E 440 .5 .H92 Copy 2 Glass _E4i Book Jt2£ - I THE STATi: OF TME UNION. west. Res. Hi**. Boc. SPEECH OF HON. JAMES HUMPHREY OF NEW YORK, DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEBRUARY 6, 1861. The Ho\i=e having nntler consideration the report from the select committee of thirty-three— j Mr. HUMPHREY said: | Mr. Speaker : The debates of this session of Congress present a most extraordinary spectacle to the world. We are here in the Capiiol of the United States. Tbis is the Congress of the Uui ted States — the great central, controlling depart- ment of the Federal Government. We constitute the popular branch of that Congress, standinp;^ -nearest the people; their immediate Representa- tr ives, commissioned by them to laxercise for them tl at sovereignty which they, in the plenitude of tV eir power, have conferred on the Federal Gov- e: -nment. And each of us is bound by the most B( )lemn act which can be performed in this world — b 7 that pledge which makes God its witness, and, IR violated, its aveu2;er — to maintain the C'msti- tiiition of that Government in our own hearts, by our own acts, and against all enemies. And yet, sir, it is here, in both Chambers of this Capitol, that we have ha,d the strange, sad spectacle of men to whose protecting care this Government has been committed, who still bore its commis- sions, and had not yet abjured their allegiance, tasking the powers of intellects trained in the subtlest schools of legal casuistry to drain and exhaust, one by one, the vital forces of the Con-j stitution ; rustling their senatorial robes, and jostling each othnr in their eager and indecent haste to surrender its franchises, to cripple its' powers, and to sully its honor. Sir, the question which has been cast upon this generation to decide, and which confronts us now, is, whether this national Government of ours is a splendid delusion or a reality — a house; of cards, to be demolished by a breath, or an enduring structure, resting on immovable foun- dations, like the great stones of the Capitol, laid far down out of sight, by Cyclopean builders.' For one, I have lived and expect to die in the! latter faith. We have not gone on for seventy years exercising all the highest functions of &' great nation, levying war, concluding peace, making treaties, borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars, in all the markets of the world, to confess at this late day that -we have been an impudent, though till now a successful Pre- tender. I Mr. Speaker, I regard all other questions as utterly insignificant in the presence of this new heresy of Siate supremacy and State secession. The moment that principle is acknowledged, our whole political system is pronounced a failure, and this great Government, so long the wonder of the world, for its admirable union of flexibility and strength, of individual liberty and national power, fails into hopeless ruin. Nothing will then remain for us but an immediate choice be- tween two inevitable alternatives: to be broken up into petty discordant Republics, or to address ourselves to the task of organizing a new con- 'solidated Government, in which the liberties of the citizen or the subject must be subordinated to the power and greatness of the State. I do not now propose to discuss at length these new doctrines. These fatal errors ail rest, in my judgment, upon false ideas of State sover- eignty. There has been so much loose talking on this subject that it may not be a waste of the time of the House to subject it for a few moments to the test of historical scrutiny. The popular phrase of the day is, that the States are about to " resume their original sov- ereignty!" Sir, I will not stop to ask when it was that isuch a State as Florida, which Ave first bought with our money, and then rendered habitable by vast expenditures ; which we found a wretched provincial dependency of Spain, and, wi'h gen- erous bounty, raised to the name and dignity of a State — a rank which, to this hour, she could :not sustain a month, unprotected by a stronger power — every man, woman, and child in which has cost thisGovernment a round thousand dol- |iars per capita ; I will not stop to inquire when it Iwas that such a State was ever, in any proper [sense of the term, an independent sovereignty. j I turn from those States which now lift their parricidal hands againstthe author of their being, to the time-honored Thirteen. Sir, if South Car- olina be now, indeed, a sovereign and indepen- dent State, I take leave to say that she has en- [Ijoyed that transcendent dignity and power but two short months in .ill the time since the colo-i Biats sent out by Abhley Cooper, Enrl of Shaftes-j bury, l:int!cd npon the b;iiiks of tlic liver^j toj vrhicli his iiami-s were given. Sir, at what nioi nieut of time tlid South Carolina evtr .'■taiid! among the nniions of the earth as a f-overcign State, exercising ilic supreme jowfrti which per- tain to that CdiitlitionY AVhen did slic achii-ve for herself that independence of which shei boasts? Nay, sir, that 1 may not seem to rest this argument on any compaiison of bcrvices in the revolutionary struggle, when did even JMuss- achusetts, Avhose iiamiug bword shone ever far in the front cf that struggle; who contributed to it more men and munitions of war than all the souihtrn States united; when did fvui. Massachusetts declare, or achieve, or possess a separate independent nationality? Gentlemen speak of this Union as if thirteen separate States or Republics, each possessed of all the attributes of highest sovereignty, long useil to the exercise of all supreme powers, ac- customed to declare war, to conclude peace, to negotiate solemn treaties, and to cnfer with coequal potentates through