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VOL. I. THK SOUTHERN SENTINEL It published every Thursday Morning, IX COLUMBUS, CA. BY WBI, H. CHAMBERS, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. Office up stairs, Corner of Broad and Randolph sts. Terms of Subscription. One copy twelve months, in advance, - - - $2 50 “ ** •• “ At the end of the year, 300 M M “ “ After the year expire*, 400 Rates o t Advertising. ‘One square, first insertion, - - - - §1 00 “ •* Each subsequent insertion, - - 50 Contract* will be made for advertising by the quarter, Or by the year, at liberal deductions from the above rates. AH obituary and marriage notices must be accompanied a responsible name, and where they exceed one square they will be charged as other advertisements. To Coiuif.sponuknts.—All communication* must be addressed (post paid) to the Proprietor at this place. Contributions must he accompanied with the real name V>f the writer. THIS PAPER ts manufactured by the ROCK ISLAND FACTORY, Near this City. Columbus, Feb. 28. 1850. 9 ts Sturgis ts lifter, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, Bncua Vista, Clarion comity, Li a. \\r 1 1,1. practice in all the counties ot t lie ('luittahooc hre ” and adjoining euuuties oi the South Western Circuit. THAI). STURGIS, K. \V. MILLER. Feb. 15,1349 7 ts MUSCOGEE COUNTY.—YVhere as, James T. Flowellen applies for letters of administration upon the estate of” Allen Caldwell, late of said county, deceased. These are therefore to cite and admonish all and i singular the kindred and rreditors of said deceased, j to show cause (if anv they have.) within the time j prescribed bv law, why the administration of said ! estate should not be granted to the said applicant. Given under my hand this 27tli dav of February, i 1850. * JOHN JOHNSON, c. c. o. February 28, 1850. 9 5t Planters, take i\otice. Saw Mills, Grist Mills, Factories, Gin Gear, Rice Mills and Sugar Mills. fTOHE firm of AMBLER & MORRIS, are now Up ready to build any of the above named Mills, j propelled by Water, Steam or Horse. Our work shall be j ( done iu tho best possible manner, and warranted inferior to none now in use. Both of the above firm are practi- i cal men. and attend to their business in person, and will furnish Engines for Steam Mills, Grist or Saw, and set , cither in complete operation. The firm can give the best assortment of Water Wheels and Gearing, of any in the JSouthem States, and will say to our employers, if a Mill j or any of our work does not perform in the business for ‘ which it was intended, no pay will ho exacted. Try us and see. AMBLER &. MORRIS, j January 24,1850. 4 ly TO PHYSICIANS, DRUGGISTS COUNTRY MERCHANTS. DR. J. N. KEELER. & BI'O. most respectfully ‘ solicit attention to their fresh stork of English, ! French, German and American Drugs, Medicines. Che- ; micals, Paints, Oils. Dye-Stull's, Glassware, Perfumery, : Patent Medicines, Sec. Having opened anew store No. } ■294 Market-st, with a full supply of Fresh Drugs and j .Medicines, we respectfully solicit country dealers to exa mine our stock before purchasing elsewhere, promising one and all who may be disposed to extend us their patron age, to sell them genuine Drugs and Medicines, on as liberal terms as any other house in the city, and to faith fully execute all orders entrusted to us promptly and with dispatch. One of the proprietors being a regular physi cian, affords ample guarantee of the genuine quality of i all articles sold at their establishment. We especially invite druggists and country merchants, who may wish to become agents for I)r. Keeler’s Celebrated Family Medicines, (standard and popular remedies,) to forward their address. Soliciting the patronage of dealers, we respectfully remain, J. N. KEELER BRO. Wholesale Druggists, Oct. 11, 1819. ly N0.294 Market-st. Phil’a. | <ol \TY KlinKVOlt. FVHIIE undersigned informs his friends and the | -* Planters of Muscogee county, that, he is pre pared to make official surveys in Muscogee county. Letters addressed to Post Office. Columbus, will meet with prompt attention. WM. F. SERRELL, County Surveyor, j Office over E. Barnard &. Co.'s store, Broad street. | Columbus, Jan. 31, 1859. 5 I v ftortfh Cstß’oiifiist ‘Mintual Life flii,m-nn-e Company. LOCATED AT RALEIGH, X. C. YIMIK Charter of this company gives important advnn- A tttges to the assured, over most other companies. The husband can insure bis own life for the sole use | aiud benefit of his wife and children, free from nn v othei ! olnims. Persons who insure for life participate in the ; prufna which are declared annually, and when the pre- | miaui exceeds S3O, may pay one half inn note. Slaves nra insured at two thirds their value for one or . •five tears. Applications for Risks may tie made to - JOHN MUNN, Agent,Columbus,Ga. j (XT’ OiTice at Greenwood &. Co.’s \V nrehouse. November 15.1819. ts s£so ISewsard. ■ B AN A WAV from the subscriber, about the 15th February last, a small mulatto woman, hv ihe name of FRANCES, she is about four feet ten or ele ven inches high, speaks quick and laughs loud, with ra ther a squeaking voice, her nose and mouth project ra ther more than is common for mulattos; she had rings m her ears when she left, and always wears something on her head. I will pay fifty dollars for the apprehen- ! sion and safe keeping of her so that I can get her. I j will also pay a liberal reward for proof sufficient to con- ; yiet any person of harboring her, as I have reasons to be lieve she is concealed by someone. X. T. AUSTIN. November 1. 