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 SPEECH 
 
 BY 
 
 COLEMAN YELLOTT, 
 
 BEFORE A MEETING OP THE CITIZENS OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYL" 
 
 VANIA, CONVENED WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF PARTY, TO 
 
 EXPRESS THEIR APPROBATION OF THE 
 
 COMPROMISE MEASURES 
 
 Passed by Congress in September, 185^* 
 
 Delivered on the evening of January 7th, 1851, at the Court House 
 
 in York. 
 
 Fellow-Countrymen: I am a Southern man, and you are 
 Northern men. But I am an American citizen, and you are 
 American citizens. We have still one common country, — one 
 common government, — one common flag waving over us ! Thank 
 God ! we are still fellow-countrymen. And I am here to-nio-ht, 
 (under the invitation of your committee,) to speak, not as a Mary- 
 lander to Pennsylvanians — not as a Southern man to Northern 
 men, but as an American to speak to American citizens. 
 
 Yesterday, I came from my home in Maryland. I crossed the 
 statutory line which divides my State from yours — the South from 
 the North; but I noticed not when or where I passed it! I saw 
 no change either in the character of the country, or of those by 
 whom it is inhabited. Along the whole route, I saw men of the 
 same blood — countrymen — brothers — sprung from a common 
 stock, — and whose ancestors had battled, side by side, under the 
 same glorious stars and stripes, upon many a well-fought field, 
 I saw men who claim as a common inheritance the glories of Sara- 
 toga and Yorktown, Lundy's Lane and New Orleans, Buena Vista 
 and Chepultepec! And I said to myself, "let them ever remain 
 thus peaceful, thus united ; and whom God has thus joined too-e- 
 ther, let no man put asunder I" 
 
 There was a time, — not more than ten years ago, — when no man 
 could be found in any quarter of our glorious Republic, bold 
 enough, mad enough, bad enough, to dare, seriously, to utter above 
 his breath the word "Disunion." It was considered the most 
 wicked — the foulest word in our whole vocabulary. But times 
 have sadly changed for the worse. Not twelve months ago, we 
 witnessed in the halls of our National Capitol, scenes sickening to 
 every patriot heart. We heard the forbidden word "Disunion," 
 daily repeated by Northern and Southern fanatics, un'"' it had 
 become the most common word in our vocabulary. W^^ aw the 
 strong pillars of our Government shaken to their deepest founda- 
 tions. We saw our gallant ship of State tempest-tost upon a 
 
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 Btorray sea,— the wild waves howling around her, — rocks and shoals 
 upon every side, — and breakers ahead. We looked on with fear 
 and anxiety, — and every man trembled for the result, while many 
 abandoned themselves to despair. But, after a time, we saw skill- 
 ful and patriotic pilots spring to the helm,- — and, by their noble 
 exertions, the gallant ship outrode the storm and all the dangers 
 which beset her; and was at last moored in a calm and safe haven ! 
 A nation's thanks are due to those by v/hose almost superhuman 
 efforts she was saved; and no true American can repeat without 
 pride and gratitude the names of the gallant Harry of the West, 
 the sage and patriotic Cass, the mighty Daniel of the North, the 
 devoted and chivalric Foote ! 
 
 I say the gallant old ship was moored in a haven of safety; — and 
 every lover of his country fondly hoped that she would be per- 
 mitted there to remain. But alas! we now find agitators, — fanatics 
 at the North and at the South, — who loudly demand that she shall 
 be again unmoored, and launched once more, freighted with all 
 that is valuable and all that is dear to us, upon an unknown and 
 tempestuous sea. It is to rebuke the mad counsels of such men — 
 to show that such counsels meet no response from your bosoms, 
 that this meeting has assembled to-night. You have met as Penn- 
 sylvanians, to say to your country and to the world — that whatever 
 lot others may choose, — that you at least are determined to stand 
 by the Union ! — You have met to say, that Pennsylvania, whose 
 mountains and vallies have been moistened by the blood of 
 revolutionary patriots, — who claims as a part of her own soil the 
 sacred fields of Paoli, Germantown, and Valley Forge — that she at 
 least will still hold in grateful remembrance the name and deeds of 
 the Father of his Country — and will still obey and fulfil his hal- 
 lowed precepts. You have met to say, that Pennsylvania, in 
 whose soil are laid the foundations of Independence Hall, where 
 the Constitution was formed and the Union was made, that her 
 sons are determined still to support that Constitution and maintain 
 that Union ! 
 
