Mr. Baker's
Speech.

We have given this reply of the Oregon Senator to Mr. Benjamin's speech quite at length, for the reason that it so freely expounded the Republican view of the points raised, and forced upon the country, by the South. The reply had a large circulation among the people, and quite generally commanded the approval of the speaker's party for its manner and matter.

Mr. Douglas' Speech.

and West. If the institution | lect the revenue: "And above all, let the was guaranteed the rights laws be maintained, and the Union be preof extension, it would be served." He closed with the words of Webagainstnot only the sentiment of the large ma- ster's speech in reply to Hayne. jority of the American people, but also against the sentiment of the world. He claimed that the North were allies of the South, and that they were bound to return slaves. France, England, or Russia, would not do that. If the slaves should revolt the North would be bound to assist the South, and would do it. He argued that the right of free speech could not be restricted in a free country, or a free press, which was a greater safeguard to a Mr. Douglas then having the floor, asked free country. He would not restrict these to that the report of the Committee of Thirteen avert civil war, or to maintain Slavery. The be taken up. He said that he adverted to great principle of free Government would that report with as great pain as any act of not be surrendered. Come weal come woe, his life had caused. The Committee could Slavery shall never be extended by the pow- not agree. In order to see why no plan of ers of the Government of the United States. compromise could be adopted, it would be He would not yield one inch to secession, but necessary to go back to the there were things which he would yield; late election. He said the among them the repeal of the Personal Lib-history of the country proverty bills, should the Supreme Court pronounce them unconstitutional. Mr. Clay had said, and he would say, yield not one inch or word to secession. He would agree to make all the Territories States now, and let the people decide on Slavery, but he would never agree to protect Slavery in the name of Freedom. Referring to power, he said: Didn't it look a little as though, because the South had lost the offices, they had got up this rebellion? He said, after all, he had great confidence in the loyalty of the people at the South. He heard loyal sentiments every where, and could see the clouds breaking, and he was not without the hope that, with time to allow the feverish heat to evaporate, the Union would yet remain safe, if trusted to the hands of the people. The Senator from Louisiana had said that a State actually had seceded, and we must acknowledge its independence, or make war. He said he would not acknowledge its independence, and said he thought it no very strange thing if a great Government had sometimes to enforce law. He quoted the ordinance of General Jackson in regard to collecting the revenue when South Carolina once before revolted, as an answer to the Senator from Louisiana, when he asked how we would col

ed that all agitation on the subject of Slavery followed its introduction into Congress for legislation. The compromises had, for their purpose, to keep the question out of Congress, and, so long as that was done, there was peace. The result of the recent election had brought the South face to face with an issue which was driving it from the Union. He said:

"It is folly for any man not to see facts which do exist. The result of the recent election, in connec

tion with all the circumstances with which it is sur-
the conviction that it is a fixed policy of the domi
rounded, have led the people of the South to form
nant party of the North to invade and destroy their
constitutional rights, and they are ready to rush,
rashly I think, into all the horrors of revolution and
disunion, rather than to submit to what they think
the impending blow which hangs over them.
The harshest thing I have said of the Republican
party was, that they intended to use the power of the
Government with a view to the ultimate extinction
of Slavery, not only in the Territories, but in the

States of the Union. I have said, and have believed
it, and I would rejoice now to be corrected, that it is
the policy of this party to prohibit Slavery in all
the Territories of the United States, now owned, or
hereafter acquired, with a view to surrounding we
Slave States with a cordon of Abolition States, and
thus keep Slavery confined till the number increases
beyond the capacity of the soil to feed them, and

MR.

DOUGLAS'

SPEECH.

159

Mr. Dougla

Speech.

thus force them to die of starvation, as a means of getting rid of the evil of Slavery in the name of humanity and Christianity. I have said that in Illinois, in the Abolition portions of the State, but never said it in a Slave State. I have always been exceedingly mild in speaking of that party in the Slaveholding States. But, inasmuch as I did not get a direct answer from the Senator who makes the charge against the Northern Democracy, I will refer to the sentiments of the President-elect, and see what he says on that subject."

Mr. Douglas then referred to the report of the speeches of Mr. Lincoln, in his canvass of Illinois, in 1858, against Mr. Douglas, quoting from his several declarations on the question of Slavery in the Territories. [See pages 141, 142]. He then continued:

Mr. Douglas'
Speech.

