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 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 EUWAflD STANLY, OF N. CAROLINA, 
 
 fit ^ ' 
 
 EXPOSING THE CAUSES OF THE SLAVERY AGITATION. 
 
 Delivered in the House of Rtpresentativcs, March 6, 186tl. 
 
 This hour rule, Mr. Chairman, compels us to 
 economize time very closely, and consolidate ideas 
 as much as possible. I will try and do go, that I 
 may not write out any thing more than I shall 
 say. 
 
 I wish to say a few plain thing-s in a plain way. 
 I wish to say a little fur Buncombe— not onl}' the 
 western but the eastern Buncombe, which I repre- 
 sent;, and, if honorable gentlemen arc not desirous 
 to hear this, I advise them to take themselves, on 
 this ramy day, to a more comfortable place than 
 this. I intend most of what I say for my constitu- 
 ents. I have not .spoken before, because I thought 
 when matters of such vast magnitude were in- 
 volved, we ought to wait and hear what the people 
 at home have to say of them. Now, I feel prepared 
 not merely to express my own opinions, but those 
 also of m}^ honest constituents. I hope to say no- 
 thing offensive to any gentleman. Certainly, I 
 have no such desire. I shall most carefully avoid 
 to strike the first blow. If I am assailed, I must 
 take care of myself in the best way I may. And 
 now to come right at it. 
 
 I have heard a great deal said here, and read 
 much recently, of "encroachment on the South — 
 aggressions on the South;" and, though I know we 
 have cause in some respects to complain of the con- 
 duct of a portion of our northern people, I cannot 
 include the whole North in the just censure due to 
 the conduct of the aggressors. I have attentively 
 watched the debate here and in the Senate. I have 
 looked at the party newspapers of the clay, and I 
 have been brought to the settled belief, yea con- 
 viction, that much of the hue and cry is caused by 
 a malignant wish to embarrass the Administra- 
 tion, and to build up the party whom the people 
 hurle<l from power in November, 1848. Many of 
 the speeches here, relative to the admission of Cali- 
 fornia, are marked by unkind allusion to the Presi- 
 dent, and sometimes improper and furious, though 
 feeble, aspersions as to his motives. 
 
 It seemed to me that if gentlemen, from the South 
 especially, believed our peculiar institutions were 
 in danger, they would desire to produce harmony 
 of feeling, to speak calmly as to brethren in the midst 
 of a common danger; that they would try and pro- 
 duce united action. But instead of manifesting 
 such a disposition, the Administration is ruthlessly 
 assailed, and the Whig party fiercely denounced. 
 For examples of these party speeches, I refer to 
 that of the gentleman from Mississippi, (Mr. 
 Brows,) and of the gentleman from Maryland, 
 (Mr. McLanb.) who <*n this matter made a party 
 speech, and tried, as he did before the House was 
 organized, to blow his boatswain's whistle and pipe 
 all hands on his side to duty. There were other 
 speeches of a like character. I want to show this 
 agitation, this attempt to excite alarm, is now, as 
 it w£is last summer in the southern States, for party 
 purposes. 1 believe I can show it. 
 
 In 1837, when Mr. Van Buren was President, an 
 abolition petition, presented by a gentleman from 
 Vermont, I think, produced a great tumult here. 
 A southern xiiceting was held in a committee- room 
 down stairs. Patton's resolution, which rejected 
 abolition petitions, was the fruit of that meeting. 
 Presenting this petition was one of Mr. Calhoun's 
 
 ^'encroachments." Mr. Van Buren's friends found 
 it necessary to sustain him, as a "northern maa 
 with southern principles," and then he made this 
 abolition excitement the platform for his election 
 to the Presidency. In vain diil the Whigs at that 
 time warn the southern country he would be a 
 traitor; that his past life had shown he was unsound 
 upon the question of slavery. No matter what 
 should be the consequence to the South, his game 
 was to be played. In 1S38, when Mr. Woodbury 
 wasinVan Buren'scabinet, and was engaged in that 
 interesting correspondence to his sub-treasurers, 
 Mr. Alherton, of New Hampshire, who was called 
 tlie prince of humbuofs, introduced his wooden 
 nutmeg, doughfaced, cTiivalry resolutions; a caucus 
 was held in whicl; southern Van Buren Democrats 
 sat side bj' side with the worst anti- slavery men; from 
 which secret caucus all the southern Whigs were 
 excluded; and these resolutions, then denounced as 
 Janus-faced and double-meaning, %\cre the hybrid 
 offspring of that caucus. These resolutions were 
 to quiet agitation. 1 denounced them, and refused 
 to vote for them, and I was sustained at home. 
 They were also denounced, if I mistake not, by 
 other southern gentlemen, as betraying the South. 
 
 [A late article in the Republic, in this city, ex- 
 poses the Atherton caucus, by giving a true account 
 of their origin.] 
 
 When General Harrison was nominated, he was 
 denounced as an Abolitionist. Mr. Clay was an 
 Abolitionist; and Mr. Van Buren's doughfaces were 
 the friends and "allies of the South." I hope the 
 race of doughfaces is extinct. They were a miser- 
 able set of beings, — mere puppets of Van Buren,— »■ 
 anti-slavery men at home, allies of the South here. 
 Now and then, one is alive, mourning for the lost 
 spoils, and editing- a paper that tries to alarm the 
 South by the old song, of 1838, "The Whigs are 
 Abolitionists. Once we were told, there are no 
 Democratic Abolitionists at the North. Now how 
 changed! Even in the Senate, a member of that 
 body (Mr. Clemens, of Alabama, a Democrat, o« 
 the 17th January, 1S50) said: 
 
 "I said the people of the South had been hereto- 
 ' fore laboring under the delusion that the northern 
 ' Democrats were their friends. I said it was a delu- 
 ' sion, and I was glad to have an opportunity of ex- 
 ' plaining it to them. God deliver me from such 
 'friends as the northern Democrats! I Kould rather 
 ' trust northern liliigstoday. They commenced the 
 ' game earlier, and have not to go so far to^et in a 
 ' proper position. Look at the resolutions of Demo- 
 ' cratic legislatures and the messages of Democratic 
 ' governors, and the resolutions adopted by Demo- 
 ' cratic conventions, and then tell me about north- 
 • ern Democrats being the friends of the South." 
 
 Mr. Calhol-n, too, thinks all the northern people 
 are "more or less hostile to us." Sir, I will not 
 admit that either of the great parties of the North, 
 as such, are hostile to the. South. Some members 
 of each are hostile — are fanatical — but the great 
 body of both parties at the North, I cannot believe, 
 are traitors to the Constitution and the Union. And, 
 sir, it affords uic pleasure to say, that when I hear 
 bold and manly speeches, such as those made by 
 the gentlemen from Illinois (Mr. Bissell) and 
 from Indiana (Mr. Fitch,) I honor their intre- 
 
pidity— I feel that the Union is safe. The time has 
 passed I hope when I can be unjust to a patriot, be- 
 cause he differs with me in political opinions. My 
 intercourse with members of the Democratic party 
 in my own State Legislature removed many pre- 
 judices — my intercourse with g-entlemen of that 
 party here has proved that many of them are true 
 to the Union; and upon such questions as those now 
 under discussion here, I shall be proud to be allow- 
 ed to tender them the right hand of fellowship, and 
 to acknowledge them as worthy laborers in a com- 
 mon cause. But I speak not here of the dough- 
 faces — the men who, for party purposes, agitato 
 the country, that they may win the spoils of office. 
 I had rather meet Abolitionists here than such 
 men — if they can be called so. 
 
 No ; I would say, with a slight alteration of one 
 of Canning's verses : 
 "Give me the avowed, erect, and manly foe; 
 
 Open, I can meet, perhaps may turn his blow; 
 
 But of all the plagues, great Heaven, thy wrath 
 can send. 
 
 Save, oh save me from a doughface friend !" 
 
 But, sir, to pursue my argument. In proof of 
 the charge I make, that there is a desire to produce 
 aeitation for party purposes, I beg attention to a 
 short extract from the " Union" newspaper (Demo- 
 cratic) of tliis city. I call the attention of my hon- 
 est Democratic colleagues to this. In the " Union" 
 of February 14, 1860, I find the following: 
 
 "The .southern Whigs have pboved them- 
 selves TO BE THE WORST ENEMIES OF THE SOUTII 
 AND OF SOUTHERN INSTITUTIONS. BuT THE PRESENT 
 IS NO TIME FOR CRIMINATION AND RECRIJIINATION. 
 Let THE PATRIOTS OF ALL PARTIES," &€., &C. 
 
 "No time for crimination?" Then why deal 
 in it.'' " Patriots of all parties!" But as the ?)or</i- 
 ern Whigs are ceaselessly denounced as Abolition- 
 ists, and the foutlitrn Whigs "enemies of the South," 
 who are the " all parties?" Those, I suppose, who 
 vote for the " regular nominees of the Democratic 
 party!" 
 
 My Democratic colleagues, I knovv', cannot jus- 
 tify such conduct. I will not descend to crimina- 
 tion; but what an argument! If the whole North 
 are hostile to the South, and if the southern Whigs 
 are " the worst enemies of the South and southern 
 institutions," what are to become of those southern 
 States in which the Whigs have the majority ? 
 
 Besides this extract, just quoted, there are others 
 of like character — one of which was read to us yes- 
 terday, by the gentleman from Florida, (Mr. Ca- 
 bell.) 
 
 In the Union of February 2S, 1850, in the lead- 
 ing editorial article, we are told: "The alliance 
 ' of northern Abolition-Federalists, and southern 
 
 * slaveholding Whigs, has attempted to prostrate 
 ' the Democratic party of the North, who stood for 
 ' half a century hrmly by the compromises of the 
 ' Constitution, which protected southern institu- 
 ' tions, and it has succeeded in compelling the 
 
 • northern Democracy to modify its position in 
 
 ' RELATION to the INSTITUTIONS AND INTERESTS 
 
 ' OF THE South." 
 
 No "time for crimination!" And the northern 
 Democracy has "modified its position." How? By 
 alliance with the Abolitionists? There are other 
 charges of like character in this and other papers, 
 which I have no time to read. 
 
 Sir, is this no proof of the design to aeritate for 
 party effect' It proves that now, as in 1838, it is, 
 what my colleague from the Buncombe district 
 called it, "a game." In his speech, in 1844, my 
 colleague, (IVfr. Clingman,) as reported in the 
 Appendix to the Congressional Globe, 2Sth Con- 
 gress, 1st session, referred to the "fact that, al- 
 ' though there was near eighty Democratic mem- 
 ' bers from the free States in the House of Repre- 
 ' sentatives, only thirteen, ' with all possible coax- 
 ' ing,' voted for the rule. How is it with the south- 
 ' em wing of the party? Its members make most 
 
 ' vehement speeches in favor of the rule; declare 
 ' that the Union will be dissolved if it is abolished; 
 ' and charge as high treason all opposition to it. 
 • They are especially vehement in their denuncia- 
 ' tion of me, and desire to make the impression 
 ' that its loss, if it should be rejected, is mainly to 
 ' be attributed to my speech against it." 
 
 ****** 
 
 "The game which they have been playing off is 
 ' seen through by everybody here, and it is getting 
 ' to be understood in the country." 
 
 .lust as the game which the Bobadils are playing 
 off now is understood, and I adopt the language of 
 my colleague in what follows: I think it was true 
 of the party to whom it was applied then, in 1844, 
 and especially true now, of those of the South who 
 wish disorder should reign, and of the one-idea 
 fanatical Wilmot proviso men of the North. Hear 
 these words: "The game which they have been 
 ' playing off' is seen throu"-h by everybody here, 
 ' and it is getting to be understood in the country. 
 ' There was a time when gentlemen, by giving 
 ' themselves airs and talking largely of southern 
 ' rights in connexion with this subject, were able 
 ' to give themselves consequence at home. But 
 ' that day has passed. Its mock tragedy has de- 
 ' generated into downright farce, and nobody will 
 ' be humbugged much longer in this way. But 
 ' the matter is important in one respect. Nothing 
 ' could more fully show the utter profligacy of the 
 ' party, its total want of all principle, than the 
 ' course of its northern and southern wings on this 
 ' question. They hope, however, by thus spreadi- 
 ' ing their nets, to drag in votes in both sections of 
 ' the Union, and thereby get into power." 
 
 Yes, sir, there's the true secret of this agitation: 
 "get into power" — "to the victors belong the 
 spoils" — adhere to Democratic nominations, even 
 for doorkeeper, or the Granite doughfaces will let 
 the Union be dissolved. 
 
 I concur in what my colleague said of this agita- 
 tion in 1844, and especially in a note to his speech, in 
 which he says, that "a certain prominent southern 
 ' politician, seeing that his course had rendered 
 ' him unpopular generally, seized upon this ques- 
 ' tion to create excitement between the North and 
 ' the South, and unite the South thereby into a po- 
 ' litical party, of which he expected to be the head. 
 ' There are also individuals at the North, who, 
 ' though professing opposition to the rule, are, in 
 ' my opinion, really desirous of its continuance, 
 ' as a means of producing agitation in that quar- 
 ' ter. A portion of them entertain the hope that 
 ' the excitement there may attain a sufficient height 
 ' to enable them successfully to invade the institu- 
 ' tions of the South; but the larger number are sim- 
 ' ply seeking to produce a strong prejudice in the 
 ' popular mind in the free States against southern 
 ' institutions and men, on which to base a political 
 ' party strong enough to control the offices of the 
 ' country." 
 
 Now, sir, I think a certain prominent southern po- 
 litician is playing the same game, and the one- idea 
 Wilmot proviso men are stiU trying to control the 
 offices of the country. Some want to get to Con- 
 gress, or to stay there, or to be placed at the head 
 of some important committee, by voting for the 
 "favorite candidate" of the party. 
 
 It was a " game" when my colleague referred to 
 it; it is a " game" now. I fear my colleague does 
 not remember this speech. 
 
 Mr. Clingman said, yes. 
 
 Mr. Stanly. Well, sir, I will print the extract 
 from the speech of 1844, and let it go to Buncombe 
 with the late speech of my colleague. 
 
 Yes, sir, " the game" is still to be played, and 
 now the "refusal to surrender fug-i five slaves" is 
 another northern aggression complained of. I ad- 
 mit the northern States have acted badly in this in- 
 stance. Both parties have played the game too far, 
 of trying to get abolition votes. I cannot see how 
 
any man who has sworn to support the Constitution 
 can refuse to pass any law that may be deemed 
 necessary. Tlic conduct of the northern States in 
 this respect is admitted by some of their own citi- 
 zens to be without excuse. No one condemns it more 
 decidedly thanl do, and I believe, from all I have 
 heard, this abuse will be remedied. 
 
