of his party by the formation and admission of the proposed State, into the Union. The consequence was, that when the law was laid before Congress, at their next session, for their approval, they refused to sanction it; and as a matter of course the object of it was lost.

The friends of the change admitted that it might keep back the formation of a State government, in the eastern division, a short period, probably a year-certainly not more; but, that any inconvenience, which might result from the delay, would be more than compensated for, by its beneficial tendencies. It was, however, impossible to change the opinion of those who had set their hearts on the immediate establishment of a State government.

During the same session, two petitions were presented, praying that an act might be passed, declaratory of the true intent and meaning of that part of the Ordinance, which relates to slavery, and involuntary servitude, so as to authorise and require the courts of judicature, to compel a specific performance of covenants, or indentures, entered into for a valuable consideration. As it was apparent that the object of the petitions, was to introduce a species of limited slavery, by the instrumentality of contracts, or indentures, contrary to the spirit and design of the Ordinance, they were laid on the table, with an understanding that they should not again be taken up.

The determination to exclude, for ever, from the limits of the Territory, the degrading relation of master and slave, seemed to be universal among the inhabitants, and was responded to by every member of the Assembly. The feeling which was manifested on that occasion, and on another, similar in character, at a preceding session of the Assembly, when the officers of the "Virginia line on Continental establishment," asked permission to remove to the Territory, and settle, with their slaves, on their bounty lands; afforded the most satisfactory evidence, in the infancy of the western settlements, of a resolution to maintain the

Ordinance; by resisting every attempt that might be made, in any form, to introduce involuntary servitude into the Territory, or the States to be formed within it. As a number of the members of the State Convention which formed the Constitution, had been members of the Territorial Legislature, when those petitions were presented and rejected, it was evident that what had transpired on those occasions, had great influence in leading the Convention to adopt the provision found in the second section of the 8th article of the Constitution, relating to indentures made by persons of color.

Towards the close of the session, a message was received from the Governor, calling the attention of the Legislature to certain riotous proceedings, on two successive nights, by an assemblage of citizens of Chillicothe, by whom the peace of the town had been disturbed, and the personal safety of some of the members of the Legislature endangered. It was represented, that a portion of the respectable citizens, had given countenance to the mob; and that no efforts were made by the police, or the citizens, to suppress it, or punish those who were engaged in it. The object of the movement was evidently to insult the Governor, and do personal violence to some of the members of the Legislature. Mr. Scheifflein, a member from Wayne county, was one of the persons whom it was intended to insult. He had spoken very freely on the subject of the removal of the seat of government from Cincinnati, and of the supposed agency of the people of Chillicothe, in bringing it about, and had, thereby, incurred their ill will. Other members had also given offence, by similar observations; and it was the manifest design of the instigators of the movement, to punish them for so doing.

Mr. Scheifflein, on that occasion, behaved with great firmness. After the rioters had forced the outer door of the house in which he and the Governor boarded, he met them in the passage with a brace of loaded pistols, and

drove them back into the street. Those proceedings were continued two succeeding nights, but terminated without serious injury, to any individual, on either side. When the disturbance was over, it was a mortifying reflection that the Legislature had no power to interfere, in any manner, with the rioters, or with the officers, who omitted to discharge their duty. With a view, however, of guarding against a similar outrage, and of expressing their feelings on the occasion, they passed a law removing the seat of government from Chillicothe, and establishing it at Cincinnati. The Legislature having passed thirty laws, adjourned on the 23d of January, 1802, to meet at Cincinnati, on the fourth Monday of November following.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Population of the Eastern Division in 1802-Steps to obtain a State Government.-Application to Congress for permission to call a Convention.Permission given on conditions.-Their oppressive character.-Opposition to the measure. On what grounds.-Right to tax public lands relinquished. -Loss sustained by it.-State of parties.- Note.-Excitement at Detroit. -Opposition to the law for erecting a new State.-Correspondence on the subject.-Note.-The friends of a State Government become the majority. The harmony formerly existing broken up.-Causes of the change.— Origin of party spirit.-Ambitious aspirants.-Their misrepresentations.

Soon after the adjournment of the General Assembly, in January, 1802, a census was taken in the eastern division of the Territory, which was found to contain forty-five thousand and twenty-eight persons of both sexes; after which, an application was made to Congress, for a law, authorising the inhabitants of that division to call a convention, and form a Constitution, preparatory to the establishment of a State government. Although, by the Ordinance, sixty thousand inhabitants were required, to entitle the district to become a State, as a matter of right; yet the law was passed, a convention elected, a constitution formed, and the district declared to be an independent State, and admitted into the Union; professedly, on an equal footing with the original States.

That, however, was not the case; as the original States were subject to no restriction, or limitation of power, other than that contained in the federal constitution; but the new State of Ohio was admitted with restrictions, and on conditions as degrading to the character, as they were injurious to the future prosperity of the inhabitants. One of

them was, that Congress should have the right of disposing of the jurisdiction of the Territory, lying north of the line drawn east and west, through the southern extreme of Lake Michigan, by establishing a Territorial government therein, whenever they might see proper; although the Ordinance declared, in express terms, that that Territory should remain a part of the State, formed on the south of it, till its inhabitants amounted to sixty thousand, which was not the case until the year 1835, when she formed a State Constitution, and was admitted into the Union.

As a matter of course, that entire district would have remained a part of the State of Ohio, subject to her laws, and liable to defray a just proportion of the expenses of the government, during the period intervening between the years 1802 and 1835; but in consequence of the foregoing concession, it was immediately detached from Ohio, and united to Indiana; but was soon after formed into a separate Territory, and continued so till it became a State; thus depriving the good people of Ohio, of all the benefits they would have derived from the population and wealth of that rich and extensive district, during the period of thirty-three years.

There is a fact, connected with this part of the subject, which may cast on it some light, and possibly disclose the motive which induced Congress to propose, and the Convention to accept, this restriction on the constitutional rights of Ohio. It was universally known, that the people of Detroit and the district connected with it, were unitedly, and warmly opposed to the change of government then contemplated. They were anxious to continue as a Territory; and whenever a State government should be formed on their south, to remain united with it, till their own population should amount to sixty thousand. There were, therefore, strong reasons to apprehend, that if they should become a part of the new State, the terms proposed by Congress, as the consideration of the privilege asked for,