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 Copy l SPEECH 
 
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 MR. THOS. S. FLOUMOY, OF YA., 
 
 ON THE 
 
 CIVIL AND DIPLOMATIC BILL. 
 
 DELIVERED S .■ "\ I 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 July 3d, 1848 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 J. AND G. S. GIDEON, PRINTERS. 
 
 1848. 
 
 
 ( / 
 

SPEECH. 
 
 The House being in Committee of the Whole, and having under consideration the bill making 
 appropriations for the Civil and Diplomatic expenses of the Government. 
 
 Mr. FLOURNOY, of Virginia, addressed the Committee as follows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman: I have listened with much attention to the remarks of the 
 gentleman from Georgia, (Mr. Cobb,) and, though a gentleman of undoubted 
 ability, he has not met the powerful argument of his colleague, (Mr. Toombs,) 
 nor come to the rescue of the so-called Democratic Platform, which reeled 
 and tottered under his heavy blows. He has consumed his whole hour, 
 or nearly so, in assaults upon the Whig party, because the Philadelphia 
 Convention did not erect for it, in modern phrase, a platform; because it did 
 not adopt a string of resolutions as an expose of its political faith, by which to 
 bind and pledge its nominees; and for its failure to do so, is pleased to charge 
 it with error and inconsistency, and a design to practise a fraud upon the 
 country. 
 
 It is not my purpose, Mr. Chairman, to reply to these attacks of the gentle- 
 man from Georgia at this time, or to analyze the rickety offspring of the Bal- 
 timore Convention, presented with great parade and circumstance to the coun- 
 try as the platform of Democratic principles. I have asked the attention of the 
 committee, that I may present some views which I entertain upon a subject of 
 deep and exciting interest to the whole country, and of vital interest to the 
 South — I mean the institution of slavery — and to examine the attitude of 
 the two great parties of the country — the Whig and Democratic — in refer- 
 ence to it; or, in other words, to examine the position of the two parties in ref- 
 erence to the so-called Wilmot proviso, and see which occupies the safe and 
 more conservative position upon this all-absorbing question. I think that I 
 shall be able to show that the South will find its safety in the elevation of the 
 Whig party to power, and that it will be endangered, and the preservation of 
 this Union put to hazard, by permitting the Government to remain in the pos- 
 session of the Democratic party. 
 
 It is not my purpose, Mr. Chairman, to enter into a discussion of the abstract 
 question, or to inquire whether the institution of slavery be a moral, political, 
 and social blessing or curse. If it be, as many suppose it, an evil, we of the 
 South incur no moral responsibility by continuing its existence, for that is un- 
 avoidable; and the South will ever be found ready to resist any and every en- 
 croachment, from whatever quarter, upon her rights in connexion with this insti- 
 
4 - l 
 
 tution. She sees involved in it her peace and her existence, and she will never 
 consent that it shall become the foot-ball of party, be dragged into the political 
 arena, and mingled with the party issues and party conflicts of the day, for the 
 purpose of making or unmaking Presidents. It is a question that can never 
 become, with propriety, an issue between the two great parties of the country, 
 as at present organized; it is, in its very nature, sectional, and when parties 
 divide upon it, the present party lines will be obliterated, and the division will 
 be Northern and Southern. I have observed, during the present session, when- 
 ever the question of slavery has been presented in any shape to the considera- 
 tion of this body, the South, without distinction of party, have been united — 
 Whigs and Democrats voting together to sustain her rights and interests, and 
 Whigs and Democrats of the North voting pretty much together in support of 
 northern views. What patriotic heart, Mr. Chairman, North or South, would not 
 sicken and despond, and be filled with fearful forebodings for the future, in wit- 
 nessing a struggle between the two great divisions of this Union, for the highest 
 oflice within the gift of this great people, upon a local, sectional question? 
 