 But still, the noise made about this is part of the 
 "game," part of the "party operations." One 
 would suppose from speeches made here, that no 
 slaves hacl escaped from the South until Cass's 
 defeat. 
 
 Hut to the recent history of this. In 183S, shortly 
 after the At.herton resolutions were passed, a 
 worthy gentleman from Kentucky, then a member 
 of this House, introduced a resolution I hold in my 
 hand, which I will print — 
 
 "Mr. Calhoon, of Kentucky, moved that the 
 rules in relation to the order o'f business be sus- 
 pended, to enable him to move a resolution; which 
 ■was read at the clerk's table, and is in the words 
 following, viz: 
 
 "Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary 
 be instructed to report a bill making it unlawful 
 for any person to aid fugitive slaves in escaping 
 from their owners, and providing for the punish- 
 ment in the courts of tlie United States of all per- 
 sons who may bo guilty of such oflence. 
 
 "And that theybe further instructed to report a 
 bill making it unlawful for any person in the non- 
 glaveholding States of this Union to use any means 
 to induce slaves from their owners, and providing 
 for the punishment, in the courts of the United 
 States, of all persons who may be found guilty of 
 such offence. 
 
 "And on the question — Shall the rules be sus- 
 .pended for the purpose aforesaid.'' 
 
 "It passed in the negative— yeas 90, nays 107." 
 
 Among- the nays were Mr. Atherton and fifty- 
 four other northern "allies of the South." 
 
 Now, sir, is it not singxdar, that from that period 
 down to the present, as far as my knowledge extends, 
 710 effort luis beenmade, until General Taylor's elec- 
 tion, to demand additional legislation upon this sub- 
 ject? 
 
 If any such effort has been made, I do not know it. 
 Were there no fugitive slaves since 1838? Well, 
 Mr. Van Buren was President three years after 
 that, and no bill passed for fugitive sla\es. In the 
 twenty-fifth Congress, from 1837 to 1839, Mr. Polk 
 was Speaker. From 1S39 to 1841, twenty-sixth Con- 
 gress, Mr. Hunter, of Vii-ginia, was Speaker — Dem- 
 ocratic majority here, and no bill for fugitive 
 slaves ! 
 
 Tyler was PresidcntfromApril,'41, to March, 1845. 
 During the first year of Tyler's term, Mr. White, 
 of Kentucky, was Speaker; and from 1843 to 1845, 
 Mr. Jones, of Virginia, was Speaker, and a Demo- 
 cratic majority here, with a Virginia President, 
 and no bill for reclaiming fugitive slaves ! ! Then, 
 from March, 1645, to Marcli, 1349, Mr Polk, a 
 southern President, and during two years Mr. 
 Davis, of Indiana, Democratic Speaker, and still 
 no bill for the reclamation of fugitive slaves!! 
 Nothing said by Virginia members even, from 1838 
 till now ! 
 
 Mr. Venable. Will my honorable colleague 
 allow me to remind him that before the presidential 
 .canvass, at the first session of the last Congress, on 
 the abduction of a number of slaves from this Dis- 
 trict, I raised that question and delivered a speech 
 upon that subject? 
 
 Mr. Stanly. My colleague may have raised the 
 question at that time, but there was no legislative 
 action in this House on that subject; nor any at- 
 tempt to procure any, that I know of. And my 
 colleague raised the question, when there was great 
 excitement here, on account of one act of outrage. 
 He did not still try to procure action on the part 
 of Congress to enable the southern people to re- 
 •covcr their slaves. 
 
 Mr. Bayly. Will the gentleman allow me to put 
 him right on a matter of fact? 
 
 Mr. Stanly. If not out of my time. 
 
 Mr. Bayly understood the gentleman to say that, 
 from 1833, the time of Atherton's resolution, to 
 this time, nothing has been said by Virginia mem- 
 bers on the subject of the surrender of fugitive 
 slaves. 
 
 Mr. Stanly. Nothingfor the action of Congress. 
 
 Mr. Bayly. AVoll, the subject was before the 
 Legislature of Virginia in 1841 and 184'2; and it 
 was never brought before this House, because we 
 came to the conclusion that the law of 1793 was as 
 nearly perfect as it could be, and that it only re- 
 quired that it should be executed in good faith. 
 
 Mr. Stanly. Yes, sir, and you changed your 
 opinion of that law as soon as General Taylor was 
 elected President. And I would ask, why legislate 
 further, if that law is sufficient? We cannot create 
 "good faith" by act of Congres.'^. I admit, Mr. 
 Chairman, that Virginia is still a great and glori- 
 ous Commonwealth. She has much to he proud of 
 in the past history of this country. She needs no 
 eulogy from me; and, though I must censure, and 
 shall ridicule the conduct of some of her public 
 men, I shall speak respectfully of the State. Many 
 of my dearest friends and nearest relatives reside 
 within her borders, and they have, I believe, done 
 no discredit to her, in peace or in war. But, sir, 
 the Old Dominion is too much in the habit of taking 
 care of the affairs of the General Government, and 
 the debates in her Legislature are not as important 
 in the eyes of the country as they are to the Chair- 
 man of Ways and Means, (Mr. Bayly.) And I 
 should be g-lad to know why, if the representatives 
 from Virgiiiia thought the law of 1793 sufiicient, 
 did the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Meadb.) 
 introduce his resolution soon alter General Taylor's 
 election, proposing to instruct the Committee on 
 the Judiciary to report a bill providing for the ap- 
 prehension of fugitive slaves? 
 
 So I repeat, from 183S to 1848, until December, 
 1848, when the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
 Meade) offered his resolution, all the southern 
 Democracy, now crying out at this dreadful ag- 
 gression, never moved a finger to procure any law 
 relative to fugitive slaves! "No, sir; they were "as 
 mute as a mouse in a cheese." Yes, sir, as a first 
 family Virginia mouse in an English cheese. The 
 reason was, as my colleague (Mr. Venaule) said 
 in some poor verses quoted by him in his speech — 
 
 "The laurels were fairly portioned, 
 The spoils were fairly sold." 
 
 Mr. Venable. The "Za?i(/s," I said. 
 
 Mr. Stanly. I accept the correction: it was 
 printed "laurels," but my colleague is right; the 
 southern Democracy, whatever of "spoils" they 
 got, won no "laurels" during the last ten years 
 with their northern allies. 
 
 No, sir, the truth is, Cass was a "used up man," 
 Taylor was elected; the "spoils" were gone; the 
 cohesive power was lost. 
 
 Truly, as Job said, "Doth the wild ass bi-ay when 
 he hath grass: or lowcth the ox over his fodder?" 
 
 I have watched the progress of the debate in the 
 Senate, and from the published speeches in the 
 newspapers, I see a respectable Senator from Vir- 
 ginia (Mr. Mason) said he wanted the bill acted 
 on "as soon as practicable," but had "little hope 
 it would alford the remedy it is intended to afford;" 
 "it depends upon the loyalty of the people to whom 
 it is directed." 
 
 Another Senator (from South Carolina — Mr. But- 
 ler) said "he had no very great confidence that 
 ' this bill will subserve the ends whicb seem to be 
 ' contemplated by it." Vt'hy then, I ask, so zeal- 
 ously urge the passage of it? One of these Senators 
 (Mr. Mason) also intimated that it might become 
 necessary, for the States whose citizens lost negroes, 
 "to make reprisals on the citizens of the State of- 
 
fending-!" Now this, it seems to me, would be but 
 a poor way of doing justice to our citizens. If one 
 rogue in Oliio or Pennsylvania steals a negjro, we 
 are to take the wagon-horse of some honest old 
 farmer, who lived hundreds of miles from the thief ! 
 Will not this produce civil war? Will it enable us 
 to recoTer fugitive slaves? 
 
 Now, air, I think I have proved that this new- 
 born zeal for legislation to enable us to recover 
 fugitive slaves is all owing to the defeat of General 
 Cass. 
 
 Well, sir, among other reasons given why wc 
 should think of dissolution, is the fact that the south- 
 ern States are annoyed by the " agitation of Aboli- 
 tionists." The southern address says, I think, it 
 commenced about the year 1835. It commenced, 
 sir, before the year 1737. The Quakers have for 
 more than a hundred years been opposed to sla- 
 very. In 1671, Gc!Orgo Fox advocated emancipa- 
 tion. But the aggreesive agitation consisted in 
 sending abolition petitions. And I remember well, 
 before the repeal of the "t(.venty-first rule," southern 
 gentlemen said if that rule sliould be repealed, and 
 these petitions received, the Union would be dis- 
 solved. My colleague (Mr. Clikgman) had the 
 boldness to vote against the twenty- first rule. I 
 commend him for it. But he was denounced by 
 various southern gentlemen — by Mr. A. V. Brown, 
 afterwards governor of Tennessee; Mr. Cobb, of 
 Georgia, oui- Speaker; Mr. Stiles, of Georgia, and 
 by Mr. 11. M. Sau-nders, of North Carolina. Some 
 extracts of their speeches arc before mc, and I will 
 print them, to show them how much mistaken they 
 were. Mr. BaowN,of Tennessee, wasarguingagainst 
 making the petitions " the subject of reference, re- 
 
 Eort, and debate in this hall." " Our safety," said 
 e, "depends upon it." He begged the "real 
 friends" of the South, if they could not altogether 
 exclude those petitions, not to refer them tor de- 
 bate, &c. And he added : 
 
 "The South will hold no man guiltless who shall 
 ' go one inch beyond the right of petition. He must 
 ' answer for every fire that may be kindled, and 
 ' for every drop of blood that may be shed. Yes, 
 'sir, I will say to the gentlemen from Nev/ York 
 
 • and from North Carolina, (Mr. Clingman,) if 
 
 • this House shall go one inch beyond that, they 
 ' may have to stand answerable tor the shattered 
 ' and broken fragments of the Union itself." — [See 
 Append. Cong. Globe, '2Sth Congress, 1st Session.] 
 
 Mr. Cobb, of Georgia, after complimenting the 
 northern Democracy for their devotion to the inter- 
 ests of the South, for their "sincere friendship," 
 referred to the fact that some of the northern De- 
 mocracy were abandoning the rule, on account of 
 the opposition of some few southern membcra to it; 
 and he said : 
 
 "Thus it is that the defection of our northern 
 ' friends is attributable to our own divisions. Let the 
 ' fact then be published to the country, that the 
 ' responsibility of this measure may rest upon those 
 
 • who justly deserve it, upon whom an indignant 
 
 • and outragfed people may place the seal of their 
 ' condemnation. I trust, however, that no such 
 ' division will be found to exist; no southern Demo- 
 
 • crat, I am sure, will abandon his post; and but few, 
 ' if any, of the southern Whigs will be found fol- 
 ' lowing in the wake of the gentleman from North 
 ' Caroluia." — [Appen. Cong. Globe, iSth Cong., 
 let Session.] 
 
 I have an extract before me from the speech of 
 Mr. Stile.s, of Georgia, which I will print. Mr. 
 Stiles spoke under excitement, and very wildly. 
 
 Extract from the speech of Mr. Stiles, of Geor- 
 gia, House of Representatives, Januaiy 28 and 30, 
 1844, on the twenty-fifth rule relating to abolition 
 petitions. In replying to the remarks of Mr. 
 Clingmak — Appendix to Congressional Globe, 2Sth 
 Congress, Istsession, page 262 — hespokeof the Con- 
 stitution as a citadel, a fortress; and this rule was 
 "a barrier," and he said: 
 
 "Whilst that remains, the fortress stands; when 
 ' it is gone, the fortress falls. That barrier can be 
 
 • removed only by some one within. The fortress 
 ' can be taken, the citadel lost, only by treachery in 
 ' the camp. I will pursue the simile no farther. But 
 ' let me tell the member from North Carolina, that 
 ' if this rule is lost from the relation in which he 
 ' stands to, and thepart which he has borne, in this 
 
 • transaction, he may go home to his constituents 
 ' and to his grave covered with the unen\iable im- 
 
 • mortality of having betrayed the interests of the 
 ' South, in having surrendered the Constitution of 
 ' his country." 
 
 Mr. Saunders, of North Carolina, thought with 
 others whose remarks 1 have just quoted: 
 
 Mr. R. M. Saunders, arguing against the argu- 
 ment that to receive petitions would silence the 
 "clamor about the right of petition," said: "They 
 ' might as soon expect to extingfuish the conflagra- 
 ' tion by adding- fuel to the flames. I repeat, then, 
 ' there is but one alternative — rejection without ac- 
 ' tion, or reception and action. There is no mid- 
 ' die ground can satisfy those who are resolved to> 
 ' press this matter, whatever its consequences." — 
 [Appendix to Cong. Globe, 2Sth Cong., 1st Session — 
 January, 1844, page 85.] 
 
 How much mistaken! Since the repeal of the 
 rule, how seldom we see an abolition petition! 
 
 Mr. Saunders appeared to have been sincerely 
 distressed. He appealed to the doughfaces in ani 
 extract before me : 
 
 "Mr. Saunders said : I ask the gentlemen from 
 ' Maine if there be any here, who have hitherto 
 ' stoiid by us, why they should now give way? I 
 ' turn to our friends from Connecticut, and ask 
 ' them why they should yield? If 1 appeal in vain,. 
 ' I turn to tiiose by whom I know the appeal will 
 ' be answered — to patriotic New Hampshire, whose 
 ' sons, like her granite basis, have hitherto breast- 
 ' ed the storm; they, I know, will not give way. 
 ' So I call upon our friends from the Keystone State 
 ' not to surrender because a single soldier in the 
 ' South has deserted us on this trying occasion." — 
 [Sec Appendix Cong. Globe, 2Sth Congress, 1st ses- 
 sion.] 
 
 How mvich mistaken, I say again, these gentle- 
 men were ! Mr. Clay always argued — receive 
 these petitions, and much of this clamor will cease. 
 The result shows he was right. When I had the 
 honor of being in Congress in 1839, while the twen- 
 ty-first rule was in force, I do not think I exagge- 
 rate when I say, that during the period of three or 
 four months, v»e had what were called abolition pe- 
 titions presented here, signed by more than one 
 hundred thousand men and women. Like the 
 camomile flower, "the more it is trodden upon, the 
 faster it grows," this right of petition when denied 
 was most earnestly asserted. How stands the fact 
 now? We have been here more than three months,, 
 and not one single abolition petition has been pre- 
 sented! Hence the Union will not be dissolved be- 
 cause of this agg-ression. This aggression has 
 ceased. No, sir, there is no danger to this Union 
 from any such cause. In this happy land, our 
 people will occasionally be guilty of some extrava- 
 gant conduct. We have a numerous population, 
 w1k> are not always employed. 
 
