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RESPONSE OF

JUDGE BATES. ST. LOUIS, March 17, 1860. To Messrs. P. L. Fov, Editor of The Missouri Democrat; Dr. BERNAYS, Editor of the Anzeiger; and other gentlemen: SIRS: B. Gratz Brown, Esq., as President of the Missouri State Convention, which sat in St. Louis on the tenth of this month, has officially made known to me the proceedings of that body, and by them I am enabled to know some of you as Delegates to the Chicago Convention, representing the Republican party of Missouri.

I have received your letter propounding to me certain questions (seven in number) which you suppose will cover most, if not all, the grounds of controversy, in the approaching Presidential election.

With pleasure I will answer your questions. But before doing so, allow me to glance at the peculiar circumstances in which I am placed, and the strangeness of the fact that I, a mere private man, am called upon to make avowals and explanations, with any view to take me from the shades of private life and place me at the head of the nation. I came to this frontier in my youth, and settled in St. Louis when it was a village. All my manhood has been spent in Missouri, and during all that time I have followed a profession which left my character and conduct open to the observation of society. And while it has been my constant habit freely to express my opinion of public measures and public men, the people of Missouri, of all parties, will bear me witness that I have never obtrusively thrust myself forward in pursuit of official honors. I have held no political office, and Bought none, for more than twenty-five years.

Under these circumstances, I confess the gratification which I feel in receiving the recent manifestations of the respect and confidence of my fellow-citizens. First, the Opposition members of the Missouri Legislature declared their preference for me as a candidate; then followed my nomination by a Convention composed of all the elements of the Opposition in this State; and, now, the Republicans of Missouri, in their separate Convention, just held in St. Louis, have reaffirmed the nomination, and proposed, by their delegates, to present me to the National Convention, soon to be held at Chicago, as a candidate for the first office in the nation. These various demonstrations in my own State are doubly gratifying to me, because they afford the strongest proof that my name has been put forward only in a spirit of harmony and peace, and with the hope of preventing all division and controversy among those who, for their own safety and the public good, ought to be united in the r action. For all this I am deeply grateful, and, as far as concerns me personally, I must declare in simple truth, that if the movement go no further and produce no national results, still I am paid and overpaid for a life of labor, and for whatever of zealous effort and patient watching I have been able to bestow in support of a line of governmental policy which I believe to be for the present and permanent good of the country.

The Territories, whether acquired by conquest of peaceable purchase, are subject and subordinate; not Sovereign like the States. The nation is supreme over them, and the National Government has power to permit or forbid Slavery, within them. Entertaining these views, I am opposed to the extension of Slavery, and in my opinion, the spirit and policy of the Government ought to be against its extension.

2. Does the Constitution carry Slavery into the Territories! I answer no. The Constitution of the United States does not carry Slavery into the Territories. With much more show of reason may it be said that it carries Slavery into all the States. But it does not carry Slavery anywhere. It only acts upon it, where it finds it established by the local law.

In connection with this point, I am asked to state my views of the Dred Scott case, and what was really determined by the Supreme Court in that case. It is my opinion, carefully considered, that the Court determined one single point of law only, that is, that Scott, the plaintiff, being a negro of African descent (not neces sarily a slave), could not be a citizen of Missouri, and therefore could not sue in the Federal Court; and that for this reason, and this alone, the Circuit Court had no jurisdiction of the cause, and no power to give judgment between the parties. The only jurisdiction which the Supreme Court had of the cause was for the purpose of correcting the error of the Circuit Court, in assuming the power to decide upon the merits of the case. This power the Supreme Court did exercise, by setting aside the judgment of the Circuit Court upon ment for or against either party. the merits, and by dismissing the suit, without any judgThis is all that the Supreme Court did, and all that it had lawful power to do.

I consider it a great public misfortune that several of the learned judges should have thought that their duty required them to discuss and give opinions upon various questions outside of the case, as the case was actually disposed of by the court. All such opinions are extra judicial and of no authority. But beside this, it appears to me that several of the questions so discussed by the judges are political questions, and therefore beyond the cognizance of the judiciary, and proper only to be considered and disposed of by the political departments. If I am right in this, and it seems to me plain, the precedent is most unfortunate, because it may lead to a dangerous conflict of authority among the coördinate branches of the Government.

