.5 .BIS SPEECH OF V^ HON. T. F. BOWIE, OF MARYLAND, ON THE OEGANIZATION OF THE HOUSE. DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 9. 1856. / WASHINGTON : PRINTED AT THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE OFFICE ■ .^ 1856. SPEECH Mr. BOWIE said: I move, Mr. Clerk, to re- tciud the ten-minute rule. I do not rise, sir, to make a speech simply for You say, sir, it is harmless, because bloodless; but let us not deceive ourselves in that respect. We present, at this time, a spectacle to the world the purpose of makin-'- a speech, but I waiit to I which demoralizes the nation, and proves us to •■ ' ■ - .. • TT .1.1 . — be incapable of organizing the Government, bir, call the attention of tliis House and the country to the condition in which we now are. I am quite sure, if I could hold up a picture of it to the people of the country, they v>rould revolt at the Bpectacle. It is a spectacle, sir, at which every good man ought to revolt. Sir, we are playing a comedy when we ought to be playing a tragedy. I have'heard it said that the House of Repre- sentatives was like a bear garden. It may have been so, sir, in times past, when men were pitted agaii:kst eacli other to fight; but 1 rather thmk it is now more like a garden o( foxes. Cunning and artful men (and I fear, sir, some traitorous men the wheels of Governmenl will be stopped unless we can organize the legislative department of the Government. No man can doubt that. In my judgment, the legislative is the most important department of the Government. It is the law- making power; the power which more immedi- ately and directly atTects the people of the couiitry. In the name of that people, then, I have a right to ask, is there no way of stopping this miserable farce? Is there no spirit upon this floor who can devise some mode of conciliation by which we ican end this strugggle.' I invoke, sir, that spirit too) have been sent here to represent the people ito rise up in our midst. If I cannot idolize, I of the United States; men who pride themselves j will at least follow his lead, for he will have more upon their qualifications for intrigue tiian ! beckoned me on to the preservation of the Consti- upon a patriotic devotion to the principles of the tution of my country. Sir, in my humble judg- ment, we must change our course altogether: v/e shall never succeed in organizing this House in the way we are now pursuing. We must give up party and party tactics, and resort to the instincts of patriotism. As long as men or parties are placed in antagonistical positions by the ma- chinery of party organizations, we can never expect them to s'urreiider either their principlca ipon a patriotic devotion to the principle Constitution; men, sir, who understand, and for that reason are constantly raising, questions of order, to the great delay of the public business i and the annoyance of the really orderly members \ of this House. Sir, every true patriot will at j once respond to the great impulses of the public | heart. j Mr. Clerk, I am neither a lion nor a fox; but if j . . ,, I were to choose between tlie two, I should not, I or their standard-bearers. This is an all-con- like Cardinal Richelieu, " duff the lion's, and take I trolling emotion of the human lieart, and you the fox's skin." Sir, the lion is indeed a noble, ; ican no more change or modify its results than because a !;ourageous animal, and in the day of lyou can roll back the tide of the ocean, battle will be found strong for the fight; but the ; j [Here the hammer fell, but by unanimous con- cunning of the fox will subvert the judgment, j sent,] and blunt every patriotic impulse of "the heart. 1 Mr. B. resumed. You may as well suppose Sir,wedidnotcomeheretobeartfulandcunning,'j that men will shrink in the day of battle, as to or to exhibit simply our skill in parliamentary ,]supi)03e that these standard-bearers of their tactics, but to be true to the country, to the Con- 1 1 respective parties will not be voted for, unless withdrawn from the canvass by the united action of their respective parties. Sir, he who thinks to the contrary, understands, in my judgment, but little of the pride and obstinacy of human opin- ions, and would not be a safe cr.unsclor in times of struggle between the conflicting elements of stitution, and ourselves. I am anxious to cftect an ; organization of this House, if it be possible; if not possible, then I think the sooner we adjourn riue die the better. We are indeed in the midst of a revolution, not, to be sure, a bloody revolution, Ijut how soon it may become one God only knows. Sir, I shall be the last man to draw the sword; jj human passions but I want the people of the country to under- stand, v.'hat we do not seem to understand our-i selves — that we are, in fact, in the midst of a rev- olution. I do not say rebellion, because I do not I believe that any portion of the people of this, country will rebel against the Constitution and the laws, when rightly interpreted and enforced. [" Good !"] But still, I say, v.