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n > * m * <r THE CAMDEN JOURNAJL. VOL. ia CAMDEN. SOUTH CAROLINA, AUGUST 15, 1849. ffiJMBER 33. THE CAMDEN JOURNAL. PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY T. W. PEGUfclS. $)SJS$3g>? - ir - * ? EVENING SOLACE. me numan ncan uus muucu ncaoui^o, * * Id secret kept, in silence sealed: The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, Whose charms were broken if revealed. And days may pass in gay confusion, W1 k' * And nights in rosy riot fly, While, lost in Fume's or Wealth's illusion, Tho mem'ry of llic Post may die. But there are hours of loocly musing. Such as in evening silence come, When, soft as birds their pinions closing, The heart's best feelings gather home. Then in our souls there seems to languish A tender grief that is not woe, And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish, M * * ' <onro ta Aau? Alow cause uui buuic iiiuu ?viu? ?v uv... And feelings, once as strong as passions, > , Float softly back?a faded dream; ( Our own sharp griefs, and wild sensations, ? The tote of others'suffering seem. Oli! wlion tiie heart is freshly bleeding, IIow longs it for the time to be. Wheo through the mist of years receding, ' Its woes but live in rcvcry! " And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer, , # On evening shade and loneliness; And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer, Feel no untold and strange distress? Only a deeper impulse given * By lonely hour and darkened room, - <' To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven, Seeking a life and world to come! I " s7 'r : Terrible Suffering at Sea.?By the t ;*., * Euitna Sherrail, arrived yesterday from Sid- ( k ; ney, particulars have been received relative t P to the loss of the British ship ?S'arah Crisp, | Capt. Taylor, and the appalling sufferings > I of the crew, thirteen of whom perished from J starvation. The EmmaShcralt, on her out- t [ ward voyage to Hong Kong, in lat. 17 20 ( i north, long. 110 5 cast, perceiving a vessel * m distress, bore down to her assistance, and J she proved to be the unfortunate vessel c .in question. Site was teak laden and wa- r | * tcrfogged, almost a perfect wreck, her in si ( ? was gone, as well as every thing on deck. L With much care, nineteen persons in a most s shocking state of exhaustion, were taken off a the wreck. They proved to be Capt. Tay. j lor, the master, Mr. Long, the chief male, > ' and seventeen seamen. Their sufferings had been truly awful. They had been twen, ty-seyen days and nights on the wreck, with nothing to subsist on excepting a monkey arwTIWo fisTics, and all fie' water, they had was about a couple of buckets, w hich they caught with some old canvass- 'J'lie second mate and twelve seamen had died from the watt of food. The ship's loss was attributed to a plank starting, as she filled in a very c short time and turned over on her side. The I r-' crew jumped on her beam as she turned I ,v '-"I-1 " > lit <ln-lmlit whon e over, anu UICIV IICIU UII uuui UUTK^IH, | v I- 9 they succeeded in righting lite wreck by ' | ?. cutting away the masts. Her poop and e J forecastle were washed away. None of I the provisions that were bcow could be procured. The wreck is supposed to have t parted and disappeared soon after the Em- \ ma Sheratt left. The vessel and cargo were insured to the amount of ?20.000 l London Globe. t Tub First Saw-Mill.?The old prac lice, in making boards, was to split up the t bigs with wedges; and inconvenient as the practice was it was no easy matter to per- a suade the word that the thing could be done t in any better way. Saw mills were first i ... . used in Europe in the fifteenth century; but so lately as 1555, an English ambassador 1 having seen a saw mill in France thought it ? a novelty that deserved a particular descrip- t lion. The first saw-mill was established bv - ? lEfio. L... .l.? imtnni , ' 4 lWICIlfnfln in iouo; ijui me pui/nu uuiti i c v1 ?' against the new-fangled machine was violent, [ ^ that the proprietor was obliged to decamp with more expedition than ever did a I hitch- i Io nian before. The evil was thus kept out of s England for several years, or rather genera, tions; but in 17G8, an unlucky timber mcr- < chant, hoping that after so long a lime the I public would be less watchful of its own in. i leresls, made a rash attempt to construct i another mill. The guardians of the public I welfare, however, were on the alert, and a < conscientious mob at once collected and pull, cd the mill to pieces. ( ' Benton in Danger op Hanging.?Ben. s ton's sjiecch against Calhoun has excited a I deep interest in "Missouri. The Canton s Reporter is busy examining the laws to see if Col. Benton is not an incendiary. In the ; event of failure in finding a law of the Legislature, the Ra|xirter seems to rely upon | .Lynch law, for it says: toIf an avowed abolitionist were to come within our b rders, and proclaim inccndia- i ry doctrines, he would be hung upon the | nearest limb, and shall those who produce I similar excitement and discontent escape with entire impunity. i * Energetic.