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VOL. XXV.
ATHENS, GEO., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11 1856
NO 4Qt
C’ljr IflntjjtrulauiiDr,
ITBLISIIED WEEKLY, .
DV I1ILL & SLEDGE, ;
i ; rMXUlU HI'.L, JAMES A. SLShoS
editors and proprietors.
Wire Upstairs, No. 7, Granite Rme
TERMS:
f w8 Dollar* per annum, in advance, nr
ftrrc Dollar*,if delayed.
+, ro nit tin; SI 9, in ndrance, SI* Co
n,r, "fill be Boot. t , ....
r , 1V , ,'McriW failing to give notice of Ins desire
•ontinne hi* s'lbsi-tiptioi, nt the l^ptralmn of
•1„. time for wVu-li it hn* been pniil, will be conwdorrd
..ws'iiiigtoimntiioiCitfitreUielill'mbleAeeurdtncy.
;..r* I, tmo »in iiv- .1.-- —o',,......1 (owent Ht tLe
...f ifie Eilitow.t nntil all nmiaragea are paid.
‘‘ 1I.4TKS OF ADVBRTWISO.
pur oho *qn*rc, cousiatiu"
. , ,, r .once equivalent, One Hollar for the first
;.;l r'lioii, and Fifty Cents lor each weekly etmtniu
mire.
Special cot
r.itructacnn lie made for yearly adver-
■' l '| nlvcrtiscmenta inserted at tlio unnal rate*.
Annoniieing candidates for office, live Dollars,
•mvslilo in advulH'C in all eases. . ■ .
tilrertiscmcnl* slionld always have the desired
,r of insert ions marked upon them when hauded
", «r ..tlicrwiao the will be published till forbid, and
.. nr •rl accordingly.
ihrectory.
'"ST Profcssionc' nnd Husiucss men can have
their ear Is inserted undei iS' head, for one year,
at the rale of Five Dollars forn ...-Si of notim.ro
. a., at 4- f..* h A till U
thnii sit laics, aud aoveuty-fivc cents for e.
I,,.n il line.
T. M. B&K1EL,
TTORXEY AT LAW, Washington
Wilkt s
A untv, Georgia. Will Jirietieo Hi \M ke>
Warna, Hauiuak.Tuliaferro.Ogli'tliorpe. Madison*,
llnrt, Kllsrt and Lincoln.
tvt.it,
I1ENRY CLEVELAND.
\ TTORHKV AT I.AW, llnrtwell. Geo
refers to Hon. Thoinaa IV. Thomas, Elbertpn
lion. Joseph Brown, Canton;
ilon. Ilerseliel V. Johnson. Milledgeville;
lion. John II. Lumpkin, Floyd.
Jaiv 10- Ij.
T. BISHOP & SON,
l»riIOLESAI.K and Uetnil dealers in Grocer-
f f ioa, Hardware aud Staple Dry Goods, No.
1 llrond St. Athens, Ga. i**ay 1-
l)’i
A'.U
DORSEY & CARTER,
V. VLKRS iu Family Groceries, Choice Wines
ic„ corner Uroad und Jackson sis.
} April 3.
W. W. LI MPRIN,
V TTOn.NUY AT LAW,Athens,Georgia—
will nractieein all the eountiesof the Western
Circuit. Particular attention given to collecting.
0;B, c oncoru irofG -n. Gerdiuc s lot, near the
Episcopal Ounreh.
Jan ol—tf
C. 1Y. & 0. Xi./t LONG, -
wr
IIOLESALK and retail Dragglsts, Athens*
| Jan. 3.
“NEVERCOTRT BUT ONE,”
I have finished it, the letter.
That will tell him he i* f ee!
From this hour, an,I forever,
lie is nothing more to me !
And my hear! feels lighter, gayer.
Since the deed at last is done —
I will teach him that when courting.
He should never court but one !
Every body in the village
- Knows he’s been a wooing me,
And this morning he was riding
Willi Mm SOI. , .V. _ I „„ ,
They any he amil'd up.m her.
As he canter’d by her side.
And I’ll warrant you lie premised
To make her soon his bride.
Dht I've firifah’d it, the letier.
From this moment he is free—
He may haVe hrr, if Ife tt-ants her,
If he loves her more than me.
He may go—it will not kill me—
1 would saj the Same, so there',
If I knew it would, for flirting.
It is more than 1 can bear.
It is twilight, and the evening
Thal.he said he’d visit me—
But no doubt he’s now with Anna,
lie may stay there too for uie !
And as true as I’m a living.
If he ever conies here more.
I’ll act as if we never,
Never, never met before.
It is time he should becoming,
And I wonfer if he will;
If he does l’l* look so coldly—
What’s that shadow on the hill?
I declare, out in the twilight.
There is some one coming near—
Can it be?—Yes, ’tis a figure,
Just as true as 1 am here !