-e are in the midst of a revolution. Doesnotevery man on this floor feel it to be so.' Do we not all know it to be so .' Sir, let us have some plan of organization on which, as a common platform, a majority of this House can stand. My friend from" South Caro- lina [Mr. Botce] gave utterance the other day to a glorious sentiment in regard to the obligations of party. Party is all right. Party will save a country sometimes, but sometimes it will destroy it. Party will sometimes degenerate into fiiction. It may even sometimes go so low down as to de- generate into a state of hostihty to the interests 4 of the countr)^ growing out of the basest pas- sions of the human heart, arrayed against all that is good and noble and glorious in the history of the country. Party, sir, may even do that. Bu t is there no patriotic heart here ? Do we not love our country ? And are ' we prepared to say to the people of the country that we will not now perpetuate' the glorious Union of these States? Will you say that the legislative branch of your Government shall be struck down by the spirit of party? For one, I tremble when I contem- plate the danger to which we are fast hastening the people by the mere impulses of part}' . For one, sir, so help me God, I would place my head, and my heart too, as a sacrifice on the altar of my country before these States shall be dismembered, unless it be lay a usurpation of power on the part of the Federal Government to strike down the sov- ereignty of the States. Sir, I have heard before to-day that we were in j a state of revolution on this fioor. And the hour j may come when we may have to meet its conse- quences here. I shall not falter in that hour, but come when it may, I shall take my part, and act my part, in the drama of the day. I pray to God that he may avert so awful a catastrophe ! I pray to God to unite our hearts in the bonds of fraternal love; and if that prayer be granted I can safely proclaim to the world that the Consti- tution of my country is preserved. Our breth- ren at the North say that they do not mean to in- terfere with slavery in the States. This is all very well. The Constitution vests in Congress no such power, and no such power has ever been claimed in any quarter whatever. This, then, is no concession to the South. We ask for no con- cession: we only ask that you will not claim ' the power to regulate or control slavery in the Territories of this Union. No such power is givenbythe Constitution to Congress. The power "to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other prop- erty belonging the United States " (article fourth, section third, of the Constitution) is invoked in vain for any sucii purpose. The power to " dis- pose of" means simply the right of alienation. The power to " make needful rules raid regula- tions respecting the territory or other property be- longing tothe United States" mc&ns simply the right to make such needful rules and regulations for the Territories, as property of the Union, which requires irrotecHon, and not destruction, by the very terms of the limitation itself. Government, sir, may, and ought to, protect property, but never to destroy it, without the most imperious necessity for its own defense, and then only on compensa- tion to the owner. If it does resort to its sover- eign power in this respect, it ceases only to be a tyranny, when it shows an actual necessity for the exercise of its power, in behalf of the body- politic. It is true, Government, .sir, may confis- cate private property in the way of taxation, but then it is done only in its own support, and for its own uses. That Government is an execrable despotism which raises more taxes from the peo- ple than tliey require for their own uses. But, gentlemen, >do you not know that the Constitution of the United States has given you no power over the question of slavery, except to protect it, to guard it, and to save it? I hav£ heard here, on this floor, and the idea seems to have gone abroad among our northern friends generally, that Freedom is national and Slavery sectional. Who says this? Is it to be found in your Declaration of Independence, or in your Constitution? You, sir, may say yes; butl tell you that, at the very same hour when Thomas Jeft'erson wrote the Declaration of Independence, every State in this Union, except Massachusetts, had African slavery within it^ limits as a dis- tinctive form of human labor; therefore he could not have meant that the institution of African slavery was incompatible with the liberty of the citizen. It is utterly impossible he could have meant that "life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- piness" were among " the inalienable rights" to which negi'o slavery was entitled. The States of this Union, sir, had among them, at that