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IN A NUT SHELL.
No man has hit upon so happy a description of the Douglas policy in reference to the Territories, as that given by Lincoln in one of his Ohio speeches, when he said that by it “Slavery may be legally excluded from a Territory in which it may legally remain!” No form of words could more clearly bring out the contradiction between a belief in the Dred Scott decision, which legalizes slavery everywhere, and a belief, at the same time, in “unfriendly legislation” which may everywhere forbid it. This condensed statement, embodying the facts and logic of an elaborate political theory, appeals so forcibly to popular comprehension, that as long as the contest which gave rise to it, continues, it will not be forgotten. Douglas owes his old competitor for many a damaging illustration, but Lincoln has never said anything which the small Giant will be more unwilling to forgive, than that sentence which we have quoted. It is a complete refutation of Douglasism, in a nut shell. Our Republican contemporaries will pardon us if we suggest that they will do well to “keep it before the people.”
