-4 U S P E E C 11 ^^: 1' MR. WARNER L. UNDERWOUD, Delivered in the House of Representatives, Jiugust 5, 1S56 — upon General Politics and the ^tate of Hie Union. Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. CHAInMv^f:— Noiliinj:; but u liigh ;ind stern sense of duty \vould authorize rnu, under existin'^ circuin- siancfeK, to iresjVtiss on the time of the commit- tee. Having been indisposed all the day — during' much of the time in bed, yet I have come here tonight to deliver my .sentiments and opinions on some of tiie questions now agitating the publie mind. I would that I were able to go largely into their consideration. Time not permitting me lo do .so, I trust 1 may be excused for taxin? the patience of the com- mittee, but for the few moments 1 shall oc- cupy on this occasion. Mr. Cliairman: There never has been a pe- riod in tile history of liiis Republic when tiie heart of the jiatriot was more chilled with fear and apprehension in regard to the future suc- cess and happine. ask pardon for having devoted so much time to it. I will, however, allude to one other puiiit. I am not prepared to admit that any one of ourNorthern Staies has relieved iti^elf of what Aiey now characterize the incubus of slavery from any principle of humanity. If the thing was done, it was done under the in- flience of self-interest. So it will generally be found, and so it has always been, and when- ever slavery ceases to be a matter ol interest, tlien in all human probability, and not till then will the United States be relieved of it. 1 have sometime thought, sir, I think now — however inscrutible it may lie to us — that, perhaps, one of the wisest dispensations of Providence is to be found in tiie iact that some of the African race were placed iiere under t'le benign influ- ence of cliristianity, and the elevating ten- dencies of Anglo-Saxon civilization, whence possibly in some day they may contribtue to transfer these exalted blessings, to christian- ize and civilize benighted Africa. There is another view of tiiis subject which I. desire to present. I wate, as a matter of diimentnl oonditions of God mid in;in \\ liich nre established, and in Rubordinatiyii to wliich we Iiave mir liping. We all know that in large portions of the United Siates and positive his-tory and of actual fact, now obtain- i tiona (inchiHinp: tije question of Blavery) in msrat iliispresentmoment,thatthe North is now | their owrt way. Tliatisthe principle on whi;h denvinjjasmiutlipecuniary benefit, day by day, ; our country was settlfd, when our faibeis Hiid hour bv hour, from I hs firoceeds and pro- ! planted themselves ;tt Jamestown, and al'>i>untry, may have been a misfor- tune. I say, to a certain extent — for I should regard it as desirable to have the peace aii({ bar territory and property of the United States, and grossly invades my private and individual rights. The great question as to what should or should not be property, is not legitimately the subject of ordinal y legislative action, either State or national. The American peopi e have mony which we enjoyed before the repeal of that ever regarded tins question as so vital and im- aci, restored. Yet I have to say, that that mis- I portant, that they never intrust it to any other fortune exists in so far, and in so far only, in j than to a high constitutional convention — con- niy judgment, ihat the repeal of the Missouri ' gregated under the most solemn sanctions— and Compromise has been made a pretext for those | usually subjected to their revisory action, agitations which are now threateninir to o\ erturn I This great American principle is destructive, the institutions of the country. But I do not ! in my judgment, of all the modern notions of regard it as apolitical wrong'; and had I been popular sovereignty in the Territory, whereby here as I was, though not as a representative ! the first .'>0 or .5(10 men that get to the Territory, of the people, I should have voted for the re- 'after its establishment by Congress, may meet peal of the -Missouri Compromise. No South- ' in a legislative .\ssembly, and declare what ern man, in my judgment, could well refuse to '' shall or shall not be property in that Territory ; have voteu fur its repeal. 