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 STATE OF THE UNION. 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. JUSTIN S. MORRILL, OF VERMONT, 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEBRUARY 18, 1861. 
 
 .^^I' 
 
 The House having under consideration the report from 
 the select committee of thirty-three — 
 
 Mr. MORRILL said: 
 
 Mr. Speaker: It is useless to disguise, and trai- 
 torous to increase, the gravity of the occasion. 
 Against the Government established by Wash- 
 ington, a rebellion, formidable in its proportions 
 and portentous in its results, is even now buck- 
 ling on its armor, and with vigorous diplomacy 
 courting allies. I am painfully aware how vain 
 forme would be the attempt to stay this down- 
 ward revolution; and, if I cannot arrest it, I will 
 do nothing to accelerate its execrable speed. I 
 do not underrate the martial spirit of the South: 
 and those who imagine there is nothing to be 
 dreaded by the tocsin that assembles the North in 
 arms, know little of the fire that now lies concealed 
 in northern ice. " Let but a single gun be fired 
 in this capital," to use the words of one of my 
 correspondents, " and *there would not be men 
 enough left at home in the North to milk the 
 cows." It is growing too evident that in each 
 section of our country the war-dogs only need to 
 be let loose to cut the Gordian knot we have so 
 long unsuccessfully struggled to untie. Expect- 
 ant heroes, the cavaliers and the roundheads, al- 
 ready stand on tiptoe to vindicate their respective 
 claims; on one side the eagerness to commence, and 
 on the other the reluctance to leave off, a fratricidal 
 war. He that does not pause ere he scars the 
 pages of history with such acontest, is a madman. 
 It is not because I doubt the mettle of my own 
 people that I pause, but because I know their 
 pluck. Therefore, not until all hope of the Union 
 shall pass away, will I whet the edge of animos- 
 ities by imitating the bad example of some gen- 
 tlemen in sending forth the war-whoop, instead of 
 sober arguments and reasonable conclusions. 
 
 Recognizing the fact that there appeared to be 
 an organized plan to revolutionize and break up 
 the Government, a conspiracy to blot out the Dec- 
 laration of Independence and subvert the Consti- 
 tution, I voted in favor of raising the committee 
 of thirty-three, when it was proposed, in order to 
 give those who represented that portion of our 
 country loudest in their complaints an opportu- 
 nity to be heard to the utmost latitude; and not 
 because any real grievance was visible to me — 
 always excepting that some men were about to 
 go out of office, and others were about to come in. 
 I would consider the complaints of a single indi- 
 vidual; and could not, therefore, reject unheard 
 those of whole States. The Representatives from 
 the disaffected section were each our equals, and 
 respectable in numbers, and therefore, if they pro- 
 posed it, entitled to the right of being heard. I 
 do not regret that vote. This opportunity has 
 been granted; and yet, I confess, while there is a 
 fertility of apprehensions, no real grievance has 
 been made manifest. Our admirable and complex 
 form of Government in all its operations has ex- 
 hibited as little friction, as little of local hardship, 
 as any ever devised by the wit of man. 
 
 It is undeniably true that, if the late election had 
 resulted in the defeat of Mr. Lincoln, no revolu- 
 tion would have been precipitated, and no new 
 guarantees to slavery would have been required 
 at our hands. But, while we have been victori- 
 ous in the campaign, we are invited to submit to 
 what would not even have been suggested had 
 we been defeated; ay, and invited to submit to 
 what nearly two thirds of the popular vote of the 
 Democratic party itself rejected; for one million 
 three hundred and sixty-five thousand nine hun- 
 dred and seventy-six Democrats, in voting for 
 Mr. Douglas, voted against the protection of sla- 
 
 ^ I 
 
,At>^ 
 
 very in the Territories; and only ciglit hundred ; of that secel 
 and forty-seven thousand nine liundrcd and fifty- , wolves of 
 
 three for Mr. Breckinridge, in favor of it. Under 
 these circumstances, the demand made is a hu- 
 miliation to which no party can submit. In 1820 
 the Missouri compromise was established, and 
 its repeal was never agitated by the North. In 
 1828 John duincy Adams was defeated on charges 
 of extravagance, although tlie expenditure was 
 not one sixth of what we now witness; but the 
 North submitted. In 1832 General Jackson was 
 Tcelccted on the ground of hostility to the United 
 States Bank; and when the bank went dojvn, all 
 acquiesced. In 1844 Mr. Polk was elected be- 
 cause he was in favor of " the rcanncxation of 
 Texas," and "extending the area of freedom;" 
 and when Texas came in, with four slave States 
 extended on its banner, even then there was no 
 rebellion. In 1848 the Wilmot proviso was de- 
 feated; but no secession followed. In 1854 the] 
 Missouri compromise was repealed; and yet the I 
 Union stood firm, notwithstanding this combined j 
 blunder and crime. In 1860 Mr. Lincoln was 
 elected, because he was opposed to the extension : 
 of slavery into the Territories, and opposed to the 
 general maladministration of the Government for 
 the last eight years That verdict of the people 
 cannot be reversed, except by the people them- 
 selves, four years hence. I trust it may never be 
 reversed. Meantime it must be accepted by all 
 order-loving, Constitution-obeying men. If the 
 South did not mean to abide by the result— only 
 on the principleof" heads I win, tails you lose" 
 — they should not have courted the issue, nor 
 made the appeal to the ballot-box. Having par- 
 ticipated in the election, it is too late to reject the 
 verdict. They will find consolation in the best 
 of books, "The patient abiding of the righteous 
 shall be turned to gladness." 
 