3. As to the colonization of the free blacks.

For many years I have been connected with the American Colonization Society, of which the rising young State of Liberia is the first fruit. I consider the object both humane and wise, beneficent alike to the free blacks who emigrate, and to the whites whom they leave behind. But Africa is distant, and presents so many obstacles to rapid settlement, that we cannot indulge the hope of draining

population. The tropical regions of America, I think, offer a far better prospect both for us and for them.

And now, gentlemen, I proceed to answer your ques-off in that direction the growing numbers of our free black tions, briefly indeed, but fully, plainly, and with all possible frankness. And I do this the more willingly because I have received from individuals many letters (too many to be separately answered), and have seen in many public journals articles making urgent calls upon me for such a statement of views.

1. Slavery-Its extension in the Territories. On this subject, in the States and in the Territories, I have no new opinions-no opinions formed in relasion to the present array of parties. I am coeval with the Missouri question of 1819-20, having begun my political life in the midst of that struggle. At that time my position required me to seek all the means of knowledge within my reach, and to study the principles involved with all the powers of my mind; and I arrived at conclusions then which no subsequent events have induced me to change. The existence of negro Slavery in our country had its beginning in the early time of the Colonies, and was imposed by the mother country against the will of most of the colonists. the time of the Revolution, and long after, it was commonly regarded as an evil, temporary in its nature, and likely to disappear in the course of time, yet, while it continued, a misfortune to the country, socially and politically.

At

Thus was I taught, by those who made our Government, and neither the new light of modern civilization, nor the discovery of a new system of constitutional law and social philosophy, has enabled me to detect the error of their teaching.

Slavery is "a social relation "-a domestic institution. Within the States, it exists by the local law, and the Federal Government has no cont. ol over it there.

4. As to any inequality of rights among American citizens. I recognize no distinctions among American citizens but such as are expressly laid down in the Constitution. An I hold that our Government is bound to protect all the citizens in the enjoyment of all their rights, everywhere and against all assailants. And as to all these rights, there is no difference between citizens born and citizens made such by law.

5. Am I in favor of the construction of a railroad from the Valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean, under the aus pices of the General Government?

Yes, strongly. I not only believe such a road of vast importance as the means of increasing the population, wealth and power of this great valley, but necessary as the means of national defence, and of preserving the integrity of the Union.

6. Am I in favor of the measure called the Homestead bill? Yes; I am for guarding the public lands, as well as possible, from the danger of becoming the subject of common trade and speculation-for keeping them for the actual use of the people-and for granting tracts of suitable size to those who will actually inhabit and improve them.

7. Am I in favor of the immediate admission of Kansas under the Wyandot Constitution?

I think that Kansas ought to be admitted without delay, leaving her, like all the other States, the sole judge of her own Constitution.

Thus, gentlemen, I believe I have answered all your inquiries in a plain, intelligible manner, and, I hope, k

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Under the circumstances of the case it ought not to have been doubted that I would give Mr. Lincoln's nomination a cordial and hearty support. But in declaring my intention to do so, it is due to myself to state some of the facts and reasons which have a controlling influence over my mind, and which I think ought to be persuasive arguments with some other men, whose political opinions and antecedents are, in some important particulars, like my own.

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corrupted itself and perverted the principles of the Gu vernment; has set itself openly against the great home interests of the people, by neglecting to protect their industry, and by refusing to improve and keep in order the highways and depots of commerce; and even now is urging a measure in Congress to abdicate the constitutional power and duty to regulate commerce among the States, and to grant to the States the discretionary power to levy tonnage duties upon all our commerce, under the pretense of improving harbors, rivers, and lakes; has changed the status of the negro slave by making him no longer mere property, but a politician, an antagonist power in the State, a power to which all other powers are required to yield, under penalty of a dissolution of the Union; has directed its energies to the gratification of its lusts of foreign domain, as manifested in its persistent efforts to seize upon tropical regions, not because those countries and their incongruous people are necessary, or even desirable, to be incorporated into cur nation, but for the mere purpose of making Slave States, in order to advance the political power of the party in the Senate and in the choice of the President, so as effectually to transfer the chief powers of the Government from the many to the few; has in various instances endangered the equality of the coördinate branches of the Government, by urgent efforts to enlarge the powers of the Executive at the expense of the Legislative department; has attempted to discredit and degrade the Judi ciary, by affecting to make it, at first, the arbiter of party quarrels, to become soon and inevitably the pas sive registrar of a party decree.