1 believe, and I here ' and yei to this doctrine I understand Mr. Bu- state dis'.iiicily, that in my o[)inion, the princi- j chanan nnv,-, and his followers, to be distiiicily pies embodied in the bill repealing that compro- j committed. inise, are the true principles of the Constitution I But I return to the question of the Missouri and '.he true policy of the Government, and that ' Compromise. I hold u to be inconsistent with they are tiie true principles on which our Ter- | the spirit and history of the American people, ritorics are to be settled — that is, to leave the ' and the character and genins of our Goveru- I'erriiories, v.hen they come to adopt their ^ ment and institutions, to suppose for a moment, constitutions, to settle Uieir domeatic inati^u- ! that those great men who formed our Consuia- lion — many of whom had fought- in tiie Revo- . ted to him. ' Why sir, he declared in tHe SenHte lotion, nnd uil of wliom were pre-eminently j of the United Statee that he did not know even . ftiroiliar with tll^; principles upon which the that he voted for it, and expressed great dia- (, colonies decltired their independence of Grfat i trust of its constitntionality. Ptrirain — sliould, v/lien they came to form aj ISTow 1 say to gentlemen from the Northern Constitution for their couritry, establish that i states, that v/hen 1 have shown that many b y^'y principle, and confer on the General Gov , -pr n men t that very power, to resist which, the .(,■5^:01:, of the Revolution iiad been successfully , way:ed. I mean the power of a legislative as- sembly to make laws for those not represented iherei " . - . elect of the most distinguished men of that day, and ever since, hare declare their belief in ihe un- constitutionality of this Missouri restriction, is there any occasion for denouncing the men who repealed it, in such terms of bitterness and vitu- The people of the Territory, may i peraiion as they continually use, or for arous- Delegate, and he may speak, but j m^ such fresh and violent hostility to one of he has no voto, and is, therefore, in no sense a j the institutions of their sister states. Representative. ' But it is said that the Alissouri line v/as a I will not i'urther argue the question, but : comproviise, and at the same time it is said that proposeto fortity my positions by the authority I the South exulted over i's passage as a tri- cf some ofourH-evolutiouary fathers themselves, ! umph. One of those positions destroys the who more tlian all (Hhers ought to be re- I other. If it were a compromise, then there ^^■arded as ihe proper and legitimate interpreters 1 was conciliation, agreement, harmony. If it of the meaning of that inslruinen/, the work I was a triumph then there had been conflict, con- their own hands. We have the recorded i troversy and the battle of contendmg parties. opinion of Jefferson about the time the Mis- souri act was passed emphatically against it. Here is his letter to Mr. Moltnes of Maine, dated 20ih April, ]820, in which he says It was no compromise ; it was a mere act of le- gislation. Yet at that early day there were those who bitterly profaned what tliey now loudly proclaim to be sacred. Thev disre£;ardedit even "An abstinence, too, from fhis act of power j in the admission of Missouri for which it was would remove the jealosy excited by the un- j formed, and they have refused to recognize it deriaking of Congress to regulate the condition as a principle when eVer an opportunity has of the different discripiions of men composing occurred, for its practical application to the a State. This, certainly, is the exclusive right territories of the Union. of every State, which noiliing in tlie Constitu- \ In thus hurrying so rapidly over the points I iion has taken from them and given to the Gen- [ have to make, 1 uo justice neither to the suh- eral Ciovernnieiit. Could Congress, for ex^im- I ject nor to myself. Yet the brief lime ailoiteii, pie, say that the now freemen of Connecticut leaves me no other alternative, .should !