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1L% S-l ZLI, if/. M
ftarbarli College ILi&rars
FROM THE
BRIGMIT LEGACY.
One half the income from this Legacy, which was
received in 1880 under the will of
JONATHAN BROWN BRIGHT
of Waltham, Massachusetts, is to be expended for
books for the College Library. The other half of the
income is devoted to schoku^hips in Harvard Uni-
versity for the benefit of descendants of
HENRY BRIGHT, JR.,
who died at Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1686. In
the absence of such descendants, other persons are
eligible to the scholarships. The will requires that
this announcement shall be made in every book added
to the Library under its provisions.
nekton Speech of
Sf
^ I ^ <. '"> ^ \'\
^<- SPEECH
COMMODORE STOCKTON.
Uriitrmb flt -Ratrraaq, lejiiember :lf, 1836.
\
' i. C '•
■n»<*»in»— Miy^»w0»«ii0^w<»w»^w^^^i^^>^iW^i^«»^^»^^^^>^^^^^«^#>^>^^Ki^i^n^<a%n<i
TRENTON: >'^*''
PRINTED BY C. W. TOLLES,
AT THE OFFICE OF THE STATE GAZETTE.
1856.
U.553 X.»X./^
SPEECH.
f^^0t^^tm^^>i
Mm or TBI AxiBioAir Paett— Amxrioans—
FmuvD0 —
We «rc indeed fHendt— bonnd together by
the same faith in the institutions of onr Fath-
ers, and by the same hopes for the preserTa-
tionof the. Constitution of the United States
tad its eompromises, and for the perpetidty of
the Union, upon whieh depend not only the
prespeHty and glory of onr oonntry, bat the
best intwests of dvil and religions liberty
throughout the world. Break this Union into
fragments, and one uniTwsal shout of joy from
despotism and infidelity will rend the air. But
I eame not here for declamation. The times
are too portentous of stU to permit a multipli-
cation of words without wisdom. I haTO no
wisdom— my oration must therefore be brief.
Fellow GiUsens, There may be many profes-
sional poliUcians in New Jersey, whose impor-
tanoe depends entirely upon the sueoess of their
, party, and a prompt and serrile obedienee to
that oligarchT of politioians who hare super*
seded the action of the people in deslgnaUng
Presidential candidates.
But there are not many disunionists amongst
us. Happily, monibters are few and rare
specimens of creation. There is no necessity,
therefore, for acrimony or abuse in the discus-
non of political topics in New Jersey. IbellcTe
our citis^as generally .ar« anxious to promote
the welfare, safety and happiness of the re-
public. The people of New Jersey are moral,
reasonable, thinking, patriotic men. If any of
those who dilFer from me on the presidential
question could be convinced, as I am, that the
Sleety and welfare of the country demand the
election of Mr. Fillmore, I do not doubt that
they would Tote for him. Americans, we are
threatened with a crisis of great danger in relar
tion to public affairs.
Democrats, Republicans and Americans, all
agree I bclift^ft that there is danger in the
wesent political conditidn of the country.
We an agree in the existence cf th« danger.
But we fiffer as to the proper means of avert-
ing that danger. It is supposed by many of
our wisest, most prudent and sagacious citi-
sons, that the strength of our political institu-
tions will spon be tested again, and some think
that they will have to go through the ordeal of flre
and the sword. It cannot be denied that great
apprehension pervades the whole country, and
ttet aU are looking forward with fearfU anxiety
to the result of the enfuing PresidenUal elec-
fwmjmMl Ml fiUfd with oonofni in the
anUcipation of the future; and this great
gathering of the people seems to indicate that
others are of the same opinion.
.The quesdon of slavery has been again most
unnecessarily, if not viciously, agitated by the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise. The pub-
lic honor has been tarnished, and we are threat-
ened with a general demoralisation of politi-
cal integrity.
The construction given to the Constitution in
relation to the extension of slavery by the re-
presentatives of the people in Congress assem-
bled, amongst whom were many of the wisest
and best men of the age, and approved and sus-
tained for more than thirty years by the peo-
ple, has been repudiated, and the country has
been thrown back upon the fearful crisis of
1820, and menaced with still greater danger.
