for certain cotltltries, ntl youi do not l l
tlcetn it expedieltr to prohibit the: intro-
duction of .=laver_v.
do with r‘.0l‘lml'l.°s many llttn
ol'l‘,‘,\\‘ltel'e. the (‘ll‘(‘.l1n'l~‘lfllV“‘° mill‘
are in fact, entirely different. .
In up», next, plane I wotlld observe
that the system of measltrés adopted in
1850, v.’ere. intended to cornprise. all the".
known Sl’Il.tjPl".l’l-‘ of controversy between ,
me different sectiotts of the Union, so as
to put an end to t.l_ie,s_lavgry question tor-u
o'"ve“r':’ they were to be a finality: lhP_V
wa_rt-.-,inten«le.d- to redress ;a|l. cxistittg,
gI'"l"e\"a‘tl‘ce.s‘—-arid ' the.‘ bliss-ouri restriction
was_.a:grievance in 18:30 if it be so now.
That measures comprehending 9‘-‘PT!’
cause of dizsansirm or rliffit‘-"ll.V
really intended, appears from what. 1\'_1l'-
Clay said in his opening speech. deliv-
.-;-"g"d""in the Senate on the 5th of Fchflfllf
ty", as follows :" ‘fWhQfl.iI '-‘Fm? l°"“"9“j*l.d: es
er"tl)"i.'= subject, there were two or tllrec
_u_.;eneral purposes which seemed toime
most desirable, if possible to accomplish.
The one was to settle all the. controve.r-
Led qua.-,;,5on; arising out of the sttbjcct of
slavery ; and it seemed to inc H) be doing
very little if we settle one question and
left other disturbing questions unadjust-
-:d. It seemed to me but doing but lit-
tle. if we stopped but one leak in the
-hip of state and let.otl~.er-leaks, cal:-t-tble’
of producing danger, if not destrtlction to
the vessel. I therefore turned my atten-
tion toevery snbje it connected with the
institntion of slavery, and out of which
nontrovered questions have .sprttn_v,_:, to
see if it. were possible or practicablt‘. to
accotntnotlale anti adjust the Whole Of
them." ll; frequently atldr<'ssr‘d ill?
Senate on tllt’.‘it1lp0l‘l8ll(!€-."l"1aY- l»l‘-‘3 139'
t'-.essit.y ,of_ _cotnprelle.nsi vr. and final . meas-
ures of reconciliation.
Ile often specified all the known can
es of irritation: and ouone‘ occasion llc§_
spoke of them as‘“five- gaping .\vouuds’-’
.._mt-anin-.1‘ only the matters already al-
luded to. In tto instance did he speak
of the Missouri restriction as a wound
or can.-c of irritation, nor did llewlrealn
.-lt‘set.tingit»aside. In no instance did
any other member suggest or propose
the overthrow of that restriction. No-
llllflgvlfi to be found in the report.-‘. sub-.1
tnittedto the Senate or House to that
t-.rl"~ct.. _ Nothing in the spec:-lies offhan-
orrlblelllernbers, Nothing in the ‘reso-
nl.-ions or ifcts at" State Legislntxires. and
ltzz-tliiilg" in-the stlo;gebt.iotls "of the "1}F€’"$é_.-'
-‘itlter "'fNortll or South. _We_ were: to
laav:-"a final atljttsttnetlt; the harmony of
the country was (0 '09 lf¢9i‘’’‘‘_‘l 3 3"“
every ' possible occaSl0|l I0? ll‘? '"f‘.‘."""‘,”"'
duc"ti"on of lltcsc.-. irritating IDIDICS ml-,0
‘Congress was. to be rt-.mo‘Lvt;d.‘ All this
was _attt-tuptetl, and was fittppfl-?-Ed‘; t0
have been accomplislietl.‘ The _cott'ntry
‘rejoiced accordingly, and Ill:E',3llt_ll0l‘S of‘
this happy constmlnlatiou \vei_;e regarded
by an itnmense "nlajoriL’_~'"'of“_‘f"lle Ameri-
jr-an 5pe'ople.' as p"t"tbl_ic* hellefdctots. Tite-
'unit.:ers'alit.y of the ailjttstulefll “"15 F’-’C0f.!'
nized by President Fillmore in hisannu-
at message, (fld sessioniof ‘the 3lst. Coll-
gressf.) in tllesev-'o'rd's: “The seriesof
‘fneastlres' to wlticlt I have‘alludetl\ar'e. re-
garded ‘byline as a settlenient, in sub-
stance and principle-a-fina'l_ settle"m€l_1t
of the dangl.-lrotis and exciting Stllzjecls
which they embrace.” I "venture to as-
sert"-, ‘also, that‘ the ;hono"ra_bl'e chair'm‘an-,.
(Mr. Douglass) himself "took i=xam_ly llle
same view of the su"‘l."lj‘ei:t’; for be oh-
::—‘r.-rved, in a '§[)eecll' delivered in this
charnber, 0l"l‘II1e’ 23d Dét":er'nb‘t-r, 1850:
‘"I wish to: state that "I have’ delertnineu
neverto make a speech ‘on’ the slavery
qttestidh. And I will now‘add the hope
that the necessity for-' it will never exist.
‘l am heartily» tired-of‘ the '_c‘onlrov‘ersy‘."
’And then he added, "I will tllt-rt-l‘ore say
so the‘ friends of those‘ meaén'res,_let u'_s
cease‘ agitating; stop the debate,"_and
drop the subject. If we do this, the
Compromise will be recognized as a final
settlement." If we do "not, we ‘have
gained but little by its adoption,” And
yet, according to the views‘ now" pl‘9sen-
‘ed hi’ the Senator, there ivasvza final
~"9”l3m°"l'—-there remained undisposed
05 ‘he ‘lnestion of the al-ro;";iatio_u of
the NIl’550l"ll'"l restriction, which was cal-
Gl-llflled, more than other clot.-‘t-, to in-
flame. the country, and set it by the ears.
He knew that Territories must sooner or
We? be formed out of country.——or some
f‘3l'l of it——-north oflhe "parallel of 36
"l'3’S- 30 min. ‘ , ," ,
_ Ionld he have iruaginetl that "on the
l0rmatio"n‘ of such‘ Territories the""abro-
!'?;:i.iion could be introduced without "rais-
mg another storm. And‘ "then, what. ,a
singular method the Senator has of viva}:-
gii-ng the subject, and of carryitlgottt
bi.-: determination “never to make an-
other speech on theslavery qlle.<tio"li."
