ing the fruit desired by its author.' The evident intention of the slave-holders, assisted by the President and the Chief Justice, to nationalize slavery, increased the sense of its offensiveness; and the denial of the obvious meaning of the vital doctrine of the Declaration of Independence awakened in the breast of the people, especially in the Free-labor States, strong desires for removing from the national escutcheon the horrid stain of human bondage.' The Legislatures of several Free-labor States adopted measures to prevent, by lawful means, its most injurious actions, and in a special manner to prevent the carrying away of free persons of color into slavery, the law denying the right of the alleged fugitive to trial by jury. The Legislature of New York reaffirmed the determination of the State authorities to make every slave free that should be brought involuntarily within its borders, and denounced the opinion of the Chief Justice, which denied citizenship to men of color. Ohio passed a bill of similar character; and Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin took strong ground in favor of the freedom of the slave, without assuming an attitude of actual resistance to the obnoxious Act, which all were bound to obey so long as it remained unrepealed. These "Personal Liberty Laws," as they were called, exasperated the slave-holders, and they were used by the politicians as a pretext, as it was intended they should be, for kindling the flames of civil war. At about the same time a "National Emancipation Society" was formed at Cleveland, Ohio [August 26, 1857], having for its object the maturing of a plan for ending slavery by the purchase of the slaves by the National government.

against what it was pleased to call the odious British doctrine of "the right of search," and the British government, for "prudential reasons," put a stop to it, and laid the blame on the officers of the cruisers.

1 See page 521.

When the Declaration of Independence was promulgated, its precepts struck at the root of human bondage in every form; and efforts were made, in several States, to eradicate the institution, sometimes in the form of propositions for immediate, and at others for gradual, emancipation. It had been expelled from England by the decision of Lord Mansfield, just before the kindling of the American Revolution. This decision was in the case of James Somerset, a native of Africa, who was carried to Virginia, and sold as a slave, taken to England by his master, and there induced to assert his freedom. The first case of a similar nature on record in England was in 1697, when it was held that negroes "being usually bought and sold among merchants, as merchandise, and also being infidels, there might be a property in them sufficient to maintain trover.” This position was overruled by Chief Justice Holt, who decided that "so soon as a negro lands in England, he is free." To this decision Cowper alludes, when he says, "Slaves cannot breathe in England." In 1702, Justice Holt also decided that "there is no such thing as a slave by the law of England." In 1729, an opinion was obtained, that “negroes legally enslaved elsewhere might be held as slaves in England, and that baptism was no bar to the master's claim." This was held as good law until Mansfield's decision above mentioned.

In the English colonies in America, the most enlightened men, regarding slavery with great disfavor, made attempts from time to time to limit or to eradicate it. The utterances and actions of George Washington, Henry Laurens, Thomas Jefferson, and other slave-holders, and of Dr. Franklin, John Jay, and many other leading patriots, directly refute the assertion of Judge Taney, that in their time Africans by descent "were never thought or spoken of except as property." Among the important public acts of those men so misrepresented, was the famous Ordinance of 1787 [see page 362], adopted before the National Constitution was framed, which was the final result of an effort commenced in the Continental Congress some years before [1784] to restrict slavery. That action was in relation to a plan for the government of the Western Territory, then including the whole region west of the old thirteen States, as far south as the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and embracing several of the late Slave-labor States. The plan was submitted by a committee, of which Thomas Jefferson was chairman. It contemplated the ultimate division of that territory into seventeen States, eight of them below the latitude of the present city of

The attention of the public mind was somewhat diverted for a while from the absorbing topic of slavery by the movements of the Mormons in Utah,' early in 1857. Incensed because their Territory was not admitted as a State, they commenced revolutionary proceedings. They destroyed the records of the United States Court for the District; and under the instructions of their Governor and spiritual head, Brigham Young,' they looked to him for all laws. The President determined to enforce those of the United States. He appointed Colonel Cumming Governor of Utah, and sent an army to uphold his authority. Young issued a proclamation, declaring his intention to resist the troops; but when Cumming arrived there, in April, 1858, while the army was at Fort Bridger, Young received him with courtesy, and surrendered to him the Seal of the Territory; at the same time he and his people prepared to leave the country, declaring that they would emigrate to a new land rather than submit to military and Gentile rule. The troops, who had lost a provision train, destroyed by the Mormons, were recalled; the "Mormon War" ended, and Young and his people were soon again applying for the admission of their Territory as a State. They are yet [1867] unsuccessful. Polygamy is the hindrance.

