315 MR. BOTTS' ADDRESS. Mr. President, Brethren of the Order, and Gentlemen : — I appear before this vast concoui-se of my fellow-countrymen, to-day, in obedience to an invitation, extended to me by the Order of United Americans, of which organization I am proud to be regarded as a worthy member, to de- liver an address, on this the 127th anniversary of the day that gave to the world, for the benefit of mankind, our common father, the immortal and heavenly gifted Washington. It is due to the Order that I should correct a silly report, which has found its way into the press, that the object of this occasion was to put me fairly on the course for the next Presidency. That their objects were wise and patriot- ic, I have never doubted, but that they reached to this exalted and sublime height, they have certainly given me no reason to believe. It is due to myself to say, that when I was honored with the invitation, I accepted it only on condition : — I said to the Committee, I am no Fourth of July speech-maker, for I have neither the genius nor the imagination that would fit me for such a style of oratory ; but ours is a political organization, designed to accomplisli patriotic, political results, for the common benefit of all who are interested in the perpetuity of our institutions, and I can conceive no more appropriate occasion for an inquiry into the political condition of the country than on the birthday of Washington ; if, therefore, it shall be agreeable to the Committee, and to the Order of which you are the representa- tives, that I should undertake to show the deplorable condition to which it has been reduced, the causes that have led to it, and the remedies to be ap- plied, in whicli I shall necessarily deal, with an unsparing, but a just hand, with the democratic party, to which all the evils and calamities that have be- fallen us are to be traced, then I will venture an attempt, and endeavor to present such views as are calculated to arrest the public attention, with a confiding trust they may prove beneficial to our common country. These conditions were accepted, and I am here to discharge the task I have undertaken. Any attempt at an appropriate or suitable eulogy on the virtues and ser- vices of Washington — of whom it was as beautifully as it was graphically and justly said, "He was the first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" — would be as far above the reach of my limited capacity as his imperishable name and fame are above the necessity for eulogy — and beyond the reach of envy, jealousy, calumny or detraction. 1 Washington stands out from all the rest of mankind, alone, without a rival, and without a peer. Between himself and others, comparisons are not insti- tuted, because all acknowledge his superiority, and the best would suffer by the contrast ; for not only in every clime where civilization has extended its blessings, but even among the savage and barbarous tribes, the name of Washington is known and revered as among the sagacious, the most wise; as among the unsullied, the most pure ; and among the good, the best. It is not, then, in a vain and idle desire for an ostentatious and pedantic display of oratory, or of learning (to which I set up no pretensions) that I am here to-day. It is not to reap in a field, where nothing is left to gleam that I come to harvest ; it is not of Washington that I come to speak, but of those great works of which he was the chief and mighty architect ; the liber- ties of the people and the union of the States, for which he fought in the bat- tle-field and labored in the Council Chamber, and which, having at length perfected and set in order, he transmitted to us, his unworthy children, as the richest inheritance ever bequeathed to humanity, in sacred trust, to be handed down by us unimpaired to our children and their descendants for generation upon generation yet unnumbered and unborn. That there have been, and still are, those who occupy high positions in society, eminent places in the Government, and who enjoy a large share of the respect and confidence of those by whom they are surrounded at home, who neither appreciate the virtues and services of their ancestry, nor the advantages and blessings of the Union, we are furnished with abundant evidence, not only through the public press but in our daily intercourse with the world, and in our common walks of life ; and althougli we see it not un- frequently happen that such men, by inflammatory appeals to the sordid pas- sions or sectional prejudices of a more honest and confiding constituency, manage to worm themselves into official stations, sometimes even as the representatives of States, yet I do not believe that there is a single State in this Union that has become so basely degenerate, so unspeakably depraved, as to calculate its value by dollars and cents, whether for the cotton of South Carolina, the negroes of Virginia, the mules of Kentucky, the hogs of Ohio> the lands of the West, or the manufactures of the North. The representatives of the people are not always to be taken as a just index of the sentiment of those they represent. My own State has furnished more than one nuUifier, secessionist and disunionist to the public councils ; but I take both pleasure and pride in paying a just tribute to the integrity and patriotism of the constituent bodies they left behind them when they went to Washington, by declaring they are as true and as sound and loyal on the questions of the Union, as were their forefathers in the days of the Revolu- tion ; then if you ask me why they select such men to represent them, I answer, Ist, because they cannot be made to believe the Union is in danger; and 2d, because it is tlie result of party spirit and party organization. Yet it is unquestionable, that there has been a change in public sentiment, in some sections of tlais country, witliin tlie last twenty years ; men are now found wlio habitually indulge in a freedom of speech through the public press, upon the hustings, and in the social circle, which, if whispered around the domestic hearth, but little over a quarter of a century ago, would have subjected the perpetrator of the treasonable outrage, to the unceremonious application of a coat of tar and feathers, and a ride upon a rail, that would have cured the worst case of chronic dyspepsia ; but now, the sound of dis- union, the ravings of sectional madmen, the clamors of disappointed aspirants and demagogues, who will submit to no construction of the Constitution that is not of their own interpretation, and to no administration that is not of tlieir own selection, have become so familiar to our ears, that instead of their being visited with the unqualified condemnation, the indignant wrath, the scoffs and hisses of an offended populace, we see the prime movers, the chief offenders, boldly stepping forth for places of the higliest public trust, — and wise, and virtuous, and patriotic men, who should stand aghast at the sublimity of their audacity, under the inexorable rule of party discipline, help them into office, whilst they abominate their detestable doctrines, upon those most im- portant points — but whilst "charity covereth a multitude of sins," Democ- racy covereth charity, and obliterates all sin. How many of those, who, but a short time since, were threatening to tear this Union asunder, and involve ns in all the horrors of civil strife, if a ma- joi'ity of the people of this 'country, in the exercise of their constitutional and sovereign right, should elect a candidate to the chief magistracy of the nation, not of their own section of the country, and not of their own party (for there lay the true secret), are now to be found, graciously tendering their own services for this same great trust, and with a degree of effrontery which defies description, claiming to belong to the only national party, and the only party, that can save the Union, or preserve tlie Constitution ! Let the people beware how they intrust this sacred legacy to the hands of those who have ever harbored a design to destroy it, or calculated its cost by sectional or pecuniary advantages. It would not only be a flagrant breach of trust, reposed in us by those who executed the deed, — but it would be a crime against God and man, that would ascend to heaven, and excite the wrath of an offended Deity. Let them trust it only to those who value it for itself alone, and for the inestimable and countless blessings it has bestowed. And here it might be well to stop, and inquire for a moment, who they are, and where they are to be found ? I am happy to say that there is but one party in this country, divided and subdivided as we are, in which that class of men are recognized or found, and that is the party, which claims '■'■par erceZZence" to bo the national party — the only party '■'■that can save the Unioii." " The state rights republican democratic party" — God save the mark ! No man that belongs to the "Whig party — no man that belongs to the American party — no man that belongs to the Republican party, so far as I know — no 4 :mk. botts' address. • man that belongs to the great opposition party — is an advocate for disunion ! for the raoint-nt he becomes contaminated or tainted with this foul, and odious, and detestable heresy, he falls out of the ranks of the opposition party, and walks straight into the ranks of the Imposition parti/, where he can find sympathy and aid, and comfort, from his brother democrats ; and this of itself is enough to brand that party with suspicion and distrust, and to arouse the energies of every patriotic heart, to frown down upon them, as an unsafe and dangerous political organization; — it is the only party that will recognize and fraternize with disunionists, and the number of these, what- ever it may be, is to be found in their ranks, and theirs only ; — let the good men, let the patriotic men, who love their country and its institutions, come out of it — and leave it to die the death it deserves ; and if they will not, if they still persist, if houcst, well meaning, and patriotic men (as the great mass of them are) still adhere to the enemies of their country — let them also, through our united and untiring efforts, share the fate they will have brought upon themselves, and which they will so richly deserve. Let it not be supposed that I entertain any apprehensions for the fate of the Union: not at all ! This Union has the elements of strength within itself, to enaljle it to meet and crush all rebellion from within, and all as5:auUs from without. All that is needed is a bold, fearless, determined man, at the head of the Government, who will discharge his duty faithfully, without fear, favor, or affection, when the necessity shall arise, and trust to the laws, and the good sense and patriotism of the country for his support. But there can be no security for its safety whilst the Government is in the hands of those who prefer power to union ; or who will be subjected to the influence or control of that faction, whose support will be essential to the continuance of their power. The influence of a portion of these disorganizers upon the present adminis- tration, has been made too painfully manifest, within the last fifteen months, to require a more specific reference. If there was one turbulent spirit in Paradise, who preferred " to reign in Hell rather than serve in Heaven," it is perhaps not to be wondered at, that of Lucifer's kind some should be found amongst us, who prefer to be at the head of a rebellious and treasonable movemenl. rather than live in obscurity, and die "unknown, unhonored and unsung;" but, as Lucifer was hurled headlong from on high for his audacious and rebellious spirit, so should these agitators and disturbers of the public peace — these advocates of disunion, be hurled from the high places they desecrate, and their names be handed down with obloquy and dishonor, on the page of history, as an example and a warning to future generations. I would as soon confide the helpless lamb to the tender mercies of a raven- ous wolf, as to commit this Union to the safe keeping of one who had ever dared to raise his voice, or harbor a thought, for its destruction. I would not tolerate a party that gives countenance, and .sympathy, and the right hand ME. BOTTS' ADDRESS. 5 of fellowship and cordiality to those who do, or have meditated treason to our glorious and thrice blessed Union; achieved by the wisdom of patriots, cemented by the best blood of our ancestry, and consecrated in the affections of all good and worthy men. Having said this much on the subject of the Union, and those who would disturb its harmony, — for I will not stop to speak of its advantages and blessings, apparent to all, except a besotted and crack-brained portion of Democracy — let us take a glance at the demoralized and ruinous condition in which we find the country, at home and abroad, under the control of those who have held the reins of Government for thirty years, the causes that have led to it, and the remedies to be applied. And first, let us see how we stand, at this day, in our relations with the civilized world at large. By reference to the annual message of the President, it will be seen, that we have troublesome questions — complications they are called — to be settled, with no less than nine different powers — any one of which may, at any time, nvolve us in a general war with the whole ; and out of some of which war will be manufactured, if it should be deemed necessary, in the next Presi- dential campaign, to make such an issue in order to retain that party in power. But I hope before they bring this calamity upon the country, they will be admonished that the party, that will involve us in unnecessary strife, is not the party that will be the most likely to bring us out of it with advantage and honor to the nation. It appears, from the message of the President, that we are involved in trouble with England — and, of course, with France, as the ally of England — Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rico, New Grenada, Guatamala, and Paraguay. A nice little batch of quarrels, truly, for this great nation to work itself into. If a man is found quarreling with everybody he meets, the world is very apt to pass sentence of condemnation against him, on the presumption that one who involves himself in trouble with all, is not likely to be himself wholly blameless; this is a natural judgment to be pronounced, both against an individual and a nation ; and what is it that has involved us in so many difficulties ? It is either the want of proper energy or disposition on the part of our Government, to discharge its duty faithfully to the country, and to mankind ; it is either a culpable timidity in the execution of the laws, or it is a still more criminal desire to acquire strength and popularity, with a peculiar class of citizens, by ignoring all laws and winking at its flagrant violation in open day. It is the countenance that has been given to the lawless spirit of filibusterism, as it is politely termed, which is nothing more and nothing less, than a war of desperate lawless men against the property and the rights of the rest of mankind, in whatever region or climate the prospect of private fortunes and success may invite them. How is it that one man has been permitted to set the whole Government at b MR. EOTTS ADDRESS. dofiance? — to raise his troops — charter his vessels — ship his men and muni- tions of war, and sail from the ports of New York, New Orleans, and Mobile, in defiance of the law and all its officers, with the proclamation of the Exe, cutive to stop it ? and when he is arrested by a naval officer, in strict obe- dience to the spirit of his orders, (for it was no more a violation of the laws of neutrality to arrest him on the territory of Nicaragua than on the waters within the jurisdiction of Nicaragua, and to which the letter of his orders ex- tended), and when he is brought home an offender against the.laws of his coun- try, he is discharged, not only without punishment, but without reproach, and is turned loose only to repeat his former offenses. Look at the case of Walker : he charters a vessel in New Orleans, sends 300 men with arms and munitions of war on board, evidently, and almost acknowledgedly, on a filibustering expedition against a defenseless people with whom we were on terms of peace ; he is then arrested and carried be- fore a federal judge, who released him on $2,000 bail, which was promptly paid by those who were acting in concert with him, and sympathizing in all his movements, he repairs on board and sets sail from New Orleans for Nicara- gua ; the facts are communicated to the head of the Government, orders are issued and sent out to the American squadron not to permit him to land — he is arrested immediately on landing — he is sent home an offender against the law of his country — he is delivered to the authorities at Washingron by the mai-shal of this district, and the President, upon whose proclamation he has been arrested, and who, in his message to Congress, in 1857, rebuked Judge Caleb for the insufficiency of bail required, coolly informs the marshal, through the Secretary of State, that he has no use for Mr. Walker, and seems to treat it as a very officious and impertinent thing in Marshal Rynders to trouble them with General Walker's affairs, who is further discharged with no bail at all, and turned loose to get up another expedition, that set sail from Mobile in open day on another piratical cruise, which, by the interposition of Divine Providence, was arrested, and the honor, in some degree, and perhaps the peace of the country saved, alone by the accidents of the sea which befell these marauding men. Is it within the compass of human credulity, that such scenes as I have de- scribed could have happened, if there had been a real and honest desire, as by paper proclamation would have appeared, to have executed faithfully the laws that the President was sworn to support ? If we can persuade ourselves that all is fair and honest, can we hope to make the other powers of the world believe it ? Does any man believe, that with the means at the disposal of the Government, the African slave trade can be successfully carried on, and two cargoes of Africans landed on our Southern coast, if there was an honest desire to prevent it ? The law is strong enough, why is it not enforced ? Aye, there is the question. Who are these filibusters and African slave dealers? To what party do they all belong ? I am happy to say I have never MR. BOTTS ADDRESS. 