SPEECH 
 
 OJ 
 
 IR. CASS, OF MICHIGAN, 
 
 OK 
 
 COLONIZATION IN NORTH AMERICA, 
 
 AND 
 
 ON THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF CUBA. 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, JANUARY 18 , 1853 . 
 
 The Senate proceeded to consider the joint resolution declaratory of the views of the 
 United States respecting colonization on the North American continent by European 
 Powers, and respecting the Island of Cuba; which is as follows: 
 
 “ Be it resolved, Src., That the United States do hereby declare that ‘the American continents, by the 
 free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered 
 ns subjects for future colonization by any European Power.’ And while ‘existing rights should be respected,’ 
 and will be by the United States, they owe it to their own ‘ safety and interests,’ to annpunce, as they now 
 do, ‘ that no future European colony or dominion shall, with their consent, be planted or established on any 
 pari of the North American continent.’ And should th-e attempt be made, they thus deliberately declare 
 that it will be viewed as an act originating in motives regardless of their interests and their safety, and which 
 will leave them free to adopt such measures, as an independent nation may justly adopt in defence of it* 
 rights and its honor. 
 
 “ And be it further resolved , That while the United States disclaim any designs upon the Island of Cuba 
 * inconsistent with the laws of nations and with their duties to Spain, they consider it due to the vast import¬ 
 ance of the subject, to make known, in this solemn manner, that they should view all efforts on the part 
 of any other Power to procure possession, whether peaceably or forcibly, of that. Island, which, as a naval or 
 military position, must, under circumstances easy to be foreseen, become dangerous to their southern coast, to 
 the Gulf of Mexico, and to the mouth of the Mississippi, as unfriendly acts, directed against them, to be re¬ 
 sisted by all the means in their power.” 
 
 The question pending was on the following amendment offered by Mr. Hals: 
 
 “ And be it further resolved, That while the United States, in like manner, disclaim any designs upon 
 Canada inconsistent with the laws of nations, and with their duties to Great Britain, they consider it due to 
 the vast importance of the subject to make known, in this solemn manner, that they should view all efforts 
 on the part of any other Power to procure possession, either peaceably or forcibly, of that Province, (which, as a 
 naval or military position, must, under circumstances easy to be foreseen, become dangerous to their northern 
 boundary, and to the lakes,) as unfriendly acts directed against them, to be resisted by all the means in their 
 power.” 
 
 Mr. CASS said: 
 
 Mr. President: The question of the recolonization of any part of this hemisphere by 
 the European Powers has occupied the attention of the American people for many years, 
 with more or less interest, as passiifg events seemed to render the effort more or less 
 probable. The general subject, as well as the principles involved in it, has been so often 
 discussed, that I do not propose to enter into a very full examination of our rights and 
 condition, connected with this important topic, but rather to present the general conside¬ 
 rations belonging to it. 
 
 Two Presidents of the United States have, by solemn public acts, in their messages to 
 Congress, declared and maintained the principles,frespecting American exemption from 
 European dominion, which are laid down in the first of the resolutions before us, and 
 have distinctly and satisfactorily established, not only our right but our duty to do so, as 
 one of the great elements of our national safety and prosperity. Mr. Monroe, in 1823 , 
 said: 
 
 “ We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations existing between the 
 United States and those Powers, to declare, that we should consider any attempt on their 
 part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace 
 and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European Power we have 
 not interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the Governments, which have declared 
 
 Lem. Towers, printer. 
 
2 
 
 their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great con¬ 
 sideration and just principles acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the 
 purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny by any Eu¬ 
 ropean Power, in any other light, than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition 
 towards the United States.” 
 
 Mr. Polk, in the same spirit, in 1845, said: 
 
 “ The people of the United States cannot, therefore, view with indifference, attempts 
 of European Powers to interfere with the independent action oi the nations on this conti¬ 
 nent. The American system of government is entirely different from that of Europe. 
 Jealousy among the different sovereigns of Europe, lest any one of them might become 
 too powerful for the rest, has caused them anxiously to desire the establishment of what 
 they term the ‘ balance of power.’ It cannot be permitted to have any application on the 
 North American continent, and especially to the United States. We must ever main¬ 
 tain the principle, that the people of this continent alone have the right to decide their 
 own destiny. Should any portion of them, constituting an independent State, propose 
 to unite themselves with our Confederacy, this will be a question for them and us to deter¬ 
 mine, without any foreign interposition. We can never consent that European Powers 
 shall interfere to prevent such a union; because it might disturb the ‘ balance of power' 
 which they may desire to maintain upon this continent. Near a quarter of a century 
 ago, the principle was distinctly announced to the world, in the annual message of one 
 of,my predecessors, that ‘ The American continent, by the free and independent condi¬ 
 tion, which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as 
 subjects for future colonization by any European Power.’ This principle will apply with 
 greatly increased force, should any European Power attempt to establish any new colony 
 in North America.” 
 
 In some remarks upon this subject in the Senate, a few days since, I alluded to, 
 rather than considered, the general grounds, upon which this claim of independent ac¬ 
 tion for the nations of the American continent rested for its assertion. I shall not re¬ 
 peat those views, contenting myself with saying, that this right of exclusion results from 
 xhe condition of this continent, and from those general principles of the public law of the 
 world, by which it protects the interests and safety of nations, in the varying circumstan¬ 
 ces, in which they may be placed. The history of that code shows, that it has a power 
 of adaptation to the advancing condition of nations, and that rigid inflexibility is not 
 one of its attributes. The changes introduced into it by the discovery of America, in 
 the establishment of the principles of occupation and settlement, are familiar to all, and 
 furnish an illustration of this progressive improvement. The right of recolonization 
 would necessarily lead to the renewal, indeed, to the perpetual domination of European 
 Powers, and their colonies, wherever planted, would become parties, with the mother 
 countries, in all their wars, though far beyond the true sphere of their causes and objects. 
 
 We should thus find ourselves in juxtaposition, it might be, and at any rate within 
 the reach of the action of communities, rendered enemies by the disputes, too often 
 frivolous, and almost always indifferent, of nations on the other side of the Atlantic. 
 Such a state of things, bringing wars to our coast, to our inland boundaries even, and 
 interrupting the peaceful and profitable avocations of a whole continent, to gratify the 
 pride or jealousy, or some other equalty unworthy passion of ministers or mistresses, 
 where these are the depositories of power, would be “dangerous to our peace and 
 safety.” 
 
 But I do not know, that the general principle of this claim of exemption is contested. 
 Certainly it cannot be upon any just grounds. Our Executive Government has as¬ 
 sumed it upon full consideration, and the history of our negotiations with England, to 
 be found in the interesting account given by Mr. Rush, our able and faithful represen¬ 
 tative, of his mission to that country, proves beyond doubt, that although the British 
 Ministry were opposed to our anti-colonization doctrine, lest it might interfere with 
 ulterior objects of aggrandizement on their part, yet, they entirely concurred in the appli¬ 
 cation of the principle to the recently emancipated Spanish Colonies, which in fact, 
 conceded the right of the United States to extend the same policy to any portion of the 
 continent, not then actually possessed by a European Power. And Mr. Monroe dis¬ 
 tinctly announced this fact, saying: 
 
 “ It is gratifying to know, that some of the Powers, with whom we enjoy a very 
 friendly intercourse, and to whom these views (concerning the condition of the Spanish- 
 American States) have been communicated, have appeared to acquiesce in them.” 
 