stately embassies, had met at Philadelphia in 1787, each repre Bented by grave plenipotentiary ambassadors,) and there had formed a league for certaiu com- mercial and military purposes, revocable at the ; •will of either of the high contracting powers, i Mr. Speaker, these thirteen independent na-, tions never existed except in the brains of polit- ical theorists. He is a superficial student of our constitutional history who does not recognize the idea that union long preceded the idea of inde pendency, and that nationality had its origin long before State sovereignty was dreamed of. The germ of our American unity was planted almost as early as the first seed-corn was cast into the quick and virgin bosom of the New World. This sentiment of nationality found it;- outward expression at the earliest pei'iods, in formal confederacies of the colonies. In 1643, the four New England colonies, Plym- outh, Massachusetts Bay, llartfurd, and Nev\ Haven, only five years after Davenport set up his " seven pillars " in the latter beautiful plain, entered into a "union," which they styled " a firm and perfect league," comprised in twelve articles of confederation, and providing for an annual "Congress" of two commissioners from each colony. There is no time iu this short houi to trace this ever-growiog princi;-.le of national- ity through the succeeding century of colonial existence ; but no fact stands out more clearly thnn that when, at last, the people began to gird themselves for the assertion of iudepeudeuce, it ivas as one nation. The first movements looked to united action. It was for " our American liberties " that James Otis spoke, with his tongue of fire, in Faneuil Hall ; while, from out the heart of Vir- ginia, Patrick Henry thundered back his denun- ciations of the " Boston port bill." On the (Jth of June, 17Gj, Oiis advi cd, ia the House of. Representatives of Boston, the calling of a Con-, gress in New York in Ociotjrr foliowitig, whichi motion was adopted. Mark the language of this forerunner of the Bevolution, whose words I — XT'-* seemed sometimes to partake of 'a prophetic ecstasy : '• \Te m.i.ct lir.ve .-. Vricn ivbich fhall krit !>n,J wmlv into lliu vtiy blrinl :i!.d l.irnL'S ol the crigiual .system cTury re- giou as fast as sitt!' d." Sir, the first State to respond was South Cnr- "linn, throu;:h Christopher (iadsden • the next wafc Georgia ; then followcil Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, D.lawaic, Coiinecticur, Maryland. The Congress met in October, 17G5 ; and it was then thai Christopher Gadsden uttered the sentiment of all hearts : "There ought to be uo New England man, no Xew Yorker, li now u on the continent; but all of us Aiiieii- .eaus." Hear ngnin the noble words of this South Car* olinian of the olden time : " Nodiinc; will pave us but acting fogeibcr. The rrnr- ince lliat ihdiMVors 1o af-t Fcpamiely must l':ill wiih ihe rest, auU be branded besides with everiasliug iufjmy." [ Ten years passed away, and this complete na- tional oneness was announced to the wurld in the most solemn act of umon ever pioclainied oy any people. The Lieclaration of Independ- lence was also a declaration of indivisible na- jtionality. In its own very first words, it was j-'ONE pj:ople " which then assumed their ",-epa- ji'ate and equal station among the Powers of ihe jeartb," and, as such, demanded and obtained jrecognition. Head tiie immortal State papers 'if ibat I'evolutionary Congress, which drew forth the fervent praises of Chatham and Buike, and see how instinct they are with nationality, Mr. Speaker, 1 think a more careful historic al review than I have time now to make, will vin- dicate the truth of the following proposition.*!: 1. The colonies, prior to the Revolution, were dependencies of the Crown of Great Britain, owning allegiance to it, and asserting no sepa- rate sovereignty. 2. During this colonial existence, the people, while preserving the separate franchises con- tained ia their charters and certain distinct municipal institutions, grew naturally together into one nation, comprL-ing not a league merely, but an integral organization. 3. When the time came to assert a distinct nation.'ility, the erection of twelve or thirteen petty republics entered into no man's imagina- tion, but the people established the first rudi- mentary form of a national Government. They organiz'.^d a rowEii,which they called aCongress, investinz it with some of thehighestprerogatives of sovereignty. 4. This power, representing the national will, dcc'ared the colonies to be nidependent. not of {each other, but of the Kingdom of Great Britain.. It levied war, achieved the independence thus Ideclared. and concluded peace. j 5. The independence thus achieved was th.at lof "the United States," not of any separate jStale. The States were called sovereign; but ihe sovereignty of neither was inherent, self-de- 'rived, nor did it ever exist in severalty. It was ichieved and upliehl by the United States, was r^ualified by its relations to that organization which represented the whole nation, and was, in an important sense, dependent upon the con- ferlerated Power to which it owed such attributes' 'tenacious roots more deeply into its native earth of sovereijinty as it did possess. as it wrestled with revolutionary storms, at last 6. No Stnte, therof.)re, even under the oldattained its mature proportions and its full, con- Confederation, could in good faith, after tlic ■iuniniatc flower. p^ace, have repudi^ited its connection with the | I do not enter upon Ihc argument drawn from jcst, and thus have deprived tlie whole of that !the language of the Constitution and the declared national unity which all had fought^ to establish, opinions of its framer.