 What was said by one of England's great poets 
 of her people, can with truth be said of ours— 
 
 "Whose only grievance is excess of ease, 
 Freedom their'pain, and plenty their disease." 
 
 When they cannot war against the twenty-first 
 ride, they will form peace societies. Noble motives 
 prompt them in this. These agitators, comprising 
 a small portion of our northern people, not only 
 seek distinction by their noisy opposition to slavery, 
 but they contend among other thing.s for what they 
 term "the rights of women." 1 do not know what 
 are the rights they claim; whether they think wo- 
 
5 
 
 men should vote,, shouUi come to Congress, &c.; 
 ■but if they five to the New Eng-Jand women more 
 rights tl)an those our North Carolina women have, 
 they will not have a republican g-ovornment. 
 
 Some of these agitators do not believe any judge 
 has a right to administer an oath. They do not 
 acknowledge the authority of any magistrate. Such 
 people deserve our pity or contempt. They ought 
 not to be reasonea with. Denunciation, like the 
 storm upon the traveller, but makes them fold the 
 cloak of prejudice closely around them, and go on 
 with more energ)'. Forbearance towards tlir-ir fol- 
 lies — as it did with their right of petition — like the 
 influence of the sun, will drive them to the shades 
 of retirement. 
 
 But complaint is made an'ainst the North because 
 they will not stop the agitation and aggression of 
 these fanatics. How can they stop them.'' New 
 York cannot quiet the disturbances of her Anti- 
 '.renters. A mob in tlie city of New York last year, 
 because of sonic misunderstanding between two 
 actors, nearly destroyed a valuable building, and 
 caused the death of several persons Mas^sachu- 
 aetts, some years ago, could not in her peaceful 
 borders prevent the destruction of a convent. 
 Dorrism nearly produced civil war in Rhode Island. 
 Philadelphia has had a church destroyed, and an 
 abolition hall burnt down by her staid popuhUion. 
 
 If these terrible outbreaks cannot be prevented, 
 how can the northern people suppress fanaticism ? 
 And yet we are told by gentlemen, the Union will 
 be dissolved unless this agitation ceases. 
 
 Who can reason with fanaticism ? 
 
 '' You may as well sro stand upon the beach. 
 And bid the main flood bate his usual height ; 
 You may as well use question with the wolf. 
 Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb; 
 You may as well forbid the mountain pines 
 To wag their high tops and to make no noise. 
 When they are fretted with the gusts of Heaven" — 
 
 as try and suppress fanaticism by reason or by 
 law. 
 
 We give more importance to these agitators than 
 they d<. serve, by supposing that all who are opposed 
 to slavery are disposed to interfere with slavery in 
 the States. It is a great mistake. Our Quakers, 
 in North Carolina and elsewhere, arc all opposed to 
 slavery. In 1S24, I think, Mr. R. M. Saunders 
 
 E resented one of their petitions here. The Qua- 
 ere, in all countries, are among our best popula- 
 tion. Th<"y are industrious, .'^ober, orderly. They 
 try and do unto others as they vvish others lo do 
 unto them. Hut they are no agitators. It is a part 
 of their religion to oppose slavery. Every year 
 they express, in mild terms, their opposition to it. 
 I received, from my district, a few day's since, a 
 paper before me, from one of the besi men I ever 
 knew — a Quaker. It is entitled "Minutes of the 
 ' North Carolina yearly meeting, held at New 
 ' Garden, Guilford county, 11th month, 1849." 
 They send a memorial to the Senate and House of 
 Representatives, in which they say — 
 
 "Your memorialists furtiier show, that they be- 
 ' lieve themselves conscientiously constrained to 
 ' bear their testimony against the unrighteous sys- 
 ' tern of slavery. Many of them have made pecu- 
 ' niary sacrifices to obtain a quiet conscience; 
 ' and they respectfully ask Congress to take the 
 ' subject under deliberation, and legislate for its 
 ' amelioration or extinction as far as they constitu 
 « tionally can. For we believe it to be anti-chris- 
 ' tian in practice, inasmur^h as it is at variance 
 ' with the divine precept of 'doing to others as we 
 * would they sliould do to us.' We btdicvo it to be 
 ' anti-n publican, because it does not accord with 
 ' the decl.i ration of Amoriian indepindcucc — with 
 if that self-evident truth, that all men are created 
 ' equal, and endowed by th'-ir Creator v.ith certain 
 ' inalienable rights; t^iat among tliese arc life, lib- 
 ' erty, and the pursuit of happiness. 
 
 "And we suggest, for your consideration, the 
 ' propriety of our government acknowledging the 
 'independence and nationality of the Republic of 
 ' Liberia, and extending to her the same comity as 
 ' other nations. 
 
 " Your memorialists and petitioners desire that 
 ' you may be guided and influenced in your legia- 
 ' lation by that wisdom which is profitable to di- 
 ' rect — which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, 
 ' and easy to be entreated." 
 
 Now, these men are among our best citizens; 
 some of them were slaveholders. I know one who 
 emancipated fifty slaves. It would be a moderate 
 estimate to say he sacrificed to his conscience twen- 
 ty-five thousand dollars. Yet these people would 
 be the last to encourage violence. These men would 
 not fight; but in the hour of trial I believe many of 
 them would do as one did in Rhode Island in the 
 Dorr rebellion. He found a soldier at his post ex- 
 hausted by fatigue and wafit of food. "Friend," 
 he said, "I cannot use arms; but I will take c«.re of 
 thy musket until thou hast refreshment." Ask 
 these men what has been the etfoct of the agitation 
 of Abolitionists, and they will tell you it haaclieckcd 
 emancipation. I contend that it is wrong- to sup- 
 pose that the great body of our northern people, 
 who believe slavery to be an evil, as our Quakers 
 do, are therefore disposed to interfere with the 
 southern States, or are "enemies of the South!" 
 
 But, to another "aggression on the South." In 
 1843, Massachusetts passed resolutions recommend- 
 ing a change in the Constitution of the United 
 States. The recommendation was, that the third 
 clause of the second section of the first article of the 
 Constitution should be so changed as to abolish the 
 representation of the southern States for their slaves. 
 This propKJsition was denounced as tending to dis- 
 union. A gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Gil- 
 mer,) and one from South Carolina, (Mr. Burt,) 
 said of it, "a proposition precisely similar to that 
 ' now under consideration was made by the notori- 
 ' ous Hartford convention." I think when that 
 amendment is made others will be made, and dis- 
 union will be the inevitable consequence. 
 
 But though the Legislature of Massachusetts did 
 wrong in this instance, it does not follow that while 
 our present Constitution stands, Aic would inter- 
 fere with slavery in the southern Slates. If it 
 evinces a disposition to interfere, it admits also the 
 want of power under the Constitution. Our State 
 Legislatures sometimes do silly things. They ro- 
 solve one year against the resolvee of the year be- 
 fore. But I wish to call the attention of my col- 
 league, (Mr. Clingman,) who no doubt regards 
 these Massachusetts resolutions as an "aggression," 
 to some proceedings of the last Legislature of our 
 State. We had before us, in the winter of 1848-'49, 
 a proposition to amend our State constitution. In. 
 the gubernatorial canvass of '48, an issue unwisely 
 was made, upon the propriety of striking out from 
 our State con.-ititution, a provision which required 
 that all voters for the Senate shall own fifty acres of 
 land. The Democrats raised the cry of "free suf- 
 frage." The Whig candidate — a most estimable 
 gentleman — was understood to oppose free suffrage; 
 as might have been expected, the Democrats near- 
 ly elected their candidate in a State that gave Tay- 
 lor more than eight thousand majority over Cass. 
 But vvljen the proposition was brought forward to 
 amend our constitution, some of the members from 
 my colleague's (Mr. Clingman's) district were 
 earnest in advoiatin"- the "white basis." They 
 
 Erobably remcmberca what my colleague said ia 
 is .speech in December, 1847, of the "white race 
 ' being superior to the black; of course a country 
 ^ filled with the former is more vigorous and pros- 
 ' perous than one tilled with a mixed race." 
 
 When the proposition was before the Legislature, 
 other amendments were offered beside that relating 
 to " free suffrage." 
 
That I may be understood, let me state, that by 
 our State constitution the House of Commons is 
 composed of members elected from the counties 
 "according- to their federal population." The ar- 
 ticle seems to have l^eon copied from the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States, wliich Massachusetts 
 wished to amend in 1S43— the " third clause of the 
 second section of the firs-t article." One western 
 gentleman proposed in the North Carolina Leg-i-s- 
 lature : 
 
 "And be it further enacted, That the Constitution 
 be so amended as to provide that the Senate shall 
 hereafter be apportioned among- the several coun- 
 ties of this Stiite according? to the Federal basis, and 
 the members of the House of Commons according to the 
 ■white pop^ilation of I he Stale." 
 
 For this amendment forty-one western members 
 voted, Whig-s and Democrats, and among them 
 some of the best men in our State. 
 
 Another gentleman ^jroposed " that, in all future 
 arrangements of Senatorial districts, the whole num- 
 ber of white population of the State alone shall be 
 divided by fifty, and every fiftieth part of the white 
 population alone shall be entitled to a Senator." 
 
 Our State senators are elected according to a ba- 
 sis of taxation. 
 
 Another gentleman— a bolder and truer man is 
 rarely to be found — proposed an amendment, that 
 " the members of the House of Commons be appor- 
 tioned accordin? to the white population of the 
 State." Rejected — yeas 36, nays 66. And then, 
 just as these political movements are made in the 
 northern States, another gentleman from my col- 
 league's district (Mr. Cungman) moved that "the 
 words federal population" be struck out of the con- 
 stitution, and " free white population" be inserted 
 in the stead. Rejected — 23 to 66. 
 
 This last gentleman — a Democrat — thought he 
 would go bevond what the Whig member had pro- 
 posed. Shafl these men be called Abolitionists.^ 
 No, sir, no; tliey would be the first to take up arms, 
 if it were necessary, against them. But in Massa- 
 chusetts a proposition "of the like chai-acter is de- 
 nounced as bemg " the resuliof the wicked designs 
 of ambitious agitators and ignorant fanatics." I 
 ask my colleague, (Mr. Cungman,) what shall be 
 said of the "white basis" advocates in western 
 North Carolina ? Are they ag-itators .'' I think the 
 people in eastern North Carolina will ask my col- 
 league to stop agitation at home before he threat- 
 ens to dissolve the Union for agitation abroad. 
 
 Now, Mr. Chairman, the members of our State 
 Legislature who made these propositions are not 
 fanatics. They are true sons of the okl North State. 
 They live in the most beautiful land that the sun of 
 heaven ever shone upon. Yes, sir, I have heard 
 the anecdote from Mr. Clay, that a preacher in 
 Kentuck)'-, when speaking of the beauties of Para- 
 disc, when he desired to make his audience believe 
 it wa9 a place of bliss, said it was a Kentucky of a 
 place. Sir, this preacher had never \isited the 
 western counties of North Carolina. I have spent 
 days of rapture in looking at her scenery of unsur- 
 passed grandeur, in licaring the roar ot her mag- 
 nificent water- falls, second only to the great cata- 
 ract of the North ; and, while I gazed for hours, lost 
 in admiration, at the power of Him who, by his 
 word, created such a country, and gratitude for the 
 blessings he had scattered upon it, I thought that 
 if Adam and Eve, when driven from Paradise, had 
 been near this land, they would have thought 
 themselves in the next best place to that they had 
 left. I could but think — 1 hope reverently — of 
 what was told the children of Israel by their leader 
 they should have, when he said — 
 
 "For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a 
 good land — a land of brooks of water — of fountains 
 and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 
 
 "A land of wheat and barley and vines and fig- 
 trees and pomegranites; a land of oil, olive and 
 feoney; aland wherein thou shalt eat bread with- 
 
 out scarceness ; thou shalt not lack any thing in 
 it ; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose 
 hills thou mayest dig brass." 
 
 And to this country, for want of a railroad, the 
 East are strangers. And now, when our patriotic 
 sons at home, forgetting all party calls, arc, with 
 united eflbrt, struggling nobly to build this road, 
 to make us better acquainted, to build up cities in 
 the East, to give our farmers a market for their 
 produce, to stop the tide of emigration, to bind the 
 East and West together in indissoluble bonds of 
 interest and affection, our cars are saluted here 
 with the hoarse brawling of disunion ! And we 
 are invited to contonplate the glories of a southern 
 confederacy, in which Virginia and South Caro- 
 lina are to have great cities, to be supported by the 
 colony or plantation of iVbr//i Carolina ! A southern 
 confederacy in which the rulers will lead us into 
 an unholy crusade, as far as Vera Cruz, to conquer 
 territory, to give the "sons of the Presidents" a 
 market ! ! 
 
 When the American army was rejoicing at the 
 surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown; when the 
 acclamations of our revolutionary patriots, and 
 their thanks to Providence were poured forth from 
 their grateful hearts, it is said that a Scotchman, 
 whose bullock had been taken to supply the wants 
 of the soldiers, was heard to shout through the 
 army, "Beef! beef! beef!" when he was clamor- 
 ing for the price of his property. The genius of 
 the illustrious Patrick Henry has given this man 
 an unenviable notoriety. In the minds of the peo- 
 ple of North Carolina the name of John Hook will 
 be associated with these advocates of disunion and 
 civil war. 
 
 But the hearts of the great mass of our people of 
 both parties are right. Our great railroad must 
 and will be built. In a few years, the enlivening 
 sound of the steam whistle will be heard in the re- 
 cesses of our forests; beautiful villages will spring 
 up among us, and the "little hills shall rejoice on 
 every side;" the "valleys shall stand so thick with 
 corn that they shall laugh and sing." 
 
 Yes, sir, we will build this road; and with the 
 electro-magnetic telegraph we can communicate 
 news in a few hours to places distant hundreds of 
 miles. And let insurrection take place, our gal- 
 lant mountain boj's — and, among the first of them, 
 the "white basis" membei-s of our Legislature — 
 will come down by thousands to our aid. They 
 will come "as the winds come when navies arc 
 stranded." 
 
 But I must hurry on. Inexorable, relentless 
 time will not stay his march, even to hear me speak 
 of the future glories of North Carolina. 
 , I come now to another reason assigned by some 
 why we should think of disunion. It was also re- 
 ferred to in the southern address. It is the "noto- 
 rious Gott's resolution." Now what is it? 
 