7 heard of a member of the Whig or American parties, to both of which I be- long, who has given any countenance to these lawless proceedhigs ; they be- long to the Southern Democracy, whose support, with that of their friends, is essential to the perpetuation of democratic ascendency. The moment one of any other party becomes a filibuster, or an African slave trader, he seeks the company that suits him, and straightway joins the Democracy or Imposition parly, where alone he can meet with sympathy. How does our democratic President propose to treat these questions of for- eign difficulty? Look to his message and to his organ, "the Union," and shudder while you read. He makes the astounding proposition, which, twenty- five years ago, would have startled this nation from its centre to its circum- ference, that all the guards and barriers of the Constitution shall be unhinged, that all defenses shall be broken down, and that Congress shall divest itself of the war-making power, and transfer to him, the President, not only the power of making war, but that he shall have control of the army and navy of the United States to protect the three transit routes of Nicaragua, Panama, and Tehuantepec, and to authorize him to establish a protectorate in the States of Chihuahua and Sonora, within the territory of Mexico ; such protection as the Emperor Nicholas proposed to extend to the provinces of Wallachia and Mol- davia, and which led to the late war between that power and the combined forces of England and France. Our President has ascertained that there is a " sick man" on this continent, for whom he proposes to become a dry nurse • and the pretext for this is, that there is no power in the Mexican govern ment to restrain its lawless citizens from depredating on the rights oi others. What has this government to do with Protectorates and nursing of sick men Let us be careful how we set bad examples. I have just shown that there was either no power or no disposition in this government to prevent our own law- less citizens from depredating on the rights of others ; — and why may not other powers, with equal propriety, undertake a Protectorate for our Southern border, until the government of the United States furnishes some evidence of its ability to restrain the lawless mobs of fillibusters from bidding defiance to all lawful authority at home ? And, to enable the President thus to carry out his designs, which amount in themselves to actual war, and will be so regarded, not only by Mexico, but by all the world, it is proposed by the Union newspaper, the home organ of the President, published under his eye, and subject to his control, that an appropriation of $20,000,000 shall be made by Congress, and placed at the disposal of the President. If there be occasion for war with Mexico, or any other power, let war be declared in the only legitimate mode, by the war- making power of the United States ; for when we have ouce gotten into it — whether by the indiscretion of the President, or by design, in order to divert public attention from the misdeeds of democracy, or far the purpose of intro- ducing a new issue into the next Presidential campaign— we shall have nothing left us to do but to fight it out. 8 :mk. botts' address. War is at all times a sad calamity to befall any people, but, in the name of humanity, if we are to have it, let us have just grounds for it — so that we can stand justified before Heaven, and in the face of the world; and, at all events, let us not break down all our constitutional palisades and restrictions in order to seek it. Nor is this the only infringement of the Constitution proposed by our democratic President. He seeks to acquire Cuba — by fair means if he can, by foul means if he must — for he first says, "We would not, if we could, acquire Cuba in any other manner than by honorable negotiation." This, he says, is due to our national character, and yet he does not finish the paragraph before he reasserts the doctrines of the Ostend Manifesto, and thinks a case may arise which would render a departure from honorable negotiation clearly justifiable, under the imperative and overruling law of self-preservation, when, as a matter of course, we would steal it — and, from the next succeeding paragraph, we might naturally conclude, that the case that would justify stealing had about this time arrived. But I have spoken of another proposition to break down the Constitution, and transfer the treaty-making power from the Senate of the United States to the President, for he modestly asks at the hands of Congress an appropriation to enable him to make an advance to the Spanish government (or it may be to the Spanish ministry) immediately after the signing of the treaty, without awaiting its ratification by the Senate, and his political and confidential friend in the Senate has proposed that the sum of §30,000,000 shall be placed al his disposal for this purpose, and his party followers in both Houses have reported bills to this eifect. Then the President is to be authorized to negotiate a treaty, at a cost of $30,000,000, after which, the Senate may exercise the high prerogative of ratifying the treaty or of throwing $30,000,000 of the people's money to the dogs. Now, then, here is the proposition, first to place the army and navy of the United States at the disposal of the President, with authority to make war, then transfer to him the treaty-making power ; and, last of all, to put the purse-strings of the nation in his hands, by the appropriation of the enormous sum of $50,000,000, to accomphsh all the ends he has in view ; and now, I ask the people of this country, what will be left of their Constitution worth preserving. Yet, this is Democracy ! This is the only national party ! This is the only party that can be safely trusted, to save the Union and preserve the Consti- tution ! This is the National, Constitutional, States' rights party, which has appropriated to itself, exclusively, all the offices, honors and emoluments of office for the last thirty years, with rare intervals of exception, and exer- cised the moat intolerant proscription against the purest, wisest, and most ex- perienced men of the opposite party, that have at any time adorned the oountry^ MR. BOTTS' ADDRESS. 9 It is time that such a party was crushed out, and its organization dispersed; for, as I hope to be able to prove, it has operated as a bhght and mildew on the prosperity, happiness and peace of the country, wherever its horrid deformities have been seen and felt, whether in the National or State gov- ernments. Half a century cannot put my own State in the condition she ought now to occupy, and would have occupied, but for its pernicious councils and its inju- rious influences. It is not in opposition to the acquisition of Cuba that I speak, but to the manner in which it is proposed to be acquired; the man has not been born with whom I would entrust the power asked to be lodged in the hands of Mr. Buchanan ; the case cannot arise, for the accomplishment of which I would do such violence to the Constitution. If the Father of his country were alive I would not confer such powers upon him. Not from an apprehension that his integrity would be too weak to resist the temptation, nor that his ambition would be so strong as to lead him into an abuse of the power, but that I would not set such an example, or establish such a precedent, for all the Island of Cuba could ever be worth to us. Fifty milHons of dollars, and the army and navy, all subject to the control of the President, with the express grant of power to make war and purchase territory during the recess of Con- gress at his own discretion ! What President have we had, before this, who could have presented so startling and so monstrous a proposition, without exciting the alarm and indignation of every man in the country ? Could Santr \.nna have claimed more as Dictator in Mexico ? Are there additional powa , ^or Louis Napoleon to exercise in France, than to have the control of the army, the navy and the treasury of France ? If Cuba can be obtained in any fair, honorable and constitutional mode, as an important point of defense for a portion of our Southern border, and the Gulf of Mexico, the American Mediterranean, and as a means of obliter- ating the inhuman traffic in African slavery, which, I think, constitutes its chief importance to us, I would not be the one to interpose an objection — but if it is only for the purpose of raising some new issue for helping a Demo- cratic nominee into the Presidency, as the slavery question has become threadbare and worn out — and Southern Whiggery can no longer be hum- bugged by it — if it is for the purpose, either now or hereafter, of creating new cause for sectional strife, then I would much prefer to have nothing to do with it. But can it be purchased at all? I