"The speaker reminded the gentleman from Ohio that the floor was only given him by consent of the gentleman from North Carolina, who now claimed his right to it.

Mr. Giddings yielded.

"Mr. Venable resumed, sending to the clerk's table the following amendment, which he had before indicated, but embracing now, as a modification, the amendment suggested by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Haskell), which was read, as follows:

"Strike out the word "five," in the resolution, and insert "nine;" and insert after the word "appointed," the words "by ballot;" also, insert after the words "referred to," the following, viz.: "and that said committee be instructed to inquire into, and report to this House, whether any member or members of this House were instrumental in procuring the slaves who were recently decoyed from their owners in this district to leave their owners; and whether the said members of this House have not been guilty of felony in attempting, or aiding in an attempt, to kidnap slaves."

And again, on the 21st of April, Mr. Bayly said,

"There were some remarks which fell from the member from Ohio (Mr. Giddings) on a preceding day, to which his attention had been called by a gentleman near him, of a most murderous and incendiary character, proving that he looked to emancipation by force. In arguing against the extension of slave territory, he said he wished to keep the negroes with their masters, holding their knives as near their throats as possible. To such remarks he (Mr. Bayly) did not mean to reply. He addressed himself to the sober, serious reason of the North, and he wished not to excite their passions. He wished to show them that this abolition excitement had an origin hostile to them as well as the South, and that nothing but mischief-unqualified mischief to the whole country, would result from it. Mr. Giddings rose and inquired if the gentleman from Virginia alluded to him when he said the gentleman from Ohio wished to keep the negroes and their masters together, that the negroes might have their knives as near their master's throats as possible.

"Mr. Bayly replied that he did allude to the member from Ohio, for such he understood to be the character of that member's remarks.

"Mr. Giddings replied that the gentleman had entirely misunderstood him.

Mr. Bayly said other gentlemen understood him as he did.

"Mr. Giddings said he cared not who made the assertion; he had used no such language. He well knew what he had said.

Mr. Bayly said a gentleman sitting near him understood the language as be did; but, whether the member from Ohio used those precise expressions or not, of this he (Mr. Bayly) was certain, and he would stake his assertion on the decision of the House, that he had over and over again used expressions of similar import. Mr. Giddings. Of what import?'

"Mr. Bayly. The member from Ohio had used language in his speeches, the inevitable tendency of which was, if it were not his design, to lead to insurrection.' The speaker called the gentleman to order.

“Mr. Giddings. 'I wish the gentleman might be permitted to proceed. I like to hear him.'

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Mr. Bayly had no doubt of it. The member is fond of the notoriety which the denunciations of him here give him. He hopes to recommend himself to his constituents by assuming to be the special object of attack by Southern representatives, and thereby strengthen the tenure by which he holds his seat here, with its eight dollars a day; and hence he is eternally trying to provoke us into denunciation of his detestable course and sentiments.

“Mr. Giddings. The gentleman is mistaken.'

"Mr. Bayly. He was one of those men who was willing to obtain profits by provoking abuse of themselves; to make a traffic of his character and feelings.' "The speaker again interposed, and called the gentleman to order.

"Mr. Bayly said, if he were out of order, it was the remarks of the member from Ohio which had provoked him to it. For personal abuse he had no taste, but he chose to speak in appropriate terms of the course of a member here, which so intimately affected the dearest interests of himself and his constituents. He represented a frontier district, penetrated in every part of it by rivers and harbors, into which the vessels from the non-slaveholding states and the piratical schooners of the Abolition Society could come. His constituents' interests were, therefore, at stake, and he should ever be ready to expose and resist the unhallowed designs of men trying to destroy them; and, in speaking of the character of the men themselves, he should not stop to measure his words. He regretted the necessity of making any reference to the member whatever; and, unless under the strongest necessity of doing it, he should not hereafter, as he had not heretofore."

The following is the reply of Mr. Giddings to remarks reflecting upon himself in connection with the same affair. We take the current report, which is understood to be generally correct, though not so full as the revised speech which will hereafter appear on the record:

"Mr. Giddings, having obtained the floor, said that, whatever remarks he might make on this occasion, it was no part of his intention to reply to what had been said by the gentleman who had just taken his seat. Before he commenced any regular series of remarks, he wished to take occasion to say further, that he had supposed that, after a ten years' service in this hall-after so many times expressing the sentiments which he had so long held, and which he thought were so well understood by the members of this House, he could not have been made to believe that gentlemen, either from the North or South, could have so misapprehended his sentiments until he had heard such impressions avowed by them. He wished the attention of the House and the country while he declared that no man in this hall or elsewhere could lay his hand upon a remark, resolution, or speech of his, in which he had ever claimed the privilege of interfering with slavery in the states of this Union. For two days something like a dozen gentlemen from the South had imputed to him intentions to interfere with their institutions. Now, if any gentleman in this hall could lay his hand upon a resolution, speech, declaration, or effort of his to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states, let him stand up in this House, in the presence of the nation, and avow it. He would yield to the gentleman. [He here paused for a moment, and, no gentleman rising, he proceeded.] Was there any one here (he asked) who would take upon himself the responsibility of declaring that such an intimation had ever fallen from his (Mr. Giddings's) lips? If none, where were the gentlemen who for days had been imputing to him such motives? Where did they stand before the people of this country? It was a duty which he owed to himself, to the people whom he represented, again to disavow all such feelings, intentions, purposes, motives, or designs. He was once expelled from this hall, or, rather, censured here for declaring this very identical doctrine, that Congress had not the power to interfere with that institution. He now took occasion to say that the people of the slave states of this Union held that institution supreme, uncontrolled under the Constitution of the United States, beyond the power of this government to interfere with it for any purpose or to any extent, with one exception, and that was their power of legislation in regard to fugitive slaves. The people of the

free states had the indisputable right to remain free from its contamination, unstained with its guilt, exempt entirely from its support, and disconnected with all its turpitude. He said that they had no claim on the people of the free states to extend that institution or to associate with new slaveholding states; that they had no right to ask the free people of the North to associate themselves with slaveholders in Mexico, who, owning one hundred slaves, would wield an influence on this floor equal to sixty freemen; therefore it was one of his cardinal principles, and one of those whom he represented, not to associate with any new slaveholding states or slaveholding territory. These were their sentiments: Keep your slavery where it is, and manage it according to your own judgment and discre tion. With it we never had constitutionally, and never will have, any thing to do. "Mr. Meade (the floor being yielded) desired to ask the gentleman what was his object in so frequently introducing the subject into this hall, if it were not to operate on Southern institutions.

"Mr. Giddings said he had invited gentlemen, if they had ever heard a word from him affirming the power of Congress to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States, to say so.. Did the gentleman from Virginia pretend ever to have heard from his lips such a proposition? No; no gentleman had ever heard it; no gentleman could be found to rise and declare that he had.

“Mr. Meade (in his seat) called upon the gentleman to answer his question. "Mr. Giddings replied, he would do it; but he did not like to have the gentleman consume his time by putting questions wholly irrelevant to the subjects he was discussing.

The gentleman asked him what were his motives in discussing this subject. To wash his hands, and those of the people of the North, from the stain of supporting this institution in this district. Did the gentleman suppose that, because he would not interfere with the slavery of the South, he was to stand here with his lips hermetically sealed from expressing his sentiments upon the outrages and wrongs perpetrated in upholding this institution in this district? No; he would unseal them; he would give expression to his deep abhorrence. Would gentlemen say that he was not to speak upon slavery here because they had slaves at the South? Take care of your own slaves (said he); we will look to those under our protection.

"He was remarking that he stood here as a legislator under the Constitution. His duties were plain-so plain, that the wayfaring man, though a fool, could not mistake them. They were to let the slavery of the Southern States alone, It had ever been the duty of the national Legislature to let it be; and when they estab lished it in this district, they violated their duty to God and to their fellow-men: they had violated the duties which they owed to themselves, their constituents, and the human race. Now repeal those laws which involved them in the turpi tude of maintaining this institution, and then they would have done with it; and he, for one, would never mention it here or elsewhere as a member of this body. This result they intended to bring about; and he took occasion to say to gentlemen, You shall not bring us to share with you in the guilt and turpitude of this traffic in human flesh now carried on here under our protection. It was the voice of the people of the free states that they would not remain thus contaminated with the guilt of that institution; and he said to gentlemen that they would have this; they would not vote for their presidents or any other officers who undertook to hold them partakers in that guilt and iniquity. The separation of this goverament from all interference with slavery was the motto which they had placed on their banner. It was freedom; the rights of man, uncontaminated with this foul blot on the American escutcheon.

