have been instigated and encouraged, and the offenders have been allowed to go unpunished-that all these things have been done with the knowledge, sanction, and procurement of the present Administration, and that for this high crime against the Constitution, the Union, and humanity, we arraign the Administration, the President, his advisers, agents, supporters, apologists, and accessories, either before or after the facts, before the country and before the world, and that it is our fixed purpose to bring the actual perpetrators of these atrocious outrages, and their accomplices, to a sure and condign punishment hereafter.

Resolved, That Kansas should be immediately admitted as a State of the Union, with her present free Constitution, as at once the most effectual way of securing to her citizens the enjoyment of the rights and privileges to which they are entitled, and of ending the civil strife now raging in her territory.

Resolved, That the highwayman's plea, that "might makes right," embodied in the Ostend Circular, was in every respect unworthy of American diplomacy, and would bring shame and dishonour upon any government or people gave it their sanction.

that

Resolved,―That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, by the most central and practicable route, is imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country, and that the Federal Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction; and, as an auxiliary thereto, the immediate construction of an emigrant route on the line of railroad.

Resolved, That appropriations by Congress for the improvement of rivers and harbours, of a national character, required for the accommodation and security of our existing commerce, are authorized by the Constitution, and justified by the obligation of Government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.

Resolved, That we invite the affiliation and co-operation of free men of all parties, however differing from us in other respects, in support of the principles herein declared; and, believing that the spirit of our institutions, as well as the Constitution of our country, guarantee liberty of conscience and equality of rights among citizens, we oppose all legislation impairing their security.

The Presidential contest turned, mainly, upon the result of the Pennsylvania State elections held in October of the same year. It was known that as Pennsylvania went, so would go the contiguous State of New Jersey in the following month, and every exertion was made by all the parties to carry it in favour of their candidates. The Democrats were numerically superior to either of the others, but in addition to being divided upon the Slavery question, some endorsing the Kansas Act, and others opposing it, there was a possibility of a coalition of Republicans and Americans, in which case they would be outvoted. They therefore took for their rallying cry, "Buchanan and Free Kansas," deceiving thou

sands of unthinking electors, who eventually discovered that Mr. Buchanan's Administration held precisely the same policy with regard to Slavery extension as that of General Pierce. By an admirable system of tactics, they (the Democrats) carried the State election with a few hundreds majority, obtained in the city of Philadelphia; but this majority was so narrow, that every effort was required to prevent a coalition of their opponents upon one Presidential electoral ticket. The Know-Nothing party had split itself into two sections in the State, one being opposed to Slavery extension, and calling themselves "North Americans," the other upholding the principle of "non-interference with the rights of the South"-being, in other words, pro-Slavery men at heart. The North Americans coalesced with the Republicans upon the understanding, that if they carried the twenty-seven votes of their State, each of their candidates should have half the votes, the twenty-seventh being given to whichever should obtain the larger number of votes in the Electoral College. The "Straight-out Americans" "stuck" to their original ticket of twenty-seven Fillmore electors, thus playing into the hands of the Democracy, and, as many thought, intentionally so. The result was, Mr. Buchanan carried the State by

83,200 over Fremont, the Republican candidate, and by 148,535 over Fillmore, his entire majority being only 626—an exceedingly narrow one in 460,395, the number polled for the three candidates.

Four other Free States, California, Illinois, Indiana, and New Jersey, also went for Mr. Buchanan, giving him, with the fourteen Slave States, 174 votes in the Electoral College-twenty-five votes more than were absolutely necessary to elect him President. Mr. Fillmore carried only one State, Maryland.

Had the Republicans and Americans in Pennsylvania agreed upon a single electoral ticket as early as the beginning of September, and subsequently agitated the State together, they would have carried the October elections against the Democracy, and defeated Mr. Buchanan in November. The choice of President would then have fallen upon the House of Representatives at Washington, for no candidate would have received the necessary number of votes in the Electoral College.

MR. BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION.

Mr. Buchanan was not long in office before his administration had alienated the Northern supporters of the party. One of his first measures was the

lowering of the tariff. It may be well to observe that the producing States in the South are Free Trade, whilst the manufacturing North is inclined towards Protection. It will have been remarked, in the declaration of principles of the Democratic party, that Free Trade principles are emphatically asserted, implying that other parties were opposed to them.

The iron interest of Pennsylvania deeply resented this reduction in the Customs Duties; this, added to the pro-Slavery character of the new Government, soon told upon the State, and the Republican party have carried it in the last two elections. Of all the Northern or Free States, California alone continues faithful to the Democracy.

The late election of a Republican Speaker in the House of Representatives was a serious blow to the pro-Slavery party, followed up by the selection of Mr. Forney to the Clerkship of the House. It is to this gentleman Mr. Buchanan was mainly indebted for his nomination at the Cincinnati Convention, and his eventual success in Pennsylvania. Mr. Forney is immensely powerful in that State, and the whole of his influence there and elsewhere is now given against his former client and party. The night after his election as Clerk, Mr. Forney addressed a public meeting at Washington, and as the speech he then