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PHILADELPHIA IN SACKCLOTH.

ple, and excites the ignorant and the thoughtless in our midst to hate and persecute them? Be not deceived. Let me not prophesy Let me not prophesy smooth things, and cry Peace, when there is no peace. Let the truth be spoken, be heard, be pondered, if we mean to save the Union.'

Judge Woodward concluded his address to this non-partisan Union meeting after this fashion:

"Have I not a right to say that a Government which was all-sufficient for the country fifty years ago, when soil and climate and State sovereignty were trusted to regulate the spread of Slavery, is insufficient today, when every upstart politician can stir the people to mutiny against the domestic institutions of our Southern neighbors— when the ribald jests of seditious editors like Greeley and Beecher can sway legislatures and popular votes against the handiwork of Washington or Madison-when the scurrilous libels of such a book as Helper's become a favorite campaign document, and are accepted by thousands as law and gospel both -when jealousy and hate have extinguished all our fraternal feelings for those who were born our brethren, and who have done us

no harm ?"

Mr. Charles E. Lex (who had voted for Lincoln) made an apologetic and deprecatory speech, wherein he said:

"However they may suppose the contrary, our affections are not alienated from our Southern friends; and, even now, the rumor of any damage to them from a domestic source would bring to their aid a legion of young men from this State-ay, and of those more advanced in life-ready to assist them in the emergency, and willing to shed their blood in their defense. I appeal to you, citizens of Philadelphia, whether I am not speaking the truth. What, then, can we say to them? What more than we have expressed in the resolutions we have offered? If they are really aggrieved by any laws upon our statute-books opposed to their rights-if, upon examination, any such are found to be in conflict with the Constitution of these United States-nay, further: if they but serve to irritate our brethren of the South, whether constitutional or not, I, for one, have no objection that they should instantly be repealed. They are not necessary to our existence as a State. We have lived We have lived without them in years that are past, and we can live without them again. I ain not here, however, to concede that, in this respect, our noble commonwealth has done any intentional wrong; but if, in our calm

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judgment, it shall appear that our feelings, in the slightest degree warped, have apparently inflicted any injury, she is noble and generous enough manfully to repair it. Let the Fugitive Slave Law be executed in its full intent and spirit. It is the law of the land; let it be implicitly obeyed. We might, perhaps, have desired to have a few of its provisions modified; but let it remain as it is, however liable these portions may be to Northern criticism, if the South deem it necessary for the protection of her rights. Let us, too, submit, as we have hitherto cheerfully done, to the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States. It is the great bulwark of the Constitution. Its judgments should be final and conclusive, and not be questioned in any quarter. Whilst the free discussion of every question is the privilege of every citizen of the Republic, let us discountenance any denunciation of Slavery, or of those who maintain that institution, as intemperate and wrong, whether they are promulgated in the lecture-room, at the political gathering, or from the sacred desk."

Mr. Theodore Cuyler followed in a kindred strain, illustrating his notion of what was required to bring back the seceders and restore fraternal concord to the Union, as follows:

"Let us of the North get back to our true position. Let us first set the example of perfect obedience to the Constitution and the laws; and then, when we shall have pulled the beam from our own eye, we may talk to our brother of the mote in his. Let us return the fugitive from labor, as we are bound to do; or, if we permit his rescue by unlawful violence, compensate his owner for the loss. Let us repeal our obnoxious Personal Liberty bills-those mean evasions of the plainest duty; let us receive our brother of the South, if he will come among us for a little time, attended by his servant, and permit him thus to come. We are bound by a sacred compact not to interfere or meddle with the institution of Slavery as it exists in many of our sister States; and yet the pulpit and the press, and many of our public halls, are eloquent with violent and inflainmatory appeals touching this subject, whose mischief, extending far beyond the boundary of our own Commonwealth, extends into the very heart of neighboring States. Who shall say, fellow-citizens, how much of our present peril springs from this very cause? Can we wonder that our Southern brother feels that the heart of his Northern fellowcitizen is shut against him? Can we forget that these appeals have reached the Slaves

themselves, and filled with dread and appre

hension the once quiet and happy homes of

many, very many, Southern masters? Fellow-citizens, although the law may be powerless, yet there is a moral force which can and would arrest this evil. I appeal to you earnestly to each one of you individually -by every lawful means in your power, to put an end to the violent and inflammatory discussion of this unhappy subject. The past, the present, and the future, appeal to you eloquently to be true to your country and to yourselves. Never before has constitutional liberty assumed so fair a form among men as here with us. Never before, under its influence and protection, has any people been so speedily and happily borne to great prosperity; until now the imagination sinks in the effort to contemplate that glorious future on whose very threshold our feet have stood. Can it be that madness and fanaticism-can it be that selfishness and sectionalism-are about to destroy this noblest form of government, freighted as it is with the highest hopes of humanity? (Loud cheers.)"