>e freemen, and tJiat they shall not emi- * I have said that the question of slavery is the grate into any other State .'" { all-absorbing question of the day. So it is; but This is plain and explicit, and on the very I it is not the only one now agitating the public question. miiici. There are others v/iiich engross mucii Again, in a letter to Mr. Madisoij on the j attention and discussion. The American PiUty same subject, he says : to which 1 belong has essayed to consider and "1 am indebted to you for your two letters provide for them all. — 1 will very briefly refer of February 7 and 19. Tliis Missouri question ' to some of them. First, in regard to that ele- by a geographical line of division, is the most ment of alarm and danger growing out of the portentous one 1 have ever contemplated." * * enormous influx of foreign immigration, which "Is ready to risk the Union for any chance of j for the la.st ten years has emptied itseif upon restoring his party to power, and wrigging him- 1 our shores at the rate of from a quarter to a. .self to the head of it." half million per year. I desire to distinctly Again he is reported to have said, and I be- state, though the contrary has been loudly jiro- • lieve correctly; that when he first heard of the claimed by our opponents, that the American Missouri Compromise, v/hereby the territory ' Party does not wage war on foreigners. We of the United States was decided by a geogra- only wish to save the free institutions of the phicai line, on one side of which slavery was [country from social and political deterioration, excluded and on the other tolerated, "it sound- The foreigner who leaves his native laud and ed to them like a fire bell atnigiit." [comes here with an honest purpose to sustain I have before me the letter of Jvmes Madi- 1 our institutions in their pure republican spirit, son, the father of the Constitution, upon this has notning to fear from tlie American Party, subject, the lenght of which prevents me from That party welcomes such men. But we iio publishing i:. It may be found in the speech intend, if we can, to keep tVoin our shores those of the distinguished Senator from Delaware, vvno "leave their Country lor their country's .Mr. Clayton, delivered in the Senate on the good," and come to ours 2d of July last, which fully sustains all the I desire especially, in view of the mighty and positions I have taken on this subject. And perilous dangers that now impend over i^e Sir, there are other great statesmen of that day country, that is jnanagement and political sup- M'ho have avowed opinions coincident with his. port shall be in the hands of those who proper- Mere let me say, as was said by a distin- ly understanditsnecessiiies — who understand the guished citizen of Kentucky — (Mr. Clay him- various duties which are required of the citizen, self) that nothing more demonstrated the un- j and who shall exercise a just and iiittiiigenc certainty of history than the fact that the pa- ] discrimination so as to place power into proper rentaife of this Mis.souri restriction was aitriOu- hands. Thus far, and thus fdr only, in thi« pirtxuiar connection, are \ve disposed to go; ; people. And we reirard them the more dan- and, sir, I appeal to any man, in rercrence tn j^enius when they tell us ilus ulieiriiince jm this pnrticidar time and period in ourcountry's ■ si.iriiuai, i.ot temporal, for it is the alle"iiince Jiistory, if it is not pre-eminently more safe to j of the spirit tha' i^overns the man. entrust the destinies of the United States to the Having thus far considered the questions tliat voice and guidance of American citizens rather | agitate the public mind, 1 come now brielly to than to the rude rabble that comes over to this ' consider tliforeiensions of the various Presulen- country attheraleof three or four hundred thou- I tiai candidates for the sulFrases of the Americnn sand a year, from foreign lands. But mis ques- tion has beensofullydiscussed, and isso well un- derstood, 1 will notgo intniisdiscnssion further. ' I wish to allude to another subject, which people. 1 will not iinderrake particularly to dis- cu.ss the pretensions of iVlr. Fremont. I do not really know, to be very honest alx ut it, what his pretensions are. 1 have never heard that he has entered very freely into the discussions of | had any pretensions based upon high piditical the day. — 1 allude to the Catholic question. — | renown or distinguished military achievemeui.s. My colleague and friend, Mr. .Tewett. will par- | I regard Mr. Fremont merely as the impersona- tion of an idea, anil 1 suppose that airnosi any body else would iinp«-rsonate that idea as well as he. That he is a gallant man, that he han stemed the torrent, that he has climbed ihe mountain, that he has been imperiled in snows, that he has dined upon horse flesh and fed on dog's meat, i do not deny. Ijut i ap- prehend that in all of these things, Kit C.irson is hJ3 equal, and any of the wesfern trappers are don me if I do not undertake to jinswer his constitutional argument against the righi.s of American citizens, upon whatever princifile or pretext they chose to adopt, to vote for whom- soever they please. My Ci)lleague entered into a. labored a'.