-?Joseph A. Wright, democralic candidate for Governoi in Indiana, .during the present canvass has made 00 i i speeches in 60 different counties For the i last three days of his speaking he was com- < pcilcd to sit in his chair, being unable to stand i <pn his feet. i Pimples on the Face.?Touch them with spirits of turpentine once in six hours, and they will soon take themselves nwav. The same remedy, if applied carlv, will rejpove a sly from the eyelid; and in nine itases oat of ten, prevent biles, if used in the | first stage. i Making use or a Friend.?i've broken your rotten wheelbarrow usin on't; you'll pleasoget it mended ri^ht off"?I'll wan't to borrow it again this afternoon." A SHOT FROM ONE OF ALABAMA'S | BIG GUNS. We copy the fallowing from the Montgomery Flag & Advertiser: Mr. Editor,?It is announced in the Gazette, that I, Cannon Jones, will meet Mr. William H. Ogbourne, Esq., in debate at ! sundry, divers and numerous places around 1 this, Montgomery county. Having a multi- 5 plicily of business arrangements on hand at ' this present time, 1 can't do so, howsoever much I may be patriotically inclined there j unto. I am not without hope, nevenneiess, that my neighbor, Mr. James L. Parish, will do so. 1 consider him able to discharge this public duty to Mr. Ogbourne's satisfaction, J and to vindicate the country's honor and the people's privileges. "Whar politicians congregate, He'll be tbar, I calculate." r Mv reasons for not accepting the chal- 3 lenge of Mr. Ogbourne are divers and nu- ? merous. to wit: Firstly. 1 have too much to do (as the c. whole town knows) to be running around L the country like the wind on a mountain, r when I aint no candidate. Secondly. If I didn't have multifarious ) and numerous business transactions on hand !' I wouldn't go into the business, because me 11 ind Parish, being two to one agin the chal- ? engiog party, would be taking odds of him J which he couldn't be expected to s?and up igainst. I'm always for "fair plav,"?1 im. Third y. I aint no candidate for Congress 8 ?nd I have always been in favor of every ? Jog doing his own barking. .* - '?' ?!- 'I fourthly. I UOII'I Know uiai mr. vyguuunic neans me when he invites "the chivalry" to v lieet him, and 1 am loo proud to go where ] sj lint invited. Fifthly. I am rising fifty and have seen * wenty years more of the world than Mr. Jgbourne, and I don't sec that I could tell n he people anything they don't know. Sizth'y. H I could, 1 aint sure that they " vant me 10 tell it. a Seventhly. 1 aint no office-seeker, and a herefore, I can't see that it would pay to ide for a week in the hot sun?to wrangle ind gangle about llilliard and Pugh, and 1 Pugh and Milliard?to get mad, and hot, and ^ lr}', and to kick up a fuss generally. This nay suit some people, but it don't suit "Old " Jannon Jones. Lastly. 1. therefore, decline the honor. ^ ind turn the case over to iny combative md youthful friend, James L. Parish, who n the vocabulary of my friend, Gen. Caroll, vill "norale"? " , p 11) munuer lonep, like an urtrauuii, . What lie knows about the nation; 'Bout Proviso's, Taxes, and Congress foo, And what the "cow-boy," l'ugh would do. I Ju?t listen to his-^tiunderirg tones. n And if he don't shake Ogbourne's bones, t| Why, my name isn't Cattsok Junes. 1 Barbek-Siiop Scene; or tiie way to l' jet Shaved before your turn.?At the ^ >arber shop opposite Smith's clock store, on n Mill street, a most laudable trick was play- ? :d off on the boys in the shop. e The room was well supplied with custom- a :rs, and the chance of getting shaved in a s: jurry was out of the question. J A small man with a wagjish look, came c 0 the door, and after survey ing the crowd, s valked in and took a scat on the sofa. "IIow far is it to a doctor's office?" asked ^ he strange gentleman. p "Just across the way," replied one of the J1 >ovs. ^ The eyes of the company were turned on '( he st ranger. "1 feel bad." said he; and at the same time 1 spasm took him, nnd his hands clenched a iikI his legs drew him up in a perfect ball, ^ tud lie rolled ?