 C - 7^- 3 
 
 When Mr. Canning announced to Mr. Rush that “England could not see the trans¬ 
 fer of any portion of them (these same States) to any other Power with indifference, ” 
 she acted upon considerations much more applicable to our condition than to hers, and 
 which are co-extensive with the continent. There is great force in the remark of that 
 eminent British statesman upon our situation and political duties: 
 
 “ It concerned the United States under aspects and interests, as immediate and com¬ 
 manding, as it did or could any of the States of Europe. They were the first Power on 
 that continent, and now confessedly the leading Power. They were connected with 
 Spanish America by their position, as with Europe by their relations. And they also 
 stood connected with these new States by political relations. Was it possible they 
 could see with indifference their fate decided only by Europe 1 Could Europe expect 
 this indifference ? Had not a new epoch arrived in the relative position of the United 
 States towards Europe, which Europe must acknowledge ? Were the great political 
 and commercial interests, which hung upon the destinies of the new Continent to be 
 convassed and adjusted in this hemisphere ( Europe ) without the co-operation or even 
 knowledge of the United States ?” 
 
 These words of wisdom, of one of the most enlightened men of England, commend 
 themselves, by their justice and liberality, to the consideration of every true American, 
 and they are not the less just and liberal, because they were urged with a view to induce 
 our Government to become a party to a European Congress for the arrangement of 
 American affairs. It was wise to reject the proposal, it is not less wise to acquiesce in 
 the doctrine, which led to it, and to make it ours by its practical enforcement in our 
 own way, as a question of American policy, beyond the just sphere of European inter¬ 
 position. When such statesmen as Mr. Monroe, Mr. Polk, and Mr. Canning, unite 
 in their general views of our rights and duties, those of us, who believe int his salutary 
 doctrine, and in the expediency of enforcing it, may well bear the censures, and sneers, 
 and ridicule, and reproach, which our efforts encounter from some, because we go too 
 far, and from others, because we do not go far enough, while the cautious and the 
 timid see in every assertion of national rights and honor, a fearful cloud impending over 
 our country, ready to burst upon us, and sweep away our prosperity, if not our ex¬ 
 istence. 
 
 One-third of a century has passed away, since these diplomatic discussions, and if our 
 position and circumstances, being the oldest of the family of nations in the western 
 hemisphere, conferred upon us at that time, such rights, accompanied by such duties, 
 how much stronger is the appeal of this policy of continental independence to our earn¬ 
 est attention now, when time has developed our strength and our danger, and when our 
 American interests are primary, and those, which connect us with Europe, but secondary 
 in importance, and when, from, day to day, this disparity is increasing. 
 
 This, then, being our settled plan of policy, and having been so announced to the 
 world by two Chief Magistrates of our country, why, it may be asked, does it become 
 necessary for Congress to interpose, and by a legislative declaration, reaffirm it? The 
 nature of our Government furnishes a satisfactory answer to this question. Though 
 there is no doubt, but that these Executive declarations were beneficial in their opera¬ 
 tions, and aided in checking schemes of aggrandizement, which, had they gone on, 
 would have changed the political aspect of the countries south of us, and greatly to our 
 injury, still they have not been wholly regarded, as events upon the La Plata and in 
 other regions have practically demonstrated. And occurrences now going on in Central 
 America, and which, from day to day, occupy the earnest attention of the Senate, 
 showing the steps by which the merest shadow of possession becomes a claim, and a 
 claim a title, which carries with it dominion and sovereignty, treaty or no treaty,—these 
 occurrences announce, that our declared policy of exclusion will be still further disre¬ 
 garded, unless authoritatively reaffirmed in the name of the American people. An 
 experiment is making upon our forbearance, or rather upon our apprehension, and as it 
 is resisted or submitted to, it will be abandoned, or pushed to results, which no nation 
 now ventures openly to avow. It is but a few years since, a principle looking to an 
 American balance of power, was announced by the French Prime Minister, Mr- Guizot, 
 in the Chamber of Deputies, in relation to occurrences at Buenos Ayres, utterly incon¬ 
 sistent with the true American doctrine; and no doubt our own negligence, or rather 
 our timidity, has encouraged this spirit of presumption, and led to the belief, that we do 
 not intend to carry out our own principles, and that, therefore, they may be safely dis¬ 
 regarded by other nations. 
 
4 
 
 I repeat, that the nature of our Government furnishes a satisfactory solution of this 
 course of foreign policy. The annunciation of our views upon this subject was intended 
 to warn the Powers of Europe of our policy, and thus to prevent the violation of its 
 principle. But upon this, as upon many other occasions, we halted in our course, and 
 did not come up to our work. Wt did not keep on the line of political knowledge. 
 We should have added the solemnity and the force of a legislative concurrence to these 
 Executive declarations. Such annunciations, when made by the head of a European 
 State, are made authoritatively, because, he who issues them, has the power to entorce 
 them. They become settled maxims of policy, and other nations are aware, that they 
 cannot be interfered with, except at the hazard of war. But it is far different here. 
 Great principles of national conduct depend essentially upon public sentiment, and can 
 only be enforced in the last resort by the action of Congress. Public sentiment has, I 
 believe, with almost unexampled unanimity, approved this principle, but Congress has 
 never, by action or declaration, given to it the sanction of its authority. That decisive 
 measure should have been taken, when the Executive first promulgated the doctrine. 
 The claim, therefore, has rested barren among our archives, only to bear certain fruit, 
 when the Legislature of the Republic adopt as its own. 
 
 An able and distinguished Senator from Ohio, now no longer among us, (Mr. Allen,) 
 seeing the importance of this policy, and forseeing the necessity of making it our own, 
 and respected as such, by a more signal public act, attempted, some six or seven years 
 since, to press the subject on the consideration of Congress, but his exertions, which 
 deserved a better fate, were fruitless, and we compromitted alike our honor and our in¬ 
 terests, by shrinking’ from a responsibility not less noble, in my opinion, than it was 
 important. The Senate, if I recollect aright, refused even to consider the subject. We 
 would not denounce interference, because that would be to interfere. And we should 
 thus be led, but how I know not, into entangling alliances, the bugbear of American 
 politics, which raises its spectral front, whenever it is proposed to take a decided step in 
 our foreign intercourse. This national timidity never did any good, and never will. 
 There are positions in the progress of a people, when firmness is not only wisdom but 
 safety; and one of these we have now reached. 
 
 Mr. Monroe, when he first announced this policy, considered the occasion proper for 
 the assertion of “ a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are 
 involved.” If the circumstances, to which he referred, justified this great and untried 
 measure at that day, much more do the circumstances, in which we are now placed, 
 justify the most solemn declaration of our adherence to it. Some of the independent 
 States of Spanish origin seem to be hastening to dissolution, and almost all of them are 
 weak, unquiet, agitated, and with elements of destruction in more or less active opera¬ 
 tion. 
 
 The most important in extent, in population, and in natural resources, and the one 
 which, from its conterminous position, has the most intimate relations with our peace 
 and interests, is precisely the Power, whose fate appears to be the most doubtful. Its 
 internal agitations announce one of those catastrophes, whose consequences are beyond 
 the reach of human sagacity. 
 
 It is impossible, but that this state of things should have attracted the attention of 
 European statesmen, and have given rise to schemes, more or less matured, for turning 
 the circumstances to the advantage of the two great Powers, most likely to interfere, 
 because most interested, and most capable of making their interference felt. We cannot 
 disguise fiom ourselves, that our progress and prospects, while they are a reproach to 
 many of the Governments of the Old World, have excited their enmity by the contrasts 
 they exhibit, and by the dangerous example they offer to the oppressed masses, inviting 
 them to do as we have done, and to become free, as we are free. He, who does not 
 know, that there is not a Government in Europe, which is a friend to our institutions, 
 has much to learn of the impressions, that our past, and present, and probable future, 
 are producing among them. And while we should watch their designs with constant, 
 even with jealous care, it does not become us to magnify either our own danger or their 
 power. I have no fear of a direct attack upon this country. I do not believe, that such 
 a project is even among the reveries of the most dreaming statesman, now on the stage 
 of action. But what we have to apprehend is plans for arresting our extent and pros¬ 
 perity, the seizure of positions, by which we might be annoyed and circumscribed, and 
 the creation of an influence, and of schemes of policy, offering powerful obstacles to our 
 future advancement. Motives have always existed and been in operation for checking 
 
5 
 
 our progress, but recent events have added, as well to their number, as their gravity. 
 We have acquired an extensive territory upon the shores of the great ocean of the west, 
 and our flag now waves in the breeze, that comes from the islands and continent of 
 Asia. 
 
