiana and Indi Superintendant, he refused to accept any of the perquisites, which before his time had be customarily paid; and for his services as commander of the expedition to Tippecanoe he never received or asked compensation. Though having a numerous family, — and with official patronage long at his command, — and high claims in his own right and otherwise, to such favors — he has educated his children at his own expense, and waived opportunities of providing for them in the public service, that he miglit give his inliuence to others. Thus disinterested in his public relations, (and not less so, in(fted, in his private,) he has carried with him into retirement no spoils of office; continuing to possess only the competency which belongs to independence, and that riciiest of all possessions, the enviable reputation of an upright life. Whether in civil office or military command, General Harrison was always just, moderate and conciliatory, though firm; and whether in public or private life, generous and considerate in his disposition, cheerful and art'able in his intercourse with all; and though warm in his afi'ections, yet never violent nor vindictive in liis enmities. By this rare union of ability, cour- tesy, and moderation, it was that he swayed those about him. He himself, on being asked how he could control the militia he led to victory, disclosed the secret of his intluence. "Ey treat- ing tliem" he said "with alFection and kindness, b}- always recollecting that they were my fellow-citizens, whose feelings I was bound to respect, and by sharings on every «ccasion the hardships they were obliged to undergo." His published writings, which are numerous, are distinguishea by clearness and facility of composition, and indicate beyond dispute, that he possesses great cultivation of mind, as well as great natural intellect. It is not the purpose of these Outlines to speak with particularity of the political opinions of General Harrison. These are best learnt by inspection of his writings, his speeches, his official or public correspondence, and by observation of his life and actions. One fact, however, in this relation, it is material to bear in mind. Though honored with the confidence as well of the Washington and Adams as of the Jefferson and Madison administrations, and though heartily attached to the Republican principles of the latter, and one of the electors of Mr. Monroe, yet his public services have been rendered to his country rather than to a party, and he stands free and untrammelled, with claims to the confidence of his fellow- citizens founded not on narrow party or sectional peculiarities, but on the broad basis of tiled patriotism and capacity, unblemished integrity, and his unquestionable devotion to the great public interests of the whole Union. And it needs only to add, therefore, that since his return from Columbia, he has lived in comparative retirement, upon his farm at North Bend, on the Ohio, a short way below Cincinnati, in the enjoyment of the unimpaired vigor of body and mind, which his ac- tive and temperate habits of life have secured to him, and in the conscientious discharge of aE the relative duties of the just man and the sincere Christian. THE END. CANAL POLICY STATE OF NE W-Y O R K The question is now before the people of this State, whether the unfinished canals upon which an immense amount of the public treasure has been expended, shall be completed, and rendered useful, or remain in their present condition, rapidly dete- vionUiiur and becoming utterly waste. Upon this question the two great political partus have defined their pos'itions. There is no diHerence of opinion concerning v.lu re and how they sta:.d. There is no ambiguity upon this point. The one proclaims loudly and upon all occasions, that it goes for the stop law policy of 1842. it declares that it desires this policy to be engrafted upon and incorporated into the constitution. It makes no concealment of its desires. Its doctrines are, that the State must not run in debt to finish the canals already begun and lying unfinished, and that the people must be taxed to pay the interest and princii)al of the moneys already expended. To carry out these doctrines it has prepared the following amendments to the constitution, which were passed by the last legislature, and will be found in the session laws of 1844, page 5.3S : AMENDMENT NO. 1. The pled;^rrs and L'uarantees of the aci entitled " An Act to provide for paying the debts and pre- serving the iioiiii of the State," passed March 29, 1843, are hereby continued, and the revenues spccilieil ilierom shall ho applied to the purposes therein ppecilied, inclading the repayment to the Unilcd States Deposite Fund and to the Cominon Shool Fundof all moneys of the said funds, which iKive been, or shall be, invfslcd in pursuance of the said act, in such equal annual sums as will be suiiifiL-nl to pay in full, both principal-and interest, all the debts and liabilities