In most, if not all these particulars, I understand the Republican party (judging it by its acts and by the known opinions of many of its leading men) to be the exact opposite of the Democratic party; and that is the ground of my preference of the one party over the other. And that alone would be a sufficient reason, if I had no other good reasons, for supporting Mr. Lincoln against any man who may be put forward by the Democratic party, as the exponent of its principles and the agent to work out, in practice, its dangerous policies.

There was no good ground for supposing that I felt any pique or dissatisfaction because the Chicago Convention failed to nominate me. I had no such feeling. On party grounds, I had no right to expect the nomination. I had no claims upon the Republicans as a party, for I have never been a member of any party, so as to be bound by its dogmas, and subject to its discipline, except only the Whig party, which is now broken up, and its materials, for the most part, absorbed in other organizations. And thus I am left, alone and powerless, indeed, but perfectly free to follow the dictates of my own Judgment, and to take such part in current politics as my own sense of duty and patriotism may require. Many Republicans, and among them, I think, some of the most moderate and patriotic of that party, honored me with their confidence and desired to make me their candidate. For this favor I was indebted to the fact that between them and me there was a coincidence of opin-years ago I served with them both in Congress, and from ion upon certain important questions of government. They and I agreed in believing that the National Government has sovereign power over the Territories, and that it would be impolitic and unwise to use that power for the propagation of negro Slavery by planting it in Free Territory. Some of them believed also that my nomination, while it would ter. o soften the tone of the Republican party, without any abandonment of its principles, might tend also to generalize its character and attract the friendship and support of many, especially in the border States, who, like me, had never been members of their party, but concurred with them in opinion about the government of the Territories. These are the grounds, and I think the only grounds, upon which I was supported at all at Chicago.

The third party, which, by its formation, has destroyed the organization of the American and Whig parties, has nominated two most excellent men. I know them well, as sound statesmen and true patriots. More than thirty that time to this I have always held them in respect and honor. But what can the third party do toward the elec tion of even such worthy men as these against the two great parties which are now in actual contest for the power to rule the nation? It is made up entirely of portions of the disintegrated elements of the late Whig and American parties-good materials, in the main, I admit, but quite too weak to elect any man or establish any principle. The most it can do is, here and there in par ticular localities, to make a diversion in favor of the Democrats. In 1856, the Whig and American parties (not forming a new party, but united as allies), with entire unanimity and some zeal, supported Mr. Fillmore for the Presidency, and with what results? We made a miserable failure, carrying no State but gallant little As to the platform put forth by the Chicago Conven- Maryland. And, surely, the united Whigs and Amerition, I have little to say, because, whether good or bad, cans of that day had a far greater show of strength and that will not constitute the ground of my support of Mr. far better prospects of success than any which belong to Lincoln. I have no great respect for party platforms in the Constitutional Union party now. In fact, I see no general. They are commonly made in times of high ex- possiblity of success for the third party, except in one citement, under a pressure of circumstances, and with the contingency-the Destruction of the Democratic party. view to conciliate present support, rather than to esta- That is a contigency not likely to happen this year, for, blish a permanent system of principles and line of badly as I think of many of the acts and policies of that policy for the future good government of country. party, its cup is not yet full-the day has not yet come The Conventions which form them are transient in when it must dissolve in its own corruptions. But the their nature; their power and influence are consumed in day is coming, and is not far off. The party has made the using, leaving no continuing obligation upon their re- itself entirely sectional; it has concentrated its very bespective parties. And hence we need not wonder that ing into one single idea; negro Slavery has control of all platforms so made are hardly ever acted upon in prac-its faculties, and it can see and hear nothing else-" one tice. I shall not discuss their relative merits, but con- stern, tyrannic thought, that makes all other thoughts tent myself with saying that this Republican platform, its slaves!" though in several particulars it does not conform to my views, is still far better than any published creed, past or present, of the Democrats. And as to the new party, it has not chosen to promulgate any platform at all, except two or three broad generalities which are common to the professions of faith of all parties in the country. No party, indeed, dare ask the confidence of the nation, while openly denying the obligation to support the Union and the Constitution and to enforce the laws. That is a common duty, binding upon every citizen, and the failure to perform it is a crime.

To me it is plain that the approaching contest must be between the Democratic and the Republican parties; and, between them, I prefer the latter.