-gument of three or four columns of the Globe, to prove that this right of Ameri- can citizens to vote, wa.s, in certain instances, namely, whenever they declared they would vote for no cine who recognized an allegiance, I his superiors. !f he lias accomplished any spiritual or temporal, to a foreign pope, prince I great political work, history has failed to re- or potentate, in conflict with the Constitution, j cord it. Yet, sir, that gentleman has gatiiered 1 had thought that it was a constitutional right 1 around him a great political party. jNow, sir, which every one had to vote for whomsoever he j if it be for the purpose of takin'iemont will be false to ihe dictates of jialrioii.sm and duty. 1 shall be willing to wail, but 1 must declare that I see nonies, and issued thence their edicts aiul j evil and only evil from the occurrence of such orders to the subordinate clergy of Arneri- J an event as his clecnon. Jt would be the hist cii. But after we dissolved the political bonds | instance which has occurred in the history of which united the two countries, our fathers also this country, when upon sectional grounds- and rent asunder the spiritual bonds which bound them to the mother country, So also acted the Methodists, the Lutherans, and all other of the chuiches except the Romanists. So far as tiie Catholic, the Protestant, the Presbyterian, the Baptist, the Methodist, and all other denomi- nations, are concerned, we place them all on the same level; and if any of them recognize any foreign dictation or influence, spiritual or temporal, we do not regard them as entitled to for purely sectional purposes, a man unsus- tained by any strong peisonal consiueraiions, and who has never illustrated the history of his country by the wiMJoin t.f liis counsel or tlie briilaiicy of his arms, has been elevated to the chief office of the country lor the purj)ose of carrying out sectional purposes. 1 trust it will not be, and yet 1 trust if it should be, that Heaven will avert from our beloved country, the evils that seem to be inevitalde t'rom so sad the votes of American freemen, or worthy to j an event. So much, and so much only have I be tristed with the destiny sf the Amerirnn ' now to say in regard to Mr. Fremont. The other candidate whom I slmll as briefly noiice is the | mepjiing of that word, and I believe some have clisiiiiiiuisliecj j:;entleman from Pennsylvania. — j cslied him a Hartford ConverAwn Ftderalist. That iVir. Bucl'.anan is n distinguished niao, ] ; Nobody, I presume, will deny the nut.heniicity do nor. liesitHie to admit. There is vviiii hiin ] ot' this oration. If uny repiesciitaiive of his upon the Democratic, ticket a friend of mine. ] [Slate will correct nie in regard to the fact will not imita'e the example of one of my ! whether he did or did not deliver this speech colieairues. when speakuii^ of Mr. Donaldson, j attributed to him, I slinll be f;iad to receive and nse any disparairins: remaiks of John C. 1 tl-e correction. If not, 1 will take it just a.s I Breckenridge- One of my colleagues, (Mr. ] received it from the public journals: and I sup- Elliott,) not now pre.seni, when speaking of j pose it to be true. No gentleman hav!n<^ de- Mr. Donaldson, was pleased to call him " the I nied its genuineness, I siiall take it for gi anted greasy Tennesseean." it is so. But who is Mr. Buchanan .' It might seem 1 What next, sir.' Why, sir, in the county of presumptuous that so liunibie an nulividual as , Lancaster 1 next find the distinguished gentle- ] am should unilertake to criticise the character | man at what wuuld be now called anAbolitiiui of a gentleman wlio lias filled so large a space i meeting, and proposing aboliiion resolutions in the public eye as Mr. Buchanan. But ihe | cisslrongjis any that even Mr. Giddings, whom peculiar advocates and friends of Mr. Buchanan i see before nie, would care