der it impossible for you to do
so? But we are told that the
Union must be preserved, and
law must be enforced. I agree to that. I am in favor
of doing all these things, according to the Constitu-
tion and the laws. No man will go further than I to
save the Union and enforce the laws, to put down re-
bellion and insurrection, and to use all the power
conferred by the Constitution for that purpose. But
we must look the facts in the face. We must take no-
tice of those things whose existence cannot be de-
nied. History teaches us that rebellion often be-
comes successful; revolution and the greatest.repub-

lies and proudest monarchies have found it necessary
to recognize the existence of a Government de facto
the condition of the American colonies for seven
in the rebellion of States and provinces. Such was

years after the Declaration of Independence. At first, it was rebellion, and rebellion was treason. A few months afterwards it was revolution and a Gov. ernment de facto at Philadelphia; Mr. Hancock, President, and Washington, Commander of the Armies. Rebellion had ceased, and revolution taken its place. The American colonies were in revolt, had Governments de facto, and Great Britain, proud as she was, was compelled to recognize the existing state of facts. The laws of nations and all the laws of civili

"When the Republican Committee publish an edition of Mr. Lincoln's speeches containing sentiments like these, is it surprising that the people of the South think he was in earnest, and intended to carry out the policy which he then announced? I should not revive such revolutionary sentiments, but for the attempt to cast the responsibility upon the Northern Democracy, clearly intimating that Mr. Pugh and myself were the chief authors of these misrepresent-zation demanded that the Government de facto be acations. I would like to find any one man, on that side of the Chamber, in the confidence of the President-elect, who would deny that it is the policy to carry out the very things to which I have referred. I feel bound, however, and take pleasure in saying, that I don't believe the Southern States are in any danger, or ought to have any apprehension, that Mr. Lincoln or his party can do any harm or render insecure their rights to persons or property anywhere in this country. I have some faith, too, that Mr. Lincoln, after having emerged from the surroundings of a small country village, and assumed the high responsibilities of administering the law, and protecting the rights of a great nation, will sink the partisan in the patriot, and abandon the extreme doctrines, and step forward and avow his willingness to save the country by repudiating his extreme doctrines of a party. But be that as it may, neither he nor his party will have power to invade the rights of any State in this Union.

*

*

*

In the name of the Union, who are the Disunionists? Those who pursue a line of policy calculated to destroy the Union, and refuse to arrest that policy, or disavow that purpose, when they see that revolution has taken place. If such be not your policy, why not say so? If you never intend to do what the South think is your purpose, and which you do not blame them for thinking, what harm is there in making such amendments to the Constitution as will ren

knowledged. But the laws must be enforced. In our system of Government the laws are to be enforced by civil authority, assisted by the militia as a posse comitatus, when the Marshal is resisted. If the colonies, or a State, revolt, the revolution is complete when the Federal authorities are expelled, and no one man left to acknowledge allegiance to the United States. How are you going to enforce the laws then? How are you going to do it in South Carolina? She has passed an ordinance of secession. I deny her right to secede, but she has done it. The revolution is complete. She has no human being in her borders to acknowledge our authority. This is all wrong, but how are you going to help it?

"I deny that we have the right to make war in order to regain possession, in order to enforce the laws. Are we prepared for war? I do not mean prepared in the sense of having soldiers, arms, and munitions; but are we prepared in our hearts for war with our brethren? While I affirm that the Constitution was intended to form a perpetual Union

versible. Our own very existence forbids war. He referred to the purchase of Louisiana, and said it was purchased for the benefit of the whole Union, and for the safety of the Upper Mississippi in particular. The possession of that river is more necessary now than it was then. We cannot expect the people of the interior to admit the right of a foreign State taking possession of that river. He also referred to the purchase of Florida and the amounts paid, and asked if she could go out now? The President, in his message, first said we could not coerce a State to remain in the Union, but in a few sentences he advised the acquisition of Cuba. As if we should pay $300,000,000 for Cuba, and then the next day she might secede and re-annex herself to Spain, and Spain sell her again. He had admitted that Texas cost us a war with Mexico, and 10,000 lives; and, besides, we had paid Texas $10,000,000 for land which she never had owned!

*

if

believe there is, so much the greater the necessity for removing the misconception. Are you so elated with the pride of your recent triumph, or pride of opinion, that you cannot remove an unfounded apprehension, when it is rushing ten million people into disunion, and breaking up the Government of our fathers, and leaving us, hitherto a proud Republic on earth, to become a byword among the na tions? I still entertain the hope that this question may be adjusted, although the indications are that blood will be shed, and war will rage before gentlemen fully appreciate the crisis through which we are passing. I don't think my nerves are any weaker than ordinary, nor do I think there is much courage in shutting the eyes in the face of danger, and then saying you do not see it. Every man must see it, and hear it, and breathe it. The atmosphere is full of it. I have determined that I will do all that is in my power to rescue the country from such a dreadful fate. But I will not consider this question of war till all hope of peaceable adjustment fails. Better, a thousand times better, that all political armies be disbanded and dissolved. Better that every public man now in existence be consigned to retirement and political martyrdom, than this Government should be dissolved, and this country plunged in civil war. I trust we are to have no war for a platform. I can fight for my country, but there never was a political platform that I would go to war for. I fear if this country is to be wrecked, it is to be done by those who prefer party to their country. Party platforms, and pride of opinion, and personal consistency, are the only causes in the way of a satisfactory adjustment of this difficulty. I re peat that, notwithstanding the gloom and the dark clouds which overhang everything, I do not despair of the Republic, and I will not despair till every effort shall be found to be of no avail."