-^. That argument was ex- Thus it was properly called a " perpetual hausted thirty yenrs ago, in this Cnpitol, in tho>e Union." ^reat orations which have been rescued by their 7. The old Congress exercised the highest at- genius and eloquence from the quick mort:ility tributes of sovereignty — forming alliances with |which waits upon congressional debates, and foreign Powers, accrtiditing embassadors, nego- iwill live so long as the Constitution lives, which tiating loans, issuing bills of credit, signing and 'we fondly hope will be immortal, confirming treaties, declaring and conducting! Sir, I do not tnean to waste mv short hour in war, and concluding peace. And the citizens of .discussing the right of secession. I designed the whole country sustained its supremacy, only to suggest how idle it is for States to be transferring, in effect, their allegiance from the solemnly "resuming" a aivereigoty which they Crown of Great Britain, in all matters of na- never for an instant possessed. tional concern, to this new Giverjiment of the ; But, sir, it is no longer an issue to be met by United States, as an integral political power. :argument. Six States of this Union have already 8. At last, when the nation outgrew this or-\declared their purpose to maintain it by an ap- ganization, the people formed "a new and more peal to arms. Others assert the same right, and perfect Union " under our present Constitution, threaten to exercise it, utdess certaiu demands Mr. KU.VKEL. AVill the genileman from New, are complied with. The question, then, which York jield tiie floor a moment ? ||confront.s us is: shall this right be conceded ? Mi: HUMPHREY Certainly. Boiore this issue all other questions vanish out Mr. KUNKEL. So fir as .Maryland is on- of sight. On its decision the very existence of cerned, the gentleman from New York is in the Government hangs suspended. Qiestions of error. That^ State declined to ntify and sign [slavery and anti-slavery ; of territorial occupa- the Articles of Confederation, anil remained out tion; of fugitive slave laws and personal liberty of tl\e Cmfederacy long after independence was !tnil, are .all trivial and temporary in the compar- declared. jison of this. They regard the policy and the ad- ^Ir. HUMPHREY. True; but during those, jministration of the State. This touches its life, two years Maryland was in no sens^ independ' Compromises, concessions, are of small impor- eat. The honorable genlleraan refers to the tance now, except as they .affect this overshadow- Articles of Confederation, signed bv most of the ing issue. When they are propose 1, I have but States in 1779. These articles did not orcate one question first to ask: will thc'r discussion the Union. They simply defined the powers of |ooncede this right of secession ? If it may bo so the existing Union, and male it perpetual. .{construed, then I dare not take one step in that Maryland had for years been a member of that lirection. What seems to some the unyielding Union. Her delegates sat in Congress during attitude of the Ptepublican party in tliis great the whole of this period in which she withheld ,cr;sis, may perhaps find some apology with gen- that formal ratification, and had joined in that |-Jr.ius minds who appreciate this exigency of itS most solemn act of Union, the Declar.ition of In- position. The distinguished gentleman from dependence. I need not siy how well that noble N'orth Carolina, whose eloquent appeals the State performed her part in supporting this uni- other day on this floor touched all hearts, refer- ted declaration. Sir, I have a right to speak on red, reproachfully but kindly, to what seemed to this subject, for in the city in which [ live, in a him almo-t indifierence on this side of the Cham- beautiful wood, now happily perpetually i-eserved ber. Nay, nay, say not that it is a "cold, icy for a public park, there is a quiet ravine which stoicism " that repels your warm appeals. If wo once resounded with ihe clash of arms. There, ire motionless amid this convulsion, it is not sir, in the disastrous battle of Long I.sland, an from insensibility; but because, standing now entire Maryland regiment, the flower of the upon thcConstiiationof our fathers, wecan find no youth of that gallant State, surrounded by over- other solid ground on which to plant anadvanc- powering numbers of British and Hessian troop«, ing footstep. Believe me, this is no "sullen si- were literally cut to pieces, disJaining to sur i leuce " that reigns on this side of the Chamber, render, and fighting to the last for the liberties when you appeal to us to otiFer conccssioa to save of the United States, upon the soil of New York, the Union. It is a solemn fear that such con- Sir, I cannot accept a disclaimer which would ce.-sions may prove its speedy and complete dis- separate Maryland for a single day fi'om that meoibermeut. Union in behalf of which she offered up thisjj I speak not now of the States which have precious sacrifice. already revolted, whi.;h have teized our forts, Thus, Mr. Speaker, this national germ, shoot- fired upon our vessel.