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REV. H. HIuIuPtPElrY, D. D).,
DEAlS SIZ:
The undersigned, in behalf
of a large number  of the citizens of this County,  respectfully
request a copy of your Address on the "Nebraska  ]Bill," for
publication.                SAMUEL  IIARRIS, )
CYRUS  PRINDLE,    Commnittee.
it~t        1 ASA BARR,
fittsjfeld,.ilcrch 1, 1854.
GENTLEMEN,
I have received your request in behalf of citizens
of this County for a copy of my Address on the Nebraska Bill,
now before Congress, and if you think the publication of it will
do good it is at your service.
XL HUMPHREY.
Pittsfeld, March 1, 1854.
E3
1 4 -3 
S   OF MICHIGAN
GENERA  LIBRARY
ANN- ARBOR, MICHlIGA
A D D R E S S
T'?ImqDS OF PUBLIC FAITII AND NATIONAL JIONOR i
THERE are times of peril, in the history of every
nation, which demand the united counsels and efforts
of all the people, to warid off thle danger.  Sometimes, it is to resist, at every hazard, the invasioon of
a foreign power; sometimes to quell a ~ormidable
insurrection at home; and sometimnes, to thwart the
steakhy encroachments of wily and aspiring men,
who to gain their own selfish purposes, would not
hesitate to sacrifice the best interests of the present
and of all future generations. Such times of public
danger there have  been, in the history of this
country.
The first, was, in what has since been called the
old Frencih'war, in 1745, and which was brought to
a successful close, by the capture of Quebec, on the
heights of Abraham.
The next, and a far more perilous struggle, was in
the war of the Revolution, between these then colonies, and the mother country, in which EiTgland put
forth all her naval and military strength, to coerce
submission to her arbitrary laws, and to resist whiclh,
required the united efforts and sacrifices of the whole
people, during seven long and bloody years.  By the
blessing of God, on their counsels and their arms,
they triumphed, and established their Independence.
IS 
4
No attempt has since been made to conquor us; and
if we remain a united people, and keep alive the fire
of liberty which glowed in the bosoms of our revo
lutionary fathers, no power on earth can do it.
Since we became a nation, there have been two
cases of open insurrection. I refer to the Shays and
Whiskey rebellions, both of which were crushed in
the bud, by the energy of the government.  Besides
these, as you remenmber, there was danger at one
time, that a more formidable  insurrection would
break out, in one of the oldest states of the Unionu
and which might hlave burst forth into a devouring
(onflagration, if a man of iron nerves ancd iron will
had not been in the Presidential chair.
Since these, I can think of no other outbreak, save
the late Erie insirrection, so tenderly nursed, bvy
guardian-s of the laws, who  I am sure never served
under General Jackson.
Of the far more dangerous encroachments upon
our vital national interests, in a different form, I
shall speak directly; and but for these my  voice
would not have been heard here this evening.
It is said, bv some  that ministers of the gospel
ought never to meddle with politics.  I profess still
to be a minister of the gospel, though I have no
p)arochial charge, so that if, on this occasion, I should
seem to anybody, to "stretch myself beyond my
neasure," I shall fall under the same condemnation
:ts if I hatd a parish, and I am ready to meet the
cliar(re of intermedling with whla,t does not belong to
aile, iii my ow n behalf, and that of my brethren.
I freely  admit that it does not become us to leave
t)itr high and sacred calling, and go down into the
're'na of party politics, and soil the ermine of our 
profession, by doing battle, on tie one side or the
other.  "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal."
As ambassadors of the Prince of peace, we should
rather act the part of mediators, and strive to allay
the bitterness of crimination, and recrimination, if
we cannot reconcile the parties.  But to say, that
ministers have no right to meddle with politics; not
even to go to the polls, as some contend, is to disfranchise them, as they would not even a criminal, after
he had served out his time in the state prison.
The eternal principles of right and wrong, of
justice and humanity, and religion, are so interwoven
with politics, or the science of government, that
entirely to eschew POLITICS, in the discharge of their
public duties, would be to ignore all those principles,
and betray their trust as teachers of morality and
religion
There may be times, there are crises, when it is
the duty of ministers of the gospel to plunge into the
thickest of politics; to "cry aloud and not spare, to
lift up their voices like a trumpet." So thought and
so spake our fathers, in the times of the Revolution,
"4which tried men's souls.'  It was a mighty struggle
for liberty, for the sacred rights of three millions of
people, against the encroachments of foreign aggression. The ministers of that day, conferred not with
flesh and blood. They were of one heart and one
mnind. So far as my knowledge extends, there was
not a TORY among them.  "Sink or swim, live or die,"
no padlock could have closed their lips. They were
determined to be free with the people, or to share
and suffer with them in their subjugation; and I am
sure you will bear me out in saying, that no class of
inen, in proportion to their numbers, did more than
5
i*. 
they  did, to achieve our Independence.   hley
preached, they prayed, politics. They encouraged,
they exhorted, their people to enlist into the service.
When whole companies of militia, the bone and
muscle, and stay of their congregations, were called
out by those alarms which were so frequent during
the war, they met them at the hour of their sudden
departure; encouraged them to go; exhorted them
to fight valiantly for liberty, and implored the God
of battles to go with them and shield their heads in
the day of slaughter.  Yea, there were not wanting
examples among them, of buckling on the armor, and
shouldering the musket, and marching to the places
of alarm and danger. I know in whose presence I
say this.