 Whatever fate may betide our country , the Dem- 
 ocratic party has much to do to redeem itself from 
 the odium of the present crisis, and I would urge ] 
 it to that patriotic end. A Democratic President j 
 has not used his high prerogative to estop the dis- 
 memberment of the Republic, but only to license 
 anarchy. He has looked benignly on secession. 
 Like a clever old man, with unruly sons, he has 
 deprecated their conduct by saying, " Don't; but 
 if I were you I would, and I can't help it if you 
 do." It is not a difficult feat for the officers and 
 crew to scuttle and sink the slaunchest of ships; 
 and any Government may go down when its own 
 oflicers betray their trust, or lapse into corruption 
 and imbecility. The names of those now or re- 
 cently in command, will have a page not to be 
 envied in future history. Nor will it be lost sight 
 
 j begotten and nursed by the 
 ocralic party. The true men 
 now take care of their own rep- 
 
 of this i^ai. 
 utation. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, not having,been able to coincide 
 with the honorable chairman, who presented the 
 views of the majority of the committee of thirty- 
 three, nor yet altogether with the views of any of 
 the minority reports, I feel it to be my duty to 
 take this method of explaining what, in my judg- 
 ment, should be done, and what should not be 
 done, with the various subjects upon which we 
 shall soon be called upon to act. 
 
 And first let me say, that the course of those 
 occupying extreme positions in tlie South, before 
 and especially since ourassembling here, has made 
 it embarrassing for me, or any of us who would 
 preserve the Constitution in all its vigor, to listen 
 even to words of conciliation; while anything like 
 compromise has never been possible for a moment. 
 Compromises are under the ban of all parties, and 
 to the advocates of secession ,who mean revolution, 
 more odious than to any other. If any State or 
 States may withdraw their Senators and Repre- 
 sentatives, seize forts, ships, arsenals, mints, hos- 
 pitals, and dock-yards, whenever an election term- 
 inates adversely to their political opinions, and 
 then demand terms— fundamental changes of or- 
 ganid laws — before they will return to their alle- 
 giance, what is our Constitution, with all its his- 
 toric splendor, worth? Should such a course obtain 
 the sanction of serious concessions, the national 
 Government would be forever destroyed, and each 
 member of the family, as they acquired strength 
 and mettle for disobedience, might in turn defy 
 the law and order of the paternal roof unless some 
 portion of authority was aWicated , and some por- 
 tion of the estate was set apart for exclusive en- 
 joyment. I will do nothing to commit our Repub- 
 lic to this crumbling process of mutiny and decay; 
 I will do nothing to admit the doctrine of seces- 
 sion as the extreme medicine of the Constitution. 
 No one who desires the continuance of the Union 
 should consent to put it in a position of mere suf- 
 ferance — tenant at will — of one State, nor even a 
 dozen States. Self-preservation forbids that our 
 system should be inoculated with any such virus. 
 If the seceding States desire to quit the Union, 
 and to quit it forever, let them propose constitu- 
 tional amendments for that purpose, and calmly 
 submit them to the people. This is the only mode 
 by which the end aimed at can be reached with- 
 out civil war, and the utter demoralization of all 
 the parties who choose to maintain the present 
 Constitution. 
 