think not; certainly for the present ! What, then, is the appropriation of $30,000,000 for ? — first, to provoke some cause for making a descent upon it, and seizing it under the Ostend doctrine — and then, so time it as to make that a great issue in the Presidential election, in 1860. It would be better, at all events, to have it understood in advance what ultimate disposition is to be made of it, before it is acquired in any form ; and for that reason I should prefer its postponement until it could be 10 3IE. BOTTS' ADDRESS. obtuned by those in whose patriotisra and political integrity I hare more confidence than I have in the leading men of the Democratic party, and who win procore it, if at all, withoat the destruction of the Constitution. So mach for our foreign policy and our complications with other powers Let us now see how we stand in cor home relations, under this iron sway of Democracy. When we turn our eyes in that direction, we find the nation " rent with heresies. And bristling with rebellion." Soothem leagues. Mormon wars, Kansas troubles, sectional strife, Congress- ional corruption, purchased legislation, insufferable extravagance, public plun- der, confidence destroyed, trade paralyzed, manufactures closed, vessels rotting at your wharves, labor idle, industry discoviraged, the people impov- erished, your tTizasTiry bankrtipt, lawless mobs and vigilance committees usurping the judgment seat, overawing the officers of the law, and bidding defiance to all legal authority, and this is what the Democracy boastfully call "a ttaie of uHparalUIed prosperity." This is a sad and sorrowful, but true, picture of our real condition ; would that it were cot so, and would that my mind could be relieved of the mourn- ful reaUty that it is so. This is not idle assertion ; it is historic truth, known to every well-in- formed man in the country, and which must appear at some future day on the page of history, if that history shall ever be truly written. Let us investigate the truth of each, in its regular order : That there is a body of men in the South a&sociated together as a " South- ern League," whose object is openly avowed to be to bring about a dissolu- tion of the Union, which, in legal definition, is a conspiracy to levy war against the United States, and of which no notice has been taken by those who are intrusted with the sacred charge of preserving the integrity of the Union ; and that that body of men is composed entirely of democrats, whose votes ai the polls are necessary to the continuance of democratic power in this govemment, are facts that none, I presume, will be bold enough to deny. That there was a Mormon war, in which the then Governor of the territory of Utah openly defied the legal authorities, and forcibly resisted the entrance of the military foreea of the United States, cutting off and destroying large quantities of provisions and wagon trains, which war has been discreditably compromised, when the traitor's head should have paid the forfeit of his rebel- lion, none can successfully dispute ; and we may well anticipate a renewal of hostilities and treason, at an early day, after the entire removal of the troopa. That the country has suffered from the Kansas troubles, and from sectional strife, which threatened to destroy this great temple of liberty, and that it was all brought about by the aggressive and encroaching spirit of Democracy, by the disturbance of a long-settled and satisfactory compromise, for their political aggrandizement only, few at this day will venture to gainsay. That there has been Congressional corruption, purchased legislation, insof- ME. BOTTS' ADDBE5S. 11 ferable eitraTagance, and public plander, to aa extent onknoim and unpar- alleled before, under Democratic example and nusmle, the nomerous commit- tees that have been appointed lo inTestigate Congressional abuses and cormp- tions, the records of Congress will prove. And I have latelj seen it published that, on the failure of some Western or^S'orth Western railroad company, the President stated that one of the chief eauses of its failure was that the enor- mous sum of $7«X',CkXi had been paid to procure the passage of the bill through Congress, which has passed bj as an every-daj occnrrence, hardly worthy of notice. That confidence has been destroyed, trade paralyzed, manTifaciories closed and sold out tirder the sheriff's hammer, that vessels are rotting at yota' wharves for want of employment, that labor is unemployed and industry dis- couraged, that the people are impoverished, and the treasury bankrupt, that the Government is supported by loans, and the issue of treasury notes, and all this in a time of profound peace, and all, too, under a long reign of Demo- cratic legislation and control, the knowledge of all iatelligeni and candid men will testify. That lawless mobs and vigilance committees have aesuiued the judgement seat, and evaded or overawed the legal authorities of the coimtry, the scenes that have transpired in this city, in Baltimore, Mobile, Xew Orleans, and Cali- fornia, all bear evidence. Now all this has not happened within the last few years, without some con- trolling cause. It is not a mauer of mere chance and accident. There is a reason for it, and that reason ought to be investigated, and a corrective applied- What, then, is the cause ? It has been occaaoned, first, by the disorganize non of society, arising from a too rapid introduction of the foreign element into our social and political organizations, before ihey found a place suited to their wants, before they found the means of living, or had acquired a know- ledge of our institutions, or cared for their successful operation. Secondly, for the want of employment to the generd labor of the country, which has been perdstentiy refused by the Democracy, and which has led to dissipation, rowdyism, vice, and all the other concomitants of idleness ; and, thirdly, by the example set in high places of an unfaithful administration and execution of the law : and, lastly, by the improvident and tmwise system of legislation as established by the Democratic party ; — ^in refusing to pro wet the fruits of the industrr of the country, whilst the vicious and corrupt are courted and caressed, shielded and protected wherever they Lave the power to control a popular election. To correct all this it wQl not do to lop aS a bran^ here and a bran<^ there- you must begin at the root ; you must institute a new order of things in Washington ; you must purify the Government and all its officers ; and then the people will become pure, or will be deterred hum committing such scenes of violence and disorder as I have described. 12 ME. BOTTS' ADDEESS, I do not mean to saj, because I do not believe, that vice and corruption pervade the entire body of Democratic politicians, although there is far too much of it in politicians of all parties, and none are too good to bear watch; ing ; but it is the nature and character of their organization, which is the most perfect, compact, and formidable that ever controlled a party, that leads to all these mischiefs — it is the system and policy they pursue, and to which few of them do not subscribe ; and when they do not, they are excluded from the flesh-pots — which is the severest punishment known to their code; — that policy is to make all things bend to success ; to sacrifice all things human and holy to the ascendancy of party, and the perpetuation of power ; neither the lights of experience, the peace of the country, the harmony of sections, the preservation of the Constitution, the safety of the Union, the prosperity of tlie nation, the purity of the bench, the sanctity of the church, tieither one nor all these combined, are allowed to break through the serried ranks of their political organization, which has no principle for its basis, and no manly incentive for its conduct. At the behest, and by the example of Democracy — party politics have entered into our courts, of high and low degree, its influence is to be felt in the jury-box, and to be seen in the witness-stand; it is as much a part of the pohcy of that party, to make Democracy a portion of the education of the youth of the country, by the appointment of Democratic teachers and pro- fessors, as it is a part of the policy of the Roman Catholic church to make all Catholics, by the exclusion of the bible from our common schools. Xcver, never was a more thorough knowledge of a party displayed than when one of its chiefs, who assisted at its birth, said, " It was a party held together only by the cohesive power of the public plunder." Suppose Mr. Clay, whose relations to the Whig party were more constant, but not more close, had said tliis of us, as a warning to his countrymen ; who can measure or calculate the effect it would have produced ou the honest and well mean- ing patriots of our own party ? yet in what respect has it disturbed the De- mocracy, except to make them the more grasping, the more rapacious and the more active, in carrying out this one, and only principle ? Still I say, I do not attribute vice to all the leaders of that party, many of whom are sound hearted, and, on general subjects, sound headed men ; for there are among them, men who, in all the private and social relations of life, are as honorable and estimable men as live — but I would not trust them as politicians, in connection with the organization to which they belong, and to which an implicit obedience is demanded. IIow many of them, who, to my knowledge, voted against their judgments and their consciences, for the repeal of the Mi.'jsouri Compromise, which has brought so much mischief on the country — purely and simply, because it was required of them as a party measure. Men, like the lamented Rusk of Texasi with as honest and gallant a spirit as the Senate could boast, who told me on the day of the night on which that vote was taken, that in all his life he had ME. BOTTS^ ADDEESS. 