In 1820, on the application for the admission
of Missouri into the Union, the question as to
the extension of slavery in the territories was
raised, and created an excitement throughout
the country, ftir greater than had been expe-
rienced since the adoption of the Constitution.
It was discussed with great ability and ve-
hemence in and out of Congress, the South in-
sisting that by the Constitution they had the
right to take their slaves in any of the terri-
tories of the United Stotes, the North insisting
with as much pertinacity that slavery was re-
stricted to the original thirteen states.
This discussion was continued in Congress,
by the press, and at public meetings, all over
the country, until the feelings of the people
became aroused and inflamed, and threatened
a dissolution of the Union.
Neither party would yield, and the friends of
the Union, appalled at the impending crisis,
called for a settiement of that exciting Consti-
tutional question then and forever. It could
not be postponed—the peril was imminent— there
was no time to amend the Constitution. To
agree upon a construction of that part of the
Constitution which would satisfy the South and
the North, was all that could be done at that
time to save the Union.
After the most deliberate condderation, and
after every argument had been exhausted,
with a view to the final adjustment ofthatTcx-
ed difficulty, to secure tranquillity to tiie conn*
try, and to avoid further sectional agitation,
it was agreed by the North and the South, by
men of im parties and all* sections, that the fu-
ture reading of the Constitution should restrict
slavery to the South of 86 degrees and 80min-
ntceofBortklatitidt. The eidy w^y Igr tUek
this patriotie and fraternal sentiment oould
then be expressed and incorporated in the
Constitution, was by an act of Congress.
The Missouri Compromise was therefore
adopted by Congress, and approTed by the peo-
ple, with the exception of comparatively a
small body of Abolitionists, who at that time
were unimportant as a political organisation.
In this Yiew of the subject, it is not candid nor
just to say that the Compact of Peace thus
made and ratified, was a mere act of Congress,
liable to repeal as any other ordinary legisla-
tion. It is rather to be considered in the light
of a solemn and final decree of the highest
court of judicature, and not subject to re-
visal or reTersal. As the agreed law of the
Constitution, placed under the protection
of the public faith, it could not autborita-
tiYely be repealed, without the general con-
sent of the people. Certainly no tnap judg-
ment should haye been taken. Without
notice it has been repealed, and without any
substitute being suggested, and as I before ob-
serTcd, the country is thrown back upon the
fearful agitation of 1820, with no hope, in my
judgment, of escape, but in the election of Mr.
Fillmore.
The repeal of that Compact of Peace is wholly
indefensible, without, as far as I hare been
able to discoTcr, even a plausible argument to
sustain it, and I have read most of the speeches
on the subject, and have couTersed with many
persons from the North and South. Their
speeches are mere stereotypes of those made in
1820. They have thrown no more light
OA the subject, — have adduced no new or ori-
ginal arguments or thoughts to justify the re-
peal. It strikes me as a mere wanton reproach
of their predecessors, and a reckless. trifling
with the peace of the country, to sustain per-
sonal and party ends. I am more amazed at
the conduct of the Statesmen of the South than
the Men of the North. When the South was
oomparatiTely much stronger than now, coun-
selled and led on by the purest, ablest, and
most patriotic men of onr times, she made that
treaty of peaee and friendship with the other
states. Why she has consented to repeal it, will
amaze future generations as much as ithas ama-
zed the present. I speak this more in sorrow
than in anger. I am now, as I have always been,
their firm, unflinching friend. I lore their
ardor and admire their generous feelings,
and especially I applaud the many sacrifices
which they have time after time offered upon
the altar of their country's glory. But I would
saTO them now from themseWes — their enemies
theif ean take care of. I would conjure them
to remember that a political blunder has been
considered no yirtue — that it is the duty of a
patriotio, practical Statesman, not only to sat-
isfy himself of the truth of any abstract politi-
eal proposition, but to ascertain whether he has
the power to enforce it, before he presumes to
plaoe the destiny of an empire upon its suooess.