Mr. Isaac Hazlehurst closed the discussion in a far manlier spirit. Himself a 'Conservative,' the 'American' candidate for Governor in 1857, he had no palinode to offer for Northern 'fanaticism,' and no thought of crouching to Southern treason. On

the contrary, he spoke, with singular and manly directness, as follows:

"Fellow-citizens, it is no time for party, because there are no party questions to be discussed. We are here for the purpose of endeavoring to preserve the Union of these States. The American Union was made perfect by the people of these States, and by the people of these States it is to be to be maintained and preserved. It is not a question of 'must be preserved,' but, in the language of Gen. Jackson, 'it shall be preserved.' (Applause.) * * * I say, fellowcitizens, that Pennsylvania has been true to the Constitution and the Union. She has always been loyal to it. There is no doubt upon that subject. She has nothing whatever to repent of; and we will maintain these principles as presented by your resolutions. I care not where the traitors areI care not where they hide themselves the first arm that is raised against the Constitution and the Union, I will bring all that I have to their defense-all that I have to secure the enforcement of the laws. ("Good!' Cheers.)"

Of the resolutions in which the

spirit of this meeting was embodied, these are the most significant:

"Resolved, 4. That the people of Philadelphia hereby pledge themselves to the citi

zens of the other States that the statutebooks of Pennsylvania shall be carefully searched at the approaching session of the Legislature, and that every statute, if any such there be, which, in the slightest degree, invades the constitutional rights of citizens of a sister State, will be at once repealed; and that Pennsylvania, ever loyal to the Union, and liberal in construing her obligations to it, will be faithful always in her obedience to its requirements.

'Resolved, 5. That we recognize the obligations of the act of Congress of 1850, commonly known as the Fugitive Slave Law, and submit cheerfully to its faithful enforcement; and that we point with pride and satisfaction to the recent conviction and punishment, in this city of Philadelphia, of those who had broken its provisions by aiding in the attempted rescue of a slave, as proof that Philadelphia is faithful in her obedience to the to the Legislature of our own State the paslaw; and furthermore, that we recommend sage of a law which shall give compensation, in case of the rescue of a captured slave, by the county in which such rescue occurs, precisely as is now done by existing laws in case of destruction of property by

violence of mobs.

“Resolved, 6. That, as to the question of the recognition of slaves as property, and as to the question of the rights of slaveholders in the territories of the United States, the people of Philadelphia submit themselves obediently and cheerfully to the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, whether now made or hereafter to be made; and they pledge themselves faithfully to observe the Constitution in these respects, as the same has been or may be expounded by that angust tribunal. And, further: they recommend that whatever points of doubt exist touching these subjects be, in some amicable and lawful way, forth with submitted to the consideration of said Court; and that its opinion be accepted as the final and authoritative solution of all doubts as to the meaning of the Constitution on controverted points.

"Resolved, 7. That all denunciations of Slavery, as existing in the United States, and of our fellow-citizens who maintain that institution, and who hold slaves under it, are inconsistent with the spirit of brotherhood and kindness which ought to animate all who live under and profess to support the Constitution of the American Union.'

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'CONCILIATION' BY GAG-LAW.