Then it was, that while husbands, and brothers,
and sons were in the army, and the angel of death
was hovering over the battle fields, hospitals and
prison ships, that "the angels of the churches," were
going from house to house, visiting the bereaved
widows, mothers and fatherless in their afflictions,
subsisting as best they co.uld without salaries, and
even laboring with their own hands to help their
sorrowing people, whose protectors were already
slain, or hourly exposed to the shafts which flew so
thick and fast around them. Such were the ministers of that day. Such were their prayers and
preaching, and exhortations, and sacrifices for libe
erty. I dare say the British parliament thought,
these ministers mingled too much in polities; and
quite sure I am, that no class of our revolutionary
fathers were more hated and feared than they.
This was before we were born.
But there was, some twenty-five years ag, another
. 6 
arbitrary encroachment upon tile most sacred human
rights, against which the ministers of that day felt it
their duty solemnly to protest. I allude to the
forcible expulsion of the Indians from their home on
this side of the Mississippi, in violation of a score of
treaties. This was looked upon, by nearly all the
people of the north, and justly, I think, as a great
national robbery   Regarding it in this light, minis
ters boldly spoke and preached against it; and for
-sympathizing with their wronged and defenceless red
brothers, whom they were successfully laboring to
civilize and christianize, two of the missionaries were
incarcerated as felons, at hard labor, in a Georgia
prison.  I then lifted up my feeble voice against the
violation of the most solemn pledges of the govern,ment, in a discourse which I entitled INDIAN RIGHTS
AND OUR DUTIES, and which was printed, and pretty
widely circulated at the time. I could not help
-remonstrating, with all the power I had.  I said
then, and I say now, that I had rather receive the
blessing of one poor Indian, as he looked back for
the last time upon the graves of his fathers, than to
sleep under the marble of all the Cesars.
And now, we have all suddenly reached another
crisis, infinitely more alarming, which ought to ex cite every christian, every patriot, every friend of
humanity and justice, to fervent prayer and the
*most determined opposition. It is no less than a
meditated violation of national faith, which would
disgrace any European or Asiatic despot, and which,
if perpetrated, threatens nothing less, than to rend
the Union into fragments, and dig the grave of our
boasted liberties.  It is nothing less, than to go back
'IIRTY-FOUR YEARS of our short, but glorious republi
7 
8
can history, and annul one of the most solemn
compacts that was ever entered into by the Federal
government; and that, for the main, if not the sole
purpose, of extending the blighting curse of slavery,
over a vast free territory, larger than England, Scot]and, France, Portugal, and Italy, all put together.
And now, what would the men of'76, who fought
and periled every thing for liberty, say, if they could
return to the country which they baptised with their
blood, and left rejoicing under the broad banner of
independence?  What would they say if they could
come back to-morrow, and look over this vast confederation, and go to Washington and listen to the
grasping coalition, which now rules the nation?
Would they believe their eyes or their ears? And
if the ministers of that day, who moved heaven and
earth by their prayers and preaching, against the
encroachments of the British crown;-what would
they say to us, their sons and successors in the sacred
office? Would they caution us to beware what wg
say, either in the pulpit or out of it, lest we should
be charged with meddling with politics? What if
that venerable man of God, Rev. Thomas Allen, who
sleeps in yonder tomb, could be waked up, and have
the Nebraska bill, with its black section, put into his
hands, what would HE say? I declare to you, I
would not for any price, go and knock at the door of
that tomb, if I knew that I would bring him up,
except it were in the last extremity of expiring
liberty, that he might again buckle on his armor
and march up to the cannon's mouth. No; let him
sleep, and never, till the day of judgment, know anything of the atrocious conspiracy which has been
eonneod this winter, et the It of our go  -nt.? 
9
This is a crisis, in which we who love our country
and bear the sacred office, must speak and will
speak.  If we "should hold our peace, the stones
would immediately cry out."  If you could poll, the
whole ministry of the free States to-day, you would
not find one in a hundred, but that would remonstrate at the top of their voices against the repeal of
the Missouri compromise, which declares that from
all the territory "purchased of France, lying north
of 36 deg. 30 min., slavery and involuntary servitude,
otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, shall be,
and is hereby FOREVER PROHIBITED."
In speaking to you to-night, I do not claim, with
Elihu, to be quite "full of the matter," but I am so
near full, that I cannot hold my peace. Though I
have now been in the ministry almost fifty years, I
have never seen the time, but once, (I allude to the
violent expulsion of the Indians,) when the faith,
and honor, and justice of the nation were so much in
danger of being tarnished, as since the opening of
this Congress.
And now, if you will bear with the prolixity of an
old man, I will'endeavor to sustain the strong language which I have used, in denouncing the Nebraska bill in its present form, so far as I have yet been
able to learn, what shape it has, "in member, joint,
or limb."
But in order to do this, I must just glance at the
history of the first introduction of slavery into this
country, and its steady march towards the preponderance which it has gained, and now holds in the
national counsels. And here I wish to say, that the
slave states are not answerable for the bringing in
of this enormous curse and wrong   It wasforced 
10
upon them  by the mother country, qagainst their
most earnest remonstrances.  Virg,inia, and I believe
one or two of the other colonies would have kept it
out if they could; but once introduced, it was not in
their power to abolish the trafic, so long as they
were under the British crown. From this nefarious
source of constant supply, slavery had gained such a
foothold, before our fathers severed the cord that
bound them to the British throne, and hewed out
their independence with the sword, that the wisest
and most ardent friends of liberty at the south, saw
not how the system, which had grown up in spite of
them, could at once be abolished; but they hoped
and believed, that it would not be permanently fastened upon them.  And  so far were their most
illustrious statesmen, who assisted in framing the
Constitution, from wishing to have slavery gain another foot of ground on this continent, that they
deplored the existence of the evil, as a great calamity and wrong; and they spoke as earnestly against
it as any of the delegates from the northern states.
