SPEEG H

«m

    D A N1  L 4   W EBSTERt
.toot,IvEmto I1~Ti'TI-IEiiSEt~T.Ai'I‘E or TZEAIENK UiNI"hI*ED srmfosi, MARCJH
g7, "1850, oNoT1~t1?. COMPROMISE RESOLUTIONS’ 01:‘. MR\..CLaQ.'Y‘». it

 iP1tIs:s11)i1i:z~tt1:; I wislfi to speak 1 to-da'y,Wnot as at Mam;
“~oht1sotts man, nor 31$ a. %No1'therr1 man, but as at1«Atnericani,
and at member of the Senate of the United States. Nltjis
fortttnate ithztt there is a Senate: of the United. State-as}-~«-a. body
not yet moved from its propriety, not lost to a fjust oorise of
its own dignity, and its own high 1'€Sp01]$ibiii.ti€S,_ and a body
to ;whiic.h;th%o country lookssxvith oonfidenoo iofori wise, mod-it-A
orttto, patriotic, and healing counsels. iIt"ti.si1ot toho gzioniefi
tliat we live in the midst of strong o.giit21tio=n;s,iia11dtare sure-

orotmdedt bi vol‘ considerable daxicrors toii;tottr ixiétiitttitiiotis of
it V  , ‘ A it:-at  .    t A
govorn mont, 'I‘ho, _tmpx'1sonod _ ’w1t1ds tarot t1oiti~_;t1otoso,%i  A   A

East, the WoSt,thoifN~ort1'1,  ;fhrai‘V\st(%?ffi13fiVS_0ijIi’I‘t,V:: Ali“

mm

   

thiritototo tl11*o*wr tho&o]ttfti%iho1o oceanihtoi?,.1"ooi1ii1:iiiotioii;flArid”M;o[iito;5oti

its biliowstt0tit1it¢i.:$1$i<3s» andtpmbtxzaiestiideptiit  
Ida mm mm irtegax~d     
or . as fit to; thr;»1ct,L, _,th,eA tx:{,inithAis”   A - - A
elemwltto 3 V 5119 l1&V8=  tti¢5t:ttiP?@71‘W1’Y1i$t ‘3~*?1i1i?;ii1  iititiiieiftt  
form it with:  t  So%tiSo’jj_of  7
dat1got's, but iiiott tivitltotit ‘htopiofiii AI; 'iltav‘o  ttoiitiooti iiiott1f‘itj:fhi~ Q 2
WY Wm sczcm*iti3ri¢2r fiittifettvti fmrt 
tmmflé NU.:P011;t  iWthii0i1t1*ti‘tt0sit Mat ii€1W»Y:; Tifont “tho i Wrééltig  ' A

ittlmre mum be, ‘L1j1‘j7kta“‘f0‘r* .tEietg00<1 or  Y 

va,ti%o1fifof t‘u1iofwfhtoilo%;;i mid thorio  

tr» my itduwdi1ring-tihis strtwt’$1ti; iwfhetller itI:ei:§3:i’i‘$LiIil?'i1    

.:€‘stt*tI.*$; shall ttttppoar,ort»shmf11inot aippemitiforttt1ttn§fltdé1ys4;f¢It’i-sqpotiit 
iwto-A-day for the pI't3Se1'V8.ti0I1 of the Union; “tHear me for

my oattso.” I speak to-«day out of a. solicitous and anxious.
beam, for the restoration to the ootztitry of that quiet and
Illlztti harmony which matte the blessings of this Union so rich
and so dear to usiall. 'I‘hoso are the topics that I propose to
myself to disoitssg these are the motiivosi and the sole omow
tivos, that infloettoo the in, the wish to cQmmunioate%ttxiyt

2

opinions to the Senate and 7country'; and if I can do any
thing, however little, for the promotion of these ends, I
shall have accomplished all that I desire.

Mr. President, it may not be amiss to recur very briefly to
the ev,ents_,tvhich,,equally sudden and textraordinargr, have
hronglit. the politicalsteozogdition, of the ;;cou;ntrjy totvhat it new
is. In May, 1846, the United States declared war against
Mexico. Her armies, then on the frontiers, entered the prov-~
inces,_of' that Republic ;, met and defeated all her troops;
penet1'ated_,her,mountain passes, andhoclcnpied her capital.
The marine force of the United States took possession of her
forts and her towns on the Atlantic and on the Pacific. In
less than two years a treaty wasnegotiated by which Mex-~
icoceded to the Unitedfitates avast territory, extending
seven or eight hundred miles along the shores of the Pacific;
reaching back over the motmtains andacross the desert, and
until it joined the frontier of the State of Texas. ‘It so heap:-=
gpened, that, in the distracted and feeble state of the Mexican

,,-government ” before the decllarati=on of War by the United

States against’Mexicobhad become lk“n_oWn in * California, * the
{people of ,California, under the lleadllof Almeri-oan,office1's—, over-«
threvvl tlieexisting Propvincial Government in California,+-4+
the Mexican authorities, —--sand run up an independent flag‘.
‘When the pnevvsi arrived at San Francisco‘, that warhad been
ldeclaredlbylthe_United States against“Me‘xico, this independ-
tent flag,iwas-jpn1led*down, and the stars and stripeslof this
Union, hopisted inlittsjpstead, l ‘So, sir, before tlielvvar was over,
“the,,‘poWers of the United States, iniliptaryansd naval, had-
";possessio‘nlll‘l,of t San’ Francisco, and ‘ Upper i California, and a
lg;-eat rushfiof: emigrants, frompvarions parts of, the world, tools

place i'.l11_t0ll,(‘J'ii;llfO:1‘l'l,la in 1‘84l,x6 and ll1847*. And now, behold

smother   

be l_ ‘,Ir1 January, of t 1848', the Morgrnons, A it. is said, or some of
them,madel,aldiscovery of an e:s2tlrao1*dina1'y rich ~rnine;of
:goild,,s-44-“aoizrather, of a very greatjpqtibantlityplof ,i,gold,nhardl»}t
fits to bewcalledl arn1ine,’*for‘it vvastspread“neartliest1rfacev,l‘-+--
on the lower part of the south orl'*An1e1*icanbranch, ,:;of£lthe

,_S,acra,mento.l They seem tohave attempted to conceal their

discovery _for some time; but soon another discovery, per--
haps, of greater importance, was made, of ‘gold, in another
‘part of the. American branch of the Sacramento, and near

_fSutter’ s Fort, as itiislpoaliled. The gfarnej of these discoveries
spread far, and wide. l’I‘hey ebxcitedtnore a,nld*”more the
: ,o_f hpetnigratlitonl tovvards it Claplifornia, ¥wh_ich~ had already
“ seen excited ;’lllai1d persons crowded in ~hnndre*ds, and flocked

.3

7 towards the eBay, of is San Francisco. ~'1"his,i as I have said,

took place irrtlie winter and spring of 1848. The digging
commencedin the ,s»p~r1ng of tl.1{;11.T year, and from that time to

this the work of searching forgolcl has been prosecuted with

a ‘success not heretofore known in the history of this globe.
We all 1<now,isir, how incredulous the American pub.lic was
at the accounts which reached its at first of these discoveries;
lziutiwe all know now that these accounts received, and con,-

tinne to receive, daily confirmation; and down to the present

moment I suppose the assurances are asllstx'or1g, after the ex-
perience of these several months, of mines of goldapparently
inexihanstihle in the regions near San Francisco, in California,
as they were at any periodrof the earlier dates of the ac-
counts. It so happened, sir, that although in the time of
peace, it became a very important subject for legislative con-—»

sideration and legislative decision to provide a proper 'I'ierr,i-— ‘V
torial Government for Cahforriia, yet,d1flE"ere;nces , of opinion ,

11'1‘l'.’l1e councils of the Grovermnent prevented the establish-
ment of any such Territoriall Government for CaIifo1'i1ia at
the»last session of Congress. Under this state of things,
the inhabitants of San Francisco and California —--athen

amounting to as great A number of people ;~-----— in the surnmer of

last‘ year, tl1oug'l'1t it to be their duty to establish a local Go-v~
e':.l‘111’11el;‘1t. Under the proclaniation of General   Riley, the
people chose delegates to a Convention: that Cocnventilon

met at Monterey. , They formed a; Constitution, for the A State

of ,California, and it was ,adolp?te,d. by, the pfeoplerofl California
in their primary assetnblagcas. lDesrrons of innniediate, con-—~

nection with the United States, its,Senatorsw.ve1'e appointed

and Representatives chosen, who have come, hitl1er,l,bri11gi11g

with thetnthe authentic Constitution ’oftrhei,State of Cali,-»

fornia; and they now present ,ll16fI1${3lVt3S,,5l.Sl£lIf1§§, in lbehalf

of their State, that the State may lac adlniittcrd rinto this Union
 one of theiUnited,St’ates.r r'I‘his_Constitution, sir, contains
an express prohibition against slavcify r0I',lI1VQrlll1Ilt~a.,l"YT itservittude

irntheifitate of California. ~ It is C said, and Isuppose truly,
that, of the mernbetrs who coznposedi itl1,at Conventcion, ,sornc
‘sixteen were natives and,ha.tl been Jresiclents ofthe slavehold~
in-gFStates, about twenty-two were from the non—slaveholding
States, and the remaining ten inembers were either najrtive

,Callifornians;or old settlers inthat couintryn iTl1islprol1ihition

against slavery, it is rsaid,twas insea'te,d,tvith entire unanimity.
“And it is this ,circumstance, sir,,thc },:>rolj1ib,ition of slavery
by tliat rConvention,’Iwghich has Q()lf1t=l,'3lbl:lfl'(3£l to raise----I do not

assay it has whol1ry,rai,ae,d -—-»-,tl=1e,,disi:>n,tiearir asto the proprrietyir of

 4

the admissionof California. into the Union under this Consti-»
tution; It is not to be -denied, Mr. President, -—- nobody thinks»

“of denying,--4 that, whatever reasons were assigned at the

conimenciemient of the late warwith Mexico, it was prose-
cuted for the purpose of the acquisition of territory, and under

the allegedl argument that the cessionv of territory was the
only form in which proper compensation could be made‘ to
the United,States by Mexico for the various claims and de-

mands which the people of this countryhad against that Gov»

ernment. At any rate, it will the found that President Polk’s
Message at the commencenient of the session of December,
r1847’, avowed that the war was to be prosecuted until some

acquisition of territory was made. i And,as_ the acquisition
was to be south of the line of the United States, in warm
climates and countries, it was naturally, I suppose, expected
by the South that whatever acquisitions were made in that
region would be added to the slaveholding portion of ‘the
United States. Events have turned out as was not expected,
and that expectation has not beenrealized, and therefore some
degree of disappointment and surprise has resulted, of course.
In other words, it is obvious that A, the question which has so
long harassed the country,”antd l at some times very seriously
alarrned the minds of Wise and good rnen,has come upon us

for a fresh discussion,-----the questionlof slaveryin these

United,States. pi i
 Now, sir, I propose-—--perhaps at the expense of some de-

‘tail*andpconsequentp detention of the Senate--‘toreview, his-

ftoricalliy, this question of l slavery, which, partly in consequence ,

 its own injerits‘, and partly, perhaps mostly, in the manner
itflis discussed,iin one and the other portion of the country,
has been a source of so much alienation and unkind feeling be-

tween the iditferent portions of the Uniorig ‘We all know,
sir,that slavery has existed in the world, from ti'n1,e-irnn1emo-

rial. There was slavery, in the earliest periodsrof history, in
l the Urielnital nations. 'I'here was slavery among the Jvevrs;
the theocratic government of that people made lnoxinjunction
against it. i '1‘here-was slavery amongdthe Greeks, and the

ingrenieousphilosophyof the Greeks found, or sought Itofind,

a5 justifioation for itfiexactly upon their groundsrwhich‘ have

beentiasstnned for such an justilfie*at.ion-lint this country; thatis,

"a natural and? original tdifierenceamong the lracesof mankind,
Ethetilinferiorityl of theiblack or coloredlriacei to the white. The
, emits justified“ their systetn of l slavery upon that ground
 Theyi held the iA,frican,aér1d, in isorne parts, the
 ‘to bet? i:Iinferilor“tolIt the sinister race ;L but they did

,5

not show, iIthink,~by any close process of 1o,gic,,,4that,,,if this
were true,”themo‘re lintelligent anedgthe st,ro,n§,rer ha‘d,therefore
in right‘t‘oisubjuga.tei theuweaker. *’The more manlytphiilosopdhy
and jurisprudence of the R0-mans ,p1a.ced the jus'ti,ficstion,of
slavery on entirely tdiffereritygrounds.  it i it

i‘The Roma.njjurists, lfromi the ,fi1'st,,aiid*do\v,i1 to the fallof
the empire, Jadrnitted that slavery wasl,iaga1nst_thel natural law,
by which, as they ma1nta1ned,lall men,‘ of whatsoever clime,

color, or capacity, were equal; but they justified slavery, first,_,'

upon the ground and authority, of the law of nz:1tions,-—’arl~»-

guintgjand arguing truly, that at that day the coxiveiitiroriali
law of nations admitted t1,1a.t captives in war, whose lives,.