The Democratic party, by the long possession and abuse of power, has grown wanton and reckless; has

But the Democratic party still lives, and while it lives, it and the Republican party are the only real antagonistie powers in the nation, and for the present, I must choose between them. I choose the latter, as wiser, purer, younger and less corrupted by time and self-indulgence.

The candidates nominated at Chicago are both men who, as individuals and politicians, rank with the foremost of the country. I have heard no objection to Mr. Hamlin personally, but only to his geographical position, which is thought to be too far North and East to allow his personal good qualities to exercise their proper influence over the nation at large. But the nomination for the Presidency is the great controlling act. Mr. Lincoln, his character, talents, opinions and history will be criticised by thousands, while the candidate for the Vice-Presidency will be passed over in comparative silence.

Mr. Lincoln's nomination took the public by surprise, holding them up to the public as the leading doctrines because, until just before the event, it was unexpected. of the person assailed, and drawing from them their own But really it ought not to have excited any surprise, for uncharitable inferences. That line of attack betrays a such unforeseen nominations are common in our political little mind conscious of its weakness, for the falsity of its history. Polk and Pierce, by the Democrats, and Harri- logic is not more apparent than the injustice of its de son and Taylor, by the Whigs, were all nominated in this signs. No public man can stand that ordeal, and, howextemporaneous manner-all of them were elected. I ever willing men may be to see it applied to their adverhave known Mr. Lincoln for more than twenty years, and saries, all finch from the torture when applied to themtherefore have a right to speak of him with some confi-selves. In fact, the man who never said a foolish thing, dence. As an individual, he has earned a high reputation will hardly be able to prove that he ever said many wise for truth, courage, candor, morals, and amiability; so that, ones. as a man, he is most trustworthy. And in this particular, I consider Mr. Lincoln a sound, safe, national man. He he is more entitled to our esteem than some other men, his could not be sectional if he tried. His birth, education, equals, who had far better opportunities and aids in early the habits of his life, and his geographical position, comlife. His talents, and the will to use them to the best ad-pel him to be national. All his feelings and interest are vantage, are unquestionable; and the proof is found in the identified with the great valley of the Mississippi, near fact that, in every position in life, from his humble begin-whose centre he has spent his whole life. The valley is ning to his present well-earned elevation, he has more than not a section, but, conspicuously, the body of the nation, fulfilled the best hopes of his friends. And now, in the full and, large as it is, it is not capable of being divided into vigor of his manhood, and in the honest pride of having sections, for the great river cannot be divided. It is one made himself what he is, he is the peer of the first man of and indivisible, and the North and the South are alike the nation, well able to sustain himself and advance his necessary to its comfort and prosperity. Its people, too, cause, against any adversary, and in any field, where mind in all their interests and affections, are as broad and and knowledge are the weapons used. general as the regions they inhabit. They are emigrants, a mixed multitude, coming from every State in the Union, and from most countries in Europe; they are unwilling, therefore, to submit to any one petty local standard. They love the nation as a whole, and they love all its parts, for they are bound to them all, not only by a feeling of common interest and mutual dependence, but also by the recollections of childhood and youth, by blood and friendship, and by all those social and domestic charities which sweeten life, and make this world worth living in. The valley is beginning to feel its power, and will soon be strong enough to dictate the law of the land. Whenever that state of things shall come to pass, it will be most fortunate for the nation to find the powers of Government lodged in the hands of men whose habits of thought, whose position and surrounding circumstances, constrain them to use those powers for general and not sectional ends.

In politics he has but acted out the principle of his own moral and intellectual character. He has not concealed his thoughts nor hidden his light under a bushel. With the boldness of conscious rectitude and the frankness of downright honesty, he has not failed to avow his opinions of public affairs upon all fitting occasions.

This I know may subject him to the carping censure of that class of politicians who mistake cunning for wisdom and falsehood for ingenuity; but such men as Lincoln must act in keeping with their own characters, and hope for success only by advancing the truth prudently and maintaining it bravely. All his old political antecedents are, in my judgment, exactly right, being square up to the old Whig standard. And as to his views about "the pestilent negro quest on," I am not aware that he has gone one step beyond the doctrines publicly and habitually avowed by the great lights of the Whig party, Clay, Webster, and their fellows, and indeed sustained and carried out by the Democrats themselves, in their wiser and better days.