ol this State, as they exis'.od at the time of the passage of the said act; and also all the debts and liabilities of the State, autb.irized by said act to lie created and incurred, and which have been created and incurred by au- tiioniy of, and pursuant to ssid act, in the period of twenty-two and a half years from the lime said act was passed and [or.k elfect; and the Legislature shall not divert any part (if llie revenues appro- priated by said act reqLM'site to pay in full, both princip-il and interest, all the debts and lialdlities of the State hereioberorc specified, within the fixed period of time, and in the equal annual suirs here- in before expressed, fiom the purposes to which they are herein before directed to be applied. AMENDMENT NO. 2. The Legislature shall not, in any manner, create any debtor debts, liability or liabilities, of the oiiiie, direct or contingent, which shall singly, or in the agirregale, at any time, exceed one million < f t'uiilars, except to repel iovasion, or suppress insurieciion, unless the same shall be authorized by a law for some single oliject or work, to be dislincliy specified therein; and such law shall impose and provide for the collection of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the inlertst of such del't or ii... iiiiy as it falls due, and also to pay and discharge the principal of such debt or Iial>ility with:n von years from the lime of the contracting ihereLd; and no such law shall taU'e elTect nniil it at a general election, have been submitted to the people, and have received the sanction of a , , lity of all I lie \ ,V(s crist for and a!iall hi; requisite to the passage of such bill, and such law shall be irrcpealable until such debt or lia'iililv and the interest thereon arc fully paid and discharired. And ibe njomys arising from any loans or stocks creating such debtor liability shall be applied to the nbjcct or w,.vlc speci- fied in the act authorizing such deb. or liability, and to no other purpose whatever. Where a debt or liability on the part of tlie State shall be created lo repel invasion, or suppress insurrerlii-n, the moneys arising from the loans or stockscrealingsuch debt or liability shall be applied to the purpose for which the same were raised, or for the repayment of such debt, or liability and to no other purpose whatever. Tho other party advocates the completioti of the unfinished works in an economical manner, at the earliest practicable day, in order that the State may enjoy the benefits arisiTng from the immense expenditures already made upon them, which, up to this time, produce no return. It believes that it is irood policy for the State to borrow means to complete them if they promise to afford sulhcient reve- nue to defray the annual interest of the loan and uliiniately to discliarge the princi- pal, and it believes the present tax imposed by the stop hnv of 1843, is not neces- sary either to sustain the credit of the State, or to aid in the discharge of the canal debt. These two different systems of policy are hekl up before the people for their approbation by the two great parties, and as the question is to be decided at the approaching election, which is tlie true policy of the State, the attention of each voter is invited to a brief history of the canals. In preparing it, reference has beei? had to documents which can be examined to test its accuracy. It will be borne in mind that a complete set of these documents can be found at each county clerk's office in the State, and the most careful comparison of the facts here stated, witli these documents, is invited. In the first place then, it will be remembered that the Erie andChamplain canals were commenced by the State in 1817 and completed in 1825, at an expenditure of $8,401,394 12. [See Senate doc, 1844, No. 93, page 8.] At their commencement they encountered a powerful opposition, which was continued until botli works were nearly completed, when, unable to prevent the completion of the canals, it concentrated its malignity and g?.ve it vent in directing it against De Witt Clinton, who had from the first identified himself with the canal policy. On the 12th day of April, 1824, by a joint resolution of both Houses of the Legislature, which then con- sisted almost entirely of the then styled democratic party, he was removed from the office of Canal Commissioner. [See Senate Journal, 1824.] Sixty-fonr democratic members of the Assenffffy and all but three of the members of the Senate, the whole of which was composed of democrats, voted for the removah Among the number were SILAS WRIGHT, the present Locofoco candidate for Gov- ernor, JONAS EARLL, Jr., one of the present Locofoco candidates for Canal Commissicner, and IIE31AN J. REDFIELD, late Chairman of the Syracuse Locofoco State Convention. It cannot be said of either of these three gentlemen that since 1824 they have done anything inconsistent with their conduct in voting for the removal of