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UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.

THE EXECUTIVE.

FRANKLIN PIERCE, of New Hampshire, President of the United States...Salary $25,000 JESSE D. BRIGHT, of Indiana, Vice President pro tem........

THE CABINET.

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WILLIAM L. MARCY, of New-York, Secretary of State JAMES GUTHRIE, of Kentucky, Secretary of the Treasury... ROBERT M'CLELLAND, of Michigan, Secretary of the Interior.. JAMES C. DOBBIN, of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy JEFFERSON DAVIS, of Mississippi, Secretary of War. JAMES CAMPBELL, of Pennsylvania, Postmaster-General....... CALEB CUSHING, of Massachusetts, Attorney-General ................ NOTE.-The above, with the present Congress, go out on the 3d of March, 1857; JAMES BUCHANAN as President, and JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE as Vice President, being inaugurated on the 4th.

THE JUDICIARY.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.

ROGER B. TANEY, of Maryland, Chief Justice, Salary $6,500.

JOHN M'LEAN of Ohio, Associate Justice. SAM'L NELSON, of N. York, Associate Justice.
JAMES M. WAYNE, of Georgia, "
JOHN CATRON, of Tennessee,
PETER V. DANIEL, of Virginia, “

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Salary of Associate Justices, $6,000. Meets first Monday in December, at Washington.

XXXIVth CONGRESS.

FIRST SESSION OPENED MONDAY, DEC. 8, 1855.-SECOND SESSION OPENED DEC. 1, 1856.

SENATE-62 Members.

JESSE D. BRIGHT, of Indiana, President pro tem.

[Republicans (in Italics), 15; Administration Democrats (in Roman), 40; Americans (in SMALL CAPS), 5; Vacancies, 2; Total, 62. The figures before each Senator's name denote the year when his term expires.]

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—234 Members.

NATHANIEL P. BANKS, of Massachusetts, Speaker. WILLIAM CULLOM, of Tennessee, Clerk

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1 Alfred B. Greenwood, 2 Albert Rust.

CALIFORNIA.

1 James W. Denver, 2 Philip T. Herbert.

CONNECTICUT.

1 Ezra Clark, Jr.,
2 John Woodruff,
3 Sidney Dean,

4 William W. Welch.
DELAWARE.
ELISHA D. CULLEN.
FLORIDA.

Augustus E. Maxwell.

GEORGIA. 1*James L. Seward, 2 Martin J. Crawford, 3 ROBERT P. TRIPPE, 4 Hiram Warner, 5 John H. Lumpkin, 6 Howell Cobb,

7 NATHN'L G. FOSTER, 8 *Alex. H. Stephens. ILLINOIS.

1 *Elihu B. Washburne, 2 James H. Woodworth, 3 *Jesse O. Norton, 4 *James Knox, 5 J. C. Davis,

6 Thomas L. Harris. 7 James C. Allen, 8 John L. D. Morrison, 9 Samuel S. Marshall. INDIANA.

1 *Smith Miller, 2 William H. English, 3 GEORGE G. DUNN, 4 David P. Holloway, 5 William Cumback, 6 Lucian Barbour, 7 Harvey D. Scott, 8 Daniel Mace, 9 Schuyler Colfax, 10 Samuel Brenton, 11 John U. Pettit. IOWA.

1 Augustus Hall,
2 James Thorington.
KENTUCKY.

1 Henry C. Burnett, 2 JOHN P. CAMPBELL, 3 WM. L. UNDERWOOD, 4 Albert G. Talbott, 5 Joshua H. Jewett, 6 *John M. Elliott, 7 HUMPH'Y MARSHALL, 8 ALEX. K. MARSHALL, 9 *LEANDER M. COX, 10 SAMUEL F. SWOPE.

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MISSISSIPPI.

1 *Daniel B. Wright,
2 Hendley S. Bennett,
3 William Barksdale,
4 WILLIAM A. LAKE,
5 John A. Quitman.
NEW-HAMPSHIRE.

1 James Pike,
2 Mason W. Tappan,
3 Aaron H. Cragin.

NEW-JERSEY.

1 ISAIAH D. CLAWSON, 2 George R. Robbins, 3 JAMES BISHOP, 4 George Vail, 5 A. C. M. Pennington.

NORTH CAROLINA. 1 ROBERT T. PAINE, 2 Thomas Ruffin, 3 Warren Winslow, 4 L. O'Brien Branch, 5 EDWARD G. READE, 6 *RICH'D C. PURYEAR, 7 Burton Craige, 8 *Thomas L. Clingman.

