ound African slavery, or any other sort of slavery,
prohibited by State constitutions. They also found a law existing,
supposed to be valid, by which slavery was excluded from almost all the
territory the United States then owned. This was the condition of the
country, with reference to the institution of slavery, on the first of
January, 1854. A few days after that, a bill was introduced into Congress,
which ran through its regular course in the two branches of the national
legislature, and finally passed into a law in the month of May, by which
the Act of Congress prohibiting slavery from going into the Territories of
the United States was repealed. In connection with the law itself, and, in
fact, in the terms of the law, the then existing prohibition was not only
repealed, but there was a declaration of a purpose on the part of Congress
never thereafter to exercise any power that they might have, real or
supposed, to prohibit the extension or spread of slavery. This was a very
great change; for the law thus repealed was of more than thirty years'
standing. Following rapidly upon the heels of this action of Congress,
a decision of the Supreme Court is made, by which it is declared that
Congress, if it desires to prohibit the spread of slavery into the
Territories, has no constitutional power to do so. Not only so, but
that decision lays down principles which, if pushed to their logical
conclusion,--I say pushed to their logical conclusion,--would decide
that the constitutions of free States, forbidding slavery, are themselves
unconstitutional. Mark me, I do not say the judges said this, and let
no man say I affirm the judges used these words; but I only say it is my
opinion that what they did say, if pressed to its logical conclusion, will
inevitably result thus.

Looking at these things, the Republican party, as I understand its
principles and policy, believes that there is great danger of the
institution of slavery being spread out and extended until it is
ultimately made alike lawful in all the States of this Union; so
believing, to prevent that incidental and ultimate consummation is the
original and chief purpose of the Republican organization. I say "chief
purpose" of the Republican organization; for it is certainly true that if
the National House shall fall into the hands of the Republicans, they will
have to attend to all the other matters of national house-keeping, as well
as this. The chief and real purpose o