This, the debates of that day -abundantly show.First and foremost among them,'were such men as
Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison; and in the
first Congress that met, after the adoption of the
Constitution, they took a leading part in framing
and passing the celebrated ordinance of 1787, which
declared, that slavery should be forever excluded
from the vast north-west territory, which at that
time embraced our whole national domain, outside
of the old thirteen states, and there the matter
rested till the purchase of Louisiana, in 1801, which
being already a slave state, was admitted into the
UTJnion,with metes and bounds, without any restrio 
11
tion or any resistance from the north. That purchase from France, extended beyond those limits, on
the west side of the Mississippi, up to the British
line. Here again, the question between slave and
free territory rested, till 1819, when Missouri petitioned Congress for admission as a slave state, which
for the first time, brought the north and south into
open collision.  The framers of the Constitution were
dead, or too far advanced in age, to participate in
the public counsels. Slavery had in the meantime
taken deep root in the states south of the Potomac,
Other rulers had arisen, "who knew not Joseph," and
they determined, not only to hold on to the institution in their own Egypt, but to carry it along with
them into Canaan.   They contended, that as the
whole territory, under the name of Louisiana, was the
joint purchase of the free and slave states, they had
a right to settle with their slaves upon whatever part
of it they chose, and of course, that Missouri had a
just claim to come in without any restrictions.  OI
the other hand it was contended that the original
understanding between their revolutionary fathers
was, that slavery should never encroach upon any
free territory, under the Federal government; that
the territory out of which Missouri was carved, had
no slaves in it at the time of the purchase, and that
slavery had, and would have, no right to obtrude
itself upon that free soil.
The contest on these grounds was long and earnest.
Neither party would yield. The debates in Congress
shook the whole nation and at one time seemed to
threaten the dissolution of the Union. At length a
compromise was made on the 17th of February, 1820,
and the bill was carried through, chiefly by the pow 
erful influence of southern men, as Mr. Sumner has
just unanswerably shown, by names and dates, in his
brilliant and powerful speech in the Senate, copies
of which ought to be strown like the leaves of
autumn, all over the free states. The explicit terms
of this compromise on the side of freedom were, as I
have already shown, that slavery was, and should be
forever excluded from the territory north of 36 deg.
30 min.  This was declared in Congress, by one of
the most eminent jurists of the south, who had a
principal agency in bringing it about, to be a*COMPACT,
which, as everybody understood it, was a final
settlement of the question; and there it stood, just
as much unquestioned FOR THIRTY-FOUR YEARS, as the
plainest article in the Constitution itself. In the
meantime, Arkansas, lying south of the compromise
line, was admitted as a slave state without opposition)
so that thus far, if the Nebraska bill passes, slavery
has gained every thing out of the Louisiana purchase,
and we nothing. Not satisfied with this, the slave
power, ever sleepless and encroaching, next fixed its
greedy eyes upon Texas, which had been violently
rent off from the free republic of Mexico, and for
fear of defeat and in spite of remonstrance, the bill of
annexation was hurried through the House, almost
with railroad speed, upon the last great amendment)
which was, that the new state of Texas, might cut up
that vast territory, into FOUR more slave states at her
pleasure! If I am rightly informed, your own rep
resentative, was the only member that could get a
chance to open his mouth in opposition, at that turning point. This was regarded on both sides, as a
signal triumph of the slave power. Next came the
Mexican war, not of course, AVOWEDLY, to add more
162 
13
lave territory; but who can doubt that this was
thle great object of the men then in power   Thanks
to a benevolent Providence, they have not yet suc,
ceeded, but you deceive yourselves, if you suppose,
they have abandoned the hope. They never despair
of anything in the line of slavery aggression, upon
which they once set their hearts.  Depend upon it,
they will leave no means untried, to get a large slice
to their own liking, from the conquered territory.
This brings down the history of aggression by our
southern masters, to the present winter, and now we
understand, that when the Nebraska bill comes from
the Senate to the Hlouse, it is intended, by reviving
thle tactics which brought in Texas, to drive it through
with breathless speed, trampling down in its passage,
the national faith, and opening another vast free
territory to the withering sirocco from the burning
south. To the astonishment of the whole country,
:north and south, the exception of those who were in
-" the mystery of iniquity," they now march boldly
up to the line of the Missouri Compromise, and hav ing themselves already enjoyed the benefit of it foQr
a third of a century, now just as we are entering
upon the occupancy of our share of the joint estate,
they claim the right of coming'm at their conven ience, and taking possession of a part or the whole of
.the remainderwithout our consent. And how arethey
to get over the line of 36 deg. 30 min., with their herds
of human chattels?  Why, by annulling the compro.
mise, to be sure.  And why have they not done it
before?  A whole generation has passed away since
it was made. Why this strange tardiness of a whole
life time, in asserting their rights? Was it that they
could iot sooner get rid of some lingering qualms of
').
I 
conscience, against violating their solemnnly pIightecd
faith?  Was it,that having more than half the farm
on this side of the Rocky Mountains already in their
possession, they did not want our share, till now?
Was it because they were afraid they could'nt subsidise a sufficient number of our northern members of
Congress, to help them? Or was it because they
thought it most prudent to wait, till nearly all the
men who made the compromise were dead, lest they
should remonstrate and defeat them, as they most
certainly would have done, a few years earlier?Have they been kept back so long for all, or for any
of these reasons?