By what I have said I do not mean to intimate
that the South tooklthe initiatiTe in the repeal
of the Compromise. It did not— but Northern
demagogues stepped forward and sought to pur-
chase the support of the South for the Presi-
dency-by the surrender of the landmarks which
hsTC been established for the benefit of North-
ern free labor. The South acceded to the pro-
position. Mr. Buchanan and other leaders of
the jpemocratic party approved of the repeal,
and thus the Democratic party forfeited its na-
tional character and became a n\ere sectional *
party. So far as it respects the issues now iuTol-
Ted, the Democratic party is sectional. Its organs
concede Kansas to the South. If the South
will only use the means afforded to it, Kansas
will be a Slave State. The Democratic party
relies for its liopes chiefly on the South — it is
utterly demoralised and disorganised in most of
the Free States— I know that there are Demo-
cratic organisations in all the Free States ; bnt
because the Democratic party has become
sectional, those organisations, with the excep-
tion of those in Illinois, New Jersey, and Penn-
sylvania, are feeble and ineffective. The South
having thus sectionalised the Democratic party,
and put all who hesitate to join them under
the *' ban of the Empire," proud of their glor-
ious antecedents, and relying upon the strength
of a bright galaxy of honoured names, defy
the North to the strife. The North, aroused
by supposed wrongs and insults to a sense of
their dignity and power, has accepted the is-
sue, and has likewise presented a sectional
candidate in the person of Colonel Fremont in
opposition to Mr. Buchanan. I have not one word
to say against the personal characters of these
gentlemen, and I have nothing to say against
their public characters, except this, that they
are both wrong in permitting themselves to be
run upon platforms got up by designing dema-
gogues and professional resolution makers.
Mr. Buchanan (I mean my old friend James
Buchanan) all will concede was amongst the
most eminent men of the times for his lofty
patriotism and high conservative principles,
and if placed on his own platform ^ would have
had my vote. But Mr. Buchanan^ the repre-
sentative of demagogues whose platform will
destroy the Union, cannot have my vote any
more than my fHend Col. Alexander, who
stands on the same platform, and is no less
distinguished for his high personal character.
It is not the first time that I have been eoip>
fl trained by motives of patriotio duty to differ
with the oracles of the Demoeratie party,
when in the plenitude of their power, at to
their eonstmction of the Demoeratie «r«ed,
I aod in their views of puMie pdi^; but ia no
iastanee has it caused mt so great ptrwnal
saorifloe as I will make iu Totiag igatDSt these
gentlemen. But the times are p«rllo«»-*the
I country is in too mueli* dvager ia pmrit per-
I sonal eonfldenoe and fHendship to ontwei^
^the claims of daty. In my JadgmtBt their
wfaANm will produce Miwohjiuid r«?oliitioD.
rmiitt Tote agaisBt them.
So, too, with Fremont, who is la the hands
of demai^gnes of aabther seotion, who will as
certainly driTo the South to secession, as the
fiontli is in a ftUr way to goad the North to the
same result I cannot Tote for him.
The issue aridng from the repeal of the lllis
aonri Compromise cannot be settled by the
•lection of Baehanan or Fremont. The elec-
ti<« of Baehanan will only be a triumph to the
South over the North ; that of Fremont will
only be a triumph of the North over the South
— leaving the great difficulty ' unsettled—in-
creasing the agitation— and leaving the Union
atill in jeopardy.
Fellow Gitisens — ^These are dangerous par-
ties I Both these parties exist and war on each
other in defiance of Washington's precepts and
advice. Were there no national party, which
oeuld control their excesses and check their
extreme designs, the Union would feoon be bro-
ken up ; one or the other parl^ would obtain
possession of the Qovemment ; the conquered
section would revolt and the Union be dissolved.