13 never done anything so much against his own judgment as he was about to do, in voting to repeal that compromise. Let Gen. Cass, who is an honest man and a patriot, with nothing more to expect at the hands of his party, be asked at this day, if he did not then think "the man who would defeat the passage of that bill, would be entitled to rank as the greatest benefactor of the age." Look, again, at Mr. Hammond, who is personally unknown to me, but who has publicly confessed, that he voted against his own convictions of duty for he Lecompton Constitution, which thought, as I tliink, " ought to have been kicked out of the Senate." I select these gentlemen as the most honorable, the most distinguished, and among the most favored of their party, holding seats in that body, which, from childhood, we have been taught to look up to as the great conservative branch of the government; removed by the period for which they are elected from those influences that would naturally operate elsewhere ; and when we see such men as these in such positions as they occupied, thus tied down by party di-cipline, I ask what have we to expect from inferior men in inferior places, many of whom have no other wish and no other hope than to live on popular favor at home, and on the public crib abroad ? What other than the Democratic party, bloated with arrogance, and glutted ■with confidence in their own strength, would have dared to disturb that healing measure of compromise which had given peace to a distracted country for thirty-four years, only for the purpose of makin;^ a new issue by which they might, as they thought, more certainly retain their ill-gotten power. What mighty ills have not grown out of that disturbance ? The legislation of our wisest and best men, of our most experienced states men, a long unbroken current of judicial decisions for sixty-four years, as expounded by Marshall,and Story, and Baldwin, and'Washington, all swept by the board at one fell swoop, and the ship of state turned loose upon the waves of faction — tossed, and strained, and worn, drifting no one knows where, and encountering no one knows what: striking upon the rock of popular sover eignty here, the shoal of squatter sovereignty there, upon which she is thrown, first upon her beam ends and then upon her bows, struggling and straining for relief— and with no pilor, at hand, and no helm, nor compass, nor sail, nor mast, nor spar to run or guide her into port. Yet, notwithstanding all this, she will neither strand, nor founder, nor wreck, but, in defiance of the mis- management of all on board, she will ride triumphantly upon the waters — find her way into port — be brought into dock, overhauled and repaired, and again launched with officers and crew that will put her on her old track and weather every storm ; but no thanks for this to her present officers and crew, but to her own stout frame and superior sailing qualities. But what shall be done with those who have perpetrated this grave offense ? Shall they go unwhipped of justice ; or shall they pay the penalty of their guilt ? 14 5IR. BOTTS' ADDRESS. How stands the question now of the power of legislation for the territories? Does it remain where the Constitution placed it, where it had been exercised for sixty-four years, and where the judicial tribunal* of the country had de- cided it to exist — in the Congress of the United States ? or does it abide in the territories themselves ? We have some new theory broached on this subject almost every day, be- cause from the moment they departed from the old landmark, they have been baulking, and blundering, and stumbling from bad to worse, like a blind horse in ploughed ground, simply for the reason, that there was no path to follow, and no road to travel, and no sign-post to guide ; and you must get back to the Constitution, and the power must remain where it was lodged by the Con- stitution — in the Congress of the United States — before matters will get straight again. This power Congress has no authority to transfer ; they have no choice but to exercise it themselves. If the power is given to Congress to legislate for the territories, they have no more right to divest themselves of that power and transfer it to the Territorial Legislatures, than they would have to divest themselves of the war-making power, and transfer it to the State Legislatures. And if the power is not vested in Congress, where do they derive the power by /c^ris/a^zon to transfer the authority to the territory? This proposition is too plain and simple to embarrass the mind of any statesman. Away, then, with all new-fangled theories and experiments of popular and squatter sove- reignty unknown to the Constitution. It is sheer nonsense and folly ; there can be no harmony of action, no peace, no agreement as to the power, until *his wild heresy is abandoned and the Constitution is restored to its original action, and to its ti-ue interpretation. If, then, I am asked, as I often am, what about Senator Douglass' new theory of squatter sovereignty, I answer, according to the terms of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, he is all right ; but, according to the Constitution, he is all wrong, essentially and radically wrong: extra-judicial political opinions that have been made to binge upon the Ne- braska bill, and not upon the Constitution, to the contrary notwithstanding. This is a position that no argument can refute and no sophistry evade. It is constitutional law, settled and carried out in practice by better and wiser men than those of the present day, and judicialhj decided and expounded by a pure, upright, and independent judiciary, who had no political objects to accomplish, and no party to sorve or obey. To the masses of Democracy I cannot and do not impute any other motives than such as control us in the Opposition. I believe they are as honest in pur- pose, and patriotic in design, as the masses of the Opposition ; but in the Southern States, where alone Democracy remains triumphant, they arc misled by demagogues and shallow leaders, who have wormed themselves into their confidence. They are kept, too, in a state of profound ignorance and dark- ness, by the fact that nearly the entire South is represented by the Democracy — who keep the country flooded with nothing but Democratic documents, MR. BOTTS' ADDRESS. 15 which never expose Democratic misdeeds. From my own State, we have fif- teen Democratic repreaentatives in the two houses of Congress, not one of whom, I presume, ever sent an Opposition speech or document into the State ; or if they did it was sure not to be to a member of the Democratic party — from whom all such precious documents are withheld. I say this aa an apology for the condition of things that exists in Virginia. But, if they could have the same opportunity that has been held out to the North, to see for themselves to what condition Democracy has brought the country, they would be as willing to throw off the galling yoke as have been the Democracy of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, all of which they were once proud to number in their ranks. I am not prepared to admit that the Democracy of Virginia are more be- nighted and ignorant than the Democracy of the other States ; nor are they less patriotic, nor are they less interested in good, wholesome, salutary legis- lation, if they were only afforded the same facilities for forming a sound and correct judgment. Have I said too much of the sacrifices this Democratic party is at all times prepared to make of principle, or consistency, in obedience to party spirit, and party fealty ? Let us see ; and if I have, let me be visited with public con- demnation, as one who has calumniated their good name and fame. I will not go back into those old, hackneyed questions, such as Internal Im- provements by the General Government — nor of what they have professed in their platforms, and practiced in Congress — for all that, I discussed in the cam- paign of 1856 — in what is commonly known as my African Church speech. I will confine myself to issues of a later day. In 1848, there was not a Democrat in the Southern States who did not espe- cially repudiate and eschew the doctrine of Squatter Sovereignty — as set forth in Gen. Cass' famous Nicholson letter, and who did not strictly deny its liability to such an interpretation. In 