to do. Then have gone out of the way, as 1 ihmk, in criii- ' again we find that distinguislied gentleman 'stanoir.g m ihe front rank of pro-slaveryism, as iar ahead of the common file, as Diiah was wiien ici^ing the history of one of his disiinguished coDipetitors, Mr. Filbnore — and therefore hum- ble as [ run, I will venture to take a brief sur- vey of the historj' ot Mr. Buchanan. I depre- cate this necessity that the friends of Mr. Bu- chanan have forced upon me. But I cannot permit them by there railing accusations against Mr. Fillmore, to conceal tlie political deformity and uncleiuuiess of Mr. Buchanan. The tiist foot [nint, upon the sands of time that I have been able to lind, left by Mr. Bu- chanan, for the special admiration of his demo- cratic friends, is an oration delivered by him at Lancaster, on the 4th of July, 1815, a day consecrated to patriotism, but desecrated by j placed in the "fore frotu" by David. Here are the resolutions adopted at Lancaster : j " Mr. James Buchanan, of Lancaster, ore- sented the following resolutions : '^ Rcsvtved, th&i the representatives in Con- gress from this district be, and they are hereby most earnestly requested to use their utmost endeavors, as niember>> of the national Legisla- ture, to privtnl the txisltnce of slavny in any of the Territories or States which may be erected by Congress. " Resvlvtd, That in the opinion of thi.« meet- ihe members of Con irress who at the last him on that occasion to the unmitigated abu^e j session sustained the cause of justice, human- 'of the original democratic party — "vlr Madison i i'y and pairioiism in oppo.-ing liie intnJduction — and the war of IbVi — from which 1 make a j oi slavery into the Slate then endeavored to be single extract which at once exhibits his abuse : formed of the Misnouri Territory, are entitled of the democratic party, his hostility to the 1 lo the warmest thanks of every 'friend of hu- war of 1812, and his advocacy of the United j maniiy." States BanK- lie said : ! Mr. JEW^ETT, I hope when my colleague " Time will not allow me to enumerate all , publishes the Lancaster resolutions, which he the other wild and kicked projects of the j says were furnished liim by a friend, that he democratic administration. Suince to say, ', will incorporate the uncpjalified denial, in the that after they had deprived us of the means of' presence of his author, by Hon. Mr. Jones, of defence, by destroying our navy and disbanding i Pennsylvania, of Mr. Buchanan's connection our army : after they had taken away from j with said resolutions. us the power of re creating them, by ruining I Mr. UNDERWOOD. I willinsert them with commerce, the great source of our national and j the endorsement not only ot the geiulenian (Mr. individual wealth ; alter ihty had, by refusing I Fiiller,) to whom I am indebted for them, but of the Bank of the United States a conlinualion of. others. Fcr 1 am auihoriztd by other gentie- its charter, and hara.ssing tlie financial concerns j men of the Pennsylvania delegation, to give to of the government, and withdrawn the only ■ Mr. Buchanan, the sole and undivided honor, universal paper medium of the country from , which belongs lo the paternity of liiese resolu- o.irculmion ; after the people had become un- i tions. This may be set down as the second accustomed to, and, witiioul money in the : stage in his political travel. In 1847 Air. Bu- Treasury, they rashly plunged into a "war with chanan wrote his celebrated Berks county Iqt- a nation more able to do us injury than any j lei'j m which he advocated the extension of other in the world. What was the dreadful | the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific necessity for this desperate measure.' W'^as ocean ; and expressed his belief that the safety our country invaded i^ No. Were our hber- j of the Union depended upon it ; and, as if de- ties in danger.' No. Was it lo protect our i terinined to occupy both sides of every ques- litlie remaining commerce from ilie injuries i tion, lie now stands forth before the country sustained by the orders in council. No. Com merce was not such a favorite, and the n.er chants wished for no war on that account." Here we have the commencement of Mr Buchanan's piditical history. Speaking ii as the chusen leader and champion of those who repealed it — dechiring