Now, I almost wish I'd written
Not to him that he was free.
For perhaps ’twas hut a story
That he rode with Anna Lee.
There he’s coming thro’ the gate*way,
I wil? meet him at the door.
And I'll tell hint still I love him.
It* he’li court Miss L*n no morel
DR. C. B. LOMBARD.
W OULD roipectfiiMy anuouucc to tl e citizen*
of Athens and vicinity, that hi* office in still
•Ivor Wilson A Veal's Clothing Store, College Avc
uo, opposite the Post Office.
Fob. y—Iv.
MOORE & CARLTON,
D EALERS in Silk, Fancy nnd_ Staple Goods
Hardware und Crockery, No. 7, Uranto Row,
Athens, Ga. [Jan. *f».
T. II. WILSON & BROS.,
W HOLESALE anil retail dealer* in Dry Goon*.
Groceries. Hardware, Crockery, kc., Noe. 3
an I l. College Avenue, Alliens, Ga.
March IG
SAMUEL P. TlllR.MOXD,
\ TTORXEY AT LAAV, Jefferson, Jackson coun
ty, (la., will intend pruuiplly to any l.nsiin **
("iilhlrd to hi.care. [April lit, 1S55.
WILLIAM G. DELONY,
Attorney nt Law,
O.B-coh Broad Street, overthe store of I. M. Ken-
dry. Ailirus, (in.
March Id—it.
Since so much condemnation was vis
ited upon the “hands” of the Arctic,
let'something of a balance be struck and
justice done by giving widest circulation
to the fine beltavisur of tlie crew iu the
boatful of awful suffering which floated
on the ocean for six days after the wreck
of the Lyonna sc. One sentence of the
terrible story speaks volumes, and, there
fore, we reprint it: “The women were
nearly linked, hut the sailors, who had
brought five coverlets into the boat, gave
them up to them, and thus saved them
from freezing to death. If the two men
who d<ed of frost had had there qnilt-
they would not have succumbed. Each
night we Lade each other‘good-by,’ ex
pecting never to see the morning.”
An old lady in Iowa, while recently
in the woods, was bitten on the end of
the nose by a attlesnake. The old lady
recovered, huihesnake died. Coroner’s
verdict, “poisoned hy snuff.
•Fi5Ei> my Lambs.’—There was point
in the quaint remark of a plain farmer
to a somewhat transcendental preacher,
•Take care, sir, you do not put the hay
si- high in the rack the lambs cannot
reach it.’
“Clear as Mt;o.”—An exchange
paper says that “ transcendentalism is
the spiritual cognosccnce of phsycholo-
gical irrcfragibility, connected with con-
cnitant ademption of uncnlnmnient spir
ituality nnd ctherialized contention of
suksultcrv concretion.
HILL & THOMAS,
D EALERS in Silk, Fancy, and staple Goods,
Hardware, Crockery, Groceries, Ac., Nik 4
(•■-.tile Row, Alliens,Go. [Jan.IS.
E. L. FERRY,
W HOLESALE and retail denier in Ilnlu.CM#,
Boots, Shoes, Trunks, *r. between Dr*,
long*' and White's comer, Bread street, Athens,
Ga. [Jan. It*.
F. W. LUCAS,
V\T HOf.E* ALE and retail dealer In Dry Goods,
IT (iriK-ieries, llurdwurc, Ac., No.2, ISroad'tit.
Aihen , Ga. * '-f „ ■ [Jan 14
R. L. BLOOMFIELD,
'yyntOI.KSALE aud retail Clothing Store, Entad
Strreet, Adieus, Ga.
IMay in.
PRESIDENT’S MESS1GE.
Fellow-Citizen* of the Senate anil
of the House of Representatives „•
The Constitution requires that the
President shall, from time to time, not
only recommend to the consideration of
Congress such measures as he mav
judge necessary arid expedient, but al
so that he shall give information to them
of the state of the Union. To do this
fully, involves exposition of all matters
in the actnal condition of the country,
domestic or foreign, which essentially
coneern the general Welfare. While
performing his constitutional duty in
this respect, the President does not
i* ju*ndo jiavcnn
.1
A Disgusted Victim.—The Wash
ington Star tells a good story of a Frc-
uiouter of that city, recently re'urned
from Philadelphia. Having been pretty
well plucked by his party for " necessa
ry election expenses” under premise of
political triumphs nnd an office, lie says
he was approached jnst after the Penn
sylvania election, by a committee man,
with an invitation to foik over again
“ for the good of the party,”
“ No sir-ce /” respond* d the victim.
“ What 1 nothing for bleeding Kansas?”
“ Narv red—-let her her bleed J”
10LT & UOLBEBT,
D EALTJiKnisUy'WDrrGvoda.Gvoaerica.Hnrd
war.-, A.-., No.(irnniu- Row, Ail USD., G a.
J 'Jut J. c.ur.v. tViu.<aa C. Coliiibt.