 Mr. Chairman, in the name of those I have the honor to represent on this 
 floor I protest — aye, solemnly protest — against mingling this question with the 
 party issues and party elections of the country; as I love this Union, the glo- 
 rious work and invaluable bequest of a noble and patriotic ancestry, I protest 
 against it; it is a question above party, and demands, by its importance, that it 
 shall stand separate from the party organizations of the day, and here, by its 
 action, the Whig party has placed it. The Whig Convention, held in Phila- 
 delphia on the 7th day of June, repudiated it as a party issue. After the ticket 
 had been formed, presenting to the country, for President and Vice President, 
 the names of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, resolutions containing the 
 principles of the Wilmot proviso were twice offered to that body for its adop- 
 tion, and as often laid on the table by an overwhelming majority, the vote in 
 favor of laying them on the table being at least twenty to one; thus did that 
 body declare, that this question had no proper connexion with the election of 
 Chief Magistrate for this Republic, and ought not, and should not, control their 
 votes in the approaching election; that it did not desire or intend to subject the 
 interests of the South, connected with this absorbing question, to the hazard 
 and danger which would inevitably result from dragging it into the arena of 
 party politics, and connecting it with the excitements, prejudices, passions, 
 interests, and tricks, which are inseparable from the contests and struggles of 
 parties in Presidential elections. That Convention assembled in a spirit of 
 patriotic devotion, looking alone to the peace, the prosperity, and the happiness 
 of our whole country, and the preservation of this Union from the dangers 
 which threaten it; it eschewed, as the Whig party has ever done, all identity,. 
 as a party, with the interests or institutions of any particular locality or section: 
 
but kept itself, as it has hitherto done, and still does, aloof from all such entan- 
 glements, so that when it gets into power, and the interests of the country are 
 confided to a Whig administration, it may, untrammelled, look abroad upon the 
 whole land, and by its action reconcile and harmonize the conflicting interests 
 of the various members and sections of this great family of States, and advance 
 the general prosperity; looking, as its guide, not to the platforms of party Con- 
 ventions, but to the Constitution— the great charter of our liberty. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, not only did the Whig Convention at Philadelphia, with an 
 overwhelming majority, lay on tile table the resclutions offered to that brdy 
 for i's arHti n, upon this vexed and disturbing question, but I have observed 
 wi'h pleasure and satisfaction that he Whig people of the North are actuated 
 by the same national and patriotic fee ing which controlled that Convention 
 But the. other day, in the city of New York, at one of the largest gatherings of 
 the people ever assembled in that great commercial emporium, numbering by 
 report some thirty thousand or more, the following resolution was adopted 
 
 by acclamation : , 
 
 "Resolved, That we deprecate, sectional issues in , .national «jj-. * J^g&SoS 
 Union and injurious to the public good ;_that we look w tl ) ^ n ™™™;°* mnc * n0 (aci[on 
 ^k^S^SS &£ E^S£- to ray one 
 section of our common country in angry hostility against any other. 
 
 Eut, sir, it has been asked, if the northern Whigs ry their votes in Conven- 
 tion intended to indicate a change in their view as to the principles of the 
 Wiln ot proviso. Upon this question I will not deceive myself, nor do in- 
 tend to attempt to deceive others. The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
 Ashmun) says, that a majority of the members of that Convention from the 
 North approve the principles of the proviso, and I do not suppose that their 
 views are at all changed upon ihat question by the votes which they gave to 
 lay it on the table; nor do I suppose that the Whigs of New York have chang- 
 ed their opinions, but I imagine, that each and all of them, when called upon 
 to vote, either in their individual or i epresentative capacities, would cast their 
 vot. s in accordance with the. views which they have hitherto entertained upon 
 this subject. But while their votes and acts will indicate no change of opinion, 
 they declare this, that the Whigs of the North are net governed ry a wild, 
 reckless, and- destructive fanaticism; that they love this Union, appreciate its 
 benefits, and desire its preservation ; that they will not consent « to array one 
 section of our common country in angry hostility against any other," by intro- 
 ducing sectional issues it to a « National canvass." That they deprecate as 
 dan-erous to our free institutions a geographical division of parties and that 
 they do not intend to disregard the feelings, interests, and rights of the bouth, 
 by connect ng this subject of sla.ery w th the triumphs or defeats of party; 
 but desire to see i* kept separate and apart, to be considered upon its own 
 
6 
 
 merits, without passion, and with that calmness and coolness which its import- 
 ance demands. 
 