"It was no part of his intention to reply to the assaults made upon him a few

days since, when this matter was under consideration. He had to do with more important matters than defending himself. These personal reflections were unbecoming the solemn occasion on which they were now discussing the rights of hu manity. He had taken occasion for the hundredth time to define his position; and when gentlemen imputed to him sentiments which they knew he did not entertain, he told them to beware lest their misrepresentations should be exposed. Gentlemen of the South had introduced the discussion of this subject here. It was a question which was discussed in all our legislative bodies throughout the United States; which was discussed in our political conventions, by our newspaper press, and by our literary periodicals; in our school districts and township meetings; in prayers and the sacred pulpit; by the fireside and the wayside; and he said to gentlemen, it was too late in the day to attempt to suppress the discus sion of this question. It would be discussed. Yet he must say he had not been desirous, nor in any way instrumental, in introducing this subject into discussion at this time. He deemed it inappropriate. The resolution of his friend from Massachusetts did not allude to the institution of slavery in any way, either directly or indirectly. This resolution proposed an investigation to ascertain a simple matter of fact. In its preamble it recited that reports had reached the ears of members of this body that a lawless mob had existed in this city for two nights previous to the introduction of the resolution, setting at defiance the constituted authorities and the laws of the United States; and the proposition was to inquire whether such was the fact. It also stated that certain members of this body had been menaced by this lawless mob, and it proposed an inquiry into this fact. As gentlemen had imputed to him (Mr. Giddings) that he was the individual menaced, it was proper for him to say that he had had no hand in introducing the resolution; the gentleman had done it on the motion of his own will, and not his (Mr. Giddings's). Gentlemen had represented him as not only introducing this resolution, but as insisting on the protection of this body. They had represented the gentleman from Massachusetts as asking the protection of this House. There was nothing in this resolution regarding protection. It only proposed to ascertain the fact whether members of Congress had been menaced by a lawless mob in the City of Washington. It was to let the people of the states throughout this Union know whether their representatives, sent here for the discharge of their public duties, while confining themselves to this district, had been menaced by lawless violence. Did any man suppose that he (Mr. Giddings) asked the protection of this body? If he ever had occasion under heaven to ask protection from any human being, it was from this body, not of it. If he had ever seen a lawless mob, it was on Tuesday last, at the jail and in this House. He had heard members here, while the galleries were filled, and while many composing the mob were said to be in them, declare themselves ready to justify the mob to the fullest extent. had no disposition to look for protection to a body from which he had received as many indignities as he had from members of Congress. Was he, at this late day, to come here to ask for protection? No, it was no part of his object. No, said he, let the House protect its own honor-protect their own dignity, and he would take care of the protection of his person in his own way.

He

"He therefore said that this inquiry was plain and simple in itself. Its object was to carry information to the people of this Union; to inform them of the feeling that existed in this slaveholding community; to expose the spirit of violence and anarchy which was exhibited here against those who dared to speak the sentiments which they entertained in favor of liberty and the rights of humanity.

"He wanted his constituents, the people of his state and the free states, to understand what violence and lawless mobs arose from the slaveholding and slavedealing influence in this district. This was what he wished them to understand.

He cared not whether the House passed this resolution or not. It was well known to the members of this House, that for forty-eight hours prior to the introduction of this resolution a lawless mob did control this city; that men, if report were true and there was no reason to doubt it-in office, clerks in the employment of the United States, attended and led on that mob; that men in official stations were there, stimulating that mob to violence; that the mob consisted the first night of hundreds, and the next night of thousands; and during this time, here, where the arms, munitions, and the whole power of protection was committed to the executive officers of the government, not a movement was made to suppress it, so far as they were concerned. The object of this mob unquestionably was to prostrate one of the presses of this city. There was no doubt about that. And not only this, but who were those who led it on? Not the respectable citizens of the City of Washington; so far as he knew their deportment, they were to be excepted from any charge of participating in the disgrace. They were your slave-dealers from Baltimore, Alexandria, Richmond, and the surrounding country; it was the slave-dealers and slave-breeders; the men who raise mankind for market, whose living and support was by raising and selling their fellowmen. It was that class of characters who came into this city to threaten its government and community, disturb its peace, and overthrow the press to which he had alluded. These men, associating together in this way, were the leaders and exciters of this mob.

"Now another thing known to every man here, and one which had been referred to this morning, was, that the mob, when it assembled on the first night, did avow the intention of prostrating that press and that office, and with this publicly-avowed purpose adjourned until the next night, for the purpose of bringing in more of these despicable characters from abroad to enable them to effect their object. This was all known by report, and was proposed to be inquired into.

"So far as report charged that a member or members of this House had been menaced, was also to be inquired into. He cared nothing about it. He would state, as his name had been connected with it, that on Tuesday of last week, being a member of this body, and feeling some little interest in the way their laws over the district were to be carried into execution, he had visited one of the public institutions of our country, a prison in this city, erected by this government, and where, if his person was protected in this building, it was there, as much as it was in the Treasury Department, or any other of the departments at the seat of government. He had gone there under the consciousness of protection as mach as if he had been in front of the speaker's desk, because it was a public building, erected by the funds of his own constituents as well as of the people of all the free states, together with those of the slave states. He had gone there for the purpose declared here on a former occasion. He had then said all he wished to on this point. There were your slave-dealers and slave-breeders gathered to gether in the entrance of the jail to menace and threaten him. Did he ask protection from this House? No; when he felt in danger, he would let them know it. But what he held in unutterable contempt was, that a member of this body, in visiting one of the public institutions erected by this government, should be threatened by a miserable mass of moral putridity, called slaveholders and slavebreeders. Had it come to this, that the members of this House could not go in and out of the public institutions in this district without meeting that class of men and being threatened by them?

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He knew not who these men were, but, from reports which he had received from various quarters, he understood they were that class of men. Now, the res olution of the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Palfrey) proposed an inquiry into those facts.