 Fellow-countrymen ! you and I, and every American citizen 
 with a true American heart in his breast, rejoiced at the passage of 
 the acts by Congress, in September last, constituting what is very 
 properly called the "Compromise." We rejoiced, because we 
 fondly hoped that the passage of these measures would quiet, for 
 the present generation at least, all ill-feeling and discord existing 
 between the North and the South upon the question of slavery. 
 We thought that Compromise was wise, fair and equitable. It has 
 become the law of the land. If suffered to remain as it is, — if 
 carried into effect by the parties to it, — this Compromise will ac- 
 complish the glorious object aimed at by the noble patriots by whom 
 it was devised and passed. 
 
 Why should that Compromise be disturbed.? What injustice is 
 done by it to the North or to the South } Let us for a moment 
 consider the measures which constitute this Compromise. They 
 may be stated as follows: 
 
 First. The act establishing the boundary between Texas and 
 New Mexico. 
 
 Second. The act admitting California as a State, with a provision 
 in its constitution prohibiting slavery. 
 
 Third. Tue establishment of the territorial governments of New 
 Mexico and Utah. 
 
3 
 
 Fourth. The act abolishing the slave-trade in the District of 
 Columbia. 
 
 Fifth. The act commonly called the fugitive slave bill. 
 .i^ These are the five measures constituting the Compiomise. 
 
 What one of them does any injustice to the North or to the South ? 
 Let us see. 
 ^ As to the first, — the settlement of the Texas boundary, — this 
 
 * was neither a Northern or a Southern measure. Northern men 
 
 ]p<.^ and Southern men voted for it in about equal numbers. It was a 
 peace measure, — calculated to preserve the Republic from internal 
 1/ strife. It has answered the purpose for which it was designed,— 
 ' and Northern men and Southern nr.en alike rejoice at the result. 
 ""^ As to the second, third and fourth of the measures referred to, 
 
 they have been regarded at the South as Northern measures — 
 passed to gratify free-soil feeling and to promote Northern interests. 
 But what right has the South to complain of the passage of either 
 of these measures? 
 
 She has no right to complain of the admission of California as a 
 free State into the Union. The people of that territory had met in 
 Convention and deliberately formed their constitution, with a pro- 
 vision excluding slavery. This they had a right to do. It was 
 for them and them alone to frame the plan or constitution of their 
 State government. No other State cr States, — the people of no 
 other State or States, — had a right to dictate the form of a State 
 government for the people of California. If the constitution 
 adopted by them was "Republican" in its character, — and the Ter- 
 ritory possessed the requisite amount of population, — on their ap- 
 plication for admission as a State, Congress was bound to admit 
 them. This is the doctrine heretofore contended for by the South. 
 In all her struggles to resist the application of the unjust and in- 
 sulting Wilmot proviso, the general voice of her citizens has been — 
 "Let the people of the Territories act for themselves — Do not pro- 
 hibit them from holding slaves, — but let them choose whether they 
 will have slavery among them or not." J^on-interference has been 
 the motto of the South. California, with her anti-slavery consti- 
 tution, has been admitted upon this very principle, — and the South 
 has no right to complain. If she had been admitted with a consti- 
 tution tolerating slavery, what could prevent her citizens from 
 meeting in Convention next year or the year after, and striking 
 this feature from her constitution.'' Once admitted as a State, she 
 would have the same n'y}.\i to amend or change her constitution, as 
 any ether State of the Union. 
 
