“This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of ‘_squatter sovereignty_,’ otherwise called ‘_sacred right of self-government_,’ which latter phrase, though expressive of the only rightful basis of any government, was so perverted in this attempted use of it as to amount to just this: that if any one man choose to enslave another, no third man shall be allowed to object. That argument was incorporated into the Nebraska Bill itself, in the language which follows: ‘It being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor exclude it therefrom; but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States.’ “Then opened the roar of loose declamation in favor of ‘squatter sovereignty,’ and ‘sacred right of self-government.’ “‘But,’ said opposition members, ‘let us be more specific--let us _amend_ the bill so as to expressly declare that the people of the territory _may_ exclude slavery.’ ‘Not we,’ said the friends of the measure; and down they voted the amendment. “While the Nebraska Bill was passing through Congress, a law case, involving the question of a negro’s freedom, by reason of his owner having voluntarily taken him first into a free State and then a territory covered by the Congressional prohibition, and held him as a slave--for a long time in each--was passing through the U. S. Circuit Court for the District of Missouri; and both the Nebraska Bill and law suit were brought to a decision in the same month of May, 1854. The negro’s name was ‘Dred Scott,’ which name now designates the decision finally made in the case. “Before the then next Presidential election case, the law came to, and was argued in the Supreme Court of the United States; but the decision of it was deferred until _after_ the election. Still, _before_ the election, Senator Trumbull, on the floor of the Senate, requests the leading advocate of the Nebraska Bill to state _his opinion_ whether a people of a territory can constitutionally exclude slavery from their limits; and the latter answers, ‘That is a question for the Supreme Court.’ “The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the _indorsement_, such as it was, secured. That was the _second_ point gained. The indorsement, however, fell short of a clear popular majority by nearly four hundred thousand votes, and so, perhaps, was not overwhelmingly reliable and satisfactory. The outgoing President in his last annual message, as impressively as possible echoed back upon the people the weight and authority of the indorsement.