To us

products. I believe that they are necessary to the ful development of our whole round of agricultural and mechanical resources; that they are necessary to the restoration of the South to an equality of power in the Federal Government, perhaps to the very integrity of slave society, disturbed as it has been by causes which have introduced an undue proportion of the ruling race. have been committed the fortunes of this peculiar form of society resulting from the union of unequal races. It has vindicated its claim to the approbation of an enlightened humanity; it has civilized and christianized the African; it has exalted the white race to higher hopes and purposes, and it is perhaps of the most sacred obligation that we should give it the means of expansion, and that we should press it forward to a perpetuity of progress.

On the 12th of June, 1856, Mr. Hamlin rose in his place in the Senate, and spoke as follows: Mr. Hamlin. Mr. President, I rise for a purpose purely personal, such as I have never before risen for in the Senate. I desire to explain some matters personal to myself and to my own future course in public life. Several Senators.-Go on.

Mr. Hamlin.-I ask the Senate to excuse me from further service as Chairman of the Committee on Commerce. I do so because I feel that my relations hereafter will be of such a character as to render it proper that I should no longer hold that position. I owe this act to the dominant majority in the Senate. When I cease to harmonize with the majority, or tests are applied by that party with which I have acted to which I cannot submit, I feel that I ought no longer to hold that respectable position. I propose to state briefly the reasons which have brought me to that conclusion.

During nine years of service in the Senate, I have preferred rather to be a working than a talking member; and so I have been almost a silent one. On the subjects which have so much agitated the country, Senators know that I have rarely uttered a word. I love my country more than I love my party. I love my country above my love for any interest that can too deeply agitate or disturb its harmony. I saw, in all the exciting scenes and debates through which we have passed, no particular good that would result from my active intermingling in them. My heart has often been full, and the impulses of that heart have often been felt upon my lips; but I have repressed them there.

Sir, I hold that the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was a gross moral and political wrong, unequaled in the annals of the legislation of this country, and hardly equaled in the annals of any other free country. Still, sir, with a desire to promote harmony and concord and brotherly feeling, I was a quiet man under all the exciting debates which led to that fatal result. I believed it wrong then; I can see that wrong lying broadcast all around us now. As a wrong, I opposed that measurenot, indeed, by my voice, but with consistent and steady and uniform votes. I so resisted it in obedience to the dictates of my own judgment. I did it also cheerfully, in compliance with the instructions of the legislature of Maine, which were passed by a vote almost unanimous. In the House of Representatives of Maine, consisting of one hundred and fifty-one members, only six, I think, dissented; and in the Senate, consisting of thirty-one members, only one member non-concurred.

But the Missouri restriction was abrogated. The portentous evils that were predicted have followed, and are yet following, along in its train. It was done, sir, in violation of the pledges of that party with which I have always acted, and with which I have always voted. It was done in violation of solemn pledges of the President of the United States, made in his Inaugural Address. Still, sir, I was disposed to suffer the wrong,,while I should see that no evil results were flowing from it. We were told, by almost every Senator who addressed us upon that occasion, that no evil results would follow; that no practical difference in the settlement of the country, and in the character of the future State, would take place, whether the act were done or not. I have waited calmly and patiently to see the fulfillment of that prediction; and I am grieved, sir, to say now that they have at least been mistaken in their predictions and promises. They have all signally failed.

That Senators might have voted for that measure under

the belief then expressed and the predictions to which I have alluded, I can well understand. But how Senators can now defend that measure amid all its evils, which are overwhelming the land, if not threatening it with a conflagration, is what I do not comprehend. The whole of the disturbed state of the country has its rise in, and is attributable to that act alone-nothing else. It lies at the foundation of all our misfortunes and commotions. There would have been no incursions by Missouri borderers into Kansas, either to establish Slavery, or to control elections. There would have been no necessity, either, for others to have gone there partially to aid in preserv ing the country in its then condition. All would have been peace there. Had it not been done, that repose and quiet which pervaded the public mind then, would hold it in tranquillity to-day. Instead of startling events we should have quiet and peace within our borders, and that fraternal feeling which ought to animate the citizens of every part of the Union toward those of all other sections.

Sir, the events that are taking place around us are indeed startling. They challenge the public mind and appeal to the public judgment; they thrill the public nerve as electrity imparts a tremulous motion to the telegraphic wire. It is a period when all good men should unite in applying the proper remedy to secure peace and harmony to the country. Is this to be done by any of us, by remaining associated with those who have been instru mental in producing these results, and who now justify them? I do not see my duty lying in that direction.