The autumn of 1859 was the witness of a most extraordinary excitement on the subject of slavery. The feverishness in the public mind, produced by the discussions of that topic, had somewhat subsided, and there was unusual calmness in the political atmosphere. Utah was quiet; difficulties which had arisen between our government and that of Paraguay, in South America, had been settled, and the Indian troubles on the Pacific coast were drawing to a close. Walker's fillibustering operations against Nicaragua were losing much of their interest in consequence of his failures, and the National Legislature, during its short session, had been much engaged in action upon the Pacific Railway, Homestead, Soldiers' Pension, and other bills of national interest. The summer had passed away in general quietude throughout the country, and the weary in the political field were hoping for rest, when the whole nation was startled, as by a terrific thunder-peal, by an announcement from Balti

Louisville, in Kentucky. Among the rules for the government of that region, reported by Mr. Jefferson, was the following: "That after the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been convicted to be personally guilty." This clause was stricken out [April 19, 1784], on motion of Mr. Spaight, of North Carolina, seconded by Mr. Read, of South Carolina. A majority of the States were against striking it out, but the Articles of Confederation required a vote of nine States to carry a proposition. See Journals of Congress. In the Ordinance of 1787 [see page 362], this rule, omitting the words, "after the year 1800 of the Christian era," was incorporated.

1 See page 504.

The successor of Joseph Smith [page 504], who was duly appointed Governor of Utah by President Fillmore in 1850, and yet (1867) holds that position.

3 Early in 1862 they formed a new State Constitution, elected senators and representatives under it, and applied for admission when Congress assembled, near the close of the year. No action was had on the application: but Congress passed a law "to punish and prevent the practice of polygamy in the Territories of the United States," and in other places, and disapproving and annulling certain acts of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah. The law against polygamy is a dead letter in our statute-books.

4 Page 525.

Page 525.

more [October 17, 1859] that "an insurrection had broken out at Harper's Ferry,' where an armed band of Abolitionists have full possession of the Government Arsenal." This was the celebrated "John Brown's Raid," which kindled a blaze of intense excitement throughout the Slave-labor States, and revived the "slavery agitation" with fiercest intensity.

The outline of the story of "John Brown's Raid" may be given in few words. Brown' had acted and suffered much in Kansas during the civil war there, where he was a prominent anti-slavery man. He was enthusiastic, fanatical, and brave, and believed himself to be the destined liberator of the slaves in our land. He went into Canada from Kansas by way of Detroit, with a few followers and twelve slaves from Missouri, whom he led to freedom in the dominions of the British Queen. At Chatham he held a convention [May 8, 1859], whereat a "Provisional Constitution and Ordinances for the People of the United States" was adopted, not, as the instrument itself declared, for the overthrow of any government, "but simply to amend and repeal;” adding, "and our flag shall be the same that our fathers fought under in the Revolution." It was part of a scheme for an uprising of the slaves for the obtaining of their freedom.

The summer of 1859 was spent in preparations for a decisive movement, and Brown finally hired a farm a few miles from Harper's Ferry, where he was known by the name of Smith. There a few followers stealthily congregated, and pikes and other weapons were gathered, and ammunition was provided, for the purpose of striking the first blow against slavery in Virginia. The appointed time for delivering that blow was Sunday evening, the 16th of October, when Brown, moving in profound darkness, with seventeen white and five colored men, entered the little village of Harper's Ferry, extinguished the public lights, seized the armory and the railway bridge, and quietly arrested and imprisoned in the government buildings citizens as they appeared in the streets, one by one, in the morning, ignorant of what had happened. The news soon went abroad. Virginia militia flocked to the rescue, and in the course of twenty-four hours Colonel Robert E. Lee was there with government troops and cannon. Struggles between the raiders and the militia and citizens resulted in several deaths. Two of Brown's sons were killed, and the leader was captured. He expected a general uprising of the negroes in that region, but was disappointed. He was indicted for exciting slaves to insurrection,

1 At the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, in Virginia, where the united streams burst through the Blue Ridge. There was a National armory, in which a large quantity of arms were stored at the time we are considering.

John Brown was born in Farmington, Connecticut, on the 9th of May, 1800. When he was five years of age his family settled in Hudson, Ohio, and, as a cattle-driving boy, he was at the surrender of Hull at Detroit, in 1812. His school education was meager, and he learned the trade of tanner and currier. He commenced studying for the ministry, but weak eyes compelled him to desist. He worked at his trade and farming in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. He engaged extensively in wool dealing, and on account of that business went to Europe, incurring heavy loss, and returning a bankrupt. He moved from place to place, and finally went to Kansas with sons by his first wife, where he was active in public matters. He became an abolitionist in early life, and the conviction that he was to be a liberator of the slaves possessed him so early as 1839. He was twice married, and had seven children by his first wife and thirteen by his last, who yet [1867] survives him.

and for treason and murder. He was tried and found guilty [October 29], and was executed on the 2d of December, under the laws of Virginia.