>tl on the lloor. "That's a r.holera case said one; and took lis hal ami left. This was ihe signal, and l' ill followed suite except those undergoing fI he shaving operation. f The spasm seemed to subside?the arms l!i ir.d legs stretched out in full length and the ll >atient lay prostrated on his back. 'c "Wipe off the lather," said the fat man f' text to the door, "I'll come in again?I can't " nay now." S just then another spasm look the stran- 81 ter. and by some strange movement he y jounced upon the sofa, without any appa- 11 'ent effort, Hat on his back as he w s lav- 0 ng on the floor. He rolled backward and a brwardon lite sofa in a style that would have P lone credit to a circus mart. s' This was a finisher; those that were sltav- c id hadn't time to stay; the boys looked at f" ;aeh other in astoni hment. The cholera " subject uncoiled himself and asked them if l< lis turn had come, when he look his scat ^ and had a good shave. s ' What's the charge?" asked the stran- ? jer. 11 "Nothing." said the barber, "If you will e leave you name."?Gin. Com. F r "How," said a Judge in Missouri to a wit- I ncss on the stand, "how do you know the J( plaintiff Was intoxicated on the evening re- ' lerred to?" 1 "Because I saw him a few minutes after [he muss trying to pull off his trowsers with T a boot-jack'" S In a town "way down East," there resides 1 a certain M. D., who never had any pariic- J ular desire to be disturbed, after he had yiel- t ?,. ilin infliinnpp of lllfi "tlroVVSV God " S UlrU (M tliv IU?IV..w? ? - One very cold night last winter, he was a- s roused from his peaceful slumbers by a loud s knocking at his door. After some hesitation, ' he arose, went to the window, and yelled, t "Who's there?" I ,''Friend," was the answer. J "What do you want?" was the next in. , quirv, "Want to stay here all night." t "Stay there, then, and be hanged," was I the benevolent reply. ' The present popnlatron oftho United States I is 20,740,400. i LETTER FROM GEN. CASS. Detroit, July 10,1849. Dear Sin I am much obliged to you for he extracts you have sent me, and forcallng my attention to some of the remarks of ?ome ol the Whig papers, upon a letter from he editor of the Mew York Courier and Enquirer, published in that journal a short ime since, and in which an efferl is made >y those papers to convict me of insincerity, am sure you will bear me witness, that I lave been heretofore pretty patient under imilar attacks, some of them as remarkable l?r their virulence as their falsehood?re. narkable even in this country, where politi:al investigations are so prone to degener ilc into personal abuse ; and I had supposed, is the motive had passed away with the occasion, that I should be allowed a reasonailc measure of justice by our opponents, :vcn if my opinions or course should be leemed worthy of examination. But the esult shows that 1 have been deceived ;and s no considerations of propriety connected villi my position now forbid me from defendng mv consistency, 1 choose to do so in the n the present instance, not only because the harge is speciously preferred, but because L is calculated to place me in a false pnsiti' n icforc the public. I have delayed writing you for some days waiting the return of Col. Webb, who lias one on an excurison to the Upper Lakes, is I did not wish to refer to him thus publicf, without a previous conversation with him; jut he has not yet returned nor do I know ,hen he will, and as I am unwilling to be abject to such imputations, without applying ic proper corrective, I have determined to clay this answer no louger. 1 have known loloncl Webb from his boyhood, and have ever ceased to esteem him. Our persona I nlirai's lippn kind DlVlHp.H i politics, we have not ceased to be fj^nds; rid he will be as inuch surprised asTwas, I the disingenuous efforts to convert his let. o . 2r into the proof of my inconsistency?an lea, 1 am sure, that never occurred to him. Nothing 1 state in this letter, will be called in uestion by Col. Webb ; and I may add, tat Mr. Greeley's remarks are written in no njust spirit; and though I cannot commend is care to ascertain the truth, 1 do not coneinn the spirit of his article. Whatever is brethren of the Whig press may do, ] elievc he is disposed to do me justice. I am accused of inconsistency, amounting i dishonesty, in my opinions concerning a rotectivc tariff, internal improvements, and ic extension of sliverv. The first 1 shall isiniss very briefly, but very explicitly.? 