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 PORTIONS OF SEVERAL SPEECHES 
 
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 HON. H: S.'FOOTE, OF MISSISSIPPI, 
 
 ON 
 
 THE QUESTION OF ADJOURNMENT. 
 
 # 
 
 DEUVEREO 
 
 IN_THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, COMMENCING JUNE 22, 1848. 
 
 ( ■■■' 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRIKTED AT TH^ CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE OFFICE. 
 
 K^ ? 1848. 
 

 i 
 
QUESTION OF ADJOURNMENT. 
 
 The Resolution from the House fixing the time for 
 the adjournment of the two Houses of Congress 
 on the 17th July, being under consideration — 
 Mr. FOOTE said: Mr. President, the question 
 of adjournment has awakened more feeling in the 
 Senate, and given rise to a much more extended 
 discussion than any of us anticipated. Heartily 
 concurring in all that has been heretofore said in 
 opposition to fixing a day, at this time, upon 
 which the deliberations of Congress at the present 
 session shall be made to terminate, I seize the op- 
 portunity of stating an additional consideration, 
 which of itself would be of sufficient cogency to 
 control my action upon this subject. There is, 
 at least, one measure, before the adoption of which, 
 Congress, in my judgment, should never consent 
 to adjourn: I allude to the organization of Terri- 
 torial Governments in Oregon, California, and 
 New Mexico. I know that there are question's of 
 peculiar delicacy and importance involved in the 
 contemplated establishment of Territorial Govern- 
 ments in the regions named; but I am only the 
 more desirous, on that account, that they should 
 be boldly met and promptly decided. If these 
 questions remain open during the Presidential con- 
 test, it is impossible to conjecture what conse- 
 quences may arise. The intense excitement now 
 raging in two opposite quarters of the Confederacy, 
 and every day growing more and more intense, 
 may put at hazard the Union itself, and will cer- 
 tainly (;all into being two sectional factions, divided 
 by a mere geographical line, which will never 
 cease to war upon each other as long as the Union 
 shall continue. I regard the present as far the 
 most auspicious period which will ever occur for 
 obviating this great danger, and once more restoring 
 fraternal amity and concord. 
 
 Besides, sir, I am willmg to confess that I am 
 not a little desirous of ascertaining, ere Congress 
 shall adjourn, of what precise materiel the Whig 
 party is composed — whether that party, if it can 
 reach the seats of authority once more, will be in- 
 clined to enforce its ancient views of governmental 
 policy, or will be content, as has been promised 
 by, certain leading members of it, to permit the 
 policy of the present Administration to remain 
 undisturbed. There is still another point upon 
 which 1 desire to obtain a more satisfactory expla- 
 nation than has heretofore been given. Will Gen- 
 eral Taylor, if elected, be willing to use the veto 
 power against the Wilmot proviso? On this sub- 
 ject his language has been so far most painfully 
 ambiguous and contradictory; and in the two sec- 
 tions of the Union he is claimed both as friendly 
 
 and adverse to this accursed measure. IN'or has 
 the language of his friends and supporters in the 
 two Houses of Congress been more satisfactory. 
 Sir, the people are resolved not to be hoodwinked 
 any longer by the dexterous tacticians of party; 
 they are resolved to have explicit declarations of 
 opinion from all who aspire- to their suflfrages in 
 regard to this all-important question. No arts of 
 evasion or subterfuge will any longer avail those 
 who have heretofore practised them. Should the 
 Whig leaders here be compelled to show their 
 hands and avow their real principles and designs, 
 the speedy overthrow of their party could not be 
 possibly avoided. This they well know; and 
 therefore it is that so much anxiety has been 
 evinced by certain gentlemen to bring about an im- 
 mediate adjournment. I am not willing to gratify 
 them at the expense of the country; and I shall 
 therefore, as I have already said, vote against 
 fixing any particular day of adjournment for the 
 present. 
 
 I am free to acknowledge that the conduct of 
 Whig Senators, in desiring to avoid a positive com- 
 mittal upon the great questions now in agitation, 
 is in excellent keeping with the course pursued by 
 the Convention of their party which lately assem- 
 bled in Philadelphia; which remarkable body is 
 known to have met and adjourned without the least 
 declaration of principles, or the most remote allusion 
 to the objects which they desire to attain. The 
 fabled journey of ^neas to hell was not a whit 
 more mysterious than the movements of those wise 
 men who the other day were seen counselling to- 
 gether in Independence Hall. Truly may it be 
 said of them, as of the son of Anchises and the 
 Sibyl, ibant sola sub node. Nor was the idea of 
 the golden offering to Proserpine entirely forgotten 
 among them; for did not the president of this 
 famous body, even in his opening speech, announce 
 to the multitude who surrounded him, boldly to 
 inscribe upon their banner the significant motto, 
 "To the victors belong the spoils.'" I am deci- 
 dedly of opinion, that we are bound, as liberal men, 
 to make more or less allowance for the members 
 of the Philadelphia Convention; we should not 
 perhaps censure them too severely for not laying 
 down a regular party platform for the opening 
 Presidential campaign. It had been undoubtedly 
 ascertained among them, that no political creed 
 could be devised to which any considerable num- 
 ber of their body would be able to subscribe, and 
 therefore was it judged most discreet to forego en- 
 tirely the consideration of everything like principle. 
 Availability and the spoils of office were alone 
 
looked to. It was not desired to give offence to 
 any who might be inclined to support General 
 Taylor on any possible ground; and the utmost 
 care was accordingly employed to avoid the intro- 
 duction of topics which might produce disputation, 
 and develop contrariety of sentiment. It was 
 resolved, in the language of St. Paul, " to be all 
 things to all men," at least for a season; or, in the 
 well-known words of a distinguished Whig of Vir- 
 ginia, it was deemed politic to extend the Whig 
 " net so widely as to catch birds of every feather." 
 Such was the conduct of the Whig Convention of 
 1840; and succeeding then in deluding the people, 
 it is hoped that similar arts may be equally suc- 
 cessful at the present time. Sir, it shall not be my 
 fault if the game of 1840 shall be played over again 
 successfully. I am resolved that the Whig leaders 
 here at least shall avow their principles, and explain 
 those of their Presidential candidate, or permit the 
 most unfavorable presumptions to be deduced from 
 their silence. 
 
 After some remarks from Messrs. MANGUM 
 and BRADBURY—. 
 
 Mr. FOOTE resumed. I always regret to be 
 compelled to differ from my distinguished friend 
 from Maine, who has just addressed the Senate, 
 but on this occasion 1 find it impossible to avoid 
 it. The honorable Senator from North Carolina 
 [Mr. Mangum] has done me the honor to notice 
 some of the suggestions thrown out by me upon 
 the question of adjournment, and has expressed a 
 willingness to do battle in behalf of the Presidential 
 ticket lately nominated at Philadelphia. This is 
 exactly \vhat I expected from the cljivalry of that 
 gentleman. I feat", though, that he will find himself 
 but slenderly supported by his customary allies 
 in this Chamber; and it is still more certain, that in 
 venturing upon discussion, he does not pay the 
 least respect to the example of discreet silence set 
 him in Philadelphia; where were assembled men 
 professing free-trade principles, and ultra-protec- 
 tionists; men in favor, even yet, of a national 
 bank, and men who avow themselves opposed to 
 banks and banking in every conceivable shape and 
 form; independent treasury men, and men opposed 
 to the independent treasury; men opposed to the 
 Mexican war, and men in favor of it; no territory 
 men, and men whose appetite for territorial acqui- 
 sition can only be satisfied by all Mexico, and Cuba 
 into the bargain; friends of the Wilmot proviso, 
 and enemies to all restrictions upon settlement in 
 our territorial domain of any kind whatsoever, save 
 what the settlers shall themselves impose. Will 
 the Senator from North Carolina have the goodness 
 to inform the Senate and the country, with what 
 class of his supporters it is that General Taylor 
 concurs ? It would be a pity that any of his pres- 
 ent friends should be disappointed by his course 
 as President, should he chance to be elected. I am 
 afraid they might be tempted to denounce him as 
 a traitor, as it is well known they did Mr. Tyler 
 vinder similar circumstances. If the Senator from 
 North Carolina, then, can in advance inform us 
 what General Taylor's real opinions are, I feel cer- 
 tain he will do much present good and prevent 
 future misunderstanding among the friends of 
 that distinguished personage. Whether he will 
 strengthen the General very greatly for the present 
 canvass, is perhaps more doubtful; though I regard 
 the experiment as decidedly v^orthy of trial. In 
 