 We have in all this, sir, assurance that the Whig party have a deep attach- 
 ment to this Union, and that they will preserve it; that though there is much 
 difference of opinion as to the powers of the Federal Government over the Ter- 
 ritories, and as to the propriety of the exclusion of slavery, yet, when this 
 question, which has been brought upon the country and into the councils of the 
 nation by the acquisition of New Mexico and California, shall be presented 
 for final settlement and adjustment, it will be considered and acted upon in a 
 spirit of patriotism; the recollections of the past and the bright hopes of the fu- 
 ture will not be disregarded. We shall see in union, strength, and a glorious 
 destiny; in disunion, weakness, civil strife, and a gloomy and uncertain future. 
 The memories of our fathers will not be forgotten; the spirit of concession and 
 compromise which enabled them to frame this Government, and establish this 
 Union for the preservation of that liberty which they so heroically won, and 
 which we now enjoy, will be found still to exist in the bosoms of their des- 
 cendants. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, 1 will now look to the position of Ihe Democratic party upon 
 this gre;.t question; (and, without question, ng the motives or the patriotism of 
 t'entlemen on the opposite side of this Hall,) I think I shall be able to show, 
 that by their course of policy the Democratic party have placed this peculiar 
 institution of the South in a false and dangerous attitude. The Baltimore^Con- 
 vention, constituting itself the. peculiar guardian of the interests of the South, 
 has given the institution of slavery a prominent place in its platform of Demo- 
 cratic principle? by the adoption of a resolution declarative of its opinions upon 
 that subject, which is, however, couched in such language as to render it un- 
 certain as to what extent it meant to deny the power of this Government over 
 it — the members of that party on this floor disagreeing among themselves as to 
 its proper construction :. and it is thus presented as an issue in the approaching 
 Presidential election, and endeavored to be made a test of fitness for office, ex- 
 posed to all the perils and disasters of party warfare. And, not content with 
 the assumption that they stand erect upon this question, southern Democrats 
 are almost daily rising in their places here, and asking how Zachary Taylor is 
 upon it ? What are his opinions ? Will he veto the Wilmot proviso, if 
 it should be passed by Congress ? I answer them that, as far as I am 
 informed, he has said nothing upon that subject; he has never mentioned it or 
 referred to it in any communication that I have seen from him; he has passed 
 it by as a question not belonging to a National canvass. I will ask southern 
 o-entlemen if they fear Zachary Taylor upon this question? Do they believe that 
 he cannot be trusted when the rights of the South are involved ? If they do 
 not fear him, why ask the question ? Do they expect to make the South believe 
 
that Lewis Cass has a higher and more especial regard for her peculiar interests 
 than Zachary Taylor? In preferring this inquiry, our Democratic friends can- 
 not have looked well to the position of Lewis Cass; they must have forgotten 
 that he is but a new convert, if indeed he has really changed his opinion, and 
 become a "Northern man with Southern principles." In examining the offi- 
 cial paper (the Union) of March 2d, 1847, giving the proceedings of the Senate 
 cf March 1st, 1847, I find the following report of a discussion between Mr. 
 Miller and General Cass: 
 
 "After General Cass had concluded his speech, in which he took the ground 
 that it was improper at this time to adopt the Wilmot Proviso, because its adop- 
 tion now might prevent the acquisition of any territory from Mexico — 
 
 "Mr. Miller, of New Jersey, expressed his great surprise at the change in 
 the sentiments of the Senator from Michigan, who had been regarded as the 
 great champion of freedom in the Northwest, of which he was a distinguished 
 ornament. Last year the Senator from Michigan was understood to be deci- 
 dedly in favor of the Wilmot Proviso; and, as no reason had been stated for 
 the change, he (Mr. M.) could not refrain from the expression of his extreme 
 surprise. 
 
 "Mr. Cass said that the course of the Senator from New Jersey was most ex- 
 traordinary. Last year he (Mr. C.) should have voted for the proposition had 
 it come up. But circumstances had altogether changed. The honorable Sen- 
 ator then read several passages from the remarks as given above, which he had 
 committed to writing, in order to refute such a charge as that of the Senator 
 from New Jersey." 
 
 So General Cass did not admit that he had changed his opinion as to the 
 power of this Government over the question of slavery in the Territories, but 
 denied the charge of the Senator from New Jersey. He thought it inexpedient 
 to adopt the Wilmot Proviso at that time, as it might prevent the acquisition 
 of any territory from Mexico. The change in his constitutional views is of a 
 still more recent date; and, to what extent this change may have been effected 
 by the prospect of a nomination by the Baltimore Convention for the high office 
 of President, I will not pretend to say. I am not dealing with motives, but 
 facts, from which others are as competent as myself to draw correct conclu- 
 sions. General Cass is not a young and inexperienced politician; his friends 
 represent him as an able man, a profound jurist, and ripe statesman. How, 
 then, does it happen that, having formed a mature and deliberate opinion favor- 
 able to the exercise of this power, he should have, in the last twelve months, 
 changed that opinion, and now deny to Congress the power? Would it not at 
 least be becoming in General Cass and his friends to be a little modest, and 
 not be over anxious to press this question into the canvass? 
 