'lie Baltimore resolutions contain inv sentiments on the subject of a lariff. And neiter to Colonel Webb, nor to any other man ave I uttered a word inconsistent with them. I vniorl fur thn inrirt'nf : and thmndi . .... ?..w , e? iicrc were some things I should have been lad to see otherwise, (and where arc there ot in such complicated questions !) vet I ave it my hearty support. I never changd a word with Col. Webb on the subject of protective tariff in my life. Nor does he ay I did. Why he supposed I favored it, know not. It is enough to say he is in rror, as arc all who form a similar concluion. In the course of conversation between 'ol. Webb and myself, I referred to the last residential contest, and to the palpable inistiee which had been done me by the Vhig press and politicians in holding up my .'.tier to the Chicago Convention, as an evience of my hostility to all improvements, owevcr general and necessary, by Congress nd to my letter to Mr. Nicholson as cviencc of my desire that slavery should be stablished in the tcrrltores ceded by Mexico I > the United States. I call these efforts lie humbugs of ihe day, as they were, and mst now be confessed to have been by evev candid man. In neither of these letters ithereto be found one syllabic favorable to le constructions thus put upon them. The ;tter to the Chicago Convention, makes not tie most distant allusion to the question of ltcrnal imnrovment. A person may be the reatest Intitudinarian, or the sirictest conductions, and yet have written that letter rith perfect consistency, simply because all does is to decline beinj: present on that ccasion. The letter to Mr. Nicholson exmines and denies the power of Congress to ass the Wilrnot Proviso, and endeavors to how that that measure would be inexpedint and unnecessary, even if it were consti jtional. This is its extent. There is not \ it, from beginning to end, one word going a show my opinion was, that slavery would e established there, or my wish that it hould be established there. All this will urprise many good men who yet retain the inpressions ihcv received during a period of xcitenient, and which they gained from the iress, loo often pursuing its object without egard to the higher considerations of justice, ^el him who doubts what I say on the subect of those letters, turn to them and read or himselt. To the law and to the testimoIV. I will now ask Mr. Greeley?for 1 res. >ect his candor?what has my letter, to a rentleman who invited me to attend the Chicago Convention, to do with my opinions ipon the subject of internal improvements? was asked to attend that Convention ; and hat was all I was asked. I answcied I ihould not attend ; and that was all 1 aniwcred. And yet this answer, as I have tnted, was circulated from one end of the [Jnion to the other during the late presidenial contest, as conclusive evidence of my lostilitv to any improvement by the general rovernment, be the character of the object A'hat it might. 1 had supposed the device lad served its purpose, and was among the liings that have been. Little did I anticipate that a man of Mr. Greeley's intelligence ind reputation tor integrity, would revive this exploded charge, and would refer to that letter as furnishing any index to my sentiments on this subject, or any ground to convict me ot inconsistency in my acts or opinions. 1 did not go to the Chicago Convention, because I did not think any good would result from its labors. I did not be licve, nor do I now believe that such bodies, in periods of political excitement?perhaps, indeed, at any period; either by the concentration of public opinion, or by the diffusion of information, can lead to any useful plan of action. Invited, as the members of that Convention were, from every portion of the Union, the sphere of operation was far too extensive for wise and cautious deliberation and decision. There were too many interests involved. ]f general propositions only, are to be laid down in such a conven. tion, the object is not worth the effort; for, in the divided state of the public tnind upon the question, whatever platform might be adopted, the opinion of parties, and generali Iv of individuals, would remain the same If a general plan of operations is to be proposed and pressed upon Congress, the objections are palpable and grave. The members are under little responsibility ; and as each section of the country will have its own objects to attain, these must be attained by concessions to the object of others, and the result will furnish evidence of a mutual spirit of accommodation, rather than a cautious regard for the general interest. Such an assemblage is a very different thing from the attempt to concentrate opinion and action in favor of anv improvement affecting a particuiar portion of the Union, where there is a community of information and interests, and where there is no weighing of one project against another, nor any sacrifices to insure