If I understand them, they have two avowed objects in bringing forward the measure of repeal at
this time. First to assert their right of occupancy
with their slaves, quite up to the British line, and
secondly, to put a final end to agitation.
With regard to the first of these objects, if it is a
mere abstraction that they are contending for; if, as
they say, they never expect to get slavery into Nebraska, and even do not want to, if they could, as
some of them declare, what motive can they have in
agitating the whole country, to repeal the compromise?  It seems to me  the leaders must be either
unaccountably demented or insincere.
But the GRAND object which they avow is, to restore
peace and  brotherhood  between  the two  great
branches of our family, north and south, and to put
an end to all further controversy.  Now, I confess,
that this is about the most remarkable way of settling
a great and bitter quarrel, that I remember ever
to have heard of in my  long life.  The "omnibus" compromise bf 1850, wvhich cost Mr. Clay his
1-t 
life, and another great man hIis pohlitical death, was
claimed to be a FINALITY, that is, % final settlemwent of
the slavery agitation, never more to be revived, in
any form by the north or the south, "as long as the
sun and the moon shliall endure."  And though it
was not satisfitetory in all its provisions to either side,
the country seemed to be settling down upon it, as
the best compromise perhaps that could be agreed
upon.  Now I wonder how many more FINALITIES, we
a-t the north are to have forced upon us, by new aggressions. I do not understand how Mr. Douglas
and his copartners expect to keep the body politic,
sound, by exasperating old sores, which were pretty
well scabbed over.  I thought the safest way was, to
let them alone.  But now, it is all at once found out,
in {his age of new inventions, that the true, pathological way is, rudely to tear them open; to apply
the scalpel to scars, which if not touched, would in
time disappear, and to set them all bleeding again.
This is a kind of surgery, for restoring to the body
politic, soundness, which I believe has never till now,
been taught in the schools.  Not myself being one of
the Faculty, I can't understand it. It looks to me
just like what, if I do not mistake the term, they
would in any other case call malpractice  At any
rate, if my poor old body were to be laid upon the
table, under a counsel of those northern and south ern doctors, I should hope and pray that it might be
a FINALITY.
Now, I undertake to say, that there is not an intelligent man, in his rigoht mind, in the north or south,
who will look candidly at the proposed healing mea;ure, the Nebraska bill, who believes, or can believe
that to push it through, can have any such effect.
15 
fIg
On the coltrtry, it is just as sure tc create arid inflame new agitations as that the sun will uise tomorrow.
But if it were otherwise, how can anybody maintain, that the compTomise of 1850, broke up, or in
any way disturbed the compromise of 1820.  So far
as it settled any territorial question, between the
south and the north, it had nothing in the world to
do with the Missouri compromise; and yet we are
told in the papers, that the whole southern delegation will go for the bill, on this ground.
I do not believe it.  how can they?  In the'
compromise so called, of 1850, the only question
was, how shall we bring in and dispose of the new
territory conquered from Mexico. It had no more
reference to any other land, owned by the Unitedc
States, than it had to so much surface of the planet
Jupiter. Not a word, not a syllable was uttered
during the long and stormy debates of 1850, having
the remotest retrospective bearing upon the Missouri
compromise of 1820. It was not alluded to; it was
not thought of by anybody, either in or out of Congress. If any such construction as is now contended
bfor, had been hinted at,,it would have killed the
omnibus bill at a blow.  Mr. Clay, and every other
high-minded and honorable member from the south
would have denounced the insidious retrospective
application in a moment.
Now, to say that the whole south in Congress, will
endorse such a construction, I hold to be a libel upon
their understanding, which all their friends ought
indignantly to resent, and to believe it of them,
requires a margin for their honesty, so wide, that we
cannot afford it, I will try to show how it strike 
17
me, and I believe will strike you,t by a f.aiiliar illu-,
tration,
A company of twenty enterprising men, uLnite and
purchase a large tract of wild land, in anticipation
of future settlement. At length, ten of them want
to take possession, and bring in a population of such
a character, and introduce such a system of cultiv,ation, as in the judgment of the other ten, would
make a bad state of society, and greatly depreciate
the value of the property. They can't consent to it,.
but their partners insist uponi their right, on the score
of joint ownership. Iligh words follow, One party
says you shan't bring in such a population, and the
other says we will. At last, to settle the dispute,
they agree upon a compromise, and both parties sign
it.  " We will divide the tract on such a line, east
and west. If you want to burden yourselves with a
class of settlers, who will be a curse to your rather
than contend about it any longer, you may do it on
your side of the line, but you shall never bring one
of them over, to settle on our side, neither you nor
your heirs forever."
"Agreed,' respond the other party, and the come
promise is signed, sealed, and deposited in a safe
place. The ten partners who had been most strenun
ous in making the agreement, go on, with such settiers as they like, and take possession.  The other
ten are not yet ready~ and though they exceedingly
regret that they are to have such troublesome neighbors, they do nothing to disturb the compromise. At
length, they propose to remove and settle upon their
new land, and to invite such imigrants as they like,
to plant themselves down around them.  In the
mean time, the same company purchase another large 
18
tract, several hundred miles off.  Thle same disagree menlt springs up there, and is settled by compromise
as before, and there the matter rests for a great
many years.  When, Lo, and behold, without an
hour's notice, the party that had already settled a
mongrel population under the first compromise, make
their appearance in force on the line, and demand
the right, as original joint proprietors, of coming
over.  "No, we can't allow it," is the answer.  We
don't like such people as we see in your company.