 There is another fact that the people of the South have not forgotten. They 
 
have a vivid recollection that, in times gone by, there was another Northern 
 Democrat who sought and won their confidence and support by making profes- 
 sions of peculiar regard for Southern interests, and who was called, by way of 
 distinction, "The Northern man with Southern principles." Where is he now, 
 and what is his position? He is now the candidate of the Barnburners; he has 
 turned with base ingratitude upon the South, and is the representative of a sec- 
 tional organization, in open and avowed hostility to Southern interests and in- 
 stitutions, and is the first example of one who has had the confidence and sup- 
 port of the country for the highest office within the gift of this free people, who 
 has been found ready to lend his name and influence, regardless of conse- 
 quences, to such a mischievous and dangerous policy; and, should he succeed 
 under the influence of a temporary and fanatical excitement, which God forbid, 
 and which I do not fear, and the disunion of these States ensue, which would 
 be inevitable, the good, the wise, and patriotic every where will heap bitter 
 curses upon his head. Unborn generations Avill hold up, his name to the scorn 
 and reproach of ages yet to come. History will record him as one who, for 
 the gratification of his own selfish ambition, did not hesitate to sacrifice his 
 own Government, the freest and best on earth, under the influence of whose 
 example the thrones of the old world were toppling to their fall, and the prin- 
 ciples of republican liberty making rapid progress to ultimate triumph. Sir, 
 the treason of Arnold will be forgotten in view of the oreater baseness and 
 treachery of Martin Van Buren. 
 
 Mr Chairman, there is another striking difference in the policy of the^two 
 great parties of this country, which has a material bearing upon this question 
 of slavery. The Whig part} r is opposed to the acquisition of foreign territory; 
 it is satisfied with the present limits of our country, and desires to preserve it 
 as it is. The Democratic party is a party of progress. One of the leading fea- 
 tures of its policy is "the extension of the area of human freedom." It was 
 not satisfied with the annexation of Texas, but the President, by his indiscre- 
 tion, involved us in an unnecessary, wasteful, and bloody war with Mexico, 
 which has resulted in a still further extension of our territorial limits. By the 
 treaty of peace we have acquired New Mexico and California. Which exten- 
 sion of our boundary has brought upon us, with all its excitements, difficulties, 
 and dangers, this unwelcome question, which I hope we shall be able to adjust 
 upon fair and equitable terms. But, if we shall get safely out of this difficulty, 
 have we, in the policy of the Democratic party, any security for the future? 
 Can we indulge a reasonable hope, if it be permitted to remain in power, that 
 this same question, with all its embarrassments, will not again be presented to 
 distract and disturb the councils of the nation upon the first opportunity that 
 shall offer to extend our borders? General Cass seems to have an insatiable, 
 morbid appetite for territorial aggrandizement. His imagination has been 
 
fired by the poetic thought of an "Ocean-bound Republic," and bethinks "that 
 we would not be much disfigured if we were to swallow the whole of Mexico.'* 
 In reading the prospectus of the Campaign paper, issued from the office of the 
 Union, in this city — the official paper, the organ of the Democratic party, and 
 devoted to the election of General Cass, giving the plan and purposes, and 
 commenting on the principles of Democracy — I find this striking paragraph: 
 
 "It (the Democratic party) contends for the glory and honor of the Republic, and for its in- 
 crease and expansion as time and circumstances may demand. It does not believe that the Mis- 
 sissippi should have been its ultimate boundary, nor that its present boundaries should be per- 
 manent; but it holds that this great and glorious Union shall grow and expand, and diffuse the 
 blessings of liberty over other contiguous States and Territories, as destiny may dictate, and 
 humanity and justice approve." 
 
 The Democratic Platform has no resolution upon this subject. The Balti- 
 more Convention passed it by in silence. But here we have a distinct avowal 
 from high authority of the policy of the party; it accords well with its history 
 for the last few years; and, if we are to judge by the past, we may well regard 
 this as a faithful exposition of its future policy. It is in the frequent recur- 
 rence of this question that there is danger to the country. It will come with 
 accumulated difficulties and dangers upon every extension of our limits, and 
 the true and wise course of the whole country is to avert it, maintain our pre- 
 sent boundaries, and settle, by a fair, judicious, and liberal compromise, our 
 present difficulties. 
 