 I have a copy before me. In December, 1848, 
 Mr. GoTT offered this resolution. It had to southern 
 
 fentlemen an offensive preamble, "of the traffic in 
 uman beings," &c.; but the resolution is as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "Resolved, That the Committee for the District 
 ' of Columbia be instructed to report a bill as soon 
 ' as practicable prohibiting- the slave trade in said 
 ' District." 
 
 The resolution was adopted, afterwards reconsid- 
 ered, and no action I believe was ever afterwards had 
 upon it. And here, by the way, I wish I could have 
 some good reason why the southern Democracy 
 voted for the previous question, with the Abolition- 
 ists, on this resolution.'' Why was action desired 
 except for agitation? But this is the Gott Resolu- 
 tion — this is THE resolution which roused the South, 
 and brought about the southern convention which 
 issued the southern address. It proposes simply to 
 abolish the slave trade in this District. 
 
 If I understand correctly the opinions of Mr. 
 Clay, in his recent and former speeches, he has ex- 
 
pressed his willingness that the slave trade in this 
 District should be abolished. But because he was a 
 candidate for the Presidency, he has been called an 
 Abolitionist. But I have strong southern authority 
 to support Gott's resolution. A distinguished Sen- 
 ator from Alabama, one very worthy of the place he 
 adorns, a gentleman of ability, of dignified senato- 
 rial deportment, respected by all who know him, 
 and, I am proud to say, a native of my own State, 
 (Mr. King,) in a recent debate in the Senate, used 
 very strong language upon this subject. This 
 
 fenileman had so good a character, that even John 
 'yler conferred office on him VN'ithout injuring 
 him. He said, very properly, "he asked no act of 
 Congress to carry slavery any where." The Sena- 
 tor is opposed to the Wilmot proviso, as I am. And 
 I concur with him entirely in what he says of abol- 
 ishing slavery in this District. I have an extract 
 from his remarks, which I will print, not having 
 time to read them. 
 
 Mr. KixG, of Alabama, said " that whether the 
 ' Congress of the United States has, under the Con- 
 ' stitution, the right to abolish slavery in the Dis- 
 * trict of Columbia or not, it would be as gross a vio- 
 ' lation of good faith towards Maryland and Virgi- 
 ' nia, as if it had been expressly prohibited in the 
 ' Constitution, as long a.s those States remained 
 ' slaveholdiug states." 
 
 ' ' IVilh regard to what is called the slave trade, I have 
 never 3ce7i the day — and Senators are aware of it, I 
 presume, from tlie course I have pursued heretofore — 
 when I was notwiUing to pass a law for the purpose of 
 breaking up those miserable establishments that exist 
 under the very eyes of Congress itself, and are so 
 offensive to many gentlcmin, tuho feel perhaps more 
 sensitive on the subject than J do. I am free to say 
 that I am the very last man loho would beioiUing to en- 
 courage such establishments." 
 
 Did Gott's resolution propose to do any thing 
 else but "break up these miserable establishments.'"' 
 And yet if this is done, the Nashville Convention 
 will be instructed to prepare for a dissolution of the 
 Union I And a bill was reported from a committee, 
 I learn of the last Congress, of whicli the gentleman 
 from Mississippi (Mr. Brown) was a member, to 
 abolish the slave trade in this District. Again I say, 
 sir, that had General Cass been elected President, 
 we should not have heard all this outcry. 
 
 Here allow me to say, sir, that no man in his 
 senses believes Congress will ever be guilty either 
 of the outrage or the folly of abolishing slavery in 
 this District, excepting of course those fanatics who 
 think the Constitution 13 an "agreement with Hell." 
 If any sensible man ever thought of it, I would ask 
 him CMt bo7io 7 Would it not inevitably lead to the 
 abolition the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
 Mann) spoke of .'' Would it not separate husband 
 and wife, parent and child .'' Any owner of a slave 
 can take him out of the District when he pleases. 
 And what would be the condition of those free ne- 
 groes now married to slaves .'' I do not believe we 
 will ever have a President who would approve such 
 a bill. If Mr. Van Buren were President, I would 
 trust even him ; and although he had pledged him- 
 self to veto the bill, I believe he would do it. 
 
 Such an act would justly be regarded by the 
 southern States as a declaration of hostility on the 
 part of the North, and they would act accordingly. 
 
 [Here Mr. Stanly was rudely interrupted by 
 Mr. HiLLiARD of Alabama, which led to controversy 
 between Mr. Hilhard and Mr. Stanly, which is 
 reported at length in the Daily Globe of March 7th, 
 1850, to which paper Mr. S. specially refers, as 
 other reports have been garbled.] 
 
 Mr. Chairman, when I was interrupted by the 
 gentleman from Alabama, I was speaking, I think, 
 of the aggression on the South. 
 
 Yes, the South has been terribly oppressed! Out 
 of the sixty years since the Constitution was framed, 
 the South has had the Presidents all of the time ex- 
 cept twelve yeare and one month. We have had 
 
 our share of other high offices. How is it now? In 
 the midst of this formidable invasion of our rights, 
 when the Abolitionists are so strong, wc have elect- 
 ed a southern President, who was said to be the 
 owner of more than two hundred slaves! and that, 
 too, against the nominees of the Baltimore conven- 
 tion, when it was said "there was no slaveholder on 
 their ticket!" 
 
 We have a southern Speaker, with whose man- 
 ner of discharging the duties of the chair I have no 
 complaint to make. And what a spectacle his elec- 
 tion presented! So strong was party feeling with 
 some gentlemen from the non-slaveholding States, 
 that when the issue was a northern or a southern 
 Speaker, they refused to vote for a northern Speak- 
 er. This speaks volumes; party feelings must al- 
 ways influence us, must always be felt by the 
 North and West, and southern votes jvill always be 
 wanted. 
 
 A majority of the Cabinet are from slavehold- 
 iug States. In the Supreme Court we have five to 
 four. In the army and navy we Lave our full 
 share. Of the foreiarn ministers we have more thaoi 
 our share. But stilt "Gott's resolution," or some 
 other aggression, troubles us. Let me record an- 
 otlier instance of northern liberality. When Gen- 
 eral Harrison died, Mr. Tyler became President. 
 Mr. Southard, of New Jersey, was chosen Presi- 
 dent of the Senate; he died, and did the North prac- 
 tise aggression on us.'' Did they elect a northern 
 President of the Senate.^ No; they elected a dis- 
 tinguished Senator (Mr. Mangum) from my own 
 State. 
 
 Mark, Mr. Chairman, my argument is not to de- 
 feud the Abolitionists, or agitators, but to prove 
 that the North — the great body of the people — are 
 not enemies to the South. And, to pursue this ar- 
 gument, how did the votes stand in tlic !a.?t Presi- 
 dential election? 
 
 I have not time to make a very accurate state- 
 ment, but this statement is nearly correct: 
 In what arc called the free States, 
 
 Taylor received 925,646 votes. 
 
 Cass 312,855 " 
 
 Van Buren 291,673 " 
 
 2,030,179 
 
 In the slaveholdiug States, 
 
 Taylor and Fillmore received. ..435,378 
 
 Cass and Butler 409,436 
 
 Van Buren 299 
 
 845, IIS 
 
 Whole number of votes, (excluding 
 South Carolina, whose electors are cho- 
 sen by her Legislature,) 2,875,292 
 
 Majority of Union men over Free-Soilers and 
 Abolitionists, only 2,583,315— more than two mil- 
 lions five hundred thousand! 
 
 Taylor's m tjority, although he was reported to 
 be the owner of two hundred slaves, v/as more than 
 one hundred thousand. And this majority in the 
 non-slaveholding States, where he was opposed by- 
 General Cass, who is reported to have said he 
 thanked God he never owned a slave — said he never 
 would, and prayed for the abolition of slavery! 
 
 Is this hostility to the South? No, sir; the true 
 secret is, the spoils are gone; some editors are 
 turned out of office, others are disappointed. Or, 
 to use the words of my colleague, Mr. Clingman, 
 in an extract before me as reported in the Appen- 
 dix to the Congressional Globe, 28th Congress, 1st 
 Session, page 285 — he said of the Democratic party 
 what I would say of the doughfaces: 
 
 "It will be found on examination this party is gov- 
 erned by seven principles— as John Randolph is re- 
 ported to have said of Thomas Ritchie — the five 
 loaves and the two fishes. Or, in the language of 
 John C. Calhoun, late a distinguished leader of this 
 party, remarkable for his powers of generalization 
 and condensation, and who was thereby enabled to 
 analyze, simplffy, and reduce to a single element 
 
these various principles, it is the 'spoils parly,' 
 held together by the cohesive power of public 
 plunder." 
 
 And here, sir, let me say another word to my 
 colleague while I think of it. 
 
 I hope he will pause in his hasty couisc until he 
 hears from the people in the eastern part of the 
 State. In case of civil war, they are more likely to 
 be injured by insurrection and by foreign foes than 
 my colleague's constituents. 
 
 According to the census of 1840, as nearly as I 
 can ascertain, in the district of my colleague, (Mr. 
 Outlaw,) from the north-eastern counties, the 
 population was- 
 
 WHITE. SLAVE. 
 
 4-2,458 36,053 
 
 Wilmington dist. 49,486 33,238 
 
 Washington • " 49,308 37,665 
 
 Now, what is the condition among my colleague's 
 "white basis" constituents? 
 
 Buncombe district, (Cungman's) — White popu- 
 lation, 60.039; Slave do. 9,229. 
 
 These eastern districts are on the seacoast. My 
 colleague's is the most inaccessible point to a for- 
 eign foe in the United States. I do not believe, sir, 
 the good people he represents are willing to engage 
 in foreign or civil war, for any aggression yet com- 
 mitted ; and not even to recover fugitive slaves. 
 And I do not believe my colleague's constituents 
 ever lost a slave by northern Abolitionists. Bad 
 tnen sometimes steal our slaves; if that aggression 
 can be stopped by my colleague, he will do us great 
 service. 
 
 I hope to be allowed to speak to my colleague for 
 my constituents — to speak as an eastern man, and 
 as a slaveholder. If, in the providence of God, any 
 calamity befalls us on account of our slaves, I shall 
 be among my people. I shall not inquire, as the 
 servant of my friend from Kentucky (Mr. Mar- 
 shall) did, wlicn he told his servant, John, he 
 wished him to go to Mexico. " Master," said 
 John, after reflection, " how far is the camp from 
 the battle-ground .'" His master could not answer 
 satisfactorily, and John declined to go. My affec- 
 tions, my interest, my duty, all bind me with hooks 
 of steel to my home. The graves of my forefathers, 
 for several generations, are there ; the dearest 
 friends I have on earth are there ; there I expect to 
 live, and there I hope to die ; and whatever calam- 
 ity may come, their fate will be my fate — "their 
 Cfod will be my God." 
 
 I wish now, sir, to say a word to the gentleman 
 from Virginia, (Mr. Meade,) who did me the 
 honor to send me a copy of his speech in the early 
 part of the session. 
 
 1 protest, as a southern man, against the doc- 
 trinesofthis speech, delivered before the gentleman's 
 constituents in August, 1849. And I think, if copies 
 of it were circulated in New Mexico, and the peo- 
 ple understood the gentleman was an intluential 
 man at home and in Congress, it would be enough 
 of itself to exclude slavery from that Territory. 
 
 Mr. Ashe. The gentleman to whom you refer is 
 not in the House; he is not in the city; he is sick. 
 
 Mr. Stanly. I am sorry to hear of the gentle- 
 man's illness; though I shall make no remarks of 
 an offensive character. If I had heard he had been 
 taken sick shortly after the delivery of this speech, 
 I Bhould not have been at a loss to account for his 
 illness. I am obliged to my colleague for the mo- 
 tive which prompts the interruption. 
 
 The gentleman (Mr. Meadb) says: "Weareno 
 • propagandists of slavery; had we no slaves, there 
 ' 18 not a man present who would vote to bring 
 ' them among us." I am glad to hear the declara- 
 tion. The gentleman probably concurs in opinion 
 with my colleague, (Mr. Clingman,) when he 
 Baid, a country filled with the white race "is more 
 vigorous and prosperous than one tilled with a 
 mixed race." My colleague shakes his head; he 
 wilt find, on examination, I am right in stating 
 
 what he said — a sentiment that will answer better 
 for the hills of Buncombe than for eastern lowlands; 
 for negroes tlirive in some pa its of our country 
 where white people can hardly live. The bilious 
 fever ia sometimes in the low lands very fatal to 
 the white race. I have heard a highly intelligent 
 gentleman, and a large slaveholder, say he had 
 never known a negro to die from the bilious fever. 
 But I should be glad to be informed, why the gentle- 
 man from Virginia would not bring them amongst 
 us, if they "elevate our character" — a sentiment 
 that meets my hearty condemnation. For, if it be 
 true, the "owner of sixty slaves" is more elevated 
 in his character than the owner of five — then he 
 who holds no negroes cannot be elevated in his 
 character ! I know a certain district in the United 
 States, in which it was urged that a Democratic 
 candidate, "the owner of sixty slaves," was more 
 worthy of public confidence than a Whig, who did 
 not own half a dozen; but it was not arg-ued that 
 the large slave owner was more "clevateo in char- 
 acter" for that reason. 
 
 Again : The gentleman from Virginia, Mr. 
 Meade, says: 
 
 " The situation of Virginia is more critical than 
 any of her sisters. She has a slave population of 
 near half a million, v;hosi: value is chiefly dependent 
 on southern demand." 
 
 Now, sir, if I understand this, it means that Vir- 
 ginia slave owners raise negroes to sell. If so, I 
 say it is horrible to think of. I have spent most of 
 my life among slaveholders — religious men of all 
 denominations are slaveholders — but I do not know 
 one man in my district or my State who raises ne- 
 
 froes for "southern demand" — to sell. I should 
 e ashamed to own such a constituent. 
 
 Again, says the gentleman from Virginia: 
 
 "The whole civilized world is now uniting in a 
 crusade against American slavery, even where it 
 now exists." 
 
 I do not admit the correctness of this assertion. 
 But if it be true, how, I ask, shall we improve our 
 condition by dissolving the Union ? Both the great 
 parties of the country admit their obligation to 
 stand by the Constitution. What will be the cru- 
 sade when that Constitution is destroyed .'' 
 