Have you forgotten the recorded contract, which
forever excludes such settlers?
Oh no; but have You forgotten our more recent
compromise, by which we divided that other large
purchase, and which annulled the first on the strength
of, which you now refuse us."  "Annulled it! how,
since it was not so much as alluded to, in our last
purchase and division." "We can't stop to dispute
with you about that," is the imperious reply. "It WAS
repealed, whether you can see how or not. We have
now as good a right as you have, to occupy any and
every part of the first purchase, and we are determined to maintain it, whether you will or not. We
have found these people whom you would shut out,
excellent "hewers of wood and drawers of water,"
and we only wish we had more of them."
This, my friends, is precisely the logic by which,
after having established slavery in Missouri, under
the Compromise of 1820, the slave power now seeks
to get possession of Nebraska. It is the perfidious
violation of a solemn National compact,  which, by
party disciples, is to be trampled under foot by both
houses of Congress.  Did the fathers of the Rtepublic imagine it possible, that it woutld ever come to 
this?  Is one compromise with slavery, to make an
earlier one for freedom void, with which the latter
had nothing in the world to do, and the chivalry of
the South to go in mass for it! The bill before Congress, for repealing the Missouri Compromise, which
solicits all their votes, has been altered and amended
so many times, by its responsible author, at the suggestion and to suit the friends of the measure, that
it is difficult to say how it now stands; and impossible to predict, in what shape it will finally pass, if
pass it must, which may righteous Heaven forbid!
Look for a moment, and see, by what gradual and
sinister approaches things have reached the present
alarming crisis. A bill for the organization of Nebraska into a territory, was brought into Congress at
the last session, without any clause to disturb the
Missouri Compromise. It passed the House and
was sent up to the Senate. It was then near the
close of the session, and professedly for want of time
to consider it, was laid upon the table. Whether it
was arrested by an after thought, that it did not go
far enough, I cannot undertake to say.
But the present bill came out boldly in the first
draft, and declared that the Missouri Compromise of
1820, was ANNULLED by that of 1850. This phraseology not quite suiting some of the friends, it was
amended, by substituting the word SUPERSEDED for
ANNULLED. After debate, this was dropped, and the
bill amended so as to read "The Missouri Compromise was rendered INOPERATIvrE by that of 1850."Even this, not fully satisfying all the coalition, Mr.
Douglas told the Senate, previous to an adjournment, that the committee would take back the bill,
and endeavor so to modify it, as to obviate every
19 
o)bjectionl.  Iiiw it stands now is more thain I  anl
tell you; and it is no matter, provided always, that
it does the work of killing off the Mlissouri Coinpromise, and letting in slavery.
A grand auto-d~-f, seems to be agreed upon in
the Senate, and though there is somne difference of
.opinion, as to wording the sentence of death, the
principal Inquisitors, will not quarrel with oiae another about the mode of execution, whether it shall
be by strangling, beheading, or drawing in quarters,
provided the victim is forever put out of the way.
Some of the executioners may be so tender-hearted
as to relent, and wish to be excused in the last extremity, but they caanot be let off; they must all
prove their allegiance to the ruling power, by doing
its bidding.
Let us, next, for q moment, inquire about the paternity of this bill, and from what section of the
country it has found its way into the Senate. Did
it come from the south, whose interest it is intended
to favor, by opening a vast new territory for the ex
tension of slavery?  No - the south are too " wise
sin theirgemaeration" for that.  I do not believe that
-there is one Senator south of Mason and Dixon's line,
-who would have ventured to present it, for fear that
such an acknowledged paternity would defeat the
-bill, as it most undoubtedly would have done.  And
;i a southern administration had now been in power,
and!Iowa to be committed to the measure, do you
think the south would have ventured upon so bold
and aggressive a step?  Most assuredly they ~oujd
not, for they must have known it would rouse the
free states at once, to,successful resistance. When,ever the slave states have any such object to gain, 
21
they must very much wish, to have a northern man
with southern principles in the Presidential chair,
with that tremendous official patronage, which his
position gives him. It allays suspicion in the free
states, and gives the south an advantage, which they
could not possibly have, were the chair filled by one
of their own ablest men.  This then is the time to
take another long stride towards gaining that ascendency over us, at which they have been always
aiming.  A northern President is now at the head of
the government and the' majority of his Cabinet are
from the free states.
But something further was necessary to insure
the safety and passage of the bill.  To make it go
down, it must be brought in by some prominent free
state Senator. Who should it be? The man was
readily found, who, I am  sorry to say was born in
New England, near the battle fields of Bennington
and Saratoga, and right under the north star that
never wavers. Thanks to a kind providence, he
does not Misrepresent any one of our old Puritan
states.  It is surmised by some, I see, that upon the.
ladder of this Nebraska bill, he hopes to climb to the
highlest seat of power in this free cotuntry.  Perhaps
he may, but he lhas already shifted so many rounds
of the ladder, that in spite of all his cabinate skill, it
may prove too rickety to bear his weight. I think
it will, before he gets half to the top; —quite sure I
an, that "the angels of God, will not be seen, either
ascending or descending upon it.
And again, how is this, bill to be carried through
Congress?  In the usual way, vlwhen great public ininterests are involved?  No, but by a coup D'ETA'.
very much like that which so lately placed a usurper
Qu tlke throre o~ Franc.. Almost on the verS daft 
w-hen the bill, like a clap of thunder in a  clear sky),
astounded every body not in the secret, ),r. Douglas expressed a hope that the question might be
taken in the Senate, before the end of the week.