-^, plundered our treasuries, ing up at first almost unobserved among tho^eiand are in armed rebellion. I have yet to see other precious growths, liberty, learning, civili- 'the first loyal citizen who proposes to offer any zation, religion, in the earliest spring time of our jterm-i to these men till they iiave returned to history, growing, by the inward forces of its or-^itheir allegiance. True men do not negotiate gauic life, developing gradually from ruiliment-jjwith traitors. Government docs not compound ary to more and more perfect forms, striking its!;with treason. But for those St-ates which remaia 4' loyal, which abide by the Constitution and the' Un'on ill this hour of peril ; which falter not in| this time of tiinl, I know not what rational del mand they wouki jnake which I could refuse. I kuDW not what generous concessions whidi did not involve the surrender of some vital principle could be withheld from them. AYhat we cannot yield to menace without dishonor, we may grace- fully offer to ft friendly baud. We cannot avert eecession by compromise, because that would be the mcst distinct recognition of secession as a right. Wo cannot purchase allegiance, for that would be to admii the right to withhold it. Mr. Speaker, I believe that I speak the senti- ments of tho Republican party, Avhen I say that so long as we were left froe to act with the just respect due to ourselves and to the Government, we were inclined to give the most favorable con- sideration to every complaint of injury, from whatever quarter it might cnmc. To those who sought redress within the Union, and under the Consiiiution, for real or fancied wrongs, we were ever ready to listen, and no grievance would be unheard or unredressed. j It was in this spirit that the committee of thir- ty-three entered upon its duties. It was in this spii'it that I, as member of that committee, gave my consent to a portion of its measures. But since those votes were taken, events more rapid! than our careful steps have completely changed the aspect of the question. With the Gulf States it has become simply a question of power ; with the other slavcholding State?, I hope it is still n question of loyalty; but with neither, I fear, is it longer a question of compromise. This is not the time for nicely weighing adjustments and measuring out reciproc.*il concessions. Other elements have now entered into the problem, and must control its solution. Mr. Speaker, before we enter upon any plan of adjustment of these unhappy controversies, it would seem to be tnost important to be well as- sured that the proposed measures will be ac- cepted as a complete and satisfactory settle- ment. If, in the face of those menaces of seces- fion, but protesting* against any recognition of that fatal principle, we should adopt the meas- ures of this committee, what encouragement have we to believe that they will be satisfactory even to the border States? The territorial propo- sition — the consent to admit New Mexico as a State, and thus forever to extinguish the whole subject of controversy by disposing of all the territory to which a question can attach, the only mode of ailjustment, I fear, which will not! compromise the principles on which a great party has just been intrusted with power, and which will not shock the moral sense of more than half the people of the Union — this proposi- tion met too little favor, I thought, with south-! ern gentlemen in committee, and I fear finds less in this House. Two distinguished members — ' the gentleman from Virginia and the gentleman; from Tennessee — reject it here as they did in committee. If even those gentlemen, so patri- otic, so devoted to the Union, cannot lend to the measure the sanction of their celebrated names and wide influence, what can we hope to effect by it? [ Sir, I feel sensibly the objecticns which are jurged on this side of the House to the adoption of this mpasure, growing out of the present con- jdition of this Territory ; but afcer resortiiigto all [means of information to ;vhich I have had access, I am satisfied that these objections have been |ovcrstated; and at all events, I am sure that thia |Territory is in a far better condition for admis- sion than Florida was when she was received, and I might pei'haps extend the parallel to ether States. Sir, this mode of settling this vexed territorial question seems to me to be complete and final in itself, and consistent with the honor and dignity of all parties and sections. I do not rfgard it as a " concession" or a "compromise," words to the sound of which my friends are so nervously sensitive. It simply is a mode of removing the cause of quarrel. It effectually relieves the Fed- eral Government from all complicity with sla- very. It calls for no recognition, extension, cr protection of this institution. It submits the question to be decided at once by the parties to whom, by universal consent, its final dtcision is to be referred — the people, in the formation of their State constitution. Aside from the con- ceded right of every State to determine this question for itself, this right is specially pledged to this people by the provisions/of the organic act of 1850, by the condition of the cession of the territory of Texas, by a law which partakes also, in a degree, of the faith of a contract and the sacredness of a treaty. Surelj', if New Mexico were now at our doors, with her constitution in ;her hand, we could not refuse her admission, whatever might be the provisions of that consti-- tution on the subject of slavery. Nor is it now a point to be considered, either by the North or by the South, how the people may decide thia question. If they decide it in favor of freedom — ■as I confidently believe they will do — they will but exercise aright which no one denies to them. As was- well said by the gentleman from Texa^, nobody now proposes to force slavery upon an ;unwil!ing people. If the soil and climate are not adapted to slaver}', and if the people are not ifriendly to it, (as after much careful inquiry I feel well assured they are not.) the South will submit without complaint to the inevitable re- jsult. I But, Mr. Speaker, at this critical time I cannot lagree to present any proposition which is not invited and accepted in a friendly spirit, which |does not restore the ancient fraternal feeling, which does not settle forever these questions which distrub our