Mr. Clinton. The insult to the illustrious Clinton roused to indignation the sense of justice of the people, and at the next election he was called to resume the gubernatorial chair by an overwhelming vote over SAMUEL YOUNG, the democratic candidate. Mr. Young was then a Canal Commissioner, and smarting under a sense of the just re- tribution which had been meted out to his party, and desirous of monopolizing for it all the feeling which it was manifest then existed in the State in favor of internal improvements, in the very next annual report of the Canal Commissioners, [See Assembly do^'uments, 1825, and canal laws, Vol. 2, page 262,] he recommended the construction of a second canal, parallel to the Erie canal, at a very early day, and estimated the probable annual revenue of the Erie canal at over nine millions OF DOLLARS. The following extracts from that report will not be uninteresting, v/hen we compare the views tliere presented with those which Mr. Young and his brother Locofoco politicians now entertain of the " PAUPER CANALS'' of this State. " It is presumed tliat the exporience o[ titv or three years more will satisfy the public that it will be proper to commence the consiruciion of a no I her canal parallel Kitk the Eastern section. * * j If Ihe transportation on the Eastern section could be equalized throughout the season, and a double ? set of locks constructed, another canal would probably not be necessary within fifteen or twenty years : [that is till 1839 to 184i,] but tho vast accumulation of business on the canal in the spring and fall months beyond what it is in the suminerwii.r. nKNDK.ri itpropkr and PKRHAPsiNDisPENSABr.E TO MAKB A PARAiJ,Ei. CANAi, ON THIS SKCTioN WITHIN A VERY FEW YEARS FROiM TtllS TIME." In the same report, the following is given as an estimate of tlie tolls to be receiv- ed vn the Erie canal when in full operation. ESTIMATE OF TOLL ON THE ERIE CANAL. " Toll on produce on Westcrnlialf of canal $3,150,260 " " on Easiprn hall' , 4,300'560 Toll on merchandize on Western half 8Go'jI2 " " on Eastern half ^ 1,720,224 Total S9,03l,176 " Fiom the above it will be seen that the Erie Canal may jjive a revenue in one year of ninb MILLIONS THIRTY-ONE THOUSAND ONE HONDRtD AND SEVENTY-SIX DOLLARS." This report was sijrned by f]ie honorable Samuel Young, the present Secretary of State, and his excellency William C, Bouck, our present Governor — gentlemen who maintain the doctrines of the stop law politicians of 1842. Under the brilliant prospects thus portrayed before them by these distinguished gentlemen, the Legislature, atixious to distribute the advantages of internal im- provements throughout the State, instead of ordering a " PARALLEL" canal to be constructed along the eastern section of the Erie Canal, passed laws in 1825 for the construction of the Oswego, Cayuga and Seneca canals : in 1829, for the con- struction of Crooked Lake and Chemung canals, and in 1833, for the Chenango canaL We have now arrived at a period when the State commenced the public works, which are now lying in an unfinished state, and are so railed at by the friends of the stop-law system of 1842. In 1834 the Canal Commissioners, viz: Samuel Young, William C. Bouck, Jonas Earll, Jr., and Michael Hoffman, at present distinguished friends of the stop-law, in their annual report to the Legislature, recommended the construc- tion of double locks on the Erie Canal east of Syracuse. The time was approach- ing when, according to the report of 1825, which is quoted above, the State was to require a double canal, and neither Mr. Young nor any of his compeers had seen anything to shake their former oi)inion of the vast importance of the Erie Caiial. In their report this language was employed : " The Commissioners believe the period has arrived when in this eiiliirhtened policy the Locks on the Erie Canal, east of Syracuse, should be doubled." — [See Assembly Doc. for 1834, No. 88.] This was just ten years before Mr. Young, in referring to the expenditure upon the canals in his report to the Legislature, staled that the people had — " Permitted themselves to he grievously taxed for the purpose of digging the praves of productive industry to support pauper can'als, and to licsiow immense gratuities upon hnckneyed fiaud, and countless millions upon impudent corruption," [See Asscmtily Doc. 1844 No. 34, p. 13 ] "and quietly worked on from year to year, and witnessed with stolid indifference the ruinous and reckless career of legislation." [lb.] niessrs. Young, Hofltnan, Earll and Bouck then believed in prosecuting the system of public improvements, and by all their influence aided onward " the ruinous and rci'kless career of legislation" which so grievously afflicts the mental vision of the lormer gentleman in 1844. During the session of the Legislature to whom this report of the Canal Commis- sioners was made, laws were passed directing them to cause surveys to be made oi the routes of the Black River and Genesee