1 strongly susp"o"=.ct‘"that the old relish has
returned, and thatthe 'di.=gtlst of which
he spoke wasevanesceut and temporary,
In the next place", Mr. Presidetlt, I
take the , groundthat. the Colllpromiso
Measllres of 1850 ‘were formed and car-
ried tllrbugh Congress 0l’l.,.llI("3 basis of
mutual concessions,and with a view not
r«‘»give"eitller section any colisidt-rablc
"advantage O\'9l‘"Ille other.‘ This _I can
prove: by recurring tothe spceclrof Mr,
Clay, already quotedgitl which he says:
“It appeared to me, then, that if ‘buy ar'-"
rangement, any satisfactory 3(Ijl"l_II"fIl(‘I,l,I'
t".Olll(_I’ be made. of the controverted 'que's"-‘
tions bet.ween_ the two classes of States,
that adjustment, that" arrangemelit could"
only be successful and effectual, "by" ‘ex-
a‘ct'iug-‘ from -both parties sonic ‘concession,
-'--itiot"-t.if principle at all;‘bt1tof_;fe"eli‘ng,"
of opinion, in relation to the mattersfol‘.
controversy‘ between them. " Iibelieve
that="the reaoltltions which I have" pre-
pare‘ll’t‘o fulfill that object. _I,_,beli_e,ve ,th_at'
yo’u‘*\'vill find upon that car'eful.;fr:ytjtion-"
.
i
@-
al, {and attentive‘ examina‘tlo'l_i' ‘of “tlt'er"n _
which I think they ‘,(les‘ejl"\"'é.‘",‘, that "by‘
them neitheriparty ‘makes any concess-
ions of prillciple” ‘at all, though the con-
cessions of forbearance are ample." "I
would odserve here, 'tlta"t",t_h‘o" measu"re's
ultunately adopted were“b"'ased‘:on" ‘the
resoltttioml of Mr. Clay ; "a"nd,—, indeed,
. there is an‘ exact coincitleri‘ce"‘"botiveen
them. It was supposed that "the princi-
tlle" of nmtability of concession had been
fully carried out; and (fit this idea the
P"°I’l° ““‘1“l*‘S°9ll. and on ‘this only.
Tile same view of the subject was ta.
keniby Mr. ’\\_'ebster in his speecltdeliv.
ered in this chamber. July 17, ]s;30,_
l ‘qnste as follows: “ Well, air, the next
inquiry is- what do l\’lassacbusetts and
the North, the anti-slavery States, lose
by this adjustm’ent'.' I put the" question
tofevery gentleman here, a_ntl'to eve“.
m"_a_r‘lj’n the country.“ They lose the ap.
plication of wllatis called the " "Wiltnot
Proviso, to these‘ Terrritories, and that
is. all. There is notlling else that I Sup-
pose the whole North are not willing to
do or willing to have done. They wish
to get California into the Union and to
quiet New Mexico ; they wish to "termi-
nate the disputeabolut the Texas bound-
ary,fcost wha't’it"_"rna‘"y.". They make no
sacrifice in all,-"tllés'e. ‘\Vlla",t"'£hey sacri-
lice is this: lhe',appIication,o,f ihe , Wil-
mot proviso ‘_"I()"l_ll"e Territories ‘o‘f'Nctv
.VIex'ic'<"7.'§‘"I.1'd,,j1"3t,alv, fiand tlia‘f_‘is all."--‘
Ifere‘ , is‘ -;r,li;'-,:j 'a‘_aine j ‘idea or ‘litltlualily ;
tl'fe""‘S_t:)"_fI_‘flfl';“ “ uld corlcede t"h'e‘ adrnission
of“Qallfp , mo are Union,""’afld the ‘
>~l;'-’>:l‘.(hfféi9v-,‘tnan-n’ts W New ‘ ‘ "‘;~:.ico
and ‘_Ul'a'li‘"- v»§i_t'lipi,lt_ _llle. Wilmot pics.-a.-o.‘
Thl-.y"‘ivouid',sac‘r_itice',the _applicati_on of '
Llle',"},’r‘oy‘iso‘ "to "2/1,a,.s'¢_ Territories, Mr.
W‘éb‘_afer‘did not dream,’ that they were
at tl_te‘ssi‘me ‘time ‘sacrificing the restrie-"L
l \\'ere5admit.tirlg ' "slavery 't.'1*0"ll*" """"Il'
\\'liat. has lllm. l0j:‘,li'l.1l£$ which we ‘acquired ‘from,
an-.1 l-.~.‘,l.-5, lylnf: Ii0l‘lll of 2.6 deg. -vll l“”'~ _
lie, or ' truly happy to call to my soil, under this
: head of reljrmrk, the llonoral-it-. chairman
3 speech, which is, I admit, characterized
lzas ,9rt1'.m;n’ or lost (,,,,/,1, 2.”: S0, fa, a._.s~
we-.i-c~ the qjuc.v§zon,¢_;/,';.sl¢z'v:r?r3( concerned.-,-g
ions of l'2‘.3(), or in other wn 9. Tl‘--"l ‘V _
l“‘I'3I.'l('fP,
I am
himself‘, referring again to his Cllicago
>-
with ability. He undertook, ort""'lhat oc-
casiotl, to defend the mutuality and the
equality of the concessions made on the
one side and the other, and t.lle:,__jl_lQl_lc§;
and propriety of the atljttstment." After"
expatiating on the various “topics gmbrql
ced in th'e'Compromise, he rilalze-s tile fol-
lowing broad declaration, ." neither party
Texas has gained ten millions "of dollars,
and the United States has saved in blood
andtreasttre, theexpenses of a civil war.
Tll_€., hor_i,‘oi'a’l3le;Se"fnatorj" did not intimate
to his constituents, that he had been un-
dermining uor tearing down the restrivi
tion of 1820. The statement. of such
fact would have created a profound sen-
sation at Chicago, and indeed throughout ,
thewholenortherucountry. 1 \vill‘not.,l
the nation as. the most disingeniotts of
men. If he chooses now, to bo|tl-Il.7"m.s'elf-
up ll’l'lIl1|l'. licllt, it is an.afl'air ofhis own
not mine,
would have completely llnsettled the hm.
aucc of collccssiou which l\‘lr. Clay so
carefully adjusted as between the two
sci:ttons. -'l‘—hc South would have obtai-
an absolute c.n7¢92/estf.’ It would the a
mockery 0 call the meastn-es of 1850 a
cotnprozuise on this ltypotltesis.