44tf j Dancing Academy. MR. R. POWELL, (late of New York,)] has the honor to announce to the Ladies j -and Gentlemen of Columbus, and its vicinity, that he ex acts to open a class sometime in January next, should i he receive sufficient patronage, for the purpose of giving in that polite art, in all its varieties. In ad dition to the plain style of Dancing and \\ altzing, the fol lowing FASHIONABLE AND FANCY DANCES will be taught during the season : J Cachticha, El Jaieo Xeres, La Sylpliide, Cel ltuius Waltz, Cracovienne, Muscovicnue, Re- ; gatta Hornpipe, Redoxva W altz, \ arsovienne, Highland Fling, Wreath Waltz, Cing Temps, Polka Waltz, &•.. Together with the fashionable Quadrilles of Polka Mazurka, Ist and 2nd sets, and new Quadrilles of Redowa, as danced in the principal cities and lash ionabie watering places in the United States. Ladies who may wish to learn the more late and fashionable styles, such as Polka, Mazurka, Redowa and Cellarius Waltzing, or Polka, Mazurka, and Redowa Quadrilles, will be wailed on at their resi dence,on day and hours to suit their convenience. ’ Parents and guardians entrusting their children to my charge, may rely on the strictest attention ’being paid to their ease, grace and general deport ment. Terms, and other details may be known on appli cation to me. Dec. 20,1819. 51 ts THE SOUTHERN SENTINEL FROM THE LOUISVILLE JOURNAL. THE CORAL. Low beneath the waves of ocean, Up the coral toileth slow, Heeding not the wild commotion Os it* ceaseless ebb and flow ; Through the weary lapse of ages, Yieldeth never to despair, Though the watery demon rage* ’Twixt it and the realms of air. Now above the deep, uprearing Slow, mnjestical its head, Greeteth it the sunlight cheering— O’er it dews of heaven are shed ; And the subject waves are bringing, With a blind, submissive toil, Earthy mould, that, closely clinging, Turns the coral reef to soil. And it riseth high and higher. By the earthquake’s hidden throe, Still to heaven approaching Higher From its watery gulf below ; Till, at last, a verdant island Standeth in its beauty there. Where, from valley and from highland, Goeth up the voice of prayer. *** ‘ * * * Low beneath the sea of Error L’p the Truth is toiling slow. Heeding not his waves of terror, Darkly surging to and fro ; Through the lapse of ages weary Yieldeth never to despair, Though a darkness thick and dreary Shuiteth out the upper air. Now above the false, uprearing Slow its calm and radiant head, Moral night is disappearing Where its holy light is shed ; And the wrongs of former eras, j Vanquished by its heavenly might. Bring, transformed, their old chimeras, Handmaids, now, of truth and right. And it riseth high and higher, With each strife of liberty, Still to heaven ascending Higher— Heaven, its summit’s destiny ; Till it stands a mountain hoary, Resting on foundations broad, Over which a path of glory Leadeth honest souls to God. LA CANTATRIG E 7 A STItAY LEAF FROM The Mysteries of New Orleans. It was Sunday, not many years a go, when a j stranger, whom we shall name Peter Ellis, wan- j tiered forth from the “St. Charles,” to witness, j with his own eyes, the approach of that inunda tion, which then formed the staple of discussion among all classes. He had another object in strolling from his hotel at the early hour of eight in the morning, as will very soon appear. Pe ter Ellis was about forty years of age, of noble j figure, but proud, gloomy face, and with a fore-1 head seamed by many and deep wrinkles, as if late had some time dealt him sharp blows, the j wounds of which had healed over, leaving, how- j ever, on his visage, those enduring scars. His dress was rich, after the fashion of the Southern j aristocracy, but worn negligently, and somewhat l soiled with stains of recent travel, for he had in truth, arrived only the previous evening. The stranger passed groups of people, gather ed on every corner, all engaged in earnest con versation ; and still here in the streets, as back yonder at the tavern, the crevasse —the crevasse, spoken in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Patois —was the topic that seemed to monopolize every thought. He had almost reached the old Basin, where the water was said to bo rising with fearful rapidity, when his ears were assailed by an indescribable noise, which issued from a point a few squares to the left. “What infernal noise is