Ais-owi £t— If.
J. H . GOSS. ? s ;
\\’ABCnorS8 and ConunWden Merchant
* " AuctiMn. Ga. [An;. 30, ItW.
«*.RUY & HUGHES, ?
\\r HOLES ALE and retail deatyre in Bom
" SIhk-m, Leather*, Took, and all uint. nn!
M*ral by boot and shoe manufnctorieo. Trunk,, Va
' i-v-s, (; irpet-Bag», Shoe Blacking, kCn Ilrond-M.
-Atlim*, Ga. ( Sept, 20.
J. F. P1TTARD & CO. J
D EALERS in Family Grorerier ami Confection
arire, &c. &c. All arlidco in our line of bu*i
ran bo purrliaaed cheap tor caob, or on three
mantli. time. We would ako, reapcctlnlly coll the
aiic-ution of tlioao indebted u», on note or aceuout
fail ISai, to call and acttlo, as further ludulgcaic
tauuut lie given. .^ . i »,
March *JJ—tl Jan, . * . -
JAS. K. LYLE,
A TTORXEY AT I.AW, WUI be found at,
> V tiia office over White A More’More, Bread at.
I 1 * iwimihv* entrusted to hi, care will meet with
fvupt attention. Jipaviai attentiou paid to col-
tmiug. " vW,> ft ‘.
^Mnrcli C, 1856. ^
w. t. jhIllican
A TTORNEYi AT LAW—Wil) practice in Oie
counties of the YVewartt Circuit, and |he
• •untie of Modkon, Rlbert aitd Han,oftbe Xcttli-
renOircuil. . *- *
“-J-Mttuour, : Wm. T. Millicas,
•Mfereon.tiu. Garnuavillc, Oa..
*I»y 15.
Preserving E«oh.—Take n sieve
aud cover tbe but turn with eggs; then
pour boiling water upon them, sufficient
to give them a thorough wetting, per
mitting the water to pass off through
tlio sieve. Take them out aud dry
them iu bran, the smell end down, aud
your eggs will keep forever.
A Libel vfon Cape Cod.—This lib-
trails paragraph appears in a late Eng
lish paper: » ^
-"In the vicinity of Cape Cod two ap
ple treus and a goosebeny bnsh are call-
ed an orchard. ' Captain Boreas oWus
five plum trees, and is looked upon as
an aristocrat. One year they don’t bear
and the next they can’t—thesclioolboys
using tbe fruit for bnllets to kill owls
with. Great country , ’(hit Cape Cod 1”
Married, l»y the Rev. John ’Smith,
Miss Baltic Brace, leader ef:tbe Temp-
erance Band, to* A dan Binder, Eitq.—
fa,- ' d-J’da «•»
& "deriil," who is afraid to tPsifrtif
ny as he- could be, after reading tlie'
above, perpetrated the folfowing, which'
J. M. MATTHEWS,
^TTOKjBY AT LAW, DamelaTtle.Os.
GU1FFITU a WILLIFORD,^*
’Vl/'HGLESALE nnd K< tail Dealers in
f T ware, CrockcrY ar.'l Hou*c FnmUhUic
do* below fc L. Bioomfleld VClatMw
ispub!h>bed'shnjdy ; fdrthe • 'encourage 1 ^
ment of youthful genius: ‘ ' "" 1 ‘j
Dear Sally was a sober maid!
Of temperance faith a strong defender,
But wicked, RiwirBtig c «Mnilc»iF«aftt, ; * - •
Better Man the pledge-- she tikad-'A. ’Ben-
-jj-j d«rJ* cfct'i. Jstw’Jm.v i\
A feniloaiinpf
"R - breakfast is coming il>.”
"Let ir eoroe,” exclaimed R— udth
*****
j A wmoan's loigiWUfi been firand cR*
pahlp. on actual cxi erimcvd. to move
one thonBancl six lmudrcd and ui.4*y’
-nine and a half times a. milHttc. iA«
wlmt is stilhaaciaraiHUrfuIrfli, Ui<5r
wear
victions, but- as tlie executive minister
of tlie governmeut, enabled by bis posi
tion and called upon by Itis official obli
gations, to scan with an impartial eye
the interests of the whole, nnd of every
part of the United States.
Of the condition of tlie domestic in
terests of the Union, its agriculture,
mines, manufactures, -navigation, and
commerce, it is necessary onlv ter sav
that the internal prosperity of the coun
try, its cmitinu >us and steady advance
ment in wealth and population, and in
private as well as public well-being,
attest the wisdom of onr institutions, and
rhe predominant spirit of intelligence
and patriotism, which, notwithstanding
occasional irregularities of opinion or
action resulting from popular freedom,
lias distinguished and characterised tlie
people of America.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION—SLAVERY
QUESTION—KANSAS.