Besides all this, 1 can prove, from the‘
lallgttage held by the leading luemberrl
of Congress during the pendency of thip.
cout.rovers_v, that nothing could have’.
been farther froln their thoughts. than flie-
repeal of the 8th section of the Mitmouri
, .
speeches of Mr. \Vebster. In his cele‘.-i
llrated 7th of March speech, I find the
following passage : “ And I now say, air,
as the proposition on which I1st.antl this
day-—alld upon the truth and firmness
of wliich I intend to not until it is over-
lllrown——that there is not at this moment
within the United States, or any Terri.
tory of the United States, a. single foot
to itsbeing free territory or slave territo-‘
ry, is‘“not fixed by some law, and _some‘
irredealable law, beyond the
the.’ "action" of the g'overnlneut.” ;Thi'"a;
opinion, so strongly expressed, was "-5
sed-‘on the idea that the character of th t
territory ‘west of tho‘ ‘Missippiand nortl,)_
of 36 deg. 30' min. ' was .,..l‘..s’l~.;x.a-.,,
freeby llle" restriction of ‘l82"0". ‘_"Thay""
the territory comprised within the State
of -Texas was fixed‘ as slave territory by
tlléterms anti conditions of her admis-
sion 3ibro_ the,Union. ‘That the territory
elnbriced by the limits of California “.-‘g;
of the‘Constit.ution; and the'Terri"torle"s
of -‘ Utall-"and New Mexico were fixed all
free territory by irresistible laws of na;
ture.‘ To some of their topics he b"_a rely
iallnded, and on others he commeilteil at
length, arld then concluded as folloi\'d3
“Now, Mr. President, I have establish.
ed,‘as far as I propose to do so, the prop
ositiou with which I set out, and with
wllicll ITintend_ to stand or fall, and that
-is,-t.ha"t=the whole territory witlliti "the
former United States, or in the "newly.
acquired‘ Mexicau provinces, has a fixed
and settlcdicharacter, now fixed antiser-
tled by law-, which cannot be ‘repealed ;
in the case of Texas without a violation
.of puclic faith, andby no human "power
in regard to California and New Mexico
That,‘ therefore, under one or the other
of these‘ laws; every foot of one "in the
States, or the Territories, has clearly re-
ceived, a fixed and decided charact‘ar." "
And then, again, he reluarlis, in his
speech‘ of the 3d of June, as follows,_..
"On the 7th of March, sir, I declared
my opinion to be that tllereis not a square"
rod of -territory belonging to the United
States, the character of which for slave-
ry or no slavery is not already fixed by
some irrenealablt.-. law. I remain of that
opinion ” And then, after some ollseiv;
-Vatl0,!‘S‘DOl’. material to be quotetl, he
adds :_ “ I have heard no argument calcu-
lated in slrghteut degree to alter that
opinion ; the committee, I believe, with
one accord concurred in it ” How could
Mr. VVebs.ter use such broad langua"gc if
he had -supposed that Congress were, by
the Compromise Mefisures of that year
laying the foundation for the overthrow
of the restriction of 1820. A quotation
from a subsequent part of this speech"
of tlle._3d of J title, will prove collclusiv"e-
ly what his views were. "And let it be
remembered," he says, "that I am now
Fpealilllg of New Mexico and Utah, and
other territories acquired from ‘Mexico
marl mtlning else. I confine myself to
these ; and as to them, 1 say, that I see
no occasion to make a provision against
slavery now. or to reserve to ou'rselve"a"_
the right. of making such provision here-"'
after. All this rests on the most ‘thor-
ongh convictfon that, under the laws of
nature, there never can be slavery" in‘
these Territories. This-is the foulldatioil‘
of all.” Mr. Webster obviously tho’t:
that the Missouri restriction walla “fixed
fact ;” and as the celebrated Committee"
of Tllirteen unanimously concurred with‘
him in the opinion, the‘posilion which I‘
assume isimpregnable. «It is idle to pre-"
tend that Congress‘ intended_‘_ by‘ "the"
;,measur-.39 of 1850 to set aside the Com.
promise of 1820. 3
But I maintain that the universality of '
"the. adjustment of-1650 has been incog-’
:-niz_ed and admitted in the proc‘"ee’tli‘ngs‘
of Congress until within _a very allot-tpe;
riud. The action of the two I-Iouséson"
the Nebraska bill of’ the-‘last session in
very striking illustration of this" fact.—‘
It is true that the bill. then said nothing’
on the subject of slavery-,eit.her~" one ‘way
ortbe other. It did not repeal the 8th
section of the Missouri act, and -therefore
lcjft.-it to operate on the Territory in all’
its. vigor. The attention of the House
was particularly called to this fact by an’
honorable. member, »~(Mt.' Giddingr-',)
whose appearance on the floor ‘was pre-
cminentlyadapted to arou"se'the= snipi-
"c"ious.and awaken the vigilanceof Sou.
tlliern members. After quoting the',8tb_
section of the act of 1620, he -remarked
that “ this law stands perpetually, and~I
did not think that thieact would receive‘
any increased validity by a re-enactment”
Tllere I leave the matter. It-‘ is ‘very’
clear that the territory included in ' that
treaty must be forever free, unless that
law be repealed.” And yet-in -t.he"'face
this broad avowfal, . no less than twenty
members from slave-holding States, .-all
b9l°'° Slated". including Mr. Jollnson;'th‘e
present ‘Governor of Tennessee, voted
for the bill. How idle is it to pretend
now that we had either repealed, or had
laid the foundation for repealinv the re-
striction of 1820, by the oomp.‘.’.l..l.. of
18-50. . -
The bill which was sent to the Sen-
ate, and fell into the hands of the "-llon‘or.
able chairrnnn ; and he reported )1. back
to the body with the recontmcntlafipn
that it sllouldpass without. amendmerlfé
Ifle was strenuous ' his-efforts to bring-
it to the considers. _n of the Senatolandl
lotsecure its passage. Iletiten -adtlreu‘-'
do the Senator tbo injustice to stippbsej
that. be entertained any ‘such idea at the
time, for that would be to hold him up to "
The repeal of the 8th section.
tied agréal. victory over the North. nay",-A
am, 1 shall begin with referring totlle
of landthe character of tvllich, régardi
power of ' "
—‘t‘erritory7 north-west of the Ohio, "anf
of the l.‘1lSSl8sippl,‘\Vag‘fixe(Iasafrgg ge;',.,
ritory by the ordinance of 1"7s'_7,.t_l_;‘g; g},'9'3
gxed as frceterritary by the provi_sion"_s ‘ "°
....—._.... -__ ..._.. . .
sad the Senate, and said that it was an
act. “very dear to his "htVart.." dl. was
do-u--~~\_vllen he was-~going for freetlom,
and ~r',is probably more dear now \\'llPII
he is striking for,slavery. Nova word
didtlr Senator sayiabout the tyontlerflll
worki go of the meaoureaof 1850 insub-
version of _th 8th section‘. c, tells
""r'lie"liill ttifdlliriverfla thorough inves-
tiomion, both in the House and by the
cdmmittee; and he seems then I-0 have
_,,,,d,,,,.,,,ai,.coy.gpy..of the.-.occul_t..ele.tneu.ts.