The following, I suppose, are in brief his opinions upon that subject: 1. Slavery is a domestic institution within the States which choose to have it, and it exists within those States beyond the control of Congress. 2. Congress has supreme legislative power over all the Territories, and may, at its discretion, allow or forbid the existence of Slavery within them. 8. Congress, in wisdom and sound policy, ought not so to exercise its power, directly or indirectly, as to plant and establish Slavery in any Territory theretofore free. 4. And that it is unwise and impolitic in the Government of the United States, to acquire tropical regions for the mere purpose of converting them into Slave States.

These, I believe, are Mr. Lincoln's opinions upon the matter of Slavery in the Territories, and I concur in them. They are no new inventions, made to suit the exigencies of the hour, but have come down to us, as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution have, sanctioned by the venerable authority of the wise and good men who established our institutions. They are conformable to law, principle and wise policy, and their utility is proven in practice by the as yet unbroken current of our political history. They will prevail, not only because they are right in themselves, but also because a great and still growing majority of the people believe them to be right; and the sooner they are allowed to prevail in peace and harmony, the better for all concerned, as well those who are against them as those who are for them.

I am aware that smalll partisans, in their little warfare against opposing leaders, do sometimes assail them by the trick of tearing from their contexts some particular objectionable phrases, penned, perhaps, in the hurry of composition, or spoken in the cat of oral debate, and

I give my opinion freely in favor of Mr. Lincoln, and I hope that for the good of the whole country, he may be elected. But it is not my intention to take any active part in the canvass. For many years past, I have had little to do with public affairs, and have aspired to no political office; and now, in view of the mad excitement which convulses the country, and the general disruption and disorder of parties and the elements which compose them, I am more than ever assured that for me, personally, there is no political future, and I accept the condi tion with cheerful satisfaction. Still, I cannot discharge myself from the life-long duty to watch the conduct of men in power, and to resist, so far as a mere private man may, the fearful progress of official corruption, which for several years past has sadly marred and defiled the fair fabric of our Government.

If Mr. Lincoln should be elected, coming in as a new man at the head of a young party never before in power, he may render a great service to his country, which no Democrat could render. He can march straight forward in the discharge of his high duties, guided only by his own good judgment and honest purposes, without any necessity to temporize with established abuses, to wink at the delinquencies of old party friends, or to unlearn and discard the bad official habits that have grown up under the misgovernment of his Democratic predecessors. In short, he can be an honest and bold reformer on easier and cheaper terms than any Democratic President can be-for, in proceeding in the good work of cleansing and purifying the administrative departments, he will have no occasion to expose the vices, assail the interests, or thwart the ambition of his political friends.

Begging your pardon for the length of this letter, I remain, with great respect, your friend and obedient servant, EDWARD BATES.

THE MONROE DOCTRINE.

So much has been wildly said of what is termed the "Monroe Doctrine," in regard to the influence of European Powers on this continent, that we publish exactly what President Monroe said on the subject. We copy from the Seventh Annual Message of Mr. Monroe, dated December 2, 1823:

"It was stated, at the commencement of the last session, that a great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal to improve the condition of the people of those countries, and that it appeared to be conducted with extraordinary moderation. It need scarcely be remarked that the reBult has been, so far, very different from what was then anticipated. Of events in that quarter of the globe, with which we have so much intercourse, and from which we derive our origin, we have always been anxious and interested spectators. The citizens of the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of the liberty and happiness of their fellow-men on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced, that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective governments. And to the defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare, that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence,

and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration, and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. In the war between these new governments and Spain, we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur, which in the judgment of the competent authorities of this Government, shall make a corresponding change on the part of the United States indispensable to their security. "The late events in Spain and Portugal show that Europe is still unsettled. Of this important fact no stronger proof can be adduced than that the allied powers should have thought it proper, on a principle satisfactory to themselves, to have interposed by force in the internal concerns of Spain. To what extent such interposition may be carried, on the same principle, is a question to which all independent powers, whose governments differ from theirs, are interested-even those most remote, and surely none more so than the United States. Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers; to consider the Government, de facto, as the legitimate Government for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy; meeting, in all instances, the just claims of every power, submitting to injuries from none. But in regard to these continents, circumstances are eminently and conspicuously different. It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness; nor can any one believe that our southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such interposition, in any form, with indifference. If we look to the comparative strength and resources of Spain and those new Governments, and their distance from each other, it must be obvious that she can never subdue them. It is still the true policy of the United States to leave the parties to themselves, in the hope that other powers will pursue the same course."