Tn the brief interval between the ter
mination of the last and the commence
ment of the present session.-, of Congress,
the public mind has becu occupied with
the care of selecting, for another con
stitutional term, the President and
Vice-President of the United States.
The determination of the persons, who
are of right, or contingently, to preside
over the administration of the govern
ment. is, under our system, committed
to the States and the people. We ap
peal to them, by their voice pronounced
in the forms of law, to call whomsoever
they will to the high post of Chief Mag
istrate.
And thus it is that ns the Senators
represent the respective States of the
Union, and the members of the House
of Representatives the several constitu
encies of eacli State, so the President
represents tlie aggregate population af
the United States. Their election of
him is the explicit and solemn act of
the solo sovereign authority of the Un
ion.
It is impassible to misapprehend the
great principles, which, hy their recent
political action, tlie people of the United
States have sanctioned and announced.
'They have asserted the constitutional
equality of each and all of the citizens
ot the United States as citizens, what
ever their religion, wherever their biith
or their residence; they have maintained
inviolability of the constitutional rights
of the different sections of the Union;
and they have proclaimed their devoted
and unalterable attachment to the Uni
on and to tlie Constitution, as objects of
interest superior to all subjects of local
or sectional controversy as the safeguard
of the rights of all, as tlie spirit and the
essence of the liberty, peace and great
ness of the Republic.
In doing this, they have at the same
time emphatically condemned the idea
of organizing in these United States
mere geographical parties; of marshal
ling in hostile array towards each other
the different parts of the country, North
or South, East or West.
Schemes of this nature, fraught with
incalculable mischief, and which the
considerate sense of the people has re
jected, conhl have had conntenence in
no part of the country, had they not
been disguised by suggestions plausible
in appearance, acting upon an excited
state of the public mind, induced by
causes temporary iu their character, and
it is to be hoped transient in their influ
ence. - , -.
Perfect liberty of association for po
lities! objects, and the wildest scope of
discussion, arc the received Mid ordina
ry conditions of. government in ouv coun
try. Our institutions, framed in the
spirit of confidence in the intelligence
and integrity of the people, do not for
bid citizens cither individual^ or associ
ated together, to attack bv writing,
speech, or any <vhcr methods short of
physical force, the Constitution and the
very existence of the Union. Under
theaheltcr of this great libeity, and
protected by the laws wnd usages
of the government they assail, associa
tions have been formed, in sonic of the
States, of individuals, who, pretending
to( seek only to prevcnVfhc spread of the
institution of slavery into the present or
future inchoate Stales of theX'nion, arc
really iuflntned with desire to change the
'domestic institutions of existing States.
To accomplish their objects, they dedi
cate ibemseltfes to the odious task of
depreciating; th$ governmeut. orggnlza^
tion which s’.ands in Akeir .wayv auJ.-Mt
calumniating, with - ; iudisenminate•.in-
vective,. mst only.tbe vatiaenaoi partio
ular States, with, whose laws they find-*
IholfFWt -afl otbefB ’of their *i$IiJYrMari
them, and the States of which they are
citizens, the only path tolls accomplish
ment is through> burning cities and rav
aged fields, and slaughtered populations
ar.d all there is most terrible in foreign,
complicated with ciril aud servile war ;
and that the first stop in tlie attempt is
tlie forcible disruption of a country
embracing in its broad bosom a degree
of liberty, and an amount of individual
and public prosperity, to which there is
no parcllcl in history, and substituting
in its place hostile governments, driven
at once and inevitably int > mutual de
vastation anct fratricidal carnage, trans
forming tlie now peaceful and felicitous
brotherhood into a vast permanent camp
«f ail iited uicu Ithvi vL. 1 ,i _
of Europe and Asia. Well knowing j shall be incur p^ratciflri ~th~c~tfni'on ofthe
that such, and such only, are the means ” * *
the latter*, unless -with conditions suited
to particular views of publie policy.—
The imposition (if such a condition was
successfully resisted. But, at the same
period, the question Was presented of
imposing restrictions upon the residue
of the territory ceeded by France.—
That question was, for the time, dispos
ed of by the adoption ot a geographical
line of limitation.
In this connection it should not be
forgotten that Frame, of her own'ac
cord, resolved, for considerations ofthe
most far-sighted sagacity, to cede Lou
isiana to the United State and that hc-
cesskrti was accepted by tbe Uuited
States, the latter expressly engaged that
—lv-14* “ ‘ * ' 1
A- -f 0.1 ...2^1 4
zens thfougbout - the country^, wdio do
not patticipate with tbcm iu their as
saults upon the . Constitution, framed
and adopted by ourfiuherejamLclaim-
;or the privil
and the conse mences of their plans and
purpose*, they endeavor to prepare the
peopte of the United States for civil
war. bv doing everything in their power
to deprive the Constitution anil the
laws of moral authority, and to under
mine. the fabric of the Union, hy appeals
to passion and sectional prejudice, by
indoctrinating its people witlr reciprocal
hatred, and by educating them to stand
face to face as enemies rather than
shoulder to shoulder as friends.