'00“. found rohave been lurking under
the Vérlfligé of 18-50, to which he would
,',,‘,.,‘giicl'i an extraordinary effect. Even
the distinguished and honorable Senator
fl-om_Missonri, (Mr. Atchimon.) ‘V85 311,
ill.-lolixviqtts fir-al,né.. of mind;? T01‘; inladé‘
dressing the Senate on that occasion he
remarked, "I found that filers was no
prospect of the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise, excluding slavery from that
Territory." It is certain then, that no-
‘”‘boil”y‘dré“ar‘ried=-‘-“dow'n:t‘o so late A ‘a"peI‘i0d
asthqlastasession,-that we had, in 1850.
done -'~anythin‘g‘toibreak down. or 6"?"
wehkennhe Compromise of 1820. ' I, -
-«‘=I;do- not -‘my. the position In whtcll
these facts place the. honorable chairman
"Did he‘suppo"sIT- 3'' I850. lb?‘ “"_° “"3”
; laubverting. the 8th section. 0' '9}‘'-‘‘-5 ‘"9
_.. ........,
=fo,,nd~,;;o,, ;for its -subversion '.'» If so:
' wbv. did -he not nndeceive Mr. \Veh.=tPr.’
f \Vhy- did he suffer him to ‘act with fear-
T ml ‘responsibilities, under the -' delusion
fma, the: Territory north of 86 dc-g.‘*30
T min.,-and thi~'.-{side of the Rocky Moun-
‘; "ni'")fi','l. y"x3-gg figed, .irrev"dcahly fixotl for
3 ;,.¢ed¢.m':_= ‘"\Vhy did be suffer the honor» ;
itblegsenator from Missouri to fall, at-the '
;-l‘asr,.lg¢_‘s.sion, into the some - crror'.’- Or,
jjiglhat,‘-svhy didihe not-rise If'n(I‘<.‘Ol'l’e('l
: it 0545., s,«.og;’3 Why not -cotnmurlicate
.§.villi“h_i'_I" friends in the House of Repre-
sentétives. and why not lay the true state
§f mfg"-:.,‘_cgso-_beforc, the-Senate and _thc
oounfias? - ‘The Senator, by %the_- poslton
fie gojttl assumes, urraignc ‘himself-;~.lIe
. fltrnisltqs-conclusive evidence on ‘the,
I"ue-,h';l,'=ig‘_¢rae»to himself; and the verdict
nf- imlportial and upright men ‘Will be
,qtri_t§‘li)te|y logbook his self esteem," and
to giv‘t{'-,him.a place and a turn: on the
bag ’A__rn'¢rican history‘ quite tho re-.
yeraeiiil; enviable. ‘ - .
B‘; "" r. President, I deny that there
is to‘-"if found any such principle or poli-
cy in the legislation of . 1850. an inaug-
gested-in this amendment. I deny that,
by th,'c;T-'I‘erritorial "acts for New Mexico
gndtjitgh, you conferred on the people
tlicroz," ."e power to regulate, at pleasure,
.. rneetic‘, institutions .or.;.,l_,('-.f,',t.,.tlI_e‘m
‘. j¢t.on .tt‘ti-Ioir -mt .41‘-ll9.!;.5.lll'3¢.°=‘.#
‘.80’ S. ‘tr .lit'»ie'rty.of .action} be .‘"?."°.'= ‘teen
conferred this'Govcrnment on, the peo-
iple 6‘lI‘:-.‘t‘h’e"Territ°ri¢°- ‘ Otiglnslly-..th¢
whoI§,'§ower'of legislation was confid_e,d
in ‘ovfornor and judges ofzthe rea-
pectijgflferritories; but latterly, the peo-
‘_}')l_e_.,,,?,"_.-,Q,§,Ill_lIt, have bgpn allowed to par-
.tic.i'va'-. _ll9,=o.:9me_ ,-xtent tl.tetem_..
_‘ Bil ’.l,e"t" us ‘recur ‘to the New Mexico
and; "glib acts", "and seaghow the -matter
;sffandf,“’“.' I say there‘ is ‘written down _in
eac,'l_i,'_6 .,tboae acti a declaration of wgnt
of.c‘o’ri dance in the people of those coun-
" _ <'We have invented‘ the President
with tile power of appointing, by and
§t~itb_fflfe_ advice and consent of the Sen-
.ate,,{p‘l_l,.'._r"_b‘cl‘ executive and judicial officers
of and ,"Te,rrltor'y. We have assumed
thatifc ,fp‘e'opl'o are not competent . to
éle_"ct‘sjujcli officers. How, then, can it
be"st'lpp_"otled that Cong"reaa_ intended to
.t"lonfid‘e _"to. them, exclusively, the power
of deciding‘ the momentous uuestion of
a'la\'e'_ry or freedom. ’ ." ' .
, It.‘ is true they are authorized to choose
a‘ ‘council to consist "of "thirteen members,
and a ‘house of representatives to, consist
"of 'tiv,e_t‘l‘ty-six, buI:”"_th.e legislative pow-
‘e""r"and".iutbori_ty" is - not vested in them
solely, but the gdvirrnor is associated
wot. them ill the exercise thereof. The
language of both acid is, “that the legis-
lative power and ,autl.ority of such Ter-
ritory shall beveated in theg vernor and
legislative assembly;‘," and again, "tllat.
the governor shall approve all laws pas-.
sed " by the legislative asseullily before
they .take effect." Hence, it appears,
that the pee in can do notlling without.
the assent "and concurrence of._the gover.
n"o1;.. Give me the appointment of gov,
e'rl‘_1‘or ,and_'I can exclude 'sla've_ry,,forever
if not introduced, or perpet.uate:it._if tol-
erated. ‘No matter how "anxiously the
people may desire its introduction or it
exclusion-—no marl er though,tllev maybe
unanimous in calling for lavery or free,-.
ifom, ’.tlt"e governor, who ho do his Voffice at
the will of "the Executive here, can pro-
nounce a -peremptory negative, and over-
"l
gin-4
rule t__h"eir w_isbe"a_.;' .