the desired result. And 1 am fully confirmed in my previous anticipations concerning the Chicago Convention. I imagine the first man is yet to be found who will venture to say that any advantage has resulted from its labors. But 1 had another reason for declining to attend that Convention. I did not like its origin. The earliest notice of it which 1 saw, was connected with the names of some well-known Whigs, prominent politicians of the city of New York ; and 1 believe, and I have no reason to doubt, that one great tnnnrn f ir? rmrfu I UUjU^i VV UO, LU 111 J 111 V> lliw L/VlllWIUiiv |'ui ?jr bv taking advantage of the excitement which prevailed in certain portions of the country, in consequence of the failure of two successive internal improvement bills. And I have since understood, though 1 cannot vouch for the fact, that such was the actual intention, and that the proceedings of the Convention would have assumed a party character, and been directed to this object, had not the design been frustrated by the firmness of the Democratic members. Now Mr. Greeley will understand why I did not attend this Convention. But I cannot understand why lie seeks my opinions on on this question in my letter, which is wholly silent on the subject, and not in my speeches and votes in the Senate of the United States. Eminent Whig politicians whom I could name, but that it would be invidious to do so, were invited to attend the Chicago Convention, but neither answered nor attended. I thought it due to the gentleman who invited me, to acknowledge his attention, and did so. And this act ol courtesy, which consti tutcs the only difference between myself and others, has been made the text book whence my opinions are to be deduced, and by which my inconsistency is to be proven. On the question of the power of the United States over the subject of internal improvements, my sentiments are in accordance with those ol the great Democratic party, and are fully expressed in the resolutions of the Baltimore Convention. In the words of one of these resolutions, /believe "that the Constitution does not confer on the general government the power to commence and carry on a general system of internal improvement," and no man living lias the right to gainsay this assertion. But at the same time I have never disputed the right of Congress to improve some of the great harbors and rivers and lakes of the Union, national in their character, and important to the commerce, and some of thetn to the defence of our country. While the Democratic parly deny the power to devise and carry on a vast system of operations?whose pecuniary extent no man can foresee, and what is slill worse, whose corrupting influence, as well in the legislature as otu of it, cannot he viewed but with the most serious apprehensions? the great majority of that party, indeed nearly all of of it, has advocated particular ap. propriations justified l>v the circumstances of position and importance. Almost at. the same time that I declared tny adhesion to the resolutions of the Baltimore Convention, I voted with equal good faith for the bills in the -Senate providing for the improvement of rivers and harbors and lakes, and advocated their passage in my seat; and this is precisely the reason why 1 accuse many of the Whig papers and politicians of disingenuousness, or something worse- in asserting that my Chicago letter, which contained not a word on the subject, was proof of my hostility to all the action of Congress, in the very face of iny official course and of my publicly declared opinions. And my position was that of most of the prominent men of our party, who, while they held to tlin /lr\nl iMnna /\T lUn ?nor-.t ill mrin 11 L* A niv* MWUU iiita wi IIIU i uowi 111 i\/iis iiuiu iirvc wise lo the power of special legislation, and voted for the same bills. 1 do not know indeed, that there is a single senator who denies to Congress all power to legislate over this matter. Certainly Mr. Calhoun does not, who adopts the wholesome doctrine of strict construction. I atn aware it is difficult to draw a practical line at all times between objects that ought and that ought not to engage the attention of Congress ; and 1 think, therefore, looking to t ie abuse to which the whole subject is liable, that the effort should be to narrow, and not to enlarge, tho circle of power ; and such 1 understand to be the views of the Democratic party. The other proof of insincerity, as [ have already statod, is drawn from tho fact that in my letter to Mr. Nicholson, I took ground against the Wilmot proviso, excluding slavery by law from the territories, and now believe that slave, ry, with