185-4, there was not one Southern Democrat in either House of Congress that did not vote for this identical Squatter Sove- reignty doctrine, which constituted the basis of the iniquitous Kansas-Nebraska bill; and now, in 1858, again they are as much opposed to that doctrine as they were in 1848. Does this, or not, establish their claim to principle or consistency ? Again, it was but a few short years since, that the entire South supported the Missouri Compromise, in Congress and out of it, as a thing too sacred and too holy to be touched. In the Legislature of Virginia it was declared, by a vote of 117 to 13, that any attempt to repeal that compromise would be a just cause for a dissolution of the Union, and " that it would be resisted at all hazards, and to the last extremity." In 1854, every Southern Democrat in both Houses of Congress, voted, as a party measure, to repeal that Compro- mise, and every Southern Democratic paper, public speaker, and voter, without an exception, as far as my knowledge extends, supported them to the very echo — and I, myself, was fiercely denounced, as a traitor to the South, for 16 lilE. BOTTS' ADDRESS. resisting its repeal ; and there were some whose rash and intemperate zeal so far outstripped their Democracy and discretion, as to counsel my expulsion from the State for my treasonable opposition to the disturbance of our peace. Does this, or not, establish their claim to consistency or principle, or does it show their readiness to yield both to party dictation and party success ? In 1854, non intervention was the universal cry of Democracy, South ; now they begin to find non-intervention don't pay, and already they raise the cry of intervention, as indispensable to the protection of their property and the preservation of the Union. Perhaps they may rest their claim to principle and consistency on this sudden transformation. They claim to be a State-rights party, and utterly deny that any man can be a friend to the rights of the States who does not attach himself to their Democratic organization. Well! in the course of my reading and my experience, I have known of but few instances in which there has been any attempt on the part of the General Government to interfere with, or encroach upon the rights of the S'ates; and those few are very striking and very remarkable instances, as well as of transcendant importance, and of very recent date, and have all originated and been sustained by the Democratic party. The first case was that of the Lecompton Constitution — in which the doc- trine was asserted by a States-rights-Republican Democratic President (for that is the title they have assumed to themselves), and strenuously attempted to be carried out, in Congress, that it was in the power of the Federal authori- ties, to legislate one of the Territories of this Government, as a State into the Union, with a Constitution which had never been submitted to the peo- ple for ratification, on the avowed ground, that if submitted it would be rejected, and against which seven-tenths of the people of that territory were then remonstrating and protesting ; a doctrine that struck a death blow at the basis and foundation of our revolution ; a doctrine that denied both the right and the capacity of the people for self-government; a doctrine, the advocacy of which, in the absence of party machinery and party demands, there was not one of its advocates within the broad limits of this nation whose standing and popularity could have withstood the storm of popular indignation and wrath with which he would have been overwhelmed ; a doctrine that was the most anti-Democratic, anti-Republican, anti-State rights, anti-constitutional, anti-common sense, and anti-common-honcsty doctrine that was ever propounded to the American people ; and yet there was not one Southern Democrat, in either House of Congress, that had the consistency, the principle, or the independence to vote against it. And it is an historical fact, never to be forgotten or overlooked, that the only party in this country tnat could be found to give it their support was the Democratic-Republican- States-riglits party, and that that fraction of the party, claiming "par excel- lence," to be the true and genuine Simoti-Pure, States-rights wing of the party, gave it the most earnest and active support. ME. bott's address. 17 For my own part, haviDg just returned from abroad, when this question was paging with its greatest violence in Congress, I stood by, an inactive, but not an iinconc^rned spectator, feeling that if the final result should show that the power and influence of the President had become so omnipotent and over- whelming, or that the people had become so debased and indifferent to their own rights and the enjoyment of free government, as to have submitted patiently to such outrageous and intolerable oppression and wrong, that then, there was no despotism in the Old World, under which I would not as soon have lived as under the tyrannical and iron despotism of Democracy. Thanks to God! the doctrine did not prevail ; and thanks to God ! the peo- ple are resolved to be left free, to choose their own form of government, in defiance of bribes offered on the one hand, and the threats on the other of the Democratic-Republican-State-Rights party that now holds the reins of govern- ment in its hands, I trust for a limited period only ; for if after this they shall be retained in power, the moral effect and virtue of the action of the people will have been thrown away. Does this action of the party indeed constitute Democracy? If a case par- allel to this could occur in England, it would drive any ministry into ever- lasting disgrace, if no more. In France, it would produce a revolution that no power of government could resist. In Russia, it would be regarded as an act of detestable tyranny, against which the serfs themselves would rebel. Yet, here, it is claimed as evidence of Democratic consistency, and adherence to the principles of true Democracy. Look, again, at the question of the admission of Kansas imder a new con- stitution. Every Southern Democrat has already voted for its admission, under a constitution that the people of Kansas have disavowed, rejected and spurned. They were offered admission with their 35,000 population, if they would ignore all that had passed, stultify themselves and yiell obedience to the dictation of the Federal Executive and Congress; and now, since they have indignantly rejected the bribe, and spurned the threats ™^hich accompa- nied it — it is recommended by the representative of the Democratic-State- Rights party, that one rule shall be adopted for the admission of Kansas, and another for Oregon and all the other Territories of the United States. May we not ask, in the name of Heaven, what has this Government come to? In what direction are we drifting ? What haven are we to reach ? Is this De- mocracy? Is this justice? Is this honesty ? Is this constitutional liberty ? Is this what our fathers fought for ? Is this State-rights ? Is one territory to be left free to form a government to suit itself, and another to be required to frame one to suit the President or the Democratic party ? Is this the way the President hopes to put down agitation, and restore harmony to our already distracted country ? Yet, where is that party which looms up in bold relief, for the equality and sovereignty of all the States ? Where is that Democracy that is always loud-mouthed in proclaiming the equality and sovereiguty of the people ? 2 18 ^m. BOITS' ADDRESS. But perhaps the most glaring outrage ever jet perpetrated, or proposed against the rights of a State, may be found in the action of the Democratic party in the Senate of the United States, in relation to the two Democratic Senators who were confirmed in their seats, when there were no authorized legal contestants to dispute them, and at a time when their votes were sup- posed to be necessary for the passage of the Lecompton Constitution, or the English Montgomery bill, as it was called — and who were alleged to have been elected in violation of the Constitution and laws of Indiana; and now, when the Legislature of that State has elected two other Senators, according to the provisions and requirements of their Constitution, and sent them, as the representatives of her sovereignty, to Washington, they find the doors of the Senate chamber rudely closed against them, on the ground that the Sen- ate being made the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, the case is adjudged by their own ex parte decision, and they have no power to go behind their own act, to ascertain whether or not fraud or wrong has been committed. This case partakes of the nature of the Lecomp- ton case, and raises the question, as to whether the Senators of Indiana shall be elected by the legislative body of that State or by the Democratic party in the Senate of the United States. I have no time to enter into an argument of this case, but call attention to it as one oi grave and great consideration, which would not have been raised with any Southern State in this Union ; and if it had been, would have led