 Think you, Mr. President, there is a maritime nation in Europe, which does not 
 desire, that every possible obstacle should be interposed in the way of all communication 
 between the eastern and the western portions of this magnificent Republican empire? 
 Not one; and Nicaragua routes, and Panama routes, and Tehuantepec routes, and all 
 others, if there are any others, to be used by us, are so many abominations in their eyes, 
 to be tolerated only till they can be closed upon us by the occupation of commanding 
 positions, whenever opportunities can be found, or made for seizing them. Considera¬ 
 tions of this nature, far more than their intrinsic value, give importance to Honduras, 
 to the Colony of the Bay of Islands, to Sonora, to Chihuahua, and to other points, 
 where European intrigues have been at work to obtain possession. All we want is a 
 fair and equal field for exertion, and if we have not industry and enterprise enough to 
 hold our own way, in the great career of advancement, we deserve to fall behind our 
 rivals and cotemporaries, and ought to find no one “to do us reverence.” But I have 
 no fear of this, nor indeed has any one else. It should, therefore, be a cardinal maxim 
 of our policy, to preserve, as far as we can, the integrity of the Cisatlantic Republics, 
 for it is almost as much for their interest as it is for ours, that these great lines of com¬ 
 munication should be opened to all the world, and free to the competition of every 
 nation. 
 
 There has recently been an attempt to wrest Sonora from the Mexican dominion, 
 which at first attracted some attention in this country; but it has apparently failed, and 
 the effort seems now rather to be ridiculed than condemned. The circumstances, con¬ 
 nected with the origin of that movement, are obscure, but public rumor at first assigned 
 it indirectly to French agents, made with a view to the extension of the jurisdiction of 
 their country over that region. There are strong reasons for believing, that this conjec¬ 
 ture was correct, though to what extent those concerned, acted from authority, will pro¬ 
 bably never be’known, especially as the result was unfortunate, and such an event gen¬ 
 erally leaves these secret political agents to meet the consequences of their own responsi¬ 
 bility. But it is not a little curious, that it was known here, that such a movement 
 would be made, before we had any actual information of its occurrence, and it was 
 understood to be under the direction of French interests, and with the design of French 
 acquisition. I received a letter myself, from a quarter, I am not at liberty to disclose, 
 some days before we heard of the enterprise, which I mentioned to my colleague and to 
 other gentlemen, foretelling the movement and coupling it with designs of permanent 
 annexation. And a document has since reached this country, which is worthy of our 
 attention, and which goes far to confirm these anticipations. It is a memoir, published 
 recently at Paris, by Mr. Dupasquier de Dommartin, in order to draw the attention of 
 European Powers, and especially of France, to the purpose of colonizing Sonora and 
 Northern Mexico, as the only means of checking the rapid and formidable growth of the 
 United States, and preventing forever the acquisition of a railroad from the Mississippi to 
 the Pacific ocean. The writer has devoted himself for some time to the careful study of 
 this subject, has thoroughly explored the region of which he writes, and has laid the 
 foundation for the policy he recommends, by procuring , through the aid of the French 
 Minister in Mexico , large grants of land for the purpose of colonization, from the local 
 authorities of Sonora and Chihuahua. 
 
 It is well remarked by the New York Times—to which paper I owe the above ex¬ 
 tract, as well as the translated memoir—that the fact of the commencement of such a 
 colony, with the open avowal of such a purpose, is, of itself, sufficient to command the 
 prompt attention of the American people and Government. And the interest is increased 
 By the consideration, that such an appeal is thus publicly made for co-operation in the 
 plan ; made, too, in the French capital, where no such publication could appear, with¬ 
 out the consent of the Government, that a French company has obtained exclusive grants 
 in Sonora ; and that an attempt has been made to wrest that region by arms from Mex¬ 
 ico. All these may, by possibility, be accidental coincidences, and not co-operating cau¬ 
 ses ; but the suggestion requires a good deal of national charity, before it can become 
 even credible. I wish there was time to lay this memoir before the Senate, for it is a 
 very significant document, advocating the very policy from which we have most to fear 
 in all our foreign relations. But I must confine myself to a very general summary of it. 
 
6 
 
 The writer adverts to our commercial interests, and to their extension ; to our object to 
 obtain absolute command of the commerce of the world, and to the certainty with which 
 our projects of aggrandizement will be affected, from the w r onderful progress we are ma¬ 
 king, and shall make, unless Europe interferes to prevent it. He then considers the 
 condition of Mexico, with a view to show, that from her state of weakness and division, 
 she will fall a prey to the grasping rapacity of the United States, unless saved by Euro¬ 
 pean colonization. He also gives a narrative of bis explorations in Mexico, and of his 
 efforts to lay the foundation for carrying his designs into effect. This brief abstract 
 must suffice for the general purpose I have in view. I shall add to it the summary made 
 by the author himself. He says : 
 
 “ From the preceding there result two facts: First, that Mexico possesses the key of the 
 Northern Continent, of the Atlantic and the Pacific, by land and by these two seas, of all 
 the commerce which is carried on there. Second, that the existence of Mexico, pressed 
 on all parts by the United States, hangs only by a thread.” 
 
 “ The whole question is now reduced to knowing if Europe will permit the United 
 States to obtain so much power.” 
 
 A French periodical, of high and established character, The Annuaire Des Deux 
 Mondes, for 1852, has some remarks strongly corroborative of the importance of the sug¬ 
 gestions of Dr. Dupasquier de Dommartin. “Some attempts,” says that journal, “ to af¬ 
 ford a remedy for Mexican difficulties, have meantime been recently made. We men¬ 
 tion the commencement of the colonization of the State of Sonora, which has been great¬ 
 ly aided by the French Minister.” He who supposes that a French diplomatic agent 
 would take such a step, without the instructions of his Government, knows nothing of 
 that punctillious sentiment of duty, which animates his corps, and little of the responsi¬ 
 bility he would encounter. “Three hundred Frenchmen,” says our authority, “collected 
 from different parts of the Republic, are already settled upon the lands granted by the 
 Government. Within a few years, a Frenchman, Mr. Dupasquier de Dommartin, has 
 shown a lively interest in these projects of colonization.” ***** 
 
 “ This,” the adoption of his plans, “ will be the surest dyke against the usurpation of 
 the American race.” *********** 
 
 “ There is also involved the great interest of influence for Europe, in not allowing to be 
 accomplished, in spite of her, perhaps against her, and to her detriment, this new dis¬ 
 memberment of the Spanish-American Empire.” The Courrier des Etats Unis, publish¬ 
 ed at New York, the well-known organ of the French Government in this country, in 
 an article, a few” days since, made a very pregnant allusion, whether carelessly or care¬ 
 fully I know not, but certainly well worthy of attention: “As yet,” says the Courrier, 
 ‘France has not set her foot on the American continent. We may fear what she will do, 
 we admit , but in good faith she does not yet merit the least crimination.” This is hon¬ 
 est enough, indeed, whether intended as a prophecy or as a warning. It may be that it 
 will be found expedient to irradiate the new empire with the luster of conquest; and it 
 also may be, that the great augmentation of the French Navy is connected with the de¬ 
 signs upon this continent, so distinctly portrayed in the quotations I have made. No¬ 
 thing is lost by a provident forecast. 
 
 Now, it can hardly be doubted by any man, who is familiar with the course of Euro¬ 
 pean interposition, that if the effort just made to overthrow the Mexican Government in 
 Sonora had succeeded, ere long the country would have passed into the possession of 
 France, unless prevented by our remonstrances, or by armed intervention. As it failed, 
 we shall not know its true history, until we read it in another attempt, and perhaps a 
 successful one. That, however, will not be made, if we are true to ourselves, by an¬ 
 nouncing and continuing to manifest a determination to resist it, or any similar scheme 
 of European aggrandizement. 
 
