At once Mr. Slough addressed the Chair, and after warmly eulogizing the
general features of the Constitution, pronouncing it “a model
instrument,” he formally announced that political objections impelled
himself and his Democratic associates to decline attaching their
signatures to it. These objections he stated at length. They were,
briefly: The curtailment of the boundaries of the State; the large
Legislative body provided for; the exclusion of Indians made citizens of
the United States, from the privilege of voting; the registry of voters
at the election on the Constitution; the refusal to exclude free negroes
from the State; and the apportionment.
This action of the Democratic members had been foreshadowed for several
days, but it was, nevertheless, something of a surprise. The Republicans
understood that several of the Democrats had earnestly opposed such a
course, and hoped that some of them would be governed by their own
convictions, rather than by the mandate of their caucus. For a few
moments after Mr. Slough concluded, the Convention sat, hushed and
expectant. But no other Democratic member rose. It was evident that the
caucus ruled. Then Judge Thacher, President _pro tem._, addressed the
Chair, and in a speech of remarkable vigor and eloquence, accepted the
gauge of battle thrown down. “Upon this Constitution,” he declared, “we
will meet our opponents in the popular arena. It is a better, a nobler
issue than even the old Free-State issue. They have thrown down the
gauntlet; we joyfully take it up.” He then proceeded to defend, with
great earnestness and power, the features of the Constitution objected
to by Mr. Slough. “The members of the Convention,” he asserted, “have
perfected a work that will be enduring.” The Constitution, he affirmed,
would “commend itself to the true and good everywhere, because through
every line and syllable there glows the generous sunshine of liberty.”
It was and should be, he declared:
“Like some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm;
Though round its breast the rolling clouds shall spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.”
Read in the light of subsequent history, these declarations appear
almost prophetic.