 I know that the existence of a party, as com- 
 
=% 
 
 3 
 
 pared with the existence of the Union, is a matter ! 
 of utter insignificance. But, at this time, there is 
 but one party which can be relied upon as an en- 
 tirety, and in all its integrity, in favor of the Union 
 and the Constitution as it is. If this party fails 
 in its duty, or lacks the courage equal to its mis- 
 sion, either the Union will be destroyed, or the 
 Constitution will be so changed that it might cost 
 less to abandon our inheritance thus incumbered 
 than to support it. Union men, in whatever party 
 now To be found, should acknowledge the neces- 
 sity and unite with us in rescuing the Govern- 
 ment from its present dangers; and when we reach 
 calmer seas, we shall have ample time to fight 
 about political diiFerences as practical issues arise. 
 Whether Representatives here show that patri- 
 otism or not, I feel sure the people will rally un- 
 der no other banner than the " stars and stripes." 
 For one, I cannot make what appears to me to 
 be concessions, nor consent to any measure that 
 shall lower the moral and political standard of the 
 great majority in the North. The South shall 
 have all its rights; but I am commissioned to sur- 
 render none. When the principles upon which I 
 was elected a member of this House become dan- 
 gerous to the country, I shall deem it my duty to 
 resign and go home ; but while I bdieve them vital 
 to its preservation, they will continue to be as- 
 serted. Measures intended for humiliation, forc- 
 ing the majority to capitulate to the minority, 
 will have no countenance from me. But, outside 
 of this, being victors, we can afford to be frank 
 and magnanimous, and do and say what we mean. 
 Rather, we cannot afford anything less. If some 
 future republican traveler from Naples or St. Pe- 
 tersburgh shall ever come here to sketch the ruins 
 of this temple of liberty, let him have no data to 
 note that it was shattered by mere perversity of 
 temper. Let the rock upon which we split — sla- 
 very extension — and no other, be marked on the 
 map. The assailants of the Union are now in the 
 ■wrong, and we must keep them so. I will not shut 
 my eyes to the fact that several States, with ap- 
 parent and sudden sanction of their people, have 
 started to leave us, with the intent never to return. 
 Other fixed stars of the Republic, with fear of 
 change, are perplexing the world. What I can 
 properly do to restore harmony, although it may 
 prove fruitless, I shall try. I will deal in truth, 
 frankness, and conciliation ; and shall favor such 
 measures as will not compromise, in my judg- 
 ment, the great principles of human liberty upon 
 which our Government was established — if such 
 shall be accepted as an adjustment of present diffi- 
 culties. Whatever I might do under ordinary cir- 
 cumstances, neither more nor less, I shall feel it 
 
 incumbent upon me to do now. To the people of 
 the South our party has been most pertinaciously 
 misrepresented; and I am willing to tell them that 
 we intend them no harm; that, if Jefferson and 
 Jackson were not dangerous, their apprehensions 
 are unfounded as to Mr. Lincoln. I am, there- 
 fore, willing to give a congressional certificate that 
 we have been slandered ; that the Republican party 
 of to-day is no blacker than the Republican party 
 whichj for twenty-four years in succession, found 
 in Virginia successful candidates for the Presi- 
 dency; and that Mr. Hamlin is as immaculately 
 white as is the gentleman from Ohio, [Governor 
 CoRwiN.] I feel sure the southern people, goadedJ 
 by calumnious oratory, have made a suicidal' 
 plunge; and I would give time for sober truth to 
 rise and reassert its empire. Not standing on the 
 soulless punctilio that they ought to have known 
 better than to leap into such turbid and bottomless 
 waters, let us fling them at least the driftwood that 
 may float them to the shore. If they can have a 
 chance to return by their own volition, it will cost 
 less than to plunge in after them, and they will be 
 better associates in all time to come. 
 
 It is not to those States now in armed revolt 
 that I would offer the calumet; for they are not 
 entitled even to an explanation to save them from 
 suicide. They have not asked it; they have ap- 
 pealed to no tribunal save that of force. But the 
 border States have, as yet, done nothing to earn 
 our hate, something rather to elicit praise; and to 
 them, made glorious by ancestral renown, and by 
 a common fame, precious by holding the ashes of 
 heroes and statesmen whom we have loved with 
 that wonderful love, " passing the love of wo- 
 men," to ihemlet us give assurances of a faithful 
 redemption of all the obligations imposed upon 
 us by the Constitution we have sworn to support, 
 and that fraternal sympathy that shall leave them 
 no excuse for seeking a foreign home. 
 
 Among the resolutions reported by the com- 
 mittee, not all of which received my assent, there 
 was one — 
 
 " That the several States be respectfully requested to 
 cause their statutes to be revised, with a view to ascertain 
 if any of them are in conflict with, or tend to embarrass or 
 hinder tlie execution of the laws of the United States ;" 
 
 to which I did assent, because it is respectful 
 in its tone, pertinent to States South as well aa 
 North; and because my own State had already 
 ordered precisely this thing to be done before we- 
 assembled here. Moved by her own sense of pro- 
 priety, Vermont will, in her own good time, do. 
 whatsoever is right — because it is right. I have 
 not given critical attention to what are called per- 
 sonal liberty bills, for none of them, nor any thing 
 
else, has prevented the execution of the fugitive 
 slave law, though repugnant to a large share of 
 the legal and moral sense of the country, which 
 the President says has been executed in every con- 
 tested case. That cannot be said of the neutrality 
 laws to prevent fillibusterism, nor of the laws for 
 the suppression of the African slave trade. 
 