 It is obvious, from the foregoing recapitulation, that our policy and purposes are at¬ 
 tracting the attention of Europe, and, whatever difference of opinion may prevail, re¬ 
 specting the true origin and objects of the recent movements in Sonora, it is equally ob¬ 
 vious, that we may look, for similar explosions, from time to time, with results far more 
 injurious to us, unless anticipated and prevented by a prompt, bold, and decisive decla¬ 
 rations, made to be enforced with all our power, should circumstances be grave enough to 
 require us to put forth our whole strength. 
 
 If, then, we have a right to insist upon this principle of American exemption, and if 
 the condition of things, here and elsewhere, may render the exercise of this right essen- 
 
7 
 
 tial to ouf interest and our safety, and, still more, if the original annunciation of the 
 doctrine meet, as it unquestionably does, the general approbation of the country, what 
 objection can there be to its reaffirmation by Congress, the depository of so much of the 
 power of the American people? Why this course is rendered necessary, I have already 
 explained, and have shown, that the time, which has intervened since its first proclama¬ 
 tion, and the circumstances, which have almost reduced it to a dead letter, have pro¬ 
 duced the impression, which evidently prevails in Europe, that we are not prepared to 
 enforce it, as the war-making authority has refused or neglected to sanction it—why, I 
 repeat, withhold this action, and leave us thereby to encourage untoward events, which 
 due firmness, on our part might anticipate, and would probably prevent? The decree 
 stands recorded in the history of our Executive acts. It is essential to its vitality, that 
 it should now take its place in the acts of the Legislative Department. Why not? Do 
 you mean to leave it without effect, and abandon it to its fate, and not even attempt to 
 enforce it? If so, it would be much more honorable to repeal it. Or do you desire its 
 efficient action in great exigencies, which may come, probably, indeed, will come, for 
 if you do, you must fortify it by the declaration of your zealous concurrence, and, if 
 need be, your powerful co-operation. Or are we afraid to speak out boldly, plainly, as 
 becomes the American people, trusting to the miserable policy of expedients, instead of 
 asserting our rights and our determination to maintain them > It may be consoling to 
 observe, at least for those, who need the consolation, that a legislative declaration w T ould, 
 to say the least of it, have a strong tendency to prevent attempts, which, without, such 
 an imposing measure, would doubtless be made; for assuredly a contest with the United 
 States for the acquisition of territory in North America, the very seat of our power, 
 would not be hazarded without very powerful considerations, which it is difficult to for- 
 see, in the face of the exertions of this country, putting forth all its strength. 
 
 So much for this project of reconverting the American continent into European colo¬ 
 nies, and for the position, it is our duty to assume and maintain in relation to it. And 
 now for the second resolution, which looks to the present and the future of the Island 
 of Cuba. 
 
 But before proceeding to the consideration of it, it is proper to remark, that its form 
 has provoked a good deal of animadverson and some opposition, because the desire of the 
 United States to purchase Cuba is not distinctly announced upon this occasion. Mr. 
 President, it is an occasion, which is not appropriate to such a declaration. Our pre¬ 
 sent purpose, in this appeal to the world, is to announce our policy, should any other 
 nation attempt to obtain possession, by the consent or without the consent of Spain, and 
 in the conviction, that such a solemn procedure will have a tendency to prevent designs, 
 which might otherwise be undertaken. But our purchase of Cuba is a question between 
 us and Spain, and requires no public annunciation to other nations, and to make it, 
 would be a sacrifice of our own self-respect. 
 
 So far as respects my own personal views, these I have already explained to the Serr¬ 
 ate. I desire the possession of Cuba, earnestly desire it, whenever we can justly obtain 
 it, and the sooner that time comes the better; for then will be finally settled one of the 
 most delicate questions—the most delicate, perhaps, in our foreign policy, always liable 
 to embarrass us by grave conjunctures, more easily to be forseen, than to be guarded 
 against. As to the means, though as I have already said, I am prepared to advocate its 
 purchase, even at the most liberal price,—still, I should prefer its acquisition by the ac¬ 
 tion of the people of Cuba—and a noble tribute it would be to our institutions—in the 
 exercise of their power as an independent nation, could they succeed by any arrange¬ 
 ment with Spain, in procuring her recognition of that condition, or should they be able 
 and prepared to establish their right to a place in the family of nations. 
 
 There are two questions involved in this subject of Cuba, one of right, the other 
 of expediency. Whether we can do anything justly, and if we can, what and how 
 much we ought to do. This great measure of policy, connected with the destiny of that 
 important insular position, has long occupied the attention of the American people, and 
 the considerations, bearing upon it, have been so often and so elaborately presented, that 
 I shall confine my present remarks within the narrowest compass, which the gravity of the 
 inquiry will permit. We are all aware of the recent circumstances, which have attracted 
 and arrested public attention; and though the crisis they appeared to foreshadow has 
 passed away, still there are elements of difficulty, arising out of theu ncertain condition 
 of the Spanish monarchy, both metropolitan and colonial, which must be in active ope¬ 
 ration, ever liable to produce results, gravely affecting our vital interests. 
 
8 
 
 The right of one country, to occupy or control portions of the possessions of another, 
 is Reducible from the great law of self-defence, which is as applicable to communities as 
 to individuals. There are many instances in modern history of the application of this 
 doctrine, and the code, which regulates the intercourse of nations, and which adapts it¬ 
 self to the existing circumstances of the world, recognizes this power of self-preservation. 
 Like other human pretensions, this is liable to abuse, and has been greatly abused in 
 Europe, and especially by the usurpations, arising out of the b'alance of power —a prin¬ 
 ciple avowedly introduced for the protection of the weak against the strong, but practi¬ 
 cally perverted to make the strong more powerful, and the weak more dependent. A 
 nation, feeling the responsibility of its conduct towards God and man, and sensible of its 
 own duties, should take care, when driven to avert danger by anticipating it, that it does 
 not mistake a spirit of aggrandizement for the just claims of self-defence, and seize the 
 fleet of a friendly Power, a Danish fleet, for example, as a mere instrument of mari¬ 
 time supremacy. 
 
 The true principle is well laid down in our own legislative history, and was an¬ 
 nounced in the resolution of Congress of March 3d, 1811, which declared that, 
 
 “ Taking into view the peculiar situation of Spain, and of her American provinces, 
 and considering the influence, which the destiny of the territory adjoining the southern 
 border of the United States, may have upon^their security, tranquility, and commerce: 
 Therefore 
 
 “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
 America in Congress assembled, That the United States, under the peculiar circum¬ 
 stances ot the existing crisis, cannot, without serious inquietude, see any part of the said 
 territory pass into the hands of any foreign Power, and that a due regard to their own 
 safety compels them to provide, under certain contingencies, for the temporary occupa¬ 
 tion of the said territory. They at the same time declare, that the said territory shall, 
 in their hands, remain subject to future negotiations." 
 
 And in the act of Congress, passed on the same day, for the purpose of carrying thi* 
 declaratory resolution into effect, it is provided that the President “ be authorized to take 
 possession of the country east of the Perdido river, and south of the State of Georgia and 
 of the Misssssippi Territory,” among other events, in case it should be delivered up by the 
 local authority, “or in the event of an attempt to occupy the said territory by any foreign 
 Government.” 
 
 This is our doctrine and our policy, and the very proposition of the French and Bri¬ 
 tish Governments to our own, to regulate by a tripartite treaty, without the participation 
 of Spain, the future condition of Cuba, is itself a concession of the right to direct and 
 control peculiar positions, upon whose fate important interests depend. 
 
 Does the Island of Cuba present those paramount considerations, connected with our 
 safety and prosperity, which justify the United States in the exercise of a vigilant super¬ 
 vision over its destiny, and in the adoption of decisive measures for its possession, should 
 any other nation seek to obtain it, by force or by purchase? The importance of the 
 question, rather than any difficulty in its solution, deserves a passing consideration, and 
 in referring to it, I must repeat views, I have heretofore presented to the Senate upon 
 this subject. 
 