It is by the agency of such unwar
rantable interference, foreign and do
mestic, that the minds of many, other
wise good citizens, have becu so inflam
ed into the passionate condemnation
of the domestic institutions of the South
ern State*, as at length to pass insensi
bly to almost equally passionate liostil-
tility towards their fellow citizens of
those States, and thus finally to fall
into temporory fellowship with the
avowed and active enemies of the Con
stitution. Ardently attached to liberty
in the abstract they do not stop to con
sider practically liow the objects they
would attain can be accomplished, nor
to reflect that, even if the evil were as
great as they deem it, they have no
remedy to apply, and that it can be on-
ly aggravated by. their violence and un
constitutional action. A question, which
is one of the most difficult of all the prob
lems of social institution, political econ
omy and statesmanship, they treat with
unreasoning internperance of thought
and language. Extremes beget ex
tremes. Violent attacks from the North
finds its inevitable consequence iu the
growth of a spirit of angry defiance at
the South. Thus in the progress of
events we had reached that consuniation,
which tlie voice of the people has now
no poiotvjly rotuL-oil. of the attiunjif. of"
a portion of the States, hy a sectional
organization nnd movement, to usurp
the control of the Government of the
United States.
I confidently believe that tlicgieat
body of those who inconsiderately took
this filial step, are sincerely attached to
the Constitution and the Union. They
would, u|>on deliberation, shrink with
unaffected horror from any conscious
act of disunion or civil war. But they
have entered into i path, which leads
nowhere, unless it he to civil war and
disunion, and which has no other possi
ble outlet. They have proceeded thus
far in that direction in consequence of
successive stages of their progress hav
ing consisted of a series of secondary
issnes, eacli of which profesw:d to be
confined within comtitutioualand peace
ful irnits, but which attempted indirect
ly what a few men were willing to do
directly, that is, to a-1 aggressively
against the constitutional rights of ne.ar-
ly one half of the thirty-one t'tates.
In the long series of acts of indirect
aggression, the fust was the strenuous
agitation, by citizens of the Northern
States, iL Congress nnd out of it, of the
qnestiou of negro emancipation in the
Southern States.
"The second step in this path of evil
consisted of acts tf the people of tLe
Northern States, and in several instan
ces of their govenim :nts, aimed to fa
cilitate tlie escape of persons held to
service in the Southern States, and to
preveut their extradition when reclaim
ed according to la v and in virtue of
exp; ess .provisions of the Constitution.—
To promote, this object, legislative cn
nctments aud other means w ere adopt
ed to take away or defeat rights, which
the Constitution solemnly guarantied.
In order to nullify tlio then i-xisting act
of Congress concerning the extradition
of lugitives from sirvice, laws worn en
acted in many States, forbidding their
officers, under the icverest penalties,.to
participate in the execution of any act
of Congress w lintewr. In this way that
system of harmouio rs co operation be
tween the authorities of theUnitcd
States and of the .Several States, for tire
maintenance oftheir comnnn institutions
which existed in tbj cariy years of the
Rcpnblic*'vasdestr<ycd;conflictsofjuris-
dictiou camc :tp bo lrcquent; and Con-
gress-foiuid itself.ct mpelled. for the sup-
port of the .Constitution, and the vindi
cation of its power, to authorize the ap
pointmeut of new o fixers charged , with
the cxccutiou of its acts, as if they and
4he officers of the States were-the inin-
isters, respectively,-pf, foreign - govern
ments in a Vlate cf mutual hostility
rather tjian fel)ow magistrates of o epm-
mpn.eouutry, peactfuHy subsisting un
der tlie protection of-one well constitu
ted Uniou-J Thus here, also, aggressioi
was followed by negation i and, jhc at
tacks upon the Comtitution at tbi*. RttRifc
did but. serve to raito up nearbarriew for,
ttgjroyBfg aiidaacurilV-- - .
font, and the wilt of those who may
succeed them, invested with'similar rc-
apper falnirg to the same set of opinions,
which Subsided'ns rapidly ~ as fheF
sponsibilities, and clothed with equal au- urosc when it came to be seen, ns it un?
thority: MoretircfaHnYRstfgRttdnma^ —
pnnci-
ibeim-
United States, and admitted as soon as
; possible, according to tlie principles of
tbe-Federal Constitution, to the enjoj*.
ti.ent of all rights, advantages, and im
munities ofcitizens ofthe United States;
and in the meantime they shall be main
tained and protected in the free enjoy
ment of their lihrrtij, property, and the
religion which they profess”—that is to
say, while it remains in n territorial con
dition, its inhabitants are maintained
and protected in the free enjoyment of
their liberty and property, with a right
then to pass into the condition of States
on a footing of perfect equality with the
original States.