 For the same reason, the South has no right to complain of the 
 fhird measure of Compromise, — the organization of the territorial 
 governments of Utah and New Mexico. The legislation of Con- 
 gress on this subject, expressly recognizes and sanctions the prin- 
 ciple that the present and future inhabitants of those Territories 
 may enjoy the right of organizing their State governments, with 
 or without slavery, as to them may seem best. With such legisla- 
 tion the South has no right to quarrel. Southern statesmen are 
 chiefly responsible for the acts of the General Government, which 
 resulted in the annexation of this territory, and if ''an ordinance 
 of Nature," or the "will of God," has prohibited the existence of 
 slavery there, it may be the misfortune of the South, but certainly 
 is not the fault of the North ! 
 
The fourth measure of the series, is the abolishment of the 
 slave-trade in the District of Columbia. It is my opinion, formed 
 upon mature deliberation, that the South has no right to complain 
 of this measure. Under the Constitution, Congress had the right 
 to enact it, and I can see no injustice which has been done to the 
 slaveholding States by its passage. Maryland is a slave State, — 
 and yet her Legislature, many years ago, passed an act prohibiting 
 any person from bringing within her limits any slave for the pur- 
 pose of sale. This act was passed by the representatives of slave- 
 holders. They thought it wise, just and proper, — their constitu- 
 ents thought so too, — and it remained upon the statute book. 
 Now, the act of Congress in reference to the District of Columbia 
 is of a character precisely similar. The difference in the two 
 cases is, that the legislators who regulate the internal government 
 of Maryland are the representatives of a slave State only ; but the 
 legislators who regulate the government of the District of Columbia 
 are the representatives both oi free and slave States. The soil of 
 the District is common ground; — and something should be yielded 
 on both sides in a spirit of compromise. If it was not wrong for 
 the Legislature of Maryland to prohibit the existence of the slave- 
 trade there, I think it certainly was not wrong for the Congress of 
 the United States to prohibit the existence of the slave-trade in the 
 District of Columbia. The people of the southern counties of 
 Maryland have the most interest in the latter act, and I have yet 
 to hear of the first man from that quarter who makes any objection 
 to its passage. 
 
 I therefore repeat once more, that the South has no right to 
 complain of any of the measures embodied in the Compromiise. 
 
 What right has the North to complain; — what injustice has been 
 done to her? The only measure of the whole five, which has been 
 objected to by any portion of the people of the North, is the act 
 providing for the surrendering of fugitive slaves. 
 
 You have no shadow of right to object to the passage of this 
 measure. It is your duty and your interest to see that its provi- 
 sions are faithfully carried into effect. It only provides for the ful- 
 filment of the sacred compact of the Constitution by which we 
 are united as one pecple. Southern men are bound to obey that 
 Constitution, and Northern men have no right to violate it. It 
 was solemnly formed, in a spirit of compromise, by our common 
 ancestors ; it must be faithfully obeyed by their descendants. In 
 no other way can they continue one great Republic, — one peaceful 
 and united people. This act, so loudly denounced by the anti- 
 slavery fanatics of the North, is nothing more nor less than the 
 performance by Congress of a sacred duty enjoined by the Federal 
 Constitution. No true American, — no man worthy to live under 
 that Constitution, — can be willing to see it violated, either in the 
 letter or the spirit; and no such man can, therefore, oppose any 
 reasonable objection to the passage of an act like that to which I 
 have referred. 
 
 You of the North may regard slavery as a moral sin, and a polit- 
 ical evil. You have a right to entertain that opinion — and you 
 have a right to prohibit the existence of slavery in your States. 
 We do not censure you either for your opinions on this subject, or 
 for the anti-slavery features of your State constitutions. But while 
 we concede this right of free-thought and free-action to you, we 
 claim the same privilege for ourselves. There was a time when 
 
5 
 
 slavery was recognized and sanctioned by the constitution of Penn- 
 sylvania, and of almost every other northern State. The South 
 then respected your rights ; — and, under the provisions of the Fed- 
 eral Constitution, your fugitive slaves found among us were deliv- 
 ered up to their owners. You have seen proper to abolish slavery 
 at the North, — while at the South it still exists. Now all thatjwe 
 ask of you is, that you shall do for us what we have done for you, — • 
 that you shall respect our rights as we have respected yours, — that 
 you shall do your duty as we have done ours, — that you shall obey 
 and perform the compromises of the Constitution as we have ob- 
 served and performed them. What right have you to refuse to 
 perform your part of the compact? 
 