AmetWMt'—ln this condition of public affairs,
the American party which has recently sprung
into existence only to resist the growth of for-
eign influence, and to uphold the religion of
our ftkthers, constitutes the only organisation
from which a movement could proceed for the
presentation of a Union, national candidate. —
Vou have repudiated all sectional dogmas and
»en, and now stand with your time honored,
well tried, patriotic Fillmore, upon a national
platform. I have nothing to say for Mr. Fill-
more but what his whole life sanctions. I have
no desire to magnify his fame by heaping up
lofty and unmeaning encomiums upon him. I
point to his acts ; they will speak more elo-
quently of the debt of gratitude which the
whole country owes him. He saved us once,
and can and will, by God's assistance, save us
again.
** But what will he do with the negro ques-
tion?*' inquires the sectional and one idea
man who belongs to the Republican or Demo-
cratic 'party. Mr. HUmore, if elected, I'll
pledge myself, will not permit border ruffians
to drive out Northern free State men from
Kansas, nor will he permit the latter to kindle
the flames of civil war. Mr. Fillmore will act
as he has heretofore acted under similar cir-
cumstances, and as the President of this Na-
tioh should act. He will be the partisan of
Bother the North nor the South, and if neces-
sary, ho will compel peace in that disturbed
quarter with the whole force of the Govern-
Ment. Amerieant — Stand by your leader and
the integrity of your principles ; and by stren-
uous efforts and sacrifices rindicate your claim
to be the true American Democracy ; tad my
word for it, you will draw to your ranks a large
accession from that patriotic multitude who
regard the welfare of the nation as of more im-
portance than the success of a party, dom-
ing to be now, as at all times heretofore^ a con-
sistent Democrat, a friend to the flree laborer
of the North, as well as to the slave of the
South— a friend to all national improvements,
and to all the elements of national independ-
ence and defence, it is with regret that I have
felt compelled to disapprove of the course of
the Democratic party in the repeal of the Mis-
souri Compromise. I am assured of the
soundness of my views respecting it, by the
fact that the great body of the Democracy of
New Jersey likewise disapprove of it. Mr.
Buchanan himself, in a letter of Aug. 21. 1848,
to Hon. Mr. Sandford of Alabama, says^-*' Hav-
ing urged the adoption of the Missouri Com-
promise, the inference is irresistible, that Con-
gress, in my opinion, possesses the power to
legislate upon the subject of slavery in the
Territories. What an absurdity would it then
be, if, whilst asserting this sovereign power in
Congress — which power, from its nature, must
be exclusive— I should in the very same breath,
also clMm this identical power f(ft the popula-
tion of a Territory in an unorganised capacity!
I cling to the Missouri Compromise with
greater tenacity than ever."
Also in a letter to tlie Hon. Mr. Taney, May
18th, 1848, he says:
<* I cannot abandon the position which I have
thus deliberately and conscientiously taken,
and assume any other that can be presented."
The truth is, the whole country, men of all
parties, disapprove of it— and nothing but a
superstitious fear of party discipline prevents
one united shout of reprobation fromf the
people of New Jersey. It betrayed and
cheated the friends of the Union and the Com-
promises of 1850, and rewarded the national
agitators. The danger and obloquy incurred
by that act of repeal is redeemed by no prac-
tical benefit to the South or to the North ; its
capacity for mischief has been as flagrant as
its imbecility for good.
The Compromise measures of 1860 fdlly es-
tablished on an immutable basis the doctrine
of non-intervention by Congress with the in-
ternal concerns of the Territories. The re-
peal of the Missouri Restriction only opened
the anti-slavery controversy anew, and revived
the dying embers of sectional agitation. There-
fore, although I am sure of the Constitutional
soundness of the principle of non-interven-
tion, I nevertheless disapprove of the repeal
of the Missouri Restriction at the time, and
under the circumstances of the case. The
Repeal act was passed in violation of a posi-
tive agreement to which we were a party. We
yielded our views of the meaning of the Con-
stitution for the sake of peace, and thereby
pledged ourselves to stand by the Compromise,
and could not, therefore, faonoraby take ad-
vantage of a' temporary minority to rescind
that agreement It is not because I hftve al-
ter^ my opinion with regard to the original
meaning of the Constitution, that I am opposed
to the repeal, but because I oonsider it a mat-
ter of personal as well as of national honor to
stand by the Missoiiri Compromise, haying
acquiesced in it, and supported it for thirty
years.