 the absence of a clear and satisfactory exposition 
 of the General's political opinions from the Con- 
 vention which nominated him, I have been dis-* 
 posed to look to other sources for information, and 
 the result of my scrutiny I will proceed to lay be- 
 fore the Senate. I find that the newspapers sua-" 
 taining his pretensions all recognize him as a Whig, 
 and, as such, in favor of that whole class of meas- 
 ures understood to be embraced in what is known 
 as Whig policy. This is certainly contradictory 
 to declarations which some of us encountered last 
 winter in the social circles of Washington, when 
 it was freely and positively asserted by several 
 who v.'ere presumed to speak by authority, that 
 General Taylor, if elected, would not be inclined 
 to disturb the measures of domestic policy so 
 successfully put in operation by the present Ad^ 
 ministration; but inasmuch as no written assu' 
 ranee has been given by him, at least none that 
 it has been deemed safe to promulge, of his will- 
 ingness to play the part of a Democratic President, 
 though taken up by the Whig party, and to be 
 elected to the Presidency, if at all, by Whig votes, 
 I suppose we shall have to regard him as a genuine 
 and unadulterated Whig of the most approved 
 Clay and Webster stamp. There is one point, 
 however, upon which the newspapers of the Whig 
 party seem to diflfer very widely indeed: I allude 
 to the Wilmot proviso. For it is a striking fact, 
 that whilst the southern Whig editors all set him 
 down as a zealous and inflexible pro-slavery man,, 
 whose pecuniary interests as a large slaveholde 
 will insure his firm and steady opposition to al 
 attempts to restrict the extension of domestic slave, 
 ry, by Congressional legislation, within its present 
 territorial limits; the newspapers of the Whig 
 party in that section of the Union where this sya-- 
 tern of slavery is not tolerated by law, and where 
 the fiercest opposition is exhibited to its further 
 diffusion, without a single exception, so far as I 
 have been able to ascertain, have presented him to 
 their respective readers as a Wilmot proviso man, 
 and as such, prepared if elevated to the Executive 
 chair of the nation, to withhold his veto from this 
 noxious measure — thus permitting it to become one 
 of the permanent laws of the Republic. I dislike 
 exceedingly to run into detail upon this head; but 
 holding it to be quite important that the South 
 should understand in time the precise extent of the 
 danger to v/hich she stands exposed on this vita! 
 point, I shall take the liberty of laying before the 
 Senate and the country a few extracts from leading 
 Whig journals of extensive circulation in the free 
 States of the Union, from which the general course 
 of the editors sustaining General Taylor's preten- 
 sions in that section of the Confederacy may be 
 easily inferred. 
 
 And first, I will read an extract from the " Daily 
 Democrat," published at Rochester, New York, 
 which is as follows. 
 
 "And here is the precise difference between Cass anil Gen. 
 Taylor. It is possilde that General Taylor entertains doubts of 
 the expediency of prohibiting slavery in the Territories, and 
 th.il he would not originate or recommend such a measure. 
 
 " It may even be, that he shares in the scruples of General 
 Cass, as to the grant of power to Congress to legislate for 
 them upon this sitbject. But General Taylor tells as that the 
 personal opinions of the Executive ouijlitiiot to control the 
 action of Congress; nor ought his ohjedions to be interposed 
 when questions of constitutional jiower hay e been settled by 
 the various depcirtnicnts of GovernBient, and acquiesced in 
 by the peaple. 
 
 lis 
 
" Now, we are entirely willins; to rest the power of Con- 
 gress to restrain tile extension of slavery upon its having 
 buen settled by all the departments of Government, and 
 acquiesced in [<y the people. We can sliow that it has been 
 exercised in respect to six Territories by a perpetual inter- 
 diction of slavery, and in four oiliers ttie li'i;islative power 
 of Congress over slavery has been asserted in the way of 
 limitation and re^'ulation ; that every President has, in 
 some way, recognized tlia existence of this power ; that it 
 has been solemnly declared by the courts of the United 
 States, and of nearly, if not quite, all those of every slave 
 State. General Taylor, therefore, is bound and pledged not 
 to interpose objections, if he entertains any, to arrester de- 
 feat the action of Congress." 
 
 Next, a short extract from the " Boston Atlas" 
 claims attention. It reads thus: 
 
 " We are not unaware that there are some among us who 
 are reluctant to yield to General Taylor their support, even 
 tliongh the nominee of the PhilacJelphia Convention. We 
 feel assured "that they can be but few. 
 
 " Let them, if they really mean to be ri^ht, atid to act for the 
 best, and with clear consciences, consider whether they really 
 have any good grounds for their hesitation to support Gen- 
 eral Taylor; and above all, let them take into view the fear- 
 ful responsiliilily tliey will take upon themselves, if, by their 
 opposition, they bring upon the country all the awful con- 
 sequences itivolved in the election of Lewis Cass. Let them 
 ponder these things well. Let them learn — as thej will 
 learn, if they will not be deaf and blind to the truth— that 
 General Taylor is a Whig in principle — is in favor of peace 
 — opposed to all war — believes slavery to be a curse to the 
 country, and desires its e.vtormination — and is opposed to 
 the further extension of slave territory." 
 
 Next, I will invite notice to an extract from the 
 " Toledo Blade," published in Ohio: 
 
 "General Taylor declares expressly in his tlrst letter, 
 written two years since, to James M. Taylor, Esq., then 
 editor of the " Cincinnati Signal," that he considers the 
 ordinance of 1787 the best code of laws for the government 
 of a new territory in existence. Now, what is the prominent 
 feature of this ordinance .-■ Is it not, clearly, that no slavery 
 shall exist in the Territory for which it was framed? Here is 
 tlie doctrine of the Wilmot proviso fully endorsed. If the 
 language of General Taylor means anything, it means every- 
 thnig, and allhough he inay, troin his peculiar location and 
 occupation, as an extensive planter, find it necessary to liold 
 slaves himself, it does not follow that he should approve of 
 the extension of the evil of slavery into territory now free, 
 any more than that Lewis Cass, who has spent liis life in a 
 free State — whose sympathies and assuciatioiis have all 
 been with free laborers — should not approve of it. General 
 Cass, we bi-lieve, is not suspected of entertaining any other 
 than the most radical views in favor of an extension of 
 slavery. If he does, the platform erected for him by his 
 party, and his own letter of acceptance and endorsement, 
 greatly belie him. 
 
 "Again, his views upon the qualified use of the veto, re- 
 stricting it to matters that are clearly unconstitutional, and 
 never to be employed against a decisive Congressional vote, 
 are stronger safeguards against the extension of slavery than 
 any personal pledges of o|)position. This is power and au- 
 thority; it is thcopinion of awise head and good heart, upon 
 a subject which, of itself, is the very fountain of all law. 
 Would General Taylor veto the Wilmot proviso.' Would 
 he dare to say to the assembled Congress of the United 
 States, it is unconstitutional to pass such a law.' especially 
 after his endorsement of it in his first letter, after declaring 
 his opposition to the war, and after expressing a determina- 
 tion to avoid the use of the veto, except in the most extreme 
 cases .' We do not believe it ! 
 
 '• How is it with the Locofocos,' Their platform tells a 
 different story. They oppose the Wilmot proviso, favor the 
 use of the veto, approve of the war and its results. Now, 
 with such doctrines, what else can be expected than that, if 
 Cass should be elected to the Presidency, every wi.-h of the 
 most violent pro-slavery men would be immediately gratified.' 
 We could expect nothing else, for these are the principles of 
 their doctrinal, nominating Convention." 
 
 Next, an article from the Cincinnati Gazette will 
 be found worthy of consideration: 
 
 "The nomination of General Taylor by the Whig Na- 
 tional Convention is responsive to the authoritative voice of 
 the. popular will of the Whigs of the Union, Isgitimately 
 expressed in the mode and manner which they themselves 
 provided. 
 