 The Gulf of Mexico is the reservoir of the great river of the North American conti¬ 
 nent, whose importance it is as difficult to realize, as it is the value of the country, 
 which must seek an outlet to the ocean through its waters. That country is nearly 
 equal to all Europe in extent, embracing twenty-five degrees of latitude, and thirty-five 
 of longitude upon the great circles of the globe. This vast basin extends from the 
 summit of the Alleghany to the summit of the Rocky Mountains, and its population 
 now equals eight millions. The man yet lives, who was living, when almost the first 
 tree fell before the woodman’s stroke in this great domain; and the man is now living, 
 who will live to see it contain one hundred millions of people. Already the hardy western 
 pioneer has crossed the barrier of the Rocky Mountains, and the forest is giving way before 
 human industry upon the very shores, that look out upon China and Japan. The Mis¬ 
 sissippi is the great artery of this region; which, drawing its supplies from the fountains 
 at the north, pours them into the ocean under a tropical sun, and drains, in its own 
 course, and in the course of its mighty tributaries—tributaries in name, but equals and 
 rivals in fact—the most magnificent empire, which God, in his providence, has ever 
 given to man to reclaim and enjoy. I have myself descended that great stream two 
 
9 
 
 thousand miles in a birch canoe, admiring the country through which it passes in a state 
 of nature, and lost in the contemplation of what that country is to be, when subdued by 
 human industry. The statistics of such a region, in years to come, is a subject too vast 
 for calculation. Its extent, fertility, salubrity, means of internal navigations, and the 
 character of the people, who will inhabit it, baffle all efforts to estimate its productive¬ 
 ness, the tribute, which its industry will pay to the wants of the world, and the sup¬ 
 plies, which the comfort and habits of its people may require. 
 
 During the palmy days of Napoleon, it is said, that one of his projects was to convert 
 the Mediterranean into a French lake. England has nearly done what defied the power 
 and ambition of the Great Conqueror. She has almost converted it into an English 
 lake, in time of war. Gibraltar commands its entrance, Malta the channel between 
 Sicily and Africa, and the Ionian Islands the waters of the Levant. There were good 
 reasons for believing, a short time since, that England was seeking to obtain a cession 
 of the Island of Crete, the ancient kingdom of Minos, which would give her the 
 port of Canea, that I found one of the most magnificient harbors in the world, equally 
 capacious and secure. If England, in the pursuit of the same system, should acquire 
 similar commanding positions on the Gulf of Mexico, that great reservoir would become 
 a mare clausum , and no keel would plow it, nor canvas whiten it, in time of war, but 
 by her permission. Now, sir, looking to the extent of our coast in that direction; to 
 the productions, which must pass there to seek a market; to the nature of our popula¬ 
 tion; and to the effect upon all these, which a permanent naval superiority would pro¬ 
 duce—where is the American, who is not prepared to adopt any measures to avert such 
 a calamitous state of things? Who can fail to see the nature of the predatory warfare, 
 which England would carry on, in all times of hostilities, from her various positions, 
 which would encircle the Gulf, from the Bahamas to Cuba and to Yucatan? And 
 who, also, can fail to see, that even in time of peace, her many harbors would become 
 places of refuge for a certain class of our population, and that perpetual collisions 
 would occur, involving the peace of the two countries? 
 
 The Gulf of Mexico, sir, must be practically an American lake, for the great purpose 
 of security, not to exclude other nations from its enjoyment, but to prevent any domi¬ 
 nant Power, with foreign or remote interests, from controlling its navigation. It be¬ 
 comes us to look our difficulties in the face. Nothing is gained by blinking a great 
 question. Prudent statesmen should survey it, and as far as may be, provide for it. 
 We have, indeed, no Mount Carmel, like that of Judea, nor prophet to ascend it, and 
 to warn us against a coming storm. But the home of every citizen is a Mount Carmel 
 for us, whence we can survey the approaching cloud, even when no bigger than a man’s 
 hand, which threatens to overspread the political atmosphere, and to burst in danger 
 upon his country. 
 
 So long as Cuba is held by its present possessors, neither we, nor the commercial 
 world have anything to fear from the projects of England or France; for the latter 
 country also has its schemes of territorial and mercantile aggrandizement, as is apparent 
 from the considerations, I have already presented to the Senate. Spain is not now in a 
 condition, and in all human probability never can be, seriously to annoy us, even if she 
 had the disposition, and we may well rely upon her want of power and her want of 
 will, and rest satisfied that her most precious dependency, the Queen of the Antilles, 
 will not be hazarded by converting it into a military and naval arsenal for interrupting 
 and seizing our commerce, and devastating our coasts. But let the dominion be trans¬ 
 ferred to England or France, and where are we? The mouth of our great river might 
 be hermetically closed, and the most disastrous injuries inflicted upon us. I need not 
 pursue these considerations further, for he, who is incredulous to their force, would not 
 be driven from his incredulity by any effort of mine. 
 
 Such being the intimate relations between this island-fortress and our safety and pros¬ 
 perity, are there such indications of danger, as to call upon a provident nation to decide 
 upon its course promptly, and to pursue it inflexibly? The signs upon this subject are 
 neither few nor doubtful. I am not going to review them. But no man of ordinary sa¬ 
 gacity, looking to the acknowledged policy of France and England, can question the de¬ 
 sire of both of them to acquire this commanding position. And a characteristic incident 
 occurred not long since in the House of Commons, which shows the views of British 
 statesmen upon this subject. Lord George Bentinck, one of the most distinguished pub¬ 
 lic men of England, and then the Tory leader in the Commons, in a discussion which 
 took place there, said: 
 
10 
 
 "He had read in the Times an extract from a United States paper, in which it was 
 stated, that if the United States did not possess herself of Cuba, Great Britain would* 
 and that England had a greater claim, by one hundred fold, on Cuba than the United 
 States had to Mexico, because a sum of £45,000,000 was due to British subjects, and 
 Cuba was hypothecated for the debt, &c., &c. He would therefore say at once, let them 
 (the British) take possession of Cuba, and settle the question altogether. Let them dis¬ 
 train upon it for the just debt due—and too long in vain—from the Spanish Government.” 
 
 And then comes the true key to the English heart: 
 
 “ Then depend upon it,” continued the speaker, “ when Great Britain possessed the 
 Havana, as once she did in 1762, when she held it for about a year,and then exchanged 
 it for the Floridas, and when she could cut the trate of America in two, no more 
 boasts would be heard of what the United States could do,” &c. 
 
 The importance of Cuba to our interest seems to be pretty well appreciated in the 
 halls of British legislation. This last candid avowal, of a design and a desire to cut in 
 twain the commerce along our southern coasts, would find its proper place in a precious 
 article published some years since in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, entitled “A 
 War with the United States a Blessing to Mankind,” filled with some of the most cold¬ 
 blooded suggestions, that ever marked even that notorious receptacle of vile slanders 
 against this country. The present security of Cuba from European interference, inde¬ 
 pendent of our position, is to be found in the jealousy of France and England. And 
 could this be removed by any scheme of partition, the mortgage would be foreclosed, for 
 France also has a similar hen, and the property transferred, as soon as the process could 
 be completed. And we are reminded, in the recent correspondence between Mr. Everett 
 and the Ministers of France and England, on the subject of the proposed tripartite treaty, 
 suggestively or significantly, as may be, that the hypothecation is yet in full force as 
 “ British and French subjects, as well as the French Government are, on different ac¬ 
 counts, creditors of Spain for large sums of money.” How soon the creditors may dis¬ 
 train, in the language of Lord George Bentinck, may depend upon our course. I am 
 satisfied they will resort to no such remedy, should we keep on Mr. Canning’s line of 
 political knowledge, and say, if you touch the Island, that act will be a declaration of 
 war against the United States. 
 