I have, while temporarily acquiescing, stated here and at home, everywhere, uniformly, that when the test of those measures was applied to me as one of party fidelity, I would sunder them as flax is sundered at the touch of fire. I do it now.

The occasion involves a question of moral duty; and self-respect allows me no other line of duty but to follow the dictates of my own judgment and the impulses of my own heart. A just man may cheerfully submit to many enforced humiliations; but a self-degraded man has ceased to be worthy to be deemed a man at all.

Sir, what has the recent Democratic Convention at Cincinnati done? It has indorsed the measure I have condemned, and has sanctioned its destructive and ruinous effects. It has done more-vastly more. That principle or policy of Territorial Sovereignty which once had, and which I suppose now has, its advocates within these walls, is stricken-down; and there is an absolute denial of it in the resolutions of the Convention, if I can draw right conclusions—a denial equally to Congress, and even to the people of the Territories, of the right to settle the question of Slavery therein. On the contrary, the Convention has actually incorporated into the platform of the Democratic party that doctrine which, only a few years ago, met nothing but ridicule and contempt here and elsewhere, namely: that the flag of the Federal Union, under the Constitution of the United States, carries Slavery wherever it floats. If this baleful principle be true, then that National Ode which inspires us always as on a battle-field, should be re-written by Drake, and should read thus:

"Forever float that standard sheet;

Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With Slavery's soil beneath our feet,

And Slavery's banner streaming o'er us ?" Now, sir, what is the precise condition in which this matter is left by the Cincinnati Convention? I do not

design to trespass many moments on the Senate; but allow me to read and offer a very few comments upon some portions of the Democratic platform. The first resolution that treats upon the subject is in these wordsI read just so much of it as is applicable to my present Remarks:

"That Congress has no power under the Constitution to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, and that all such States are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs not prohibited by the Constitution."

I take it that this language, thus far, is language which meets a willing and ready response from every Senator here-certainly it does from me. But in the following resolution I find these words:

"Resolved, That the foregoing proposition covers, and was intended to embrace, the whole subject of Slavery agitation in Congress."

The first resolution which I read was adopted years ago in Democratic Conventions. The second resolution which I read was adopted in subsequent years, when a different state of things had arisen, and it became necessary to apply an abstract proposition relating to the States, to the Territories. Hence the adoption of the language contained in the second Resolution which I have read.

Take all these resolutions together, and the deduction which we must necessarily draw from them is a denial to Congress of any power whatever to legislate upon the subject of Slavery. The last resolution denies to the people of the Territories any power over that subject, save when they shall have a sufficient number to form a constitution and become a State, and also denies that Congress has any power over the subject; and so the resolutions hold that this power is at least in abeyance while the Territory is in a Territorial condition. That is the only conclusion which you can draw from these resolutions. Alas! for short-lived Territorial Sovereignty! It came to its death in the house of its friends; it was buried by the same hands which had given it baptism!

But, sir, I did not rise for the purpose of discussing these resolutions, but only to read them, and state the action which I propose to take in view of them. I may -I probably shall-take some subsequent occasion, when I shall endeavor to present to the Senate and the country a fair account of what is the true issue presented to the people for their consideration and decision. My object now is to show only that the Cincinnati Convention has indorsed and approved of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, from which so many evils have already flowed-from which, I fear, more and worse evils must yet be anticipated. It would of course, be expected that the Presidential nominee of that Convention would accept, cordially and cheerfully, the platform prepared for him by his party friends. No person can obthe matter. I beg leave to read a short extract from a speech of that gentleman, made at his own home, within the last few days. In reply to the Keystone Club, which paid him a visit there, Mr. Buchanan said:

Follow on, and let us see what remains. Adopted as a Adopted as a part of the present platform, and as necessary to a new state of things, and to meet an emergency now existing, the Convention says:

"The American Democracy recognize and adopt the principles contained in the organic law establishing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, as embodying the only sound and safe solution of the Slavery question, upon which the great national idea of the people of this whole country can repose, in its determined conservatism of the Union-non-interference by Congress with Slavery in the States and Territories."

Then follows the last resolution:

"Resolved, That we recognize the right of the people of all the "Resolved, That we recognize the right of the people of all the Territories, including Kansas and Nebraska, acting through the fairly-expressed will of the majority of actual residents, and whenever the number of their inhabitants justifies it, to form a constitution, with or without domestic Slavery, and be admitted into the Union upon terms of perfect equality with the other States."