 Again, says the gentleman from Virginia: 
 
 "While it must be admitted that strong objec- 
 tions may be urged to the institution of slavery, 
 yet there are advantages also, which, in the opinion 
 of many, are full compensation for the evils attend- 
 ing it. Our past history testifies to the fact that it 
 elevates the character of the tohite man. Though 
 we have been in a numerical minority in the Union 
 for fifty years, yet during the greater part of that 
 period we have managed to control the destinies of 
 this nation." 
 
 The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Fitch) hag 
 already commented on this remark, and I have but 
 one word to add. Are we not now, by our share 
 in the great offices of the Republic, still controlling 
 the destinies of this nation ? 
 
 But the gentleman says : 
 
 "The diffusion of our population is essential to 
 our very existence." 
 
 It may be so in Virginia, but it is not so in North 
 Carolina; if we arc let alone we can manage ours. 
 Is this diffusion to go on indefinitely.' If New Mex- 
 ico is admitted into the Union, and abolishes slave- 
 ry, where will the diffusion then be.'' I see no dan- 
 ger to our existence in the admission of New Mex- 
 ico as a free State. I had rather have her there than 
 to have a free Mexican State not under the influ- 
 ence of our Constitution and laws. 
 
 But in the gentleman's speech he takes another 
 view of the subject. He says: 
 
 "If, in the mean time, the Mexican States on the 
 Rio Grande should be annexed, (as they will be if 
 they are to come in as free States,) we shall be en- 
 tirely cut off" from the hope we now have of letting' 
 off this population, then probably valueless as pro- 
 
perty, among- a people already, to a certain extent, ance to sentiments, clothed in lano-uao-e that a 
 
 for the citizens of New Mexico! Amalg-amate! g-cr answer for a hobby horse, since Mors-an's'my's- 
 
 What will the inneritors of the old Castilian blood terious disappearance has ceased to ao-itate the nub- 
 
 and spirit say to that? lie mind in the North, the g-cntleniaS must preact 
 
 Ihe g-cntleraan g speech has been extensively against the horrors and the despotism of slavery I 
 
 circulated. Newspapers have copied large por- hope his next speech will be fit to be read in the 
 
 tions of It. Each member of Congress, I learn, has families of Pennsylvania farmers. I hope the <ren- 
 
 been politely furnished with a copy. If it reaches tleman will find some other Morgan to frig-htea 
 
 New Mexico, and lier people understand the gen- the grandmothers and children of Pennsylvania 
 
 tleman expresses the opinions of the South, he will with. But I ask him to let us alone, 
 
 be entitled to the credit or blame of keeping slaves Mr. Chairman, if these gentlemen's minds were 
 
 from New Mexico. not as inaccessible to reason as their hearts seem 
 
 1 wish now, sir, to say a word to some of the agi- devoid of kindness towards a portion of their coun- 
 
 tators on this floor, who have been guilty of unkind trymen, I would gladly ask them to listen to some 
 
 and cruelly uncharitable speeches. A gentleman few facts. When I was a young man and first ob- 
 
 from Massachusetts, (Mr. Mann,) who has the served public events in North Carolina, free ne- 
 
 reputaiion of being a man of letters and of culti- groes voted as white citizens. Free negroes voted 
 
 vated taste, gave utterance to expressions which in North Carolina until an amendment was made 
 
 he must have known were offensive to every south- in our State constitution in 1S35. And in the town 
 
 ern man in this House. He drew a horrid picture of Ncwbcrn, where I lived, according- to my recol- 
 
 of the probable consequences of disunion. Some ex- lection, out of three hundred vofcrs,'sixty of them 
 
 pressions are, I think, modified in his printed were free blacks. And when the proposition was 
 
 speech; and my blood ran cold to hear a gentleman made in our convention, in 1835, to deprive free ne- 
 
 ol his age and standing apparently dchght in groes of the privilege of voting, it was opposed by 
 
 wounding our feelings. I will not repeat the ex- some of our ablest and best men. I think the vote 
 
 pressions to which I refer. I could not speak of stood 65 for abolishing the ri'rht, and 60 a"-auist it- 
 
 them m respectful terms. Sir, 1 have no personal and among these sixty are recorded the names of 
 
 acquaintance with the gentleman from Massachu- ' ' " " '~ ... 
 setts. But if he be the man I have heard of as pos- 
 sessing a cultivated mind, adorned with rare class- 
 ical attainments, if his speech is a fair exhibition of 
 his feelings, I fear he will furnish another melan- 
 
 of 
 
 Judges Gaston and Daniel, then, two of the judges 
 of our supreme court; Mr. Rayner, favorably 
 known here, and I think idso Mr. Montgomery and 
 Mr. Charles Fisher, afterwards members ofCongress 
 
 , , - , r , , r . from my State, and other gentlemen whose names 
 
 choly example of the truth of the assertion, that a I cannot now remember. Well, sir, what is the 
 
 cutivated intellect is not always attended with a effect of the agitation of Abolitionists ? Have yoi 
 cultivated heart; that a man's mind may be "rich improved the condition of the free negroes' Fa 
 with the spoils of time," and his heart of flinty romit. And if the same proposition were submit- 
 coldness. The gentleman is not unknown to the ted to a State convention in North Carolina, at this 
 countrjr as an able and eloquent lecturer to literary day, not one man would vote for it. Within my 
 institutions. His services in the cause of education own memory, emancipation of a slave was a mat- 
 have been valuable. He has proved in that offensive ter of frequent occurrence. A simple petition to the 
 speech, that with him "knowledge is a Swiss mer- court, on half a sheet of paper, at the request of the 
 ' cenary, ready to combat either in the works of master, alleging his slave had rendered meritorious 
 ' sin, or under the banner of righteousness;" ready services, and the slave was made free. But these 
 to give wholesome advice to young men when en- fanatics circulated papers containing doctrines like 
 tering upon life, or to fan the flames of fanaticism, those avowed in the .speeches I have referred to, and 
 The gentleman seemed to speak without regret the inevitable consequence was, that kp-islation in- 
 at the thought that "domestic fury and fierce civil terfered, for insurrection was talked of tn the iufa- 
 strife" should reign among us. What reason, mous papers of the Abolitionists and a feeling that 
 what motive can prompt the gentleman from Mas- it was necessary to protect our firesides and our 
 sachusetts thus to speak to us.? It cannot give homes compelled us to be careful. And how is it 
 him strength at home. No one accuses any north- now.' Emancipation is a difiicult matter. In ex- 
 ern man of wishing to establish or extend slavery; traordinary cases, our legislature sometimes eman- 
 cipates. Our laws allow slaves to be emancipated 
 by will, but not to remain in the State. As the 
 public mind became excited, our people thought it 
 wrong to allow emancipation when free negroes 
 
 and, if the gentleman will withdraw himself from 
 his philosophical reveries, for a few moments, and 
 ask himself, with the remembrance that there is au 
 eye that sees the thoughts of the heart — "What 
 
 good have I done, what good did I hope to do, by couhrvisit our northern States, and return%ith 
 
 outraging the feelings of any of the members of mischievous intentions; and leo-islation threw diffi- 
 
 this House.?" I think the "still small voice" will culties in the way of emancipadon. 
 tell him— None, none! I fear the gentleman will This has been the effect ot men holding- tlie opin- 
 
 prove It is true— ions of the gentlemen from Massachusetts and 
 
 "Heart-merit wanting, mount we ne'er so high, Pennsylvania, (Mann and Stjeven.?,; and pubhsh- 
 
 Ourheight is but the gibbet of our name." ing them as they have. Emancipation was o-oincr on 
 
 If I might presume to advise one so competent to daily; but not so now. Northern gentlemen who 
 
 give advice as the gentleman from Massachusetts can understand how the whole of their section caa 
 
 IS, I would tell him— Better kvep at your lectures, be excited by passing: a resolution declaring you 
 
 have them published and puffed by your friends, shall not petition for'any thino- and every thine- 
 
 In this way, good may be achieved by your efforts, can also understand how denunciation, threats and' 
 
 Your eloquence maybe praised, extracts maybe impudent interference with our rights, can excite 
 
 published from your lectures, exciting the admira- our people to a feeling of resistance. That feeling 
 
 tion of sophomores and of men. But I beg the gen- has caused them to oppose emancipation. Sir, I 
 
 tleman to remember, that, though he speaks with remember well when we had nesro meeting-houses 
 
 the "tongues of men and of angels,- and has not and negro preachers, some of w^iom could read and 
 
 charity," he will become as sounding brass or a write well; but you philanthropists— those men who 
 
 tinkling cymbal." And another gentleman, from would ralhtr look on rivers of blood than that sla- 
 
 Pennsylvania, (Mr. Stevens,) in a speech which very should be extended one inch, and have suck 
 
 ■was, apparently, deliberately prepared, gave utter- horror of chains, shackles and despotism— they 
 
10 
 
 sent incendiary documents among our slaves, ex- 
 citing them to insurrection. As an inevitable re- 
 sult, education was forbidden. Self-protection re- 
 quired it — protection for the slaves required it. And 
 this is another fruit of your sympathy for the slave! 
 But we do not deny them religious instruction. 
 Jn one (own in my district, the negroes have a 
 clergyman of their own, and their own church — a 
 Methodist church. I wish northern gentlemen 
 could see thein, neatly dressed, with cheerful faces, 
 as they are going to worship. I wish they could 
 hear their heart-rejoicing songs, when they sing 
 praises to their Maker. They wouki think better 
 of slaveholders and less of Abolitionists. Our peo- 
 ple rearard slaves as property, but not as cattle 
 raised ?or market. 
 
 Meeting-houses are scattered all over our coun- 
 try, and our negroes attend worship as their mas- 
 ters do. ISIany of them are members of those high- 
 ly respectable denominations. Baptists and Metho- 
 dists; and when their masters live in very retired 
 situations, clergymen are employed, in some in- 
 stances, who picach to the slaves, and instruct 
 them in their religious duties, in chapels on the 
 farms. I know, I am proud to say, one such in my 
 district. I know of another instance, where a 
 large slaveholder, living out of the reach of a 
 church, has a minister of one denomination em- 
 ployed by the }-ear to preach to his negroes — and 
 that minister not of the same church of which the 
 master is a member. These masters are good men, 
 and are looking forward to the account they aie 
 hereafter to give for their treatment of those who 
 are placed under their care. Yes, sir; and one 
 such man docs more acts of benevolence in one 
 year than a thousand of your fanatics who lecture 
 on the evils of slavery. These slave owners regard 
 their negroes as human beings, in whose nostrils 
 God has breathed the breath of life; in whose bosoms 
 He has implanted a living soul; and they treat 
 them accordingly. Many of our slaveholders arc 
 from Yankee land. Many own slaves, who pur- 
 chased them to prevent their separation from their 
 families. 
 
 I tell these Abolitionists, you are the men who 
 have "riveted the chains." But for your efforts, 
 thousands of slaves would have been educated 
 and emancipated — would have been returned to 
 Africa; and Liberia, under the influence of the 
 Christian religion — would have realized what the 
 
 Esalmist said: "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her 
 ands unto God." 
 
 Slavery is an evil; we know it. It is an evil to 
 the white man. No laboring population in any 
 country, except our own northern people, are so 
 well taken care of, so well supplied with all the ne- 
 cessaries of life, as our slaves are. Whatever of 
 evil there is in slavery has been increased by the 
 agitation of Abolitionists — those miserable wretches 
 who denounce us constantly — those sincere dis- 
 unionists, v.'ho say the American Union is a " cov- 
 enant with death" and an " agreement with hell," 
 and ought to be "immediately" cissolved. These 
 men are sometimes courted by both parties of the 
 North in doubtful contests, and therefore made to 
 appear stronger than they really are. These are 
 they who have increased the evils of slavery. 
 
 But let them alone; in a few years more they 
 will be universally despised, and they "will be 
 ' buried with" the burial of an ass, drawn and cast 
 ' forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." 
 
 Our people are denounced as a blood-thirsty gen- 
 eration. Hear one or two facts. Our laws punish 
 with death any one who is guilty of stealing a 
 slave, or of concealing him with the intent to en- 
 able him to escape. Two cases have been tried 
 within three years, in my district. One was an 
 Irishman, a tailor, little over twenty-one years of 
 age, who was, upon testimony too clear to be dis- 
 puted, proved guilty. He had not been many 
 years in the United States, and those slave-owners 
 
 who were on the jury unanimously recommended 
 him to the Executive clemency, which was ap- 
 proved by a slaveholding judge, and he was par- 
 doned by a slaveholding governor. The petition to 
 the governor was signed by the g-ood man who 
 owned the slave. He had slave owners for his 
 counsel, of his own selection, who received no 
 pay; raid I am happy to know this man after- 
 wards distinguishea himself in Mexico with that 
 gallantry for which the Irish are remarkable. 
 The other case occurred within a year past. An 
 Irish sailor-boy came to the seaport town in which 
 I reside. A runaway slave was found on board, af- 
 ter the vessel had started on her voyage. He was 
 arrested and brought to trial. He was a stranger, 
 pcnnyless, and without an acquaintance or friend. 
 He had counsel of his own choice, slaveholders, who 
 defended him without reward, or the hope of re- 
 ward in this world. The jury of slaveholders, far 
 above the influence of prejudice excited by the 
 course of the Abolitionists, when there was a possi- 
 bility that this boy, not eighteen years old, was the 
 dupe of some other person, acquitted him. He 
 was discharged, and treated as kindly in that com- 
 munity as one of our own people. 
 
 And yet, these are the people whom the Aboli- 
 tionists vilify, as being fond of manacles, chains — as 
 despots. 
 
 But I must hurry on; one word as to the Wilmot 
 proviso. I shall not discuss the constitutional ques- 
 tion. The subject is worn out. It would be as great 
 an outrage to the southern people to enact it as if 
 it were constitutional. The southern people, with 
 great unanimity, believe, as I do, that to enact the 
 Wilmot proviso would be "an act of gross injustice 
 and wrong." And though as a private citizen, and 
 as a member of our State Legislature, I have op- 
 posed the suggestion of a dissolution of the Union, 
 should it be aclopted, yet I believe the people of my 
 State will feel called upon, if it is enacted in any 
 law this session, to consult in a State convention if 
 it is not time to inquire whether our northern breth- 
 ren intend to regard us as equals, or to treat ua 
 with unkindness.'' Whatever North Carolina does, 
 I shall abide by. She will not, without great cause 
 of complaint, be driven to think of disunion. I be- 
 lieve the minds of a large majority of both parties 
 (here regard with horror the thought of disunion; 
 but if your legislation here impresses upon the 
 mind of her people that you are unfriendly to ue, 
 she will, without bluster or threats, provide for her 
 honor and security in such manner as the world 
 will justify. I will not believe you will enact the 
 Wilmot proviso. There is no necessity for it. I 
 have too good an opinion of our northern members 
 to believe it. All admit that new States, after they 
 are admitted, can either tolerate or prohibit slavery. 
 Then there is no practical question at issue. The 
 northern States are stronger than the southern. 
 But I hope they will remember, though it is "ex- 
 cellent to have a giant's strength, it is tyrannous to 
 xise it as a giant." And tyrannous legislation 
 must produce sectional anirtiosities. 
 
