and the free exercise of
opinion; it is that power alone which renders the advocacy of the
right of petition necessary, having seized upon all the powers of the
Government. It is fast uniting together those opposed to its iron
rule, no matter to what political party they have heretofore belonged;
they are uniting with the first class, and act from principles of
humanity and justice; and if the mists and shades of slavery were not
the atmosphere in which gentlemen were enveloped, they would see
constant and increasing numbers of our most worthy and intelligent
citizens attaching themselves to the two classes mentioned, and
rallying under the banners of abolitionism. They are compelled to go
there, if the gentleman will have it so, in order to defend and
perpetuate the liberties of the country. The hopes of the oppressed
spring up afresh from this discussion of the gentleman. The third
class, the Senator says, are those who, to accomplish their ends, act
without regard to consequences. To them, all the rights of property,
of the States, of the Union, the Senator says, are nothing. He says
they aim at other objects than those they profess--emancipation in the
District of Columbia. No, says the Senator, their object is _universal
emancipation_, not only in the District, but in the Territories and in
the States. Their object is to set free three millions of negro
slaves. Who made the Senator, in his place here, the censor of his
fellow citizens? Who authorized him to charge them with other objects
than those they profess? How long is it since the Senator himself, on
this floor, denounced slavery as an evil? What other inducements or
object had he then in view? Suppose universal emancipation to be the
object of these petitioners; is it not a noble and praiseworthy
object; worthy of the Christian, the philanthropist, the statesman,
and the citizen? But the Senator says, they (the petitioners) aim to
excite one portion of the country against another. I deny, sir, this
charge, and call for the proof; it is gratuitous, uncalled for, and
unjust towards my fellow citizens. This is the language of a stricken
conscience, seeking for the palliation of its own acts by charging
guilt upon others. It is the language of those who, failing in
argument, endeavor to cast suspicion upon the character of their
opponents, in order to draw public attention from themselves. It is
the language of disguise and concealment, and not that of fair and