peace, and restore the author- ity and insure the perpetuity of the national Government. I greatly fear that this is not the time to accomplish these great results. Here, again, the doctrine of secession confronts 'us. This must be abandoned, as a first condi- tion ; for I take it, sir, we do not propose to ad- init!Xew Mexico as a State to day, to enable her to walk coolly off with Texas tomorrow. Two conditions should attend all measures of concili- ation intendea to remove popular discontents : First, they should reach the true causes r,f complaint. I believe, sir, no one supposea that lauy propositions of compromise, which ha'?e come from any qunrter, -srould propitiate South] Iconflict. I look forward to that Administration Carolina, or perhaps any of the seceded States, with steadfast trust and cheerful liope. But To those who have revolted, or propose to re- tLiriy d.iys now intervene before it assumes the volt because a President has been elected who is vast responsibilities which await it. On it will not 'theii- choice, or because the power and pa- |ihen rest the awful duty of saving the Republic tronage of the Government is for a time passing fiym impending ruin. Let us hope it may into other hands, it is idle to offer proposals of prove equal to the task which we relinquish and concession which do not touch the real griev-, worthy of the glory which is denied to our dis- ances. This reason is disowned by some, but not tracted counsels. When the authority of the by all who have entered upon this revolt. If 1 Government is re-est,ablished ; when order is do not greatly err, I have heard it avowed in restored ; when the tone of the popular mind is this debate by more than one member represent- recovered, then will come the time for new and ing a State which has not .^etahjared her allegi-jnice afijustments of constitutional guarantees; an'ce. I must confess, sir, that the votes of land then let every grievance be redressed in many gentlemen in the committee upon a reso- conformity with dignity and honor, and what is lation introduced by the honorable member from far higher than cither, the principles of eternal Massachusetts, [Mr. Adams,] which I find omit- justice. Thus and thus only can this great na- ted in the printed proceedings, but is sufficient- lion be preserved in its integrity. Then gener- ly stated in his minority report, that these very osity will not be mistaken for fear, and liberal, significant voles produced in my mind a painful mutual concessions will strengthen the Govern- fear that the committee had wasted its time on!;ment which they might now demoralize. _ _ unimport.ant iss-ues, while the true causes of | Mr. Speaker, I think the difficulty of arriving complaint remained, not only untouched, but:;now at a practical plan of adjustment h.as been unavowed. A tall events, sir, we should certainly greatly increased by the character of the propo- know, before any action is taken, whether this is sitions which have been insisted on in the cnm- tbe governing reason; for if it be, then it is not a mittee and in Congress. The most prominent quei^tion of conciliation, but of surrender. There of these is that which is commended to the favor is but one mode of completely relieving the con- of the country by the distinguished name it troversy of this element, which no compromise bears— the Crittenden proposition. Sir, what is can reach. Let the elected President be regu- called by many very influential southern gentle- larly and peacefully inaugurated; and thenlet us men the vital feature of this plan— the pro- address ourselves to those subjects of difference , vision for future acquired territory— has been •which shall be presented in good faith for ad sufhciently commented on by the distinguished iufetment. gentleman from Massachusetts. A second condition which should apply to aP i Mr. Speaker, when was it ever before suggest- propositions of conciliation is, that they shair|ed in the history of the world that a Christian be consistent with the honor and the dignity of nation should incorporate into its fundamental the Government. A majority of the people have law a provision declaring the terms upon which just elected a Chief Magistrate, and elevated the it would divide up the territories of neighboring Republican party to power. The very existence and friendly States? Sir, when did a great and of the Government depends upon the acqui- prosperous and happy people ever before break escnce of the minority in that election and the up their cwn Government and rush into civil inauguration of the elected President. No con- war in a quarrel over the antic'pated spoil of cession can be granted as a condition of such foreign provinces not yet invaded ? Why, sir, assumption of power without the complete dis- the banditti of southern Italy first plunder the honor of those who yield it, and the utter pros- traveller before they fall out over the booty, tration of the authority of the State. The very The sobber- chiefs of the middle ages, the found- fear of such a construction may prevent propo- ers of European despotisms— Henry the Hawker sitions in themselves just and honorable. What and Rudolph of Hapsburg— fir-t overran the must be refused to menace, might be gracefully Iweaker provinces around their strong-holda yiehled to loyal request. jibefore they parceled out their conquests by the For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I have very isword which, had won them, great doubts whether these grave difficulties can { But, sir, if you strike out this provision, this be settled by this Congress. I think that the proposition can never have my vote. Never, with great duties of pacificating the country and rein- my consent, shall the