that? Is pandemoni um let loose ?” asked Peter Ellis, interrogating a little Frenchman, who chanced to be walking by, with a delicious smirk at his holiday finery. “Monsieur is a stranger in the city ?” said the Frenchman, bowing to the very knees. “Yes.” “Has heard of the Sunday dunce on Congo Green ?” “Yes.” “Never had the pleasure of seeing it ?” “No.” “Then Monsieur will be delighted, charmed, enchanted with the spectacle,” exclaimed the volatile son of Paris, enthusiastically; adding, with another deep bow, “but I beg Monsieur’s pardon for the remark—be will be careful to re spect the Africans. The Green belongs to them —is their theatre, I might say—and the amuse ment is under the strict surveillance ofthe police.” “Does any body else go there besides ne groes ?” inquired Ellis, abstractedly. “Oh, yes; every body attends some time or other, and the ladies who have had the serious i misfortune to lose their character, go always.” j The wrinkles on the brow of Peter Ellis grew | black, as it darkened by the gloom of a thunder! cloud. ‘Fhe last answer of the Frenchman ap-| peared to call up the ghost of some horrid mem- ; •try that had power to shake every muscle of his frame, and, with a scowl at his astonished inter- ; locutor, he hurried onward and entered the pre- j cincts of Congo Green. This is a large level square, including more j than a dozen acres, situated not far from the ; Basin, and set apart by an ordinance ofthe city, ; for the Sunday amusement ofthe Africans exclu- j sively. It is enclosed in strong iron railings, has j | a gate ot the same metal on each of the four sides, and is adorned with many beautiful trees, scat tered here and there, at irregular intervals, which ; gives it the appearance oi a forest rather than a park. Although it was scarcely nine in the forenoon J ! when Peter Ellis reached the Green, it was al ready quite well supplied with dancers, and the | spoit progressed with infinite spirit. The scene 1 was such as to defy all attempts at delineation by ! either pen or pencil. A huge negro, taller, blacker, and uglier than j ; any other in tho immense concourse, had been j chosen general director for the day. He was : ; called indifferently “King of Congo,” or “King j ot the Wake,” and bore on his head, as a crown, I i a great pyramid of painted paper boxes fastened j together, which had the effect of nearly doubling j his natural height. This monarch and all his : subjects were tricked out in a manner so incon ceivably grotesque, that it was impossible lobe- I hold them without laughter. Here was one fur nished with hoofs. There went another bran dishing enormous A third clapped his * wings, crowing like a%hanticleer. A fourth j strutted majestically, spreading behind him the plumes of the peacock, while a fifth displayed the tail of a monkey. Their sable features were decked with all the colors ofthe rainbow, and their necks, waists, and arms and ankles, literal ly bristled with innumerable little bells that jin gled and chimed as they moved, like millions of fairy tongues. < The dancers imitated the different cries of COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 7, 18.70. | every animal described in natural history. They crowed, barked, bellowed, blated, neighed, | sqaawled, hooted and howled, while still ever, without ceasing, the bells jingled and chimed.— And, as if this deafening diu were not sufficient to keep pace with the whirlwind of their passion ate excitement, they called in the aid ofall sorts of musical and unmusical instruments. The fid dle ultercd its silvery laugh, the drum thundered, the trumpet roared, the fife squealed, while the boatman’s bugle, like an angel ofgladness, flung its winding notes into the sky. and still the little bells jingled and chimed. They increased the clamor by thumping pans, kettles, tubs and bar rels. They shuffled, waltzed and flew the polka ; but yet, over all the new evolutions, the genuine original Congo dance maintained its undisputed pre-eminence. It was the saturnalia of animai passion, the jubilee of joyous instinct. Every eye gleamed with rapture—every countenance was radiant with wild delight. The whole burning, heaving mass of vitality was worked up to a height of feeling, intense as the emotions of madness.— I Even many of the spectators caught the conta- ) gious fury and joined in the savage glee ; but i there was one beholder that gazed on the scene j with a grim look of horror, as if the happiness of others were a species of implied insult to him. j “I must have been distracted to think of finding her in shell a place as this. lam distracted to harbor a hope of finding her at all !” murmured Peter Ellis to himself, as he threaded his way painfully through the press, whispering malisons against Congo Green. At length the misanthrope gained the iron gale towards the North, and was in the act of go- I ing on, when a vision ofthe most extraordinary I and dazzling beauty arrested bis attention and ; chained his very feet to the sod. This was a young girl habited in white, with a crimson zone ; around her bosom, secured by a massive clasp j of gold that lay opposite her heart like a star.