The design of the Compromise measure was
to ensore peaoe. The result of the repeal of
the Missouri Restriction has been to provoke
war. As a political moTement, it was a dan-
gerous blunder. It has subjected the country
to a most hasardous agitation, and may yet
compel the Union to endure an ordeal surpas-
sing in scTcrity any ever heretofore exper-
ienced. Whatever the astute lawyer or wily
politician may say, there is no doubt the senti-
ment of the North considered the Missouri
Compromise in the nature of a solemn com-
pact, invested with the sanctity of a pledge of
the National Faith. Such a sentiment can
never be violated with impunity. The authors
of the infraction of that respected pledge will,
in my opinion, yet deplore the temerity of the
experiment which they have made on the feel-
ings of the people and the tenacity of party
predilection.
The formation of a great northern anti-sla-
Tery party has been ^e hope of many dema-
gogues in both extremeties of the Union, but
all attempts to accomplish that object were ab-
ortive, until the repeal of the Missouri Res-
triction relieved the paralysis with which they
were always previously afflicted. That mea-
sure breaUied newness of life into the dispiri-
ted hearts of sectional agitators. Like the
fabled giant of antiquity, they have arisen
from their former prostration with renewed en-
ergy. It is palpable to my mind, that the ad-
Tent of such a party to the possession of the
Federal Government would be fatal to the
Union.
That fifteen States, comprising some of the
laurest and most fertile portions of this Conti-
Bent, and inhabited by warlike, gallant, and
•nli^tened freemen, would submit to see this
government controlled exclusively by dema-
gogues of another section, banded together
upon the principle of aggressive and unconsti-
tutional interference with their rights.
No one need be foolish enough to believe.
I look upon all sectional parties of this sort,
therefore, with abhorrence. Nothing can jus-
tify their organization, and nothing but evil
ean result from their action. The only
safety against such combinations is the union
of national and patriotic men upon Mr. Fill-
more.
I avow the opinion that there are sufficient
materials for a successful Union National Fill-
more Party, from which we may expect the
redemption of the country from its present
danger, and its rescue from the hands of the
prasent free soil and secession coalition. It
has always been the case, thai the nominee for
the presidency of the party in power has been
held resbonsible for the measures and conduct
of his predecessor. No particular warfare haa
}mm waged agwnst the administration) for the
reason that it never commanded saffioient
respect to render it worth while for any party
to dignify it with the character of an a^rer-
sary.
A prominent friend and supporter of the ad*
ministration has been set up, with his conai*
vance, as a candidate for the succession. The
leading features of his government will neees-
sarily be put in issue. In that event, if the
unly opponent of such nominee were a ftuion
anti-slavery Republican, of the Wilson and
Giddings school, I would tremble for my conn*
try. It is my hope that the great body of the
people constituting a national party will rally
around Mr. Fillmore, the presidential candi-
date on whose standard is inscribed the motto
of the great Jackson, * * The Union, it must be
preserved," in preference to any nominee of
any packed convention, likely to perpetuate
the ascendancy of the present coaliuon admin-
istration, or the anti-slavery Bepnblioaa
party.
But these principles or measures unfortu-
nately are not alone sufficient to cope with the
perilous condition of public affairs. Protestant
Americans have perceived of late years that
their Catholic fellow citisens, in th<dr exereise
of the electoral franchise, are controlled and
marshalled by their priests. That dangerous
order of men have manifested here the charac-
teristics by which they have been distinguished
elsewhere for more than a thousand Tears.—
The settled, systematic effort to render civil
and political affairs in the state subordinate to
the authority of their hierarchy, which so of-
ten and so long agitated Europe, has exmted
alarm in the breast of numbers in this coun-
try. For the most part, the United States
were originally colonized by those who sought
refuge and an asylum here against ecclesiasti-
oal persecution. It is quite natural that the
descendants of those who were driven from the
homes of their ancestors by religious intoler-
ance, should look with a jealous eye upon the
interference with politics here, which is prac-
tised by Catholic zealots and prelates. When
we see the whole population of that persuasion
casting their votes with perfect unanimity one
way, and obeying implicitly the secret com-
mands of ecclesiastical dignitaries, it is but the
precaution of salutary wisdom to adopt soma
sanitary measures to guard against that arro-
gant domination which, elsewhere, we find
the ally of despotism, and the everlasting ene-
my of civil liberty. The principles of ReUgtoui
Toleration which our fathers established here,
can never be infringed. The only way, there-
fore, in which the grasping ambition, and the .