Constitution of these vigorating the Government must both be cast United States ordain and protect human slavery upon the incoming Administration. I believe in any Territory. AVhere it exists by law I will it will prove itself equal to the delicate and diffi-;|recognize it, and defend the rights of the mas- cult task. It will bring to the work harmonious! iter ; but never, by any act of mine, shall it be counsels, 'energetic purposes, patriotic impulses, extended over one acre of free territory. But and large wisdom. It will act freely without 'gentlemen say, it already exists by the Consti- suspicion of fear or consciousness of weakness, tution in all the Territories. The gentlemen It will have power which is now everywhere (from Virginia and from Tennessee say that this wanted to concentrate and to lead public opinion, bill, in fact, involves a conces.sion from the South It will act independently of the petty prejudices to the North, for it proposes to exclude the of the day, for it will move in the domain of already existing institution of slavery fron< all history. It may have at an early day the aid :the vast Territories north of latitude 36° 30^ of a Congress fresh from the people, not embitjiand they cite the authority of the Dred Scott tered as we have been by two years of int«nsest case. Mr. Speaker, I am not going to weary anybody with a discussion of that case. AVhatj it in fact did or did not decide, is of no moment with nio. Wliesi cited here, in this House, as a deoision up :n a point of c >nsiitutional construc- tion, 1 !-im;ily deny its autLority. j *I listened, l:ist evening, with groat pleasure,' to the able and eloquent speech of the honora- ble gentleman from Kentucky, [Mr. Mjoke,] and I WMS so much delighted with its excelleoi tone and patriotic devotion to the Union that I am utiwillirjg to talie exception to any portion of it. But I W'.ll venture to say that, if I rightly understood his argument in relation to the prov ince and authority of the Supreme Court, in the construction of th« Constitution, and the duty of. Congress to be governed by those decisions, io' all cases, I differ widely from his conclusions.! The result of his argument would seem to me to erect this tribunal into nn arbitrary and abso-| lute political Council, holding office for life, with- out re?ponsibility to the people; with power to change the Constitution at will, and to issue itt decrees like the re:-;cripts of an emperor. Mr. SIMMS. Aly colleague is not in his seat;, and it is but just for me to say that the gentle-| man docs not t'tate his position correctly. Mr. HU.MPHUbY. This heresy is not, by any means, peculiar to the gent'cmau's colleague. 1 do not confine it to him, though it formed an im- portant part of his speech. Mr. SIMMS. 1 ask that the gentleman will} allow me for a single moment. j Mr. HUMPHREY. With pleasure, if it is noti to be taken out of my time. ! Several Mkmuf.rs. It will be. Mr. HUMPHREY. Then I cannot yieM. The! gentleman must excuse me. I have much more: to say than I liave time to say it in. J Mr. SIMMS. Well, sir, the gentleman mis- represents the position of my colleague. Mr. HU.MPHREY. I listened to the speech of the gentleman from Kentucky, last night, with very great attention, and I Jo not intend to mis-l represent him. I shall not again refer to him,j as he is not present, but will comment on this doctrine — not a new one here — which would regulate the nction of this Government by the; deci.>TioDs of the Supreme Court, a moment furl her. j Sir, 1 desire to speak with great respect of thal| venerable court. The habits and studies of myj life have taught me to defer to the authority of the judges. I recognize the great power which the Constitution has conferred upon them. I yield to their ab.solute authority over individuals] who are rightfully before them for judgment ;; but their power, supreme as it is, is limited toj the parties and the case. Itcan reach no further. The ^principle involved may be overmk-d by themselves, or tluir successors, and it may be re-examined when it touches the meaning of the! Constitution by every other department of thei Government. It is not of very g' eat importancf in itself what political opinions these very learned! gentlemen may choose to form and express ; bntj the question as to the power and extent nf thf i authority which these opinions carry witiithem. has become one of the vital issues of the day. If this wide-reaching jurisdictiun over the wholc' Isweep of public affairs shall be acknowledged by jthe people, as it seems to have been hy some '■tatesmcn, then the people will have found a master; for the power to change the funlamen- tal law of a uaiion at will is equally supremo aud despotic, whether placed in the h mds of a single Emperor at Paris, a Council of Tenia, Venice, or a Court of Nine in Woshington. Mr. Speaker, I yield to no one in my respect for that C'lurt, when acting in its appropriate sphere. I recognize on that bench judges of great learning and worth. As a citizen, or a litigant, I am obliged to submit to their judg- ment in all cases to which I am a party, within their jurisdiction. As a lawyer pleading at their bar, I b >w to the authority of their ad- judged cases ; but as a legislator, when the con- struction of that great charter from which we both alike derive all our power, and which we are equally sworn to maintain, is involved, as a member of a co-ordinate and at least an equal branch of the C'mmot; Government, their opin- ions with me, like those of all others, must stand or fall by their rendered, reasons. Sir, I have an abiding faith that the people will never sub- mit, nor allow their Representatives to submit, to any such doctrine of final and infallible