In his opinion, we had reached the point when disunion was inevitable unless a compromise, founded on concession, can be made. He preferred compromise to war, and concession to disunion. No compromise would be available which does not carry the question of Slavery beyond Congress. He said he had voted for the proposition of the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Crittenden's), and was ready to vote for it again. Why cannot the Republicans unite on the Missouri Compromise line? They had heaped curses enough on his head for repealing it, to be glad now to reestablish it. He had helped to support that measure until he was compelled to abandon it. He was willing to meet on terms of mutual concession. He had offered another proposition to leave the Territories in statu quo till they have 50,000 inhabitants, and then settle the question themselves; and also provided for the removal of the negroes, the Territory chose, to certain provinces. If the Republicans do not intend to interfere with Slavery This speech commanded unusual remark. in the States, why not put in an amendment in the Constitution, so that they cannot do it? There must To the Republicans it was disconcerting, be a settlement of some sort now. It cannot be because it, in effect, threw the onus of the postponed. We are in a state of revolution. It is disunion movement upon them, and proceedcompromise or war. He preferred compromise. **ing from the leader who had received over It humbles my pride to see the authority of the Government questioned, but we are not the first nation whose pride has thus been humbled. Republics, empires, and kingdoms alike, in all ages, have been subject to the same humiliating fact. But where there is a deep-seated discontent pervading ten millions of people, penetrating every man, woman, and child, and involving everything dear to them, it is time for inquiring whether there is not some canse for this feeling. If there be just cause for it, in God's name let us remove it. Are we not criminal, in the sight of Heaven and posterity, if we do not remove the just cause? If there is no cause, and yet they

thirteen hundred thousand votes for President, it could but be construed as indicative of a strong public sentiment in the North in favor of compromise, and opposed to co

ercion.

Mr. Toombs obtained the floor, when the Senate adjourned over to Saturday. During the Saturday's session Mr. Mason, of Virginia, offered a resolution of inquiry, that the Secretary of War give the

Mason's Resolution of
Inquiry.

ATTITUDE OF THE NORTHERN AND BORDER STATES IN JANUARY. THE FIRST BUGLE NOTES OF ALARM.

fore

"Resolved, (if the Assembly concur), That the Governor be and hereby is directed, in the name of the State of New-York, to tender to the President of the United States the services of the militia of the State, to be used in such manner and at such times as the

President may deem best to preserve the Union and enforce the Constitution and laws of the country.

66

THE revolution had progressed, up to Jan- | compromisingly in favor of the Union as it is, thereuary 1st, with no further protests than came from individuals and meetings of citizens in Northern States. With the convention of the State Legislatures, however, there came a louder and more authoritative testimony to the Union and the laws. State after State gathered in council, and but one spirit seemed to animate every Free CommonwealthResolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs that of a determined resistance to the revolu-be and are hereby directed, to inquire into the contionary scheme. One after another they came dition, efficiency, and available strength of the miliinto line, like ponderous frigates, to show tary force of the State and to report to the Senate their armaments and their sides of steel, with at the earliest practicable day, what legislation, if which to uphold the cause of the Constitution any, is necessary to render that branch of govern and the stability of the Government. ment fully effective for any exigency that may arise; and if requisite that the said Committee report a bill to raise $10,000,000 to properly arm the State." The "Old Bay State" sent forth her clarion notes

New York.

The "Empire State," vast in her resources, steadfast in her patriotism, loyal in

her duty, met the crisis as became her honor.

Upon the first day of the Legislature's ses- as soon. Her Legislature

Massachusetts.

sion Mr. Spinola introduced, and had refer-assembled January 2d. The President of the red to a Special Committee of Five, January 3d, the following:

"Whereas, Treason, as defined by the Constitution of the United States, exists in one of the States of the Confederacy, and

Senate said, in his opening address:—

"While we meet under circumstances auspicious in our own State, a deep agitation pervades other parts of our country, causing every true patriot to feel the greatest anxiety. Disunion is attempted in some “Whereas, It is the religious as well as the patriotic States, because, as is alleged, laws have been passduty of each State in its sovereign capacity, as welled in others contrary to the Constitution of the Unitas that of each citizen, to make every necessary saed States. Massachusetts is accused of unfaithfulness crifice for the preservation of the Union of States, as in this matter in some of her enactments, although they were united by Washington and his associates, she has always been ready to submit to judicial deand cision, and is so still. She has ever regarded jea lously the liberty of her citizens, and I trust ever

"Whereas, The State of New York is now, as it ever has been, and ever will be, unalterably and un-will. We cannot falter now without disgrace and