 " In April, 1647, the editor of the Cincinnati Signal sent 
 to General Taylor an editorial article, in which is the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 " ' The only path of safety for those who may hereafter fill 
 the Presidential olhce, is to rest in the discharge of ICxccu- 
 tive functions, and let the legislative will of the people find 
 utterance and enactments. The American people are about 
 to assume the responsibility of framing the institutions of 
 the Pacific States. We have no fears for the issue, if the 
 arena of the hi!;h debate is the assemblies of the people and 
 their representative halls. 7'he citcnvion over the continent 
 beyond, lite Rio Grande of the oritinnncc of llSl, is an ohjcct 
 too hi<ih and permanent to be baffled by Presidential vetoes.' 
 
 " To the article from which the above extract is made, 
 General Taylor responded, in a letter of date May 18, 1847, 
 acknowledging his 'high opinion and decided approval of 
 the views and sentiments.' 
 
 "Here, it will be noticed, that General T ay ]or decidedly 
 approves of giving to the will and acts of Congress ' force 
 and effect,' unrestricted by kingly letocs, and that no Execu- 
 tive veto shotild prcoent the extension of the ordinance of 1787 
 over newly acquired Mexican territory.^' 
 
 The following' extract from the " Pittsburg 
 Journal," one of the strongest Wilmot proviso 
 papers in the country, wiir be found to the same 
 effect: 
 
 " The position of General Taylor'in regard to this all-im- 
 portant question, is perfectly satisfactory to the Whigs of the 
 North. What we desire in a President is, that he shall not 
 interpose to defeat the will of the people as expressed through 
 Congress. In the language of Mr. Forward, the Whigs want 
 nothing that they cannot obtain through the action of Con- 
 gress. " 
 
 " Genera! Taylor's position is one which will make him 
 the executor, not the dictator, of the public will. 
 
 " If the Wilmot proviso is adopted hy Congress, General 
 Taylor, as President, will not veto it. 
 
 " We regard General Taylor as opposed to the extension 
 of slavery, although a southern man. 
 
 " The extract from Mr. Ashmun's address, which we pub- 
 lish above, is the ground upon which we go into the support 
 of General Taylor. This ground is sure, firm, and safe." 
 
 Let me now call attention to the address which 
 has just been issued by the State Central Whig 
 Committee of Ohio to the voters of that State. 
 The whole address is too long to have read; but 
 the succeeding extract will plainly show what are 
 the views of the Whigs of Ohio in regard to Geti- 
 eral Taylor's principles, and especially as to his 
 views on the Wilmot proviso: 
 
 " It would doubtless have been more consonant to the . 
 Whigs of Ohio, had a candidate been selected whose resi- 
 dence and associations would have naturally inclined hiiti 
 to agree with us fully on this subject. His residence and as- 
 sociations, however, have not blinded Generiii Taylor to the 
 evils of the institution of slavery, and the moral depravity 
 of its extension. On the subject of slavery extension, the 
 views of General Taylor are freely expressed in his approval 
 of the sentiments contained in tlie following extract of an 
 editorial article published in the ' Cincinnati Signal' of April, 
 1847, and sent by the editor to General Taylor: 
 
 " ' The only path of safety for those who may hereafter fill 
 ' the Presidential office, is to rest in the discharge of Execu- 
 ' tive functions, and let the legislative will of the people find 
 ' utterance and enactment. The American people are about 
 ' to assume the responsibility of framing the institutions of 
 ' the Pacific States. We have no fears for the issue, if the 
 ' arena of the high debate is the assemblies of the people 
 ' and their representative halls. The extension over the cotv- 
 [ tincnt beyond the Rio Grande of the ordinance of 1787, is an 
 ' object too Id^h and permanent to he bajffled by Presidential 
 ' vetoes.' 
 
 " To the article from which the above extract is made, 
 General Taylor responded, in a letter of date May 18, 1847, 
 acknowledging his 'high opinion and decided approval of 
 the views and sentiments.' 
 
 " Here, it will be noticed, that General Taylor decidedly 
 approves of giving to the will and acts of Congress ' force 
 and eftect,' unrestricted by kingly vetoes, and that no Ex- 
 ecutive veto should prcoent the extension of the ordinance of 
 1787 over newly ac(pdred Mexican territory." 
 
 In addition to these testimonials, I beg leave to 
 suggest to gentlemen not already apprised of the 
 
6 
 
 fact, that a certain manifesto has been recently ad- 
 dressed to the Whigs of Massachusetts, by one of 
 her leading representatives in Congress, and who 
 was also a member of the Philadelphia Convention, 
 which, if not expressly contradicted by General 
 Taylor during the Presidential canvass, will bind 
 him, as an honoi'able man, to throw no obstacles, 
 as President of the United States, in the way of 
 the Wilmot proviso. I allude to the circular of 
 Mr. Ashmun to his constituents, which has evi- 
 dently constituted the basis upon which the Whigs 
 of Massachusetts have rallied to the support of 
 General Taylor. That document reads as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "General Taylor (says In) was not my preference; but I 
 believe him to be a true Whig, an honest and capable man, 
 opposed to the acquisition of Texas, with sound and con- 
 servative principles, opposed to further enlarging the bound- 
 aries of our Union; and although he lives in the latitude 
 where slavery is tolerated, yet I do not believe that he de- 
 sires or approves its extension. His declared sentiments 
 are a guarantee that he will never, in the slightest manner, 
 interfere with the action of Congress when it shall forbid 
 the existence of slavery in our nevvly-acquircd territories. 
 Let the representatives of the people and of the States be 
 left free to act upon that question, uncontrolled by Executive 
 influence and Executive veto, and we are safe. I need not, 
 I am confident, give to you any assurance that whenever the 
 question, in any form, shall be presented during my ofhcial 
 term, the rights of humanity shall find in me an unyieldinir 
 advocate. Tlie issue will soon come; it is to be met in the 
 Halls of Congress; and then it is to be decided, in all proba- 
 bihty, during the continuance of Mr. Polk's administration. 
 Let the people of the free Slates looiv to their representa- 
 tives I" 
 
 Such is the condition of things in New England 
 and the free States generally, in regard to General 
 Taylor's attitude upon the Wilmot proviso. I do 
 rot charge him in direct terms with being at heart 
 favorable to the Wilmot proviso; but I do insist, 
 and with the utmost confidence, too, that if elected 
 without further explanation, his supporters among 
 the " conscience Whigs," as they are called, would 
 have great right to complain of any attempt on 
 his part, as President, to defeat their favorite meas- 
 ure, by the interposition of the Executive veto. 
 And now, sir, I again appeal to the friends of Gen- 
 eral Taylor in this body for some assurance as to 
 the conduct of their Presidential candidate on this 
 subject, should he chance to be elected, as they seem 
 now so confidently to anticipate. Our candidate has 
 come out plainly and unequivocally, and magnani- 
 mously risked his election upon the soundness of 
 his views. Should he be chosen President, no fas- 
 tidious delicacy would restrain him in the exercise 
 of the veto power upon all measures deemed by him 
 unconstitutional, and he has declared his opinion 
 that the Wilmot proviso is unconstitutional, in 
 phraseology too explicit to be misunderstood by 
 the dullest intellect in the Republic. But if Gen- 
 eral Taylor's position as a Presidential candidate 
 is so objectionable for the reasons now stated, how 
 much more objectionable does he become when 
 regarded as associated with Alillard Fillmore, of 
 NewYork,upon the Whig ticket.' Mr. Fillmore has 
 been known all his life — and no man, here or else- 
 where, will dare deny it — to have been a thorough- 
 going Whig of the true Boston stamp. He' is 
 the reputed author of the tariff of 1842, and has 
 never wavered in the support of ultra Whig prin- 
 ciples. I am not authorized to charge him with 
 being an Abolitionist; but no one cari^ safely con- 
 tradict the assertion, that whilst a member of the 
 House of P^epresentatives in Congress, he gave 
 
 more than one vote which strongly smacked of 
 abolition. His general course as a politician is 
 well known to the country; but as all are not 
 familiar with the incidents which have marked 
 his public life for severaUyears past, I deem it pru- 
 dent to read on this occasioii an extract from a 
 letter which I have just received from an accom- 
 plished and honorable friend of mine in the State 
 of New York, wiiose means of obtaining correct 
 information on this subject are such as few persons 
 living possess, and whose reputation for veracity 
 and fairness authorize me to avouch, as I solemnly 
 do, the perfect accuracy of his whole statement: 
 Albany, June 19, 1848. 
 
 My dear Sir: I am happy to re|)ly to your favor of the 
 12lh instant, in the terms which I have replied to other simi- 
 lar applications, to give you any information respecting Mr. 
 Fillmore within my reach. 
 