 While on this subject I wish to say a few words 
 to my colleague (Mr. Clincman) upon the consti- 
 tutional question. I wish I had time to read at 
 length some extracts from his speech; but I have 
 not — I will print them. 
 
 From Mr. Clingman's speech, December 22, 
 1847, on the slavery question: [Appendix to Con- 
 gressional Globe, 30th Congress, 1st session:] 
 
 "I am now brought, Mr. Chairman, to the direct 
 ' consideration of the great question , as to the ex- 
 ' tent of (he powers and duties of Congress in rela- 
 ' tion to slavery in the Territories of the United 
 ' States. Upon this subject a distinguished politi- 
 ' cian from the South, (Mr. Calhoun,) in the other 
 ' wing of this building, some twelve months since, 
 ' laid down certain doctrines which are, in sub- 
 ' stance, as near as I can remember them, these: 
 ' The territories of the United States, being the 
 
11 
 
 ' common property of the Union, are held-by Cou- 
 ' gresa in trust for the use and benefit of all the 
 ' States and their citizens. Secondly, that Con- 
 ' gress has no rig-ht to exclude, hj law, any citizens 
 ' of the United States from g-oingf into any part of 
 ' said territories, and carrying with them, and holii- 
 ' ing any such property as they are allowed to hold 
 ' in the States from which they come. This view, 
 ' though perhaps plausible at the first glance, is 
 ' really the most shallow and superficial that could 
 ' possibly be presented. Admitting the first general 
 ' proposition to be true, (and no fair mind can 
 ' question it,) that the territories of the United 
 ' States are held by Congress in trust for the use 
 ' and benefit of all the States and their citizens, I am 
 ' free to conf(3SS, that if Congress should sec that it 
 ' was most advantageous to allow all the citizens to 
 ' occupy the territory ih common with the proper- 
 ' ty, it doubtless ought so to provide. But it is 
 
 • equally clear that if, on the other hand, Congress 
 ' shoulcf see that all the citizens of the United States 
 ' could not thus advantageously occupy all the ter- 
 ' ritory in common, it might divide the same so as 
 ' to assign certain portions to particular classes or 
 ' persons." ******* 
 
 Again : 
 
 "Ail the power that can be exercised belongs to 
 ' Congress alone. Congress has power to make all 
 ' needfid rules and regulations . But the wants of all 
 ' communities are in legal contemplation the same. 
 ' The wants of the Territories may be, and in fact 
 ' are, just as great as those of the States. It seems 
 ' to me, then, Mr. Chairman, with due deference 
 ' to thase who have given the subject greater cow- 
 
 • sideratiou than I have been able to do, that Con- 
 ' gress, in legislating for the Territories, is con- 
 ' trolled only by the Constitution of the United 
 ' States. It is equally true, however, that the peo- 
 ' pic of the several States are likewise controlled by 
 ' this Constitution. Whether acting in convention 
 ' or through their ordinary legislative govern- 
 ' meats, they can do nothing contrary to it. 
 
 " Congress, then, has over the Territory just such 
 ' powers as its Legislature would have after it became 
 ' a State. Both are controlled by the Constitution 
 ' of the United States, the supreme law of the land. 
 ' As this Constitution is silent in relation to sla- 
 
 • very, it has been argued on the one hand that 
 ' Congress can do nothing to exclude it from the 
 ' Territory. On the other hand, it is asserted, with 
 ' equal confidence, that for the same reason there is 
 ' no power to establish the institution. These two 
 ' opposite views are worthy antagonists, and I shall 
 ' leave them to contend, not fearing that either will 
 ' ever obtain a victory over the other." 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 "If, then. Congress possesses general legis- 
 ' lative powers over the territories, as i con- 
 ' tend, it is idle to deny that slavery may 
 ' either 13e permitted or forbidden to exist 
 
 ' THERE." * 
 
 In another partof my colleague's speech, he gives 
 utterance to opinions rather contradictory to those 
 just quoted. The inconsistency is glaring; but it 
 is fairer upon such a subject to quote it than to 
 withhold it: 
 
 " I do not pretend that any section of the Union 
 ' can insist fairly that territory should be acquired 
 ' for her benefit. We are doubtless all bound, in 
 ' good faith, to adhere to the Constitution and 
 ' Union, with such boundaries as it had when we 
 ' became parties to it. But I do say, that if the 
 ' Government should acquire territory, it takes it 
 ' under the Constitution, for the benefit of all: and 
 ' a decree that any section, or its citizens, shall be 
 ' excluded from all such territory, would be as 
 ' great a violation of the Constitution as the Gov- 
 ' ernment could possibly commit. S^icU is substan- 
 ' tidily this proposed exclusion of slavery from all the 
 ' territories hereafter to be acquired." 
 
 If the author of this speech means any thing, it 
 
 must be this — that after territory is acquired, 
 "Congress possesses general legislative powers," 
 and slavery may either be permitted or forbidden 
 to exist there; but if Congress shall decree that 
 slavery shall bo excluded "from all the Territories 
 hereafter to be acquired," it will be as great a viola- 
 tion as the Governnnent could possibly commit! ! 
 
 Sir, I cannot understand how these views can 
 exist in the same mind at one and the same time. 
 It looks as if one part of the speech was addressed 
 to a Whig Buncombe and another part to a Demo- 
 cratic Buncombe; one to the eastern Buncombe and 
 the other to the western Buncombe. 
 
 It reminds me of a verse I read somewhere in my 
 youth, made by one just beginning to >vrite verses — 
 and his first should have been his last — who de- 
 scribed a fight on the water, and vv-rote — 
 " The stranger and his crew then stormed the boat. 
 
 And all at once jumped in and all at once jumped 
 out." 
 
 And further, iipon the constitutional question, 
 my colleague argued, very projjerly, that there 
 could be no difficulty ; for, speaking of the Mis- 
 souri compromise, he said : 
 
 " There was, however, a settlement made at 
 • length, upon terms which, though unequal to the 
 ' South, iveie not at variance with the spirit of the 
 ' Constitution." 
 
 My colleague is regarded now in some parts of 
 the South — even in South Carolina — as very sound 
 upon the slavery question. I have been denounced 
 as unsound for entertaining precisely the sajne 
 opinions as my colleague does. 
 
 And upon the general justice of the duty of the 
 General Government to protect slave property, I 
 desire, in passing, to say, I heard with pleasure 
 the able and statesmanlike argument of the gen- 
 tleman from Georgia, (Mr. Toombs,) made here 
 a few days ago. It gives me more pleasure to add 
 my feeble tribute of commendation to this speech — 
 though I do not agree in all the gentleman said — 
 because the gentleman's opposition to his own 
 friends, and his course in this House before we 
 were organized, met with my decidod condem- 
 nation. 
 
 And while this is in mind, I will beg to say one 
 word to another gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. 
 Stephens.) 
 
 Before we were organized, that gentleman was 
 understood to call down curses on all those who 
 would not stand up for their section. I made al- 
 lowance for the gentleman's excited feelings, but I 
 heard the remark with pain. I had read his elo- 
 quent speeches with profit and with pleasure, and I 
 had anticipated the pleasure of doing my duty here 
 under his lead; and, when he, and his friends who 
 acted with him, (Messrs. Toombs, Hilhard, and 
 others,) in the southern caucus, voted against Mr. 
 Calhoun's Southern address, and did not "stand 
 up for a section," I approved their conduct. When 
 he, and the estimable and highly talented gentle- 
 man, my predecessor, (Mr. Donnell,) and six 
 other southern gentlemen, were denounced as 
 traitors, for voting to lay Clayton's compromise 
 bill on the table, I defended their course. And 
 without having had an opportunity, in the midst of 
 professional pursuits, to examine that bill, I de- 
 fended their conduct at home, from my knowledge 
 of their character, and justified their not standing 
 up "for a section." According to Mr. Calhoun's 
 platform of amending the Constitution, even the 
 Senator from Mississippi, (Mr. Foote,) we have 
 within a day or two heard, cannot stand up with 
 Mr. C. for his section. Our worthy Speaker, in 
 that southern convention, could not stand up, ac- 
 cording to the address, for "his section." He 
 thought the doughfaces had not had justice done 
 them: the address was against the whole North. 
 The author of that address, who endeavored to excite 
 the public mind, only recommended to the South 
 "to be united;" but has recently, by his ultraism> 
 
12 
 
 ■disunited them, and I should be glad to know 
 whijjh side the Nashville con\<'ntioii will take. And 
 i should be glad to be informod why those who cen- 
 sure others for Mot standing up lor a section, did 
 not vote for a southern Speaker, when the contest 
 was between a northern and southern Speaker. But 
 I hope the gentleman from Georgia will come back, 
 and let the whole country have the aid of his abili- 
 ties; and I express now the wish that was in niy 
 mind when the gentleman in\oked his curses— I 
 hope "the accusing spirit blushed as he gave it in, 
 and the recording angel dropped a tear upon the 
 word, and blotted it out forever." 
 
 A single word to the g-entleman from Florida, 
 (Mr. Caiseh,) who took partagain.st his friends in 
 the early part of the session. I nope, before he aids 
 to bring about dissolution, he will see that his con- 
 stituents can take care of the Indians at home 
 without the aid of the General Government. 
 
 I desire now to notice, very briefly, a few re- 
 marks of my colleague?s speech, delivered this 
 session. There are some portions of my colleague's 
 remarks which I hope were uttered withov.it due 
 consideration. He spoke of a "collision as inevi- 
 ' table, and the sooner it comes the better." What 
 kind of collision did he mean ? He made state- 
 ments of the "existing revenue system operating 
 hardly on the South." How ? Docs he mean the 
 Democratic British tariff of 1S46 1 And yet he 
 says : "Looking, therefore, at all these different 
 " elements, in greater increase of population, more 
 ' wealth, and less poverty and crime, we have rea- 
 ■' son to regard our people as prosperous and 
 ' happy." Then, I ask, how does the existing 
 revenue system operate hardly upon us.' For my 
 colleague says : "Nor is it true we are poorer than 
 
 * the North, for the slaveholding States are much 
 ' richer, in proportion to their population, than the 
 ' free." ' 
 
 I should be glad to know what facts has my col- 
 league discovered, to cause him to change his 
 opinions on the tariff question. In his speech, de- 
 livered this session, he used some phrases that I 
 think I have heard from Mr. Calhoun and Mr. 
 McDuFKiE ; btit, in 1844, my colleague made a 
 speech, in which he avowed opinions that did him 
 honor. 
 
 I have some quotations before me from that speech 
 which I will print. 
 
 Extracts from Mr. Clingbian's speech— [From 
 the Appendix Congressional Globe, 2Sth Congress, 
 first session :] 
 
 "We (the Whigs) are in favor of such a tariff 
 ' 33 will produce all the revenue necessary to the 
 ' support of the Government, economically admin- 
 ' istered, without the money arising from the sales 
 
 * of the public lands." 
 
 He was opposed to a "horizontal tariff," by which 
 I suppose he meant the compromise act of 1833, 
 or the South Carolina tariff. In 1S44, my colleague 
 advocated "incidental protection to our manufac- 
 ' turers and artisans, to sustain our own industry, 
 ' against the oppressive regulations of others, and 
 ' counteract, as far as practicable, the hostile re- 
 ' strictions of foreign nations." Good Whig doc- 
 trine. My colleague took then "a common-sense, 
 ' practical view of this question. We have had 
 ■" theory and parade enough on it." What theory, 
 except the South Carolina theory, that the "exist- 
 
 * ing revi.-nue system operates hardly on the 
 ' South.'" 
 
 In 1S44, when this Speech was delivered, the tariff 
 of '42 was in operation. The tariff of '46 is said, 
 by its friends, to be "a free-trade tariff." I say, it 
 is a tariff for the benefit of English labor. How 
 could my colleague advocate the tariff' of '42, and 
 think the existing system "operates hardly on the 
 South.'" 
 
 How liis opinions hare changed since 1844, when 
 he thus spoke of the tariff of IS42: "This favorable 
 ' state of our finances has been produced, thus far, 
 
 ' without any practical injury having resulted to 
 ' any section of the country. Not only cotton, bui 
 ' all of our other productions 'j:ommar)d a better price 
 ' than they did b'/ore the passage of the tariff; while 
 'foreign articles vhichwe import and consume are 
 ' generally cheaper; I believe I might say. invariably 
 ' so." 
 
 And upon this tariff, which is spoken of in some 
 portion of the southern country as an "aggression 
 on the South," I wish I had time to read an extract 
 from a speech of as true-hearted a southern gentle- 
 man as breathes; from one of spotless reputation, 
 and whose high talents and character have shed 
 honor on his country. I will print some extracts 
 from his speech. 
 
 Extract from the speech of Mr. Beurien, of 
 Georgia, April 9th, 1844. — [Appendix to the Con- 
 gressional Globe, 28th Congress, 1st Session:] 
 
 Mr. BcnRisN was referring to the charge that the 
 South was "oppressed." He said he was 'speaking 
 as a southern man," and he was disputing tlie 
 charge that there was suffering. He might have 
 been accused of not "standing up for his section." 
 But he argued as follows: 
 
 " It is a mere question of fact; and I answer it by 
 atiirining — what I presutne no one will deny — that 
 there is a sensible, obvious improvement in the 
 condition of the country since August, 1842. 
 Whether it be because the tariff of that year, or in 
 spite of it, I repeat, is not a subject of my present 
 inquiry: I am dealing with fact, not theory; and 
 these things I take to be undeniable, in the com- 
 parison between the two periods: 
 
 "1. The credit of the Government was prostrate, 
 and it has been redeemed. Its bills were protested. 
 Its treasury not;\s were below par. It souglit a loan 
 and could not ojjtain it, either here or in Europe, 
 but upon terms which were humiliating to a great 
 nation. It could not go into the market anrl bor- 
 row money on terms as fa\orable as would be ac- 
 corded to a responsible individual. All this has 
 been changed. Its stock is above par. The Gov- 
 ernment has ample means to meet its current ex- 
 penditures, and such is now its credit that it could 
 command on loan any amount of money it might 
 require. 
 