 So far as the legislation of Vermont is con- 
 cerned, I think it has been intended to maintain 
 her reputation as the purest democracy in the 
 world , the very sanctuary of liberty, and to throw 
 around all her inhabitants, however humble, the 
 safeguards of the writ of habeas corpus and trial 
 by jury, as well as to prevent the nefarious crime 
 of kidnapping from being committed within her 
 borders. 
 
 Such laws as these are common, and ought to 
 be, to all the States. They arc merely legislative 
 authority to enforce a bill of rights, " dear to free- 
 men and formidable to tyrants only," and stand, 
 as the flaming sword to defend the rights of man, 
 as recognized in all our republican constitutions, 
 whenever they shall be assailed. 
 
 By the decision of the Supreme Court in the 
 case of Priggi's. Pennsylvania, which subsequent 
 events have rendered historical, it was decided 
 that the master could seize his slave as any other 
 property, wherever found, if there was no State 
 lawagainstit. Much of the legislation complained 
 of was therefore set in motion, to compel masters 
 to resort to United States authority, and prevent 
 the possibility of lawless seizure offrce black men. 
 In the same case, it was decided that the legisla- 
 tion of Congress excludes all State legislation on 
 the subject. Free State Legislatures, therefore, 
 very generally prohibited their officers from aid- 
 ing or assisting in such business. If this shows a 
 lack of comity, it was in pursuance of this decis- 
 ion of the Supreme Court. It is true, also, that 
 the rigors of the fugitive slave act of 1850 multi- 
 plied and intensified such statutes. If, however, 
 in doing this. State Legislatures have transcended 
 the object aimed at, and any of their statutes con- 
 flict with that section of the Constitution of the 
 United States which declares, that " no person 
 licld to service or labor in one State, under the 
 laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in con- 
 sequence of any law or regulation therein, be dis- 
 charged from such service or labor," they should 
 be repealed without debate. It is never to be for- 
 gotten, and especially not now, that the " Con- 
 stitution and the laws of the United States which 
 shall be made in pursuance thereof" is " the su- 
 preme law of the land," "anything in the con- 
 stitution or laws of any State to the contrary 
 notwithstanding." 
 
 One of the propositions of the committee, as 
 ■' offered by the distinguished gentleman from Mas- 
 sachusetts, is to provide an amendment to the 
 Constitution which shall forbid any possible fu- 
 ture interference with slavery in the States where 
 it exists. Such, Unquestionably, is the true mean- 
 ing of the Constitution now. I know of no party 
 having the remotest intention of giving it any 
 other construction. The Republican party, of all 
 others, bound themselves in the most solemn form 
 by the fourth resolution of the Chicago platform, 
 thus: 
 
 " That the maintPiiancc inviolate of tlie rights of the 
 State.Sjniid especially the right of each State to order and 
 control its own domestic institutions according to its own 
 ; judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power 
 on which tlie perfection and endurance of our political 
 \ fabric depends; and we denounce the lawless invasion by 
 armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter 
 under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes." 
 
 : That is explicit, and among cool men would 
 be so regarded. Unfortunately, all men at this 
 time are not cool. The resolution unanimously 
 adopted by this House on the 11th of February 
 last is even more explicit. Every member. Re- 
 publicans inclusive, for once in harmony. 
 
 "Resolved, That neither Congress nor the people or gov- 
 ernment of any non-slaveholding Slate lias the constitu- 
 tional right to legislate upon, or interfere with, slavery iji 
 any slaveholding State in the Union." 
 
 Surely, after this, the possibility of deception 
 must be considered effectually throttled. Only 
 those who desire to be cheated can be cheated. 
 
 I have been unwilling to consider any amend- 
 ment to the Constitution, lest a master work 
 should be botched by journeymen; and I have 
 tolerated the idea at this point alone, not because 
 I thought it necessary, but that, if accepted as 
 an adjustment of present difficulties, it might, 
 by perpetuating a part of our present Constitu- 
 tion — reenacting it, if you please^ — perpetuate the 
 whole. But I have, as yet, had no assurances 
 that this will be taken in any larger sense than of 
 " good so far as it goes." To secure my support, 
 it must be taken as afull and final settlement. To 
 that end, guarantees against the heresies of seces- 
 sion would be indispensable. 
 
 I know of no one who claims or desires the 
 constitutional power to interfere with the domes- 
 tic institutions of any State. Whenever the af- 
 firmative of that doctrine shall be maintained, it 
 will be in some remote age, when all State rights 
 shall have become extinct, and the spirit of the 
 people so tamed as to be ready to submit to im- 
 perial despotism. Then the Federal Government 
 may as easily establish slavery in a free State as 
 to abolish it in a slave State. 
 