"Gentlemen, two weeks since I should have made you a longer speech; but now I have been placed on a platform of which I most heartily approve, and that can speak for me. Being the representative of the great Democratic party, and not simply James Buchanan, I must square my conduct aocording to the platform of the party, and insert no new plank, nor take one from it.”

These events leave to me only one unpleasant duty, which is to declare here that I can maintain political associations with no party that insists upon such doctrines; that I can support no man for President who avows and recognizes them; and that the little of that power with which God has endowed me shall be employed to battle manfully, firmly, and consistently for his defeat, demanded as it is by the highest interests of the country which owns all my allegiance.

The President.-The question is on the motion of the Senator from Maine to be excused from further service on the Committee on Commerce.

The motion was agreed to.

MESSRS. LINCOLN AND HAMLIN ACCEPT.

THE following is the correspondence between the officers of the Republican National Convention and the candidates thereof for President and Vice-President:

CHICAGO, May 18, 1860,

JOEL BURLINGAME, of Oregon,

FRANCIS S. CORKRAN, of Maryland,
NORMAN B. JUDD, of Illinois,
N. B. SMITHERS, of Delaware,
WM. H. MCCRILLIS, of Maine,
Alfred CALDWELL, of Virginia,
CALEB B. SMITH, of Indiana,
Austin Blair, of Michigan,
WM. P. CLARKE, of Iowa,
B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri,
F. P. TRACY, of California,
E. D. WEBSTER, of Nebraska,

G. A. HALL, of District of Columbia,
JOHN A. ANDREW, of Massachusetts,
A. H. REEDER, of Pennsylvania.
SPRINGFILD, ILL., May 28, 1860.
HON. GEORGE ASHMUN, President of the Republican
National Convention.

SIR: I accept the nomination tendered me by the Convention over which you presided, and of which I am

formally apprised in the letter of yourself and others, acting as a Committee of the Convention for that purpose.

The declaration of principles and sentiments, which accompanies your letter, meets my approval; and it shall be my care not to violate, or disregard it, in any part.

Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, and with due regard to the views and feelings of all who were represented in the Convention; to the rights of all the States, and Territories, and people of the nation; to the inviolability of the Constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony and prosperity of all, I am most happy to cooperate for the practical success of the principles declared by the Convention.

Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

A similar letter was sent to the nominee for the Vice-Presidency, to which the following is the reply.

WASHINGTON, May 30, 1860. GENTLEMEN: Your official communication of the 18th instant, informing me that the representatives of the Republican party of the United States, assembled at Chicago, on that day, had, by a unanimous vote, selected me as their candidate for the office of Vice-President of the United States, has been received, together with the resolutions adopted by the Convention as its declaration of principles.

Those resolutions enunciate clearly and forcibly the principles which unite us, and the objects proposed to be accomplished. They address themselves to all, and there is neither necessity nor propriety in my entering upon a discussion of any of them. They have the approval of my judgment, and in any action of mine will be faithfully and cordially sustained.

I am profoundly grateful to those with whom it is my pride and pleasure politically to coöperate, for the nomination so unexpectedly conferred; and I desire to tender through you, to the members of the Convention, my sincere thanks for the confidence thus reposed in me. Should the nomination, which I now accept, be ratified by the people, and the duties devolve upon me of presiding over the Senate of the United States, it will be my earnest endeavor faithfully to discharge them with a just regard for the rights of all,

It is to be observed, in connection with the doings of the Republican Convention, that a paramount object with us is to preserve the normal condition of our Territotorial Domain as homes for Free men. The able advocate and defender of Republican principles, whom you have nominated for the highest place that can gratify the ambition of man, comes from a State which has been made what it is, by special action, in that respect, of the wise and good men who founded our institutions. The rights of free labor have there been vindicated and maintained. The thrift and enterprise which so distinguish Illinois, one of the most flourishing States of the glorious West, we would see secured to all the Territories of the Union; and restore peace and harmony to the whole country, by bringing back the Government to what it was under the wise and patriotic men who created it. If the Republicans shall succeed in that object, as they hope to, they will be held in grateful remembrance by the busy and teeming millions of future ages.

I am, very truly yours, H. HAMLIN. The Hon. GEORGE ASHMUN, President of the Convention, and others of the Convention.

MR. BRECKINRIDGE ACCEPTS.