But. this is not all,’sir: another part of
the ‘act provides that, " All the laws pas-
sed by -the legislative assembly and Gov-
emor,shall bojaubrnitted to the: Congress
of tbe‘:Uni¢od Snteopndsif dicpgpproved
shall be null and of no effect." Singular
liberty, this! And equally singular
method? of conferring-on t?bem~tbc pow‘-
er “ to,form and regulate-their‘ domestic
institutions in their own ‘way.-”« Con-
gress says, inoffocr, we-will not-’ -entrust
to you the power to. enact even a wolf or
dog law--\ve Willlppoint a‘ master over
you-..-one who in not responsible‘ to you,‘
but to us; he shall roviee,al|“yo’ur doingi
and may write them down anullity if be
seen fit. And in order to make all stife
we regorvo to-ourselves. tbepower of =ul-=
timare .- revision. Though" ‘you obtain
ov.en,t,bo. concurrence of the governor, lit‘:
oballinot; avail you ; in-short, we do‘ noti
intend you. s ball have any . legislation for
U.ta_h andllfiew Mexico except. just -ouch"
as_w.e..Ippr.ove., .The-demands for then‘
_p_rpcau,tions were infinitely more. urgent-
{in reipect to rhonowly acquired t-Mexican‘
p_r_‘o_vince,a,,, than in‘ ordinary. coeds.‘ How
wa,s,:it,. with New Mexico? We bad
than an uncongenial and & ho§tilea.popu-
|sti9s§..9ri¢sking.a :foreig'n langnuse. -‘inst
slibdtredby , our._arms,- ignorantof -our
form of _ govermnent, and’ unfamiliar
-with the principle: of our free ‘ll_l§'t,l,I,fflI_il-.-.
lions. ; ‘ How, indispensable, then,‘ "wash"
that wegshotild hrvo the power to hold‘
such 'a.‘popn_latior't in check, and to over »
rule aniyfand all their determinations,"and‘
"yjet in face of the plain provisions -‘of’-'
theseacts of Congress, and of me 'p'al'pa-‘
ble facts of the case, ‘this ’anlendme"r"lt", in
|ffcct,’"a'soerts that we‘ left’ th"e"ru. "per"-~
fectly__ free to forrrraad regulate their do.
mastic ilmittttions in their own way.” '
_,_Bu,r,‘_Mr. President, I "will bring the
matter.--at once toan issue,whicll, I chal-
|e_nge'1''the , honorable chairman. of the
commi-tree, (Mr. Douglas.) to meet.-
You stiyjthat by the Utah bill you inten-
ded to leave the people perfectly free, to
regulatdtbeir domestic institutions as
they might-sec fit. - What are those do-
nl'ectio.institutiono or relations? ‘Th_"ey‘
are husbrintl and wife‘. parent and child,‘
guardian-and.'w,atl,I." and master and se_r-‘
mu. 1 Now, I desire -to ask the choir-
man did you-iut"end"-to confer on the peo-
ple of Utib the-power to introduce pa -
lygamy,-' for that appertains to"on’e_ of the
-dome,stic:.r'elatious. I want the honora-
~ble chairman to stand up here -and tell
us whéther,»if- the legislative assembly
~ were to-.send'n‘u act here ‘sane cloning po-
lygamyp be ‘wotild.|e'-' it standa single‘
gllotlr.'.’r .;On the contrary. W0ll‘1d. he not ‘
seizeta pair of ton,v,s'aud‘tb’rust'it otuot
yonder wiudotv? ' ' ‘
But, Mr::Proside'nt, let us‘ 7trace* '_th‘ie
matter-'a little ftlrther; -let us‘ ‘consider
‘what would be: the nadu: operondi ‘of ’
?the~aing'olIr ‘, priiuiiflé, - nnnunciuréd‘ in
the: amendrnonr, in-‘r rercncc to the pol-y’-‘i
‘shejbe éoveretl-‘all over with this moral
_ .-.-.....—.-.... ...._ —-—4- ' .--.—— ——-———
intrnduce pol:vt,;a‘m_v in their 'l‘t=‘rrit.orial
corldition, if this is one of the relations
which they, ure.p.~lrfectl_v free to cstalllish
sntl..if."(‘-on_s"_:ress cannot Lrainsay it, then I
E!ly,LT.l.Zll| cull kuocl; for tltltllissioll "into
the;Uniou,§lnd rnnst he rt=cpivt-gl", though
b
leprosy: \\’"e. must admit Brigllattl
'Yon’rig"ilt"i'th his forty wives ! Nay.‘l.0.l.B
Brigham might, and probably would. ll?
elected one of the Senators from the new
;Sratc.;‘.;-EIas.tlio:_bqprabla chairman con-
sidered whetller heis Iobring his forty
wives to the Sent,of,Gqvg~.‘rnment;‘-and .
if so,.I would ask. in what part. of the,
,city is he to establish his harem '9 The
committee on V". Ptlblic Buildings and
to tender consideration, as it scents to
me, Any patriot having forty wives on
his hands, uug tain_t,ll,enlagter of his lla-
rcm,",to.ll’av,t=. a l tld relief from the pub-
lic coffers. And,‘ besides, one pN‘_S9n‘l_
"Ilys'térri“6"f "‘7”i7r7f?F(i‘,l,i"é amt per (item '_
would hardly do for such a case. I
\vo'uld stiggest to my friend the chairman
(Mr. Dotlglasj) he-should allow at least.
't-wo’dolars"'per day additional for each
\VfI6.‘ Di.-criminrrtioll would he iuilii-:-
penaable. I havelong thottght that rliet-e_
should he son'te'distinct.iou made l)t'I\VeV-‘ll
those Senators wlio do their duty to so
ciety and the. fa‘i‘r§r portion of God's cre-
ation. and -those-‘wlio do not : but howev-
er-this -may be, the case of our friend
Brigllam"'\-eould cry" aloudfor relief, ‘mfd
the houoracle chairnlan is not the states-.
man he has’-been crfcckcd up to he, unq-
less he vvoitld b-ti willing to grim: ll": , ,
" Bttt,‘Il‘Ir.‘I‘.re’s'iileIit, we‘ \vill~ sllppose
Utah admitted Brigham elected Senator,
and actually presellt in this city with'all_
his retillue, and that he forms a proces-
sion, with ‘ himself, at the heaidof the
aforesaid retinue‘-for the Capitol. Being
somewhat fatigued, be all at‘ once makes
a dash with his twice twenty‘ wives for
an omnibus, -in'~* oi_trc'orner of which is
nittlng my worthylfriend the c_h'airman‘..