• The particular form which this proposition lias 
 assumed appears to me objectionable, and unne- 
 cessarily complicated; and all that part which 
 makes a discrimination between the States should 
 be stricken out. But, if the substance of such a 
 declaration could serve the great purpose of con- 
 ciliation in the present exigencies of the country, 
 I would go to the extreme verge of liberality in 
 order to give it my assent. We arc either in favor 
 of ultimate interference with slavery in the States 
 where it exists, or we are against it. Now, if 
 against it — though we may consider it surplus- 
 age — why may we not put the subject beyond 
 even the power of willful misrepresentation > As 
 a mere matter of taste, I would not vote for it; 
 but I would be willing to sacrifice taste for the 
 Union. The proof is abundant that southern men 
 have indulged, and do indulge, in serious charges, 
 if not real apprehensions, on this point; and if 
 the measure proposed would carry healing on its 
 wings, it appears to me to be one that may be 
 tendered without sacrifice. I presume, however, 
 it will fail to receive that support from gentlemen 
 of the South which would indicate that it is suffi- 
 cient for the evils complained of; and then it will 
 be useless to offer as a remedy what the patient 
 avows will be flung out of the window, and may 
 properly be abandoned. Should the seceding 
 States stand aloof, it would be vain to attempt to 
 give efficacy to this measure, as its only induce- 
 ment — general cooperation — would be wanting. 
 
 If it be said that this would be a surrender of any 
 principle, I ask how .' We have already solemnly 
 abjured it. It is not, unless you intend to accom- 
 plish an unconstitutional end by constitutional 
 means, and the chance of doing that even, can be 
 computed by tracing out the process. As it re- 
 quire* three fourths of all the States to carry any 
 amendment of the Constitution, with fifteen slave 
 States sure to vote against it, no amendment au- 
 thorizing interference with slavery in the States 
 could succeed, until the whole number of States 
 amounted to sixty, and of these it would require 
 the entire concurrence of forty-five. It is unne- 
 cessary to spend more time in discussing a meas- 
 ure that cannot pass, and which, if it could pass, 
 would not give the slave States one whit more of 
 security than they now practically enjoy. 
 
 The present fugitive slave law, confided to ma- 
 gistrates unknown to the Constitution, who, it was 
 assumed, would need five dollars more to be per- 
 suaded to decide a case in favor of slavery than 
 for freedom, merciless in its summary process, 
 and with no trial by jury, compulsory upon all 
 citizens to join in the hunt of any runaway, so 
 obnoxious in its features that it would almost 
 
 seem to have been made repulsive by design, has 
 yet been held by the highest judicial tribunals le- 
 gally and technically constitutional. Such being 
 the decision, nullification by inferior courts or 
 Legislatures is no remedy for its faults, as their 
 action is itself a nullity. The amendments pro- 
 posed by the committee, although they may not 
 reach to the extent of amelioration that they might 
 have done without impairing the constitutional 
 purposes of the law, are yet steps in the right 
 direction; and though they will not secure alac- 
 rity in the ordinary execution of the law, so long 
 as life and liberty are more precious than prop- 
 erty , they will remove the general excuse for mobs. 
 No proposition to amend the law of 1850 would 
 be likely to fail of being an improvement; and 
 these amendments ought not to be refused by any 
 just legislator, unless other provisions of an ob- 
 jectionable character shall be ingrafted upon them 
 in their progress through this House, calculated 
 to defeat substantial improvements here tendered. 
 Another proposition of the committee is an en- 
 abling act for the admission of the Territory of 
 New Mexico as a State in the course of the ensu- 
 ing year. I am ready to admit that this would 
 practically dispose of all the territory we now 
 have to which the slaveholding States set up any 
 claim in their ultimatum of a restoration of the 
 Missouri line; but it leaves open what they hold 
 to be the paramount question of the disposal of 
 territory hereafter to he acquired, and will not there- 
 fore be satisfactory, even if the question that it 
 would become a slaveholding State was free of 
 doubt. 
 
 The fatal objection to this measure is that the 
 civilization of the territory is unequal to the task 
 of supporting a State government. I trust that 
 they are making progress in wealth and education ; 
 but there is no evidence present showing either 
 their capacity or desire to embark in the experi- 
 ment. 
 
 To be entirely frank, I do not think it can ever 
 practically become a slave State. It must forever 
 remain a pastoral country. Whatever its mines, 
 real or fabulous, may attract, its tillage land, skirt- 
 ing the borders of streams only, its arid wastes 
 destitute, of water, can never support a popula- 
 tion, much beyond its present numbers; nor can 
 a cheaper labor be substituted for that which now 
 prevails. 
 