 You are not mistaken in the fact that Fillmore is a Wil- 
 mot provisoist. He is so, out and out, as all know who have 
 any knowledge of his opinions and associations. Nobody 
 here doubts his position in this respect. He left Congress 
 before the question came up in that body, and in our own 
 State he has not been called upon for his views in this re- 
 spect, because his political friends, the Whigs, who were 
 rampant proviso men, never imagined that his provisoism 
 was a matter to be questioned by anybody. It certainly never 
 lias been here. He was nominated for Comptroller, the most 
 imi)!)rtant and responsible State office in the State, by the 
 Whig Slate Convention, last October, with the knowledge 
 that his views were in perfect coincidence with those of the 
 Convention, and with the Whig party of the State. 
 
 You may recollect that the Democratic State Convention 
 held at the close, of la^t September, laid on the table and re- 
 fused to adopt the Wilmot yiromso ottered by a prominent 
 " Barnburner," and, that upon that issue, the faction known 
 by that name, led off by Preston King, George Rathhun, J. 
 Van Buren, &c., &,c., denounced, opposed, and, with the 
 Whigs, voted against the Democratic tickets. Tlie Whig 
 State Convention, held the next week, adopted the identical 
 resolution refused by the Democratic Convention, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " Resolved, That while the Whig freemen of New York, 
 represented in this ConvenUon, will faithfully adhere to all 
 the compiomises of the Constitution, and zealously main- 
 tain all the reserved rights of the States, they declare, since 
 the crisis has arrived when the question must be met, their 
 uncompromising hostility to the extension of slavery into 
 territory now free, or which may he hereafter acquired by 
 any action of the Government of our Union." 
 
 This Whig Convention nominated Fillmore for Comp- 
 troller. The address adopted by the Convention avowed the 
 doctrines of the resolution, and presented them as the great 
 and essential issue of the campaign. It had these passages : 
 " The Union as it is," "Aut no more territory is our watch- 
 word," " unless it be free." " The voice o'f New York is 
 powerful in the Union, and we have striven faithfully (in 
 Fillmore & Co.) to present good sound sense men to person- 
 ate our principles." 
 
 The address of the New York Whig Central State Com- 
 mittee, to the Whigs of the State, was as follows, (October 
 25,) in behalf of Fiilmore k. Co.: 
 
 "The Whigs of the State have long seen and known that 
 thestooe poicer was the governing power of this Union. They 
 have seen and felt that that power was exerted in hosUllty 
 to the free men and free labor of the North ; they have seeii 
 that power make, and now see it making, most extraordi- 
 nary efforts to extend its dominion and increase ife strength ; 
 they have seen northern politicians and northern statesmen 
 truckling, bending, yielding to that power for the sake of 
 participating in its patronage, feeding upon the loaves and 
 fishes which it had to bestow, and enjoying the spoils with 
 which usurpers and tyrants in all ages reward the instru- 
 ments they use to accomplish their ends. This yon have 
 seen, and deplored its consequences, and you have labored, 
 but hitherto in vain, to avert them. But now a more glori- 
 ous prospect opens to your view. You have before you a 
 renewed and striking instance of that great and cheering 
 truth, that the Almighty, in his infinite wisdom, has provided 
 and orda'ined that the indulgence of an evil and vicious 
 course, whether in moral or political action, carries vi'ith it 
 not only its own punishment, but also its own corrective. 
 Elated with its unexampled success, the slave ponder 
 has become so exactive, imperious, and tyrannical, that the 
 
' endurance' of its nortlirrn ' ally' has ce:ised to be a virtue, 
 aiid now, lor the first time in the history of our Government, 
 our eyes behold, anil our ears are greeted with tlie glad tidings, 
 Uiat a large and overwhelming majority of the free spirits of 
 tiie North are determined, at once and forever, to put limits 
 10 tire bounds of slavery within our glorious Union, and to 
 say to it, ' tbou ha<t gone thus far, but thou slialt no further 
 go.' Our opponents (the Democrats) at Syracuse, with a 
 Bacrilegious contempt of God's holy Sabbath, well befitting 
 tlie occasion and the deed, laid a resolution against the ex- 
 tension of slavery on the table,upon the strange and anoma- 
 lous ground that the question of setting bounds to slavery 
 was a fireband tlirown into a convention nf frscmen. On 
 the following week, another convention of freemen rescued 
 this resolution from the contempt with which its predecessor 
 liad treated it, by DXiXt.MorsLY adopting it. And now we 
 appeal to the free spirits of the North — the freemen of New 
 York — to go to the polls with that power and energy which 
 the spirit of true freedom never fails to inspire, and at the 
 going down of the sun oa the night of the second of Novem- 
 ber, let the Empire State, through her ballot-bo.ves, proclaim, 
 in tones of thunder, in the language of the immortal JetTer- 
 son, 'all men are by nature free and equal;' and let the 
 lightning of Heaven, before the sun sets on the following 
 day,scauer the glad tidings throughout the lengih and breadth 
 of oui country, that hereafter and forever New York will not 
 consent to the extension of the hounds of slavery." 
 
 (Signed by all the Whig State Committees, then and now 
 the patriotic, active, and intimate political associates and 
 supporters of Mr. Fillmore.) 
 
 The "Evening Journal"' is the organ of the Whig party 
 and of Mr. Fillmore, at Albany. It is the leading Whig paper 
 in the State. From the moment of Fillmore's nomination 
 last October to the close of the canvass, it was filled with 
 proviso- articles and appeals. The contest seemed in that 
 quarter, as in the State address, to have no other point or 
 issue. And every day the support of the proviso was urged 
 as the great rallying point of the Whig cause and their can- 
 didates, and the Democrats and their candidates were as- 
 sailed in the fiercest manner as its enemies. I could send 
 you innumerable extracts, showing that the burden of the 
 Whig labors of Fillmore & Co. was the proviso. A few will 
 sutiice. 
 
 In our State now, the same men are engaged in the sup- 
 port of T.iylor and Fillmore ; and upon the same grounds 
 tlie same papers support him. The Evening Journal of this 
 aiteriioon says: 
 
 " We will adhere unflinchingly to every sentiment we 
 liave uttered against the extension of slavery, and in favor of 
 preserving the freedom of the soil obtained from Mexico. In 
 supporting General Taylor, we are rendering to the cause 
 the best service in our power. General Cass, a thorough 
 dough-face, has sacrificed freedom for a Presidential nomi- 
 nation. He stands pledged to veto a free soil bill should 
 Congress send such a bill to him. General Taylor, on the 
 other hand, though a slavery man as it exists, is opposed to ex- 
 tending the ecil, and u-ill sign any bill that Congress shall pass 
 on the subject." 
 
 The battle in New York will be a fierce one. We shall 
 encounter the Whigs and the leading" Barnburners," led by 
 King, J. Van Biiren, and others, and no doubt with the ap- 
 proval of the senior Mr. Van Buren. And the more rabid 
 of the proviso school and pretended Democrats will nomi- 
 nate their fonrfi'/afcs for President and Vice President either 
 at their convention on the 22d, or at an adjourned conven- 
 tion in -'Vugust, intended to embrace a wider range of dele- 
 gales from other States. 
 
 It may be counted, we think, that tlie great body of the 
 Democracy of the State will support the national Demo- 
 cratic nominations ; that many VVIiigs will refuse to support 
 General Taylor; and that out of the State, if not in it, we 
 sliall gain in one form all we lose in the other. At all events, 
 you may rely upon our best efforts to sustain the Democratic 
 cause and its candidates. 
 
 One thing is certain, that if the South shall fail to sup- 
 port Cass and Butler, with open and manly avowal of prin- 
 ciples, on which the South can stand, and shall prefer Tay- 
 lor and Fillmore from the party which has proclaimed the 
 proviso, and denounced the southern or " slave power" in 
 every form of epitiiet and hostility, they can never hope 
 afterwards to recover a fair and just position in the Union. 
 With great respect, your obedient servant. 
 
 Extracts referred, to in the preceding Letter. 
 
 [From the Evening Journal, October 11, 1847.] 
 