Valley Canals, and estimates to be pre- pared of the expenditure which would be required to construct them. The follow- ing suminer was spent in these surveys and at the meeting of the Legislature in 1835, the Commissioners reported the results In their report the cost of the works was estimated as follows : For the Black River Canal and Feeder, with stone locks, including the improvements of the Black River, $1,068,437,20. For the Genesee Valley Canal and the Dansville Sidecut, Sl,8<)0,G14,12. It is to be borne in mind that these are the estiinates of Jonas Earll, Jr., and his friends, who are now pledged to the support of the stop policy of 1842, and open advocates of the system of permitting these canals to go to destruction, llovv accurately they were made, and how much confidence can be placed in the integrity and ability of public servants who could make such a report, we can learn from the subsequent history of these canals. By Senate document for 1844, No. 98, page 19, it appears that on the Black River Canal, which was to have been completed for 81.068,437, there has been expended as follows: Black River Canal (proper), . 81,511,967,00 On the Eire Canal Feeder, (originally in the estimate of the work proper,) 290,097,68 Total on Black River Canal 81.802,064,66 and yet with this enormous expenditure of s';33^727 over the amount of the whole estimate for finishing it, it appears by Assembly document for 1844, No. 177, page 53, that it now requires 8430,740 to compiete it. Again, bv the same it appears that on the Genesee Yallev Canal, which was to cost 81,890,614,12, there has been expended 83,^03,000— $1,312,000 more than the original estimate, and yet 81,322,()00 is required to complete it. Now one of two things is certain — either that the estimates were made in good faith, or that they were not. If made by the Commissioners in good faith, the fact shows they were grossly incompetent to perform tbe duties of their othce. It will not do to say their Engineers erred. They should have employed none to make estimates upon whom reliance could not be placed. That was their business. To employ en- gineeis who were worthy of the public confidence, and then to see that their exam- inations and estimates could be relied on. For this they were appointed and paid liberal salaries. It will not do to say that the plans of the work were changed after the estimates were made. If they were, the Commissioners must have made the change, and by what authority did they venture upon a change of plan requiring an additional expenditure of more than fifteen, millions of dollars. Surely, neither the Legislature nor the people ever advised any such change. If then the Commissioners were honest, they were utterly incompetent. The other supposition weneednotmake. Let them shelter themselves under itifthey prefer the alternative. But to return to the year 1834. In the Commissioners' report of that year, the necessity of constrnctinii double locks u])on the Erie Canal eastward of Syracuse, is urged upon the Legislature in the extract given above. The recommendation was not adopted by the Leoislature of thai year, and in his annual message to the next Legislature, Governor Slarcy recommends the enlarge- ment of the Erie Canal. In accordance with the views of the Governor, a bill was introduced in the Assemblv by the Hon. David Wager, passed in that body by a vote of 86 aves to 16 noes, and in the Senate by an unanimous vote. It will be re- marked that at this time both the Houses of the Legislature, with the Governor, were, by a very large majority, democratic. The following are sections of that law, the whole of which can be found in the session laws of 1S35, at page 313 : "§1. The Canal ComtnissioDPrs are hereby authorized and directed to enlarge and iuiprovp tbe Erie Canal, and construct a double set of Lift-Locks therein, as soon as the Canal Board may be of opinion tlial thepwtiUc interest r^qidrcs such imprfrcenieni. "§2. The dimensions to which the Canal and Lucks shall be enlarged shall be oeterminedby the Canal Board. "§3. In passiniT cities or villages, and at other places, an independent canal may be construcied instead of enlarging the present works if the Canal Board shall decide that Uie public iD^er4f^t will be thereby promoted." This act, passed by a Legislature composed of the partisans of Samuel Young, Jonas Earll,.ir. and Silas Wright, commenced the work which Mr. Young designates, " The ruinous and reckless career of legislation'' which the people of iliis State " quietly looked on from year to year andwitnessed with stolid indifference.'" And indeed, much cannot lie said in favor of a law giving to a Canal Board such as we have neen the one then in ofT.ce, the power to enlarge the Erie Canal as soon as they saw fit, and to any size that they should deem proper, and all this witliout a question as to the cost of the work or the ability of the resources of the Stale to meet it. Those who rail at