from the curse of slavery. That spirit burned in the Declaration of
Independence, and inspired the provisions of the Constitution, and the
Ordinance of 1787. Under its influence, when in full vigor, State after
State provided for the emancipation of the slaves within their limits,
prior to the adoption of the Constitution. Under its feebler influence
at a later period, and during the administration of Mr. Jefferson, the
importation of slaves was prohibited into Mississippi and Louisiana, in
the faint hope that those Territories might finally become free States.
Gradually that spirit ceased to influence our public councils, and lost
its control over the American heart and the American policy. Another
era succeeded, but by such imperceptible gradations that the lines which
separate the two cannot be traced with absolute precision. The facts of
the two eras meet and mingle as the currents of confluent streams mix
so imperceptibly that the observer cannot fix the spot where the meeting
waters blend.

This second era was the Era of CONSERVATISM. Its great maxim was to
preserve the existing condition. Men said: Let things remain as they
are; let slavery stand where it is; exclude it where it is not; refrain
from disturbing the public quiet by agitation; adjust all difficulties
that arise, not by the application of principles, but by compromises.

It was during this period that the Senator tells us that slavery was
maintained in Illinois, both while a Territory and after it became a
State, in despite of the provisions of the ordinance. It is true, sir,
that the slaves held in the Illinois country, under the French law,
were not regarded as absolutely emancipated by the provisions of the
ordinance. But full effect was given to the ordinance in excluding
the introduction of slaves, and thus the Territory was preserved
from eventually becoming a slave State. The few slave-holders in