— j Her head was bare, or only covered with its own j veil of ringlets, softer than silk, and black as I midnight. Her complexion was dark, it is true, but it was the rich golden tint left there by the | wind and the sunbeam—this kissing her with j fire, and that cooling the fire kiss with sighs. i Peter Ellis was so unaccountably fascinated by the first sight, that he did not remark for more than a minute the companion in attendance on his angel, elf, or fairy, as his intoxicated fancy had spontaneously named her the instant her im- j age flashed like lightning into his soul. At last, i however, he was forced to perceive that she had ; a companion, and such a companion filled him, | not with jealousy, but with fear! 1 This was an old man, hideously hunchbacked, j with snow-white hair, piercing gray eyes, and a ! dirty, shrivelled face, that wore the double ex pression of theft and murder. He was muttering ! angry words in a low voice, while the girl’s dark ] eyes were swimming in tears. “O! spare me that shame !” Ellis heard her entreat; “for heaven’s sake spare me. I cannot go there.” ••Do as I bid you, this moment,” replied the i old hunchback, in a whisper at once sharp and hollow, as if emitted from the burning throat of a devil. “Go, or to-night,” the sentence was completed by a gesture that made the very marrow creep i in the spectator’s bones. “I will go,” answered the girl, shuddering and turning deadly pale ; and she opened the gate, and hurried on towards the centre ofthe sable crowd—the old monster following and eyeing ; her at a distance with his fiendish smile, while Peter Ellis, in spite of his pride, vanity and the warning voice of reason, felt himself borne by an irresistible impulse in the same direction. Presently the fascinated man heard, above all the tempest of tumult, the voice of a singer, but whether it was human or angelic he could not decide even in thought. It was loud, sweet, ringing, and yet mild and wonderotisly varied, sweeping more octaves than the voice of the nightingale, sounding clearer and soaring high er than the skylark’s, while its music was rich and beautiful as a dream ! The effect on the mad dancers was like magic. Horn, drum, bugle, violin, were instantly silent. The vast throngs swayed to and fro, as a sea tossed by the storm, and then gathered in a great circle around the voice, while one shout shook the Green like thunder—“La cantatrice! the singer! the beautiful!” “It seems that she is well known among the Africans of New Orleans,” said Peter Ellis, with a shudder, but still he could not forbear pressing forwards till he gained a point in the circle of the black faces whence he could again see the dazzling apparition. She sung, with the accompaniment of most appropriate gestures, a merry hachanalian song, and the listeners cheered with shouts of laughter. At a signal from the old hunchback, she took up a martial lyric, and every bosom heaved like a volcano, and every eye gleamed with the red light of battle. Then she thrilled a mournful dirge—a wail of love and death; and a thousand cheeks were wet with tears as with summer rain, while sobs, and even shrieks, resounded as at a funeral! In truth, she could not have selected a more impressible audience ; for the southern ne groes have an insatiable passion for music, and j sing themselves almost continually. At length she paused, and turning very pale, ; glanced beseechingly at the old hunchback, who j frowned and waved a fierce, imperious gesture, j She then drew from her bosom a large, open- | mouthed purse, and passing around the dusky circle, held out her hand for pennies, which were showered down with extreme liberality. When ; she came near Ellis, she glanced up in his face ! with her wild black eyes, wondering, no doubt, 1 at the presence of one so elegantly attired as he, in such company. She started with surprise as he dropped a piece in her palm ; it was a gold eagle. ■ “Monsieur has made a mistake,” she said in 7 j her soft, silvery tones, holding up the glittering | coin near his face. “No, keep it,” he answered, in a choking voice, \ and she lelt another drop in her open palm.