NEW YORK.

1 WILLIAM W. VALK,

2 Jas. S. T. Stranahan,
3 Guy R. Pelton,
4 John Kelly,.

5 THOMAS R. WHITNEY, 6 John Wheeler, 7 Thomas Childs, Jr., 8 Abram Wakeman, 9 Bayard Clarke, 10 Ambrose S. Murray, 11 Rufus II. King, 12 Killian Miller, 13 *Russell Sage, 14 Samuel Dickson, 15 Edward Dodd, 16 George A. Simmons, 17 Francis E. Spinner, 18 Thomas R. Horton, 19 Jonas A. Hughston, 20 *Orsamus B. Matteson, 21 *Henry Bennett, 22 Andrew Z. McCarty, 23 William A Gilbert, 24 Amos P. Granger, 25 *Edwin B. Morgan, 26 Andrew Oliver, 27 John M. Parker, 28 William H. Kelsey, 29 John Williams, 30 *Benjamin Pringle, 31 Thomas T. Flagler, 32 *SOLOMON G. HAVEN, 33 FRANCIS S. EDWARDS. OHIO.

1 Timothy C. Day,

2 *JOHN Š. HARRISON, 3 *Lewis D. Campbell, 4 *Matthias H. Nichols, 5 Richard Mott, 6 Jonas R. Emrie, 7 Aaron Harlan, 8 Benjamin Stanton, 9 Cooper K. Watson, 10 OSCAR F. MOORE, 11 Valentine B. Horton, 12 Samuel Galloway, 13 John Sherman, 14 Philemon Bliss, 15 *William R. Sapp, 16 *EDWARD BALL, 17 Charles J. Albright, 18 Benjamin F. Leiter, 19 *Edward Wade, 20 Joshua R. Giddings, 21 John A. Bingham.

PENNSYLVANIA.

1 *Thomas B. Florence, 2 JOB R. TYSON, 3 William Millward, 4 JACOB BROOM, 5 John Cadwalader, 6 John Hickman, 7 Samuel C. Bradshaw, 8 J. Glancy Jones, 9 Anthony E. Roberts, 10 John C. Kunkel, 11 James H. Campbell, 12 HENRY M. FULLER,

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Republicans, in Roman, 108; Buchanan Democrats, in Italics, 83; Fillmore Americans, in SMALL CAPS, 43.

The term of service of the members of the XXXIVth Congress, so far as the House is concerned, expires on the 3d of March, 1857.

NOTE.-Several whom we have classed as Republican, were Americans when chosen, and may be ctill.

Members of the last House.

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Democrats (in Roman) 35; Republicans (in Italics) 20; Americans (in SMALL CAPS) 5; Uncertain 2. Total 62. The figures befor each Sena.or's name denote the year when his term expires.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES-234 Members.

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1*Elihu B. Washburne, 2 John F. Farnsworth, 3 Owen Lovejoy, 4 William Kellogg, 5 Isaac N. Morriss,

6 Thomas L. Harris,

7 Aaron Shaw,

8 Robert Smith,

9 *Samuel S. Marshall. INDIANA.

1 James Lockhart, 2 *William H. English, 3 James Hughes, 4 James B. Foley,

5 David Kilgore, 6 James M. Gregg, 7 John G. Davis, 8 James Wilson, 9 *Schuyler Colfax, 10 *Samuel Brenton, 11 *John U. Pettit. IOWA.

1 Samuel R. Curtis, 2 Timothy Davis. MAINE.

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1 *John M. Wood, 2 Charles J. Gilman, 3 Nehemiah Abbott, 4 Freeman H. Morse, 5 *Israel Washburn, jr., 6 Stephen C. Foster, Democrats, in Roman, 62; Vacancy, 1. Total, 234.

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11 William F. Russell,

12 John Thompson,

13 Abram B. Olin, 14 Erastus Corning, 15 *Edward Dodd 16 George W. Pulmer, 17 *Francis E. Spinner. 18 Clark B. Cochrane, 19 Oliver A. Morse, 20 *Orsamus B. Matteson, 21 *Henry Bennett, 22 Henry C. Goodwin, 23 Charles B. Hoard, 24 * Amos P. Granger, 25 Edwin B. Morgan, 26 Emory B. Pottle, 27 *John M. Parker, 28 William H. Kelsey, 29 Samuel G. Andrews, 30 Judson W. Sherman, 31 Silas M. Burroughs, 32 Israel T. Hatch, 33 Reuben E. Fenton.