V according to the notions of the times, were at the ,a.bsoli1tie-
‘ldisposali'of*the captors, might, in exchniige for exemption ‘frl.om,.
i death,‘ beimade slaves for life, and that such servitude Amifghti

descend totheir tposteritjy. The jurists of Rome also ma.in-

l ftained that by the civil law there might be servitudtelp-—
slavery”, “personal iandlhereiditary, we first, by the volunteryfact e

of mi individuali who might Sell himself into slavery ; second,

~ by his being received into estate of slavery by his creditors

irivsatisfaction of a. debt’; and, ~thirdl,y,,by"beix1g placed, in is

state of ”sei'vitude or slavery forcrinie. At the introduction

of *Ch‘ri.St«i=£tnity.,iI1t0the world, l.h.@;vROlmElJ11 world was fullof
slaves, and I suppose there isto be found no; injunction against

‘ lthat, relation :between man and 1'I_1t3|.I1,ll'1~iJ1"1t':} teachings of the

.gospel:of Jesus Christ, or of may of his Aaiposstles. jfTh,e ob-

ject of the ilnstlruiotiotitt imparted tojmankinclby the Founder

of‘ Ch1*isitis.nitywas to l touch tthett:h;eatt,, purify the jsoul,,a,jnd
improvelthe lives ofxirtdividttal meri. , '1‘hat objectwont idi».
recttly to the ifirst fountain of iallipollitioal and all social Wifele.-.
tions of theihumen race, --—-- the individual heart and  of;

‘  i V

i  ~,Nmv,:sir, upon the general nature, and olierageter, Asudtinflu-»~

ietnceaioflioslevery, there ;e:zcistst  wideqeldifferencel between-the
V Northern tportiou of llthisllcotuntryl and the Southern.  
 saidrqon the one side thz;1t,,if not thelsubject of any injunction
wor~V‘diJtect prohibition; in wtiie New] Testa,1nent,,tsltw,ery is ca

llltvmngs; lithati it is ifoundcdutinerely ,iflt't11euI'i,ght of the strorigest;

 randthat it is an loppression, :1.1ikB*- all :‘uvIiiI1St Wars, liliealltthose
 conflicts by ‘Wh’iCl'l a rnightytlnatlion subjects. at weal:e1'i,11stion
<l+tot‘their,Wil1,; and that ,sla,very,~;i11:tl,its,, institute, whzuever niey
 be saiduof itin tthcefsmiodificationsl Whiclitilhave taken place, is
f t notfactlaccording torthe meek;,,l~spi,rit of thegospel. It is
 not kindly afl’ecltion:ed.?i: It ,:does~,;not “,seelcanother’s, andfnot
~~ it its owns.” i,tiit,It,,d.oesi~,i1ot, “cutlets 1h8l,~lIg,Q,pPI'f3SS6td\. go free.” i 

6
kg}

are sentiments that are cherished, and recently with greatly

augmented force, among the i peopleiof the Northern States.

i  It hasitaken hold of the religious sentiment of that part of
the country,as it has more or less taken hold of the religi.ous

feelings of a considerable portionof mankind. The South,
upon the other side,have been accustomed to thisirelation
between -the two races all their lives, from their birth ; having
been taught, in general, to treat the subjects of this bondage

“with care and kindness-—--and I believe, in general, feeling

forthem great care and kindness-we have yet not taken this

View of the subject which I have mentioned. There are

thousands of religious rnen, with consciences as tender as
any of their brethren at the North, who do not see the u«nlaw---

i fulness of slavery; and there are more thousands perhaps

that, whatsoever they may think; of it in its origin, and as a
matter depending upon natural right, yet take things as they
are, and, finding slaveryto be an established relation of the
society in which they live, can see no way in which---«-rlet

‘their opinions on the abstract question be} what‘ they may ———-it y

i is in the power of the present generation to relieve them»

selves from this relation. And, in this respect, candor obliges.

‘ Ame to say, that I believe they are just as conscientious, many

of them, and of the religious people all of "them, as they are
in the Northin holding ditiferent opinions.
Why, sir, the honorable Senator from South Carolina, the

“other day, alluded to the great separation of that great

religious community, the Methodist Episcopal Church. That

iiseparationi was brought about by differences of opinion upon
"this peculiar subject of "slavery. I felt great concern as that
i dispute went on about the result, and I was in hopes that the

d,ifi‘eren~ce of opinion might be adjusted, because I. looked.
upon that rel:ig.ious denomination as one of the great props of

",1-leligiion and lrnloralst throughout the «whole a country, from
 Maine to» Georgia. '1"'he result w:as.xagainst my wishes and
7 against my hopes. I have read all their prroceredings, andgall
A? theiriaarguments, but I have never yet been able to come to
‘ thexconclnsion that there was any real: ground for that separa-—
* tion; in other ‘words-, that no good could be produced by that

separatior1.v I must say, I think there was some want of

 candor and,charity.i Sir, when aquestion of this kind takes
 hold of the religious sentiments of mankind, and comes to be

 ijscussed “in religious. assemblies of the clergy and yslaity, 

A it there is ialways“ to be expectied, or always to be feared, a great
 ideigreteppfi of exciternent.” it It is in? the naturepoif man,.?mamfested
 "Whole? hist‘o*ryl,»illthatI religious disputes are apt to be-

7

gconiel warn1,and men’s strength of convictionis proportion--T

s ate to their views of the magnitude of the questions. In all

such disputes there will soinetirnes men be found with whom
every thing is -absolute-—-——absolutely wrong or absolutely

* right. They see the right clearly ; they think ctherslought
r so to see it, and they are disposed to establish a broad line of

: distinction between what is right and What is wrong. And.

they are not seldom Willing to establishitthat line upon their
own convictions of the truth and the justice of their own
opinions, and are ,willing to trnark and guard that line by
placing along it a series of dogmas, as lines of boundary are
marked by posts and stones. There are men who, with clear
perceptions, as they think, of theirowu duty, do not see how
too hot a pursuit of one duty may involve them.’ in the viola-
tion of others, or how too warm an embracement of one truth
may lead to a disregard of other truths equally important.
As I heard it stated strongly, not many days ago, these per-
sons are disposed to mount upon some particular duty as upon
a war horse, and to drive furiously, on,and upon, and over
all other duties that may stand in the way. _ Tliere are men
who, in times of that sort and disputes of that sort, are of
opinion that human duties may be ascertained with the
exactness of mathematics. They deal with morals as with
mathematics, and they think what is right may be distinw
guished from what is wrong with the precision of an algebraic
equation. They have, therefore, none too .much charity

towards others who differ from them. They are apt, too,,to
u think that nothing is good but what is perfect, and that there
are no compromises or modifications to be made in submission l

to difl"erence of opinion, or in deference of a other men’s
judgment. Ii’ their perspioac.iou.s;vision enables them to
detect a spot on the face of the sun, they thiznlt that at good
.reason why the sun should be striielt down frorn heaven.
Ttheyr prefer the chance of running into utter ,,darl<nessr to

 living in heavenly light, if that heavenly light be not abso-

. lutely without any irnperfectioii. , y  t l

i «There are impatient metiy--— too impatient always to give

 heed to the admonition of St..Paul, fifthat wearenot to do
@€‘iv.'lll that good may come ” -,--t--too iinpatientto wait forthe
T slow progress of moral causes in the improvement of _man---
lkind.“ They. do notlreinember‘ that the doctrinesand. the

miracles of Jestils Christ have, ineighteen hundredyears,
converted, only 1‘ a small portionriof. the human race ;, and

{among the nationsythat are converted to Christianity, they
: forget l"l:O.\V manyvioes and‘ crimes,;gpubrlic‘_ and private, still
, prevail, and that many of .them, public crimes especially,

  8

 are rofi’en'ces“agairist the Christians religion, pass with-

routexrcitingi particular regret, ‘or indrignatioiri. "Thus wars are

\iv*aged,’ and unjust’ wars? I do not denythat there may be
just wars. 7 ' There *‘certainl*yIare; but it was the remark of an
eminent person, not many years fago, on the other side of r the
Atlantic, thatit was one of   t‘he"greatest, reproaches to human
nature that rurars*nr‘ere sometimes‘ "necessary. ”The defence

of nations "sometimes, causes a war against the injustice of

other nations; r t a   t ' ,
”Now, sir, in this estate of sentiment upon the general na-

'ture~"orf‘slave‘ry lies the cause i of a great portion of: those

unhappy divisions, exasperations, and reproaches, which find

rveint and A‘ support in different parts of the ‘Union. Slave-
yryirrldoes ‘exists in the United aStates.r It did exist in the

Srtates before the adoption of this Constitution, and at that
time.‘ i ' A " ‘ i ‘ r

° And now let us consider, sir, for a moment, what wasthe
state of seintiniierit North and South in regard to slavery at
the tirnethis Conrstitutionwas adopted. ‘A remarkable change
has taken“ place since ;”but what didthe wise and great men
of “all parts of r the country think of slavery ?~-—---- in whatesti-
rnation did ‘they hold it then, when this Constitutionwas
adopted? “N:ow, it will be found, sir, if r we ‘will carry our-
selves by historical research back, to?’ that day, and ascertain
n1en’s opinions by authentic records still existing among us,

i that there wasno great diversity of opinion between the
North and" the South upon the subject of slavery, and it will

be found that both parts of the country held it equally an

riieviilr-7+-»a moral and ~politicalrevil. It will not be found that
r rreiither at the North, or at the South, there was much, though

thereiwas some, iuvective against slavery, as inhuman and

cruel. l Theligreatt ground of objection to it was political;

that it wileakenedr the social fabric; that, taking the place

* ‘of lfree labor, society was t less strong and labor was less pro-

ductive; and, ‘therefore, we find from all the eminentmen

i of the time the clearest expression of their opiniopnxrthiat
t ‘slavery was an evil. And: they ascrib_ed- its existence here,
not withoutttruth,planed not without some acerbity of temper

and lforceof t language, tortrhe -injurious policy of the country,

‘ w11o,rto~ravor thenavigator, had entailed «these evils upon
*7thehcolo*ni~e[s.’ I need hardly refer,” sir, to the publications of
{the day, ‘They“area matters ’of"l1istory on the record. "The

eirririerit rnernjthe most erninent m,en,1audrinearly all the [C011-
rplspicuoiris’ politicianssof the South, held thesamei sentiments,
i To *sl7avery*r was arr3e*vil:,=a ihlilght, a blast, at «rnril,deW,:ra* scourge,
it and a jcurse. “Therieare u no i terms[ofxreproibationrof slavery

‘mp

-9

so vehement in the North of that day as inlrthe South.» The
North was not so much excited against it as the .South,__ and
the reason is, I suppose, because there was much lessat the
North, and the people did not see,.or think they saw, the
evils so prominently as they were seen, or thought to be
seen, at the South, t .

t Then, sir, when this Constitution was framed, this was the
light in which the Convention viewed it. . The Conventibn
reflected the judgment and sentiments of the great men of
the South. A member of the other House, whom I have not
the honor to lttiow, in a recent speech has collected extracts

9 from these public documents. They prove the truth of what

Iarn saying, and thequestion then was, how to-deal with
it, and how to deal with it as an evil. Well, they cameto
this general result. They thought that slavery could not be
continued in the country if the importation of slaves were

made to cease, and therefore they providecl that after a cer-  

tain period the importation might be prevented by the act of
the new government. Twenty years were proposed by some
gentleman, a Northern gentleman, I think,and many of the

Southern gentlemen opposediit as being too long. Mr.

Madison, especially, was something warm against it. He
said it would bring too much of this mischief into the coun-
try to, allow. the importation of slaves, for such agigperiod.
Because we must take along with us, in the whole of this
discussion, ~ when we are considering the sentiments and
opinions in which this constitutional provision originated,
that the conviction of all men was, that if the importation of
slaves ceased, the white racewould multiply faster than the

black race,and , that slavery would therefore graduallylwear

out and expire. It may not be improper here to allude to

that, I had almost said celebrated, opinion of Mr. Madison.