 By the organic act passed ten years ago, in 
 addition to the rights obtained by treaty, New 
 Mexico obtained the right of admission into the 
 Union with or without slavery; and during eight 
 years of that time, the whole Federal patronage 
 of the,Government has succeeded in permanently 
 
<. 
 
 6 
 
 forcing into that Territory eleven slaves only, ten 
 of whom are women. With this state of facts I 
 ^ cannot but think whenever, sooner or later, the 
 subject shall be discussed, as it would be at the 
 formation of a constitution, and all outside pres- { 
 sure on the people shall be removed, they will I 
 decide the question in favor of human freedom. ' 
 But any people willing to vote pco7i servitude i 
 upon themselves, as they do in New Mexico, are j 
 hardly to be trusted with the destinies of a State. | 
 Under ordinary circumstances I should vote { 
 against enabling New Mexico to come into the ' 
 Union at the present time; and I cannot find any- i 
 thing in the present condition of affairs to release 
 me from the obligation of doing so now. It has 
 not been made apparent, if this measure could 
 receive the entire vote of this side of the House, 
 that it would be acceptable as a measure of adjust- 
 ment. But were it otherwise, I should not vote 
 for it; because it wears the appearance of an eva- 
 sion of principles heretofore made prominent, and 
 which I am unwilling to vail in a cloud. 
 
 There is another proposition, founded upon the 
 same section in the Constitution upon which the 
 law for the return of persons held to service es- 
 caping into another State is based, in relation to 
 fugitives from justice, which, in my opinion, 
 would in practice prove unsatisfactory, and in- 
 stead of curing present irritations, would multiply 
 them tenfold. Heretofore, the requisition has 
 been made by the chief executive officer of one 
 State upon the chief executive officer of another 
 State. It is now proposed to make this requisi- 
 tion " upon the district judge of the United States ' 
 of the district" in which the criminal maybe 
 found, whose duties are so defined and limited 
 as necessarily to give the criminal laws of local 
 Legislatures a widerand even national application, 
 and at the same time blots out the sovereignty 
 of a State altogether. If it be solely a judicial 
 question to be determined, I answer that the Gov- 
 ernors of most States are apt to be as able jurists 
 as the judges of these district courts; nor can po- 
 htical prejudices be avoided by the change, for 
 judges arc now often appointed as much in ref- 
 erence to their political affinities as to their lec'al 
 knowledge. The demand must be made by a 
 Governor, and it is proper that it should be re- 
 sponded to by an equal. Under the presentprac- 
 tice. Governors surrender fugitives from justice 
 when the charge alleged would be a crime in the 
 State to which they have fled. That would seem 
 to be a rule far less liable to abuse than the one 
 proposed, and as equal and just as can be devised 
 I trust this most exceptionable project to change 
 the old law will receive the decided ne-ative of 
 
 all sides of the House, and of State-rights men 
 especially. 
 
 Failing of success in the late election of Presi- 
 dent, though still maintaining supremacy in both 
 branches of Congress, the southern States now 
 demand as their ultimatum, and as a condition 
 precedent of their faithful adherence to the present 
 Constitution, a recognizance and protection of 
 slaves as property in all the territory we now have, 
 or may hereafter acquire, south of 360 30', north 
 latitude. This is, in part, the Crittenden compro- 
 mise. It is proposed to make this a part of the 
 Constitution. So far as it would be a revival of 
 the Missouri compromise, it would certainly seem 
 expedient to place it where it could not become 
 "inoperative and void" through the action of the 
 party now renewing ihe proposition, as well as 
 safe from the reach of the Supreme Court, lest 
 history should repeat itself. But what is the ne- 
 cessity for tliis measure? Slavery has already 
 obtained a foothold in all this Territory, protected 
 by the Territorial Legislature, and hedged in by 
 impending decisions of the Supreme Court. Is 
 it not enough that this is a fact, but must the min- 
 ority be forced to concede the fate of an empire 
 not yet within our grasp .? The conclusion is irre- 
 sistible that it is not, after all, a contest about the 
 condition of what we now possess, but whether 
 we shall hereafter acquire territory now free, and 
 force slavery into it without allowing the con- 
 quered people to say even whether they will tol- 
 erate it or not. This invasive purpose, too, is to 
 be announced in advance, and emblazoned in the 
 very forehead of our Constitution. 
 