~What would b'ec'or_'n"e'of‘ the Senator '3-—'"
\Vollld"-he‘ not bestified ’! But suppose,
he escapes, and the“omnibus'" dravvsnp
in front of the Capitol; the honorablel
Senator, wllois so much distinguished
for his ‘nrbariity, fcobld‘ do no less than
band the “ domestic institutions" out and
conducrtlient into the Capitol. - Who,
then, shall rise and move thllttliis cltarn-..
her be opened to "" tkelad1'e$".'" I t.‘ can.
not-be my honorable friend from Texas‘,
(Mt. Houston£)’Who ordinarily perforrrls‘
that grafefttl ofliceffor‘ lie is opposed to’
I-he‘bill; but j‘a't"’r‘h’e ‘instance. of some
Senator who is in ‘favor of the " princi-
ple” avowed in this : ‘amendment, the
doors are tbroxvnopen,’ ' and ‘in rushes’
Brigham’-and ‘his ‘forty wives, who ar- l
range‘ themselves ‘around the, chamber.
Theiflon‘. Brigham 9 on being sworn in,_
immediately talri-s the floor on " the ne-
gro question.” Ant! 0! "h0_W.the eyes
of "the darlings" \_t’oultl'flash, and their
corlntenanceibeam with joy, as their
liega ‘lordtowered atvay on the superla.
five‘ advantages" of ‘negro scr.vitude, over
good old Saxon liberty, and " the ina-
lienable rights of man!" Bythe lime,
Mrfi ‘President, all this was over, we
should begin" to understand the '.mad2r.s'
ape"ra'nilz"of this ”ruo'nstrous system--of
thia unhoard of propositio"rl—to leave the
people of‘ the ," ,Tt";-Irritories to regulate
their "domestic »-institn-ions” Jllsl. as"
they please. folgjgamy and Sla/very.
fit associates-—nnited in the bonds of bo-
ly wedlock, and producing a miserated
progeny,—called:in__the first instance prin-
ciples, but which "" has finally dwindled
down to," tI_IO.[\_l'IlICIPI8 of non-intervetn
tion" with ,the ."domestic.insritutions” of
the TerritQries,_.th_e,peopIe‘whereof are to
beleft _“_ perfe_ctl"y.~fre;e to form and regu-’,
late _tbem_ in their own way;.”
Let, the, honorable. Senator stand up
here and say ",that_ . be is for a system
which will convert. the interior of this
co_ustit.ution intoa Sodom, and which
will conflaerate-it -with brimstone, unless
a rirgllteous I3otl_,:,who rnles the destinies
of men, shall order it otlrerwise.
But, sir, I contend that the bill itself
will be nothing but .jar.?:on—‘-notlliu«_r but
at bundle ,t)f.cont_radict.ious and inconsis-
lencie-S "If tllis .ame.ndme.nt. prevalls.—-
Tltere, will be..all sorts.-of llisoordant voi-
ces and notes tll‘-.-rein. One clause cries
out the;-peop,l,e,,repl:ese.ntetl:by the coun-
cil and house of. representatives, may be
overrnlcdgby the governor, and ‘ another
that the councilgand house ‘of representa-
tives, governor and all, may be overruled
by Congress, atldrtlteli comes the animal-
ment which .as_serts,-almost imprttdclnlv.
that we leave tllepeople of these Terri.
tories, " toregulate their domestic insti-
tutions,” as tbey,..rnrly think best. flour‘
cannineonaisteincygo further; and how
can legislative hypocrisy exhibit a more
brazen front». ~
. .And what is more, not one-half of the
work of. t_Ipturuin__g ancient‘ foundations
will have been done. . You must imme-
d,ia_t,ely attack the; restriction of slavery
introduced by an imrrleuse majority, and
by many Southern ..votcs., into the Qre
got; bill, and -you .m_ust.den'loli.-b the ordi-~
nanco.s__o_f 1787.;in.its«'application to so
much .of;Minnesota, as-is situated east of
the Mississippi. In" short, the whole_
structure o,f'-,legial_a_tion which has been
e,reoted,wi,th_so.muoh of roll, and .-which
lla_s,engagt-.d_ so,-_r,nuch~of the abilities of
the greatest and besrmen of the nation,
is to-be swept, to_ l_llO,gl'0_|lll(l, and all that
isrnalignant ,in_ fanatacism both North
and South, ;and all_'tbat is wild, unreaso-
-nable, and_ pestjfetouj in sectional. sl.ri~ft-,
is__to .b¢,,lpt loose upon one nationnlicoum
cils find .“P9n.f.he-voltntrv, . ~.
It resltlts,_.Mr.,,I’resident. from these
considerations. that the basis of the ad-
justment of 185,0-,wa_s, not to leave the
people of. the ’l,‘er,ri,torj_es~ free to regulate’
their dome:-tic.ingitit;tti_ons-as they plea-
fled. hilt it was the-‘istatrt 9210 time bei-
"lgmr," We. W!-'l'P -.10. leave the. country
-e_xact.ly_i,u-the cond_i_tion we found it-—
‘some 'p‘ar‘t of it excluding it. The objec_t~
was to effect some“ arrangements that
\VOll_l(I" restore jllarmony to our national
collncils and ‘[i"e"ace__to the country, and
‘therefore it \v'as,conol_ttdt-,tl,tliat we should
not iesert‘ the" '",W_ilmot. _Proviso in the
Térritoria_l'_ bills of _'that year, but pass
them‘ "lsllfillt ol),".,,the subject of slavery,
with‘ the illsrinct "understanditlg _ l'I|flL,,\_ll'e.
were to‘ drpp‘rll'e subject entirely. That
this was tiiej great p:edorninatillg idea of
the adjustment, I, can prove. from the re-
co're- is ‘n"'ell_ "known that all the
countries acqttiied from Mexico _wt-re
|ubj‘ect"‘ta ‘an a"tlti'-siavery restriction, as
the laws of that “rt-"pllblic remained in
force notwitllstanding tlle_conq.uest, until
act aside by conl_p"ett"{"l"u. ,au"t_hority. The
supreme’ govern_"nlént"_"_of‘that country had
long before tile it-air abrogat'etl the _so—cal-
led IflS,II'_ll"l.lI0ll or slavery, "and converted
all the territories witliill its jtlrisdiclioll
into “free soil." " ‘This In por"tant,fact. is
distillctly referretlto and recogni7.«_=d.b_v""
Mr. Clay, in his speech of Febrttary "C-tll.