And what was the object of this hot haste,,whlat
could it be, but to spring the trap upon the free
states before the people had time to express their
opinions, or even to see the bill. I boldly say, this
was the object.
And how is it to be carried through Congress, and
break down the defences of freedom on the line of
36 deg. 30 min.? Can the slave representatives do
it, without the aid of the free north?  No, that were
impossible. In the Senate, we have two majority,
and in the House, FIFTY-FOUR. thow then, can they
expect to succeed? I will tell you how. In all ordinary subjects of legislation, where party lines are
drawn, the Whigs in the slave States, act with the
Wvhig,s in the free States, and so it is with the Democrats. They act together. But whenever any ques
tion arises between liberty and slavery, these party
lines vanish in a moment, and the Sonth marches up
to meet us in solid column.  Whereas we are divided
among ourselves. We must stick to our party at all
hazards, "'though the heavens should fall;" so that,
when we meet them hand to hand a sufficient number of deserters from our ranks go over, to give them
the victory.  So it always has been.  It is by our
help, that they have carried every question against
us, and gradually extended their encroachments upon
liberty, ever since the contest between slavery and
freedom began.  They now  confidently expect to
carry the Nebraska bill by the same northern treachery.  But will they, can they?  Everybody would
declare it impossible, if we did not know what re
22 
23
wvards they have to offer, and what patent screws
-they have to put on when need so requires, at Washington.
According to the last census, the population of
the free states wvas, in round numbers,  13,000,000,
while the free population of the slave states was only
6,000,000, a difference on the side of freedom of
more than two to one.* I hazard nothing in saying,
thlat if the whole North could be polled to-morrow,
and there was no fear of the whip  and spur, nineteen-twentienths of the votes would be  cast against
the Nebraska conspiracy. And I do not believe, that
if the whole delagation of the free States now  in
Congress, could be brought home, to meet their constituents face to face, that aside from party discipline,
a single man of them could be sustained in voting
for that bill. If any of them do vote for it, it does
niot belong to nme to prophecy, what will be their fate
at the next election, but some of you remember the
fate of your own  representative from this County,
who voted to receive Missouri into the Union as a
slave state.  But for that fatal step, such were his
talents and popular address, that he might have stood
a fair choice for the highest promotion in the State.
If that MAissouri vote had been a grape shot, aimed
nt his heart it would not have been more fatal to his
political prospects. I take it for granted, that no
representative from this our mountain district, will
ever after venture so to Mis-represent his constituents,
till he first settled up all his affairs for deliberate
suicide.
And it is perfectly easy to teach any Northern
man, who may be cajoled or brought over  at the
*See the American Almanac, page 20 9,1853. 
24
present crisis, the same lesson, as soon  as' he gets
home. To this end let me say, to all political parties, it is quite time for you to drop the names of
Whigs and Democrats and Free Soilers, and march
shoulder to shoulder, just as they do in all the slave
states, on every question between liberty and slavery.
In this way alone, can the further encroachments of
the consolidated slave power be arrested. Keep up
your political organizations for other purposes, if you
must, but I beseech you not to betray the sacred
cause of human freedom, by any longer allowing, its
enemies to divide and conquor you.
What they will not do next, if they can break
down the Missouri Compromise by Northern votes,
is hard to say; but the plot thickens. The storming
oY the still remaining outer defences of freedom,
is to be followed up by still nearer approaches to the
citadel.  We learn from Washington, that at the very
moment when Mr. Douglass was writing to New
Hampshire, that there was no danger of slavery's
ever getting into Nebraska, Mr. Orr of South Carolina was preparing a bill, for the establishment of'
slavery by Congress in that very territory.  You
will not believe it possible; but so it was.  That bill,
professedly intended to secure the rights of the Indian tribes in the territory, was last week brought
into the House and ordered to bae printed.  It provides, that each family of these tribes may locate a
homestead on the following terms:-"Each single
person, over 21 years old, is entitled to eighty acres;
each family of two persons 160 acres; each family
of three and not over five, 320 acres; each family
of six and not exceeding ten, 640 acres; and each
fmily over ten 160 acres for every five members
&YVND TO F. MILIES WHO OWN SLAYESS LIN AI)!TION. TO Ta 
25
FDXEU3OiN] T-t"n  SI.IT,L BE ALLO'WED, I: LE3SS TIIAN TEN
Sr TE1,z ONE'-I!AL? SECTIO)N, (j20 9O (Cers); I: TIN, NCT TXCEEDI\:1 Fi":TEEN, ONE SECTI(fN, (C4(} d'Ces), ANt fCRTI,E:llY
TEN ABOSE TTItAT NUMBER, ONE —IALF SEC'I N, (oZ acresj.
This, according, to slave. logic, is only (nother nccess:aiy step, for carrying( out the doctrine of NIONINTERVE-NTIC)N in the free territories!  If it passes, I shall
almost "despair of the republc."  It will picve tlat
our representatives a,,e  Ic((y to sunriccn'er to the
slave power (lI that is left to us, just.s fast <s it is
wanted, and then it will be time to inquile whether
we cannot bring back and refit the old Ma (y Flower,
and embark with our wives and children on another
stormy sea, in quest of some wildernless land, where
we may again plant the tree of liberty and water it,
if need be, as our fiLthers did, with our blood.
We were told when the Nebraska Bill was brought
into the Sen:,te, thlat it was an administiation mllea sure.  Rendered into plain Enrlishl this mne(ans, if
you don't stand up to the bill and help carry it
through, you must expect to be iead out of the
party, and to be  cut off from  getting any more of
the loaves and fishes.