The enacffnetlt, which csfabli.*hcd the
restrictive geographical line, was ac
quiesced in rather than approved by the
States of the Union. It stood o”i tlie
statute book, hoWeVer, for a number of
years '; ami the people of the respective
States acquiesced in the re-enactment of
the principle ns applied to the State of
Texas; and it was proposed :o acqni
osce iu its further application to the
tciritory acquired by tbe United States
from Mexico. But this proposition was
successfully resisted by the representa
tives from the Northern States, who, re
gardless ofthe statute line, iiuistcd upon
applying restriction to the new territory
generally, whether lying north or south
of it, thereby repealing it as a legislative
compromise, and, on the part of the
North, persistently violating the com
pact, if compact there was.
Thereupon this enactment ceased to
have binding virtue in any sense, wheth
er as respects the North or the South ;
aud so in effect it was treated on the oc
casion of tlie admission of tlio State of
California, and the organization of the
Territories of New Mexico, Utah and
Washington.
SiivU wax tlio <ilst« of tlit* question,
when the time arrived for the organiza
tion of the Territories of Kansas and
Nebraska. In the progress of constitu
tional inquiry aud reflection, it had now
at length come to be seen clearly that
Congress does not possess constitutional
power to impose restriction of this char
acter upon any present or future Sta c
of the Union. In a long series ot de
cisions, on the fullest argument,aud after
the most deliberate consideration, the
Supreme Court ofthe United States had
finally determined tins point, in every
form under which the question could
arise, whether ns affecting public or
private rights—in questions of the public
domain, of religion, of navigation, and of
servitude.
The several States of the Uoioa are;
hy force ofthe Constitution, co-equal in
domestic legislative power. Congress
cannot change a law of domestic relation
in the Slate f Maine ; no more can it in
the State of Missouri. Any statute which
proposes to do this is a mere nullity ; it
tskes away no right, it confers none. Jf
it remains oil the statute-book uurepeal-
cd. it remains there only as a monument
of error, and a beacon of warning to the
legislator .and the statesman. To repeal
it will ho only to remove imperfection
from the statutes, without affecting,
either in the sense of permission or of
prohibition, the action of the States, or
c-f their citizens.- . si . ...
Stil!, when the nominal rcstrieriouof
this .nature, already a dead letter in law,
was in terms repealed -by tl>c last Con
gress in a clause ol the act organizing
tlie Territories of Kansas and Nebraska,
that repeal was made the occasiou of a
wide-spread hud dangerous ngitntion,
Jt was alleged hat the original enact
ment. being a compact of jierpetual
moral obligation, its repeal constituted
an odious breach of faith.
An act of Congress, while it remains
unrepealed, more especially if it be con
stitutionally valid in the judgment of
those public functionaries whose duty it
is to pronounce on that poiatiis undoubt
edly binding on the conscience of each
good citizen of the Republic. But- hi
what sense can it be asserted that the
enactment in question was invested with
perpetuity and entitled to the respect'-of
a solemn compact ? Between whom was
the compact ? No distinct contending
powers ot the Governmentno separate
sections of tlie Union, treating as stteh.
entered intd treaty- stipnlatiotfs entire
subject. It was a mere clause of an aet
oi Congress, and Kke :-any ether eom
:trovctted mattcr of legislation, received
its-final shape and was passrd bv com
promise of the conflicting-^opinionsffir
prove the law to be unsound in
pie. Experience may show it to
perfect-iu detail and impracticable in
execution. And thou* both renson and
right combine not merely to justify, but
e require its repeal.
The Constitut’on,. supreme Us it is'
over all the departments ef the govern
ment, legislative, executive, and judicial,
is open to amendment by its very terms ;
and Congress or the States may, iu their'
discretion, propose amendment to it,
solemn compact though it in truth is be-
jworm the sovereign States of the Un
ion, lit the preat-m «.yoUlidil
enactment, which had ceased to have
legal power or authority of arfy kind,
was repealed. The position assumed,
that Congress bail nomoraf right to enact
such repeal, was strange enough, and
singularly so in view ofthe fact that the
argument came from those who openly
refused obedience to existing l.avrs of the
land, having the same popular ; designa
tion and quality as compromise ncts-r-
nny, more, who unequivocally disregard
ed and condemned the most positive and
obligatory injunctions of the Constitu
tion itself, ami sought, by every menus
within their reach, to deprive a portion
of their fellow-citizens of the cqnal cn
joyinent of those rights and privileges
guarantied alike to all by the fundament
al compact of our Ulrion. *- '
This argument against the repcnl of
the statute line in question, was accom
panied by another of congenial charac
ter ami equally with the former desti
tute of foundation in reason and truth.
It was imputed that the measure origi
nated in tlie conception of extending the
limits of slave-labor beyond those pre
viously assigned to it, and that such
was its natural ns well as intended ef
fect ; nnd these baseless assumptions
were made, in the noithcrh States, the
ground of unceasing assault upon con
stitutionnl right.