— { She blushed red as scarlet, for the last drop was ■ a tear of fire. The girl returned to her station in the human ring, and again glanced an imploring look at the old hunchback. He scowled as before, and waved another angry gesture. She then took from the folds of her dress two small gilt castinets, > poised them an instant above her head, then whirling them around her with a motion grace fully rapid as the flight of wings, started away in j a dance so airy, buoyant, and incredibly swift, that she actually seemed to float like a sylph in pure sunshine. ! But at that moment an event occurred to iuter : rupt the general enjoyment. A dull, booming noise was heard—the rush o{ a torrent of water, and a loud scream of terror arose— -1 “The creiasse ! The crevasse ! The levee of (the basin is broken ! We shall all be drowned !” The King of Congo tore off his crown and king and subjects alike attempted a grand charge towards the gates. The flood came roaring af ter them, and in three or four minutes overspread the green, but fortunately, as yet, to no consider able depth. There were two persons only in the crowd who did not fly—Peter Ellis and the poor singer. The former approached the girl with a feeling of strange interest. “Why do you not fly, my pretty one ?” he ask ed. “Arc von not afraid you will be drowned?” “Oh, God ! I wish I were !” she rejoined, with a look of such hopeless sorrow, that it thrilled through his utmost heart, in a pang keen us the wound of a dagger. “Then it seems you do not like your present profession ?” Eilis enquired. “Like it!” the girl exclaimed, in a tone which proved the very question itself to be torture. “Why, then, do you not leave it ?” “Monsieur, I have no other.” She uttered the answer in a voice indescribably mournful, folded her hands on her bosom, and looked up to heaven. “Has no one ever proffered assistance to ena ble you to rise above your degraded condition ?” “Many, very many,” she replied sadly. “Why, then, did you not accept of such be nevolent aid ?” “Because, Monsieur,” faltered the girl blush ing deeply, and letting her dark eyes fall to the ground, “I would rather endure his cruel hatred than their wicked love !” “ His hatred? The hunchback, do you mean ?” “Yes.” “Is he not your father?” “No, Monsieur; he brought me up ever since I was a little child, but be is not my father.” “Where is the hunchback now?” “Gone to his pawnbroker’s shop, beyond the Basin. He fears it is overflowed.” “Have you no mother ?” “None in the world !” And again the dark eyed girl glanced through her tears towards heaven. “Do you remember your parents ?” “I remember my mother. I have at least a faint image of her. She had black eyes, such as ! mine, and a smile like an angel’s, it was so much j sweeter than any starlight.” Peter Pfllis started as if to rush forward and i seize the girl, but immediately checking himself, J murmured, “No, it cannot be !” and proceeded | with his interrogations : “Do you recollect your mother’s name!” | He put the question in a tone gasping with dread- j ful earnestness. “No, Monsieur, I knew her only as mother.” “What is your own name?” “They now call me Cantatrice, but my moth er did not so call me.” “What did your mother call you ?” “Mary.” Poor Ellis started as if he had been shot in the heart, but once more calmed himself, and continued : “Have you any recollection of your father?” “No, Monsieur ; but I have a memory of my home, ere they brought me to the city.” “(Jan you describe it ?” “Ob, yes,” she answered, clasping her small hand tightly across her forehead, as if to press the feeble images from their old dark niches in the brain. When she added: “'Fhe pictures are dim, Monsieur, very dim and very beautiful, like deep dreams. There, I see ail in the sunny air, now—the tall white house, with the stone chimney at each end—the two great trees in the yard, with the big, red painted gate before them, the blue lake beyond the gate —1 can never forget that, for I slipped into it once, and was drawn out, half dead, by an old one-eyed negro,” The face of Peter Ellis was pallid as that of a corpse, as he put she last question, in a voice hoarse as the rattle in the throat ofa dying man : “Have you any relic—a handkerchief-—a bit of clothing—anything—left by your mother?” “I have her miniature, Monsieur.” *‘ Where ? Where ?” “Here, in my bosom, close beside my heart.” “Let me see it!” cried Peter Ellis, leaping fotward wildly, and grasping the girl by the arm. She raised the miniature by its slight silver chain, and held it up before his gleaming eyes. ! “It is she !—it is she !” he shouted, and then j caught the young girl to his bosom, murmuring, j “Mary, oh ! Mary—my dear daughter!” Let an hour of the scene pass. It never shall 1 be profaned by so poor a pen as mine. And yet I cannot end without recording one closing in cident. When the first outburst of excifement was over—the glimmering doubt, the sure explana tion—the question solved by the caress, and the ! gush of feeling that sweetened and illuminated everything ; when a sacred calm followed, deep as the sea, stable as earth, and bright as the sun j —when the arms of the two were entwined j more gently, as if no longer afraid of losing each j other, then the girl said in a seraph-like whisper, “Thank God ! I have now two fathers—one here and another yonder /” and she pointed her fin ger to the sky. And thrice happy are all the poor girls ofthe great city who say as much. — But alas! for the many orphans without a fa ther, and a darker woe for the wretches that show them no pity ! Courteous