or without that restriction, will not be established there. And the wonder is gravely expressed how I could write that letter and the letter of three lines to the Chicago Convention, and yet claim the character of an honest man. It is a much graver wonder to me, how intelli. gent editors of public papers, whose influence on public opinion is so great, should venture thus to deal, even with a political opponent, in utter disregard of his true position, it will not surprise you, but ii will many who have viewed my course only In a party aspect, to be told that in that very letter to Mr. Nicholson, I exprcssly stated my opinion to be, that slavery would never extend to California or New Mexi nr\ flnri f h i f 44 f Via inKu^ifontc nf t line a rorrinno whether they depend on their plows or their herds, cannot be slaveholders." I quoted with full approbation the opinions of Mr. Buchanan and of Mr. Walker, the former of whom says: 44 It is morally impossible, therefore, that a majority of the emigrants to that portion of the territory south of 36 30, will ever re-establish slavery within its limits." Mr. Walker maintains that,14 beyond the Rio del Norte, slavery will not pass, not only because it is forbidden by law, but because the colored race there preponderates in the ratio often to one over the whites; and holding, as they do, the government and most of the offices in their possession, they will not permit the enslavement of any portion of the colored race, which makes and executes the laws of the country." And to these remarks I add: The question, it will therefore be seen on examination, does not regard the exclusion of slavery from a region where it now exists, but a prohibition against its introduction where it does not exist, and where, from the feelings of the inhabitants, and the laws of nature,44 it is morally impossible, as Mr. Buchanan says, 44 that it can ever re estab lish itself." I have never uttered to a human being a sentiment in opposition to these views. And subsequent events, the events indeed of every day, confirm their justire ; and render it impossible that slavery should be re.established in the region ceded to us by Mexico. Such is the general opinion in the non-slaveholding Stales, among those who are most attached to the compromises of the Constitution, and most determined to maintain them. And I do not doubt but there are many persons in the Southern States, who resist the Wilmot Proviso with all their power, as offensive to the feelings, and injurious to the rights of tho South, but who still believe it is a question rather of principlo than of action, and that circumstances are preparing an exclusion which Congress has no right to pronounce. In the view here taken, the effort to engraft tbe Wilmot Proviso upon an act of Congress, even if Congress bad the requisite power, is a useless attempt to direct the legislation of the country to an object which would just as certainly be attained without it. If Congress have not the power, as I believe they have not, in common with a large portion of the people, it bo* comes worse than useless, by becoming unconstitutional. And in addition to this, it is peculiarly offensive to one half of the Stales of the Union, who sec in it an attempt to circumscribe their rights, and to mortify their pride of character. INo man can look at the signs ot the times without being satisfied that the prose, cution of th>s question is producing the worst state of feeling; and though I trust that happen what may, our Southern brethren will still cling to the Union, equally iheir ark of 6atety and ours, still there nre evils short of a separation, which every good citizen should seek to avoid, lie should seek to avoid all occasions of un? friendiy feelings ; to avoid as far as may be the agitation of questions hostile to the sentiments or interests of different sections of the country, and thus tending to array one of them against another. There is enough passing in the Old World?and if there were not, thore is enough passing around us?to teach us the inestimable value of our institutions, and that these ought not to be hazarded by internal dissensions, as unnecessary in their origin as they are portentous in their consequences. So much for the expediency of urging a measure thus advocated and opposed. But beyond this question is a still more important one in a constitutional government, and that is the power of Congress to legislate over the subject; and this mu?t be settled affirmatively before the ? propriety of legislative action can be considered. I am not going over this ground at present. I have already touched upon it in my