au- thority ; that they will never suffer this Con- stitution of theirs to be overlaid aud smothered with legal precedents : will never permit its fair page to be scribbled over with the ghisses of old lawyers, like a palimpsest, in which some grand and simple oltl classic is obliterated by the . black letter subtleties of a Chapter of chattering monks. I conclude, at all events, the principle of res adjudicaui does not govern here. We at least can so far sink the technics of the lawvcr as to banish from this House the conventional notion ihat the lust adjudication is therefore the liest. Sir, if wc are-indeed to accept tlie opinions of the Supreme Court as absolute authority to con- trol our votes here, I for one should pref>'r to choose the master by whose words I am to swear. I would go back to other days — to the Thompsons, the Washingtons, the Storys, and above all, to the g>'eatr:iiief Justice. Sir, when I compare the constitutional judgments of that U!u, when he .compared the Sophists and Sciolists of his day with his own great master in philosophy, Malo errarc, mcherclc, cum Platone quam cum istis vera •senilre. Recovering from this digression, I find my inexorable hour will not permit me to remark, ,as I had intended, in detail, on the other prop- ositions of this report. I proceed to another jtopic. 1 Mr. Speaker, the fashionable phrase of the ,day now is reconstruction. Gentlemen speak with a coolness which ought in these times to be [refreshing, of violently breaking up this great [Government for the purpose of reconstructing a better out of its shattered fragments. Sir, in my judgment there can be no more fatal delu- sion than this. Once ranke the reparation com-ii^trives in vain adequately to punish with im- plete, and you make it final. If the spirit oiijmortnl infamy. But ■what language shall meas- patrioiism is j-o far extinct, if the ancient fra ||ure the crime of him who strikes at the life of ternal feeling has so utterly died out, that we a vital principle of free government, which it are ready to overturn this structure, where and has cost thousands of lives to Cf-tablish, and in when ^h'lU we look for such a revival of bo'li a& which the hopes and happiness of millions of shall suffice ibr its rebuildiug ? Sir, if this Union; otliers are involved ? were but an nUiance, a league, a partnerthip, Mr. Speaker, what, after all, remains for us, or whatever other ejiithct of dishonoryou choose but to stand to the last by this Government of to apply to express the lowest form of contract, our fathers? The State of New York has already sucli a reconstruction would be impossible ; for spoken in no uncertain tone. Seated between it could not take place without war, immediate: the ocean and the great Mediterranean lakes, or proximate. When once kindred States have with her imperial city by her side; one-fourth been torn asunder, and their borders have be-j.larger in population, and far, far greater in all come battle-fields, and thiir dissevered andi the resources of military power, tban were the bleeding edges have been cauterized by the firesj thirteen States at the period of the Revolution, of war, what skillful surgery, what sweet me-jishe can play her part, thank God, in any drama dicaments f'f nature, Avhat healing influences ofithat remains to be enacted on this continent, time, can ever reunite them ? i But she has taken her position. She will stand But, sir, political institutions are not lifelesS' by this Constitution with whatsoever othpr States, masses, to be shaped and matched and glued to- be they many or be they few, shall choose to gether a" will by ingenious artisans. Great stand around her. States are not dead, geometrical forms, to be JSIr. Speaker, whatever may be the fate of se- arranged and rearranged into a hundred curious ceding States, this Government will not be de- sh'.apes, like a Chinese puzzle. They are vital' jstroyed. Kay, it will not be permanently weak- orgianizations, which determine their forms, not'jened by this convulsion. It will, for centuries by 'external forces, but by the princiole of life yet to come, bo the commanding Power on this witniin them. This national Government, as Incontinent of North America ; and to it all other thj,'nk I have shown, is the growth of more thau Powers wifl be subordinate. A great maritime tvito centuries. It strikes its roots far back into, nation, it must hold all the keys of the continent. thie earliest colonial settlements; and when yoir Tier navy will command all the seas which wash Ci.in reconstruct the oak which you have hewn its shores. Weaker nations, if any there be, lirijib from limb, you may reunite an.l revivify must submit to her occupation of snch posts as thi3 torn ami dismembered bo ly of the Republic, her military necessities require. She may not Hut, sir, this is not all. This ideal reconstruc compel an unwilling people to share her power; tion is rendered forever impossible by the very' but she will never permit that power to be in the act of id's'iiemberment. Once establish the right least impaired. Her boundaries — ny, sir, her of secession, and you not only destroy this Union, boundaries, will be determined wholly by consid- but youldeslroy the living principle itself, with-' erations of military defence. Whatever is es- out whi'ch no Union can exist. Be assured that; sential to her national greatness she will retain. the Stat'^es which remain loyal to this Constitu' She will keep open all the pathways of commerce tion will never become parties to a trumpery. from every sea to the far interior. She will compact, which can be dissolved in secret ses-' unite both oceans with her iron roads ; and she sioii, by a packed convention of a single State, will advance