Reply” to ax Infidel. —An American traveller being unexpectedly detained at the mole or quarantine in Odessa, was very civilly offered “half ; of his apartments, and a sofa to lie on,” by a yonng j Englishman who acted as translator to the mole. \ After they had formed an intimate acquaintance, and j one evening had retired to rest, the traveller asked i his friend liow he could endure the blasphemy which ; was so constantly heard there. The yonng English man replied, that “as a gentleman these things were very disagreeable to him, but as to their being intrin sically wrong, it was no matter of concern to him, as he denied the truth of all revelation, and believed Jesus Christ to be an impostor.” The traveller, without supposing the remark | would be heeded except by courtesy, replied : “Either Christ was an impostor, or he was not. j If he was an impostor, we have the inconceivable I phenomenon of a base man practicing virtue, self denial, charity, forgiveness of injuries, through his whole life, in scourging, contumely, and even eruci- j tixion. Is it philosophical to suppose that a bad man would take so much pains to make good? But if he was not an impostor, then he has told the truth and we must believe him.” “Is it possible that I never saw that before ?” was the only reply of the young Englishman; but the argument sunk deep into his heart; and when the traveller had arrived at Alexandria, he received a letter from the former skeptic, acknowledging him ias “the best friend he ever had,” encouraging him j to be equally faithful to others ; and praying him not j to forget his “Odessa convert.”— Am. Messenger. O* Soft soap in some shape pleases all, and, gen | erallv speaking, the more ley you put into it the bet ter. SPEECH OP HON. M. J. WELLBORN, OF GEORGIA, ON THE SLATE QUESTION. DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPS. February 15, ISSO. The House being in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, on the Reso lution referring the President's Message to the various Standing Committees, Mr. \Y ellbokx said: In rising, Mr. Chairman, to reply to the ar guments of the honorable member front Indi. ana, (Mr. Pitch.) pronounced on yesterday, and the honorable member from Ohio, (Mr. Root,) who has just taken his seat, 1 must beg the special indulgence of the committee. The circumstances in which I enter upon the weigh ty topics now engaging our most anxious delib erations, leave me little opportunity to observe that order in argument, and that accuracy of language most favorable to a correct compre hension of what I desire to submit to the no tice of the committee. If, however, Mr. Chair man, I shall succeed in discussing the perplex ing subjects before us with the respect due to opposing opinions, and ut the same time, with the freedom and candor becoming their gravity, I shall be most happy. The honorable member from Indiana, (Mr. Fitch.) expressed, in the course of his argu ment. on yesterday, the opinion that the pas sage of the ordinance of 1787, for the govern ment of the North-western Territory, contain ing a clause prohibiting the introduction of sla very therein, was, in effect, the settling of a just precedent for its uniform exclusion from all subsequent territorial acquisitions of this Union. That proposition requires a review of a few of the historical circumstances in which that or dinance came to b* passed. It will be reinem bered by the committee that it was enacted by the Congress of the Confederation. Now. Mr, Chairman, when the Articles of Confederation were adopted, the States which were parties to them held no other territory whatsoever, than that which was embraced within their respec tive limits. They had no territory, I repeat, in the sense in which we apply that term to un appropriated lands, from time to time, held in common by the United States. And if the hon* j orable member who used that argument, will j tako the trouble to look through those Articles of Confederation, he will find no remark, which can for a moment justify the idea that territori al acquisitions were anticipated by them. YVh en, therefore, pending those articles, terri- i torial cessions to the States in common came to be made by the States separately, the Con gress of the Confederation found itself without the shadow of rightful authority over them. A new state of things, not contemplated by the Articles of Confederation, had transpired. It was, Mr. Chairman, in these precise circurn stances that the Congress of the Confedera- , lion, with very patriotic intentions, doubtless, j but in a manner wholly irregular, enacted and i put in operation over the territory referred to by the. honorable member, the ordinance under not ice. Mr. Madison, in the 38th number of the Fed eralist, will be found, in commenting upon this j course of conduct on the part of the Congress j of the Confederation, respecting that territory* I to have held the following language : ‘‘Congress have assumed