You observe, sir, thatgthe term slave or slavery is notused in
the Constituti.on. The Constitution does not require that
“fugitive:Lslaves”r shall be delivered up. xIt_ requires that
“persons bound to service in one state, and escaping into
another, shall be delivered up.” ..Mr. Madison opposed the
introduction of the term slave or -slavery into theConstitu-
tion;ifor hetsaid that he did .not*wish to see «it .reco‘gniz.ed
by the Constitution . of the United States of,America that

there could be propertyin men. Nowf, sir,:al,l»t1iis tookrplace
~at~t.he Coriventionin.1787;but connected with this»-,-,-con--
current and‘ contemporarierinst-—-a-is, another important trans-

actionnot sufficienttlyi attended to. e'1"he C.onvention,for

ifrafllillg thifi 00DSti,tulf.ion, asseinbled.in,,Philadelphia,. in May,

and set until Septeniber, 1787. Duringvallrthattime,.ythe

10

flongress of‘ ‘the ‘United! States awash in session at New: Yorlt.
Itiwtisear»matter‘of‘~dlesign,’ as we know, that the Convention
shohld not =a=ssem+bl=e inVthe~ isamel city“where Congress was
holdings its sessions. Alntost all the public men‘ of tl1e=coun-
try; therefore; of distinction"andteminencerswvere in onefior
the other of these two assemblies; handle think itrhappened,
some? instances,that the same gientlenienr were members
o’*?Vhoth. 9"If«~I mistake not, such was the case of Mr. Rufus
rKing, Vthen alrnember of Congressfromf Massachusetts; and,
a"t»t‘h‘elsiame*time,la member of the0or1vention to framethe
Coiistitutjionl, from that Staten.  

%; Now, it was in the summer of 1787, thevery ttimewhen
the Convention in Philadelphia was framing tl1'iS»COI1Stltutl01”1,
that the Congress in~New' Yorke Weasfframing the ordinance
of 1787“. They passed that ordinance on the 13th July, 1787,
at”‘New York, the very month,? plerhaps the Very day,*oh
which theselqnestironsrl aboutetheiimportation of slaves and
the leharacter of slavery were debated in the Convention at

Philadelphia: lAned;, so far as we can now learn, there was

la; {perfect"concurrence r of opinion between these respective
birdies’; ia.=nd—irt*1'es1tlted in this lordinanoe of 1787, exeliuding
slavery as applied** to all the territory ioverawhich the Congress
ofgthe United to States had jL1riSdiCtiCl],iaI1dU that was all the

rterritioryh orth-west of the Ohio. Three’ years ibefore, Virginia

and other Stateshad madéea cession of that great territory to

theUni‘ted”State‘s. And at most magnificent act it was. I

new reflect upon; it‘ without a disposition to do honor and
j=t1stieej---~ and justices Would be the highest honor ~—--- to ‘Vir--
lginia*,4llfor”t?’hat “acts of session of her north-l-westlern territory.
l»1«wi1t*say, sir, that it isone of herlfairest claims to theliiresipeet

tr?aind‘gratit11fdel"of the ‘United States, andthat perhaps it is only

Vs”ec~oindlllltoV thatii oetherfcrliaimt which attaches to her; that from

  iherreounsels, andrrrmm t‘hellirntelligenoe and rpatriotism of her

rleiadinges lstatesmenfi, prooeeldecl“ the firsttriicdeas put into practice
for the formation  Ara‘ generals Oonstitution of the iUnilted
{States} tNow,~ sir, the'ordinanoselofV1e787 applied it thus to the
!vrholei‘territoryover which the Congress of the United States
had jurisdietion; ?lrI?tll1wras adopted neiarlyl three iiyearslfblefose
the C0IlSlit11ti3Gtl of the United States went into operat‘rioin“;
heeauseitherlordiriance tookefileotlinimediatelyven its passage,
="While"the Clonstiturltion or the Utiitedtlsitates, liavingl been

rfria.med,to r  sent to the Stateslitolberr adopted bytheir

Coxitventiohsij arid Xthen a grovernrnentghadr ltolebel«organizled
 it=.ri ~'lI‘his”i~ordinanlce,lthen, was in operrataiori and force

r "'tiVl1'él1- the Oo~nstiittitiIon was  and °tl’1fi’1$l:GfOVerI1m\Gt1tix put

   j nietien,- in April,‘  

 



11

 Ppresiden_t, three things are quite clear as historical trttthst
O1_1_e is, thatr,rthere’ fwas.ar1 expectation that ion the ceastiligofl
the importation of 1‘ slaves ffrornp Africa, slavery ‘ would begin to
run out. That was hoped and expected. »Anoth~er is, that as
far asthere wasany power in_Congress toiprevent the spread
D'f.S1&V6ry'_=i.l1i the United StateS,'tthat.tp0WertrWas executed in
the most tabsolutef manner _and to the fullest extent} An
honorable member, fwhose health does not allow him topbe
jllttereto-day———=-err   J4 _ pt   t
...¢‘_tSEm:roa. .Heishere. (Referring to Mr. CALHOUN.)

Ma. ttWees'rntn. I am very hpappytol hear that he is ----p may

hehlzotigtbte inghealth and the enjoyment of it to servelhis

cou11try!n--—- Saridr, theother day, that he considered this as the
firstcirly the series of .measures calcula‘tec_l«toer1feehle the South
anidecdeprpivepthetm of their JUST. yptartieipeation in the benefits

and privileges of this tGrovernment., He says veryproperly

that it was done,pun"derlthe old confederation, and before this
p(.3otnst~itution wtentt: into effect; buttmy present purpose is only

_ to¢say,tM1f. Pt'esident, that it was done _,tWi;tl’1 the entire and
;unanimous concurrence of the whole South. Why, there it

psptandsl »The vote of every Statepin the Union was hnani-a

Inous in favor of the ordinance, with the exception of a single ~

individual vote, and that individual wage .Northern man.
pp:;Bp,t, sir, the ordinance abolishing, or rathertrpnoliibitipngp slay-~
tery,north~pwestt,oft the Ohio, has the handaud seal of yeverty

?So‘ut11e1'ngmemberlin Congtfess. l{I‘her other and tliirdil clear j
historical truth is, that the Convention meantl to leave slavery

yinrptrthe States least they found_ it, entirely underlthe authority
and control of the States . ‘ it i l " ‘ ? ‘

;':I'hisl was the pstateyof tflthingsysir, and this the state of

1

opinion under. which ‘ those raveryp impolrtant . matters were
arranged, and fhosetwo pimportantythings clone 5 that is, the
l:,estab1isl‘iment: ‘ of the Constitution “ with pa repceognition of) slav-~

ery as it exyisteddin the States, and the peistablishyment of the

y7.omdi~ntance prohibiting, to the full exterrrt of all territory powned
derby thept United States, ttlielflhitrioduction ot'islaverypinto those
p*t,erritories,y and Ithelleaving tofthe States all power over slavery
 their: own limits. § N ‘ Anidrh_ere,tleiyr, wed mfaytpause. We may
ltieflect, foragrnomenrt upon the, entire, coincidence and concur-~
pirenee of sentirnentt betwe:enrtthel\North and the South upon
these questions, at the periodiodfiyptlie eadeyoption of theO‘o11stitn-

tti_on.~ Bnltptlopinions; sirgthave :changed --—-‘greatly changedéa- l

elitmgted l\To;rth,trpan;dttpptcha,n,ged South,‘ ppifilavdery is not regarded
, the Soguth he now. i as it Wash then, f I I see an ylhonorable m}er_n-~
«ether of thissbody” paying me .the_h[onore of l,.iste1.t‘ingt to

 remarks he i btrings ttto,nie,,sir, freshlytandc vividly the senftpi-9 t

r i~¢ans.es which we mustalways exjpiectto prtoT'd,,*ud'e’“like 

1%

‘ments of his great ;at'1cestor,,soInuchldistinguished in his day
,andiigeneration,‘$so woirthypllto he succeeded by so worthyla
grandson,iwith all the sentiments he expressed inthe Con»
vention in :Philadelph'ia.   A ~ i  ‘ i p p i *
A: vHere we may" pause. There was, if not andyentire$11nanim%~
ity, a general concurrencei of sentiment, running through the
jwhole community, and especially entertained‘ by the erninent
manor all portions of the country. But soon tar change biegan
atthe North and the South, and a severance of opinion showed
itself ’--—-~ the North growing much more Warm and stronpigi
against slavery, and the South growing much Inorierixvarni
and strong in its support. Sir, there is no tgienerizitioln of mana-.
kind whose opinions are _,notsubject to be influenced bywhat
appears tothern to be their present ernergent and exigent
interest I impute to _ the South no ppuarticularlgr selfish view
initlhelchangie which hasjpconie lovelfplher.“  imputerito 
certainly, no dishonest view. All that has happened has
i naturals;  It has followed those causes which always, influence
 h_uman,5mind,”a.nd operates upon it. What, then, have
piheenl the causesiwhlich have ’created’ so new a feoeling in fav
poflislaveiriy in the South;-ewhichioihavei changed?“ the,7w“ho%1ie
“fnornenclature of the South on the sulbject l-=——-and from 
thought of and dtescribedin the terms 'I shave meintio1iedi,T,ailitl
will not repeat, it it has now become an institution,’a cherish’ifleil
institution in that quarter; no evil, noscourge, but a great
religious, social, and moral blessing, as I think ill ohave 
it latterly described? ‘ I suppose this, sir,is lowing 
sudden uprising and rapid ‘growth of  cotton’ pllaiitafidits
;.of the South- So far as any motives of henor,ljnet1cs,,lt 
liyfgenerallp judgment con1d"act,oit Waslpitthecottonpiinterest 

 

 
  
  
 

 
 

gave. afipnew desire to promote slavery, to l ~ A
 itsi lalbosr. ‘ I again say that‘ili*thatl ‘was  

.;i;.,;w:...~
A-fgetheir rwh ole interests ,be‘came cronnectednjariifhtd  i

 f V If p We look back  ‘the history  f’ 
“til i try, at the early years ‘Qf this G=overnrr1’er1?t,,5 i let  

  

   

     
 

   
 

  
      
  

   

   

    or¢i¢b*le , expert
t       

 

  ‘ 

l3

land, he did not know that cotton was ezxtported at all from
‘the Ut1itedStates; and I have heard it said that, after the
treaty whichgave to the United States the right to carry
their own commodities to England in their ownships,' the
cnstom—h.ouse in London refused to admit cotton, upon an
allegation that it could not be an American production, there
‘being, as they supposed, no cotton raised in America. i They
would hardly think so now! i

Well, sir, we know What followed. The age of cotton
becarne a golden age for our Southern brethren. It .gratifiecl
their desire for inrprovernent aridiaccnmulation at the same
time it excited it. The desire fgreaxvyby what it fed upon,
and there soon came to be an eagerness for other territory, a
new area or new areas for the cnltivat.ion of the cotton crop,
-and rrneasnres leaditig to this result were brought about

-rapidly, one after another, under the lead of Southern men

-at the head of the G‘rovernrnent ---~ they liavingg a rnajoritytin
both branches---to accomplish their ends. The honorable
tnreniher front Carolina observed that there has been a majority
all along; in favor of the North. If that he true, sir, the
North has acted either very liberally and kindly, or very
‘weakly; for they never eszerciscd that majority five times in
the history of the C:iOV@l‘l."1~l.1'1(‘2I’ll3. Never. Whether tlicy were

outgeneralled, or whether it was owing to other causes, I
fshall not stop to consicler, but no man acquainted with the

-history of the country can deny, that the general lead in the
politics of the~conantry, for three fourths of the period that
has elapsed since the adoptiori of the Oonstitittytion, has been a
-Sontliem lead- In »18()‘2, in .pnrsuit of the idea of opening a
new cotton lre.gion,the United States obtained a cession from
“Georgia of the whole of her western territory, now embra~

icing the rich and g'l'O'\Vll]gi state of Alabaina. In 1803, Lonisi-—
:~ana was lpurclliased frorn France, out of which the states of
-Lonisriaria., Arkaiisas, and Missouri, have been framed as slave» ‘
holdirigfi states. In 1819, the cession of Florida was niade,

rbrin<rino' another cession of slaveholdino‘ ro ert and terri-
ZZD D to l

jtory. Sir, they lionorahle member from South Carolina

thought hesaw in certain y operations of the Government,—---

such as the mannfer of collecting the revenue, and the ten-i

rvtdencyrof those measures to promote omig1'atio11 into the

kcontntry,---t-wliat acconntstfor the more rapid growth of the
North than theSonth. rfle thinks thatmore sapient growth

not the operation of time, but of the system of Government
established under thlS:0Ol'J_53tltl1tlr0t1. A Thattis a matter of
opinion- To acertain extent it may he so; but it does seem
to me that if anyoperation off the Government could be