with equal steps in her career of Whatever States shall tear themselves* away by empire. When the first moments of incredulous revolutionary violence must return, if they return; surprise shall have passed, and she shall have atall, with the recantation of this heresy on their performed her first duty of reoccupying the for- lips, and submissive to the true theory of the tresses which have been seized by insurgents, Constitution. and shall have vindicated the insulted majesty Sir. Speaker, the preservation of the peace, of' of the law, tiien it will be for her to determine the complete integrity, nay, even of the exist whether she will maintain her jurisdiction over ence if this nation, is not the greatest trust thati revolted States, or, with dignity and honor, by is now committed to this generation of men. !some proper constitutional method, sanction War, civil w^ir, i^ a calamity which no descrip-j their withdrawal. If the hitter more probable tion can exaggerate; the dismemberment of a event should occur, whatever new government nation is a dire catastrophe ; the extinction of aj shall thus be set up on this western continent, mighty en pire is one of those gr^'ud, sad trage-j must accept tiie relative position to which its dies which move with sceptered pall at long in-i relative strength may entitle it. terviils before the eye of the world ; but all these| i If a portion of these States propose to insugu- ore not the utmost ills that can befall the race.; rate a new and great experiment upon this Far more fatal to civilization and to humanity^ continent, in the establishmcLt of two confede- may be the extinction of a sj/s^crrt of governn»enti,racies, lying side by side, the one based upon which unites the utmost capacity of national free labor, and the other upon chattel slavery, power and renown, and the most perfect protec-j |to run the race of greatness for a hundred years, tion of sociiil oiJer, with the highest degree of I, for my children and children's children, will iufJividual bberW. He who takes the life of aj|;iccept the issu^ One of these Powers will be just man commiftfi crime which he may expiate' dominant, and the other will at last exist, as with hid own. Se who conspires against the' some of the petty States of Europe exist, more life of a nation, c^mits a crime which history' by permission than by any inherent strength. ^ Which this dominant Power will be, I care not now to say ; but I am willing to abide the trial. It is safe to say that it will be that one which combines most of the elements which in these times go to make up a great nation. It will be that one which i-ests, not upon one form of in- dustry only, but upon the infinite diversity of pursuits which compose our mo Jern civilization. It will be th It one in which shall flourish most, agriculture in its best methods; manufactures in their endless variety of fabrics ; the mechanic: arts in their countless form'^; commerce searching: every sea; science, literature, inventions super-! seding human labor; all the nobler arts ; insti-i tutions of learning of every grade ; universal education; all that sustains and adorns life, all that enters into the structure of that grandest of! human creations — if it be not rather a divine! work — a mighty State. i I, for one, accept the position which the irre-' pealable ordinances of nature shall decree for; the State in which ray fortunes are cast. If war shall come, as it will come — though I cannot con- template it with indifference — I abide its result with profound tranquillity. For the world will! be taught again the old lesson, that national| strength reposes in the homes of free labor ; thatj it springs up from the farm an^i out of the work} shop. And they who provoke the trial will findj that a great English suitesman sa'd most truly, j " no sword is sharper than that which is forged: from the plow.sliare ; no spear more deadly ttian that which is beaten from the pruning-hook." I And, sir, the most precious of all earthly pos-!i sessions, Constitutional Republican Libeity, is! [j^till secure. It will remain committed to the 'guardianship of a people equal to the sacred trust land able to defend it against a world in arms. ; We have already had foreshadowed the erection jupon these shores,of Governments "strongly mill! itray" in their character; and, sir, whatever provincial oligarchies, whatever petty or power- iful despotisms may arise on our borders, the ! Republic of the United States of America will lever be as it has ever been, the champion of the 'liberties of the whole people. Whoever else may prove recreant, we can never give no thai I precious inheritance which our fathers broughl jwith them to this continent and transmitted tc !u3 in yet more abundant measure. Not by oai 'apostacy shall these inestimable rights of th( jpeople be betrayed and lost, only to be recoveret after other centuries of heroic struggle and en durance, — when other Elliots and Martens hav( iperished in prison; when other Miltons havi grown blind, Avhile their studious lamps '■ vj: watched the Bear;" when other Hampdens ,iv fallen on the bloody field; when other Rusi,ell Jhave written and pleaded and suffered; 'he other Sydneys have spent the long night ii ,vo ving the great problems of human Libert3' m I then, when the morning came, have gone ci m! out to seal the written page with their b'oo ,. ■ j This birthright shall never be surrenders [ \ us. It has been won on too many fields of stri.k;.( battle ; it has been vindicated in too man,' 1 1 uinphant debates. To secure it, too many toli victims have bowed their serene brows to ^u block ; too many martyrs have lifted up uu'^b a ing hands in the fire. McUiLL & WiiaEaow, jfrintors, VVasluugtou, D. C.