 " Our opponents will be active ; they have everything at 
 
 stake; their hope of success in the Presidential contest rests 
 
 upon the result now. They have pressed into this election 
 
 the issue (the proviso) upon which that contest will hang. 
 If. by the election of llungorford &. Co., (the candidate op- 
 posed to Fillmore,) the Wilinot proviso is condemned, the 
 enemies of that principle will be emboldened, and they will 
 have a right to be. If the extension of human bondage is 
 sanctioned by the freemen of the Empire State, the advo- 
 cates of sl.ivery will have a right to deem the institution in 
 accordance with the views of the North. Such a result must 
 be avoided. New York must not endorse the inhuman 
 principle so boldly broached by the Administration. It 
 would be in the highest degree disgraceful ; but this disgrace 
 can only be avoided by ti|e repudiation of the men who are 
 laboring to bring it about, and the election of those (Fillmore 
 St Co.) u'Ao are pledged to the IVilmot pi-oviso." 
 [From the same, October 1.3.] 
 " The pensioned emissaries of slavery in this State have 
 made a distinct issue. By voting down an endorsement of 
 the Wilinot proviso, they superadded to every other issue 
 that issue, m:)re importantthanallothers,sl3.very or freedom. 
 It is to be seen in whose favor the verdict of the ballot-bos 
 will be rendered." 
 
 [From the same, October 20.] 
 " Slavery or'Freedom. — The approaching election will 
 decide the question whether the electors of New York are 
 in favor of freedom or slavery. The order has gone out from 
 Washington, and been proclaimed here by the emissaries of 
 the General Government, that the Empire State must suc- 
 cumb to the slave power. For the first time in our political 
 history, the State convention of a great party (the Demo- 
 cratic party) has ignobly spurned a resolution protesting 
 against cursing free soil with human slavery. The issue is 
 distinctly raised— the appeal is boldly made to the ballot- 
 box. Ei'cry vote deposited uill he a declaration for or against 
 the principle embodied i7i the Wilinot proviso. The election 
 of the nominees of a convention born of bribery and fraud, 
 would be hailed as a triumph of slavery ; their defeat would 
 inspire a well-founded hope of the ultimate triumph of the 
 great principle for which every true man is contending." 
 
 [From the same, October 27.] 
 " O.N ! TO VICTORY ! — The busy note of preparation comes 
 upon us from all quarters. The ever true and faithful work- 
 ingmen of the Whig party are ready and eager for tiiis con- 
 test. The people appreciate the momentous issue involved 
 in this contest. They know that questions of infinitely 
 greater importance than the success of any party are at 
 stake. The result of the contest will decide whether slavery 
 or freedom has the popular verdict. This was made an is- 
 sue by order of the General Government. The freemen's 
 resolution (the proviso) was spurned by a fraudulently con- 
 stituted majority at S.yracuse. They even refused it the 
 poor formality of a direct vote. They ignoniiniously laid it 
 upon the table. But the people, while they must despise its 
 author, thank him for the issue ; the resolution contemptu- 
 ously smothered will be rescued from dishonor. It was 
 trampled upon by a subservient majority, but it will be mag- 
 nified through the ballot-boxes. That which was condemned 
 by the ' dough-faces,' will be exalted by the people." 
 
 [From the same, October 28.] 
 " Strike for freedom ! The emissaries of the (Seneral 
 Government smothered the white man's resolution, (the 
 proviso.) Let the traitors be remembered at the ballot- 
 boxes. Let the potent voice of New York be heard in de- 
 nunciation of the recreants who would tarnish her fair fame- 
 by a compulsory endorsement of slavery. Strike for free- 
 dom !" 
 
 [From the same, November 1.] 
 
 "Slavery overshadowing freedom. — The territory 
 demanded of Mexico by Mr. Trist as a condition of peace, 
 is large enough to form five States as large as New York. 
 With the boundaries of slavery thus enlarged, what has the 
 North to expect but a perpetuation of the dominion of sla- 
 very?" 
 
 [From the same — same date.] 
 
 " Slaves are claimed and held as property; they are not 
 recognized as men, or allowed to enjoy any ot^ the attributes 
 or rights of mankind. But, while at the North property 
 qualifications for voting have been repudiated, the South 
 votes for its slaves. In all the southern States five slaves 
 give two votes. This monstrous inequality has been toler- 
 ated as one of the compromises of the Constitution ; but let 
 us not extend this odious principle — let us not add new 
 slave teTritory, that slavery may increase its political power." 
 [ Of course Fillmore and company were recognized 
 everywhere as entertaining these sentiments, and as the 
 champions and standard-bearers of the party avowing and 
 
8 
 
 entertaining them. Such was the character of all the pro- 
 ceedings of all their county conventions and meetings.] 
 [Resolutions unanimously adopted at the Whig general 
 meeting in the city of New York approving the nomina- 
 tion of Fillmore and company.] 
 
 " Resolved, Thnl we earnestly deprecate, and will resist 
 to the utmost, the extension of human slavery under our 
 laws and our flas, into any territory previously free from 
 tliat scourge. We deny the constitutional right to extend 
 and establish it, and we call on all who love liberty, what- 
 ever their name or party, to unite with us in averting the 
 evil and reproach of propagating bondage from this boasted 
 land of freedom. 
 
 " Resolved, That In Millard Fillmore and * * * on 
 the Whig State ticket, we have candidates of more integ- 
 rity, undoubted capacity, unsullied character, and unwaver- 
 ing Whig principles, whom we are proud to eulogize and 
 point to as champions of our cause, and we will give them 
 tiiat support which they eminently deserve, and which our 
 country's good emphatically requires at our hands." 
 
 Such, then, are the political chai-acteristics of 
 the gentleman selected by the Whig Convention 
 in Philadelphia, to be voted for in connection with 
 General Taylor; such are the principles of that 
 personage who, in the event of General, Taylor's 
 death before the expiration of his official term, 
 would have charge of the Executive department of 
 the Government at this critical period in our his- 
 tory. I now solemnly call upon the friends of this 
 ill-omened ticket to deny one single fact which I 
 have stated in regard to Mr. Fillmore, or to con- 
 fess that they are striving for the election of a man 
 to the Vice Presidency of the Union, and opening 
 the way, in the event named, to the Presidency 
 itself, of a person who, in many respects, is more 
 objectionable as a politician than any individual 
 who has ever heretofore been able to obtain a 
 nomination at the hands even of a Whig Conven- 
 tion, since the system of nominettion was first 
 adopted. 
 
 After some observations from Mr. MANGUM — 
 Mr. FOOTE resumed. I am certainly quite 
 gratified at finding that the honorable Senator from 
 North Carolina concurs with me touching the ap- 
 propriateness of the present occasion for the discus- 
 sion which is now in progress. He seems to be 
 quite astonished, though, that anyone should find I 
 it at all difficult to understand the present princi- [ 
 pies of the Whig party. Whiggery, says he, is ' 
 the sun in Heaven, irradiating and refreshing with ! 
 its heat all surrounding nature. Well, sir, I have \ 
 seen it somewhere mentioned, that in ancient 
 times' there was once a theory afloat which as- 
 serted the existence of two distinct species of stars 
 in the firmament — one class of which emitted rays 
 of light, whilst the others emitted rays of dark- 
 ness. I think all who have witnessed this debate 
 will acknowledge that if Whiggery be really a sun, 
 it is not such a sun as supplies any large quantum 
 of illumination, or that, like the veritable Phoebus, 
 its brightness is too intense to allow the substance 
 of which it is composed to be ascertained by the 
 casual beholder — being, perchance, as the poet ex- 
 presses it, "dark from excess of light." If the 
 Senator from North Carolina will deign to periTiit 
 a little of the light in which that sun of Whiggery 
 of which he has spoken must abound, to fall upon 
 certain opake spots which now stand for Whig prin- 
 ciples, I am sure that he would confer a great favor 
 upon many, and do not a little service to the coun- 
 try. Will the Senator from North Carolina be 
 kind enough to tell us whether the Whig party, if 
 they get into power, will again struggle to establish 
 a national bank .' 
 
 Mr. MANGUM. I will answer the Senator, 
 but I will not now interrupt him. 
 
 Mr. FOOTE. If the Senator shall answer sat- 
 isfactorily, he will be more successful than any of 
 his party have been lately. I see the Senator from 
 Delaware [Mr. Clayton] in his place, and I am 
 reminded of a certain published letter of his, issued 
 in the autumn of 1846, in which he proclaimed 
 the existence of the old party issues. Does he 
 adhere to what he then declared? 
 
 Mr. CLAYTON. The letter to which the 
 Senator refers was in relation to a protective tariff. 
 That was the only subject embraced in it. 
 