OHIO.

1 George H Pendleton, 2 William S. Groesbeck, 3 Lewis D. Campbell,t 4 *Mathias H. Nichols, 5 Richard Mott, 6. R. Cockerel, 7 *Aaron Harlan, 8 Benjamin Stanton, 9 L. W. Hall, 10 Joseph Miller,

11 *Valentine B. Horton, 12 Samuel S. Cox, 13 *John Sherman, 14 Philemon Bliss, 15 Joseph Burns, 16 Cynor B. Tompkins, 17 William Lawrence, 18 Benjamin F. Leiter, 19 Edward Wade,

20 Joshua R. Giddings,

PENNSYLVANIA.

1 *Thomas B. Florence,

2 Edward J. Morris,

3 James Landy,
4 Henry M. Phillips,
5 Owen Jones,

6 *John Hickman, 7 Henry Chapman, 8 *J. Glancy Jones, 9 Anthony E. Roberts, 10 *John C. Kunkel, 11 William L. Dewart, 12 John G. Montgomery, 13 William H. Dimmick, 14 *Galusha A. Grow, 15 Alison White, 16 John J. Abel, 17 Wilson Reilly, 18 *John R. Edie, 19 John Covode, 20 William Montgomery, 21 David Ritchie, 22 *Samuel A. Purviance, 23 William Stewart. 24 J. L. Gillis, 25 John Dick.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

1 *John McQueen, 2 Wm. Porcher Miles, 3 *Lawrence M. Keitt, 4 *Preston S. Brooks, 5 James L. Orr, 6 *William W. Boyce,

VERMONT.

1 Ezekiel P Walton, 2 *Justin S Morrill, 3 Homer E. Royce.

WISCONSIN.

1- John F. Potter, 2 *Cahoal'rC Washburne

21 *John A. Bingham. 3 *Charles Billinghurst.

Republicans, in Italics, 85; Americans, in SMALL CAPS, 3; yet to be elected, 84.

Members of the XXXIVth Congress. † Contested.

KANSAS AND THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY.

staved off by declarations on the part of the representatives of the two or three States that still permitted the importation that they would soon join their sister States in prohibiting it.

FROM the assembling of the famous Continen- made to impose this duty, which was only tal Congress of 1774, which laid the foundation of the American Union, down to the year 1854 —a lapse of eighty years—the course of American national action and legislation, though not always going so far as it might, had yet always been in favor of the restriction and curtailment of slave-holding, as will be made apparent from the following summary:

1. One of the fourteen articles of the "American Association," entered into by the Congress of 1774, specially denounced the slave-trade, and pledged the colonies to entire abstinence from it, and from any trade with those concerned in it.

2. In 1787 the famous ordinance for the government of the territory north-west of the Ohio, one of the last acts of the Continental Congress, for ever excluded involuntary servitude from all the territory then at the disposal of the United States, that territory having been ceded to the Union by the States which claimed it, free from any conditions respecting that subject. The legalization of slavery in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, was not the act of the Federal Government. The people of Kentucky, presented themselves for admission as a slave-holding State, with the prospect of their uniting themselves with the Spaniards, for which there were many subsequent intrigues, if that request was refused; and the States of North Carolina and Georgia, declined to cede to the United States the territory afterward erected into the States of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, except on condition that slavery should be tolerated therein.

8. The Convention that formed the Constitution of the United States avoided all use of the terms slaves and slavery; evaded any direct recognition of any such institution; held out a premium to emancipation by counting in the census of representative population five slaves as equivalent to only three freemen; and gave to Congress the power to abolish the foreign slave-trade at the end of twenty years, and to impose, meanwhile, a duty on all persons imported.

4. Soon after the organization of the government under this constitution,earnest efforts were

5. A territorial government having been organized, in 1798, for Mississippi (then including all the United States territory east of Georgia), though Congress was restrained by the compact of union from prohibiting slavery, yet it did exert its constitutional power of legislating for the territories by prohibiting the introduction of slaves from abroad.

6. By the year 1798, all the States having united in prohibiting the import of slaves from abroad, Congress, in 1800, passed an act imposing a fine of $1,000, with forfeiture of the vessel, for each person imported as a slave contrary to the laws of any of the States.