that that repeal must be maintained at every hazard. From the oration to which I have referred, in which Mr. Buchanun expres-sed his bitter railroad phrase, it was his fir.st station. He { and releiules.s opposition to Mr. INJadison, and waB then a Fe.dfraiUt, in /he most emphatic ; the war of J81:2, one wouM at least euppose lie vvns a imin of peace and srrupiilnusly re- ^iifdfiil of the i'<;hts of other nations. Time iirul ihe |)ro<;ress of evt'ius luive atuiiiJed hirn an opportunity to presetit his cliameleon hues 10 his countrymen even in this reicartl. He who prated then so much airainR'- 'he v/nr, waeed so iioblj'- by his couniiymen in the as- sertion of free sieas and sailor's riiihts, is now in t'avor of a u-ar with Old Spain, if nece.ssary under the Fillibiisterin<^ doi;triiies of tiie Os- ' tend conference — the manitesto of wiiicli, it is understood, was prepared by liiin — to rob her of Cuba, in tlie event she will not sell it on terms the United States may re;!jard as reason- able. It would seem that these nalpaljle inconsis- tencies were enoui^h for the history of any one man, yet even they are not all in the revolving; scenes that Mr. Buchanan has dehj^hted to fur- nisii. It IS atllrmed o! him and tiullit'ully, I believe, that he was an ardent friend of the U. States Bank — and then as ardently a^Minst it. That he was at one time an advocate of a high tarilf, and liberal protection to American labor and productions. At another, of low lariiis — and low wages, till he came to be called, as he perhaps deserved to be, "Ten cent .Timiiiy." 1 v.'ill not trace his sumersets further. I will turn fur a moment to a consideration of the po- sition the so called Democratic party, occupies on the suhje<^t of slaver}'. I do this because" this party a.ssumes to be singularly harmonious in its opinions and conservritive in us action upon this question — and cinims in the South, to be the especial and peculiar oruardiaiis of the slavery interests. Mr. Chairman, let me say to my Southern friends, in perfect candiir and honesty, that this is a cheat and a delusion. — Why, "sir, the Free Soil party of the JNorih, owes its paternity to the Democratic party, and IS fed and supplied from and by it. lu ib-lS, we had no such party, save a f-^w stra^ir^ling abolitionists, such as Garrison, Giddiiig- &. Co. But when Mr. Van Buren tailed in tliat year to receive the nomination for the Presidency, by the Democratic party, at Baltimore, he and Ills friends held another convention at Butfalo, New York, and then and liiere inaui^urated the regular "Free Soil Party,'' the leading princi- ple of whicii was declared to he "opposition to the extension of slavery." Thousands of De- mocrats followed him, and that same Martin Van Buren, and his son John, and those De- mocrats, standing .still on the Hudltio Plat- form, wliich they have never repudiated, are now the earnest supporters and advocates of James Bucharian for the Pre.sidency. Mr. Chairman, do you suppose they do not know v/hat they are about .' Can you for a moment iniiigine that the Father of Free-Soilism will give his support to other than a Free Soiler? Why sir, I do not know a leading man of the Free' Soil Party, who was not and is not a De- mocrat. Such was Hale, and Wihiiot, and llan- mui and Chase, and Wade and Tappan, and Stuart, and Harlan, and Durkee, and Turn- hull and Banks and Grow, and hundreds of oihers, 1 could name. And our Southern Demo- crats make a pitiable cry that they have been destroyed in the North by the Know Nothings, as if they cnnid be devtiured, or deprived of the right of sulfrase. Why, the Know Nothings tried to save them, but they woulil not be sa- ved. They rushed peil mell into the arms of nb- olifionism, and lost' by their own net, for m> one could have taken it from them t!ie politi- cal ascendency and power they |i(>psessed ntllie commencement of the Pierce administration, f will not go into the ciuses that led them to do so. They did it. and the Democratic party at the North, stands fully aboHtionized this day. Yet I admit that there are Northern gentlemen who claim to be Deiliocrats and deny being ab- olitionists. I affirm of these, that they are no less Free Soilers in the main, than their fellows. Why sir, v,-ho does not know that thi.'i class of the Northern Demncracv. stand- ing upon the same