 - Do you regard slavery as a violation of the law of Nature — a 
 moral sin ? The Jews, — the chosen people of God, — did not so re- 
 gard it. Ancient Greece, — the land of Liberty, — did not so regard 
 it. Rome, — in her palmiest days, — when her Eagle was the ban- 
 ner-bird of the greatest of ancient Republics, — did not so regard it. 
 In Judea, Greece, and Rome, slavery existed under the sanction of 
 their laws. Your own micestors, — a single generation back, — did 
 not so regard it — for thousands of slaves — not fugitives — have trod 
 the soil of Pennsylvania ! 
 
 You may conscientiously believe that slavery is a sin and a polit- 
 ical evil; — but still you have no right to quarrel with us if we 
 should hold a different opinion. If it be a sin, it is one for which 
 we are alone responsible — to our own consciences and to our <^od ! 
 You are not responsible for the sin, or liable for its punishment. 
 If it be a social or political evil, we, among whom it. exists, are the 
 parties who suffer from the evil; — and it is for us to abolish it 
 whenever we may think it expedient so to do. It is a matter 
 entirely within the control of our local legislatures — and with which 
 you have no more right to interfere than you have to meddle with 
 the internal government of France, Russia or Prussia. 
 
 What would be the consequences if a different rule of action 
 should be observed I Each State of the Union might find some- 
 thing to object to in the internal government of some sister State ; 
 and make this an excuse for refusing to fulfil in reference to that 
 State the duties enjoined by the common Constitution. 
 
 In Maryland, our laws do not permit ardent spirits to be sold, or 
 theatres to be opened on the Sabbath day. In Louisiana, I am'in- 
 formed, the law permits ardent spirits to be sold and theatres to be 
 opened on the Sabbath. Now we might think this law of Louisiana 
 to be immoral and sinfuL But would this opinion justify the peo- 
 ple of Maryland in abusing and traducing the people of Louisiana? 
 Would this opinion justify the State of Maryland in refusin*^ to 
 perform towards Louisiana the duties enjoined'by the Federal Qoa- 
 stitution,— or in nullifying that Constitution ? Certainly not. 
 
 We in Maryland have adopted a law by which a maiVied woman 
 
 is authorized to hold a certain amount of personal property, the 
 
 earnings of her own industry and enterprize,— separate from her 
 husband and free from any liability for his debts. I believe that 
 you have no such law in Pennsylvania. I believe that here all 
 personal property of the wife,— even the fruits of her own labor or 
 enterprize— belongs to the husband, and may be sold by his credi- 
 tors to satisfy debts incurred by him. Now we consider that your 
 law, in this respect, is unfair and unjust. We think you commit 
 a flagrant outrage upon the natural rights of the wife, by makin'' 
 
her the slave of the husband ! But we have no right to quarrel with 
 you for this. We have no right, for this, to refuse to perform to- 
 wards Pennsylvania the duties imposed upon our State by the 
 National Constitution. 
 
 In like manner, you may think that we in Maryland do wrong to 
 tolerate slavery ; but you have no right, for that reason, to refuse to 
 perform towards Maryland the duties imposed upon you by the 
 Constitution of the Union. By that Constitution, you are bound 
 to obey and perform the provisions of the fugitive slave act. Under 
 that Constitution, the North has no right to complain of the passage 
 of that act, — the only one of the whole live, which was enacted 
 with a view to the protection of Southern rights and interests. 
 