to consequences ever to be deplored — and as it is, I presume, we have not yet heard the last of it — for a greater outrage I cannot well conceive — yet I have heard no one voice raised against it by the State-rights party of the South. One other attempt at encroachment on the rights of the States must not be overlooked, and to which I beg to call the attention of the country, and I can conceive of few cases, calling more loudly for the anathemas and denuncia- tions of the State-rights party, and for their interposition in defence of the rights of the States. I allude to the recommendation of Mr. Buchanan in his message to Con- gress, in 185V, and again, after twelve mouths deliberation, repeated in 1S58, that Congress shall pass a Bankrupt law, to be applied to the State corpora- tions, or Banking Institutions created by the States. That is to say — the power being conceded to the State governments to create incorporations, they now claim for the general government the power to destroy. Each government is supposed to be distinct in their several organizations; each State government, sovereign and independent of all the rest, so far as their State governments are concerned, and each likewise, separate, distinct and independent of the Federal Government in the exorcise of all those rights not granted to the general government. Yet, here is a State-rights Democratic President claiming the power, and twice recommending the passage of a law by which Congress takes under its MR. BOTTS' ADDEESS. 19 guardianship the institutions of the States, as created by State authority. Take my own State for example, and I only take that because I know more of the interest held by that State in her banking institutions than I do of any other. In Virginia, there is not an incorporated bank in which the State itself is not a large stockholder, nor is there a railroad corporation in which it has not an interest of three-fifths or more. A crisis, such as we had in 1857, comea on ; the banks throughout the country suspend specie payments ; they apply to the State Legislatures to legalize the suspension, which is done, and then comes in the Congressional law to force them into bankruptcy. Here is a con- flict between the State and Federal governments — which is to prevail? As a State rights man, always prepared to stand up ccanfully for every legitimate right of the States, I maintain that it is a paradox to suppose that the power is anywhere given to one government to create, and to another to destroy. If the State of New York has the constitutional and legal power to incorpo- rate her banks, she has the power to authorize or legalize a suspension of specie payments, whenever she thinks the interests of her' people require it ; and there is no power on earth that can legally interfere with it. The gov- ernment of the United States has no more authority to counteract the legisla- tion of Xew York, than the Russian or British government would have. Yet, there is the proposition, a second time made, after an interval of a year, by a State-rights President; and if the Stale-rights party do not adopt it, it is because they have lost all confidence in the President of their choice, or be- cause they regard him as a setting star, whilst some star af greater magnitude is rising in a different quarter; but certainly, they have raised no outcry against it, as an attack on the rights of the States ; and coming from the head of the party, they must be held responsible for it as a democratic proposition until they have unequivocally repudiated and condemned it. Where then rests the claim of that party to the credit of being either the States rights or Democratic party of this country ? Within the last eighteen months we have passed through a commercial re- vulsion that has destroyed confidence, blasted credit, locked up capital, crip- pled the revenues of the country, left the public treasury bankrupt, brought us all into a condition that requires a prompt and speedy remedy, and the Democratic party, that is responsible for the whole of it, continues to present to the country, through the public press, in their political speeches and public documents, every variety of cause but the true one. Certainly, there was some leading cause for such a catastrophe, which U worthy of investigation, and which if not removed, or if permitted to con- tinue, must lead to similar results, at some future, perhaps no very distant day. The men of means and capital — the men of business and energy — who are most interested in looking into and correcting this great evil— are so engrossed in their daily pursuit after the almighty dollar, each one struggling with his neighbor to see who can be the first to grasp it, and who seem not 20 ME. BOTTS' ADDREvSS. to care either for the cause or for the remedy — and upon whom, at last, the necessity will devolve, of demanding in a voice not to be disregarded, such a change in the political economy of the State as will secure them against simi- lar disasters in future — arc those who interest themselves the least about it, and, without stopp'ng to examirae for themselves, suffer the most idle and absurd theories to pass current, as authority no more to be disputed than divine revelations. We can engage in no more important task on this day of jubilee, than to institute inquiries and set the public mind to work upon this all-absorbing question. Some (and among them the President) ascribe it to the expansion of bank credit, and he declares that these "periodical revulsions, which have existed in our past history, must continue to return at intervals as long as our present unlimited system of bank credits shall prevail ;" and the only remedy he suggests is the passage of a law, by the general government, to force the banking institutions of the States into liquidation and bankruptcy, whenever another revulsion shall occur that will drive them into a state of suspension, although suspension may be legalized by the authorities from which they derive their existence ; and occur again it must, if the present system is not speedily changed. Let us grant for a moment that the President is right, in ascribing this wide- spread ruin to its true cause. In what manner does his proposition, to lock the stable door after the horse had been stolen, remedy the evil ? It must be perceived that, if the banks could foresee or apprehend the trouble they might have to encounter, they would contract their issues in time to avoid the danger. But they cannot, and did not, and, therefore, a Bankrupt law, which would have a final and not a remedial effect, would have answered no bene- ficial purpose. Kow, I put it to the intelligent business men of New York to say if such a Bankrupt latv had been in existence in 1857 — and instead of the suspension of your banks being legalized by the State Legislature they had been forced into bankrupcy — whether it would have proved a remedy for, or an aggravation of the evil. Would the country, at this d150,000,000. Taking, then, the balance of the trade against us in that year, of $40,141,548, and that again of 1853, which was $01,202,196, and in 1854, $00,499,589, and in 1855, $38,899,205 — making, in the.se four years, the sum of $200,742,538, which, with a balance in the year 1S5('), that I have not at hand, should be added to the $450,000,000, together with the interest that had accumulated (as the gold and silver shipped by steamer after steamer was not enough to keep this item down), it will be seen that $000,000,000 is rather within than beyond the probable amount of our iudebtcdness, on every account, to Europe, ME. BOTTS ADDRESS. 31 Now, suppose thig amount of paper in various forms, wiiich liad served as trading capital abroad, is suddenly suspended— a panic ensues, and there is a general failure on this side to meet the obligations due on the other. All con- fidence in this species of capital is at once destroyed, and it no longer answers the purposes of trade or exchange. Is it dilBcult to understand how it would affect the monetary concerns of the whole world? What portion of this enormous debt has been extinguished by fair bona fide payments — how much has been liquidated by bankruptcy' — how much has been compromised at twenty, thirty or fifty cents in the dollar, I have no means of forming a conjecture. But we will suppose it all to have been paid off— which is very far from the fact — and that we have now to take a fresh start; what, then, is to be our future, under the present system, if it shall be continued. In a little while, Yankee ingenuity and enterprise — I use the term Yankee, in its national sense — aided by the unexampled resources of the country wil begin to push matters ahead again. There will be a partioll the solid, unbroken column of 7 or 800,000 foreign votes, and see what an immense disparity it leaves between the native elements of the Democracy and the Opposition. Yet the Democracy succeeded. And now, I would ask, are there enough of American-born citizens, and foreigners now naturalized, to control our own afi'aiis? And are we capa- ble of doing ?o without further foreign aid ? If so, why should it besought and courted ? Can it be a source of self congratulation to any reflecting mind, that an overwhelming majority of his own countrymen, equally in terested in the welfare of the State with himself, questioning bis polioy- and trembling for their mutual safety, should be beaten down, their coun- sels spurned, and they, themselves, excluded from all participation in their common concerns, by the aid of those, who, to a large extent, neither knew nor cared for what they did. It, is not proposed to interfere, in the slightest degree, with the acquired rights of those already here, and we could not if we would. We arc even willing that those already here shall be allowed to go on and perfect tlieir ME. BOTTS' ADDEESS. 