 This question has ever been regarded as fraught with imminent peril to the 
 
 Republic. What was the language of Thomas Jefferson in reference to the 
 
 Missouri question, which in its day agitated this country from its centre to its 
 
 circumference, and filled the minds of all patriotic men with apprehension for 
 
 its safety. These are his words : 
 
 " This momentous question, like a fire-bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. 
 I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment ; but 
 this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical line, coinciding with a marked prin- 
 ciple, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never 
 be obliterated ; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper." 
 
 Then, sir, may I not ask if the interests of the South would not be safer under 
 
 Whig than Democratic policy ? The policy of the Whig party is one of peace; 
 
 it is opposed to wars of aggression and conquest; it concurs in opinion with 
 
 Zachary Taylor, who, in his letter to Capt. Allison, says: 
 
 " I look upon war, tit all times and under all circumstances, as a national calamity, to be 
 avoided if compatible with the national honor. The principles of our Government, as well as 
 its true policy, is opposed to the subjugation of other nations and the dismemberment of other 
 countries by conquest. In the language of the great Washington, " Why should we quit our 
 own to stand on foreign ground." 
 
 By the elevation of the Whig party to power the present difficulties would 
 
 be settled, and all cause of "new irritation" on this "momentous question' 
 
 be removed ; but elect General Cass, and his policy of conquest and annexation 
 
 would mark " deeper and deeper" this geographical line, to final separation. 
 
 And, upon this position of the two parti.es, I am prepared to go before my con- 
 
stituents and the South, and claim for the Whig party their confidence and 
 support. 
 
 But, Mr. Chairman, our Democratic friends not only complain that General 
 Taylor has said nothing upon the Wilmot Proviso, they make still further com- 
 plaint, he refuses to give pledges to party; though a Whig, he is not an ultra 
 one, and is determined, if elected, to enter upon his duties as Chief Magistrate 
 untrammelled, looking to the Constitution alone as his rule of conduct. This, 
 sir, in my humble opinion, is a proud, lofty, and patriotic position ; it is the 
 true Republican ground, and has for its sanction the example of no less a name 
 than that of the immortal Washington; it ought and does recommend him most 
 strongly to the country. 
 
 General Cass, however, is not obnoxious to this complaint; none suspect him 
 of a want of devotion to party; his course in the Senate of the United States 
 exhibits him as an extreme and ultra partisan. He was never, I believe, a 
 member of any legislative body, except for a short time of the Ohio legisla- 
 ture, in early life. From that time to the election of James K. Polk, he held 
 office by Executive appointment with but little interruption, and was elected 
 to the Senate about the time Mr. Polk was elected President. The Baltimore 
 Convention of 1844 presented to the country its platform of principles, and 
 among the resolves was one declaring our right to the whole of Oregon, up to 
 54° 40', to be clear and unquestionable. The nominee, Mr. Polk, pledged 
 himself to carry out the views and opinions of that Convention, and accord- 
 ingly in his message to Congress asserted the extreme claim. General Cass 
 maintained and defended the views of the President and the Convention, and 
 insisted upon 54° 40'. Congress was for many months engaged in a most ex- 
 citing and stormy debate upon the question. The country was agitated and 
 excited in apprehension of war with England. It seemed inevitable. General 
 Cass declared it to be inevitable. The Senator from Ohio, (Mr. Allen,) said 
 that "the heart of the American people must be prepared for war." Our 
 minister, however, negotiated a treaty, and settled upon the forty-ninth par- 
 allel of latitude. Mr. Polk's nerves gave way, and he sought to relieve him- 
 self by placing the responsibility upon the Senate. That patriotic body advised 
 the ratification of the treaty, and saved the two countries from a bloody and 
 expensive war. General Cass, however, true to the extreme demands of party, 
 urged its rejection, and voted in a minority of fourteen against advising its 
 ratification. This embarrassment being removed Mr. Polk turned upon Mexico, 
 and by his unwise and imprudent course involved us in an unnecessary and 
 wasteful war with that country, which war has just terminated, after more than 
 two years duration, the expenditure of millions upon millions of the public 
 money, and the loss of the lives of many thousands of our best citizens. We 
 find General Cass still true to party, sustaining and defending the Administra- 
 