I confess, that this foreshadowing executive inter ference, presents to my mindl the most alarming en cro.chLiinent upon free unbiased legislation that has
yet been developed.  In theory  the Federa(l  Cov eminent consists of three independent and ccoiodinate
branches: the Executive, the Legi,ative.lnd the
Judicial.  Our  only safety, as a Republic, depends
upon keeping them separate.    I he framers of the
Constitution, never intended that one should ccntiol
or interfere with the others.
But what have we now come to?  The most im  portant measure that has been proposed, since the 
2G
Edoptian of thle Co'nstitution, is to be carried by a
most alarming: encroachment upon Legislative inidex
dence.  If the present conspiracy prevails, by means
of Executive patronage, how long will it be, before
the exercise of that now growing power will over
shadow and control both the other branches of the
Government.
Do you say, that this kind of interference with,
legislation in Congress is no new thing? It only
increases my alarm.  It shows it to be only carrying:
out a system of encroaclhments, which~ has been acted
upon, till it has reached the present alarming crisis.
When the Constitution was adopted, many of the
wisest men in the nation feared, that the Executive
branch would be overpowered and controlled by the
Legislative.. It could never have occurred to them,
what power they had put into the hands of the
President, by giving him the appointment and nomination of officers from the highest to the lowest, to,
represent us abroad and fill all the places of trust
and profit at home.  Could they rise from the dead,,
they would be astonished to find how much they
were mistaken; how overshadowing that power has
already become.  It is increasing alarmingly every
year, and if the Union should hold together another
quarter of a century, we have every reason to fear,
it will become so gigantic that nothing can stand
before it.
It is curious to notice, in" looking over the debates
in the Senate, how the advocates of theli Nebraska'
bill have been driven from one position to another,
till, as the last resort they have planted themselves
upon the constitution. They intend to vote for the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise because it is uNCONSTITUTIONAL. In answer to this~ it were enough to 
ray, that some of the ablest Jurists in the country,
have over and over again pronounced it constitutior.
al, when there was no pending question, to bias their
judgments.  If things progress at the present rate,
how long will it be before half the constitution itself,
will be declared uN-constitutional?
This government must have a moral basis to rest upon; it must adhere to its solemn compacts, or it cannot stand.  Once let the public conscience be so perverted and seared, that the public faith of this great
nation, can be trampled down by Congress, or any
other power, with impunity, and it will be a sure
presage that the government in its present form is in
the last stage of decline. Let the Missouri Compromise be repealed and it will be the last between the
free and slave states. Whatever crises may hereafter arise, requiring concessions and compacts, no
such thing can be thought of. We cannot hold to gether as a nation without compacts. They lie at the
foundation of our republic; the sappers and miners
are at work. The edifice totters, and "if the founda tion be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Nay,
what can the sappers and miners themselves do? If
they succeed they will be buried with us under the
ruins.
Pass that iniquitious bill now in its progress through
Congress, and it will kindle a flame which all the wa ters of the Mississippi cannot put out
But "why struggle any longer against a measure,
which the Senate, backed up by the Administration,
seem determined to push through, at all hazards?
Why not give the matter rest, and let the Compro mise go, rather than prolong the contest, especially
as there is so little probability that slavery will ever
gain a foothold in Nebraska, though thie Misuri
-2 
comnpact should be broken and annulled a' I answer,
dlepen l upon it, the South would not contend so ve h,n nlly, an l withl such iinprious brow-bea:tindr, for
the mere abstract rig,hlt of takin, her negroes over
tile line, if she hl-d no intention of passing it.  She
wants Ale teiitoly to irsre her political suprernm acy forever. She knows very well, that there is
nothing in the e,limate to keep her out, for slavery
can and does exist and inu:L3z ia.Ili[33ri, most of
which lies h;(giger north than the south part of Ne braska.  And there may be another reason for her
spasmodic efforts, to get possession, which of course
sh3 dare not avow, and which I have not seen men ned. If this bill passes, it will open to the South
immsllese new BREEDING grounds.  Why, it is one of
the finest climates in the world, for raising black and
grizzled live stock for the southern shambles, just as
Virg'nia now does and finds it much more profitable,
than cultivating her worn-out soil.
And here, let us look for a moment at the extent
of the territory, which they would fatin wrest from
us and doom everlastingly to the curse of slavery.
It covers an area of 480,000 square miles, stretch,
ing over eleven and a half degrees of latitude, up to
the British parallel of forty-nine, and west to the
Rtocky Mountains.  It is SEVEN times larger than
New England; anid much larger than all the old
thirteen States put together.  It is TEN times larger
than New  York, with a population now  of more
than 3,0CI0,000; and it might be cut up into sixty
States as large as Massachusetts, which numbers
1,000,000. So you'see there is room enough in that
single territory, for a population of 60,000,000 of
freemen without making it denser than that of our
own  glorious Commonwealth,  at this time.
'28 
Andl now, shall the solemn  compact  whlich has
stood unquest"ioned thirty-four years, as a barrier
'agaiinst the further extension of sl.Tery in that quarter, be br'oken down to let in the black and desolating torrent, and that by Northern votes! (for it
cannot be done without them.)  The final vote onthe
Nebraska bill, will decide, as fitr as human foresight
can reach, whether new territory, large enough for
an Empire, shall be consecrated to freedomn, justice
and hulnanity, to all generations, or whether the pall
which already shrouds half the land, shall spread its
black folds over all this wide and fair domain, also,
up to the springs of Misisouri. It is, whether free
soil shall be protected any where, from the Mll-grasping encroachments of our Southern masters.