“ By lir‘w:”‘(lle says) "'5 sla"v"e"r_v does not err
ist witlliutlle tefrritoric.-;,cedt-tl to ll~‘_ by
the Repttbllc of'Me,xict.,’f _ 4
* ’"" * "“ I can only "refer to the fact
that t|ie,"passa_ge ofa law by the suprt.-me l
govcrltme‘r'_lt_of l\Ie_.t'r_i_co‘" abolishing it. I
think,‘ in tlie yea: l,,8_2l." * =39
“ The laws of .\lciico", as they existed at‘ -
the monfeiit ‘of the ccésiolt of the territo-
ries‘ _to:tll£s‘co'lllltry,, l'§2l'_|l8l..'Itfd tlle_,ir la ws
still, ulllcs.-" tlléy \\fé"I'"e_a,l"l"le"d_ byltlie new
ao"veréig'li ‘poi\jer' iv icll tllis" "peoplealid
",t_lr,e5,i‘r -t‘e"‘l§,l'_'lf,t,")_l'i_"e_o5 .‘ éaiiitr ".uIitler in ‘conse-
, _ V , ,"qu'ence,of ‘jrll‘e'",'t,r'ea_t‘y,
-gamous tBlIIl0lI§'0f_""U6Ih."’ -lf;th¢‘y—rna'y‘ -'
"jof "ovation ‘to the,
Pain" Southern Sen
United ‘States.”‘ Ce"r
1 a"b‘rs were not sat
. -- . .- v: .
exclusion of “the \\ llulot Plot tso fmm
"the Territorial bill.-.-.—thev tlvmatldetl uu
' I exit:-.l.l law but ll'P,. , , . . .
abrogation of.tln- M . . _"m,m_mlw, the ,,,,|,m”,__ m_,m_m.,,,,,F
Public Grot1lid§l’t_§hoirld_,£ake‘bis case in-‘ .
lu-
i.-find uith the more
____j,,__ _,_-..__.-
Senate Tfiflléed" Iu‘ t,‘0Ilt‘t~tlr= sltcll .'tlll‘t'll_::t
tion . _ _
On the-__23d of July, Mr. Davis. 0| -l_"l|S~
sissippi, (the present. Set~retarfv' Of “""~) .
submitted an amendment in that effect.
but it was reje-ctvd, _v¢-as 273. 119)’? 33 f“
My honorable friend ‘from Illinois (Mr.
Douglas) seems not to have been l“'95“'“
and did not vote. This proves cotlcln-
sively that the, basis of the atlJ“_-'"-‘”{“*“f;
0,. 3-f-yon ‘win have it so. “the yzrmpzple
was “tlIe'statu qua." There was_an ex-
isting obstacle to the_ introduction of
slavery» into.._lh8 ‘T°."‘."°"f9vr‘?'»“l C°"'
dress was "asked-to r"cm‘ovc if out of the
:',-,“-._but the response was no! no! we
leave matters to stand as we find them.
we "gvisll to drop the stlhjettt.
grass refused to remove an impediment
which existed to” the introduction of
x
If Con- ’
slavery into Territories with which they
were at the moment. dealing, how can it‘
be said that they intelldentletl to strike;
down a similar impediment appcrtainingl
to other and difii-rent Territories which ,
were not fbefore us at all‘,"nor in tllei
tllonghts of any one.-. ll‘, Mr. President,
consideration,-;,such as th-so do not saris.
fy ll"onor"able Slnatnrs tlutt. lhP. basis of;
the" adjustment of 1.950 was in truth and
in part such as lnoxv contend for, it. is
idle to pursue the argument further.
I have thus, Mr." Presitlellt, called to
the notice of the Senate the esselltial cle-
"ments-of the case whicltl desire to pre.
setlt, and it only remains for me to ad-
vert briefly to certain topics to which
honorable members, who favor this meas-
ure, attribute considerable importance;
but which, in my judgment, are entitled
to no consideration whatever. Having
performed this task, I ‘shall hasten to a
conclusion as soon as may be.
In" the first place, ‘1 wish to notice.
what was said by the honorable chairman
(Mr. Douglas) on his attempt in I8‘-I8,
t.o carry the parallel of 36° 80‘ through
to the Pacific ocean, in whiclt. it 869019.
llefailed. Herein he seems to suppose
he can find an ample justifit-‘alien for the
attempt which he is now making to break
up the Compromise of l820. Now Mr.
President, what are the facts? There
ivaspending before Congress a bill to
organize the Territory of Oregon,.tbe
whole of which was situated north of 36
deg. 30 min., the soutltern line being in
the parallel of 42 «log. north latitude, or,
in other words, 5 dog. 30 min. north of
the Missouri line.
The bill‘, if I mistake not, origirlntcd in
the House, and, when under considera-
tion in the Senate, it is true the honora-
ble~Senator subnlltted a proposition for
an extension of that parallel through to
the Pacificocenn as a division between
freeterritory and slave territory, which
amendment was adopted by the Senate.
In the House, however, it was regarded
as incongruous to the main object of the
bill, and JVIIS. rejected accordingly. I
cannot see _how the Senator can, from
this occurrence," derive‘ any apology,
mnchlesa a. justification of his course. If
a divisionon the line of 36 deg. 30 min
was a proper basis of adjustment. in I848
it was equally so in 1850; Iind why did
not the Senator sttppormllat basis then,
‘ as he had an ample opportunity to do‘?