 The whole of this claim, as must have been 
 foreseen , will meet with an emphatic denial . There 
 IS no part of it worthy of the sanction of a great 
 and high-minded people. If the desire was sim- 
 ply room for the expansion of slavery into* New 
 Mexico, that is practically enjoyed already. If 
 the desire reaches beyond that; if it is Sonoraand 
 Chihuahua that is hunted in the distance, let those 
 who mean it avow it. Then the question would 
 be squarely presented, whether those Mexican 
 provinces must be obtained at the cost of break- 
 ing up the Union or not; whether secession or 
 Mexico should be conquered; whether South 
 Carolina orCuba mustbe bought. Not until after 
 the present dangerous fit of indigestion shall have 
 passed away, can the American people be induced 
 to swallow more of the disjointed limbs ofpriest- 
 ridden Mexico; and I trust their hunger in that 
 direction is forever appeased. I knew a man once 
 who was always in litigation about the boundary 
 lines of his land, and a neighborsaid of him,that 
 he believed " if the cap'n owned all Paradise he 
 
would quarrel with the devil just for a little strip 
 more for a hog pasture !" Have we not enough ? 
 Then let us not quarrel about any more little 
 strips. But, come what may, the North will stand 
 by the declaration of Henry Clay, and " no 
 earthly power can compel them to vote for the 
 positive introduction of slavery, either south or 
 north of that line," (36^ 30 .) 
 
 I do not propose to marshal the resources of the 
 free States, nor to consider how tolerable might 
 be their condition when left alone, or after the 
 withdrawal of the slave States, and the accession 
 of the Canadas and other British provinces — the 
 failure of the first being the only possible hinder- 
 ance to the last — but I wish to make a way-side 
 remark touching the threat of sending certain 
 States to " Coventry." 
 
 I know it is the fashion of some parties to sneer 
 at New England, to talk of a reconstruction of a 
 Union with this part left out, " sloughed off;" but 
 this imbecile spite does not even excite pity. It 
 will be found that almost every free State has its 
 New England within its borders, and thus leav- 
 ened, some for aught I know, are in advance of 
 the Puritan stock. It is evident the political Jonah 
 would not be disposed of, even if "down east " 
 were to be thrown overboard. They remember 
 the fable of members rebelling against the head, 
 but will let others make the application. New 
 England makes no apology for the past, and will 
 indulge in no envy for the future; but having no 
 invincible sectional hatreds, if any can do better 
 than herself, she will bid them God speed. It 
 might be pertinent to remind those who flippantly 
 talk of ostracizing such a people, that when the 
 old Greek philosopher was banished from Sinope, 
 he retorted: And I condemn you to stay in Sinope. 
 Certainly Vermont begs for no concessions, asks 
 no guarantees. For years and in her infancy she 
 stood alone, and such a doom, now in her matur- 
 ity, were it possible to be enforced, would have 
 no terrors for her, as almost each one of her in- 
 habitants possesses within their own homes the 
 means — industry and unconquerable will — of ab- 
 soluteindependence. She can both feed and clothe 
 herself with the plow, the loom, and the anvil, 
 no matter whether cotton or wool, flax or hemp, 
 is king. 
 
 These taunts do not arise from a positive dis- 
 like to the thrift of New England character, nor 
 to their eminence in all the highways of modern 
 civilization, for among the most seductive argu- j 
 ments addressed by secessionists to Georgia, to | 
 North Carolina, to Virginia, and to Maryland,' 
 each in turn, we find this: that they will become [ 
 the new New England of the cotton heptarchy; j 
 
 but the disgust arises from the obstinate vote of 
 New England; and, though I am for concil^ition, 
 I cannot honestly say that I foresee any millen- 
 nium at hand when they will have repen ted of the 
 fanaticism they have so long manifested in the 
 persecution of the prophets of modern democracy, 
 as that party will, I fear, continue to furnish 
 abundant provocation. 
 
 There seems to be a tenacity of purpose, by 
 some amendment of the Constitution , to foist the 
 word slavery into that instrument, in order to se- 
 cure to it, by a prolific brood of logical inferences, 
 a higher degree of protection as property. Not 
 content with the language of the Constitution, it 
 is hoped to make the rose, not more aromatic, but 
 still entitled to higher consideration under another 
 name. I have not time to discuss the length and 
 breadth of this apparently very innocent propo- 
 sition, and will only say that the language of the 
 framers of the Constitution was well chosen, ex- 
 pressed all they intended, and all we intend now 
 and forever. Whether slaves are merely prop- 
 erty or persons, in the language of Sterne, " Dis- 
 guise thyself as thou will, still, slavery, said I, 
 still thou art a bitter draught." 
 
 The idea of a reconstruction of the Constitu- 
 tion held out by the architects of ruin, who now 
 bear despotic sway in the South, to those who 
 hesitate to break away from the ark of our cove- 
 nant, is a fraud in its southern aspect, as South 
 Carolina and the autocratic Yanceys have already 
 imperiously indicated, and wholly fallacious in 
 its northern aspect, as time will surely proclaim. 
 The leaders in the cotton States mean something 
 far different from a reconstruction, and nothing 
 less than revolution and its consequences have 
 been invoked from the outset. They may snatch 
 some parts of our system of government; but, 
 like the fortresses they have siezed, they will be 
 converted to unwonted uses; and, stiff" with the 
 embroidery of new devices, seek protection no 
 longer against majorities, but against minorities. 
 Once escaped from the power of majorities, good 
 care will be taken that minorities are henceforth 
 handc\jfl'ed. 
 