very time, African slavery as a fixed political and domestic institution. And to suppose that Mr. Jefferson, when he penned that immortal paper, meant to strike down domestic African slavery, is to contradict facts cotemporaneous with the Constitution itself. He nevercould have intended that instrument to apply to any other than citizens of the country. Now, 1 agree that all men, t^ho are citizens of a country, are entitled to equal rights and equal privileges. But they must be citizens \Jirst. Sir, I say ^hat Government has a right to [impose terms of citizenship; but I say, when I citizenship has been once conferred, it is wrong to draw distinctions between different classes of [ citizens. AboUtionists and Free-Soilers may say i that the Declaration of Independence means ex- I actly what its language imports, and that all men [are born free and equal, and are endowed Math i inalienable rights, among others those of "life, '' liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and that ! this embraces the negro as well as the white race. Sir, I appeal to the fact; I appeal to the cotem- poraneous history of the country; I appeal to the opinions of the framers of the Constitution them- selves, to show that no such idea was entertained by them. No, sir, he and they meant, and meant 'only, to declar-e that, where men are organized into a State government, each citizen is entitled to the same political rights and privileges. This is the doctrine of all republican governments; and the Declaration of Independence means to main- tain no other. It is wholly untrue, even as an I abstraction, that aM men, in a state of nature, are born free and equal. Infancy itself, sir, is in truth a state of slavery, since both the physical and mei^tal power to act independently, is wholly j wanting in that condition of human life. No ! two men can be found, anywhere, who are ex- 1 actly equal in all respects; and indeed the same may be said of everything existing in the whole universe of God. Change, dissimilarity, and I inequality, are stamped by the hand of Provi- .dence upon every object in nature; and I tell those gentlemen who profess to be so horrified 1 at the institution of human slavery, that they ap- '• peal in vain to the lessons or teachings of nature, or to F.ny fact in the past history of the world, j to justify their conclusions. The history of the world, from its beginning to the present hour, is but a history of human slavery in some one or other of its forms; and to no truer record can ' we resort, for the evidence of this truth, than to lithe Old as well as the New Testament of our ll religious faith. Mr. MEACIIxVM. I rise to a question of or- j der. We have a rule here \vhic.h requires that i no man shall speak for more than ten minutes, | vet the gentleman from Maryland has spoken ; Iready four times that length of time. I demand i that the rules may he enforced. Mr. BO'\VIE. ' Sir, the rule has been extended ! by the unanimous vote of the House, and I hope j I may be allowed to proceed -ivithout interruption. ', Mr. EUSTIS. I move that the gentleman from , Maryland have leave to proceed. A Member. The House has already granted j that leave. ! Mr. MEACHAM. I insist that the rule of the House be enforced. Mr. BOWIE. If tlic gentleman has a question to rfisk, I will yield thefloor to him; but I vnll ', not be interrupted by any man. I will answer i as many questions as gentlemen may please to , ask. ! Mr. MEACHAM. I demand th.it the ques- i tion of order I have raised shall be decided. j The CLERK. The gentleman from Maryland ! is proceeding bv un.'^imous consent. Mr. SPINNER. ^No, sir; I object. ■, The CLERK. The gentleman from Maryland ; spoke for ten minutes, and was arrested in his , r.;marks by the Clerk. The House then allowed him to proc^'i'd without objection. ! Mr. WASH;BURN, of Maine. The gentleman ; from Maryland had the consent of the House to proceed for another ten miiujtes, l)ui no longer. The CLERK. The Clerk thinks Uiat he was \ allowed to proceed without restriction. \ Mr. BOWIE. Sir, I want the people of the . country to know who it is that are continually raising questions of order, to the great delay of ihe legitimate business of this House. It is by I no means pleasant or interesting to discuss ques- j tions of order. Tiicy are often more easily made than determined, [laughter;] and I hope I may be allowed to proceed. Mr. NORTON. Mr. Clerk, the rule requires that, when a gentleman is called to order, he shall take his seat" and keep it until the question is decided. I ask that the lotle shall be enforced. The CLERK. Tlie Clerk thinks the gentle- man from Maryland had the unanimous consent of the House to proceed in his remarks. The Clerk does not think he has any power to calf him to order. Mr. BOWIE. If any gentleman has any question to put, I will answer anything that may be asked very cheerfully. Mr. MEACHAM. Mr. Clerk, what