M

shown in any deg”ree to have promoted the population, and
growth, and wealth of the North, it is much more sure that
there are sundry important and distinct operations of the
Government, about which no man can doubt, tending to pro-
mote, and which absolutely have promoted, the increase of
the slave interest and the slave territory of the Sotttly, ,
iAllow me to say, that it was not time that .b1'OLlQ,'ht in
Louisiana; it was the act of men. It was not t.ime that
brought in Florida _; it was the act of men. And lastly, sir,
to complete those acts of men which have contributed so
much to enlarge the area and the sphere of the institution
of slavery, Texas, great and vast and illimitable Texas, was
added to the Union as a slave State in 1845.; and that, sir,
pretty much closed the whole chapter and settled the whole
account. That closed the whole chapter---tliat settled the
whole account, because the annexation of Texas upon the
conditions and under the guaranties upon which she was
admitted, did not leave an acre of land capable of beitig cnl--
tivated by slave labor between this Capitol and the Rio
Grande, or the Nueces, or whatever is the proper boundary
of Texas»----not an acre, not one. From that moment, the
whole country, from this place to thewestern boundary of
Texas, was fixed, pledged, fastened, decided to be slave ter-
ritory forever, by the solemn guaranties of law. And I now
say, sir, as the proposition upon whichl stand this day, and
upon the truth and firmness of which I intend to act until it is
overthrown, that there is not at this moment within the

. United States, or any territory of the United States, a siiigle

footof land, the character of which, in regard to its being
free soil territory or slave territory, is not fixed by some law,
and some irrepealable law, beyond the power of the action of
this (3‘rovernment. Now, is it not so with respect to Texas?
Why, it is most manifestly so. The honorable member from
South Carolina, at the time of the admission of Texas, held
an important post in the Executive Department of the Gov-
ernment ; he was Secretary of State. Another“ eminent
person of great activity and adroitness in a1‘i'airs,~+- Irnean the
late Eiecretary of the Treasury, (Mr. Wallter,)l--—-was a leading;
member of this body, and tool: the lead in the business of
-annexation; and I ,must say that they did their business
faithfully and thoroughly; there was no botcl1 left in it.

Tray rounded it off, and made as close joiner-work as ever

T was put together.) tResolutions”of annexation were liroright
. A. Qongress ,t_‘1tly~jtoinedt together --——-1cornpact:, firm, efficient,
fill./corifclusiver upon» the great o‘bject wthlich they have in view.

’  And “these resolutions passed.

‘an

15

Allow me to read the resolution. It is the third clause of

the second section of the resolution of the 1st ll/larch, 1845,

for the admission of Texas, which applies to this part of the
case. That clause reads in these words: i

s“ New States, of convenient size, not exceeding‘ four in number, in addi-
tion to said State of Tex'as, and l]tg,Vl1”1g' suthcient _population_, may here-
after, by the consent of’ said State, be formed out of the Territory thereof‘,
which shall be entitled to admission under _the provisions of the Federal Con-
stitution. And such States_as rnay be formed out of that portion of said
Territory lying south of thirty-six degrees thirty 1'Il1nute~)s, north latitude,
cornrnonly known as the MlSSOL11‘1 coniprornise line, shall be admitted into the
Union, with or without slavery, as the people of each State aslring admission
may desire; and in such State or States as shall be forrned out of said Ter-
ritory north ofsaid Missouri coirir_i1'<n"ii1se line, slavery or involuntary servitude
(except for crime) shall be prohibited.”

Now what is here stipulated, enacted, secured? it is, that
all Texas, south of 36° 30’, which IS nearly the whole of it,
shall be adrnitted into the Union as a slave State-—— it was a
slave State, and therefore came in as a slave State--—--- and the
guaranty is that new States shall he made out of it, and that
such States as are formed. out of that pO1‘l110ll of Texas lying

' south of 36° 30’, may come in as slave States to the nninber

of four, in addition to the State then in existence, and adrnit-
ted at that time by these resolutions. I lrnow no forth of
legislation that can SlI‘Gl]gl.l'lt3l’1 that. I know no mode of
recogirritiorr that can add a tittle of weiglit to it. I listened
respectfully to the resolutions of my lrorioirable friend frorrr

, Tennessee, (Mn. Benn.)

  He proposed to 1'eco.gniae that stipulation with Texas.
But any additional recognition would weaken the force of it;
because it stands lrere on the g‘round of a contract, at tliirrg
done for a consideration. a It is  law founded on a contract
with Texas and clesignierl to carry that contract into elfecit.
A reo<igx1i.tioii, not fOl..'1I'JCl@('l on any considerationand any
contract, would not he so strong as it now stands on tlleiace

of the resolution. Now I know no way, Icandidly confess,

in which this government, acting in good faith, as I trust it
always will,can relieve itself frorn that sti,pulaitli,o1'1 and pledge,
by any honest course of legislatio1'1 lwhatever; And, there-
fore, I say againthat so far as Texas is coriioerrredm--t,lie
whole of Texas south of 36° 30’, which, Iisupplose, embraces
all the slave territory +—-atihere is no lancl,not an acre, the

l character of which is not established by law, at law which

plain disregard‘ of the public ifaiftli. , y y

l I lime sir it is now airarent that in re )OSlll01_l so far as
V .r.%=.,t_lP  at ..
Tezras 1S concerned, has been tnaintarned, and the provision
in thisarticle -,--andit has been Well suggested by my friend

cannot be repealed lwithout the violation of a contract, and

16

from Rhode Island that that part of Texas which lies north
of thirty-four degrees of north latitude may be formed into
free States —-———- is dependent, in like manner, upon the consent
of 'I‘e:t:as, herself a slave State.  
Well, now,sir, how canoe this? How eame it that, within
these Walls, --—— where it is said by the honorable member from
South Carolina that the free States have "a majority, ----—this
resolution of annexation, such as I have described it, found a
majority in both Houses of Oong;1'ess? "Why, sir, it found

that majority by the great addition of Northern votes added

to the entire Southern Vote, or at least, nearly the whole of
the Southern votes. That majority was made up of North-
ern as well as of Southern Votes. In the House of Repre-
sentatives it stood, I thinlt, about eighty Southern votes for
the admission of Texas, and about fifty Northern votes for

"the admission of Texas. In the Senate, the Vote stood forthe

admission of Texas, twenty-seven, and twenty-five against
it; and of those twenty-seven votes, constituting a majority

for the aclmission of Texas in this body, no less than thirteen.

of them. came from the free States -—- four oftheni were from
New Exiglarid. The whole of these thirteen Senators from
the free States ---- within a fraction, you see, of one half of
all the votes in this body for the admission of Texas, with
its immeasurable extent of slave territory-mu were sentjby the
votes of free States.  

Sir, there is not so remarkable a chapter in our history
of political ievents,,poli.tical parties, and political 1nen,asis
affordedi by this measure for the admission of Texas, with

this immense territory that a bird cannot fly over in a week.
,[Laughter.]» Sir,» New Etiglarid, with some of her votes,

supported this measure. Three fourths of the votes of liberty-
loving Connecticut Went for it in the other House, and one
half» here. There was one vote for it in Maine, butil am
happy to say not the vote of the Iionorable noernber who
addressed the Senate the day before yesterday, (Mn. HAMLIN,),
and who was then a Representative from Maine in the other
House; but there was a voteior two from l\/,[aine-A-—--ay, and
there was one vote for it from Massachusetts, the gentleman
then represerititig, and now living in the district in which
the prevalence of Free Soil sentirnent fora couple of years or
so has defeated the choice of any member to represent it in
Cong2°ess. Sir, that body of Northern andEastern men, who
gave those votes at that tirne, are now seen taking upon them-
selves, in the nomenclature of politics, the appellation of the
Northern Dernocracy. They undjertool; to wield the destinies
of this empire, ---if iI"In-ay call a republican empire, -—-—-T and

17

their policy ;wast-—--- and they persisted 1..1”ll..t*-r"1tO bring into this
country all the territory they could. They did it under
pledges ---absolnte pledges to the slave interest in the case
of Texes,o.11d afterwards they lent their aid in bringing in
these new conquests; My honorable friend from Georgia, in
March, 184“7,rn=oved theSene.te to declare that the war ought
not to be prosecuted for acquisition, for conquest, for the dis-
memberrnent of Mexico. The same Northern Democracy
entirely voted against it. He did not get a. vote from theni.
It suited the views, the patriotism, the elevated sentiments
of the Northern Den10,Q1’a,CY to b1'ing in e W0t‘lCl here, among
the mountains and valleys of California. and New Mexico, or
any other part of Mexico, and then q1im'i'el about it --- to h1'izt1g
it in and then €3,1”1d{33.,VOI‘ to put upon it the saving grace of the
Wilniot Proviso. There were two eminent and highly re-
spectable gentlemen from the North and East, then lending
gentlemen in this Senate -——-»-- I refer, and I do so with entire
respect, for I entertain for both of thoseygentlemen in geiieral
high regard, to Mn. Dix, of New York, and Mn. Nrnizs, of
,C‘onnecticut-—,-—wl1o voted for the adxnission of Texas. They
would not have that vote any other way than as it stood;
and they would have it as it did stand. I speak of the vote
upon the annexation of Texas. Those two gentlemen would
have the resolution of t1I1.11BX£tl2i0l] just as it is, and they voted
for it just as it is, and their eyes were all open to it; My

t honorable friend, the rnernber who addressed us the other day

from South, Carolina, was then Seoreteryi of State. His cor-
respondence with Me. Munpnr, the cimge i d’afl’eires of the
United States in T(3Xa.S, lied beenpublished.  That? corre—~
spondence was all before those gexitlemen, and the ,S,ecreta.ry
plotted the boldness and candor to evow in that correspondence
that the great objsctr sought by the ennexation of Texas lives
to» strengthen the slave, interest of the South.’   Why, sir, he
,s,ei,cll,,ii1 so many words i A A ,

Mn. Cnnnous. Will the honorable, Senator permit me to

 

iiiterrupt hixn for e.,,Irtlotn1ent?
, Mn. Wneismnn. Certainly, _ I‘ p p ,_   s
Mn; CALHOUN. I am very reluctant to interrupt the hon-
,,ora,lole,ge,ntlemen 5 but upon a point of i so rnucliitimportericet,
i I deem it right to put myself rectrtsin czt7_*z'c'i.  I did not put
pgitnpontyhe ground essuinecl by the ,S,efnator. , Ioput it upon
this g1'our1d:_tthatGreat Briteinliad Ta,on;5onncediito this country,
in tS.0r1}1s11y‘ wiordfs,tthatiherl object was to abolish slaveryiin
Texast, and through Texas to eecoinplisht the abolishment of
islaveryptin the lUI1it,ed,,S,tete,S, and the world‘. Theogiriound I
tp1trtsl,itor1pwas,, that t.1:l2,,,\Wi(iJu1d make an exposed frontier, pnd,
2 ”“ l A

is

if Great Britain succeeded in her object, it would be impossible
that that frontier could be secured against the aggression of
the abolitionists; and that this Government was bound, under
the guaranties of the Constitution, to protect us against such;
a state of things.

lllln. VVEBSTER. That comes, I suppose, sir, to exactly the
same thing. It was, that Texas must be obtained for the
security of the slave interest of the South: ‘

Ma. CALHOUN. Another View is very distinctly given.