the nnagnitude of the expenditurtsupon oar works of internal improvement, will do well loremember this "recWess" legislation, and the fact that the Canal Board who were to determine when to commence the culargc- raent and the dimensions of the enlarged work, consisted of Jolin Tracy, Azariah C. Flagg, William Campbell, John A. Dix, Greene C. Bronson, Stephen Van Rens- selaer, Samuel Young, William C. Bouck, Jonas Earll, Jr. and ^''-chael Hoftman —all of whom, exceptiiifj Stc]ilieii Vnii Rensselaer, who was not an acliiig coin- niissioner then were and still are members of the party which now plants upon the unfinished cnnals its standard with the stop-law of 1812 emblazoned upon its folds. In pursuance of" the law, the Canal Commissioners prepared their surveys and estimates of expense, and at the next meeting of the Legislature the Canal Board rei)orted that they had decided, under the {)rovisions of the law, to enlarge the ca- nal so as to give itseven feet of depth and seventy feet in width at the surAxce of the water, and Uwy slate that the ex])cnse of the enlargement will be $12,410,150,17. Mr. Comptroller Flagg. at present a very distinguisiied opponent to the policy of completing the public works, in his report that year states the necessity of enlarg- ing the Erie Canal. How well the Legislature then appreciated the services of the Canal Comhiissionerj^, may be gathered from the fiict that a law was passed that year adding five hundred dollars per annum to their salaries. Indeed, the public were not yet prepared to doubt that their facts and estimates were worthy of some reliance. The Canal Board in their report for the next year say, (Sen. Doc. 1837, No. 53, page 2,) : " It is the opinion of the Canal Board ihat it is for the intcrrst of iho Slate to proceed wiili thn iMilaigenipnl oi iho Canal so thai it may be completed sooner than is contemplated by ilie Act of May 11, 1835." Ancl again, at page 4 — " In the Report made by the Canal Board to the LogiMaturr, on the 26th January, 183G, before referred to, it is said at pa^e 5 — ' the aggreirale of the esn'mates including- the cost of a double set of Lift-Locks, on the whole Tine, is for the largest canal S'l2,4lG,150 17~cqual loS"34,204 30 per mile.' This estimate was for a canal of seven feet depth of water, and seventy feet width of siirlace. So far as tliese estiniaies have been tested, by nutting the same kind of worii under contract, thcij hava been found to be reviarlcahlij corrccl." The Canal Commissioners agree with the Canal Board in these statements. In their report, [Assembly Doc. 1837, No. 73] they say: " The estimated cost of the work under contract, exclusiv'c of diynr.tjes, is ;ft'3,035,087 44." And on page 24 — "The work for the cnlargeuienl and improvement now under contract comprises the most difficult and expensive part ofthe line t'ro;ii Albany to Lockpori." Again, on page 23 : — . " The Coiiunissioners deem it their duty to slate that there ari- several places on the Caaal where its immediate cnlaigemeni Would be advaniageou.-i to the navigation." They then recommend putting under coniracl the enlargement in the Mohawk Valley, at the city of Ulica, and the Mountain Ridge at Lockpori, at as early a day aii is consistent with the state of the finances of the 8ta(e. In the Governor's annual message to the Legislature in 1838, [Ass. Doc. 1838, No. 2, page, 17 and 18,] he says : " The Commissioners are devoting all the means placed at their control to the enlirjtemenl of tho Erie Canal." Again: — " The best inlercsls of tl;e Slate appeal to yf)a with great earnestness to provide I'or the early completion of this impoilaiit improvement. I am persuaded that a laryersiinj than the present appropriation rniirht be advantageou.sly expended witlioat causinjr interruplii^n or delays to the transportation on this Canal. In those seasons ofthe year when business is most ac- tive, consideial)le inconvenience has already been felt on account of the inadequacy of this Canal." Tins was then democratic doctrine. The recommendation was complied with, by a hill reported in llic Assembly, then having a Whig majority, appro])nating one million of dollars for the enlargement. Having passed the House in this form it was amended in the Senate, which h.ad then a lariic democratic majority, so as fo appropriate four millions lo be exj^endeddiiring the year, instead ofone,aiul the bill so amended became a law. With this addition to the means of jirosecuting the work of enlargement, the ComiTiissioners went on putting the work under contract. In the next annual rc- ])ort. [Ass. doc. 1839, No. 80, ])age 21.] tliey express the opinion that all the work on (he enlargement, not under contract, should be put under contract in the course ofthe years 1839 and 1810. They further state that the work actually under con- tract is estimated to cost $10,405,913 38, exclusive of engineering and land damages. In their report in 1840, [Ass. doc. No. 00, page 70,] the same commissioners re- port the amotmt of work under contract on the enlargement at $10,683,550 05, and state the aniount necessary to complete the existing contracls at 530,500,991 02. In the spring of that year, the democratic Canal Commissioners who had previously had charge of the public works were displaced and a Wbig board elected, who con- tinned in office until lSi'2. During tlie time of tficir continuance in office new con- Iracls were made noon the Erie canal enlargement to the amount of $1,092,07015.