is the question before the House.' The CLERK. , It is upon a motion to rescind the ten-minute rule. Mr. PAINE. I protest against these inter- ruptions. The gentleman from Marj^^and had the unanimous consent of tlie House to submit such remarks as he might tliink proper, and I hope he will be allowed to proceed. The CLERK. The gentleman fro»n Vermont [Mr. Meacham] has certainly the right to raise a question of order, but the Clerk do. s not think the gentleman from Maryland is out of order. Mr. BOWIE. I hope, ^ir, no man in this House will think, now, he has the right to call me to order. If he does, I am sure he will be put down by the unanimous voice of the House. [Great laughter.] I am proceeding, sir. accord- ing to parliamentary law. It was made, I be- heve, by mejj who understood the rules of pro- ceeding to be followed in deliberative bodies, like this. [Laughter.] But, sir, I can only say to those gentlemen who will undertake hereafter to raise points of order upon me, that they will be casting— I will not say pearls before swine, but v.^asting the sweet accents of their voices on the desert air. [Roars of laughter.] Now, Mr. Clerk, I have not time to go into a discussion upon the state of parties in the House. I will never vote for a sectional organization, and I say to gentlemen who are endeavoring to effect such an organization, that they are taking false grounds. I think the friends 'of the gentlenian from Massachusetts [Mr. Bakks] are standing upon these grounds. They say they are not AbolitionistsV because, forsooth, they are not for interfering with slavery in the States. Wh^ , sir, did you ever see or tear of a fanatic who was fanatical enough to go to that extent? They are called Abolitionists, and justly so, because they advocate the power of Congrcs's to abolish slavery in the Territories of the Uiiion and in the District of Columbia, and because they oppose African slavery in every form and condition in which it may exist. They sometimes have assumed to themselves the name of Free-Soilers; but more recently, within the last tv.-elve months, they have aspired to usurp the more national name of Republican. Sir, I wish this House and the ' country to understand that all these names repre- sent one and the same idea, and but me idea at that, and that is, opposition to the institution of slavery at the South. The names of Free-Soiler and Republican ture but other names for political abolitionism; and more dangerous names, too, for the South, because more insidious in their tenden- cies, and therefore more likely to gain proselytes to their unholy warfare upon the constitutional rights of these'Statcs. But by what authority do ihey call themselves Republican .' In the eai-lier days of the Republic there were, I believe, two pai-ties who called themselves Republican — one the Federal Republican, and the other the Demo- cratic Repiiblican. To which of these two Re- publican parties, I ask, do these Frec-Soilers and Abolitionists belong.' I rather think the ghost of the elder Adams, were it to rise up in our midst, would exclaim to them, " My faithful children ! , after being so long dead, have you come to life again ? Let me embrace you as faithful followers of the creed!!" This, su-, v.-ould, in my judg- ment, be the voice of that old leader of the quon- dam Federal party, whose doctrines in reference to the powers of the General Government, and their relations to the States, have long since been buried beneath the overwhelming power of Jef- fersonian Democracy, but now sought to be revived by these modern Republicans. Sir, tliese gentlemen complain that they are called Black Republicans; and they very emphat- ically demand to know who calls them Black Republicans.' I will not say that 1 have done so. If I should give them a sciriquel at all, I would call them White-Black Republicans. [Laughter.] But I can tell them 10/11/ they are so called. They arc called so, because they advocate the power of Congress to abolish African slavery in the Terri- tories, and to prevent its introduction therein; 6 and African slavery, I believe, sir, is black sla- very. [Laughter.] They claim to be the pecu- liar guardian.s of the colored race in the United States; and, by ^vay of identifying their peculiar principles, and giving distinctive point to them, they are called Black Republicans; and I think tional in some respects: slavery is national so far as it is recognized, protected, and guarded by the Constitution, and only sectional so far as that Congress has no power to ordain, or to establish it, and so far only, as that it does not exist in all the States alike. But the same may be said of the name quite significant enough of their prin- jj freedom, for it is excluded in those places, and ciples. I am quite sure my friend here , who now ; j among that class of our population who are slates, sits on my right, [Mr. De Witt,] will not be !