that the Democratic Party would triumph. General Scott had been selected as candidate by the Whigs solely on account of his military services. Franklin Pierce, without national reputation, had been selected by the slave power because he would be subservient to their

Mam puti. 2 Gunng ប intell Sintroduce & measure winc: will repet tur Comuje vilust 0 352 7" sat Dougia. * nave become perAveta sausue but 11 19y ulicy, a- « air-minded mal, to co-operake M: U' 10' i lepel... £ ude the Sutra: 13 is due to the Const.tution. The impel. 1. are cal effect it, wi. prouuce much stir and coininti in tu bia Fikle lp a seasol. I soal o assale by uniuagogue an Jabaties #nutit shaft or moderation. Every opprebavu eptuet AL appuc & it. I probably shall be nung in eflig it waŭ places. As inde tual prouabic that I may become perinauet "o Kusne, wiking. Those Whose Enenusinp I nave hitherto posproccetime may end my poistical career. but, a

under the sense of duty which animates me, I am prepared to make the sacrifice, and I will do it." (4)

Having been assured that Douglas would do what Senators from the Slave States wanted done, Atchison was quite willing to remain President of the Senate.

On Sunday morning, January 22d, Senator Douglas, of Illinois, and Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, were ringing the bell at the White House. President Pierce did not attend to public business on Sunday; he did

1854.

not wish to have people call upon him on that day; but the two Senators had an important matter in hand: the Nebraska Bill, which Douglas proposed to lay before the Senate, and which, if passed, would repeal the Compromise of 1820. The President was ready to listen to their plea. "Yes, I will do all that I can to secure its passage," his welcome words.

The sun went down on May 8, 1854, with cannon thundering upon Capitol Hill, in Washington, celebrating the passage of the KansasNebraska Bill, carried through Congress by Douglas, Pierce, Davis, and

the slave-holders, opening to slavery a region of country larger than the original thirteen States of the Union.

Just what motives animated Douglas to violate his pledges never will be known. Not many people thought him to have been sincere in his declarations, but believed he was influenced by an ardent desire to be President, and attempted to secure the prize by doing what the lave-holders wanted done. He saw nothing immoral or wrong in holding slaves. Many other men in the Northern States did not regard slavery as unchristian or sinful. It might or it might not be beneficial to a community. If the people of a Territory wanted slavery as one of heir institutions, Douglas was willing they should have it.

In their estimate of the morality of the act which violated a solemn compact in order to secure the extension of slavery, Douglas, Davis, and Pierce did not stop to consider that for national wrong-doing there had been no abrogation of the eternal law: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It did not occur to them that divine Providence might have some part to enact in carrying out the plan. The booming of the cannon on Capitol Hill was heard in every city and town throughout the Northern States. It was seen that the first movement of the slaveholders would be to gain possession of Kansas, and there was therefore a determination to secure that Territory to freedom. The Free State men contemplated the establishing of towns, schools, colleges, churches, happy homes of free men and women, who should enjoy their civil and political rights under a Constitution guaranteeing freedom. The Slave Party determined to doom the beautiful region to the barbarism of slavery. The struggle began, the slave-holders of Missouri taking possession of the lands nearest the territorial line in advance of any settlers from the Free States. A society was formed in Massachusetts to aid emigrants. It was a national society, and Abraham Lincoln was one of the Executive Committee; but there is no evidence that he was actively engaged in promoting the settlement of the Territory. The first party of settlers from Massachusetts reached Kansas, and laid out the town of Lawrence, naming it in honor of Mr. Amos A. Lawrence, the president of the society. The poet Whittier wrote a

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

song which the emigrants sang as they rolled onward to their future homes:

"We cross the prairies, as of old
The Pilgrims crossed the sea,
To make the West, as they the East,
The homestead of the free.

"We go to rear a wall of men
On Freedom's Southern line,
And plant beside the cotton-tree
The rugged Northern pine.

"We go to plant her common-schools
On distant prairie swells,

And give the Sabbath of the wilds
The music of her bells."

When the time came to hold the first election, several thousand ruffians from Missouri, under the lead of Senator Atchison, armed with rifles, invaded the Territory, and elected officers favorable to slavery. A newspaper in Leavenworth announced the result with triumphant

lines:

"ALL HAIL! PRO-SLAVERY PARTY VICTORIOUS! COME ON, SOUTHERN MEN! BRING YOUR SLAVES! ABOLITIONISM REBUKED !"

The Pro-slavery Party seized William Phillips, a Free State settler, shaved his head, stripped off his clothes, daubed him with tar, ripped open a bed and rolled him in the feathers, rode him on a rail, and sold him at a mock auction. They put Rev. Mr. Butler on a raft and set him adrift on the Missouri River. The Legislature elected by the Missourians voted that the laws of their State should be the laws of Kansas. An act was passed prohibiting the printing of anything against slavery.. Any one found with a book or newspaper containing an article against slavery was to be imprisoned not less than two years, and wear a chain and ball attached to his ankle. The Governor, Wilson Shannon, appointed by President Pierce, was using his power to make it a Slave State. He ordered the militia to aid the marshal in driving out the Free State settlers. Rifles and revolvers were purchased for those who favored freedom. The Missourians kept a sharp watch on the steamboats going up the Missouri, and they were sent by team through Iowa. A pro-slavery grand-jury indicted two newspapers for printing articles against slavery. A deputy marshal of the United States,