* [A.ssem. No. 116, 1844.] With this exception, all the contracts entcrerl into by the State for the enlargement of the Erie canal, have hcen made by •commissioners who sympathise with the Locofoco candidates for Gvivcrnor and Canal Commissioners before the people, and yet it appears that there has already been expended on the Erie canal enlargement, which was to cost $12,410,150 17," the sum of 813,29!, 616,t [See Ass. doc. of 1844, No. 177, page 17,] and the work i • still unfinished, and if we may believe the report of the committee on canals in the Senate, in 1844, [Sen. Doc. 1844, No. 93, page 44,] " no one believes it is more than half accomplished on the PLAN UNDERTAKEN," apd the good people of the State are desired to permit all that has been done to perish until they have, by a direct tax paid up the principal and interest of the debt incurred in the buiMing'of the work thus far. Such is the brief history of the public works stopped in their progress by the law of 1842. If the works were improvidentU' commenced, by whom were they com- menced ? The men who wielded the jfolitical power of the Stale from 1834 to 1840, contrived the projects — sent their own officers and engineers to make exam- inations and estimates, reported the probable expense to the Legislature and re- commended the laws which were passed for their adoption, ancl now, when time has demonstrated that either gross ignorance or gross fraud has been at the foun- dation of every one of their estimates — when the State has expended already more money in carrying out their plans, by millions, than the whole were to cost, and yet not half the. work is done, and the half already performed is incapable of use until the remainder is finished, the same politicians, who then thought no expendi- ture extravagant, can rail like fishwomen at "the ruinous and reckless career of legislation" which only carried into effect their own recommendations. Nor is this all. They seek to fetter the Stale during all future time by constitutional pro- visions which will prevent these unfinished works being ever made available. In the report of the committee of the Senate, by :}:Rf)bert Deniston, March 21, 1844, which speaks the sentiments of the party of which he is a member, and which was lauded to the skies by the Albany Argus and the Albany Atlas, the organs of the two factions of the democratic party, we find the following conclusions at page 59, [Sen. doc. No. 98, Report of Com. on Canals.] 'i The Cotnmitlet! wnuki come to the following conclusions: "1. Tde tolls of the Canals and revenue of the Slate by the Act of March 29, 1842, enlitleJ an Act to provide for paying the debt and preserving the credit of the State, are pledged to the public creditors; and thaikw, with all its guarantees and pledges, must be rigidly observed until our debt be paid. " 2. The pulilic works cannot be resuined without a resort to additional direct taxation, to which the peoiile wii,[, not and ought not to submit. "3. The S;ate having entered upon the construction of the unfinished canals without a full know- ledge of ihnir cost and demerits having been Communicati-d to the people, the Legislature out^ht nnt to appropriate any 'm.nn''yy to be expcwled in tJuir cons/ruction until Ike People, who have lo fool the bills, in the exercise oflhelr sovereign ipoioer coiavi'ind it to be done ; and the Commiitez will not recommend a direct tax to preserve them. " 4. The inteiests of the people require no legislation on the subjects referred at this time." These conclusions are avowed by the democratic party as its doctrines. In the address recently ptd^lished by the convention held at Syracuse, which nominated Silas Wright for Governor, and Jonas Earll and other enemies of the canal policy for Canal Commissioners, we find the following resolution: " Ri.solved, That we proclaim our uncompromising adherence lo the cebt-paying policy of 1842. It is the policy of integriiy, pjiriotism, and public faith. It is the policy which is to redeem the State from her heavy debt and her financial embarrassments, to give her hereafter the control of her now crippled resources, and to enable her to fulfill her.high and glorious destiny. We commend, therefore, to the favorable considcrniion of the people and of those whom they «hall elect to office, the Con?tiluiional Amendments adopted at the last session of the Legislature and now in course of publication throughout (h. ,Vv>. -^"o