11 
 
 tion at every step from its inception to its termination. And after Mr. Trist 
 had negotiated a treaty of peace, and the Senate of the United States had rati- 
 fied it with a few modifications, which rendered it necessary to return it to 
 Mexico for the approval of the Mexican government, General Cass still urged 
 upon the Senate the passage of the Ten Regiment bill. It finally passed that 
 body by a party vote, and was only prevented from becoming a law by the 
 Whig majority in this House; and results have made it manifest that the only 
 effect of its passage would have been to increase the patronage of the President 
 by giving him the appointment of some five hundred officers. As we advance 
 the evidence thickens. At the last session of Congress, General Cass voted 
 for the River and Harbor bill. Mr. Polk vetoed it. The Baltimore Conven- 
 tion nominated General Cass for President, and adopted a resolution repudiating 
 internal improvement by the General Government. General Cass cordially 
 approved it in condemnation of his own vote. The Democrats of the North 
 and Northwest, however, say that the resolution of the Convention will not pre- 
 vent General Cass from approving the River and Harbor bill. What say our 
 Democratic friends of the South, who approve Mr. Polk's veto? Is he to be 
 represented at the South as opposed to internal improvements, and at the North 
 and West as the advocate of the improvement of rivers and harbors ? "There 
 are no tricks in plain and simple faith." 
 
 This is not all; the evidence of Gen. Cass's devotion to party does not stop' 
 here; after the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, which were won 
 so triumphantly, with a force greatly inferior to that of the enemy in point of 
 numbers, Gen. Taylor continued his march on the city of Monterey, and with 
 6,000 troops attacked that city, fortified and defended by an army of 10,000: 
 the fierce and dreadful struggle continued for more than two days, when the 
 enemy was compelled to surrender, and deliver up the city to Gen. Taylor. 
 Terms of capitulation were agreed upon by a commission appointed by the 
 commanders of each army; the commission on the part of the army of the 
 United States was composed of the gallant and distinguished officers Worth. 
 Henderson, and Davis, who agreed upon aud approved the terms of the capit- 
 ulation and armistice. The news of this brilliant victory was received with 
 pride and exultation by the whole people, but James K. Polk, Commander-in- 
 Chief of the Army and Navy, disapproved of the terms of the surrender. Af- 
 terwards, a resolution tendering the thanks of Congress to Gen. Taylor for his 
 victory at Monterey was offered to this body; immediately the following pro- 
 viso was offered: "Provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed 
 into an approbation of the terms of the capitulation of Monterey. " This proviso 
 was annexed to the resolution of thanks by the vote of the Democratic party 
 of this body; it was reported to the Senate for its adoption; Mr. Speight 
 moved to amend the resolution by striking out the proviso, and Gen. Case- 
 
12 
 
 voted in a minority of 15 against striking out; thus endeavoring to make it a 
 resolution of censure, instead of thanks, offering that brave and gallant old 
 soldier an insult instead of praise. What renders the vote of Gen. Cass the 
 more remarkable is, that he, too, claims to be a soldier, and to have rendered 
 his country some service upon the battle-field during the war of 1812, and his 
 friends have conferred on him the distinguished appellation of "the hero of 
 Hull's surrender;" but, forgetful of the soldier's sensibility, (how keenly he is 
 alive to every impulse of honor, and how deeply wounded by a sense of injus- 
 tice,) endeavored, at the behest of part}', to prevent the expression by Con- 
 gress of a nation's gratitude to him who had shed new lustre upon her arms 
 by his unrivalled achievements. It is said that this proviso was not regarded 
 as a 'censure; that Congress refused to vote it a censure. The amendment, 
 offered by a gentleman not now a member of this body, to add the word "dis- 
 approbation," &c, that it might appear that Congress meant to express no 
 opinion, was rejected, thereby fixing its character beyond dispute. The people 
 so considered it, and many who voted for it lost their seats upon this floor. 
 
 In the progress of this war with Mexico many difficulties occurred betAveen 
 the President and the commanding officers. The first was with Gen. Scott; 
 he was notified that his services would not be required in Mexico — Gen. Tay- 
 lor was then high in the confidence of the Administration. On the 3d of July, 
 1846, I find in the Union, the "mouth-piece" of the President, the following 
 tribute to this officer: 
 
 " The public sentiment in the South is highly favorable to General Taylor. In fact, he has 
 ' won golden opinions' from all classes and from all sections of the country. 
 