| by the permission of the Constitution itself. offended if I call him a Black Republican in th sense just explained. I know my friend rejoices and glories in belonging to that " great Republi- can army," now so gallantly commanded by Major-General Seward, whose flag bears aloft that noble and magnanimous motto, "Freedom to all Niggers." "[Great laughter.] A .similar Sir, the phrase which is so fashionable in the mouths of the Abolitionists, Free-Soilers, and Black Republicans, on this floor, that " slavery is sectional, and freedom is national," is so trite and threadbare that it has lost its charms. It is but a clap-trap saying, intended only as the watch- word of a party, and will soon pass away among great republican army once invaded Ireland for • , the forgotten and exploded follies of the past a like purpose, but, finding no " niggers" there, Ij With regard to that class of powers in Con- they put to death every "Roman Catholic they I j gross over the subject of slavery which are im- could find. [Laughter.] I hope my Roman Cath- i [ plied powers, and which are only invoked for the olic constituents will not share "the same fate, jj purposes of its destruction, I have hardly time when my friend's army shall visit my part of the country. And now, sir, I wish to say a word or two on the general power of Congress over the subject of slavery. I know I have not time just now to discuss to say much. On some future and more appro- priate occasion I propose to give my views to this House and to the country more at large than I can do now; but to those gentlemen who claim the power in Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, founded upon the this question thoroughly; neither the temper of i grant of exchtsive jurisdiction oyot the ten miles the House nor the occasion will jiermit me; but, sir, I ask gentlemen, what they mean when they speak of the power of Congress over slavery.' Do they refer to the power expressly confided by the Constitution to Congress of abolishing the foreign slave trade, after the year 1808? or of passing laws to require of the several States a restoration of fugitives from service .' or of so apportioning the representation of the States, as to secure to the slave States a representation for three fifths of their slaves, as persons ? or do they mean to refer to some supposed power to abolish slavery, either in the States or Territories .' or to change, alter, or modify its condition or relations in any part of the domains of this great confed- eration of States? The first class of powers, it will be perceived, sir, are clearly apd unequivo- cally delegated powers. The second class, if they exist at all, exist only by implication. They cer square ceded by the States of Maryland and Virginia as the seat of the national Government, I can only say, that exchisive jurisdiction by no means implies or carries with it alisolute and tin- limited poicers. A Government may have exclu- sive jurisdiction to legislate for the protection of its citizens and the maintenance of j]iolr rights of person and property, and j^et be totally without power to confiscate their property, or to abolish the tenures of their estates. Exclusive jurisdic- tion, sir, does not mean irresponsible or arbitrary power. The abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia must be a necessary incident to the exercise of the exclusive jurisdiction, and with- out which the power of exclusive jurisdiction, would be inoperative and useless, or else it does not pass with the grant of exclusive jurisdiction. Sir, I hold this to be clear, and beyond the power of refutation. The same argument applies, as mg to every approved mode of interpretation they cannot exist by implication, unless their existence is absolutely necessary to carry into effect and operation some expressly granted power, which, but lor the implication, would be dead and inoperative. With regard to the first class of powers, no one has ever doubled. They tainlydo not exist by express grant; and, accord- 1 1 have already remarked, to that provision of the " ■ ■ ■ ' ' Constitution which gives to Congress the powec " to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other prop- erly, belonging to the United State's." The abo- lition or restriction of slavery in " such terri- tory or other property" must be shown to be a needful rule or regulation for the government and are expressed, and not implied. They are a part ',! control of such territory, o? properbj of the United and parcel of the compromises and compacts of !