Mn. Waelsrnn. That was the object set forth in the cor-

lrespondence of a Worthy gentleman not now living, who pre-r

ceded the honorable member from South Carolina in that
oflice. There repose on the files of the Department of State,
as I have occasion to know, strong letters from ll/lr. Upshur
to the United States minister in England, and I believe there
are some to the same minister from the honorable Senator
himself, asserting to this effect the sentiments of this Govern-
ment, that Great Britain was expected not to interfere to take
Texas out of the hands of its then existing Government, and
make it a free country. But my argument, my sitiggestion is
this: that those gentlemen who composed the Northern De-«l
mocracy when Texas was brought into the Union, saw with

all their eyes that it was brought in as a slave country, and

bx'oug;l1t in for the purpose of being maintained as a "slave
territory to the Grreelr: Kalends. I rather think‘ that the hon-—
orable gentleman who was then Secretary of State might, in
some of his correspondence with Mr. Murphy, have siiggested
that it was not expedient to say too much about this object,
that it might create some alarm. At any rate, Mr. Murphy
Wrote to him, that EI1gla.11Cl was anxious to get rid of the
Constitution of Texas, because, it was a Constitution 8Sl&1b~*
lishing slavery; and that what the United States had to do
was to aid the people of Texas in upholding their Constitu-
tion; but that nothing, should be said which should offend

the fanatical men. But, sir, the honorable rnember did avow.

this object, himself, openly, boldly, and manfnlly ; he did not
disguise his conduct or his motives. , r or ‘
Mn. Ois.1.noUN. Never, never: _
Mn. WEBSTER. What he means he is very apt to say. i
Ma. CALHOUN. W.A.lYV8;YS, always.  ~
llfln. VV:aes*ran.. And I honor him for it. This admission-
of Texas was in 1845. Then, in S 1847’, jlagrmzte belle

between the United Statesirland, Mexico, the proposition I

have mentioned wfasrbrought forward by my friend, from
Georgia, and the Northern Democracy voted straight ahead

against" it.’ iTheirirernedyrwas to apply tothe acq,uisi:tions,':

.19

after they should come in, the Wilmot Proviso. ‘What fol»

lows? These two gentlemen, worthy, and honorable, and
influential men,—-———-and if they had not been, they could not
have carried the measure -—--these two gentlemen, members
of this body, brought in Texas, and by their votes they also
prevented the passage of the resolution of the honorable
member from Georgia, and then they went home and tools:
the lead in the Free Soil party; And there they stand, sir!
They leave us here, bound in honor and conscience by the
resolutions of annexjation-——-—they leave us here to take the
odium of fulfilling the obligations in favor of slavery which

they voted us into, or else the igreatcr odium of violating

these obligations, While they are at home, making rousing
and capital speeches for free soil and no slavery. [Langhtein]
And, therefore, I say, sir, that there is not a chapter in our
history, respecting public measures and public men, more full
of what sh‘ould create surprise, more full of what does create,
in my mind, extreme rnortification, than tliat of the conduct
of this Northern Democracy.

I Mr. President, sometimes, when a man is found in a new
relation to things around him, and to other men, he says the
‘world has changed, and that he has not changed. I I believe,
sir, that our self-respect leads us often to make this declara-

tion in 1'egard to ourselves when it is not exactly true. An
individual is more apt to chaiige, perhaps, than all the - world

around him is to change. But under the present circum-
stances, and under the responsibility which I knoxyl incur

by what I am now stating here, Iteel at liberty to recur: to
the various expressions and statements, made at various times,

of my own opinions and resolutions respecting the admission.
of Texas, and all that has .followed.. Sir, as ‘ early as 1836,
or in the earlier part of 1837, a matter of conversation and

correspondence between myself andsome private friends was

thisfijproject of larinexing Texas to the United States, and an
hoynorablepgentleman ,vvi.tl1 whom I liavehad a long acquaint-
ance, a friend of mine, now perhaps in this charnber -4-— I mean
General Hamilton, of South Carclina——,—» was lmowirig to that
correspoi‘1der1ce. Iphad voted iforthei recognitio~n, of Texan
indepenfidence,i because I believed itwas an excisting; fact, sur-5
ipri,ising,,a1‘1d astonishixfig as it was, and «Ii Wished well. to the
new republic, but I nianifested from the first putter opposition
$0 luirigirlg hercytvithyher territory, into the Union., I had
occasion, sir, in 1837, to meet friends  New York, on some
political occasion,and I then stated, mysentiments upon the
subject. _ It was the first time that I had occasion to advert
to it, and I will ask a. friend near me to do fine the favor to

20

read an extract from the speech, for the Senate may find it
rather tedious to listen to the whole of it. It was delivered
in l\liblo’s Garden in 15337’. I

Mn.  then read the following extract from the speech of the hon-
orable Senator, to which he referred : —-- I I

“ Gentlemen, we all see that, by whomsoever possessed, Texas is likely to
be a slaveholding country; and I frankly avow my entire unwillingness to
do any thing which shall extend the slavery of‘ the African race on this con-v
tinent, or add other slaveholding States to the Union. .

“”When I say that I regard slavery in itself as a great moral, social, and
political evil, I only use language which has been adopted by distinguished
men, themselves citizens of‘ sla'veholdi1ig States. I I

“ I shall do nothing, therefore, to favor or encourage its further extension.
We have slavery already among us. The Constitution found it among us ;i it
recognizerl it, andgave it solemn guaranties. I

“ To the full extent of these guaranties, we are all bound in honor, in justice,
and by the Constitution. All the stipulations contained in the Constitution in
favor of the slaveholding States, which are already in the Union, ought to be
fulfilled, and, so far as depends on one, shall be f‘ul‘filled in the fulness of their
spirit and to the exactness of their letter. Slavery as it exists in the States
is beyond the reach of Congress. It is a concern of the States thernselves.
They have never submitted it to Congress, and Congress has no rightful
power over it. W I I I I

‘“ I shall concur, therefore, in no act, no measure, no menace, no indication
of purpose which shall interfere or threaten to interfere with the exclusive
authority ct‘ the several States over the subject of slavery, as it exists within
their respective limits. All this appears to me to be matter of plain and
imperative duty. I I

“ But when we come to speak of‘ admit.ting new States, the subject assumes
an entirely different aspect. Our riglits and our duties are then both
did'e1'ent.   ii‘

“ I see, therefore, no political necessity for the annexation of Texas to the
Union——- no advantages to be derived from it :, and objections to it of a strong,
and, in my juldgment, of a decisive character.” I

Mn. Wnssrnn. I I have I1_0lJl‘]Tll’l{_-.~j,‘, sir, to add to, nor to take
back from those sentiments. That, the Senate will perceive,
was in 1837., The purpose of immediately annexing Texas
at that time was tabandoned or postponed; and itwas not
revived with any vigor for sorneyears. In the mean time,
it had so happened that I had become a member of the Execs»
utive Administration, and was for a short periodin the Depart-
ment of State. The annexation of Texas was a subject of
conversation ---- not confidential ---— with the President and
heads of Departments, as well as with other public men. I No
serious attempt was then rnade, however, to bring it about.
Ileft. the Department of State in May, 1843, and shortly after
Ijlearned, though. no way connected with official information,
that a designhad been taken up of bringing in Texas, with
herslave Iterritory and population, into the”United States.
Iwas here in Washington at the time, and the persons are

now here wh.oI will remember that we had an aifranged meet-a

21

ing for conversation upon it. I went home to Massachusetts
and proclaimed the existence of that purpose, but I could get
no audience, and but little attention. Some did not believe
it, and some were too much engaged in their own pursuits to
give it any heed. I They had gone to their farms, or to their
merchandise, and it was impossible to arouse any sentiment
in New England or in Massachusetts that should combine
the two great political parties against this annexation; and,

‘indeed, there was no hope of bringing the Northern Democ-

racy iuto that view, for the leaning was all the other way.
But, sir, even with Whigs, and leading Whigs, I am ashamed
to say, there was a great indifference towards the admission
of Texas with slave territory into this Union. It went on.
I was then out of Congress. The annexation resolutions
passed the 1st of March, 1845. The Legislature of Texas
complied with the conditions and accepted the guaranties;
for the phraseology of the language of the resolution is, that
Texas is to come in ‘Fupon the conditions and under the
gun.r.m9zt2'es herein prescribed.” I happened to be returned to
the Senate in March, 1845, and was herein December, 1845,
when the acceptance by Texas of the conditions proposed by
Congress was laid before us by the President, and an act for
the consummation of the connection was laid before the two
Houses. The connection was not completed. A final law
doing the deed of aiinexation ultirnately and finally had not
been passed; and when it was upon its final passage here,
I expressed my opposition to it and recorded my vote in the
negative; and there that vote stands,'vvith the observations
that I made upon that occasion. _ It has happened that, be-j
tween 1837’ and this time, on various occasions and opportu-
nities, I have errpressed my entire, opposition to the admission
of slave States, or the acquisition‘ of new slave territories, to
be added to the United States. I know, sir, no change in my
own sentiments or my own purposes in that respect. . I will
new again ask my friend from Rhode Island to read another
extract from a speech of mine, made at a Whig Convention in

Springfield, Massachusetts, in the month of ,§eptember, 1847'.

MR. Gitnnnln here read the following extract : —— I y

“ We hear-much just now of‘ a panacea for the dangers, and evils of slavery
and slave annexation, which they call the ‘ Wz.'lmot‘Prom'so.’ That certainly
is a just sentiment, but it is not a sentiment to found any new party upon. It
is not a sentiment on which Mass-acliusettsllwwliigis differ. There issnot a man
in this hall who holds it more firmly than Ijdt‘.'), nor one who adheres to it
more than another. f p I  T

“ I feel some little interest in this matter, sir.‘ Did not I commit myself in
1838 to the whole doctrine, fully, entirely? l And Imust be permitted to say
that Ilcannot quite consent. that more recent discoverers should claim the
merit and take out a patent. ‘ ' I I

22

, “I deny the prioritysofy their invention. Allow melto say, it is not their
thunder?‘ ‘ it ”“ ii * ' ‘ I I I
I F‘ We are to usethe firstand last and every occasionwhich offers to oppose
the extension of slave power. , 1‘ I p _ r 4

I“ But I speak of it here, as in Congress, as apolitica.l question, a question
for statesmen to act upon. We mustso 1-egard it. I certainly do not mean
to ‘say that it isless important in a moral point of view; that it is not more
important in many otherpoints of view, but, as a legislator, or in any official

. capacity, I must look at it, consider it, and decide it as a matter of political

action.”

Mn. Wnnsrnn. On other occasions, in debates, here, I have
expressed rnydeterminat1on to vote for no acquisition, ‘or
cession, or annexation, North or South, East or West. ‘My

opinion has been that we have territory e11ough, and that we W

should follow the Spartan I11ElX‘ll.I1, “Improve, adorn what you
have, seek no further.” I think that it was inisolne observe?-
tionsithat I made here on the three million loan bill, that I
‘avowed that sentiroent.  In short, sit, the sentiment has been
avowed quite as often,in as many places, and before as many
assernbylies, astany htirnble sentinients of mine ought to be
avowed.   «
V lBut now, that, under certain conditions, ,Texas is in, with
all her pterritories, as a slave State, with a solemn pledge that
 she is dividedintolrnanly States, those States may come in
as slave States south of 36° 30’, how are we to deal with this
subject? I know no way of honorable’legislation but, when
the proper time comes for the enactment, to carry into effect
all that we have stipulated to do. I do not entirely agree
with my honorable friend from Tennessee, i(M‘a.l”BnL.L,) that,
as soon as the time comes when she isientitledto another
irepresentativepywe should create a new State; The rule
regard toiit “I take to I be this ; that, when we havell 
new States out of Territories, we have generally gone;  

  
 

the ideal that when there. is population leriough to 

,State, sixty thousand, orsome suchthing, we would create a
State ; but it is quite a different thirig when a State is divided,
 two or more States mfadelontlof it.  dolesllnlolty ijhf1lo"w,t
such a case, that thelpsame rule (Of  tsliould
~be‘a.pp1ied. \ l"I‘h‘at, however, is al niatteriforlthe consideration
of Congress when thejpiropler ‘time arjrives. I I may not then
lgelhere; I  h8JV6  the occasion. I But I
 it to  llistyiuctly   smash error-day, lthat, according to
"I I  l I ll    r solemnly pledged

   l1er‘ctonsey1rft,l
  .     I
‘ v  rritory 

 

  
  
 
  
 

     

 
 

22.3

is the meaning of the resolution which our friends, the
Northern‘ Democracy, have left us to fulfil; and I, for one,
mean to fulfil it, because I will not violate the faith of the
Government. .  t

. ,Now, as to California and New Mexico, I hold slavery to
be excluded from those Territories by a law even superior to
that which admits and sanctions it in Texas. Imean the law
of lnature—-—«-of physical geograpliy-—-—-the law of the forma-~

tion of the earth. That law settles forever, with astrength

beyond all terms of liurnanenactment, that slavery cannot
exist in California or New Mexico. Understand me, sir; I
mean. slavery as we regard it; slaves in the gross, of the
colored race, transferable by sale and delivery like other prop-»
erty. I shall not discuss the point, but I leave it to the
learned gentlemen who have uudertaltien to discuss it; but I
suppose there is no slave of that descriptionin California now.
I understand that peortisrrt, a sort of penal servitude, exists
there, or rather a sort of voluntary sale of a man and his
ofi'spring; for debt, as it is arrariged and exists in some parts
of ‘California and New Mexico. But what I n*1ean.,.to say is,
that African slavery, as we see it among us, is as utterly int-~
possible to find itself, or to” be found, in Mexico, asany other
natural impossibility. California and New Mexico are Asiatic
in their formation and scenery. They are composed of vast
ridges of mountains of enormous height, with brolreri rirdges
and deep valleys. The sides of these mountains are barren;
entirely barren, their tops capped by perennial snow. There

may be in California, now made free by its Constitution, and

no doubt there are,some tracts of valuable land. But it is

not so in New Mexico. Pray, what is thetlevidenoe which
every gentleman must have obtained on this subjecit,. from,

information sought by himself or communicated byrothersi
I have inquired and read al1fI could find in order toobtain
inforrnation. . t r . ~ t 

C Wliat is there inNew Mexicoithat could by any possibility

induce any body to go i there with slaves? There are some
narrow strips of tillable lands on; the borders of the riversgr
but the rivers themselves dry up] before midsummer is gone.