 Besides, no man can look at the aspect of Europe, without feeling assured that, from 
 day today, collisions may arise between nations, and internal convulsions may shake the 
 very frame of society. And wars may thus break out, extending their effects through 
 the globe. The Spanish monarchy, it may be, is incapable of rejuvenation. I do not 
 know how that may be, and I leave it to a wiser or to a rasher man than I am to speak 
 confidently. But certainly that kingdom is marked with the signs of some approaching 
 catastrophe. If the new French Empire follows the traditions, as it inherits the nariie 
 and institutions of the old, which rose and fell with its founder—a name greater, in my 
 opinion, than any other in modern, if not in ancient European history—it will soon 
 make itself felt in the Hesperian Peninsula, and become the arbiter of its fate. To rely, 
 as some profess to do, upon the security, which the present state of things in Europe, 
 gives to the Spanish dominion in Cuba, is to neglect the most obvious dictates of policy, 
 and to abandon an object of vast importance to the mere chance of events. 
 
 The correspondence, to which I have just alluded, gives rise to some serious reflec¬ 
 tions. Before adverting to these, however, I desire to express my warm approbation of 
 the letter of Mr. Everett. It is worthy of his character, and it is marked by a lofty pa¬ 
 triotic American feeling. I have seldom seen a document more conclusive in its argu¬ 
 ment, or more beautiful in its style or illustrations. If it had announced openly, that 
 we desire to purchase Cuba—and that declaration would have basn appropriate to the 
 occasion—I should have given to it almost my unqualified adhesion; but even with that 
 omission, I feel proud of it, as an American State paper. 
 
 And I thank Mr. Everett for the reproof, or retort, be it one or the other, caustic, 
 though a little reversed, as became his position, but plain enough withal, which he ad¬ 
 ministered to his diplomatic correspondents on the subject of our territorial acquisitions, 
 compared with those of France and England. If there is one chapter in the whole his¬ 
 tory of human hypocrisy, from the time of the parable of the Pharisee, who thanked God 
 he was not as other men, and especially as that Publican, down to the last diatribe against 
 the grasping propensity of the United States, more remarkable than any other for its in¬ 
 consistency, it is that which records the boasts of European self-disinterestedness, com- 
 
11 
 
 pared with that great Publican on the western side of the Atlantic, who covets all he sees, 
 and snatches all he can. Mr. Everett’s defence of the history of our acquisitions is un¬ 
 answerable, as well with relation to the means, by which they were obtained, as to the 
 meliorations resulting from them. Truly has he said, “Every addition to the territory 
 of the American Union has given homes to European destitution, and gardens to Eu¬ 
 ropean want.” And he might have added, with equal truth, freedom and the rights of 
 man to European vassalage. He says, rather slyly, that the extensive accessions made 
 to French and English dominion, “have created.no uneasiness in the United States,” 
 and that “probably,” he speaks with diplomatic doubt, “ probably ” our accessions of 
 territory , while following the example set us, “caused no uneasiness to the great Euro¬ 
 pean Powers.” Well done, Mr. Everett! well done! Addison could not have managed 
 this retort with drier humor, nor in a happier vein of irony. 
 
 But to return to my remark, that this correspondence gives rise to some serious 
 reflections. Why was this proposition for a tripartite treaty submitted to the United 
 States? Not with the slightest belief that it would be accepted. There was not a 
 member of the French or of the British Cabinet, who did not know, as well before the 
 project was referred to us, as after, that the offer would be peremptorily rejected. They 
 all understand our principles and our policy. They knew we were opposed to these 
 “ entangling alliances ,” for these are truly so; and they knew our view’s with respect to 
 Cuba, and that we would not sacrifice our permanent interests to any such scheme. 
 
 Then why this solemn farce of an invitation to do, what it was known we would not 
 do ? Well, sir, there is but one rational answer to this inquiry. Those two Govern¬ 
 ments are able to say to us, now and hereafter, we shall take our own course with respect 
 to Cuba. We have asked your participation, in the measures necessary for its security, 
 and you have declined to join us. We are free to act as we please. We have given 
 you warning, that we do not recognize your right to acquire that Island, and that we 
 shall “discountenance” all efforts, that you may make to obtain possession of it. This 
 declaration is explicitly made by the French Government, and the same view is easily 
 deducible from the letter of Mr. Crampton, where he speaks of there being something 
 equivocal in the declaration of the United States, in consequence of the “juxtaposition” 
 of the words “ European” and “ Power,” and inviting a plain disavowal of our intention 
 ever to obtain possession of Cuba. This, of course, he neither got, nor expected to get. 
 
 Thus, then, stands this matter: France and England have assumed the right to decide 
 upon the destiny of Cuba, and have asked the concurrence of the United States in their 
 proposed arrangements. This has been declined, and the two Powers, upon their own 
 principles, are free to regulate the whole subject, so far as they can agree in their policy. 
 If they cannot do that, each of them will probably aw T ait the chapter of accidents, protest¬ 
 ing or seizing, as one or the other may be in the ascendant—provided, however, that we 
 sit still and philanthropically cry peace, peace , when there is no peace. 
 
 Now, sir, I have endeavored to show why these resolutions should pass. I have 
 endeavored to show, both our right and our duty to adopt them, and also that their 
 adoption would have a powerful operation in checking projects of aggrandizement, which, 
 without our influence, will go on to their consummation. I do not presume to say, that 
 this solemn proceeding alone will, under all circumstances, secure our immunity from 
 these dangers. But I do say, it will be heard, and not unheeded; and projects, which, 
 without it, would be, and perhaps promptly, carried into effect, will be, if hot abandoned, 
 at least delayed, till a more convenient opportunity —which will come when pusil¬ 
 lanimity guides the councils of our country—and not till then. Why, then, not say 
 what we mean, and do as ^ve say? Gentlemen opposed to this course, while they avow 
 their indisposition to act,-acknowledge, also, that our policy must be enforced by war, if 
 necessary, should the effort be made to thwart it and to endanger our safety. 
 
 A highly estimable member of the House of Representatives, for whom I have much 
 regard, has recently remarked that “ he was not willing to sustain the resolution.” 
 “ He was opposed to serving a John Doe and Richard Roe notice to the world,” though 
 he avowed his determination to act by force, if European colonization should be attempt¬ 
 ed, or if there should be danger of any maritime nation taking Cuba. Then why not 
 say so ? The declaration may do good, and can do no harm. No American, Mr. 
 President, has the right to undervalue his country, by saying, that the avowal of a 
 firm resolution on her part to resist an unjust policy, deeply affecting us, will be re¬ 
 ceived in Europe with indifference, or lightly regarded. No, it is not so; and without 
 the fear of any imputation of self-exaltation, we may estimate our influence by a higher 
 
12 
 
 standard than that. If, indeed, we do nothing, by our own differences and discussions, 
 to cast suspicion upon our ultimate course, leading the politicians of Europe to believe, 
 that when the trial comes the record containing our words will never be inscribed with 
 our deeds. Far better is.it to do nothing, than thus prove recreant. I repeat, sir, why 
 not say, in good faith, what in good faith we mean? These annunciations to the world, 
 of a fixed course of policy, in certain contingencies, to be foreseen or apprehended, are 
 common occurrences in the intercourse of nations, and therefore to be decided on, under 
 existing circumstances. Why not serve a John Doe and Richard Roe notice to ihe 
 world? Passing by the sneer, in W'hich I join, upon the clumsy contrivances of the 
 common law, by puerile fictions to do indirectly what should be done directly, and 
 looking to the object and not to any form of expression, even though rendered unpala¬ 
 table by its associations; the serving of that notice i9 precisely what we may do, as a 
 just nation, what we ought to do, as a wise nation, and what it becomes us to do, as a 
 frank and republican nation. 
 