| Ulules, or else the power to abolish or restrict the Constitution. The bond is so icri^cii, oiuJii ji slavery therein does not, and cannot, exist by must be so read. So far, then, as these powers j j reason of any suc/i grrani of power, and obligations arc concerned, slavery is a na-j And, sir, it must be observed, that even this tional and not a Sectional subject — a subject over || grant of power " to make all needful rules and which Congress, and Congress alone, has juris- 1 regulations," &c., is expressly coupled with a diction. Congress alone, could have abolished \\ condiilon that it shall not be " so construed as to the foreign slave trade; Congress alone, can pass i ;)re/it(/ic5 any claims of the United States or of any particular State." It is diificult to compre- ] bend to what these claims of the United States, or ' of any particular State, relate, unless it be to the territory orother property belonging to the Uiiited laws relative to the recapture of fugitives from labor; and Congress alone, can apportion the representation among the States, so as to secure the slave representation of three fifths, to the slave States. With what truth, thi-n, can it be said that | States as property; and that, too, as the common slavery is sectional and freedom is uannn:i\}\\ property nf the United Utaies, a7id each of the Slates. They are, in truth, both national and both sec- ;! If this be so— and I scarcely think it can admit of a doubt — it follows clearly, that the rules and rp;2;- I ulations which Coii2;ress arc empowered to make respecting the territory or other property be- longing to the United States, relate exclusively themselves, to such rules and regulations only as may be needful for Congress to make in reference to the disposition, preservation, and management of such territory as the common property of all the States; and not to a class of powers entirely political in their nature, which have for their end only the establishment of forms of gt)vernment for the protection and enjoyment of civil and re- ligious freedom. This latter class of powers, sir, it seems to me, will more appropriately be found among those which were reserved by the pnople, irnd which the framors of the Constitution never intended should be surrendered to the Federal Government by any portion of the people of this country, whether living in the States or after-ac- quired territories. The great struggle between the British Crown, under the administration of Lord North, and the United Colonies, as to the right of the colonies to govern themselves in all cases whatever, had been finally closed by the establishment of that great fundamental political truth, that man is capable of self-government; and had the framcrs of our Constitution inserted in that instrument any provisions inconsistent with that great truth, to be afterwards applied or enforced against the people of a«y of the States or after-acquired Territories of the Union, they would, in my judgment, sir, have falsified every principle which induced the colonies to take up arms in defense of their own rights to separate and independent sovereignty. But, sir, I have not time to pursue these reflections further, in the present condition of this House. I v/ill take an opportunity of doing so at some other time. A Member. My friend from Maryland has indicated a willingness to answer any question that may be put to him. I ask him, how it is that he, who fought under the Whig banner, is now acting in the Democratic ranks ? Mr. BOWIE. I feel no difficulty about that— none whatever. I am found here, sir, acting with the Democratic party because the Demo- cratic party, in my congressional district, acted with th-e conservative portion of the Whigs in maintaining the great constitutional rights of civil and religious freedom. 1 was not sent here, sir, as a nominee of the Whig party. Un- fortunately for that great and glorious party, as it existed in the pure days of its conservative nationality, there was but one county in my district where its flag had not been struck down by a secret foe, Jirutg- from behind a masked bat- tery. [Laughter.] Yes, sir, a secret political club, calling themselves Know Nothings, had, very recently after the defeat of General Scott, organized themselves in every part of my con- gressional district. In the onset, they refused to avow publicly their pohtical principles; but, in the course of time, when they proclaimed hos- tility to the political rights of Roman Catholics and to those of naturalized American citizens, every conservative Whig, and every conservative Democrat in the district proclaimed hostility to them; and under a banner having inscribed on its folds the glorious motto of "Equal political rights to all American citizens," we met them, and defeated them. Sir, in this motto I recognized I the great and cardinal principles of the old Whig I I party; and struck down, as they had been, by ij these secret political clubs, I had the proud satis- il faction of seeing them once again restored and |! brought into active life by the patriotic efforts ' of the sound, conservative friends of civil and religious freedom in my district. {' For these reasons, sir, I am found on this floor, I acting, just as I did at home, in union with con- || servativc Whigs