letter to Mr. Nicholson, and shall probably have an opportunity of expressing my sentiments inore fully at the next session of Congress. I shall content myself with presenting a few general remarks here, as the subject lies in my way. There is one important consideration which meets us at the very threshold of this Inquiry ; there is no express power in Congress to legislate over the territories to be faund in the Constitution ; for I believe it is now gonerally conceded?as indeed it must be?that the power to dispose of and make needful rules and tegidations for the territory and other properly of the United States, contains no grant ol political power over persons upon such property, either within or without the respective States. And if it docs in the one, it must in the other; for these words are equally applicable to the territory and other properly of the United States, wherever situated. But there are some five or six provisions in the Constitution whence the power is sought to be deduced?some persons deriving it from one clause and some from an. other; while each is more fortunate in showing where it does not, than where it does exist. ? The exercise of a great political power, like this by a legislature, deriving its existence from a written instrument, ought not to depend on such loose constructions. Nothing shows the wel'-grounded doubt respecting this power bet. ter ? an the very uncertainty in which we are involved in the endeavor to maintain it by an express constitutional grant. And no wonder that now, when peculiar circumstances bring this question more forcibly than ever before the country, the true foundation of the power should be severely investigated. Thoso who maintain the right of Congress to pass the Wilmot Proviso, must maintain not only the right of that body to establish govern, ments, and to provide tor the necessities of legig. lation over the public territory, which is one thing, but also the power to direct all the inter nal territorial legislation at its pleasure, without regard to the will of the poople to be affected by it, which is another and quite a different thing. I shall not enter into any subtleliet touching the condition of sovereignty, or the I rights it brings with it. That subject was u r? good deal debated al the bet session of Coogrew ; but it had been alrea^f exhausted in the discussions previously to our; revolutionary struggle. Vve are sovereign, aaid the Brittsh government to (he colonies, and may legislate over you as we please. You am sovereign, said our fathers, and may establish governments; but you have no right to inter fere, by yoor legislation, in our internal concerns. Soeh legislation, without representation, is the very essence of despotism. This dispute divided one empire. Let as take care thefts similar assumption of power does not divide another. Have Congress any power to legislate over the territories? I said in my letter to Mr. Nicholson, "How far an existing necessity may have operated in prodocmg(Mirlegislation, and thus extending, by rather a violent implication, powers not direetly given, I know not. Rut certain it is, that the principle of interter. ence should not be carried beyond the necessa* ry implication which produces k. The ground of necessity is that upon which Mr. Madison placed the action of the old coofederation in passing the ordinance of 1787; and if I do not misunderstand the late Mr. Justice Story, be entertained similar views when he said that acquired territory " must he under the dominion and jurisdiction of the Union, or it would be without any government at all." If to avoid (his latter eejijfcqueaca Congress exercises a power notethefwae to be defended, that power shofltd be limited by the necessity of the occasion which ceils U forti). To preserve the peace of society?and to this . ground of support we roust come at last?there is no more need that Congress should couduct the legislation of the territories UauMhat they should conduct the legislation- of Virginia or of Massachusetts. It is enough that U% should organize governments, and tl^ th* necessity for their interference ceases. And the result proves this; for the local governiwntijdo manage the internal concerns of the territories ia most cases, and would as safely ia all, if ripe restrained by Congressional inteeporilioo ; and if Congress can pass .beyood Ih^pewer to organize governments, they may rule a territory at their pleasure, and prostrate.every harrier of freedom. If, as I have heretofore seM, they ran rr-milnf a the relation of master Kltdservant, what but tbeir own will is to preveat them from regulating the other relations