 Did not our fathers issue a John Doe and Richard Roe notice to the world, on the 
 4th day of July, 1776, when we assumed a place among its independent communities; 
 and did they not then announce certain great principles as fundamental articles of our 
 political faith? And did not the Emperor of Russia, but the other day, issue also his John 
 Doe and Richard Roe notice, in the form of a Muscovite decree, proclaiming to Christen¬ 
 dom, that nations should not be independent, contrary to his pleasure*—for such is the 
 meaning of that memorable State paper, when divested of its diplomatic redundancy. And 
 is not modern history full of these declarations, more or less just or unjust, as well as 
 more or less grave, down to the blockading of a port even, which is made known by 
 the same process* 
 
 So much for these two old pillars of the common law, thus converted into pillars of 
 the public law of the world. And I take this occasion to add, that I saw with dismay, 
 that these two reverened personages had been recently put to death by the British Par¬ 
 liament! The most prominent event in human progress, that has occurred in my day! 
 The old dry bones are really beginning to shake. I have no doubt, but that this irre¬ 
 parable loss has been sincerely deplored, as well in England, as in this country, by 
 many a devout believer in the doctrine, that all changes are changes for the worse; 
 and that unless a head is covered with a horse-hair wig, whatever may be inside, the 
 outside renders the man utterly unfit for a judicial station. 
 
 ii Oh , the virtue of horse-hair!” said the waggish Progressives of the Edinburgh 
 Review. 
 
 But, sir, these resolutions, or equivalent ones, embodying the same principles, will 
 pass the Legislature of the United States. Their passage is but a question of time. 
 They may fail to-day, and they may fail again. Timidity or immobility may overrule 
 that firm sagacity, which befits our condition. It is just as certain, that these principles 
 themselves will be permanently ingrafted into the American policy, and in the most im¬ 
 posing form, as it is that they are now ingrafted in the hearts of the American people. 
 
 My friend, the Senator from New Hampshire, (Mr. Hale,) said the other day, with 
 that ex cathedra manner, which distinguishes his vaticinations, not always remarkable 
 for their fulfillment, that we should back out of this declaration, if made, as we always 
 do. The sentiment is not very patriotic, nor is the assertion correct; nor, indeed, is it 
 redeemed by the charm of novelty. I heard the same taunt in 1812, though in different 
 terms. The phrase then was, and it was daily heard from our political opponents, that 
 the country could not be kicked into a war. Well, sir, we went to war, notwithstand¬ 
 ing, and came out of it without backing. And he, who thinks we shall not, and urges 
 that as a reason for submission to national degradation, knows little of the resolution of 
 his countrymen, when the hour of trial comes. There is one redeeming and encourag¬ 
 ing feature of our public character in all these contests between standing still and going 
 on, and that is, that the national feeling, in all grave conjunctures, has always gone 
 ahead of the Congressional feeling. I know of no exception; the latter pants after the 
 former, but not entirely in vain. And it is best it should be so. The public instinct and 
 judgment are right, and are animated with an ever active love of country, which feels 
 its way and follows it, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, 
 
 Mr. President, I am not going over the old ground of our manifest destiny , and the 
 mission we have to fulfil , and other similar phrases, expletives, if you please, adopted 
 into our political vocabulary, and which have provoked more criticism than they merit, 
 and been assigned more importance than they are entitled to. I take it, they are all 
 
13 
 
 merely indicative of a strong impression of the mighty career, that is before us, and of 
 the duties and responsibilities, it brings with it, as well towards ourselves as the world. 
 However these may be magnified or depressed, they cannot be avoided; and that past, 
 which alone foreshadows the future, is filled with the most startling proofs of national 
 progress, which have ever arrested the attention of mankind. 
 
 The generation has not yet wholly passed away, since we were a peaceful dependency 
 of England, and he who, by the kindness of Providence and the favor of his fellow- 
 ciiizens, is now permitted to address you, wa3 born before the final acknowledgment of 
 our independence by the parent country. A narrow strip of sea-coast, and a scattered 
 population, short of three millions, who were hardly permitted, as it has been said, in 
 illustration rather than in assertion, to make a horseshoe nail for themselves, divided 
 into separate colonies, and almost unknown, with some profitable rather than patriotic 
 anticipations at home, as England was then called, that these possessions might be use¬ 
 ful for the purpose of taxation,—such was our condition about the commencement of 
 our revolutionary struggle, and at its close we found ourselves exhausted by the exer¬ 
 tions we had made, and without internal trade, without external commerce, and, in fact, 
 without a government for the protection of social order or the prevention of foreign ag¬ 
 gression; and, indeed, the institutions of the country were maintained by the character 
 of the people, and not by political organization. The seventy years, which have since 
 passed away, have more than quadrupled the area of our territory, have increased our 
 population eightfold, and have added to our productive industry, to our commerce and 
 navigation, to our revenue and resources, and to all the other elements of power and pros¬ 
 perity in a still greater ratio, while they have given us a Government and institutions, 
 as free as is compatible with the preservation of order, and have placed us among the 
 great Powers of the earth, with none to make us afraid. And at the same time, our 
 intellectual improvement has kept pace with our material advancement, and our whole 
 progress is without example in the history of nations. 
 
 Now, sir, in this state of things, let no man despair of the future. Let no one fear, 
 that his country will not, sooner or later, come up to her proper work, without presump¬ 
 tion, but without hesitation. Our progress is from day to day, but the steps, which 
 mark our career before the world, are the decennial periods, when the “ numbering of 
 the people ” discloses results surprising even to ourselves, and almost incredible to the 
 other nations of Christendom. Eight of these I have lived to see, and the gigantic 
 strides, they mark, indicate a future, which is almost appalling to the imagination. If 
 this magnificent destiny, even now so gratifying to national pride, but in prospect so 
 boundless in its power, for evil or for good, brings with it causes of gratulation for 
 every true American, it brings also grave responsibilities, which cannot be evaded, and 
 ought not to be neglected. 
 
 It is thus we have a mission to fulfil , in the example we may offer, and in all just 
 efforts to promote the extension of freedom, the advancement of knowledge, and the 
 establishment of all the great principles, on which public and private prosperity depends. 
 
 In looking back upon our progress from infancy to maturity, it is obvious, that we 
 have submitted to much, that was unjust and contumelious, because we had not strength 
 to resist, as we should now do, pretensions, not less remarkable for their injustice, than 
 for the presumption and pertinacity with which they were urged. We had true patriots 
 in those days of weakness to guide and counsel us, and well did they fulfil their trust. 
 But we had to bear much, because we could forbear when we could not avert or avenge. 
 
 But old things have passed away, and with the power has come the determination of 
 the American people to protect their interests and their honor, wherever, and whenever, 
 and however these may be assailed. Why, sir, it is difficult even for this generation to 
 believe, and to the next it would appear perfectly incredible, unless established by the 
 irrefragable evidence of public records, that for twenty years we seriously argued with 
 England, in labored diplomatic notes, whether her naval officers had a right to enter and 
 search our vessels, wherever these might be met on the ocean, and to take thence, at 
 their mere will, any person they might find, and consign him to that worst of slavery, 
 the slavery of unlimited service on board a hostile ship to fight against his own country. 
 Well, sir, we have exhausted that argument, and shall supply its place by other means. 
 We have got far beyond discussion, and the first man impressed from an American 
 vessel by a British officer, whose act is recognized by his Government, will be the signal 
 of war. Nor shall we ever again discuss the legality of Berlin and Milan decrees, and 
 all the other schemes of rapacity, by which neutral property was stolen during the terri- 
 
14 
 
 ble contests arising out of the French Revolution—schemes which were defended, in 
 elaborate State papers, upon a highwayman’s plea, that he robs you, because you have 
 been, or will be robbed, by some one else. All this, too, is with the things that have 
 been. And think you, sir, that the time will ever return, when a third of the territorial 
 extent of one of the States of this Union will be ceded upon such pretexts, as those 
 which dismembered the State of Maine? Never, in my opinion, was there a public 
 claim urged upon grounds so utterly indefensible as that; but we yielded, and now let us 
 make the best of it, and acquiring resolution as we acquire strength, let us do just what 
 is right—and demand it from others. That is our true policy, and as it is right, that we 
 should exercise the same authority, as the other Powers of the world, our coequals only 
 in position, in the declaration of great principles of international law, the true sentiment 
 of self-respect will teach us, ere long, to maintain its inviolability when threatened with 
 dangerous innovations, hostile to the freedom and independence of nations, by the same 
 solemn and authoritative procedure, as that which announces its peril. If we choose, 
 that our Chief Magistrate should wear a hat, and not a crown, we desire it to be under¬ 
 stood, that we are just as jealous of our rights and honor, and have just as much of 
 both, as the gaudiest monarch of them all. 
 