platform with their Soutliern brethren, iiave been the loudest advocates of the Kansas and Nebraska bill and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, because they contended it was a measure of Freedom, and enabled the North to exclude slavery from new States formed South of 36° 3U'. Such was the position tiiken by President Pierce, and such was proven, unon the interrogation of my col- league, Mr Cox, to be the ground general- ly maintained by the Northern Democracy, and I now furth.er and distinctly affirm, that of those who have steadily ^o-operated with the Black Republican party — ^I use the phrase m no invidious sPrtse — twenty-five were elected i\s Democrats, and twenty- two of them voted for Mr. Banks. It is therefore both melancho- ly and ludicrous to hear Southern Democrats boasting of their Northern allies. They keep with them "'.he word of promise to the ear, but break it to the hope." I turn nov/, Mr. Chairman, "from these muddy Wiiters to a piirer spring." I come to say a fe\'.- words in regard to Milliard Fillmore, the National American candidate for the Pre- sidency. It is one of the saddest contempla- tions in regard to liuman action that no degree of personal or political purity, of self sac- rificing devotion, and lofty virtue can entirely relieve man J^from the detraction of his fellow. High and bright as has been Mr. Fillmore's political c.ireer, he unfortunately is not an ex- ception to this general rule, and I have t» re- great that one of my colleagues for whom I en- tertain the kindest regard, Mr. Burnett, has drawn up a regular hill of indictment against hiin, in which he is pleased to charge upon him as crinres, what if jiroperly understood, will be reirarded by the American people as virtues. His first accusation against him, I believe is, that he voted for the reception and reference of Abolition Petitions; from which my colleague ssems to infer, he was necessarily in iavor of every thing these jietitions contain- ed: and by this evidence, and none better, he charges him with being in favor of the aboli- tion of slavery nnd the slave trade in the Dis- trict of Columbia; the abolition of the inter State slave trade; the uori admission of Slave States, and 1 know not how many other poli- tical enormities. With great kindness, 1 say to my colleague, his argument is unworthy of his own good fame, and I wonder if niy col- LiBRftRV OF CONGRESS !ea!]^ue would be uiilii)ii contained in a petition he nii^ht ed as a representative to pres-em. Does u coileai^iie know, that some years agi'> there Wtis a great question in Coiiifress, as to the pregent- sitioii anii reception ot'iheseRbolition memorjalsr One party claiming, that however opposed they nii^'ht be to th" prayer of a petition, it was in- cident to the threat ii;:ht of Fetiti'-n secured by tiie constitution that it shnnld be received and referred. The other that it should be indig jiHiitiv rejected. To the fust of these parties, Mr. Fillinori belonged, and does not ihe gen- tleman know that Jiis own candidate, Air. Bu- (ihai.an, not only voted for the reception of Ab- Hlilion Petitions, but presented them himself. — My colleague in his zeai to strike Air. FiiJmore, forgets that by the sfime bio v.- be knocks down his friend — and the connu-y knows that lo the refusal by Congre.'S to receive these Abolition Petitions', more than to any other cause, ihe Abolitioiiis'iS by jdentifyaijj themselves wiih the great right of |petiiion, owe their early growth and expan.sion. Aly colleague has made himself the instrument of perfeiing a new accu.saiion against Ivlr. Fiiimore, in order more effecLuaily, according to Democratic usage, lo play upon Southern ProtJiaveryism. This accusation is that Air. F. pardoned two men, Dray tun and Sears, who ran olfii' a schooner fr«m "Washington with 72 slaves. I have look- ed into the ficts of that case, and I am happy to say, that i have greatly mi.sapprehtnded the goodness of my colleague's heart, if in the some situation, he had luitaclfd precisely as Air. Fill- more did. These men in- their eftort to run off with these slaves, were arrested, the slaves return- ed to iheir owners. Drayton and Sears, were con- victed and fined in a large sum of money, the one half payable to. the owners of the slaves, and the other to the Government. 