The most exaggerated reports concerning this raid went abroad. Terror spread over Virginia. Its Governor (Henry A. Wise) was almost crazy with excitement, and incurred the pity and ridicule of the whole country.' Throughout the Slave-labor States there was a wide-spread apprehension of slave insurrections, and every man there from the Free-labor States was suspected of being an emissary of the abolitionists. Attempts were made to implicate leaders of the Republican party, and the inhabitants of the Free-labor States generally, in this scheme for liberating the slaves. The author of the Fugitive Slave law, James M. Mason, was chairman of a committee of the United States Senate appointed to investigate the matter; and Clement L. Vallandigham, of Ohio, then a member of the Lower House, volunteered to aid in proving the charge against the people of the North. The result was positive proof that Brown had no accomplices, and only about twenty followers. Although Brown's mad attempt to free the slaves was a total failure in itself, it proved to be one of the important events which speedily brought about the result he so much desired.

2

The elections in 1858 and 1859 indicated a remarkable and growing strength in the Republican party, and it was evident to the slave-holders that their domination in the councils of the nation would speedily end. They saw no chance for the election of another President of their choice, and the leaders of that powerful oligarchy, who had been for years conspiring for the overthrow of the Republic by a dissolution of the Union, so as to establish the great slave empire of their dreams within the Golden Circle, perceived that they must strike the blow during or at the immediate close of Mr. Buchanan's administration, or perhaps never. They must have a pretext for the crime, and they set diligently to work to create one more specious than the opposition to the Fugitive Slave law would afford. They were in full political alliance with the

1 The excited Governor was prepared, according to his own words, to make war upon all the Free-labor States, for the honor of Virginia. In a letter to the President [Nov. 25, 1859], after saying that he had good authority for the belief that a conspiracy to rescue John Brown existed in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and other States, he said:-I protest that my purpose is peaceful, and that I disclaim all threats when I say, with all the might of meaning, that if another invasion assails this State or its citizens from any quarter, I will pursue the invaders wherever they may go, into any territory, and punish them wherever arms can reach them. I shall send a copy of this to the Governors of Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.-Autograph Letter. Before the close of the late civil war, of which Wise was one of the fomenters, a daughter of John Brown was a teacher of a school of colored children in the ex-Governor's house, near Norfolk, Virginia, then in possession of the government.

Wise was willing to find victims to "punish" by secret and dishonorable means. In a letter to the President, written twelve days before [November 13] the one above cited, he asked the Executive and the Postmaster-General to aid him in a scheme for seizing and taking to Virginia Frederick Douglas, an eminent and widely-known colored citizen, who had escaped from slavery many years before, and was then living in the western part of the State of New York, though Wise, as appears by the letter, supposed him to be in Michigan. Douglas was an eloquent and influential pleader for the emancipation of his race, and was feared and intensely hated by the slave-holders. He was guilty of no crime-no act that a slave-holder could complain of but escape from bondage. That was a crime quite sufficient for the crazy Governor of Virginia to have justified himself in hanging Douglas on the same gallows with John Brown.

* Page 521.

3

Page 520.

Democratic party then in power, and might, by acting with it in good faith, and electing a President of its choice in 1860, maintain its possession of the government for some time longer, but with no certainty of a lasting tenure, for a large faction of that party, under the leadership of Senator Douglas, showed tangible proclivities toward affiliation with the opponents of slavery. So the leaders of the oligarchy resolved to destroy the supremacy of that party, and allow the Republicans to elect their candidate, whoever he might be, and thus, with the pretext that he was a sectional President, and an enemy to the institution of slavery, they might, with plausible appeals to the dominating passions of their class, "fire the Southern heart," and make a successful revolution possible. This was a plan formed by conspirators like Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; John Slidell and Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisiana; William L. Yancey, of Alabama; Robert Toombs and Howell Cobb, of Georgia; the Rhetts, W. P. Miles, and L. M. Keitt, of South Carolina; T. Clingman, of North Carolina; D. L. Yulee, of Florida; Louis T. Wigfall, of Texas; and James M. Mason and R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, who appeared most prominently as actors at the opening of the late rebellion. These men, as the ordeal to which their wickedness soon exposed them proved, were lacking in the true elements which constitute statesmen, but had for years assumed the character of such, and were self-constituted leaders of opinion and action in the more southern Slave-labor States, to the mortal hurt of the deceived people.

Almost six hundred chosen representatives of the Democratic party assembled in convention in the hall of the South Carolina Institute, in Charleston, South Carolina, on the 23d of April, 1860, for the purpose of nominating candidates for the Presidency and VicePresidency of the Republic. It was evident from the first hour of the session that the spirit of the slave system was there, full of mischief, and as potential as Ariel in the creation of elementary strife. For months there had been premonitions of

SOUTH CAROLINA INSTITUTE.

a storm which might topple from its foundations the organization known as the Democratic party. Violent discordant elements were now in close contact, and all felt that a fierce tempest was impending.

Caleb Cushing, of Massachusetts, was chosen the Chairman of the Convention. The choice was in accordance with the wishes of the slave-holders. In his inaugural speech Mr. Cushing declared it to be the "high and noble part of the Democratic party of the Union to withstand-to strike down and con