dangerous interference of the emissaHes of the
Roman autocrat can be encountered, is at the
ballot box, in preferring the Protestant and re-
fusing support to all those who ackaowledce
spiritual allegiance to the Pope. It it net the
religien of the Oatholie to which we oltfeet» er
the free exerdse of which we would reetnda.
But it is these prefessen ^it ontyi wheee tab-
jtotioa to % fordga hierurohy oonfliota with
thcte duliM M Amerioaii eitizens. It is that
•ttbjMUonirhioh we oondemn, and not the re-
ligion itself. Upon the same principle, there-
fere, OB whieh the Demooiat prefers for office
% Dtmoorat, and the Whig prefers a Whig ;—
vpeB the same prinoiple, and in the exercise
or the same right, that we indulge personal
•ad indifidaal preferences in giring our TOtes,
Amerieans say tiiat they will prefer for office
the Protestant. Sb deny to Amerieans the in-
dulgence of this ^ference, is to deny the most
VBdenbted rights a flree man. It is the es-
sence of intolerance to restrain this right.
The Pope himself, coald he proclaim his
politieal Bvll as the law of America, conld im-
pose BO more arbitrary restriction on the
liberties of Amerieans than to deny them the
right of preferring the Protestant to the Catho-
lie. It is well known that in the municipat con-
tests in onr riUages and popnloas districts, the
Presbyterian will often prefer the adherent to
his own faith. So, too, tiie Methodist will pre-
fer for office the Methodist. This exercise of
the largest liberty no one has seen fit to
proseribe. Bat Americans are stigmatised as
bigots and enemies of toleration, because from
the pnrest and most patriotic motires they
exercise a freedom of opinion and action con-
eeded to all others. We care not who fights
the batties of the Romish despot's dominion in
America, we are against him. He shall not,
without a straggle, acquire the ascendancy in
America. If error there must be, it is far bet-
ter that we should err in excess of rigilanoe
for the preserratiqn of our liberties, than to
err in neglect of that rigilanoe. The Protestant
feeling and jealousy of Americans is defensive,
Bot aggressiye. They hare been excited by the
unwise demonstrations on the part of portions
of the Catholic population, under the guidance
of crafty ecclesiastics and mercenary dema-
gogues. It is in Tain to endeaTor to allay the
awakened fear of Protestants by asserting that
the desire for uniTcrsal empire which once an-
imated the breasts of the haughty ecclesiastics
who elaim to be the ricegerents of heayen, has
passed away and no longer animates the con-
daTe of cardinals. It is not so, as the world
has reeentiy witnessed in the ease of Sardinia ;
and only recent intelligence informs us that
the Bull of the Pope constitutes the only ob-
struction to the most important reforms in
8p^. It is true that his power, once su-
preme in Europe, is now limited by the great-
er diffusion of knowledge and liberty. But
the Pope is still the same aspiring potentate
who once gave law to Europe; whose interdict
laid Empires at his feet, humbling the proud-
est monarchs and suspending the obedience of
their subjects. It is true that he no longer pro-
claims the dogma that ** no fidth is to be kept
with heretics," but we well know that his sub-
tle and oyer active instruments continue to
practice upon that dogma, and inculcate it as
BB abiding obligatioa. The inflaenoe of Cb-
tholic priestcraft is exerted tieretly, and their
clandestine commands are obeyed with a ser-
vility and promptitude at once formidable and
astounding. The secrecy of their political
machinations very naturally suggested to Amer*
leans, upon the first formation of the Americaa
party the necessity for combatting their hos-
tile designs with a similar secrecy of procedure.