The repeal in terms of a sta tutc.
which was already obsolete, ami also
null For unconstitutionality, could have
no influence to obstruct or promote the
propagation of conflicting views of po
litical or‘$ocial-institutions. When the
act organizing the Territories of Kan
sas and Nebraska was passed, the in
herent effect upon that portion of the
public domain thus opened to legal set
tlement, was to adixit settlers from all
the States of the Union alike, each with
hia convictions of j ublic policy and pri
vate interest, tha;c to be found in their
discretion, subject to such limitations as
the Constitution and acts of Congress
might prescribe, new States, hereafter
to he admitted into the Union. It was
a free field, open alike to all, whether
the statute line of assumed restriction
were repealed or not. That repeal did
not open to free competition of the di
verse opinion and doincstic institutions a
field, which, without sncli repeal, would
have been closed against them ; it found
that field of competition already open
ed, in fact and iu law- All the repeal
did was -to relieve tlie statute-book of
an objectionable enactment, unconstitu
tional in effect, and injurious in terms
t? a large portion of the States.
It is the fact, that, in all the unset
tled regions of the United States,.if ern-
iMth the-compacts-of- th* Constitution *
•""V** ofthe 'Union: Thfi*
M hen the actsof soiheof thd 8( 4 tl
Jiulh.fr the oyistin^ extrajfi^ £,w *
imposed upon Congress tlie duly of
ing a new one,-the conntrv was
by agitators to enter into part j. Vgam-
io»ittutroi or
new States, by-a geographical Unc had
SSflier couVdty w‘ as urged
fd demranJ ifvrestoration, and that So-
croachments - whJcli rrv ■««,' . S"
ityfioni the spirit of
SmGb° n * l* < i. oracstIc institutions {f th e
South, and after* troubled existence of
a few months has te^n rebuked bylh 6
vm fl « patriotic ' people. 7 ®
Of tins last agitation, one lamcatWKh,-
field, not »IspgMyHile
§. •
tanged by certain members of that
Congress winch enae'ed tbo law for the
organization of the territory. And
when propagandist colonization' of Kaa-
sns had thus been undertaken in ouesec-
tion ofthe Union, fV the sysfcmafic
promotion of.Hs peculiar views of-pK
there ensued « 8 a mnttfer
counteraction with opposite views in
other sections of the Union ^ .
ri,i.n* C r SC(1UCnCe ° f ''
c.dcn s many acts qtduiorileK^aEr^
r ’ t0 fl'° occasional icterruption, rath-
er than tlio permanent sdsponstoa;' V
regular government.' Aggressive apd
most reprehensible incursions info t
sped for itself, without legal probibi
tious on either side, slave labor will
spontaneously go every whorl), in pre
ference to free labor 1 Is it the fact,
that the jHicnliar domestic institutions
of the southern States possess relatively
so much of vigor, that, whcresol-ver air
aveuuo is freely ope» to all the world,
they will penetrate to-tlie exclusion of
those pf the northern States? Is it.the
tact, that the former enjoy, compared
with ti c latter, such irresistible superi
or vitality, independent of climate, soil,
and all other accidental circumstances,
us to ho able to produce the supposed
result, iii spite of the assumed moral aud
natural obstacles to its accomplishment,
and oftlui move numerous population of
the northern States ! K , r ,
Tho argument of those, who advor
cate the enactment of new laws: of* re
striction, and condemn thercpcal ofolci
ones, in effect avera that tlioir particular
views of government have no 6c)f-cx-
tejiding or self-sustaining power of their
own and will go no-where unless forced
hy act of Congress. And it Congress
do bnt pause for a moment in the policy
of stern coercion; if it - venture to- try
the experiment of leaving men to judge
for tkdmBelves what institutions will
best suit thorn ; if it Le not strained tip
t6 perpetual legislative exertion on Aids
point: it Congress proceed thus to-net
in the ve “ * j * *“
charged
l»or into all
United States, ire. i * V*
Of course, these imputations Oti • »b«
intentions 6f Congress io this Tespcct,
conceived atktlifjLriw^
apd dis'K'minatxd-ift
.(leetiniteof any;j«rtilio*|ioitei« WI
tore oft kings#, ^eqiitraTyA*-;
fundamental doctrin^M'ld,
consciences, to wlromdul this' authbrity
attach ? Not to those the Korthi wlwi
bad repeatedly refused to confirm it by
extension, end who had zealously striven
to estabhsh other and tn«anpat*ble^«‘
gulations upon theenbjedsii -And A* 11 *.. ,
reredaraKffioftthfa HBtoippy-cw^lrtthw appears^gggS
ganizarion oft4drp*oisi>l g!»i inmsitfctf *
States into Sontl), be ^
>. the Union, Whei, it was proposed to • ^tunland ofrccipiocal obl^
;e admit the State'ofMaine, by sepxratxoa »
■ would oCtcrr.toiy from thiltof -Massachusetts, -««iR*er*w^nnwW
their Jawful author- n.td the. State ot.Missouri, formed a por- value of t
\heis\| Cep|w4 objected to . the admission "of cancof thus biud tfce
setirimenteof the members.of ftjSgpRP rT^ralir^'i self-ffoverumeut.^.( r ugmwu
Bntif ithadmor.) aa.l^yovav^V ^^553^ gg
V . - - ,' V , en; un dertaken, Loth j
North and the South, and entered ;t u ,r
r, !,Crn b ° r t' r hy $?&**** Xowar
as well ns on the easUrn hy way 0 f
an ‘ l fl ,<>re has.existed within
u a state of insurrection acainst tho'
constituted authorities,not without coun
tenance from inconsiderate persons in
s P ctions Union.