That the meaning of all this was"In the hope of winning back the seceded States, and of retaining the trade, custom, and profits, which we have hitherto derived from the slaveholders, we hereby solemnly pledge ourselves never more to say or do, nor let our neighbors say or do, aught calculated to displease said slaveholders or offend the Slave Power," was

promptly demonstrated. Mr. George W. Curtis, one of our most attractive and popular public speakers, had been engaged by 'the People's Literary Institute' of Philadelphia to lecture on the evening after the great meeting, and had announced as his subject, "The Policy of Honesty." What reflections were suggested by that topic or title to the engineers of the meeting, can only be inferred from the following notification:

"OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF

Philadelphia, Dec. 10, 1860. "DEAR SIR :---The appearance of GEORGE W. CURTIS, Esq., as a lecturer before the People's Literary Institute, on Thursday evening next, will be extremely unwise. If I possessed the lawful power, I would not permit his presence on that occasion. "Very respectfully, etc. "ALEXANDER HENRY, Mayor. AMES W. WHITE, Esq., Chairman." The following letter from the owner of the Hall betrays a common im

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pulse, if not a common origin, with | the foregoing:

"CONCERT HALL, December 11, 1860. "DEAR SIR:-I have been officially informed that, in the event of G. W. Čurtis lecturing in this Hall on Thursday evening next, a riot is anticipated. Under these circumstances, I cannot permit the Hall to be used on that occasion. Respectfully, "THOMAS A. ANDREWS.

"J. W. WHITE, Esq."

So the Lincoln city of Philadelphia, like a good many other North

ern cities, made her bid for slaveholding forbearance and patronageno one observing, nor even hinting, that the North had rights and grievances, as well as the South-that "sectional" aspirations, aggressions, encroachments, were not confined to Free States; and that, in the conciliation so generally and earnestly commended, the Slave Power might fairly be asked to accord some consideration, some respect, if not to make some concession, to that generous, loving spirit, which recognizes a brother in the most repulsive form of Humanity, which keenly feels that wrong and degradation to any necessarily involve reproach and peril to all, and will rest content with nothing short of Universal Justice and Impartial Freedom.

XXIV.

'CONCILIATION' IN CONGRESS.

THE XXXVIth Congress reconvened for its second and last session on Monday, December 3, 1860, and President Buchanan transmitted his fourth and last Annual Message next day. After briefly stating therein that

the year then closing had been one of general health, ample harvests, and commercial prosperity, he plunged into the great political controversy of the day after this fashion:

"Why is it, then, that discontent now so

extensively prevails, and the Union of the States, which is the source of all these blessings, is threatened with destruction? The long-continued and intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of Slavery in the Southern States has at length produced its natural effects. The different sections of the Union are now arrayed against each other; and the time has arrived, so much dreaded by the Father of his Country, when hostile geographical parties have been formed. I have long foreseen, and often forewarned my countrymen of the now impending danger. This does not proceed solely from the claims on the part of Congress or the Territorial Legislatures to exclude Slavery from the territories, nor from the efforts of different States to defeat the execution of the Fugitive Slave law.

"All or any of these evils might have been endured by the South without danger to the Union (as others have been), in the hope that time and reflection might apply the remedy. The immediate peril arises, not so much from these causes, as from the fact that the incessant and violent agitation of the Slavery question throughout the North for the last quarter of a century has at length produced its malign influence on the slaves, and inspired them with vague notions of freedom. Hence, a sense of security no longer exists around the family altar. This feeling of peace at home has given place to apprehensions of servile insurrection. Many a matron throughout the South

retires at night in dread of what may befall herself and her children before the morning. Should this apprehension of domestic danger, whether real or imaginary, extend and intensify itself until it shall pervade the masses of the Southern people, then disunion will become inevitable. Self-preservation is the first law of nature, and has been implanted in the heart of man by his Creator for the wisest purpose; and no political union, however fraught with blessings and benefits in all other respects, can long continue, if the necessary consequence be to render the homes and the firesides of nearly half the parties to it habitually and hopelessly insecure. Sooner or later, the bonds of such a Union must be severed. It is my conviction that this fatal period has not yet arrived; and my prayer to God is, that He would preserve the Constitution and the Union throughout all generations.

"But let us take warning in time, and remove the cause of danger. It cannot be denied that, for five-and-twenty years, the agitation at the North against Slavery in the South has been incessant. In 1835, picto

rial handbills and inflammatory appeals were circulated extensively throughout the South,

of a character to excite the passions of the slaves; and, in the language of Gen. Jackson, 'to stimulate them to insurrection, and produce all the horrors of a servile war. This agitation has ever since been continued by the public press, by the proceedings of State and County Conventions, and by Abolition sermons and lectures. The time of Congress has been occupied in violent speeches on this never-ending subject; and appeals, in pamphlet and other forms, indorsed by distinguished names, have been sent forth from this central point, and spread broadcast over the Union.