 Mr. FOOTE. I think the Senator is mistaken; 
 but it matters not; the Senator from Delaware then 
 insisted upon the restoration of the tariff of 1843, 
 and I understand him yet to do so; and doubtless 
 he expects General Taylor to aid in its restoration. 
 Well, sir, if General Taylor will explicitly ac- 
 knowledge that he is in favor of the tariff 1842, I 
 can assure his friends that his supporters in the 
 South will soon dwindle to a corporal's guard. But 
 let me ask the Senator from North Carolina, who 
 has undertaken to give us information in regard to 
 General Taylor's politics, to tell us whether he is 
 in favor of the independent treasury. What are 
 his views in relation to the Mexican war .' Did 
 he, or does he, approve or disapprove the conduct 
 of his own Government in prosecuting that war.' 
 Was he really, as Mr. Ashmun asserts, opposed 
 to the annexation of Texas } Was he opposed to 
 our receiving territorial indemnity from Mexico .' 
 Would he, if President, veto the Wilmot proviso 
 or not.' 
 
 The Senator frotri North Carolina has announced 
 to us that he has determined to support General 
 Taylor, because he knows him to be a Whig, and 
 recognizes him to be a well-informed politician. 
 This is really surprising. General Taylor himself 
 acknowledges his utter ignorance of politics, be- 
 wails his want of mature ideas on the subject, and 
 declares that he has paid no attention to questions 
 of party politics for forty years, and yet he is now 
 lauded for his vast political knowledge and high 
 competency as a statesman. It would be gratify- 
 ing to many to be able to find out the school at 
 which he has succeeded in acquiring proficiency 
 in statesmanship so rapidly. No other such in- 
 stance of success in the accumulation of knowledge 
 has heretofore occurred in the history of the world: 
 and I can hardly believe that another such instance 
 will occur in all future time. Since he is really so 
 well-informed at present in politics, it is still more 
 wonderful that he keeps his learning so much to 
 himself. Surely he should not hide his light under 
 a bushel. I have heard it said, that there was this 
 striking difference between intellectual acquisitions 
 and acquisitions of every other kind: man is so 
 constituted, that if he obtain a new idea, he feels 
 actually unhappy until an opportunity is afforded 
 to him of communicating it to others. General 
 Taylor's case is clearly an exception to the general 
 rule; for he is as absolutely silent now upon all 
 political topics as he was when confessedly in a 
 state of profound ignorance. 
 
 It has pleased the Senator from North Carolina 
 to assail the standard-bearer of the Democratic 
 party, our admired candidate for Presidential 
 honors-, in a style and manner far more unkind than 
 I had anticipated; and yet I cannot perceive that 
 
9 
 
 he has done him the least injury. The fact is, the 
 character and qualifications of our candidate are 
 such as to make it impossible for his adversaries 
 to weaken him by assailment, however ingenious 
 or malignant. The wiiole American people know 
 him to be a man of the highest abilities, of large 
 attainments in science, thoroughly accomplished 
 in ail things appertaining to the management of 
 public affairs, sober, industrious, persevering, 
 frank, independent, wise in counsel, fearless in 
 action, of unblemished reputation in private life, 
 and possessed of every quality which can confer 
 dignity or secure friendship. His history as a 
 public man is fa.miliar to the whole world. I shall 
 not now dwell upon it in detail. It is entirely un- 
 necessary. But I trust I may be pardoned for 
 saying thus much: for more than six months 
 past, I have known him familiarly; I have been a 
 close observer of his conduct in this body, and 
 have listened to his sage counsels in privacy; and 
 it has ever seemed to me, that it would have been 
 impossible for any man whom I have known, or 
 of whom I have read, to discharge all the duties of 
 a wise and patriotic Senator, with more complete 
 success than I have seen them performed by him. 
 During his connection with the management of 
 public affairs, no man has had to encounter more 
 difficulties, or to meet more new and perilous 
 questions than he has; and yet no one can justly 
 charge him with having on any occasion recoiled 
 from responsibility, or with having in the least 
 degree wearied with continued well doing. Whilst 
 among us in this body, he was oftentimes thrown 
 into collision with the ablest debaters and most 
 skillful tacticians that the Whig party could sup- 
 ply; very peculiar • efforts have been oftentimes 
 made, as the result of special arrangement and 
 combination, to bear him down or to embarrass 
 him; but gentlemen will permit me to aver, that I 
 remember no conflict in which he was worsted by 
 his antagonists, or in which he failed to acquire 
 new honor from the encounter. His great simpli- 
 city and manliness of character enabled us always 
 to ascertain his true attitude upon every public 
 question, when most others were holding them- 
 selves in reserve; and he is the last man in the 
 nation who could seek official advancement by 
 concealing his opinions — giving conflicting assu- 
 rances to adverse factions — or who could permit 
 himself to be shuffled into high station by mere 
 dexterity and chicane. He is before the country, 
 avowing openly the well-known creed of his party; 
 to all the resolutions of our National Convention 
 he has publicly and cordially subscribed; and upon 
 most of the principles involved therein he has 
 heretofore been compelled to act in the course of 
 his career as a public man. Weil might he say, 
 as he did say lately, in his letter accepting the nomi- 
 nation to the Presidency: 
 
 " This letter, gentlemen, closes my profession of political 
 faitli. Receiving my flr^l appointment from that pure pa- 
 triot, an9 great expounder of American Democracy, Mr. 
 Jefferson, more than forty years ajo, the intervening period 
 of my life has been almost wholly passed in the service of 
 my country, and has been marked by many vicissitudes, and 
 been attended with many trying circumstances both in peace 
 and war. If my conduct in these situations, and the opin- 
 ions I have been called upon to form and express from time 
 to time, upon all the great party topics of the day, do not I 
 furnish a clear exposition of my views respecting tliem, and j 
 at tlie same time a sufficient pledge of my faithful adhe- 
 rence to their practical application, wherever and whenever ' 
 
 I may be required to act, anything further I might now say, 
 would be mere delusion, unworthy of my-sclf, and justly 
 otiensive to the great party in whose name you are now 
 acting." 
 
 Such is our candidate for the Presidency, and 
 such his opinions: who does not perceive the injus- 
 tice attempted to be done him on this occasion, by 
 charging him with attempting to conceal his prin- 
 ciples the other day at Cleveland, when he was 
 rudely and presumptuously catechised in a vast 
 crowd, amidst a scene of tumult and confusion, 
 which, had he attempted to speak at length, would 
 have subjected him to every sort of misinterpre- 
 tation and consequent misrepresentation .' When 
 the candidate of the Whig party shall have avowed 
 a single principle clearly and unequivocally, his 
 advocates here may have some little ground to 
 complain of General Cass's conduct at Cleveland; 
 but until that distant day — a day which I fear is 
 never to be realized — I would admonish them to 
 be as silent as the grave itself upon this subject. 
 
 I believe I may venture to assure gentlemen also, 
 that there is not much danger of our candidate for 
 the Presidency flooding the country with election- 
 eering letters during the canvass, as General Tay- 
 lor has done; and I will go further, and engage 
 that not a single letter will ever be published over 
 his signature of which he will not be the sole^u- 
 thor; and whose style shall not plainly bespeak its 
 origin. But how is it, on the subject of letters, 
 with General Taylor? Why, the number of his 
 epistles is legion; and such wondrous variety do 
 they exhibit, both in phraseology and substance, 
 as to have filled his friends with regret, and to 
 have called forth commiseration even from his 
 enemies. Some of these famous letters are short, 
 concise, and nervous; others are long, verbose, 
 and meaningless; others glitter with all the mere- 
 tricious ornaments of a false rhetoric; whilst others 
 again are full of false grammar, confused ideas, 
 involved sentences, and the most rude and unpol- 
 ished nonsense. (i)ne or two of these letters are 
 supposed to have been written in this city and 
 forwarded to him for his signature at his place of 
 residence in the far southwest; and these bear in- 
 dubitable tokens of having been concocted by old 
 stagers in politics, for the purpose of deceiving and 
 deluding. I venture to assert that General Taylor 
 cannot by possibility be the author of all these 
 letters; and I defy any of his friends here to rise 
 and assert that they do so believe. 
 