But the difhculhes in the Territory have
t^rartravaganJly exaggerated fj r p ur .
poses of political agitation elsewhere.
vM r. UU | r a ," d S^vityofthe flcta of
vi Ica e have been magnified partly by
statemen sent,rely untme, and partly by
reiterated accounts of the san e rumo.a
or facts Thus the Territory ha* beeff
seemingly filled with extreme violence,
when the whole amount of such acts has
not been greater than what occasionally
222 e n ll8 i n U ; ^o cities to tw
regret of all good citizens, but without
be.ng regarded as of general bi polftieat
consequence. r '
Imputed irreguTaiities in
had in Kansas, like occasional SS-
lanties of the same description in
Mates, wore beyond the. sphere of «b«
action ofthe Executive. But ineidefit*
>t actnal violence or of .organized ob-
igiation he left free to act in this re- jfnrm ti^o'ti&J.’fee b e yn , ,J e ““ eWCd
actiLiI violence or <>f .organized o!>-
•ucti.m of law, pertinaciously renewed
mi time to tithe, hare been met as they
occurred, by such means m. Were avail-
aiilc and as the. circumstances required ;
and nothing of this character now .re-
mams to affect the general peaep of tiro
Lnmn. 1 lieaffeifijtt of a part of tho-
inhahitants of the Tctritory to ereef a
revolutionary government, though sed
ulously encouraged hud supplied with
pecuniary aid from active agfoits of dis
order hr some ot tl w States, has com
pletely failed. Bodies of armed then,
foreign to the territory, have beeii pre
vented from entering or compellccl to
lc^ve it, . 1 reoatory bftnds, euge' r edia
acts of rapine, under the cover • c f ~tb'e
existing poiiticnl.dif turhances, havo been
arrested or. dispersed. i-Aml everv will
di.-posed person -4» -now enabled' once
more, to devore himself' -in peace to'~llm
P u rshi<s of prosperous industrv, ./or the
prosecution qf wbieMie undertook to
participate io ithc settlement of the
Territory—l <-v?t 1 »w
a- 'nie-ummngictf ’Valisfa^jThii
rhus jo-anftotttfcc Vhe peaceful cbhdit ojS
of thingwih' Kansas, especially cOTisiffer-
ing fhc meriis ttf widen was .nceessa'-
ry to 1wve recoUwe' .'fOr flie 'jittatnment
of tbe end.-uamely; ffi' c erffplontichf of
a pant ol tltHDr iqilitnay Force’• oftKcUini
frtit Sfnl»e’ r rx.«- -rloSii -
, . . jgtt-foes ortbe
trf einplrty(for
^ bfdduidstic- ipsnrrbe-
-.te jexTgiTtrcri'hih^irs,;**
-nialter iif tlie-nkfet cai-iiest '?idieitu«fe.'—.
()n this occasion of impiiratff^ ^rrcefWjP -
it hay beciri'do^“ i w'it.hyhe < bcSt”resfii’t§f
Shd my^bl^isfnctioh Tn-ibisr
[ofkotffi'iVRrftEntf Ftwb firfSbr. wW6& -
m* w
wsw, and-JtSe
. firmness, and 'v&iRilCff'Mf
!wM restore^
at any time, are
government tire: powor to-B _ ■
I «#ds mWktfm fife*9*#*&*^#*te**i
I stooretlfarjf:
iutentionsrari baVfijslitunk.-frotfta-Qon-
spicuou^ aifiliation with those (cw ; wl o
dated means of rev- ,
t\ia govcnimcnl, j
dies tl
ily, and
appr.;
jogs of
olntionarv
anil
oxisequeueeskfar
ct jiumv citizens have suffered them;
riBrita btf draum-irtto one ..«A-aJidseer,t
of rgUa^l sfcatfte*'- T
i
rceTye
iluo th» eve»'
hcre:, ai d the. dh-
(rnu-A ill of tug
coiftiov.ersy eoii.
iustitutions
uman pin-
no wisdom
hld.hCTfl-"- ||
to suppose th^