"How easy would it be for the American people to settle the Slavery question forever, and to restore peace and harmony to this distracted country!

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They, and they alone, can do it. All that is necessary to accomplish the object, and all for which the Slave States have ever contended, is, to be let alone, and permitted to manage their domestic institutions in their own way. As sovereign States, they, and they alone, are responsible before God and the world for the Slavery existing among them. For this, the people of the North are not more responsible, and have no more right to interfere, than with similar institutions in Russia or in Brazil. Upon their good sense and patriotic forbearance, I confess I greatly rely.'

How a sane man could talk in this

way, in full view of the Texas, Nebraska, and Kansas struggles of the last few years, and of the persistent efforts to acquire Cuba, and "regenerate" Central America in the interest of the Slave Power, is one of the problems reserved for solution in some future and higher existence. To expose its inconsistency with notorious facts were a waste of time and effort; to lose temper over it were even a graver mistake: the proper, fittest frame of mind wherein to contemplate it is one of silent wonder.

Mr. Buchanan proceeded to argue that the election of Mr. Lincoln "does not of itself afford just cause for dissolving the Union;" that "from the very nature of his office, and its high responsibilities, he must necessarily be conservative;" that

MR. BUCHANAN

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REPUDIATES 'COERCION.

no single act has ever passed Congress, unless we may possibly except the Missouri Compromise,' impairing, in the slightest degree, the rights of the South in their property in slaves; that no such act could be passed, in the present or in the next Congress; that the Dred Scott decision had covered all the ground contended for by the Slave States, rendering null and void a recent act of the Legislature of Kansas, abolishing Slavery in that Territory; that all acts of State Legislatures intended to defeat the execution of the Fugitive Slave law were nullities, the Supreme Court having so decided and sustained that law at every point; nevertheless, the States that have passed such acts ought, and should be urged, to repeal them; that, should they not be repealed, "the injured States" "would be justified in revolutionary resistance to the Government of the Union" (for unfaithfulness to constitutional obligations by those whom that Government could not control); that there is no reserved or constitutional right of State Secession from the Union, which was clearly intended to be perpetual; that the Federal Government is required, and the States expressly forbidden, to do many things essential to the idea of sovereignty; that the Federal Government "has precisely the same right to exercise its power for the people of all these States, in the enumerated cases, that each one of them possesses over subjects not delegated to, the United States;" that the Federal Constitution is a part of the Constitution of

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each State, and is binding upon the people thereof; that the people of States aggrieved or oppressed by Federal power have the right of revolutionary resistance, but no otherand yet, if any State should see fit to secede from and defy the Union, there is no help for it! Let us hear Mr. Buchanan more fully on this point:

"What, in the mean time, is the responsibility and true position of the Executive? the country, 'to take care that the laws be faithfully executed;' and from this obligation But what, if the performance of this duty, he cannot be absolved by any human power. in whole or in part, has been rendered impracticable by events over which he could have exercised no control? Such, at the present moment, is the case throughout the State of South Carolina, so far as the laws of tion of justice by means of the Federal Judithe United States to secure the administraciary are concerned. All the Federal officers within its limits, through whose agency alone have already resigned. We no longer have a District Judge, a District Attorney, or a Marshal, in South Carolina. In fact, the whole machinery of the Federal Government necessary for the distribution of remedial justice among the people has been demolished, and it would be difficult, if not

He is bound by solemn oath, before God and

these laws can be carried into execution,

impossible, to replace it.

"The only acts of Congress on the statutebook, bearing upon this subject, are those of 28th February, 1795, and 3d March, 1807. These authorize the President, after he shall have ascertained that the Marshal, with his posse comitatus, is unable to execute civil or criminal process in any particular case, to call out the militia and employ the Army vice, having first, by Proclamation, comand Navy to aid him in performing this sermanded the insurgents to disperse, and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within a limited time.' This duty cannot, by possibility, be performed in a State where no judicial authority exists to issue process, and where there is no Marshal to execute it; and where, even if there were such an

officer, the entire population would constitute one solid combination to resist him."

But why cannot the President ap

1 The Ordinance of 1787, reäffirmed under the Constitution in 1789, is thus clearly affirmed by Mr. Buchanan to be not in derogation of 'South-support of the entire South.

ern Rights.' This, be it remembered, as well as the Missouri Compromise itself, had the hearty

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