STATES AND STATESMEN ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION.

WISCONSIN FOR FREE SOIL,

THE following resolutions were adopted by the Wisconsin (Democratic) Legislature in 1848, with only three dissenting votes in the Senate ard five in the House:

Whereas, Slavery is an evil of the first magnitude, morally and politically, and whatever may be the consequences, it is our duty to prohibit its extension in all cases where such prohibition is allowed by the Constitution: Therefore,

Resolved, By the Senate and Assembly of the State of Wisconsin, that the introduction of Slavery into this country is to be deeply deplored; that its extension ought to be prohibited by every constitutional barrier within the power of Congress; that in the admission of new territory into the Union, there ought to be an inhibitory provision against its introduction, unless clearly and unequivocally admitted by the Constitution-inasmuch as in all cases of doubtful construction, the Rights of Man and the cause of Liberty ought to prevail.

Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be, and they are hereby, instructed, and our Representatives are requested, to use their influence to insert into the organic act for the government of any new territory already acquired or hereafter to be acquired, that is now free, an ordinance forever prohibiting the introduction Slavery or involuntary servitude into said territory ex

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Resolutions adopted by a Convention of the Democratic party of Maine, in June, 1849:

Resolved, That the institution of human Slavery is at variance with the theory of our government, abhorrent to the common sentiments of mankind, and fraught with danger to all who come within the sphere of its influence, that the Federal Government possesses adequate power to inhibit its existence in the Territories of the Union; and that we enjoin upon our Senators and Representatives in Congress to make every exertion and employ all their influence to procure the passage of a law forever excluding Slavery from the Territories of California and New-Mexico.

DELAWARE FOR FREE TERRITORY.

The following preamble and resolution were adopted by the Legislature of Delaware in 1847:

Whereas, A crisis has arrived in the public affairs of the Nation, which requires the free and full expression of the people, through their legal representatives; and Whereas, The United States is at war with the Republic of Mexico, occasioned by the Annexation of Texas, with a view to the addition of Slave Territory to our country, and the extending of Slave power in our Union; and Whereas, In the opinion of the General Assembly, such acquisitions are hostile to the spirit of our Free Insti

tutions, and contrary to sound morality; therefore be it Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met, That our Senators and Representatives in Congress are hereby requested to vote against the annexation of any Territory to our Union, which shall not thereafter be forever free from Slavery.

MASSACHUSETTS AGAINST SLAVERY.

The following resolution was passed by the Legislature of Massachusetts in 1847, in connection with others on the subject of the Mexi

can war.

6.

Resolved, That our attention is directed anew to the wrong and enormity" of Slavery, and to the tyranny and usurpation of the "Slave Power," as displayed in the history of our country, particularly in the annexation of Texas, and the present war with Mexico, and that we are Impressed with the unalterable condition, that a regard for the fair fame of our country, for the principle of morals, and for that righteousness that exalteth a nation, sanctions and requires all constitutional efforts for the

destruction of the unjust influence of the Slave power, and for the abolition of Slavery within the limits of the

United States.

THE WHIGS OF MASSACHUSETTS AGAINST

SLAVERY.

MR. WEBSTER AGAINST SLAVERY EXTENSION. In the United States Senate, in Aug., 1848, Mr. Webster, in speaking on the bill to organize the Territory of Oregon with a clause prohibit ing Slavery, said:

Congress, in the exercise of a fair and just discretion, te The question now is, whether it is not competent te say that, considering that there have been five slaveholding States (Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri and Texas) added to the Union out of foreign acquisi tions, and as yet only one Free State, whether, under this state of things, it is unreasonable and unjust in the slightest degree to limit their farther extension? That is the question. I see no injustice in it. As to the power of Congress I have nothing to add to what I said the

other day. I have said that I shall consent to no Ex tension of the area of Slavery on this Continent, noi any increase of Slave Representation in the other House of Congress.

MILLARD FILLMORE'S VIEWS.

His Buffalo Letter of 1838.