39 claim, to participate with us, under the law as it now stands; but we ask for a prosp<^ctive day of emancipation from this growing and rapidly in- creasing evil, before we are all overwhelmed. Nor is it proposed to iiiterfere with the subject of religion, or *he religious worship of any portion of the people of the United States. The Order of United Americans is not now, and never has been, mixed up with any question relating to the church; and the other American organizaiions of the country never contemplated anything more than resistance to all at- tempts at an intermixture or union of Chtirch and State. They never disputed the right of any one to connect himself with whatever church he might prefer, aud to wo.ship his Maker as his conscienc might direct — but their purpose was to permit no church, of any denomination, to control the State, and no ecclesiastical order to govern the civil authority, nor force any particular religion upon the people, by legal enactment, for the exclusion of the bible from the common schools. The kingdom of Christ is not of this worJd ; it is not temporal, but spiritual ; and whilst his disciples are commanded to obey the powers that be, they are expressly forbidden any usurpation of the civil authority, or control over temporal power. For my own part, I should be more than willing that every foreigner, now upon our shores, or arriving here, within any given future day, within a limited period, should be allowed to go at once to the proper tribunal, and by declaring his intention, upon oath, to become a permanent citizen, take the oath of fidelity to the United States and become at once invested with every civil and leligious privilege enjoyed by a native citizen; but I would withhold from him all political power, and let him wait patiently until his children, raised under republican institutions, nursed, as it were, by the milk of liberty from its mother's breast, should stand forth and claim, as we do now, that he has rights and privileges at home that do not belong to every traveling vagrant, that, from charity, he might choose to take into his household to protect from want and cold. Under this regulation, they would become entitled to other privileges far more important to them than the right of voting — among them, the right of holding lands and transmitting them to their posterity, which in many of the States, my own among them, they cannot now do. Another advantage they would derive would be, that they would be en- titled to the protection of the flag of the United States, which I would require them also to protect, by performing militia duty. It constitutes no necessary part of the qualification of a citizen, that he should be entitled either to vote or hold a political office. A man in my own State, who has sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel, is disqualified from holding any office, legislative, executive, or judi- cial, of honor, profit or emolument — yet he is none the less a citizen for all that If I were to come to New York, with the intention of becoming a rcbi- dent, and were to change my mind and return to Virginia within a year, a mouth or a week, I would be disqtialified from voting for two years. I should be none the less a citizen, however; aud this proposed extension ot" one important privilege for another that is of little value to them, and little cared for by a large portion of them, will serve to show ihat it is from no unfriendly spirit to them, but a firm belief that the safety of the country requires the sacrifice, if sacrifice it can be called, on their own account as well as ours. Events are now in progress for the emancipation of the serfs of Russia, of whom there are no less than 35,000,000, and a very large portion of them proverbially the most beastly and degraded liars, drunkards, and rogues alive, who are incapable of making good laborers, good soldiery or good citizens, or of being otherwise useful to the State. We may well suppose that the day will arrive, and at no very remote period, when it will become desirable to the government of Russia to be reheved of th« A/\ I TBRARY OF CONCRESS 40 MR. BOTI '-/.^ „...„,,.. Ml 1 I 111 111 III! enormous tax of supporting; and c ll 111 111 I 1||| 111 I [111 I II ^^ ^^ people, that ciin be productive |ll|l|||i||il!|i||lii|| lllil'lllilill™''^^^ and expense. To say that every fifth o 011 898 320 8 very moderate computation. Here, then, are from seven to ten millions of these miserable beings that the Emperor Alexander may desire to get rid of, and send off from his dominions. Where are they to go? where can room be found for them? •where will they meet with a welcome home ? where else but in the United States? where the Democracy will meet them on the shores with open arm«, initiate them into the profound mysteries of their order, march them up in due time, in regimental order and numbers, to the courts, pay the expenses of their naturalization, lead them off to the polls, and claim, as the reward for their friendship, attention and civilities, an unconditional support of all Democratic nominees to office. And, now, I ask the honest, patriotic masses of the Democracy, North and South, if they are prepared to admit as many of these people as may be sent amongst us to a full participation and enjoyment of all the privi- leges and rights bestowed upon us by our Coustitution and laws as well as by our inheritance ? And 1 ask them, furthermore, if they believe those rights and privileges and the unspeakable blessing of free government would be enjoyed long by them or ourselves, when this state of things shall exist. I ask the naturalized citizen of respectability and substance if he sees no mischief here to be guarded against? I ask the unnaturalized for- eigner who has children to raise and property to protect, if he would not feel that their interests and his own were better secured, and that free government stood on a firmer foundation by the exclusion of this mass of rottenness from the body politic than by its adnjittance into it? And then I a^k of each one the question, whether he would not sooner yield his own claim to exercise political power than that it should be extended to all these, in order to take him in? For, as I said before, the Constitution allows of no distinction — we must take in all, or exclude all. And, finally, I ask. can we be condemned by any now amongst us for a dfsire to take timely steps for their protection and our own from such wholesale calamity as may reault, if the present policy on the subject uf naturalization shall be persevered in. I do not hazard much by expressing the opinion, that the day is not re- mote when the principles of this American organization will command the respect and confidence of the entire nation, and, at all events, if is not es- teemed as a virtue, it will not be condemned, even by the Democracy, as a vice — that we watched our liberties with a jealous eye, and professed more confidence in the councils and patriotism, acd preferred the services and control of our own people, bad as they have been, and bad as they may be, hereafter, over that of any other people, no matter of what caste, religion or language, upon the face of the ear'h. And now in conclusion, let me propose, that here, on this occasion, on the birth day of Washington, in his name, and in the presence of his spirit, we renew our protestations of undying devotion to that great work of his hands, tue union of the status, and pledge ourselves to each other and to mankind, that, "come what, come may," we will discountenance and repudiate all men, and all parties that encourage, or sympathize with, or tolerate any scheme for the destruction of our liberties, by a dissolution of our great and Heavenly descended Union, and that we will hold all men as traitors and enemies to the best gift a favored people ever received at the hands of Deity, who have, by word or deed, under any condiiion of ihingH that has yet existed, or that is likely to exist, entertained the fiend- ish purpose of breakiuti up this tirear, confederacy of States, or have, "Like fools, riislu'J in wIkti- arifjols miglit fear to tread," aud impiously ventured upon a calculation ot its value; whilst with "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor," we swear to protect the stars And stripes through life, or make it our winding sheete in death. 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