and Democrats, against Native ;| Americanism and Know Nothingism, and I may 1 now add, sir. Black Republicanism. But, sir, the Know Nothing party are anxiou.s ■, to bo called the American party. So far as I am ;| concerned, they may have any name they may h choose to fancy. I liavc no desire to rob them I of the laiird of a name. [Laughter.] They may have, if they please, the sweetest-sounding names on earth; but I will tell them, sir, that, in my I judgment, they have been rather unfortunate in I selecting the name of American. The name of II "American" is so common a name, and so gen- I eral a term, that it really attaches to all American '; citizens, whether native-born or naturalized; ay, ; sir, and that too, whether they be male or female. ji Now, sir, we are all Americans; and my Know h Nothing friends, it seems to me, in adopting that ;' name, have lost that definite and distinctive idea i which oughtto characterizt! all parties, and which , (judging from the fact that no two of them have ; the same knoiclcJge of their platform, or agree a.s ; to its construction) they preeminently possessed, ji in the n&me of Know J^'otking. [Loud and pro- \] tracted laughter.] And this, sir, seems to me to {i be more characteristic, too, of their precise views : of the constitutional rights of American citizens, J! since, in their exposition of its principles, they j, seem to have entirely /o'goHeji that Roman Catk- j; o/ics and adopted citizens had " some rights as well }■ as others."' [Continued laughter.] ]l But, sir, I am willing they may have the name of American. It will be of no service to them ' where their principles are known and explained. i; I think it will do them, on the contrary, infinite ;; harm; for their principles are so prescriptive of ij the civil and religious rights of so large a portion '! of American citizens, that the people will be so , <^asily struck with the difiTerence, between their ;; principles and their name, that tliey will refuse I to cooperate with them. They will find that " it [] is not the feast to which they were invited;" and i this great American party, losiiig the necessary ; aliment to support it, as well as the clement m I which to live, like a big fi.sh out of water, will i " flap and flounder for awhile," and then die of I; " premature exhaustion." [Great laughter.] !: Sir, I was sent hen- iVom the largest Whig dis- || trict in Maryland, with the exception perhaps of 1' that of my friend and colleague, [Mr. Stewart,] I I for the purpo.«eof uniting with Whigs and Demo- ■Icrats ill maintaining the great principles of the i Constitution. I am now here to act with them, , 1 just as I did at homo. My Whig friends at home, f went into county conventions with Democrats. I' and acted harmoniouslytogetherthere,andImean t' to do the same thing here; and, sir, I shall be the '•[ last man to desert them. Though their mode of i' procedure may notcomspond precisely with my [ '• own views, still, until they release me from my obli- li gations in caucus in reference to the organization i| of this House, as on honorbble man 1 will fight undei- their banner, if it be even unto death. Eut do confess, sir, I cannot approve of this sta,rvin arrangement, [laughter;] I do not approve of i because I beli^'ve that the Black Republicans \vi beat us all — Whigs, Democrats, and Know Notl ings combined — two to one, atthat game; and i ^ do not see that any good can come from it. LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 011 897 850 n p Federal Constitu- ramount question ■ernment over the ^r more vital than reference to the no:ntai oi lun- [lauimiiz-tniun laws"; for that, I understand, is now the only real question I must say, in all candor, and in a spirit of just j ! upon which the true American party stands, as a deference to the opinions of others, that, i^i my ,j national organization. And lam free to confess, opinion, some change must be resorted to in the jj that it ia a question about which the best and jiarty tactics of the House before nn organization : wisest men have differed, and may still continue can be accomplished. I tell genllcmcn that the |: to differ, as a mere matter of governmental policy, people of this country are looking upon our action j 1 without the patriotism of either being doubted, or here with fear and trembling. And well theymaj-: ' , in the smallest degree questioned. Sir, these are for we are in fact in a state of revolution; and ;[ interesting questions to be sure, biit they strike there' is no way to get out of it except by an or- ! i no chord in our hearts which vibrates with sounds ganization of this House. I believe "that there ! I of national disunion. They bring no tears to the is a majority here in favor of the principles of j] eye of the patriot when brooding over the broken non-intervention by Congress on the subject of ['] fragments of a ruined country; they send forth domestic