[Cold, rainy weather.] Barton I suppose will not go today —
nor Coalter, who rides his (B[arton]'s) saddle horse, while B.[arton] drives
his new horses. Right of Search.9
Carlisle's [sic] Frederick
the Great, Vol 2. 524 — Citing the Gentlemen's Magazine for 1739. p 103 — A
notable instance in which popular influence is brought to bear upon the English
Ministry and Parliament. The object was to force England into war with Spain —
for maritime ‘outrages’ in the American seas. The Spaniards claimed the right
of search and, in some instances enforced it with cruel insolence — as in the
case of the English Capt. Jenkins, who was boarded by a Spanish garda costa off the coast of Florida,
his vessel rum[m]aged and plundered, and himself grossly abused — whipped, half-hanged,
and one ear cut off—. This led to the Spanish war and the overthrow of
Walpole's long administration. The ministry was against the war mitigated the
outrages as far as possible, and insisted on peace. But public opinion
prevailed against the power of the crown, removed the minister and made the
war.
[A clipping from a
Missouri newspaper giving "By telegraph from Washington" Senator
Douglas's letter of June 22 stating the conditions upon which he would be
willing to have his name presented to the Democratic National Convention as a
candidate for President. They were: Adherence to the principles of the
Compromise Measures of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, and the
Cincinnati Platform of 1856, "as expounded by Mr. Buchanan in his letter accepting
the nomination." He will not accept the nomination, if the platform
thrusts into the party creed new issues such as a revival of the African Slave
Trade or the doctrine that the Constitution of the United States either
establishes or prohibits slavery in the Territories of the United States.']
As long ago as Nov:, 58, in private letters to Mr. Welling10
of the Nat:[ional] Intel [ligencejr. and Mr. Kidgway of the Richmond Whig
(besides in several newspaper articles previously) I assumed that Mr. D.[ouglas]
was in position to dictate to his party; as the southern democrats needed him
quite as much as he needed them. This letter is the dictation, and his party
must obey him or dissolve itself.
Mr. D.[ouglas] however is no statesman. He is only a very
cunning politician. He can never succeed before the whole people, without
presenting some absorbing question to make them forget his anticedents [sic].
In order to keep in with present rulers and present popular whims, he has lent
his name to extreme notions and fantastic propositions [.]
1. He is the author of the "Wilmot proviso" in the
joint resolution, for the admission of Texas. 1845[.] Also in the Oregon
territorial bill.
2. He introduced a bill to create the State of California
and thrust it into the Union.
3. To pander to Prest: Pierce'[s] silly scruples, he
proposed to improve harbors by local tonnage duties[.]
4. He holds that according to the Dred Scot[t] case, the
Constitution carries slavery into the Territories. And yet he holds that slavery
being there by force of the constitution, still, Congress, must not protect it
there. But, notwithstanding its constitutional existance [sic] there, still, he
holds that the Territorial Legislature can exclude it.
5. On Prest: Buchanan's demand of a grant of the war power —
the right to use the army and navy to redress the wrongs of our people in
Mexico and on the Isthmus — Mr. D.[ouglas] said in debate, that the Prest:
ought not only to have the particular power now demanded from Congress, but
every where and always.
Note. This last is referred to in the able speech of Senator
Dixon11 of Cont. on the 30.000.000 bill12 — see Nat[ional]
Intel:[ligencer] June 30. 1859.
6. Mr. D.[ouglas] being for a long time, chairman of the
Com[mitt]ee. on Territories and as such having the drawing of the Organic acts,
habitually introduced clauses importing that the Constitution was the law of
the Territories — and that the Territories themselves are a part of the U. S. (see specially the Nebraska act §'s 6 and
14.)
Moreover, (see same §6) power is granted to the legislature
over " all rightful subjects of legislation consistent with the
Constitution of the U. S. and the provisions of this act?'' Other acts, it
seems, may be overridden at pleasure.
The § 14. declares that the Constitution and laws of the U.
S. not locally inapplicable shall have the same force in the Territory of
N.[ebraska] as elsewhere within the U. S. Except, &c (the Mo. Compromise).
But the proviso (Badger's13) declares that nothing herein contained
shall be construed to revive or put in force any law or regulation
[legislation] which may have existed prior to 20[6] Mar:[ch] 1820 either
protecting[,] establishing, prohibiting or abolishing slavery.
Note.14 In Harper's Monthly Magazine for Sept. 1859, Mr.
Douglas comes out in an elaborate article upon Slavery in the Territories15
which being reduced to its elements, is nothing more nor less than Mr. Cass'
old notion of Squatter Sovereignty.
Note again16 — The Nat[iona]l. Intelligencer17 has come
out in a series of articles (editorial) not professing to answer Mr. D.[ouglas]
but answering him effectually, both by argument and by historical references.
[A reprint from the London Photographic News of a paragraph
announcing the "Extraordinary Discovery" that sounds can be
photographed.']
When this is brought to pass, we shall realise the thought
of the Poet—
" Where Truth in person doth
appear,
Like words congeal'd in northern
air[.] "
and this other thought —
"He out of words could extract
matter,
And keep it in a glass, like
water."
_______________
9 In red pencil.
10 Supra, June 20, 1859, note 3.
11 James Dixon of Hartford, Connecticut: Whig
congressman, 1845— 1849: Republican U. S. senator, 1857-1869; strong supporter
of Lincoln in the War and of Johnson in Reconstruction. This speech against the
acquisition of Cuba on the ground that it was a scheme to further slave
interests was one of his best efforts.
12 Supra, April 20, 1859, note 4.
13 George E. Badger of North Carolina: secretary
of the Navy, 1841; Whig U. S. senator, 1846-1855; opponent of the War with Mexico,
of the Wilmot Proviso, of "squatter sovereignty," and of secession: a
pro-slavery nationalist who supported the Compromise of 1850 and the
Kansas-Nebraska Act.
14 Added later.
15 Stephen A. Douglas, "The Dividing Line
between Federal and Local Authority. Popular Sovereignty in the
Territories," Harper's New Monthly Magazine, XIX (September, 1859),
519-537.
16 Added still later.
17 Sept. 10, 13, 15, 17, and 20, 1859.
SOURCE: Howard K. Beale, Editor, Annual Report of
The American Historical Association For The Year 1930, Vol. 4, The Diary Of
Edward Bates, pp. 26-9