All that the peoplevcan do isto raise someylittle articles, some
little wheat for their tortillas,Jandal1 that by irrigation. Arid
who expects to see a hundred b~la.ek men cultivating tobacco,

corn, cotton, rioe,or any thing else,Jon lands in New Mexico,
“made fertile only by irrigation’? Iilook uponit, therefore,as a
, fixed fact, to use any expressions rcu1‘rent‘at this day, that both
California; and New Mexico are destined to be free, so far as
they are settled at a1l,€which Iibelieve, especially in regard to

Q4

Netv Mexico, will be veryllittle for a great length of time; free
by the arrangement of tliirigs by the Power above us. I have
therefore to say, in this respect, also, that this country is fixed
for freedom, to as many persons as shall ever live there, by as
irrepealable, and more irrepealable, a law, than the law that
attaches to the right of holding slaves in Texas ; and I will
say further, that if a resolution or a law were now before us
to provide a Territorial Government for New Mexico, I would
not vote to put any prohibition into it whatever. The use
of such arprohibition would be idle, as it respects any effect
it would have upon the Territory; and I would not take pains
to reailirin an ordinance of Nature, nor to reenact the will of
God. And I would put in no Wilmot Proviso for the purpose
of a taunt or a reproach. I would put into it no evidence of
the votes of superior power, to wound the pride, even Whether
a just pride, a rational pride, or an irrational pride, --~—- to wound
tl'1epride of the gentlemen who belong; to the Soutliorn States.
I have ‘no I such. object, no such purpose. I They would
think it a taunt, an indignity ; they would. tlllllli it to be an
act talring away from them ivhat they regard a proper equality
of privilege; and whether they expect to realize any benefit
from it or not, they would think". it a theoretic wrong; that
son1ethin,g' more or less derogatory to their character and their
riglits had taken place. I propose to inflict no such wound
upon any body, ‘unless sornething essentially important to the
country, and efficient to the preservation of liberty and free»
dom, is to be effected. ’I‘hereforc, I repeat, sir, and I repeat
it because I wish it to be understood, that I do not propose to
address the Senate often on this subject. I desire to pour out
all my heart in as plain  manner as possible; and I say,
agaiiizi, that if a proposition were now here for a Governn'1ent
for Nexv Mexico, and it was moved to insert a provision for a
prohibition of slavery, I would not vote for it.

p Now, Mr. President, I have established, so far as I propose
to go into anylin-e of ‘observation to establish, the proposition

I I with which I set out, and upon which I propose to stand or
fall; and that is, that the Whole territory of the States in the

United States, or in the newly acquired territory of the United
States, has «a fixed and settled character, now fixed and settled
by law, which C3.l”lI1‘0l}il3(‘3 repealed in the case of Texas,,wit.h-«M
out a violation of public faith, and cannot be repealed byxany
human lpotver in regard to California or New ilVIe:tico ; that,
under one or other of I these laws, every foot of A territoryin
the States or injthe1’I.‘e,rritories has snow received a fixesd and
fleckled character; C r t A ~    I   , 
Sir, if we were now niaking a go ernment for rNetv«,Mea:~r«

25

ice, and any bodyshould propose a Wilmot Proviso, "I should
treat it exactly as Mr. Polk treated that provision for exclud-
ing slavery from Oregon. Mr. Polk was known to be 
opinion decidedly averse to the Wilrnot Proviso; but he felt
the necessity of establishing a Government for the Territory
of “Oregon, and, though the proviso was there,‘he knew it
would be entirely nugatory; and, since it must be entirely

- nuga-tony, ----since ittook away no right, no describable, no esti-

mable, no weighable or tangible right of the South, ----he said
he would sign the bill for the sake of enacting a law to form
*a Governrnent in that Territory, and let that entirely useless,
and in that connection entirely senseless, proviso remain.
For myself, I will say that we hear much of the annexation
of Canada; and if there be any man, any of the Northern
Democracy, or any one of the Free Soil party, who supposes
it necessary to insert a Wilmot Proviso in a “Territorial ‘Gov-
ernment for New ,Mexico, that man will, of course, ‘be of
opinion that it is necessary to protect the everlasting snows of
Canada from the foot. of slavery by the same overpowering
wing of an act of Congress. Sir, Wherever there is a ‘partic-
ular good to be done, Vvhereverthere is a foot of land to he
stayed back from becoming slave territory, I am ready to ‘assert
the principle of the exclusion, of slavery. loam pledged toit
from the year "1837; Irhave been pledged to it again and

again; and I will perform those pledges; but I will not dollar

thing unnecessary that wounds the feelings of others, or that
does disgrace to my own understanding. V A by y P
Mr. President, in the excited times in which we ‘livethere

isfound to exist a state of crimination and recrimination be-- ,

tween the North and South. There arelists of grievances

produced by each; and those grievances, real or supposed,

alienate the minds of one portion of the ,country Cfromj the
other, exasperate the ”fee1ingis,‘su‘oduei the sense of fraternal
"connection and patriotic ‘love and mutual regard. pr Iiishall "be-
stow at little attention, sir, upon these .various grievances pro-
duced on the one side and on the other. I begin with the
“complaints of the South. Iwill -nottansvver, further than I
have, the general ystatementspof the honorable Senator from
‘South Carolina, thatitthe North has grownupontthe South in
wconsequenice ofthe manner of" administeiring this Gcoivernnrent,
in the jcol1'*ect?ing of itsirevenues, amiss forth. They are
disputed ltopics, and I haveyno inclination to penterjinto them.
‘But I will state thesecornpl~ain..ts, especially ionecomfplaint of
the South, whitich has,} in my, ,:opinam,t, just foundatiion ; and
that is, that thereihasybeen fotlndiat the North~,pamoing indi-
viidualsiiiand amolngtthe legislators oflrthe North,i a disincl.ina-
.3

26

tion to perform fully, their C0,IflSfi_l'.1,1.ti01‘1a1 duties in regard to

the return of persons bound, to service ‘xvhoilhave escaped into"
the free States. ‘ In that respect, it is my judgment that the

South is right. and the No1'this wrong. Every Inember of

every Northern Legislature is bound, like every other officer

in the country, by oath to support the Constitution of the

United States; and this article of the “Constitution, iwhichi
says to these St,atesthey.shal,l‘ deliver up fugitives froinllserwi

vice, is as.binding. in honor and conscience as any other

artiiclle.  No man fulfils his duty in any Legislature who sets

himself to find excuses, evasions, escapes from this constitu-
tional obligation. “Iihavealways thought that the Constitn-
tion addresseclitself to the Legislaturespof the States them-
selves, or to the States themselves. It says that those persons

escaping to other States shall be delivered up, and I confess

I have always been of the opinion, that itfwas an injunction
upon theSt"ates themselves. AA A S A S A

A When it is said that a person escaping into another State,
and becoming therefore within the jurisdiction of that State,
shall be tdcliveredjup, itAiseems to meithe import of the ” pas~~
sage fis,Atl1atthe State itself, in obedience to the Constitution,
shall causehirn toibe delivered up. That iisrny judgrneint.
I lhave always entertainedthat opinion, and I entertain it now.

But iwhen the A subject, some years ago, was before the Sn?
preme Court of the United. States,Athemajority of the judges 

held that. the power tocause fugitives. from service to be
delivered up was a power to be exercised underAtAheauthorit"y

Qf.thisGovernment. A I do not lcnow, on the whole, thatiitl

may not have been a fortunate decisiony Myhabit is to‘ re-A

spectlthe resultfof judicialideliberatioris and the soleemnityiloif  

judicial decisions. A But, as it notvAsta.nds, the business of see»

 thattliese fugitives are d‘eliveredA up resides in Athepotvieri

 if Congress and the national judicaiture,‘andirnAy friend at the
headA= of the Judiciary Committee 'h'asAal ,bi11onA the subject
now before the Senate, withsorne‘ amendrnentsto‘ it, which

Lpropose to support, vvith all iltsproviAsions,to the fullest Bxifi
tent. . lAndAI diesirge to call the ,attention‘ bf all lisober-eniindiedi
men, of ball ,conscie.ntiousimei1 in thel,North,A. of all meniwiho’
are iinot Vcarried away by any fanatical idea,iorf  any false

 whatever, to their.,consti.tutiona1,obligations. A ‘I putAAitA to
alt, the sober andplsopuind mind; at the l\lorAth,AAasAiaA Aquestioril of
morals and a question of conscience, fWhaAtA , right A have they

theirqlegislative.capacity, or any jAother’,A to "enideavor Atoi 

romfldi this Con$l;.ittttion,,,,. to, 'ieIIib?-ifreisjs‘ the see AAe;x‘eircise,i_iof 

ages secured br.ithe .Constit,u.tion. to the pers0ri$LW.h 9~‘4e§1=%Vér[
sscapaiftsm 1‘l°1w.atiliii1i1.:ii...n°I1l9e*~a11»   Net‘l%9’.1“.‘ht.

27

I forum of oonscience norbe_f'ore theifaceof tpheiCo1i.stitr1tion’ie.re
;t1;hey jrtstifiiedrinllmty op1n1or1. p Oflcourse, it is a rnatterfor

their consideration. p They probably, in ‘the turnioirl of the
times‘, have'"*not stopped lZO‘COl]S1de1‘_iQf this zp they have fol-

lowed what seerns to be thecurrent of thoLightiand‘of 
tives as the ?ocoasion arosel, and neglectedeto invfestigate pfnlely
“the *realques_tion, and to I consider their constitntionajll obliga-

tions ; “as I Varn lsiurei, if they did consider; they iwonld ifnlefil
them with alacrity, I Therefore, I repeat, sir, that ‘hel'eli;iS‘_&t

‘gronnld of complaint ‘against tn.he:Northpwell founded, tvhidh
I ought to be removed, which 1t is now in the power of the

difl"ere11t departments of ” this Groivernrnent‘ to ‘remove ; wliioh

I calls for the enactment of proper laws aut;horizinLg the jL1dica~

ttuffe of this Governrnent, in the severalo States, itodo all

I is necessary for thelrecaptttre offrigitive slaves, and lforpjlpthe
irestoratiori of them to those who claim‘ tlienn W,l1erev_erjI

go,“anditv11eneVe1* I ispeak on this subjectge-e and when Iespeiil:

iherel desiireitoisppeak to the whole iNo1'th,~—---»I say‘ tlfiat the
tSouth has been we injnredjinr this_ respect, and “has a riglitijlto

cornplain; and the lNorth4has been too eareltess of whatjfll
think therConstitation perernptorily and emphatically enjpoli‘n‘s
upon it as a duty’. p e I o I p  I  
I Complaint has been 9 made eagainsteecertain er‘esolntions p‘th§.t
emanate from Legislatures Vatfthe North, and larew sent 

to us, not onlyon the subjeot of li'slavjery‘pin this Di"stricite‘,ib§”1t

slornetirnes recommending I ooagress to coxisider ‘ thfe lilmreaifis

~i‘ofrlabolisl1in?‘g slavery in then States): I should be sorry‘ eptol°ijbp'e
-lcalled uplonlto present any resolutions here which conldi not
be referable to any committee’ or any plotverfinl Gong-rfessmiapntd,
ithere‘I"ore, I should be very unwilling ‘to receive front 

ehusetts instructions toilpreesent I'iC§SOll1‘tiQnSeXpI‘eSSiI1g'<afif
opinion whatever upon * slavery as (it ee}:istsepati_eIltihep l’prejse”ht

“moimenti ~ in the; S*tat_es,‘iforrpiltWo reasons’: l)eoan.sei;p first,  do
inoftti oonsicler th‘a.t~ 'thetrLegislatnre;*off" Massachusetts has 
l-trhinlg to do witlh it A; ‘and riextg I do not colnsideerp thiatp 
rber representative lhiere, *have‘an"y thjng totpdewith  pSir,j;[i“t
»hast‘beeorn?e, inmy opini~on, quite too rcornnion ;‘eiii2E3.Jr1t3l‘,,i if; 
Legislatures”? of the States do"noit"ie"li_lte thlat  ioppi11i”on,they 
«agreat ideal 1n!ore~r~poWer ritoip11t_iit‘ido*Wn than I-have toplppulpg
hold it. i‘ It beeon.’1e,tin my 'opini‘oni,‘llqi11ite tool ctomnionjya
ttprtacticie  for ithe State Lefgislatlures ‘ to e prese‘ntj resolntiolns there

on all st.1bjeet~s;,1 and to instruct ushers ojn allsubjects. , There

is inro ‘lp11=blier*ir:rm”an that lwi*ec1uir*és3 iinsitrrtptetiotil imorefitfhanj I do, or

who requires infolrnnatriionlrnorelfflianriei do‘; or desires it more
heartily ; but I dion-~ot Iti*l;erlto1711a‘Ve ‘it’con1e'pinp too pijmperpativfe

in’ shape.  I took nofifce, ‘with plelasnrel, of some irernarksl 

.28

this subject, made the other day in the Senate of Massachu-»

setts, by a young, man of talent and character, from whom
the best hopes may be entertained. I mean Mr. Hillard.