 In this connection, permit me to add another word. The aboli- 
 tionists of the North profess to be the greatest /rient/^ of the slaves 
 of the South. They have, in fact, been their worst enemies. 
 Twenty years ago, in Maryland, Virginia and other Southern States, 
 the expediency and policy of providing by law for a gradual and 
 prudent emancipation oi their slaves, was freely and openly 
 discussed and considered by many of their most influential states- 
 men. It appeared then, that it was more than possible that not 
 very many years would pass before Maryland, Virginia and other 
 Southern States would follow the example of Pennsylvania, New 
 Jersey and Delaware, by adopting systems for the gradual extinction 
 of slavery within their borders, either by emancipation or coloniza- 
 tion. But how does the question stand now ? The incendiary 
 publications of Northern fanatics were sent abroad. They told 
 upon the slaves of the South. The Southamption insurrection 
 showed to every Southern man that a mine was beneath his feet, 
 which might on any night explode, to involve himself and family 
 in one common destruction. The chains of the slave were bound 
 more closely around him; — and it became to be regarded among 
 Southern men as almost treason to utter the word "emancipation." 
 The success of that cause, — once seriously considered by Southern 
 statesmen, — has been postponed for the present generation at least. 
 For this. Northern meddling philanthropists may thank themselves! 
 Let them consider this fact, and then calculate the great good their 
 efforts have done to the slaves of the South! 
 
 Fellow-countrymen! this question, so fruitful of discord, so dan- 
 gerous to be agitated, was settled for many years to come by the 
 action of Congress in September last. That action should be satis- 
 factory to the South and to the North. No injustice has been done 
 to either, and neither has a right to complain. Shall that Compro- 
 mise be disturbed? Fanatics at the far South and the extreme 
 North answer "aye!" "Agitation" is their motto and watchword. 
 Thank Heaven ! such sentiments meet no response from the bosoms 
 of Marylanders and Pennsylvanians ! The citizens of both my 
 State and yours have ever been upon the side of their country. 
 Whenever and wherever the cause of that country required their 
 aid, they have been found, like brothers, standing shoulder to 
 shoulder beneath her glorious stars and stripes ! 
 
 In the struggle for Independence, — those times "which tried 
 men's souls," — when the capitolof your State was in danger, Mary- 
 landers were among the first to rush forward in her defence; and 
 Maryland blood was freely poured out upon the memorable field of 
 Brandy wine! In later times, when Baltimore was menaced by a 
 powerful and exulting foe, Pennsylvanians gallantly rushed forward 
 
in her defence. A noble band, — from your own town, — were 
 found in the thickest of the fight upon the well contested and glo- 
 rious field of North Point; and the gallant deeds of Captain Span- 
 gler's York volunteers are still held in grateful remembrance by 
 every citizen of Maryland! Yes, in seventy-six, in the struggles 
 of eighteen hundred and twelve, in the late contest with Mexico, 
 on every field where danger was to be met, or victory to be won, 
 Marylanders and Pennsylvanians were found gathered together as 
 one people under the glorious banner of their common country. 
 
 Thus let it ever be. We are now one people ; we wish to re- 
 main so. Whatever may be the counsels and purposes of others, 
 Maryland and Pennsylvania are determined to stand where they 
 have ever stood, on the side of their country and the Union. 
 Thank God ! — neither Northern or Southern fanatics have been able 
 to sow the seeds of discord among us. Thank God! — the air of my 
 State and of yours is too pure for traitors to breathe ! 
 
 Dissolution of the Union ! Have those who seriously talk of it 
 ever considered the awful, the inevitable consequences? We hear 
 them speaking of a peaceful dissolution. Such a thing can never 
 be. Let us once divide upon this question, — one appealing to the 
 fiercest prejudices of our nature, — and there can be no peace be- 
 tween us. Let us calmly reflect for a moment — let us inquire 
 what will be the situation of the North, and what of the South, 
 should they divide upon this question? 
 