 " The New Orleans Times of the 26th of May describes ' the largest meeting which it has 
 ever seen in New Orleans, congregated within the walls of a public edifice.'' It took place on the 
 evening before, at the new Exchange. 'All that is distinguished for rank, talent, wealth, and 
 influence of every shade of political opinion, were found there.' The object was to pour forth 
 the popular feeling on the late brilliant achievements on the Rio Grande. 
 
 "The whole press of New Orleans and Mobile, Democrat or Whig, expresses its admiration 
 md confidence in the commanding general, and protests against his being superceded by any 
 other, however brave or distinguished." 
 
 After the battle of Monterey, not less brilliant than either Palo Alto or Re- 
 saca de la Palma, "a change came over the spirit of his dream." The quarrel 
 between Gen. Scott and the President was reconciled, and Scott sent to take 
 the chief command in Mexico. He had scarcely entered upon his line of ope- 
 rations when the President conceived that the public interest required the crea- 
 tion of a new office in the army, the office of Lieutenant General, and recom- 
 mended to Congress the passage of a law for that purpose. After much diffi- 
 culty, and repeated attempts, the bill passed the House. Its object was to su- 
 percede both General Taylor and Scott, the two men who rank first among all 
 the military men of the age, and subject them to the command of a distin- 
 guished civilian, and distinguished only as a civilian, Col. Thomas H. Ben- 
 ton; for it was well understood at the time that, if the power was given to the 
 
13 
 
 President, the appointment would have been conferred on him. When this 
 bill was before the Senate, Mr. Mangum moved that it lie on the table, and 
 said that he moved it as a test vote. Gen. Cass voted against it in a minority 
 of 21. These are a few of the most prominent acts, during a space of little 
 more than three years, by which Gen. Cass has established his claim to the 
 title of an extreme ultra partisan. 
 
 But, sir, it seems that he was not entirely satisfied that his claim should res* 
 upon this evidence. In his letter accepting the nomination of the Baltimore 
 Convention, approving entirely and pledging himself to the support of its Plat- 
 form, he says: 
 
 " The very first article in the Democratic creed teaches that the people are competent to gov- 
 ern themselves ; it is, indeed, rather an axiom than an article of political faith. From the days 
 of General Hamilton to our days, the party opposed to us — of" whose principles he was the 
 great exponent, if not the founder — while it has changed its name, has preserved essentially its 
 identity of character ; and the doubt he entertained and taught of the capacity of man for self- 
 government, has exerted a marked influence upon its action and opinions. Here is the very 
 starting-point of the difference between the two great parties which divide our country. All 
 other differences are but subordinate and auxiliary to this, and may, in fact, be resolved into it." 
 
 Here, then, at the very moment that he accepts the nomination, and hopes 
 to be elected to preside over the country under the influence of his attachment 
 to party, he asperses the opinions, conduct, and motives of at least one-half of 
 the American people. 
 
 Since Gen. Cass has thought proper to tender this issue in the approaching 
 election, let us for a moment try the two great parties, and their leaders, upon 
 it. The Whig party had its origin in its opposition to Executive abuse and en- 
 croachment. Every step of its history has been marked by its resistance to 
 the improper and unconstitutional exercise of Executive power, to restrain it 
 within its proper limits, and to give effect to the popular will, fairly expressed 
 through the representatives of the people in Congress. Gen. Taylor, in his 
 letter to Capt. Allison, assumes the same position. I give his own language: 
 
 " The power given by the Constitution to the Executive to interpose his veto is a high con- 
 servative power, but in my opinion should never be exercised except in cases of clear violation 
 of the Constitution, or manifest haste and want of consideration by Congress. Indeed, I have 
 thought that, for many years past, the known opinions and wishes of the Executive have exer- 
 cised undue and injurious influence upon the legislative department of the Government; and for 
 this cause I have thought our system was in danger of undergoing a great change from its true 
 theory. The personal opinions of the individual who may happen to occupy the Executive 
 chair ought not to control the action of Congress upon questions of domestic policy ; nor ought 
 his objections to be interposed where questions of constitutional power have been settled by the 
 various departments of Government, and acquiesced in by the people. 
 