BUFFALO, Oct. 17, 1838.

of the committee appointed by "The Anti-Slavery Society SIR: Your communication of the 18th inst., as chairman of the County of Erie," has just come to hand. You solicit my answer to the following interrogatories:

1st. Do you believe that petitions to Congress, on the subject of Slavery and the Slave-trade, ought to be received, read, and respectfully considered by the representatives of the people?

2d. Are you opposed to the annexation of Texas to this Union under any circumstances, so long as slaves are held therein?

3d. Are you in favor of Congress exercising all the power it possesses to abolish the Internal Slave-trade be tween the States?

Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia?
4th. Are you in favor of immediate legislation for the

The Massachusetts State Convention, held at Springfield, in the latter part of the month of September, 1847, and at which Daniel Webster was nominated as a candidate for the Presidency, passed the following among other re-enter into argument, or explain at length my reasons for

solutions:

Answer.-I am much engaged, and have no time to

my opinions. I shall therefore content myself, for the present, by answering all your interrogatories in the affirResolved, That the war with Mexico-the predicted, if mative, and leave for some future occasion a more exnot the legitimate offspring, of the annexation of Texas-tended discussion on the subject. begun in a palpable violation of the Constitution, and the usurpation of the powers of Congress by the President, ad carried on in reckless indifference and disregard of the blood and treasure of the Nation-can have no object which can be effected by the acquisition of Mexican territory, under the circumstance of the countryunless under adequate securities for the protection of human liberty-can have no other probable result than the ultimate advancement of the sectional supremacy of the Slave Power.

I would, however, take this occasion to say, that in thus frankly giving my opinion, I would not desire to have it understood in the nature of a pledge. At the same time that I seek no disguise, but freely give my sentiments on any subject of interest to those for whose suffrages I am a candidate, I am opposed to giving any pledge that shall deprive me hereafter of all discretionary power. My own character must be the guaranty for the general correctness of my legislative deportment. On every important subject I am bound to deliberate before I act, and espe cially as a legislator, to possess myself of all the informa tion, and listen to every argument that can be adduced by my associates, before I give a final vote. If I stand pledged to a particular course of action, I cease to be a responsible agent, but I become a mere machine. Should subsequent events show, beyond all doubt, that the course Resolved, That if this course should be rejected and the I had become pledged pursue was ruinous to my conwar shall be prosecuted to the final subjection or dismem-stituents and disgraceful to myself, I have no alternative, berment of Mexico, the Whigs of Massachusetts now de- no opportunity for repentance, and there is no power to clare, and put this declaration of purpose on record, that absolve me from my obligation. Hence the impropriety, Massachusetts will never consent that Mexican Territory, not to say absurdity, in my view, of giving a pledge. however acquired, shall become a part of the American Union, unless on the unalterable condition that "there shall be neither Slavery nor Involuntary Servitude therein, otherwise than in the punishment of crime."

After recommending "Peace with Mexico, without dismemberment," and "No addition of Mexican Territories to the American Union," the Convention

Resolved, That in making this declaration of her purpose, Massachusetts announces no new principle of action in regard to her sister States, and makes no new application of principles already acknowledged. She merely states the great American principle embodied in our Declaration of Independence-the political equality of persons in the civil state; the principles adopted in the legislation of the States under the Confederation, and sometimes by the Constitution-in the admission of all the new States formed from the only Territory belonging to the Union at the adoption of the Constitution-it is, in short, the imperishable principle set forth in the ever memorable Ordinance of 1787, which has for more than half a century been the fundamental law of human liberty in the great valley of the Lakes, the Ohio, and the Mississippi, with what brilliant success, and with what unparalleled results, let the great and growing States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, answer and declare.

I am aware that you have not asked my pledge, and i believe I know your sound judgment and good sense tou well to think you desire any such thing. It was, however, to prevent any misrepresentation on the part of others, that I have felt it my duty thus much on this subject. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, W. Mills, Esq., chairman.

MILLARD FILLMORE,

MR. FILLMORE'S ALBANY SPEECH OF 1856. The following is Mr. Fillmore's speech, delivered at Albany, in July, 1856:

Mr. Mayor and Fellow-Citizens: This overwhelming demonstration of congratulation and welcome almost de prives me of the power of speech. Here, nearly thirty years ago, I commenced my political career. In this build ng I first saw a legislative body in session; bat at that time it never entered into the aspirations of my heart that I ever should receive such a welcome as this in the capital of my native State.

You have been pleased, sir, to allude to my former services and my probable course if I should again be

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