He told the Senate of Massachusetts that he would vote for-

no instructions whatever to be forwarded to members of Con»

gress, nor forzany resolutions to be offered, expressive of the

sense of Massachusetts as to what their members of Congress

ought to do." rI-Ie said that he saw no propriety in one set

of to public servants giving instructions and reading lectures I to.

another set of public servants. To their own master all of
them must stand or fall, and that master is their constituents-
I wish these sentiments could become more common, a great
deal more common. I have never entered into the question,
and never shall, about the binding force of instructions. II‘

I Will, l1owever,sirnply say this: if there be any matter of in»,

terest pending in this body, while I am a member of it, in
which Massachusetts has an interestof. her own not adverse
to the generalinterest of the country, I shall pursue her in-

Mstructionjs with gladness of heart, and with all the efficiency

which I can bring it. But if the question be one which
affects her interest, and at the same time affects the interests
of all other States, I shall no more regard her political wishes
or instructions than I would regard the Wishes of a manrwho

might appoint me an arbiter or referee to decide some ques-—

tion of important private right, and who might instruct me to

decide in his favor. If ever there was a Government upon
earth, it is this Government, if ever there was a bodyupon

earth, it is this body, which should consider itself as corn».

posed by agreemerit of all, appointed by some, butorganized
by the general consent of all, sitting here under the solemn
obligationslof oath andiconscience to do that which they
think isibest for the good of ythepvvhole.

Then, sir, there arethese abolition societies, of which I ant
unwilling” to speak, but in regard to which I have very clear
notions and opinions.  I do notthink, them useful. I think

their operations for the last twenty years have produced noth--

ingigood or valuable. At the same time, I know thousands-

of them are honest and good men; perfectly well meaning

men. They have excited feelings, they think they must do-

something for the cause of liberty, and in their sphereof

action, they do not see what else they,,,can do, thanto con-..

tribute to an abolition press Oran abolition, society, or to pay

an abolition lecturer. I do not mean to impute gross motives.
even to the leaders of these societies, but I am not blind, to

the‘ consequences. I cannot but see wliajt, mischiefs their

interference with the South has produced. ,A.t1dris it not plain.

t as

to every xnaxir Let any gentlemantvho doubts of that, recur

to the debates in the Virginia, House_ of Delegates,in 1832,

and he will seewitli tvl1ati'freedom a iproposition made by Mr.
Randolph, for the gradualabolition of slavery, was discussed
in that body. Every one spoke of slaverywas he thought;
very ignorninious and disparaging names and epithets were
applied to it, The debates in the Houseof Delegates on that
occasion, I believe, were allipublished. Tliey were read 
every colored man who could read,'and if there were anvwho

could not read, these debates were read to them by others.

At that time Virginia was not timvilling nor afraid to discuss
this question, and to let that part of her population know as
much of it as they could learn. That was in 1832; As has
been said by the honorable member 1"rornCarolir1a, these abo~
lition societies cornnrtencedt their course of action in 1835. i It

is said, —->-- I do not know hovv true it may be,  that theysenlt

irieeridiyary publications into the slave j States ; ateauyevent,

.j7they‘attempted to arouse, arid did arouse,a very strong; feel-

,,_[Laughter.]  l

ing; in other words, they created, agreat agitation in the
North against Southern slavery. lWel1, what was the result?
The bonds of the slaves were bound more firmly than before ;
their rivets were more strongly ‘fastened; Pub‘lic opinion,

which in Virgririia had begun to be exhibited against slavery, l
and was opening out for the discussion of the question, drew

back and shut itself up in its castle. Iwzish to kriotvwhejther
any body in Virginiia can uotvtallc as Mr; Randolph, Gov-
McDowell, and others stalked tldlere, openly, and ‘ ‘sent their
reinarltsjtoltlie press, in 1832.. jWeall know the fact, and
welall know the cause, andlevery thing that this agitating
people have done hasbeen,not to enlarge, but to restrain, not
to set free, but tobind faster the slave population ofthe
‘South. That is my judg*1nent., A A Si,r,“as,I have A said, I‘kno,vv
rnauy abolitionists in my own neigl'1borhood, very hottest,

good people,rn.is1ed, as I, think, by strange enthusiasm;  

they wish to do someth,_inlg,  they arefcalleldi on to coir-
tribu'te,, vaudtheyido contribute i;‘Vand it is my firm opinion
‘this day, that within the last tjwerityiyearsi as much xnonoy
has been collected and paid to  eabolition societies, abou-
tion presses, and abolition _j:leici;,1,1re1'S, as would to purchase the
freedom of ,every slave man, won1au,e”and,,ichilid, in the ‘state
or Maryland, andilseriidtitheniiyyall to iLiberia;i All have no doubt
,iof,itL,  But If have to  e that,‘ tfhe*iibenevoi1ence‘of these,
abiolyition societies hasat auyglitnetaken thatparticular ittirn.

" a  sir, thevioleulee of the press is complained of.
The press violent?  sir, the to press is violent every
31»

30

where-.. There are oustrageous ireproaches in the North against’
the South, and there , arereproaches-_in not much better taste
in; the South against the North. Sir, the extremists in both
parts of this country are violent; they mistake loud and
violent talk for eloquence and for reason. I They thinlr that
he who talks loudest reasons the best. And this wemust
expect, when the press is free, as itais here, and Iitrust
always will .b“e—--——for, with all its licentiousness, and all its-
evil, the entire and absolute freedom of the press is essential-
to the preservation of Governztnent on the basis of a free con-~
stitution. Wlierever it exists, there will be foolish paras-v
graphs and violent paragraphs in the press, as there are, I am:
sorry to say, foolish speeches and violent speeches in both
Houses of Congress, In truth, sir, I must say that, in my
opinion, the vernacular tongne~ of the country has become
grepatly vitiated, depraved, and corrupted  the style of our
congressional debates. ;[La.ughter.], And if it were possible
for our debates in Congrress to vitiate the principles of the“

people asrnuch as they have depraved their taste, I sliould”

cry out, a“ God save the Republic! ” A

Well, in all this I see no solid grievance, no grievance‘
presented by the South within the redress of the G'overn-—-'
ment, but the single one to which I have referred; and that
is, the want of a proper regard to the injunction of the Con-r
stitutionfor the delivery of I fugitiveslaves.

There are also complaints of the North against the South.

I need not go over them particularly. The first and gravest

is, that the North adopted the Constitution, recogitizing; the
existence of slavery in the States, and recognizirig the right,

to, acezrtain extent, of representation of the slaves in Con-
gress, under a state of sentiment and expectation whichpdoes

not now exist; and that, by events, by oircumstanc.es,,b.y
the eagerness of the South to acquire territory and extend
theirslave.population, the North finds itself, in, regard to
the influence of the South and the North, of the free States
and the slave States, where it never did expect to find
itself when they entered tlieicoinpact of the Constitution.
They cornplain, therefore, that, instead of slavery being
regarded as an evil, as it was then,an, evil which all hoped
wouldi be extinguished gradually, it is now regardedyby the-

South as an institutionlto, be.cherishe:d, andpreserved, and.

tiiextended gan institution whic the South has already: ex»

tended to the utmost of her.  erby theacqnisitiori of new."

territory. Well, then, passing from; that, every body in the
North reads; and every body reads. whatsoever the [news-

‘p.a_pers contain; and the newispaplers,l some of them, espe-

31

cially those presses to which I. have alluded, are careful to
spread about among. the people every reproachful sentiment

‘uttered by any Southern man hearing at all against the
North ; every thing that is calculated to exasperate, to alien»

ate‘; and there“ are many such things, as every body will
admit, from the South or some portion of it, which are
spread abroad among the reading people; and they do ex-

asperate, and alienate, and produce a most mischievous
efilect upon the public mind at the North. Sir, I would not

notice things of this sort appearing in obscure quarters; but
one thinghas occurred in this , debate which struck me very
forcibly. ’ ~ g ‘ .

. An honorable member from Louisiana addressed us the
other day on this subject. Isuppose there is not a more
amiable and worthy gentleman in this chamber, nor a gen—
tlernan who would be more slow to give offence to any body;
and he did not mean in his remarks to give offence. But
what did he say? Why, sir, he took pains to run a contrast
between the slaves of the South and the laboring people of
the North, giving the preference in allpoints of condition,
and comfort, and happiness, to the slaves. of. the South.
The Senator, doubtless, did not suppose that he gave any
offence, or did any injustice. He, was merely expressirig his
opinion. But does. he know how rernarlrs of that sort will

be.received by the laboring people of the North? Why, vvho H

are the laboring people of the North? . They are the North.
They are the people Wl10wCultlVate, their 0"tVI1_fEtl‘l11S with
their own hands; ifreeholders, educated men, independent
men. Let me say, sir, that five sixths of the whole property
of the North is in the hands of the laborers of the North;
they cultivate their farms, they educate their children, they
provide the means of independence; if they are not freee-N
holders, they earn wages ; these wages accumulate, are turned
into capital, into new freeholds, and small capitalists are
created. ’1‘hat is the case. There is a. more tangible and
irritating causeof grievance at the North. Free blacks are
constantly employed in the vessels of the North, generally as
cooks or stewards. When thevessel arrives, .these free
colored men are taken on shore, by the,po1ice or . municipal
authority, irnprisoned, and kept in .prison till the vessel is
againtready to sail.   This is not only irritating,but exceed-»
ingly inconvenient in practice, and seems altogether itnprac,-—~
*t;icable ai1dioppre.ssi.ve.. A Mr. .Hoar’sm[ission,.some, time ago,
to South Caroliiia, was a well intended eflbrt to remove this

cause of a complaint. .The North «thinks such. imprisonments

illegal and A unconstitutional; as the cases occur constantly

3'2

and fré}£quenytly,l they think it a great grievance. And What

can these people think when so respectable and worthy a

gentleman as the rnernher from Louisiana undertakes to

‘prove that theabsoluteignorance and the abject slavery of

the South tisrnore in conformity with the high purposes and
destiny of ‘iirnrnortal, rational,’h.uman hei.ngs, than the edn-—
cated, theriindependent free laborers of the North? 

~ Nbtv, sir, so far as any of these grievances have their
foundation? in matters of law, they can be redressed, and
ought to be redressed; and so far as they have their foun-
dation in matters of opinion, in sentiment, in mutual crime
ination and recrimination, all that we can do is to endeavor
to allay the agitation, and cultivate a better feeling and more
fraternal sentiments lbettveen the South and the North.