 But, to suppose that nineteen free States would 
 consent to give slavery greater power or privi- 
 leges, under a reconstruction of the Constitution, 
 than was consented to seventy years ago, when 
 there was but one free State, is simply absurd. 
 It is a libel upon the age. Who will contend that, 
 though all other nations have been steadily ad- 
 vancing to a higher plane of freedom, the Amer- 
 ican people have relapsed from their own key- 
 note.' While the North does not, and will not, 
 seek to retract or avoid any point in the present 
 
4 
 
 8 
 
 compact, if the question is ever opene^, it would 
 be all opened; and property represented on one 
 side of Mason and Dixon's line would be on the 
 other, or none at all. _^.Open all these questions, 
 and the grievances of the North, now dumb, 
 would find voice, and, unless redressed by con- 
 stitutional guarantees, relief would be snatched 
 in the separation already offered. There is no 
 reactionary spirit that can extort greater submis- 
 sion to slavery from the present age than was 
 conceded by Franklin and Sherman, Hancock 
 and Adams. 
 
 If the South would live in peace and escape the 
 agitation of the subject of slavery, they have only 
 to cease thrusting forward their aggressive policy 
 of its extension — a policy that cannot escape the 
 stern and enlightened resistance of all Christen- 
 dom. In a speech made by me at the last session 
 of Congress, I showed that the South already 
 enjoyed her full share of territory in proportion to 
 her population, and that, should all the remainder 
 be appropriated to the use of the North, it would 
 be only at last a fair and equal division. There 
 is no inequality or injustice to slaveholders in the 
 exclusion of slaves from the Territories. As the 
 London Times aptly suggests, " the South is not 
 to be excluded from Territories unless the South- 
 rons consider themselves in the light, not of slave- 
 holders, but of slaves." 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I speak not of the sacrifice of 
 blood and treasure it cost to create our present 
 Union — not of the glories in its civil history; not 
 of its eminent prowess in military and naval ex- 
 ploits; not of its grandeur and power among the 
 great nations of the earth; not of its accumula- 
 tions of legal learning; nor yet of the illuminated 
 chapters in its administrative precedents, to all 
 of which, though American character is only yet 
 in the bud, secession bids adieu forever; but I will 
 ask, what higher gauge of prosperity can a south- 
 ern military republic hold out than we have wit- 
 nessed and now hold within our grasp in these 
 United States ? In what part of the world is labor 
 more remunerative, or wealth less impeded by 
 
 taxation ? Is there any denial of this in the plant- 
 ing States? Why, sir, they have incontestably 
 grown rich. Have not the number of their slaves 
 quadrupled, and their value more than quadru-^ 
 pled, in threescore years and ten.' The advance 
 of the American people in national and individual 
 wealth — the standing marvel of the world — is such 
 that it has for forty years attracted, and still con- 
 tinues largely to attract, the enterprising emigrant 
 from every nation and tongue on the globe. The 
 average scale of the comforts of life here obtained, 
 the enjoyments incident to cultivated society here 
 so widely diffused, find no parallel in any other 
 land. These things may be bravely altered, but 
 are they likely to be altered for the better.' New 
 inventions do not always enthrone the inventors. 
 While it is obvious that no single right which is 
 now claimed to be w.ithheld can be secured through 
 the doors of secession, the only new right which 
 will belong to this attitude will be the right to 
 make war upon the United States. 
 
 Let me appeal, then, to all parties, to try to live 
 I under that Union a little longer which has not 
 I only secured ourproperty, guarded so well all our 
 material interests, but which has received the com- 
 mendation of the enlightened world and given to 
 us a name not surpassed in all the monuments of 
 history. Give us another span of seventy years, 
 and prolong the hopes of mankind in the possi- 
 bility of man 's power of self-government. Do not 
 let us break up the model with which patriots, 
 though with unequal steps, in contiguous as well 
 as far distant countries, have struggled and are 
 struggling to mold institutions like those among 
 which our own still live the leading example. 
 But if all our attempts to put off the evil day shall 
 fail, and this matchless form of free Government 
 is to be put to the extremest peril, it will rally all 
 the vigor remaining in its Constitution in behalf 
 of self-preservation. It cannot abnegate its power, 
 and it will not die willingly. The great heart of 
 the nation will confront all dangers, and survive, 
 I trust, to cover friends and foes with countless 
 blessings. 
 
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