WASHINGTON CITY, July 6, 1860. DEAR SIR: I have your letter of the 23d ultimo, by which I am officially informed of my nomination for the office of President of the United States by the Democratic National Convention lately assembled at Baltimore.

The circumstances of this nomination will justify me in referring to its personal aspect.

I have not sought nor desired to be placed before the country for the office of President. When my name was presented to the Convention at Charleston, it was withdrawn by a friend in obedience to my expressed wishes. My views had not changed when the Convention reassembled at Baltimore, and when I heard of the differences which occurred there, my indisposition to be connected prominently with the canvass was confirmed and expressed to many friends.

Without discussing the occurrences which preceded the nominations, and which are or soon will be well understood by the country, I have only to say that I approved,

as just and necessary to the preservation of the National organization and the sacred right of representation, the action of the Convention over which you continued to preside; and thus approving it, and having resolved to sustain it, I feel that it does not become me to select the position I shall occupy, nor to shrink from the responsi bilities of the post to which I have been assigned. Accordingly, I accept the nomination from a sense of public duty, and, as I think, uninfluenced in any degree by the allurements of ambition.

I avail myself of this occasion to say that the confidence in my personal and public character implied by the action of the Convention, will always be gratefully remembered; and it is but just, also, to my own feelings, to express my gratification at the association of my name with that of my friend Gen. Lane, a patriot and a soldier, whose great services in the field and in council entitle him to the gratitude and confidence of his countrymen.

The resolutions adopted by the Convention have my cordial approval. They are just to all parts of the Union, to all our citizens, native and naturalized, and they forni a noble policy for any administration.

The questions touching the rights of persons and property, which have of late been much discussed, find in these resolutions a constitutional solution. Our Union is a Confederacy of equal sovereign States, for the purposes enumerated in the Federal Constitution. Whatever the common Government holds in trust for all the States must be enjoyed equally by each. It controls the Territories in trust for all the States. Nothing less than sovereignty can destroy or impair the rights of persons or property. The Territorial Governments are subordinate and temporary, and not sovereign; hence they cannot destroy or impair the rights of persons or property. While they continue to be Territories they are under the control of Congress, but the Constitution nowhere confers on any branch of the Federal Government the power to discriminate against the rights of the States or the property of their citizens in the Territories. It follows that the citizens of all the States may enter the Territories of the Union with their property, of whatever kind, and enjoy it during the territorial condition without let or hindrance, either by Congress or by the subordinate Territorial Governments.

These principles flow directly from the absence of sovereignty in the Territorial Governments, and from the equality of the States. Indeed, they are essential to that equality, which is, and ever has been, the vital principle of our Constitutional Union. They have been settled legislatively-settled judiciously, and are sustained by right reason. They rest on the rock of the Constitutionthey will preserve the Union.

It is idle to attempt to smother these great issues, or to misrepresent them by the use of partisan phrases, which are misleading and delusive The people will look beneath such expressions as "Intervention," ""Congressional Slave Code," and the like, and will penetrate to the real questions involved. The fiends of Constitutional equality do not and never did demand a "Congressional Slave Code," nor any other code in regard to property in the Territories. They hold the doctrine of non-intervention by Congress, or by a Territorial Legislature, either to establish or prohibit Slavery; but they assert (fortified by the highest judicial tribunal in the Union, the plain duty of the Federal Government, in all its departments, to secure, when necessary, to the citizens of all the States, the enjoyment of their property in the common Territories, as everywhere else within its jurisdiction. The only logical answer to this would seem to be to claim sovereign power for the Territories, or to deny that the Constitution recognizes property in the services of negro slaves, or to deny that such property can exist.

Inexorable logic, which works its steady way through clouds and passion, compels the country to meet the issue. There is no evasive middle ground. Already the signs multiply of a fanatical and growing party, which denies that under the Constitution, or by any other law, slave property can exist; and ultimately the struggle must come between this party and the National Democracy, sustained by all the other conservative elements in the Union.

The

I think it will be impossible for a candid mind to discover hostility to the Union or a taint of sectionalism in the resolutions adopted by the Convention. Constitution and the Union repose on the equality of the States, which lies like a broad foundation underneath our whole political structure. As I construe them, the resolutions simply assert this equality. They demand nothing for any State or section that is not cheerfully conceded to all the rest. It is well to remember that the chief disorders which have afflicted our country have grown out of the violation of State equality, and that as long as this great principle has been respected