the records of the nation show a minority report from any committee _against_ slavery. Mr. Dickey, having taken his position, stood firmly upon the doctrines he had avowed in his report; and the other members of the committee took their choice between the report of Mr. Burt and that of Mr. Dickey. General Dudley Marvin, of New York, General James Wilson, of New Hampshire, and Hon. David Fisher, of Ohio, signed the report of Mr. Dickey; while the four Democratic members, all of whom resided in the slave States, signed that of Mr. Burt. So far as the committee were concerned, the five Democratic members assumed the position now occupied by that party, to wit, that under our Federal Constitution, man may hold, sell and transfer human beings as property; while the four Whig members based their action upon the doctrine now occupied by the Republican party--that, under our Federal Constitution, men cannot be transformed into brutes; nor can one man hold _property_ in another. The reports of the majority and minority were printed, and attracted attention among the members; but the bill did not come up for discussion until the next session. On the twenty-third of the following December, the committee of the whole House, in passing through its calendar of private claims, reached this case. Mr. Dickey led off in a short, but well-arranged argument, sustaining his report. His remarks were so well directed and so pertinent, that, near the close of his speech, Mr. Burt called him to order, for _discussing the subject of slavery_. Upon the conclusion of Mr. Dickey's remarks, General Wilson of New Hampshire obtained the floor, and the House adjourned. The bill did not come up again for discussion until the twenty-ninth. Before going into committee on that day, Mr. Rockwell, of Connecticut, Chairman of the committee on Claims, offered a resolution closing debate on this bill at half-past one o'clock, allowing but one hour and a quarter for the discussion of this important question, which now agitates the whole Union; but it was regarded at that time as meritorious in any member to prevent agitation of the subject of slavery, and the resolution passed with little opposition. When the House resolved itself into committee of the whole, Mr. Wilson, of New Hampshire, delivered his views, sustaining the report of the minority of the committee; making the question distinctly to depend upon the right of men to hold property in men, under the Federal Constitution.