of jjfc the relation of husband and wife, and of patent and child, and, indeed, all to the social state 7 There ia no mas who canshow the slightest necessity for this interference on the part of the general government, and there is consequently no man wWcfn ahow that it has any right to interfere on the geound of its necessary action. The people of the territories are fully competent to conduct their' own affairs; and the very firstprinciple ofour.... social system demands dud they should be per* v m it ted to do so. 1 " Whichever may be tbe; source," says Chief Justice Marshall, speaking douljtft|? of the origin of the jurisdiction, "whence this power' may be derived, the possession of 4t ia^ttnqoestionabie." He is speaking of the power of~ gorernment; and no doubt k has been possess* ed; but it becomes very Important to- ascertain, how, and how far, Congress has justly possess* ed it, in order to ascertain to what extent It may be exercised. In almost all?I believe Imay say in all?tbe speeches and essays i*' support of the power of Congress to legislate over slavery, after endeavoring vaguely to de*. duce it from some clause or otber?tf$fcooas& tution, the principal reliance la ? uurapon me authority of the few instances of its exorcise tobe found in the statute books. Atrihbrtty awd precedent hare weight, and ought to hare soma weight in doubtful questioos; but I trust there are few to be found who are prepared to abet the constitution, and to aeek in the practiced the government the foundation of it* power; and more especially when, as in this case, the early legislative proceedings passed, as we hare reason to believe, without objection er is* quiry. They commenced by adopting the pn? visions of an ordinance of the old government to the administration of the new one, and fbar impliedly recognizing the exclusion of alavery,and seem to have gone on silently and unquestioned for years. I have not bad time to lookback to ascertain the facts precisely; bat I believe it will be found that this'power has never been exercised where there waaa united sectional opposition to it. Precedent may weigh much in the consideration of a doubthrf question, where the whole subject has beeir maturely considered, aod many minds have been brought to bear upon iti adjusfmMt. But as the foundation of political power, ipractiee thus introduced is of little value, particularly ...kan :? ??m.. ia inmlu nr?v? ntimtlirmi Mtriw II wuuigo IU IU*Vliv g??*> w ? - ously affecting ibe Union. We turn then hv stinctively from what has been done to what ought to be done?from the authority of prew. dent to the authority of the constitution, These are times which try such questions. Who cms wonder, that with the views entertained of tirie subject by the South, no appeal should be made to the common charter of the coontryvor that n large portion of our citizens should be satisfied with no answer not derived from ill That what has been must continue to be, to a pimciple which baa done more to perpetuate abuses than all the other causes which have operated upon political institutions. Those who advocate and those who oppose (he Wilmot Proviso, occupy very different po. sitions. The former urge its adoption as a matter of expedieucy, in order to etclode slave, ry from the newly acquired territories* where k does not exist, and where it cannot be denied that this Airlnsion ia as moraIIV certain: without it as with it; while the latter All oppose this measure on the ground ol its unconstijiutitaaBty, and a large portion of the Union o? the ground also of its interference with thtffr rights and feelings. The contest to which this subject has given rise, has already been productive of the worst consequences. For two yean it has prevented all legislation over roost important regions, and has left them without government, and in a state of social disorganisation, to ovr own reproach, and to the surprise ofthe world. I T Ar\ not KolUtfn iKom M AnfttflAT llfUHlPTf I ft uv IIVI UVIIV?w IIIUIV ? .r^,^ ^ the face of the earth which would hatefwraiti ted such a state of things. And bow hra$ft k to continue ? It California to become ft prey . to intestine dissensions in the absence of nH law, or is she to be driven to separate ffotft as be* i cause we neglect to discharge one of our first duties?a duty of necessity?that of organizing ; a government for the people who inhabit it ?? I Those who oppose the Witaot Proviso oa the t ground of its uncoastittttionftM^, ten never t surrender their opinions and vote for It. These i who have heretofore advocated its adoption, k may well abandon it, convinced, as they must MManHaasanmHnMsnsmimn