7. In 1803 the people of Indiana (including what is now not only that State but also the present States of Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin) applied to Congress for a suspension as to that territory of the article of compact of the ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery north of the Ohio. This memorial was referred to a committee, of which John Randolph was chairman, which committee reported that it was "highly dangerous and inexpedient to Impair a provision wisely instituted to promote the happiness and prosperity of the north-western country, and to give strength and security to that extensive frontier ;" and they added their belief, that in the salutary operation of this sagacious and benevolent restraint, the inhabitants of Indiana would, in no distant day, find ample remuneration for a temporary privation of labor and immigration. This attempt to re-establish slavery in the north-western States was repeated in 1804, and again in 1807, but on both occasions without success.

8. In 1804 the act organizing the territory of Orleans, then recently acquired by the Louisiana cession, though it did not abolish the slavery then existing there among the French colonists, expressly provided that no slaves should be carried there, except by citizens of the United States removing into the territory as actual settlers, nor were even they to be allowed to introduce any from foreign countries,nor any that

had been brought in the United States from for- any vessel, of any negro or mulatto, "not held eign countries since 1798. The special intention to service under the laws of some one of the of this latter provision was to provide against States," was declared to be piracy, punishable a piece of apostacy on the part of South Caro- with death. lina, in the passage of an act reviving the slave-trade, after a cessation of it as to that State for fifteen years, and of six years as to the whole Union-one of the first indications of that pro-slavery reaction which, since the annexation of Texas as a slave-holding State, has attained to such a wonderful strength; and one of the first fruits of the triumph of the socalled Democratic party in the state politics of South Carolina. Still further to counteract this revival of the slave-trade, a new agitation was immediately commenced for imposing a tax on slaves imported, which was only prevented from being done by the near approach of the period within which Congress might totally prohibit the slave-trade.

11. In the same year was enacted the famous Missouri restriction, by virtue of which-while Missouri, by way of compromise with the South, and in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants, and what had been the law and usage during its existence as a territory, was admitted as a slave-holding State-in all the territory of the United States north and west of that new State, slavery was to be "for ever prohibited." Down to the year 1854, this Miss ur! Compromise, with the Missouri prohibition as a part of it, was regarded as the settled law of the Union more sacred, in fact, than any ordinary piece of legislation, the circumstances under which it was passed making it partake of the nature of a constitutional enactment. It is true, in9. No sooner had that period arrived than an deed, that in 1837 this prohibition was violated act was passed, in 1808, imposing fine and im- by the annexation to Missouri of a piece of prisonment, with forfeiture of the vessel, upon territory in which slavery had been "for ever all persons concerned in importing into the prohibited," about equal in extent to the United States from any foreign country and sell-State of Delaware, now divided into six couning as a slave any negro, mulatto, or person of ties, containing more than 70,000 people, and color, and fines upon all persons concerned in fitting out a vessel for any such purpose. This act did not pass without very strenuous opposition. The opponents of the act did not dare appear at that time as the advocates of the African slave-trade; but they did not at all relish the implications contained in this act against the domestic slave-trade, then first beginning.mittee, and upon northern senators and repreThey based their opposition to it on a provision contained in it that no vessel of less than forty tons burden should take any slaves on board, except for transportation on inland bays and rivers. This provision was attacked by John Randolph as an interference with slave proper-pointment. ty; and upon this occasion he made a free use 12. But while this violation of the comproof those threats of secession and disunion mise passed unheeded and unnoticed, the which have since proved such efficient instru- compromise itself continued to be lauded and ments of political warfare as against the min-upheld as essential to the preservation of the gled timidity and secret pro-slavery spirit of Union. It was expressly recognised and connorthern politicians and capitalists.

the chief seat and head-quarters of pro-slavery ruffianism. This annexation, however, was accomplished by a sort of legislative trick, without the public attention being called to it, by the secret practices of the two Missouri senators upon the flexible and timeserving John M. Clayton, then chairman of the judiciary com

sentatives ready enough at all times, when not carefully watched, to betray the interests of liberty and the North out of complaisance to some southern friend, or to purchase a recommendation for themselves to some federal ap

firmed in the joint resolutions of March 1, 1845, 10. From this time down to the close of the of the annexation of Texas, and in 1850 the act war with England, the restrictions upon our to establish and confirm the northern and westforeign commerce aided effectually in the sup-ern boundary of Texas-one of the compromises pression of the slave-trade; but, that trade of 1850 so called-again expressly recognised having revived with the peace, new acts were and confirmed it. So stood the national governpassed in 1818, 1819, and 1820, increasing the ment in relation to the extension of slavery down stringency of the laws, by the last of which to the introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska bill the detention or transportation as a slave, in of 1854.

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