Mr. President, I should rnuch prefer to have heard from
every niember on this floor, declarations of opinion that this
Union should never be dissolvevdi than the declaration of opin-an
ion that in any case, under the pressure of any circumstances,
such a dissolution was possible. i I hear with pain, and
anguish, and distress, the VV0I‘(3;WS(~3C0SSiO11-----eSpeCially when

it falls from the lips of those who are icrnineritly patriotic;

and known to the country, and known all over the world, for
their political services! Secession! Peaceablec secession!
Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see that miracle.
The disrnemberment of this vast country Without conv‘ul~
sion! The breaking up of the fountains of the great deep
without rufiling the surface! lWho is so fO0liSl"1---—-—I Fbeg
every body’s pB.I‘d0I'1-----as to expect to see any such thing?
Sir, he who sees these Statesi new I‘t3V01V’i1'1g in harmony
around a comrnon cenvtregcan expect to see them quit their
places and fly off without convulsion, may look. the next
hour to see the heavenly ‘bodies rush from their spheres, and
jostle against each other in the realms of space without prog-
ducing a crash of the universe. There can be no such thing
as apeaceable secession; Peaceable secession is an utter
irnpossibility; it Is; the great Constitution under which We
live here t----covering this whole country~i---is it to be thawed
and melted awaypthy ‘secessiont, as itlieisriowsi on the rnountain
melt under the {influence of aivernal sun? disappear ialrnost
uriobservedyand die off?‘ No, sir! s_No, sire! _I»wpililc not
state what might producerithe disruptionylof the States get but,
sir,TI see it as plainly as I see the sun in heaven -4»--I see that
disruption rnnstiproduce such a War as I will note describe in
itsltwofold characteh“  ‘A to it *  t    ’ f it  H

at Peaceahle isec’éssio11il#-e peaceable secession lMThe cont-e
currentiatgre‘e”n1ent’of all the “members A of ttlisfgreati republic

.33

to separate! , A voluntary separation, with alimony on one

side and on the other. Why, what would be the result I?

Where is the line to be drawn? What States are to, secede ?
What is to remain Arnerican ? What am I to be? I An Amer»

ican no longer? Where is the flag of the republic to

remain? I Where is the eagle, still to tower? or is he to cower,

and shrink, and fall to the ground? Why, sir, our ances-

tors~—-gour fathers and our grandfathers, those of them that
are yet living amongst us with prolonged lives -—— would rebuke

and reproach us; and our children and our grandchildren

rvould cry out shame upon us,if we of this generation should
dishonor these ensigns of the power of the Governrnent and
the harmony of the Union, which is everyday felt among
us with so much joy and gratitude. What is to become of
the army? What is to become of the navy? What is to

lbecorne of.the public lands? How is each of the thirty

States to defend itself? gr I know, although the idea has not
been stated distinctly, There is to be a Southern Oon-
federacy. Ido not mean, when I allude to this statement,

that any oneseriously contemplates such aistate of things.

I do not mean to say that it is true, but I have heard it sug-.
gested elsewhere, that that idea has loriginated in the design
to separate. I? am sorry, sir, thatit has ever been thought
of, talked of, ordrearned of, inthe Wildest flights of human

imagination. But the idea must be of aseparation,including

the slave States upon_on.e sid,e,_and thewfree States onthe
other. , Sir, there is note»--~I may express myself too strongly

perhaps ----but some things, sorne moral, things, are almost as

irnpossible asother natural, or physical; things; and I hold,

the idea of a separation of these States, thosethat are freeto

form one Government, and those that jare slaveholding to

form another, as a moral impossibility. , We could not sepa-

exam the States by any such line, if we were to draw it. We
oould not sit down here to-—-day, and draw a line of separation

that? woulclsatisfy any five men in the country. There are
natural causes that would keep and: tie us together,»an»d there
are social and domestic relations which we could not break

if we would, and which we should not if we could. _ Sir,
nobody, can look over the face of this country at the present

' or the Mississippi. ‘

moment-—-——-nobodyican see where its population is the most
denfietatid g1*oxving,riwithoutlbeinglreadyto admit, and corn-
pelled to admit, that ere long Arnerica will be inthe valley

,Well, now, sir, I beg to inquire what the w'i1destenthulsi‘ast

has to sayijlonitlrej possibility“.ofciuttping off that river, and
teaviaglfree States atpits source and its branches, and slave

34.

"States down near its mouth.  Pray, slpi1*,epray,psir, let me say
to; the people oftthis country that these things are xvorthy

of‘ their iponderinlgplland of their ‘consideration. A Here, sir, are

five milllionstofl freetnen inthe free States xiottli of the River
Ohio: can any  “lsu'ppose that thisppopiulation can be
lpsevelred by a lines that Cl,l‘VlldgeS’lll’18lI:'I1 f1‘O1'n_l’[l‘1epte1fI‘ltOpI“"y‘ of a 
lfoiieillgn and an'}alie11 Gloverninent, down somevvhere, the
1Lord knows wl‘1ere,t'11ponppethpep lpopvver banks of the Mississippi?
is Whalt would become of=Missouri? p p
cdissenientl of the slave States? “Shall the Inland from the
pYellovv Stone and the ‘Platte River be connected in the new

VVill  joint the arron-

“Reepulblic tvith theman who lives on the southern extreniity

"of the Cape of Florida? Sir;  lam aidshatnetd to pnrsuefl this
line of rema1~1;,   p pI_f dislike p it ----I liavean lnttere disgust for it. w
i1I__vvould ‘rather hear of natural lblasts and "mildews, war,

pestilence, and .fa1lnpi11e,_ than to hear ’ gentlemen talk p of seces-
ision. VTobrea;kepup! to break ulplthis greatGopve1'i*iment_e7——-

ito idisrlnenther this greiat country ---to astonish Europe with

 "act of A folly suchlEt1ropelpfo1:_ tvvopp centuries has never
beheld in any” Government! No,sire! no, sit! There vvill

benoseflcession. iiG'rentlenl1enare lnotlserioluslwhen they talk

of ‘secession.

l «Sir, I hear there is tolbe 3. Convention held at Nashville.

“I am bound to believe thatlif worthy gentletnen ‘meet at

Nashville in Convention, their object will be to adopt coun-

 conciliatorfy -t--e-pinto advise the South to forbearance and

tnlolpderation, and to advise 5% the North to pforbearancet and

‘i1:nolderation';'pp and to inculcate principles of brotliei‘lpypl0ve"eand
lafielctioii, and attachment to the Constitntionofe the country

as itriopw jisi, Ipbe1ieve,e if the Convention pprpneet at all‘,pjipt

vvillbe fortliis purpose; for certainly, if they meet for 
ipuprposelihostileelppto the Union, they have been singularly inspe-
pproprilatle in their selection of  place.

e V p  e e _ p Ipreniember, sir, that
H'WheI1 the treatyilvvasVclonclnded between France and England

jatithe  of Arniens, a stern old E1iglishma1*1ai1d'ati ieoratior, l
who dislilted the terpms of the peace aslignominiojlusl to lEng-

land, said in epithet lflopseof C?omrnonvs,lthatt if” King William
could known the: telrmsof the treaty, he vvould tur11,inj his
com. Let amen ilcointnepnd the saying plV[r.,t VVindharn,p in
all empheasisellatid inallepl its pforce,_to anyipersonslwho shall
meet at Naslivilllejfor the piirposelof concertintg rneafsures for
the overthrow of the Union of this country over" the pebones of
Andrewlackson.  ‘ “ v \‘  l _     \

e sir, I wish to make etvvo remaiflts, fand_j hasten a contcln»

 t I vvishllitoli regard toTexas‘, thatftifl it should“ be

hereafter at any time the pleasure of the   Government of

S

35

Texasp to cede to theUnited States Map portion, larger or smaller,
of her territoryppwhich lies adjacent to a New Mex:ico,ifand
north of the 349% of north latitude, to be forrned intoifree
States, for a fair equivalent in money, or in the paymentof i
her debt, I think titan A object ‘well Worthy the consideration
of Congress. and I shall be happy to concur  linyselfglp
if I should be in the public councils of the co.untry.«at the
timer [    l t        

‘ I' have one other reinarlr. to make. In my observations

upon slavery pa ithas existed in the. country, and as it nowip
existsg I have expressed no opinion of the mode of its extin-9%

guishrnent.‘ or’ arnelioration. ‘ I will say; however, though 
have nothing to propose onthat subject, because Ido not

deem‘ myself": so competent as other gentlernen to corisider

it, that if any gentlernan frompptihelfioutlii shall ‘propose an

scherne of colonization, to be carried on by thisGovernrne1iti

upona large scale,i for the transportation of freecolored_peo-

ple to any colony, or any place in theworld, llppshould be

quite . disposed to incur almost any degreelppofpp expenseto
accomplish that object. Nay, sir, following an eixanrplet set

here rnoref than ttventy years ago by a great rnan,° then a

Senator from New York, I would return toiVirginia--+a11dp

through her forthe bencfit._ of the whole South -A----l the money
received frornpipthei lands: and terpritories ceded by her to this
Governmentt, for any such pnrpose‘as to relieve; in‘ whole or in

part, orin any w‘ayi_topdiniinieph, or deal beneficially with’, thepj
free colored population of the Southern Statesf I have said

that I honopriVirglinia forpliercession of thisterritory. ‘ There

have been received into the treasury of they UnitediStates,“'

eighty rnillionsiof dollars, the proceeds of the sales of ‘ public
lands, ceded by Virginia. N If the residnepshould be sold V at
the same rate, the whole aggregate will ermeea two hnridred
rnillions of idollarsy If Virginia and the South seelfit to
aidoptiany proposition to relieve themselves from the ‘free
people ofcolor among theni, they have my yfieepconsent, that

the Goverrirnent shall pay. them any sum by of moriieypiprotng

off its proceedswhich may be adequate tothelpuprposer, A p H
And now, Mr; President,_I dravvrptheee observations to
close. I have spolren freely, and ‘I meant to )1 do fso; VI rthave

soughtpto rnalre no "displays; . I have sougphtiitloi enlivenilrtlhe’

occasion by not anirnatedi discussiorr glttinorliiliavet ll lattempted
any trainitof lelabiorateiargurnent ; iljiillttvep soughttpp orrplyfltop
speak my sentiments fully and at large, tbieing desirous, once
and for all, t=ep‘letp tliej‘ Senatei k.now,‘ ;ar1ftlplptioplf1ert trhejcqtintry know;
the opinionsiandfptgsentzirneritsi   eiitertairrfi on all these
subjects. f ~ i"Ill»iese= fiopinicons  are  it ..lil£eliY;i£i 5120 @5113 S11dd€111Y

36"

changed. If there be any future service thatl can render
to the country consistently with these sentirnents and opin-»

ions, I shall cheerfully render it. If there be not,I shall»

still be glad to have had an opportunity todisburden my
conscience from the bottom of my heart, and to make known
every political sentiment that therein exists. 

And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the 'possi-?«»
bility or utility of secession, instead ofpdwelling in" these
caverns of darkness, instead of groping with those ideasso
full of all that ishorrid and ho1'rible,l let us come out into
the lightof day; let us enjoy the fresh airs of liberty -and
union; let us cherish those hopes which belong to us; "let
us devote ourselvesto those great objects’ that are fit for our
considerat.ion»and our action; let us raise our conceptions
to the rnagnitude and the importance of the duties that de-«%
volve upon us; let our comprehension be as broad as the
country for which we act, our aspirations as liigh as its cer»
tain destiny; let us not be pygrnies in a case that calls for
men. Never did there devolve on any generation of men

higlier trusts than now devolve upon us for the preservation,

of this Constitution, and the harmony and peace of n all who

, are destined to live under it. Let us make our generation

one of the strongest, and the brightest link in that golden,
chain which is ‘destined, I fondly believe, to grapple the
people of all the States to this Constitution, for ages to come.
It is a great popular Constitutional Government, guarded by
legislation, by law, by judicature, and defended by the whole

aflections of the people. . No monarchical throne presses these

States together; ‘no iron chain‘ of despotic power encircles
them; they livepand stand upon a 'Govern1nent ,popular in its
form, representative in its character, founded upon .principlles

, of equality, and calculated, we hope, to last forever. In all

its historyit has been beneficent; it has trodden down no
rnan’sllib,erty;iit has crushed no State. Its daily respiration is
liberty and patriotism, its yet youthful veins are full of en?-
terprise, courage, and honorable love of glory and ‘renown.
Large before, the country has now, by recent events, become
vastly larger. This Republic now eisztends, with a ‘vast breadth,
across the Whole continent. The two great seas of. the
World,Wash.the oneand the other shore. We realize 2 one
mighty scale the beautiful description of A the orpntamentai
edging of the buciklertof Achilles:--m  t . i l
i p “ Now the broad shield oornpleteithe amtistcroivned ,

,’Wit=h, his last hand, and poured the-l”ocean.,round ; p p

In ‘li“vi'ng silver seemed ’therwaves'to‘ roll,  * _ * 

-And beat the baucklerls verge, and,be~uurd_ thertwhole.” t .



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Bitonal; images
grayscale

tiff

Pages cropped and
brightened

Blank pages removed

Property marks
removed