But that secrecy under cover of which tiie
whole Catholic vote of the United States has
been concentrated upon the candidates ap«
proved by the heads of the church, without
complaint by our opponents— as soon as it is
used defensively to counteract the inridious
and dangerous aggression of sectarian ambition
— that secrecy, on the part of Americans, prae«
ticed to uphold and defend our liberty and our
Constitution, is assailed with all the malevo-
lence of denunciation, and all the rituperatioB of
vindictive hatred.
A few words as to the naturalisation laws
and I am done. Not content with insisting
upon sharing the patronage of the Govern-
ment and State with the foreign bom, our op-
ponents likewise object to extending the period
of time, which it is proposed to tj. at twenty-
one years, before the emigrant shall be enti-
tled to exercise the prerogative of American
sovereignty. Our own children, many of them
superior in qualifications and intelligence at
the age of sixteen to the foreigner, we do not
permit to vote until they have attained the age
of twenty-one years. But it is insisted that
foreigners shall enjoy this pririlege sooner.
They are to be invested with greater pririleges
in this case than the native bom, ana that wt
discriminate in their favor and agairut our OWB
flesh and blood. The right of voting is not B
natural right ; it is conferred under such lim-
itations and qualifications as the people choose
to prescribe. Aliens, women, minors, and
transient residents, are denied the privilege.
We have sanctioned a near approximation to
universal suffrage, only because, from the
general diffusion of education, Americans are
almost universally qualified to vote intelligent-
ly. The exceptions among the native born art
few and singular, where &e voter is deficient
in the capacity to exercise the elective flrsB-
chise with proper intelligence. BxtX the great
mass of the foreign emigrants are notoriously
far inferior to the native born ; and where they
abe not so, ignorance of our institutions, man-
ners and customs, disqualifies them flrom the
judicious performance of the functions of soT«
reignty.
Their good, identified with the public welftre,
as well as the safety of our institutions, re-
quires a probation of at least twenty-ont
years before ihey should be admitted to the
full pririleges of citizens. Had the founders
of our Government anticipated the swarms ef
emigrants which annually land upon our shores,
they would probably have refused to confes ^u.
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8
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Were the foreign emigrMit inTariably bom
and reared ander a ftree goyemment, were he
alwaya educated and enlightened; even beyond
the average of our own native ' country-
men-^prudenoe, and a Just regard for our safe-
ty, would require that he should remain among
ns long enough to forget some of his native
prijndices, and acquire something like a com-
munity of interest with us before he should be
dignified with the attributes of a sovereign. It
cheapens and degrades the character of Amer-
ican sovereignty to bestow it indiscriminately
on the ignorant and debased subjects of for-
eign monarohs — the outcasts of European So-
eie^-*-the convict or the pauper — on creatures
ignorant of onr language, incapable of un-
dei«tanding onr constitution or the laws —
whose votes as soon as they can be given are
frequently sold for money, and whose united
snffirages are often purchased like meat in the
shambles. While such voters are to be found,
they wUl be bought and tolcL They generate the
corruption which stalks through onr streets,
and they make the ballot box rotten with ini-
quity. Make the traffic in money for voters Us-
miliar, and the leprous t^t of Incre will seohi
infect your elections. The demoralisation will
extend wider and wider as your popvlation, .
wealth and luxury, and the relative number of
the poor increase in proportion to the number
of the rich. The time will then come when office
and place will be purchased by wealth alone—
when every post firom the Senate chamber to
the Presidency will have its market price in
money— or when poverty will be deemed a
crime, and the poor man be disfranchised from
the imperious necessity of ereeting a barrier
against corruption. .
Shall we calmly see onr conntfy rashing
headlong to such a condition, or shall we, whilo
patriotism and public virtue have still suf-
ficient adherents among us, preserve our Bepnb-
lic from such fatal dangers?
1^
I
3 2044 017 935 198
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