'Ihey were committed to jail in default of paynient — and were there ccnfined for four years, being poor and unable to pay the money. In this slate of the case, a majority of the owners of these slaves — together with others, the most respect- able citizens of the (;oniinunity— petitioned the President lo pardon them. The ov/ners of the slaves well knew that poor as ihese men were, so long as they continued to be imprisoned, there was no possibility of their paying then- proportion of the fines asses.^ed against them. Under this state of the case, the President re- leased them from imprisonment, expressly holding them bound for ihe payment of every cent of the penalty payable to the owners of the slaves. But my colleague revives the accusation, that Air. Fillmore ap|)Ointed Free-soil ers to office, and had some of ihein even in his Cabi- net. One would have supposed that a cham- pion and supporter ijf the Pierce administration would have furboii.'e this cluirge — an adminis- tratioi) having leading iVee-soilers in its Cabi- jiet. — which has not only distinguished itself by the number of its abolition appointments, but which, to make room for more of them, has actually removed from ollice hundreds of con- 011 898 302 5 ais m I\"e\v York and orious free-.soilers in ar lo notice further eauf.ns. They fall as harmles.'? j at the feet of Air. Fillmore, in the light of his ! illustrious history, as the snow-flake falls on I the statue of Washington. Tliere he stands — i above all eulogy of mine — upon the platform j erected by the American Party — with a history I which shames into silence ail the charges of ' sectionalism brought against him, either from j tile North or from the South — proclaiming to ! all, " If there be those either Is'ofth or South i who desire an administration tor the North as i Hgdiiist the South, or for the South us against ] the North, they are not the men who should ■ give their suffrages to me. For my own part, I 1 knew only my country, my v.iiole country, i and iioliiidg but my country."' I Air. Fremont is the c^uididate of the North, ; against tlie South; — Air, Buchanan is the cnn- I didaie of the South against the North. This ! vv-ar of the sections, as 1 have endeavored to '• portray, is the damning danger of the hour. I 1 ask, then, if there is no National party; no I true men to the whole land, as one and indi- j visible; no broad conservatism, that loving all ; would .still fold all in ihe embraces of a com- I mon Union: Thank God ! I answer, there is, I — and AliLL.ARD Fillmohe, ripe with experi- j ence, tested and tried in times of peril and of danger — having once before rescued his country Irom the storms of faction, to the sunlight of I peace — stands ready again to lead the patriot ! warriors for the Constitution and the Umon.to victory, ami repose. i One word only more. I am gifted with no ! prophetic vision ; yet 1 will not hesitate to ' say that if all, both North and South, who in their hearts desire the election of Air. Fillmore, and who believe that thereby the glory and prosperity of their country will be best secured, will discard all cowirdly fears of results, and come up bravely and give him their earnest and patriotic support, Jie will be elected by a triumphant and overwhelming majority. Yet whatever may be the result of the coming con- test, I desire to smy, it will not shake the alle- giance of Kentucky to the Union of the.se Slates — unless other causes than a constitu- tional Presidential election, with the result of which she is dissatistied, conspire to drive her from it. Kentucky regards disunion as no rem- edy for any political ills. She regards it as po- litical death, and worse than death — damnation. It is the judgment which ueclares, now and forever, that man is incapable of seli-govern- nient — and that our Revolution and our history aie but "a tale, told by an idiot, signifying nothing." Mr. Chairman, there is a modest stone m yonder monument, erected to the memory of Washington, in which is recorded in prophetic language, the faith — ihe undying faith of Kentucky. Thus it reads : •' Under the blessing of Heaven and the precepts of Washington — Kentucky will be the last to give up the Union." In this faith her children will live — and to carry it out, they are ready to die. ^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 01 1 898 302 6