the administration of this j stock. They have begun to render it productive. Con- j gresshave undertaken to do more ; they have proceeded ; to form new States ; to erect temporary governments : { to appoint officers for them ; and to prescribe the condi- I tion on which such States shall be admitted into the i Confederacy. All this has been done, and done without j the least color of constitutional authority ; yet no blame J has been whispered, no alarm has been sounded.” We thus perceive the anomalous nature of this procedure. The ordinance, however, such as it was, had passed into execution be fore the present Federal Government was form ed. Before passing from it, I ask attention to j the last member of the 6th article of a certain j compact expressed in it, between the original 1 States, whose Congress enacted it, and the ! Territory and the States contemplated to be j formed out of it. It is in these words : “ Provided, always, That any perron escaping into ; the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claim- | ed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be ; lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming bis or her labor or service as aforesaid.” Let us now, Mr. Chairman, proceed more | immediately to the consideration of a few his- j torical facts, shedding light on the relation the j provisions of the Constitution of the United j States bear to the subject of slavery, and the ; probable intention of its framers touching the healings of those provisions on the institution, in the future. Did they contemplate, as the honorable member from Indiana insists, its ex clusion from all territorial acquisitions follow ing its adoption ? What is the evidence on which the affirmative of this question rests ? Is it to be found in the mere silence of the Con stitution on the subject ? To rest the proof of it upon this, would be substantially to argue ! that what is not disapproved is to be taken to exist. Let it be borne, in mind, that this ordinance I covered all the territory held in common by the States of this Union, on their adoption of! the Constitution. Now, I need not repeat to the committee the 3d clause of the 2d section of the 4th article of the Constitution, providing! for the recovery of slaves flying from service ! in the States where they may be held to ser vice, into States where slavery is prohibited. Bv this clause, it will be seen that all the pro tection which, in the existing condition of things, was practicable, consistently with the I grand idea of forming a Confederacy of States, j wets exerted in behalj oj the institution of sla- \ very. I'he framers of our Government could J not recall what had been done by a past gov- ; eminent in the territory so often cited. They j could not prohibit the States from adjusting within their own limits, on a scale of perma- j nent policy, a matter so strictly domestic in its { nature as is slavery, without a manifest depar- \ ture from the whole theory of the Union eon-j templated. Both in the States and ‘Territory : of the Union, however, it recognized property in the slave. Yet it is in these circumstances that the honorable member from Indiana ar jfues that we are to look to the ordinance of j 1787, as an authoritative guide to the exclusion ’ of s’averv from our present Territories, and iti- I deed from all future ones, should more be ac* quirt'd. Now, Mr. Chairman, to perfect the I argument to which I am replying, two things | neither admitted nor proved, ho obviously ne* Jcessary. First, that must appear which dooa , not appear, viz. : that the framers of the Con* stitution contemplated the acquisition of terri* j tory by the Government of this Union. Sec* j ondly, that additionally to this, it transpired in j the minds of the States, in ratifying the Con* stitution, that should territory be acquired, an j effort Would be made by the Congress in charge j of it, to exclude slavery therefrom. I Yet, Mr. Chairman, it so happens that only I a few moments ago we heard the opinion ex j pressed by the honorable member from Ohio, (Mr. Root,) who is equally struggling to main* tain the untenable proposition under notice, that the independent purpose of” acquiring ter ritory was never present in the minds of the framers of the Constitution ; hut that the only right this Government has to make such acqui* sitions results to it as merely incidental to the war-making power. I humbly submit, Mr. Chairman, that this is removing in the argu* ment the premises so far from the conclusion, j that all confidence in the truth of the latter must be destroyed. Need 1 add, that a similar belief to that expressed by the honorable mem* ber from Ohio has ever prevailed to a greater or less extent with American statesmen, and that gentlemen of acknowledged ability and deserved influence in this Government go yet further, and maintain the ground—that no sat* isfactory authority exists for presuming that it was originally the