 "2. The treasury was empty. It is now replen- 
 ished, has an increasing income probably adequate 
 to its wants, and the means, if need be, of adding 
 to it. 
 
 "3. The commerce and navigation of the country 
 have increased. 
 
 "4. Its agricultural condition has improved. 
 
 "5. There has been a marked improvement in the 
 price of our great staple. 
 
 "6. A reduction of prices of almost all, if not abso- 
 lutely of every article of consumption. 
 
 "1 . To crown the whole, every branch of indus- 
 tiy has been stimulated to increased activity, aad 
 confidence has been restored. 
 
 ***** 
 
 "Mr. President: It is pressed upon us in thisargu- 
 ment that the act of 1342 imposes undue ami pecu- 
 liar burdens on southern industry — on the planting 
 interest of the South. This, sir, is to ine an 
 awakening suggestion — the burden, if it exists, 
 operating alike on my constituents and mys' lf,and 
 upon me, personally, to the whole extent of the pro- 
 ductive property which I possess. A lUtlc rctlec- 
 tion, however, relieves mo from apprehension. I 
 know that any tax which the Guvcrnmi nt can im- 
 pose, in so far as it opiJKates upon consiauptiiii, can 
 only compel the southern planter to share in the 
 burden which all consumers have to be:ir. Experi- 
 ence satisfies me too that this cannot be to the whole 
 amountof duty, but the foreign producer must bear 
 his proportion of it in the diminished profits of capi- 
 tal. I kncio that the price of southern prvdnce has 
 not fallen since these duties were iirvposed. I know 
 too that the prices of articles of southern consumption 
 have not risen, but have been sensibly diminixlud." 
 
13 
 
 I shall surely not be blamed for an unwilling-ncss 
 to believe that the existing system of revenue ope- 
 rates hardly on the South and West. And ag-ain, 
 I ask, why could not surh a man as William Gas- 
 ton — why cannot our Grahams and Moreheads — see 
 this oppression ? 
 
 I shall never forget a speecli I heard from North 
 Carolina's most distinguished son — Gaston — in the 
 earlier part of my life. It was, I think, at an Union 
 meetin''-, after North Carolina had been called the 
 "Rip Van Winkle of the South," because she 
 would not nullify an act of Congress. " Better, far 
 'better," said iWr. Gaston, "be called the Rip Van 
 ' Winkle of the South, than the CataUne of the 
 ' historian, or the Captain Bobadill of the poet — 
 ' better sleep on forev'er, than wake to treason 
 ' or disunion." These words were from the son 
 of one whose father's blood was shed by the 
 enemies of his country; they were from the heart 
 and lips of a patriotic christian gentleman — \\ ho 
 was long honored by my native State, and whose 
 memory is still cherished by all her true-hearted 
 sons. His mortal remains repose within the bor- 
 ders of that town in which tliese "words that burn" 
 were spoken--it is a part of the country I represent. 
 When 1 forget the applause these sentiments met 
 with from tliat people, I shall forget ihtm. ; and 
 when I do that, my " tongue will cleave to my 
 mouth and mj"^ right hand lose her cunning." 
 
 But my colleague complains of the amount of 
 money expended at the North, and he says: "-North 
 Carolina, for vxainplc, is bunlenfd to the txtent of not 
 less than three viiV.ions, and yet does not gel back one 
 hundred thousand dollars ui any way from the Govern- 
 ment. The clear loss in a pecuniary point of view, 
 on account of the action of the Government, may 
 be set down at three millions annually. The soutk- 
 ern States generally are in the same condition." 
 
 Now, I cannot imagine how my colleague calcu- 
 lates this three millions of burden. 1 fear it is, to 
 use hid own words, a "want of accurate knowledge 
 ' of all the facts renders it impossible to determine pre- 
 ' cisely the effect which our revenue system produces." 
 
 I should be glad to sec tliese "lacts" stated. I 
 suspect my colleague is as much mistaken in this 
 calculation as he is in the number of fu^-itive slaves 
 escaping from a "few counties in Maryland." He 
 said, "a few counties in ftlaryland had, within six 
 ' months, upon computation, lost one hundred 
 thousand dollars' worth." 
 
 He is surely mistaken. A Senator from South Car- 
 olina (Mr. Butler) said that "thirty thousand 
 ' dollars' worth of slaves were stolen from Ken- 
 ' tucky annually;" and he added, "the loss to the 
 ' people of the sluveholding States may be estimated 
 ' at two hundred thousand dollars annually." 
 Whose computation is right.'' And my colleague 
 says Delaware loses "one liundred thousand dollars' 
 ' worth of slaves each year." ftly colleague makes 
 the loss of a "few counties in Maryland," and the 
 los3 of the State of Delaware, as great as Mr. But- 
 ler thinks is the loss of the "slavehokling States;" 
 and yet the members from Kentucky, Delaware and 
 Maryland, do not threaten to dissolve the Union. 
 
 But the complaint is, a small amount of money 
 is expended at the South. * * * Whose fault 
 is this ? 
 
 Mr. Tyler vetoed a bill that contained an appro- 
 priation of twenty thousand dollars for the improve- 
 ment of Cape Fear river. And when Congress 
 made an appropriation of fifty thousand dollars for 
 opening Roanoke inlet, on the coast of North Caro- 
 lina, Mr. Tyler pocketed the bill. Is this aggres- 
 sion.' It was an outrage, and well-becoming a 
 strict constructionist of the school of '98 and '99. 
 This is a work of inestimable value to a large por- 
 tion of my State. I hope to live to see it perfected. 
 The people in mine and my colleague's (Mr. Out- 
 law's) district will soon hold a convention relative 
 to this subject — a convention, not to dissolve the 
 Union, but to open a communication by which we 
 
 can reach New York by steam in a few hours — tO' 
 facilitate our intercotirse, and bind us together in- 
 dissolubly. Virginia politicians have opposed this 
 work, and will oppose it. Open this coinnmnica- 
 tion, and, in the event of domestic rebellion, we 
 should speedily have thousands of New Yorkers — 
 with whom our intercourse is now so frequent and 
 so friendly — brought on the wings of steam, ready 
 to stand by us. 
 
 Let not gentlemen complain of the North ou this 
 score. When/hese internal improvement questions 
 arise I will promise to bring ten, yes, twenty 
 Whigs or Dciuocrats, from the North or West, for 
 any southern Democrat my colleague will find. 
 
 My colleague, when speaking of the possibility 
 of a dissolution, said: 
 
 "Subjecting the goods of the North to a duty, with 
 those from oi/ierforci^';a countries, icould at once give 
 a powerful stimulus to our oivn manufaclurcs. We 
 have already sufficient capital for the pvirpose. But 
 if needed, it would come in from abroavi. English 
 capitalists have filled Belgium with factories. Why 
 did this occur? Simply because provisions were 
 cheaper there and taxes lower than in England. 
 The same motives would bring them into the south- 
 ern country, since both the reasons as.-igned are 
 much stronger in our case. It has already been 
 proved that viccan manufacture .-:omc kinds of goods 
 more cheaply than ihe North." 
 
 What would the "free trade" geiituuien of the 
 Soutii say to that? Would not Soutli Carolina be 
 oppressed by that tariff law.'' 
 
 But we are to have "English capital." England 
 is too well satisficvl v.ith the tarifi'of '4C to lend us 
 money to enable us to impose duties on "other for- 
 eign countries." England! who forbid our fore- 
 fathers to munufacture — who punishes any man 
 who induces an artisan to leave her shores — lend 
 us capital! In 1844, my colleague had "no reliance 
 ' on the sincerity of the British government." 
 Then he said: "England, who had abolished slave- 
 ' ry in her West India islands, was seeking to in- 
 ' terfere with the institution in other countries." 
 I do not believe our people will be in love with this 
 idea. 
 
 My colleague spoke of the "other acquisitions of 
 ' territory" to be made "after the next Presidential 
 ' election." 
 
 I do not understand what this means. I hope he 
 does not mean that w-e are to engage in foreign 
 war again, as was intimated in the Baltimore con- 
 vention by Mr. Hannegan — that we should annex 
 Yucatan and Cuba. I thought the defeat of Gen- 
 eral Cass had secured us from the dread of such 
 horrid consequences. I advocated General Tay- 
 lor's election upon the ground that he was opposed 
 to foreign war. Are we to forbid New Mexico to 
 become a free State if she prefers it."* How far are 
 we to go before we consent to allow a free State to 
 exist south of us.' Must we have "every man's 
 land that adjoins our own?" 
 
 There is but one other portion of my colleague's 
 remarks to which I will advert : 
 
 "Have not prominent northern politicians, of the 
 highest positions and the greatest influence, whose 
 names are loell known to all gentlemen on this floor, 
 already declared that there is nothing in the Constitu- 
 tion of tJie United States which obstrxicts or ought to 
 obstruct the abolition of slavery by Congress in ihe 
 Stales?" 
 
 My colleague is better acquainted with politicians 
 than I am. But I do not know any northern poli- 
 tician who has avowed such an opinion. Even the 
 Buffalo convention did not go that far. Again, he 
 says : In twenty-five years, if we are surrounded 
 by free States, the condition of the South would be 
 " that of Ireland; and soon, by the destruction of 
 ' the remnants of the white population, become that 
 ' of St. Domingo." And he adds : " Northern men 
 ' not only admit it, but constantly in their public 
 ' speeches avow it to be their purpose to produce 
 
14 
 
 "^ this very state of things." Sir, I must deny this. 
 My collcasrue is gTeatly mistaken. Since I read 
 his speech I have inquired, and I am proud to say I 
 have been unable to learn when northern men, or 
 one sing'le northern man, ever avowed so atrocious 
 a sentiment. I can Iiear of no such man. Surely 
 such a wretch never contaminated this place. 
 
 I never heard of but one man so wicked as to 
 think without horror of insum-ction in the southern 
 States, and lie was a Van Burcn Democrat from 
 Ohio, (Benjahin Tappan, former Senator.) 
 
 My colleague spoke with contempt of those who 
 uttered the " insane and senseless cry of Union, 
 Union." He was "disgusted" at it. This disgust 
 is but two years old. 
 
 In December, 1S47, thus spoke my colleague: 
 
 "It would be vain, however, for us on either side 
 ' to hope for such prosperity as we have hitherto 
 
 * enjoyed. If the stream of our national existence 
 ^ should be divided, each branch must roll a dimin- 
 ' ished volume, and would be able only to bear a 
 < lesser burden. Such a separation VvTOuld be the 
 ' saddest of all partings. We should feel that our 
 ' way was lonely, like thatof Hagar in the desert — 
 ' desolate as the wanderings of our first parents, 
 ■* when crime had just begxm," &c., &c. 
 
 Very handsomely in the same strain: 
 
 "We have a community of interest, which it 
 ' would seem that no party madness could break 
 ' up. We have, too, recollections of the past, 
 -' which, to American feelings, a.'-c stronger even 
 ' than calculations of interest." 
 
 This was neither insane nor senseless ; but ra- 
 tional, and sensible, and well becoming a Repre- 
 sentative of the old North State. 
 
 A single word as to California. This will be a 
 "test question." The "California proviso" one 
 gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Inge) denounced. 
 What is it but declaring- that the people of each 
 State shall have a right to decide for themselves? 
 We have liigh southern authority for this. Mr. 
 Polk said, in his message, in 184S: "JVhether Con- 
 gress shall legislate or not, the people of the acquired 
 Territories, when assembled in convention to form 
 State constitutions, luill possess the sole and exclusive 
 power to determine for theynselves whether slavery shall 
 or shall not exist xoithin their limits. If Congress shall 
 abstainfrom interfering with the question, the people of 
 these Territories will be left free to adjust it as they may 
 think proper when they apply for admissio7i as States 
 into the Union. No enactment of Congress could re- 
 strain the people of any of the sovereign States of 
 the Union, old or new. North or South, slavehokl- 
 ing or non-slaveholding, from determining the 
 character of their own domestic institutions as they 
 may deem wise and proper. Any and all the 
 States possess this right, and Congress cannot de- 
 prive tiiem of it." 
 
 In the southern address it is said: "Slavery is a 
 •* domestic institution. It belongs to the States, each 
 ' for itself, to decide whether it shall be established 
 ■" or not; and, if it be established, whether it should 
 ' be abolished or not." 
 
 The Southern address, also, in referring to the 
 Missouri question in 1819, censures those who ad- 
 vocate amendments "having for their object to make 
 ' it a condition of her admission that her constitu- 
 ' tion should have a provision to prohibit slavery." 
 
 The address states: "Those who objected to the 
 
 * amendments rested their opposition on the high 
 
 * gi'ound of the right of self-government. They 
 
 * claimed that a territory, having reached the period 
 ' when it is proper for it to form a constitution and 
 ' government for itself, becomes fully vested with 
 ' all the rights of self-government," &c., &c. 
 
 The address argues further, that to assume that 
 Congress had a right to require any thing but that 
 the government must be republican, "would be 
 
 * tantamount to the assumption of the right to make 
 ■• its entire constitution and government." 
 
 I commend this address to those Democratic 
 
 members who are talking of the "California pro- 
 viso." 
 
 I believe, Mr. Chairman, if we reject the applica- 
 tion of California for admission as a State, it will be 
 productive of the most calamitous consequences. 
 It will raise a sectional feeling throughout this 
 broad land that may never be allayed. I cannot 
 vote against her admission for any reason I have 
 yet heard. I do not see how any one can make her 
 admission a "test oucstion," who does not wish to 
 bring about a dissolution of the Union. As a south- 
 ern man I want her admitted — the sooner the bet- 
 ter. I advocated the election of our present Chief 
 Magistrate, "not merely as a Whig, but as the 
 
 ' GREAT REPSESENTATIVE AND CHAMPION OF THE 
 ' PRINCIPLE OF THE RIGHT OF MAN TO SELF-GOVERN- 
 
 ' MENT." I will not consent to remand her: her 
 people are, most of them, our own citizens. There 
 might be danger of our compelling her to form a 
 government without our aid. She will, I trust, 
 soon be one of us. If no other southern man votes 
 as I do, I will vote for the admission of California. 
 Dead or alive, (as an Irishman said,) if I can get 
 here, I will vote for her admission. 
 
 A single word upon the question of Territorial 
 governments. I see no plan better than that re- 
 commended by the Presiclent, and I shall cordially 
 support it. 
 