If the bill passes, what is to hinder then from scaling the Rocky Mountains, and taking possession of
thalt vast fertile slope, on the other side, which looks
away to where the sun goes down in the broad Pacific?
"'VWhy not let them do it?" Does any one, who
dares to call his soul his own, as,k why not? Just for a
moment bring the two systems of freedom and slave ry to~ethe r f-ce to fAe.  Lot him look first at the
one and then at the other, and if his conscience eces
not choke him, let him ask us why.  If Nebraska re mains the undisputed home of freedom, then it will
be overspread by a vast industrious population, free
as the air they breathe; and with their own strong
arms turning( the wilderness into ( fruitftil field.
Then, like New England, itwill be dotted all over with
churches and schools and colleg,es and retreats for the
insane, the blind, the mute, and the unfortunate of
every class.'lhen will the poorest as well as the
richest, be protected in the enjoyment of all their
social, civil and religious rights.  Under the smiles
29 
30
of heaven, great and prosperous States will spring
up. Water and steam will do the work of more
millions, in all branches of manufacturing and me  chanical industry, than the Autocrat of all the Rus  sias can number in his Empire. The Gospel will be
preached in ten thousand pulpits, throughout that vast
domain; heaven will smile upon all its free and glo  rious institutions, and as the mnillennial dawn opens
and "shines more and more," songs of salutation will
make the arches of the sky ring with the joy of num bers almost nuinberless, uninterrupted by the wailings
of a single slave.
But, on the other hand, slavery, if it gets possession
of Nebraska, will bring along with it, its bloody code
of laws; its handcuffs; its scourages; its dogs for
hunting down runaways; its licentiousness, against
which slaves have no protection; its brutal ignorance;
its hard bondage; its unrequited toil; its refusal of
the holy sanctions of the marriage covenant; the
rending at will of all the ties of natural affection;
the slave pens where churches and school-houses and
hospitals-ought to stand; the slave traders, buying up
all the black cattle they can find, at the lowest prices,
for transportation to the rice swamps and cotton fields.
And, 0! then will be heard the shrieks of distracted mothers, as their children are torn fromtheir arms
and sold into everlasting bondage; the sobbing of
the poor creatures, men and women, who would have
been husbands and wives if the law would let them,
sold like brute beasts, and separated forever!
But I forbear.  "My soul is sick."  I cannot look
at the picture without horror; I am sure all your
sympathies are with me in this matter.  But you ask,
"What can we do? We are but few, away off here
among these mountains, and the power is in hands 
31
entirely beyond our reach."  Surely, what can we
do?-but there is never a crisis, in which we cannot
do something. When the Government was about
driving away the Choctaws and Cherokees from their
homes and their father's sepulchers, happening to
meet that noble-hearted Christian philanthropist,
Jeremiah Evarts, I asked him what we could do for
our poor red brethren in their extremity. "What
can we do," was his answer, "We can go out into the
streets and cry murder."
Blessed be God, this is not all we can do, at the
present critical juncture. There is a power, above
all human combinations and encroachments, to which
we can appeal. We can pray, as Daniel did, to the
God of heaven, to turn back our captivity and save us,
How-ever lightly the slave power, now in Congress,
may think of such an appeal, it is one which has been
'mighty through God to the pulling down of strong
holds."
There is and always has been a power in effectual,
fervent prayer, which takes hold of Omnipotence,
and has a thousand times prevailed against craft and
violence. Mary Queen of Scotts, was heard to say
that she was more afraid of John Knox's prayers
than of 10,000 rebels in military array. And well
she might be, for he "had power with God," and pre
vailed. Prayer is a sure resort in times of imminent
peril.  If all1 the people in the free States who have
an interest at the throne of Grace, who love justice
and "'hate robbery," would cry mightily unto God in
their public assemblies, in their families, and in their
closets, at this crisis, I have no doubt the Nebraska bill
would be defeated.
It is well known, I believe, that in the technical
Sense of the term, I am no abolitionist.  I wish I could
#I 
32
say the s.ine  of Mr. Dcug'ass, and those whlo.ct
wsith him, but! c r,nnot help rCgal Erg antn A Lo v cold
break down the defences of friee territory, as the
most dangerous ABOLITIO.XNISTS in the country. I hate
slavery, with aIll m)y lheal t, (nd piy C od tiht it IIt y
never gain anlothler foot of land on this continent.
While this iniquitous bill is pending, I say remon strate, protest, agitate to the last hour.  Ilad I
strength adequate to the= task, I would go out and
plead against it, wherever I could gain a hearing; but
my old voice is almost worn out.  "'The wheel is too
near being'broken at the cistern."  I call upon you
that are younger to ascend to every hll top, and
blow the trumpet of freedom long and loud.
This is eminently a great  n.c,al and religious
question, in its bearings upon all coming generations.
It'sinks party politics entirely out of sight.  If I had
a hundred voices, and could mnake them reach all the
thousands of my clerical brethren in the land, I would
earnestly a-k, "Who knoweth but that you are come
to the stations which you occupy, for su-,eh a time as
this?"  Can you ref-aiu fiorn publicly remonstrating
against the great wrong and danger of violating the
public faith solemnly pledged in the M'issouri Comipromise, and opening an almost boundless new territory
for the entrance and spread of slavery? There cannot be a question what our fathers of'76, in the
ministry would do if they were on the stage, and
shall we not prove ourselves worthy to be called
their sons?