 The North would recognize slavery only as a social evil, a moral 
 sin, a violation of the laws of Nature. The South would continue, 
 as she now does, to regard the title of the master to his slave as 
 clear, as inviolable, and as sacred as his title to his horse, his cow, 
 or his farm. Upon this question they separate. Let me ask, if 
 they should thus separate, would there be, could there be, any 
 treaty between this Northern Republic, and this Southern Republic, 
 in reference to the surrender by the former of the fugitive slaves 
 belonging to the latter? Surely not. If the right of the South to 
 have her fugitive slaves delivered up is not recognized now, when 
 we are one people, it would certainly form no part of a treaty be- 
 tween the two Republics after we had separated upon this very 
 question. What then would be the consequence? How long 
 could these two Republics remain at peace? How long could the 
 zealous philanthropists of the North abstain from meddling with 
 the slaves belonging to a neighboring Republic? What would be 
 the result? We are on the borders. No broad river — no Chinese 
 wall divides my State from yours. How would we stand if por- 
 tions of two separate nations? Let us see. To-day a slave belong- 
 ing to a citizen of Baltimore county, in Maryland, escapes into 
 York county, in Pennsylvania. The master and a party of friends 
 pursue him. They are resisted by the citizens of your county, 
 who harbor and protect the slave. Unable to recover their pro- 
 perty, the Southern band, maddened by the insult and injury they 
 have received, resort to acts of retaliation — the smoke and flames 
 of your dwellings ascend to heaven, — and the blood of your wives 
 and daughters redden your soil! On the next day, the friends of 
 those who have been thus injured by the Southerners, issue forth 
 to wreak vengeance upon those who have done the deed. They 
 cross the line — and soon the smoke and flames of our dwellings are 
 seen, and the blood of our wives and daughters redden our soil! 
 This is no fancy sketch. Let the Union be divided upon this ques- 
 
8 
 
 tion, — and the scenes which I have attempted to picture will be of 
 daily occurrence. The forays upon the "Scottish border" will 
 shrink into insigniticance when compared to those which will be 
 daily witnessed along Mason's and Dixon's Line. 
 
 Dissolve the Union ! The thought is sickening to every honest 
 American heart! How shall it be done? How shall we divide 
 the Army? How the Navy? How shall we divide the glorious 
 banner of stars and stripes first unfurled by the Father of his 
 Country? How shall we divide the noble deeds and glorious 
 names of our common ancestors? Shall we of the South be per- 
 mitted no longer to claim as countrymen — Warren, Putnam, Han- 
 cock and Franklin ? Shall you of the North be permitted no 
 longer to claim as countrymen — Marion, Howard, Henry, Madison, 
 Jefferson and Washington ? Shall we be permitted no longer to 
 visit the scenes of the glorious achievements of our ancestors — 
 Saratoga, Monmouth and Germantown ! Shall you be permitted 
 no longer to visit the scenes of the glorious achievements of your 
 ancestors — Eutaw, Cowpens and Yorktown ? Shall we be denied 
 the privilege of making our annual pilgrimages to the sacred pre- 
 cincts of Independence Hall — there to rekindle the fires of our 
 patriotism? And shall you be denied the privilege of making your 
 pilgrimages of patriotic devotion to the tomb of the Father of 
 his country — amid the groves of his own loved Mount Vernon? 
 Heaven forbid ! Such things cannot, must not, will not be. God 
 has decreed that we shall remain one great, free, peaceful, united 
 people! The folly and the madness of his creatures cannot pre- 
 vent the fulfilment of His solemn decree. 
 
 No — let us turn from the contemplation of a picture which can 
 never be realized. Let us look at our country as she now is, and 
 as she must still remain. Behold how she stands among the nations 
 of the earth — "the land of the free and the home of the brave" — 
 the asylum of the oppressed of every clime. Behold her com- 
 merce whitening every sea, — her flag floating upon every shore, — 
 her name known, and her power respected by all nations — peace 
 smiling upon her mountains and her vallies — plenty and prosperity 
 throughout all her borders! Thus behold her! and then offer grate- 
 ful thanks to God, that we are able still to say "we are American 
 citizens!" 
 
 In ancient times, when the eagle of the Roman Republic had 
 been borne triumphantly over the then civilized world, it was at 
 once a source of pride and a talismanic word of protection from 
 insult and injury, for any individual to say "I am a Roman citizen!" 
 So in our days, when the name of our Republic is known through- 
 out the world, — when her character is admired, and her power 
 respected by every people — it is a glorious privilege for any maa 
 to be able truthfully to say, "I am an American citizen." Thus 
 let it ever be. Let there be no discord among us — let us still re- 
 main peaceful, free and united ; so that each one of us, whether 
 Irom the North or the South — whether at home or abroad, may be 
 able still to say, living or dying, with pride and exultation, and 
 with thankfulness to God, "I am an American citizen!" 
 
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