design of the States ratify* ing the Constitution to clothe this Government with the authority, through the medium of any or all of its powers, to extend in any wa* whatsoever the territorial limits of the Cnnfed* eracy formed by our Constitution—much less ! can any human sagacity essay to fathom with confidence the unexpressed mind of the fra* mers of the Convention on the subject in hand, and affirm that it covered the point in contro * versy. ‘Thus we perceive the shadowy and unsatisfactory nature of” the grounds on which this most disparaging proposition to the slavo States is attempted to be upheld. But the proposition is not only unsupported by sufficient proof-— it is opposed to strong probabilities . When, Mr. Chairman, we reflect that the ma* jority of the States who adopted the Constitu* tion were slaveholding—that the privilege of importing slaves from foreign States forn peri od of twenty years, was inserted as a term in the compact of the Union—that the States entered the Union as equals, and sedulously guarded their prospective cocquality—that the retric tion contended for is at variance with fair anal* ogies applicable to their common territory, and a disparaging icflection upon that portion of them against whom it operates—is it not high* ly improbable that any such purpose ns that contended for by tho honorable member from Indiana entered into the compact of the Con* stitution? The idea, I humbly submit, is little less than extravagant. Bat, Mr. Chairman, the honorable member from Ohio argues that the power of this Gov ernment over the new Territories is an unlim* ited one, and that therefore no well-founded complaint can lie against its exercise in thn passage of the threatened restriction, to which he avows himself unalterably devoted. Here, Mr. Chairman, opinions are as discordant as on other propositions of the gentleman. Who h is satisfactorily shown that the jurisdiction cf Congress over the new Territories is without limitation ? It has be, n often significantly in. quired whether Congress may go the length of establishing a monarchy or a church in our new Territories ? The prevailing inquiry, go. ing on acknowledged limitations, would seem to be after the exact boundary. Certainly it cannot be maintained that citjier the great body of American statesmen or people, whether right or wrong in not doing so, assent to tho proposition that Congress may do in the Terri, lories what it is forbid, universally, to do in the Constitution. But were that conceded, which is not proved, viz. : that it is impossible to find a technical limitation to the power of Con* gross over the new Territoiies, the question would still come back upon us in each instance of the proposed exercise of it, whether an eve were being had to the nature of the title by which the power is held, the appropriate ob* jects of that power, and the just rights of all in terested in it ? From such practical guides to the exercise of it as nre to be found in these sources, it were impossible to separate the power without a plain breach of faith. Let us, 1 pray you, Mr. Chairman, be not misled by forms of law. They do not merely origi nate rights or found equities. ‘They perhaps more frequently express them—often yield to them. They may minister to wrong, oppres sion, or partiality, but can never justify it. From this, I take it, Mr. Chairman, there can be no escape. And now, Mr. Chairman, having replied to what 1 believe may be regarded as the strong* est arguments on the opposite side of the ques tion, allow me to ask the indulgent attention of the committee to two resolutions I hold in hand. It is not my intention, Mr. Chairman, to press these resolutions to an immediate voto. I prefer to hold them for the present, and ask action upon them, or not, hereafter, as the it* terests of public affairs may seem to indicate : 1. Resolved, That California be admitted into the Un ion with her present constitution, restricting ber southern boundary to the parallel ol 3> degrees and 30 minutes of north latitude. Asa good deal, Mr. Chairman, has been said about the right of sell-government, with a view to press tho claims of California on our unqualified acceptance, I beg to offer a few re marks on the application of that right proposed to be now made. The votes by which the con stitution of California was adopted, were cast in part, by individuals who, aliens to our laws, language, and religion, were two years ago subdued by our arms, and by integral members of the people of these States. The former, nei iher by the temis of the treaty by which Cali, fornia was ceded to us, by naturalization laws, nor by any act of this Government, had been clothed with the elective franchise. The latter were then and are now bound by allegiance to this Government. How, Mr. Chairman,canei ther of these classes of persons assert a right, in the political eer.se of that term, to set up a gov ernment out side, nay, paramount to the Con- NO. 10.