 I have no time for much argument, but will only 
 present a few questions and conclude. As a south- 
 ern man I feel indignantat the instances of violated 
 faith and disregard of constitutional obligations on 
 the part of some of our northern States, relative to 
 fugitive slaves. But I believe, from all I can see 
 and hear, they will do us justice in this respect. 
 But is a dissolution of the Union to remedy this 
 evil.'' Will not a separation greatly increase it.'* 
 
 If the Union is dissolved, v/iil Abolition societies 
 be dead.^ Far from it. 
 
 AVhat is to become of all the property ov/ned by 
 the United States.-' — what of all the money in the 
 hands of the disbursing oflQcers.' Where will all the 
 office-holders go.'' There will be the voice of la- 
 mentation heard in old Virginia that day! But, 
 independent of all considerations of interest, I be- 
 lie^•e the people of the Old Dominion are truly 
 attached to the Union. They ought to be. Her 
 sons have "ruled its destinies." They have had a 
 full share of it5 honors and offices. Sir, I believe 
 there are office-holders enough, natives of Virginia, 
 to whip any army of disunionists that can be raised 
 in the State. 
 
 Why did not the southern Democracy, who now 
 talk of disunion, take care to provide in the Oregon 
 bill, and other bills containing the Wilmot proviso, 
 when Mr. Polk was President, that slavery should 
 exist south of a certain line.'' No, it might have 
 disturbed tlie harmony of the party. 
 
 Zachary Taylor is now President. That makes 
 the difference. 
 
 If by any aggressions on the part of the North — 
 which I do not anticipate — this Union is to be dis- 
 solved, I toll gentlemen North Carolina will form 
 no part of a southern confederacy, whose ruling 
 politicians entertain opinions like those avowed by 
 some of the southern Democracy on this floor. We 
 will build our great railroad, and before we become 
 hewers of wood and drawers of water for Virginia 
 and South Carolina, we will try, trusting in Provi- 
 dence, to stand up, "solitary and alone." They 
 would soon involve us in war on account of black 
 sailors. North Carolina has not been treated by 
 these sisters with kindness or respect. In 1842, 
 South Carolina passed resolutions, and sent them 
 here, reflecting very unbecomingly on North Caro- 
 lina, and intimating that she was encouraging abo 
 lition, because her people voted against Mr. Van 
 Buren! Time has proved we were right. Vir- 
 ginia but a few years since in her legislature, upon 
 some question relating to railroads, was so dis- 
 courteous to North Carolina as to call for a proper 
 
15 
 
 but dig-tiified rebuke from our Governor Graham, 
 in his message to our legislature. 
 
 Besides, the general tone of the newspapers, and 
 sometimes public speeches of gentlemen of those 
 States, prove that they regard our people as infe- 
 rior to theirs. No, sir; if we had a southern con- 
 federacy, let North Carolina go as "Has-ar in the 
 desert," rather than in company where'she would 
 be regarded as an inferior. If Tennessee, our own 
 Tennessee, our daughter, will join us, w^ can 
 stand against the world in arms. No dissolution 
 could separate us; we should continue as closely 
 united as the Siamese twins. 
 
 If North Carolina should join a southern confed- 
 eracy with Virginia and South Carolina, her fate 
 would be that of the dwarf who went to war in 
 company with the giant. In one engagement, the 
 dwarf lost a hand, and his companion coming to 
 his relief, they carried the day. In the next, the 
 dwarf lost an eye, but his companion aided him, 
 and they were victorious. But the giant appropri- 
 ated the spoils, and the dwarf's ^ai-e was glory 
 and the honor of service with the giknt. We should 
 not prove dwarfs in any contest; Gut our treatment 
 after the battle was over would be like that of the 
 dwarf. 
 
 I have read recently in a newspaper that a plan 
 has been made, if certain questions are not settled, 
 to break up our organization, by resorting, if ne- 
 cessary, to bowie-knives and pistols. I do not be- 
 lieve it. I hope it is a slander. A part of the same 
 slanderous story is, that one- fifth of the members 
 of this House, having a right to call the yeas and 
 nays, will continue to do so, and if that will not 
 succeed, to resort to violence. It may sometimes 
 be proper to defeat an attempt to force any mea- 
 sure, without opportunity of debating it, in the 
 manner referred to— calling yeas and°nays, &c.; 
 but, as to resorting to violence, and attempt- 
 ing to stop the wheels of Government by this 
 means, I will not believe any man in his senses 
 ever dreamed of it. But if such a wicked scheme 
 were on foot, I have a remedy to propose. There 
 are two hundred and thirty-one members of this 
 House; one-third of these is seventy-seven— two- 
 thirds, one hundred and fifty-four. Now, by the 
 Constitution, two-thirds can e.xpel a member. If 
 two-thirds of us do our duty, all will be well. A 
 member's privilege protects him, no matter what 
 he says here, but he might be arrested for a breach 
 of the peace; and should any member here resort 
 to violence for such purposes as are referred to in 
 the newspapers, he will soon find himself where he 
 ought to be — in the penitentiary. 
 
 I advise all gentlemen who contemplate schemes 
 of disunion, to read Burr's trial. They may find 
 some valuable hints there; they may learn that a 
 man may be guilty of treason, though he may not 
 be corporeally present when the overt act is com- 
 mitted. 
 
 Mr. Ashe. Does my colleague mean that calling 
 the yeas and nays is treason.? 
 
 Mr. Stanly. No; I do that frequently myself; 
 I refer to a newspaper statement of an organized 
 plan to break up the Government by violence. 
 
 A word or two now of the proposed Nashville 
 convention. I see no necessity ot any such con- 
 vention. I see great reason, since the late demon- 
 stration of a Senator from South Carolina, (Mr. 
 Calhoun,) why that convention should not meet, 
 and ought not to meet. He said, in the southern 
 address, "be united." Many of his own friends 
 cannot go witli him in his proposition for amend- 
 ing the Constitution. No one knows what the con- 
 vention will or can do. The Wilmot proviso will 
 not pass; thatisone " test question." There is no 
 possibility a bill will be passed abolishing slavery 
 in this District ; that, with some, is another " test 
 question." Then as to fugitive slaves— let us see 
 whether additional legislation will not be granted 
 ihis session; and that ought to be a " test question" 
 
 for those States who have lost fugitive slaves. Then 
 as to the admission of California— as to what is 
 called maliciously the Executive proviso— he who 
 goes to the Nashville convention to produce opposi- 
 tion to the Government on this account, is no friend 
 of his country, and is in favor of disunion, no mat- 
 ter what Congress does or refuses to do. 
 
 Nashville, I should have thought, would have 
 been the last place selected for the meeting of such 
 a convention. Near that city is the grave of An- 
 drew Jackson. I differed in opinion with this 
 celebrated man, as to the propriety of some of his 
 measures while he was President. But he won ray 
 highest admiration, by his patriotic firmness in 
 putting dov,-n nullification in 1833. His services to 
 his country then threw into the shade, or rather 
 added brightness to his military renown. And, if 
 he had rendered no other service to his country, he 
 would have been entitled to the lasting gratitude of 
 his countrymen. 
 
 When that convention meets, I suppose some 
 Democrat will offer a resolution testifying the re- 
 spect of that body for his memory. What will 
 they say of his administration as President.? What 
 of that admirable message of January 16th, 1833 — 
 the last paragraph of which deserves to be printed 
 in letters of gold. ' 
 
 I think it would be an outrage upon the feelings 
 of the people of this country— an insult to the 
 memory of General Jackson, to allow that conven 
 tion to meet in Nashville, to consider the propriety 
 of dissolving the Union. 
 
 I do not believe the people of Nashville will per 
 mit it; and if that convention meets, and a propo- 
 sition is made to consider even whether the Union 
 ought not to be dissolved, I hope the citizens of 
 Nashville will drive every traitor of them into the 
 Cumberland river. 
 
 If any of the good people of North Carolina have 
 thought that it might be possibly proper for them 
 to attend that convention, they will think better of 
 it, I have no doubt, after they read the recent extra- 
 ordinary speech of a Senator from South Carolina, 
 (Mr. Calhoun.) In that speech he tells us, our 
 government is "as absolute as that of the Autocrat 
 ' of Russia, and as despotic in its tendency as any 
 ' absolute government that ever existed." And 
 then he tells us what no southern man has ever 
 thought of before, that in addition to all that poli- 
 ticians, public meetings, and State Legislatures 
 have demanded, we must have, to save the Union, 
 an amendment of the Constitution, "which will re- 
 ' store to the South, in substance, the power she 
 ' possessed of protecting herself before the equili- 
 ' brium between the sections was destroyed by the 
 'action of this Government." Was ever a propo- 
 sition more preposterous.? I have tried, since the 
 speech was delivered, to ascertain what this pro- 
 posed amendment is, and I cannot. Congress is to 
 obey his suggestions, no matter what they are, to 
 be communicated in his own time ! Sir, he asks 
 impossibilities, and I am compelled to believe he 
 asks them because he knows they are impossibili- 
 ties. 
 
 I have heard several speeches here containing 
 ideas similar to some of those advanced in this 
 speech; we have had little dribbling streams— the 
 spring from whence they sprang is now exposed to 
 view. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, my honorable colleague before 
 me (Mr. Venable) gave utterance to some opin- 
 ions in his speech which I regret I have not time to 
 reply to. I think my colleague's words are stronger 
 than he intended. He says : " The bitter waters of 
 ' strife arc about to be substituted for the refreshing 
 ' streams of patriotic affection." I hope not. He 
 wants no " waters of strife." It is not in his nature 
 to enjoy them. 
 
 I have time only to refer to one part of my col- 
 league's speech, (Mr. Venable's.) He says: "The 
 ' South has kept faith with the North in all thino-s 
 
16 
 
 ' in which the covenant bound them." As far as 
 North Carolina is the South, she has kept faith; but 
 that is not so with all the South. 
 
 I affree with my colleague that we have cause of 
 complaint against some of the northern States, who 
 have done outrage to the Constitution, and: treated 
 us shamefully in regard to fugitive slaves. We 
 have cause of complaint on account of their resolu- 
 tions upon the subject of slavery. But some of my 
 colleague's political associates forget that this Con- 
 stitution was framed not only to protect southern 
 property, but to encourage American labor. North 
 as well Hs South. Have we had no warfare against 
 the protective tariff? Yes, for more than twenty 
 years. And when the compromise bill in 1833 was 
 passed, the home valuation feature was inserted 
 with the express purpose of giving protection to 
 American manufactures. Yet wlien the compro- 
 mise expired, some of our southern politicians vio- 
 lently opposed the home valuation feature, and 
 talked of a dissolution of the Union if the protective 
 policy was revived. 
 
 Sir, I knovs- better than my colleague, from my 
 being on the seaboarti, the losses our people have 
 sustained from fugitive slaves; and I believe the 
 compromise act, which was passed to gratify or to 
 .save from trouble a portion of the South, sacrificed 
 as many niillions of dollars of northern property as 
 the whole Soutli ever lost in thousands of dollars in 
 fug-itive slaves. liut I will not dwell longer on my 
 colleague's speech. He is an auuablc gentleman, 
 very companionable, possessing no small literary 
 acquirements. What Goldsmith said of his friend 
 Hickey, I think, I can say of my colleague, (Mr. 
 Venable:) 
 
 " He chcrif-hed his friend, and relished his bumper. 
 Yet one fault he had, and that was a thumper" — 
 
 not only that of being an attorney — but my col- 
 league is from one of the " double F V's"— a 
 first family Virginia gentleman — a strict construc- 
 tionist — republican — Democratof the school of " '98 
 and '99" — and to expect any thing reasonable in 
 politics from such a quarter, is most unreasonable. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I must conclude. I have spoken 
 freely; I think the times require it. 1 have not in- 
 tended to speak offensively to any gentleman in 
 this House ; but I have spoken what I believe my 
 duty to my country demanded, and I have spoken 
 what I believed to be true. 
 
 I have an abiding trust and confidence in the 
 Ruler of nations, that he will nut suffer evil counsels 
 to prevail among us. He, without whose knowledge 
 not a sparrow talleth to the ground, will, I hope. 
 
 preserve this country, that we shall continue to be 
 an asylum to the oppressed of all lands. I believe 
 that as hundreds of years will have rolled by, and 
 generation after generation passed away, in the 
 words of the great defender of the Constitution, 
 (Mr. Webster,) "Liberty and Union, now and 
 forever, one^nd inseparable," will continue to be 
 a sentiment dear to every true American heart. 
 
 Yes, I believe in a special Providence. Washing- 
 ton was preserved through countless dangers, and 
 in one battle had two hoi'ses shot under him. "The 
 Great Spirit," as the Indian chief told him, preserved 
 him from harm. 
 
 He was called on, in peace, to put down rebellion 
 and preserve the Union. 
 
 Jackson, too, rendered great and important ser- 
 vices to his country in war, and by his firmness in 
 time of peace crushed the spirit of disunion during 
 his administration. And when we remember the 
 long and faithful service of the incorruptibly honest 
 man, of the patriot soldier, now at the helm of state, 
 — when we renumber how his life was spared, when 
 in the midst of dangers his conduct has thrown a 
 blaze of glory on the armsof his country, — who can 
 doubt he will perform his duty to the Union — that, 
 "whatever dangers may threaten it," he will "stand 
 ' by it and maintain it in its integrity, to the full 
 ' extent of the obligation imposed and the power 
 ' conferred upon him by the Constitution.^" His 
 civil administration, I trust, will be so glorious that 
 it will eclipse his military renown. 
 
 Let the storm of party roll on; let politicians 
 carry on their party manoeuvres; the hearts of the 
 southern people are right. They arc watching our 
 deliberations, in the hope that our measures will 
 prove "salutary examples, not only to the present, 
 ' but to future times; and solemnly proclaim that 
 ' the Constitution and the laws are supreme, and 
 ' the Union indissoluble." They will say amen, in 
 response to me, when I say, God grant the day may 
 never come, when I shall behold a citizen of Califor- 
 nia, Maine or Florida, and say "he is not my 
 ' countryman." 
 
 Mr. Chairman, when the gallant Ethan Allen 
 surprisetl Ticonderoga, and demanded of the com- 
 mander that he should surrender the fort, he asked 
 Allen "by what autiiority.'"' "I demand it," re- 
 pHed Allen, "in the name ofthe great Jehovah, and 
 of the Continental Congress." 
 
 Invoking the protection of the great Jehovah, for 
 our whole country, in the name of the people of 
 North Carolina I sa}', this Union cannot be, shall 
 not be destroyed. Those whom God hath joined 
 together, no man or set of men can put asunder. 
 
 Gideon & Co., Printers, Ninth street, Washington. 
 
 |L2S15 CONGRESS 
 
-"ays 407 8 
 
 Holllnger Corp. 
 pH8.5