 " Upon the subject of the tariff", the currency, the improvement of our great highways, 
 rivers, lakes, and harbors, the will of the people, as expressed through their representatives in 
 Congress, ought to be respected and carried out by the Executive. " 
 
 The Democratic party, on the other hand, has ever been found ready to de- 
 fend and sustain the Executive department in all its demands. 1 recollect no 
 instance in which it has interjjosed to arrest the exercise of Executive power 
 and prerogative. When the will of the people, expressed through their Rep- 
 resentatives in Congress, has been vetoed by the President, it has rallied to his 
 
14 
 
 support and sustained the act. It is unnecessary to enumerate the various in- 
 stances of Executive encroachments, commencing with the removal of the de~ 
 posites from the United States Bank. They are familiar to the country: and no 
 one has more readily yielded his support to Executive demands and encroach- 
 ments than Gen. Cass. Executive power and prerogative have rapidly increased 
 under Democratic rule, until we find the republican position of General Taylor 
 — "that the will of the people, as expressed through their representatives in 
 Congress, ought to be respected and carried out by the Executive" — fiercely 
 assailed upon this floor, and by the Democratic press throughout the country. 
 Yet, sir, it is claimed that the capacity of man for self-government is the lead- 
 ing, fundamental distinction between the two parties; it may be so; but the po- 
 sition of parties should be reversed. The doubt is with the miscalled Demo- 
 cratic party. As a charge upon the Whig party, it is unjust and unfounded, 
 and refuted by its whole history, from its organization to the present hour. 
 It has presented to the country for its support for President one, the leading 
 feature of whose administration will be to carry into execution the will of this 
 great people, fairly and deliberately expressed by their representatives, within 
 constitutional limits. Gen. Zachary Taylor is emphatically the people's man; 
 and the Convention at Philadelphia but gave utterance to the wish of the peo- 
 ple, as indicated all over the country, and in many instances without distinction 
 of party, through mass meetings, State conventions, Stc, in selecting him as 
 their candidate for the Presidency. 
 
 He does not suit the mere partisan. Though a Whig, he will give no pledges 
 to party. He has "no enemies to punish, and nothing but his country to serve. " 
 He will go into office untrammelled. He is neither a Northern man with South- 
 ern principles, nor a Southern man with Northern principles. He is an Ameri- 
 can, whose patriotism is co-extensive with the broad limits of his whole country. 
 He will not be the President of a party or section, but the President of the Na- 
 tion; and will endeavor, by a wise, prudent, and just administration, to protect 
 the interests of every portion of this wide spread Republic, and advance the 
 prosperity of the whole. 
 
 It is said, though, that he is deficient in capacity; that he does not write his 
 despatches and letters, they are written by some one else. I will call the venera- 
 ble editor of the Union to the witness stand once more, and only once, and hear 
 his evidence upon this point. In the Union of the 29th May, 1846, I find this 
 high testimony: 
 
 " The Pen worthy of the Sword. — Nothing can be more happy, appropriate, yet dignified, than 
 the despatches from General Taylor. They are worthy of the man and of the occasion which 
 has called them forth. We thoroughly agree with the compliment that the New Orleans Cou- 
 rier pays to the general order of General Taylor, ' giving thanks to his troops for their bravery 
 and good conduct. The American reader will remark with pride and pleasure the striking con- 
 trast it exhibits to the tedious, bombastic, extravagant, vainglorious productions of the Mexican 
 Generals. The neatness of its style is admirable — not a word too much, or in the wrong place 
 
15 
 
 — all in fine keeping with the energy and decision with which his military operations are con- 
 ducted.' " 
 
 The veteran Gen. Gibson says that he served with him on seventeen courts 
 martial, and that Gen. Taylor was invariably selected to draw up the reports 
 and proceedings of the court, some of which were very voluminous. 
 
 The testimony of the Honorable John C. Spencer, late Secretary of War, 
 of Colonel Humphrey Marshall, of Kentucky, and of General Persifer F. 
 Smith, is equally conclusive. Evidence on this subject might be multiplied, 
 but it is unnecessary. Such charges will pass, like the idle wind, unheeded. 
 In Gen. Taylor the people see those high qualities which fit him for the highest 
 station — a sound judgment, unsurpassed discretion, and incorruptible integrity. 
 He is the man of the age, and peculiarly adapted to the crisis. In his election 
 the drooping hopes of the patriot will revive, and he will indulge bright anticipa- 
 tions for the future; he sees in Zachary Taylor one who refuses to stand upon 
 the platform of party, but takes his position upon the higher and broader plat- 
 form — the Constitution, and brings to its interpretation a pure heart and clear 
 head, having no purpose but the good of his country. 
 
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