slavery in the Territories. That ma- jj no strains of martial music inciting fanatical hosts jority ought to be brought together in some mode ;' to civil strife or servile war. No, sir; no. There of conciliation; for it must be admitted that no !j are no such bloody spectres as these " starting other question is half so vital to the preservation of the Union, or to the domestic tranquillity of the people. If this is found to be impracticable, then I should be wilhng, as a last resort, to adopt tlie pluraUty rule; and if the Black Republicans should succeed in electing their candidate for Speaker under its operation, bad as that would be, and as much as I should deplore it, I think even that would be better for the country tlian that there should be, at this critical juncture of our up in the M'ay before us" when contemplating simply a change in the naturalization laws of the country; but let this Congress attempt to strike down the constitutional rights of the South,, then you and I and all of us will strike, though bloody treason flourish over us. Come, then, ye patri- otic Americans, and join yotir hands and your hearts with ours, and help us to save the Union and the States. By uniting with us, an organi- ation of this House can be effected, and peace foreign relations, disruption of the GoveriuTient j! and tranquillity once more restored to an already by no organization at all. The majority of this House — which, 1 believe, is of a conservative character — could still control the action of Con- gress, and keep it from inflicting, by unconstitu- tional legislation, irreparaljle injury to the coun- try; and even if that majority should fail in this, we have still the Executive and the Senate to check the course of any legislation, the tendencies of which might be dangerous to the perpetuity of the Union. too much distracted country. And now, mj'^ countrymen of the North and the West, must I appeal to you in vain? Have you thus obstinately made tip your m.inds to "place upon the hszard of the die" so great and glorious a Union as nov.^ binds together the stars and stripes of a flag which has never trailed in the hour of danger .' Can you deliberately mar and blight so fair a portion of God's heritage as this our beloved country? Do you seriously Sir, the country has never been in so distracted I contemplate a dismemberment of this Union? If a condition before, and I think the people of the country ought to know the real condition of parties on this floor. It is but too manifest that the great design of the Republican party of the North is so, in the name of Heaven, and by the justice of an offended God, I pronounce you traitors to your God and to your country. Oh ! if you are really anxious to preserve this Union, and will to cut down the political power of the South, and i { only exhibit and develop those principles of the by the aid of southern Know Nothingism they hope to distract the southern States on the ques- tion of the next presidency; while at the North they will present an undivided front in favor of what they call the national principle of freedom. Sir, in this respect they will have a great advant- age over the southern States. We cannot get Mr. Banks, their candidate for Speaker, to say here on this floor that he belongs to the American Order, but he does not hesitate to avow that he belongs to the so-called Republican party. The so-called Republicans of the North arc united, while the southern men, who arc fighting for the Constitution of their country and for their own firesides and institutions, are to be allowed to divide upon the question of Native Americanism and Roman Catholicism. Sir, let me appeal to that southern, as well as northern, band of pa- triots known as Americans — for I must believe they are patriots, though I think they are mis- guided — to stand with us, and to unite with us human heart by your actions and your conduct here, which ought to bind neighbor to neighbor, and all good men together, you will not disturb us in the enjoyment of our rights. We only ask you not to lay upon us the hand of oppression^ not to drive us to the wall We say to you, in a spirit of fraternal kindness, we love you as fellow citizens of a common glorious country, and will adhere to you in the enjoyment of al! your rights. In the name of God, then, wc be- seech you not to wage a crusade against an insti- tution which was born before the Constitution, nurtured b}'' it, and now, in its advanced man- hood, demands its protection. If you do, the friends of that institution, and, above all, the friends of that Constitution everywhere, will come up to its rescue; and if, on that day of struggle, the Constitution and the Union shall be crushed, the friends of civil and religious hberty through- out the world will curse you and your memories forever. This is all I desired to say. ^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 897 850 A