 Mr. President, I feel that I should poorly per- 
 form my duty on this occasion were I to omit to 
 allude to a personage whose name cannot be men- 
 tioned anywhere without awakening sentiments 
 of respect and admiration, and who, among all 
 true Whigs, has been for a long time regarded as 
 the very personification and embodiment of their 
 principles as a party. Henry Clay ! Henry Clay ! ! 
 "Clanim et vcnerabile nomenH" So spoke of him 
 lately in our hearing an eloquent Senator, who is 
 no longer one of our body — the justice of whose 
 commendation I felt bound. to admit in full Senate. 
 Where is Henry Clay? In retirement? How? 
 By the cruel ostracism of an ungrateful party — a 
 party first organized by him upon its true platform; 
 a party which learned all its principles from his 
 eloquent lips; sustained by him, defended by him, 
 sometimes led to victory by him. when hope seemed 
 forever to have abandoYied the Whig standard, and 
 
10 
 
 when all other voices but his had grown silent from 
 uttei despair. His high abilities, his lieroic fear- 
 lessness, his noble energy of character, his unsur- 
 passed eloquence, his profound devotion to the 
 Whig cause, his thorough knowledge of men and 
 parties, his masterly dexterity as a party tac- 
 tician, his deep and firm hold upon popular feel- 
 ing — all, all have been forgotten, overlooked, dis- 
 regarded, almost mocked at and despised; and, 
 oh! shame upon such heartlessness! such cruel 
 and insulting disregard of his sensibilities ! a man 
 has been nominated in preference to him, who pro- 
 fesses utter ignorance of Whig principles — who 
 disdains to be recognized as the exponent of the 
 Whig creed, who has not even voted at an election 
 in forty years; — and he, too, a military chieftain! 
 yes, a military chieftain !! — though Mr. Clay had, 
 more than twenty years ago, denounced the elec- 
 tion of a mere military chieftain to the Presidential 
 oifice as worse than war, pestilence, and famine com- 
 bined!! Sir, such an instance of flagrant injustice 
 has never before been perpetrated by party .managers 
 in any age of the world. The great leader of the 
 Whig hosts, after being persuaded to allow his name 
 to be used in the Philadelphia Convention, in his 
 old age, when even party enmity had almost soft- 
 ened into friendship, and respect, and veneration, 
 ha^ been cast out, reprobated, trampled under foot, 
 massacred by professing but false friends, and, 
 I may almost say, buried, without the decencies of 
 a public funeral! Since the days of Julius Cresar, 
 nothing has occurred equal to this enormous out- 
 rage! Surely it was not necessary that this man, 
 too, should die by the violence of his own friends! 
 surely it was not necessary to butcher him in a 
 manner so cruel, so barbarous. If the time had 
 come to make a victim of such a man, surely he 
 ruight at least (o have been " carved as a dish fit 
 for the gods," not " hewn as a carcass fit for 
 hounds." " But yesterday, the word of this man 
 nn'ght (with his own party) have stood against the 
 world; now lies he there, and none so poor as do 
 him reverence." But, sir, I prophesy, that true 
 men will yet arise to avenge his martyrdom, and 
 that those who have been heard exulting over fallen 
 greatness will yet be made to feel the punishment 
 which their perfidy deserves. I warn them to 
 prepare their ears for the indignant denunciations 
 of a hero in despair, whose mighty 
 " Spirit ranging for revenge, 
 Witli Ate liy liisside, come liotfrom hell, 
 Shall, ill Whig confines, with a monarch's voice 
 Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war — 
 That this foul deed shall smell above the earth 
 With carrion men groaning for burial." 
 
 Mr. JOHNSON made a speech of some length, 
 after which — 
 
 Mr. FOOTE resumed. It must be obvious to 
 all that the Senator from Maryland has failed 
 most egregiously in his attempt to establish his 
 charge of there having been two editions of the life 
 of Cass published in this city, under Democratic 
 direction, one for circulation in the North, and the 
 other in the South; difl^ering from each other in 
 regard to the Wilmot Proviso. The truth is — as 
 I am told can be easily proved, if necessary — 
 that there never have been two editions on hand 
 at the Globe oflice at the same time; and that, of 
 all the editions published, as large a number were 
 sent to one section of the Union as to the other. 
 
 In addition, I will remark that there is really no 
 repugnance, or very material diflerence of any 
 kind, between the two editions which have been 
 subjected to criticism here, so far as the Wilmot 
 proviso is concerned. One of these editions runs 
 somewhat more into detail on this subject than 
 the other, which it was deemed expedient to en- 
 liven and adorn with the letter of General Jack- 
 son, and General Cass's views in regard to the 
 revolutionary movements in France — a subject 
 which he is well known to have discussed at a 
 public meeting in this city some time after the 
 first edition of his life had issued from the press. 
 Besides, sir, this earnestly-urged charge becomes 
 perfectly ridiculous when we reflect upon the fact 
 that General Cass's letter to Mr. Nicholson, 
 plainly declaring his hostility to the Wilmot pro- 
 viso, has been published, in pamphlet form, by 
 thousands upon thousands, and distributed all 
 over the Republic, and has been republished in 
 every leading Democratic and Whig newspaper 
 on the continent; so that it cannot be possible that 
 any intelligent man anywhere can be ignorant of 
 his true attitude. Why, sir, I have seen some 
 ten or a dozen different lives of General Taylor, 
 and some of them ridiculous enough, God knows; 
 but who ever tliought of holding him or the Whig 
 party responsible for any of them? I will not 
 argue this matter gravely; I scorn to do so; it is 
 unworthy of this body and the respectable Sena- 
 tors who introduced it to our notice. 
 
 The Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Man- 
 gum] has closed his elaborate defence of General 
 Taylor; an address characterized by ability, 
 learning, and a peculiar astuteness of mind. But 
 all will admit, who have listened to it, that he has 
 given no new information to the Senate and the 
 country relative to General Taylor's political 
 opinions. This is just as I had anticipated, and 
 had beforehand ventured to predict. Surely, if 
 any one knows anything positively on this sub- 
 ject, the Senator from North Carolina cannot re- 
 main in ignorance. He is one of the most promi- 
 nent leaders of the Whig party; and though it be 
 true, as he says, that he is but newly initiated in the 
 Eleusinian mysteries of Taylorism; yet suificient 
 time having elapsed since General Taylor's nomi- 
 nation to allow the Senator from North Carolina 
 to give in his adhesion to him, I do not see why 
 we might not reasonably demand from him one or 
 two substantial political reasons at least for sup- 
 porting him as a Presidential candidate. If not ori- 
 ginally as much in the confidence of his chosen 
 candidate as some others, I trust that he at least 
 occupies such an attitude at present as will enable 
 him to learn all that it is important for him to find 
 out concerning the principles of his candidate, to 
 enable him to do efficient service in his support. 
 
 Mr. President, I regret that my friend, the Sen- 
 ator from North Carolina, who so decidedly de- 
 clines a regular vindication of the Whig ticket, 
 should have put himself to the trouble of assailing 
 that of the Democratic party. More especially do 
 1 regret that he should have gone out of his way 
 to denounce General Cass's alleged change of opin- 
 ion upon the Wilmot proviso. I have lierelofore 
 explained the conduct of General Cass in regard to 
 this imputed change of opinion, and will not trouble 
 the Senate further on the subject at this time. But 
 before my friend from North Carolina so bolster- 
 
11 
 
 ously complains of General Cass's supposed incon- 
 sistency, and charges it so fiercely to be a deeply 
 disreputable thing for a statesman of years and ex- 
 perience to undergo and confess the least alteration 
 of judgment upon a grave public question, I am 
 of opinion that it would be at least discreet in him 
 to recollect, that perchance he is not himself now the 
 advocate here of all the principles which he once 
 zealously maintained. I shall not go at large and 
 minutely into the history of that worthy Senator, 
 for the purpose of pointing out liis inconsistencies; 
 but there is one remarkable change of opinion, 
 made manifest by the Senator for the first time, 
 I believe, in the progress of this debate, which is 
 altogether so glaring and material that he will ex- 
 cuse me for making specific mention of it. It will 
 be recollected, that whilst the Senator from North 
 Carolina wixs addressing the Senate, I propounded 
 several interrogatories to him, which he undertook 
 to answer. Among them were the following: 
 What were General Taylor's views touching the 
 origin of the Mexican war? Did he believe it to 
 have arisen by the act of Mexico, or by the act 
 of the United States? Was Mexico in the right 
 in regard to the commencement of the war, and 
 our country in the wrong? Or was Mexico in 
 the wrong, and our country in the right? The 
 honorable Senator avowed that he could not an- 
 swer for General Taylor, but had no hesitation 
 in answering for himself; and, in doing so, de- 
 clared, ihat it was his deliberate conviction that 
 the war had been commenced by the President of 
 the United States, and unjustly and unnecessarily 
 , commenced by him. I shall not stop now to de- 
 fend the President and our own country from the 
 present animadversions of the Senator from North 
 \ Carolina. I prefer reminding the Senator of what 
 
 he himself said in this b.ody, on a very noted occa- 
 sion. When, sir, on the 19th day of May, 1846, 
 a bill was received from the House of Representa- 
 tives, entitled "An act providing for the prosecu- 
 tion of the existing war between the United States 
 and the Republic of Mexico," and was undergoing 
 consideration in this Chamber, the honorable Sen- 
 ator from North Carolina addressed the Senate at 
 some length , and used , in the progress of his speech , 
 the following language: 
 