 We committed a great error, not a fatal one, that it would be difficult to do in our 
 condition of elasticity, when, last session, we refused to pass a declaration denying to 
 the Emperor of Russia, the authority he had assumed, to act the part of universal legis¬ 
 lator, and to impress his own will upon the code of the public law of mankind, prostrat¬ 
 ing with his pen, preparatory to prostrating with his sword, all the barriers, that protect 
 the political rights of nations. Well, we shrunk also from this high duty. We got 
 alarmed at the shadow of something—I do not know precisely what, whether Russian 
 ukases , or “entangling alliances,” and left the Czar to pass his own law, and to enforce 
 it too. And hereatter, when the occasion comes,—and it will come, for power, like the 
 daughters of the horse-leech, always cries give, give,—he.will be able to quote his own 
 precedent, submitted to in both hemispheres, and seek to regulate the whole subject of 
 international communication, and of national rights by a ukase, as he regulates the lives 
 and fortunes of the sixty millions of people, who call him lord and master. In brief 
 time we shall abjure all this, as well our own subservience, as his presumption, and 
 assume our place in the great legislative council of nations. 
 
 We have evidently reached one of those epochs in the career of nations to which the 
 historian of their decline and fall looks back, in his searching investigation, into the 
 the causes of their fate. Our duties are plain, noble indeed, and our position invites us 
 to fulfil them, firmly and fearlessly. The progress and improvement in all the great 
 branches of human industry, and especially in those, which relate to the intercommuni¬ 
 cation of nations, and to the benefit, that each may derive from all by the interchange, 
 as well of knowledge as of material products, have brought the human family more 
 closely into contact, than at any former period, and have opened interests, which, if not 
 new, have become much more powerful in their extent and operation, and which give 
 some degree of unity to the public feeling of the world. We cannot withdraw from 
 this great association. We cannot isolate ourselves from the common sentiment of the 
 age, nor ought we to do so if we could. Our place is assigned to us by events almost 
 beyond our control, and as we fill it, worthily or unworthily, the judgment of the future 
 will pronounce us the inheritors of the spirit, as we have been of the labors and sacri¬ 
 fices, of the men of the Revolution, or craven descendants, false to their principles, as 
 to our own honor. I am well aware, Mr. President, that such views expose a man to a 
 great deal of obloquy in this country. I have experienced all that, in common with 
 many others. But neither the advent, nor the apprehension of it, has deterred me, at 
 much earlier periods of life, and certainly will not deter me now, when that life is fast 
 drawing to a close, from the expression of an earnest hope, that the American name and 
 fame will be maintained by the American people, with the brightness of true glory, un¬ 
 diminished by the neglect of a single deed, which national honor may require we should 
 do, or leave undone. 
 
 There are men, American citizens even, who cannot appreciate sentiments like these— 
 who disbelieve in their existence, and who deride and denounce all those, who avow 
 them as demagogues —that is the term—and which, when truly translated from our party 
 vocabulary into old-fashioned English, means all, who differ in great measures from 
 these standards of faith, and advocate them, even though they are acceptable to the 
 people —a fatal error, indeed, in a country like this. I saw the other day a specimen of 
 this exclusive patriotism, which rails at all it does not accept, in a Buffalo paper, the 
 
15 
 
 Commercial Advertiser, which, from it3 near relation to the present Administration, I 
 should have thought would have tried to elevate itself above this tone of affected modera¬ 
 tion, but of real subserviency, and which deprecates all these efforts to resist European 
 encroachment, talks of the ghost of the Monroe doctrine, and of palpable absurdities 
 introduced into the Senate with owl-like wisdom , and in a spirit of demagogism , and 
 of the equality of the rights of European monarchs with the United States upon this 
 continent, arid much more of the same sort, little suited to the banks of the Niagara, 
 but which would find its proper home upon the banks of the Thames, as would he who 
 cherishes and utters such anti-American sentiments. But time will bring its cure for 
 this Anglo mania, and when the patient once recovers, he wonders how he ever caught 
 the disorder. 
 
 I have seen a great deal of this political perversity, this unpatriotic predisposition, 
 which prompts many men to take part against their country, whatever be the position, 
 in which she is placed. I do not recollect a single controversy, in which we have been 
 involved with a foreign Power, since I have been on the stage of action, when the whole 
 sentiment of the country was united in the cause of the country. I doubt if there is 
 another people on the face of the globe, whose history presents so many instances of this 
 want of true national pride, patriotism rather, as our own. Whether it results from any 
 peculiar political idiosyncracy I know not; or whether our party feelings are so strong, 
 that we are blinded by them, and led in their vehemence, to think that all is wrong our 
 opponents do; or it may be, at any rate, so far as England is concerned, that some of the 
 old colonial leaven remains, which leavens much of the lump,—be it one or the other, or 
 whatever else, the deplorable consequence is certain, and the sentiment of Decatur, not 
 less noble than just, " Our country right or wrong,” which being truly understood, felt 
 rather, means, that when embarked in a controversy with a foreign nation, it becomes 
 every true citizen, after the course of his country has been decided by the constitutional 
 authority, to submit to that decision and to support her cause, and not the cause of her 
 foes—this noble sentiment finds many, who repudiate it; many who possess the charac¬ 
 ter without possessing the feelings of American citizens. 
 
 Mr. President, I trust our imperial neighbor on the other side of the Pacific, the 
 mighty brother of the sun and moon, will set up no Chinese claims to our new posses¬ 
 sions upon that ocean; for if he should, they might create much embarrassment, as I fear 
 there would not be found wanting those among us ready to vouch for the validity of the 
 claim, and to impugn our title because it is ours. 
 
 But, returning from this digression, if it can be called one, more immediately to the 
 subject, I would observe that conservatism and progress , as they are called, designate 
 principles, positions rather, which are useful in their moderate, but injurious in their 
 extreme application. Like all other antagonastic elements, which work together, and 
 well and wisely, in the worlds of mind and matter, these also may usefully co-operate, 
 without counteracting each other. It may be, that we may run too fast: but we have 
 not yet committed that error, nor do I believe we shall. When we do, then it will be 
 time enough to announce the danger and to propose the remedy. In the meantime, we 
 desire, that we may be left free in our career, rightfully free, unimpeded by tortuous Eu¬ 
 ropean policy or project of aggrandizement upon this continent. And every American 
 who, participates in this sentiment, will be ready to proclaim it, as these resolutions do, 
 and abide by it, in safety and in dangers. We do not intend to be circumscribed in our 
 expansion, nor do we intend to have this hemisphere ruled by maxims, suited neither 
 to its position, nor to its interests, and divided into political communities, dependencies 
 of European monarchies, or under their influence, and, therefore, liable to be involved 
 in every war, breaking out in the Old World, and thus extending its dangers and its 
 difficulties to the New, and by which means we should be exposed, in all time to come, 
 to have our lines of communication with our Pacific coast interrupted, our commerce cut 
 in two , as Lord George Bentinck said, and war entailed upon us, agreeably to the 
 moral code of Blackwood, that impersonations of English Tory feelings, as a “blessing 
 to mankind,” together with all the other vexatious annoyances which such a state of 
 of things could not fail to bring with it. If this is not to be our destiny, we must bo 
 progressive, till the great objects are accomplished, and then just as conservative as may 
 be necessary to maintain our high position in the world, our free institutions, and all 
 those elements of individual and national prosperity which God has given to us, and 
 which, I trust, man will never be able to take away. This will be the truly American 
 union of progress and conservatism.