 ■ " He had no disposition to embarrass tlie passage of the 
 bill. He should, however, greatly hesitate to vole for it in 
 its present shape, inasmuch as it was equivalent to a dec- 
 laration of war; bul he was prepared atonce to vote supplies 
 to any amount, whether of men or money. All he asked 
 was, that the political question as to the actual existence of a 
 war might be separated from the vote of supplies. If the 
 friends of the Administration wanted their fifty thousand 
 men and their ten millions of dollars, they could have looth 
 in half an hour, if they would not embarrass the bill by 
 connectingsit with the other questions." * * " "They 
 were not willing to assume the fact, without evidence, that 
 a state of war between the United States and Mexico did 
 actually exist. Suppose that the troops which crossed the l^ia 
 Grande [Mexican troops, of course] had acted without the 
 ctuthoritji of their Government, fas now, Mr. President, we 
 know they did not,] and that the collision which had un- 
 happily taken place wasounng to their own unauthorized act : 
 was any Senator prepared to say, that according to the doc- 
 trines of national law, this constituted a state of war between 
 the two nations.' The act of these military officers might j'et 
 be disavowed," &c. * * * "If we were actually at war, 
 then he was under the impression that our forces ouglit to 
 cross the river, and that we should not stop until we had 
 dictated peace at the capital of the Mexican empire." 
 
 Well, Mr. President, we have since ascertained, 
 and the Senator will not deny the fact, that all 
 
 which was done by the Mexican officers and 
 soldiers referred to, so far from being disavowed 
 by their Government, was done by express ordera 
 of that Government, and has been repeatedly sanc- 
 tioned and justified in the most solemn and formal 
 manner. We now know that a state of war did 
 actually exist on the 12th day of May, 1846, not 
 by the unauthorized act of Mexican officers and 
 soldiers, but under the express authority of the 
 Mexican Government; and the President ascer- 
 taining these to be the actual facts of the case, did, 
 in accordance with the recommendation of the 
 Senator from North Carolina, use all the men and 
 money placed in his hands, in the vigorous prosecu- 
 tion of the war, and has actually " dictated peace 
 at the capital of the Mexican empire." And now 
 what is the conduct of the Senator from North 
 Carolina? Why, he turns short round upon the 
 President, asserts that he brought it on, and not 
 the Mexican Government at all, and denounces 
 him in the harshest manner for what he has thought 
 it incumbent upon him to do in vindication of the 
 national honor. If the Senator from North Caro- 
 lina will specify one such act of inconsistency in 
 the whole history of General Cass as a statesman, 
 I shall be willing to admit that the censures which 
 he has bestowed upon him are not wholly unde- 
 served. 
 
 Mr. Clavton having occupied the attention of 
 the Senate for several hours, Mr. FOOTE thus 
 responded to him: 
 
 Mr. President: I have heard it said, that it is 
 an established rule among professed rhetoricians, 
 both ancientand modern, that the peroration should 
 always be the most brilliant and imposing part of 
 a speech. It will be readily acknowledged by 
 those who have listened to the honorable Sen- 
 ator from Delaware, that the conclusion of that 
 very magnificent harangue which has riveted our 
 attention for the last two hours, or more, is not 
 altogether a very striking exemplification of the 
 rule alluded to. After discussing with great abil- 
 ity, and with much of the pomp and circumstance 
 of the war oratorical, many of the loftiest and most 
 enkindling topics which can claim the considera- 
 tion of enlightened statesmen, or rouse the sensi- 
 bilities of the patriot, he descends, with a balhotic 
 impetuosity which has no parallel, to the exami- 
 nation and elaborate discussion of one of the most 
 petty and trivial topics which ever found its way 
 into a grave deliberative assembly; and thus is he 
 content to close his speech ! 
 
 Well, sir, since the Senator has resolved that we 
 shall look into the act of the Territorial Legisla- 
 ture of Michigan, to which he says the sanction of 
 our candidate for Presidential honors was actually 
 given, let us examine it. It is as follows: 
 
 AN ACT for the punishment of idle and disorderly persons. 
 
 Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and Judges of the 
 Territory of Michigan, That any justice of the peace may 
 sentence any vagrant, lewd, iille, or disorderly persons, stulh- 
 born servants, common drunkards, night-walkers, pilferers, 
 or any persons wanton or licentious in speech, indecent 
 behavior, common railers or brawlers, such as neglect their 
 calling and employment, misspend what ihey earn, and do 
 not provide for themselves or families, to be whipped, not 
 exceeding ten stripes, or to be delivered over to any consta- 
 ble, to be hired out for tlie best wages that can be procured; 
 
12 
 
 the proceeds of which to be applied to the use of the poor of 
 the county. 
 
 Made, and dated, and published at Detroit the 27th day of 
 July, 1818. LEWIS CASS, 
 
 Governor of the Territory of Michigan. 
 A. B. WOODWARD, 
 Presiding Judge of the Territory of Michigan. 
 J. WITHERALL, 
 JOHN GRIFFIN, 
 Judges of the Territory of Michigan. 
 
 Sir, this law is almost precisely correspondent 
 with statutes to be found upon the statute-book of 
 every State in this Union. I am informed that it is 
 an exactcopy of the statute of Vermont on this sub- 
 ject; and I know that there are but few States in 
 the Union which have not at one time had a similar 
 one. Whether General Cass introduced the bill 
 in the Territorial Legislature, of which he was a 
 component member, (for I understand that the 
 whole legislative power was vested in the Governor 
 and three judges of the Territorial court;) whetlier 
 he sanctioned it when proposed by another; or 
 whether it became a law in opposition to his judg- 
 ment and wishes, we are not informed, nor do I 
 deem it at all material to ascertain. For my part, 
 I am perfectly willing that all such miscreants as 
 are described in the Territorial law of Michigan 
 may vote against us in the coming Presidential 
 contest — being perfectly convinced that there will 
 be a sufficient number of honest, industrious, or- 
 derly Democratic voters to secure us the most 
 signal triumph which has been achieved by the 
 
 Democratic party since the overthrow of the elder 
 Adams. 
 
 And now, Mr. President, in closing this debate, 
 I have only to repeat, what I have so often reitera- 
 ted, that the leaders of the Whig party in this body 
 have been called upon to defend their principles, and 
 they have undertaken to do so, but have totally 
 failed even to make a single distinct issue with us. 
 They have been called upon to explain the princi- 
 ples of their Presidential candidate, and they have 
 all confessed their utter inability to do so. They 
 have been requested to affix some definite inter- 
 pretation to the published letters of General Tay- 
 lor, and they have confessed themselves incompe- 
 tent to the task. The Senator from Delaware says 
 that General Taylor's political creed is to be found 
 in his Allison letter. I have asked him what the 
 Allison letter means upon several important points, 
 and he acknowledges that he is unable to inform 
 me. I have invited the honorable Senator's atten- 
 tion specially to his own letter published in the 
 autumn of 1846, in which he declares that all the 
 old party issues of 1844 are to be decided by the 
 Presidential contest of 1848. I have inquired of 
 him whetherhe adheres to what he then published. 
 He promised me an answer, but has closed his 
 speech withoutcomplying with his promise. From 
 this time forward, let no man assert that the 
 Whigs, as a party, have any political principles; 
 for certain it is, that if they have principles, they 
 are such as they are ashamed to avow, and dare 
 not attempt to vindicate by argument. 
 
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