It appears from the record, that Mr. Da-
vis, of Mississippi, submitted in this body
July 10, a proposition to divide on the
parallel of "35 deg. which was rejected
by a vote of yeas 33, nays 32, the honor
- able Senator voted in the negative; that
on the saute day, Mr. King, (late Vice
President of the United States,) submit-
ted anotller proposition to divide on the
parallel of‘ 36 deg. \vhi‘ch was rejected by
a vote of year; 20, nays 37, the honora
able Senator voted in the negative. It
3150 gppears, that on the 6th of August,
M,-_ Turney submitted a proposition to
divide on the parallel of 36 deg. 30 min.,
which was also rejected by a vote of
pea; 24, nays 32, and the honorable
Senator again voted -in the negatil.‘e.——
The Senator. in his opeltiug speech, says
that the defeat of IS-IS “Cl'Pfl[(‘.(l the no-
cessity of maliillz a new ctlltlpromise of
]s5(l.” [low :~‘0? \\"as not the whole
su_bjr.~ct under our control? " Vi-":_ts it not
just as ea‘.-y to “»‘t"al1ll§Il that line in 1850
as it xvasin l8‘l-'5. In his speech at Chi-
cago, the Senator assiglis reasons enough
why that line should not lilo-cc been adop-
ted ; he. insisted strenuously. on that oc-
casion. that the only effect of the divis-
"ion of Californlaon the parallel of 36 deg
30 min. would be‘ to create two free
States ill place of one on the Pacific ; and
..this indicated the main _gl‘0Iln(I of my op-
position to that parallel I "have ever
thought it very bad policj; for the Atlan-
tic States, and particularly the glorious
iold 'I‘hir-teen, go bring on this Govern-
ment an avalanche of States to be carv-
"ed out of our Mexican acquisitions. The
resort of the Senator to stroll an argu-
ment as this‘ in sufficient p|'O0f that he
has very slender _2'l'0llll(I to stand on to
vindicate the poliv-y of this measure.
But by far the ‘most ‘extraordinary part
'-of the honorable Senator's speech con-
jsists in"bia "attempt to placelljmself in
an anti-slavery position. He went in-
to a long induction of facts, in order ‘to
prove that the restriction of slavery has
ever been, and ever will be, unfavorable
'_to freedom. Ile remarked that the Ter-
ritory of Iowa was organized without
any prohibitory clause,4and yet ( says be)
it became, and no .v rt-rnaino,a free State
t the honorable Senator seems to have
orgotten that the 8th section of the Min-
9buri_act remained in full vigor; and was
binding on the people of Iowa during
their Territorial existence.‘ I: win; not
-necetsary that the 8th section should
"have been" ref-"enacted or re-affirmed in
the‘ act creating that Territory. .11:-pe.
rition would not have ‘given it one -pat-ti.
cle of additional forcéf so tlla't‘t'he people"
,of_-Iowa enjoyed‘ the benefits and bles-
sings of exclusion while a Territory, and
In conseqtlence they enjoy the fruits of
policy to this day.
,, I very much regret that the honorable
Senator should have fflalltl stlcll strenu-
ous efforts‘ to discredit the ordinance of
I787, which, according to his account of
line matter, tended p0\l.‘P|IIllly to the in-
trotluction of slavery. He represents the
people of -the Nortllwest as engaged in
inocssarlt insurrection.-:. against its author-
ity; lhas they regardedjt as an act of
grinding oppression, and would have
Slaves. and did have them. in spite of it.
Wll.lt foundation is there for such a pre-
I(-‘llct: as this '3 There were a few French
settles who held slaves (Ir: faclo; will
the honorable Senator take the respon-
slbility as a -lawyer of sayitlg that these
crsous wt-ac slaves rloy'me;‘ Would not
the /utlmzs Corpus have dc‘|i\'t'Ied every
one of them from scrvitude;? He does
not say wllctllsr there were any acts cor.-
travening the Ordlllfillct‘; and if so, I
should like his opinion on their validity.‘
Sir, the ortlimulce of 17%? constitutes
the main pillar of llllIL.\'fl.-I and glorious
fabric of society wlliclt is exhibited north-
wlr.-tt. of tlu-._l lltio, and \\'ltI(!lI in point. of
wealth, vigor, lntelligetlce, and univer-
sal progress, is wnhout. a parallel in fl is
or any other country. UlltIL‘l‘ its benign
and ever 'prt‘:‘elll. iufluent-.e, there has
been built up no-less than five large and
prosperous States,\vllit:h willvbe an ev-
cr-prcsentv illustration ofthe advantgge
wlucll f|'ee‘corlln)llllilies have over" those —
that tolerate zfilricenl bondage. I can
hardly _think, therefore, thav the honori-
ble Sellzllrtr ll:l.- tn:-iltttl-.tlt-tl ll -’ 1lIll"l-.~‘lil- "
vt-rv position: utttl .-ltitlisy W with
\-slticll Senators frmu sltlvello tliug -$'v:4_It’~*
collie fol'\\‘nl'tl to sttstttitt l‘"l~ l'l'”l""‘"ml 'm..?""
the.
pretty conclusive-. proof , that they tlllttl:
me,-9' is very little in this brunt-ll of _ hi‘-'
argument. "1,
"And here, _ Mr. President, I nittst take
some llotit-e of the. very novel grotlrld ta-
ken by the Senator from KPlIlllcli_v, (Mr.
Djx_on,) that although as :1 repl-eselltn_-_
tive of one of the slave Sl.ate.«=, I17‘? mi-_=llt
not have submitted this proposition, _VPl,
inasmucllas it is brought ll--tot-e the Sen-
ate, and offeretl by the Ntirtlt, he may
properly accede to the olTr-r and vote for
the abrogmiotl. I -want my friend l0
con.-zider, that if he places his vote on
this ground, he may find ltiutself invol-
ved in very considerable tlifiiully
I think, with great (I:"Il'l‘!‘|l.'3l°. and res-
pect, that the Sell-«tor rtlught I0 have
some other evidence of the desire of the
North than the mere opinion of any one
Setlat.or, llowever l'f'.<pI‘Cl’1|lH"€' he may he
I would a-la the Senator if he is qtlite
sure that a tnajority 0l"ll’1f‘- Connnittee on
l Territories is in favor of this measure ?
Two ‘of the members" have already be-
clared their rljlposillnlli mull" :-trnngly
.-‘lisp-=t"t it will appear, llelbre \'.'v.3 act
through, that there is 3 third m-mbr=r
equally opposed, and the." ‘he bill will
be a mere 5“-agglet‘ in this Chnmller, and
ought to be dismissed I0!’ that r.-.=asotti-"-
And I will ask-atlother question; sup-
pose it turns out that a large m_ajor,_ity"
from the North, even of the Senate, is.
opposetl to this proposition, and a much
larger majority oflhe House, uh-=re will
Senator be then’? Suppose Nortilern
members shall be induced to bt-.lr:i.y their
constituents in suflicient numbers to pass
the bill through the House, and suppose
the moment the people get hold of
them they are ltnriul with ignominy into
private life, I ask agalll wltc-re will the
Senator be 2' After all, is this a states-,
manlilre argtlrtlelll, and worthy of the _am~-i
cessor of Henry Clay! Is :1 mea-ure.‘
like this, subverting one of the most sol-
emn acts of this Government which has
lain at the foundation of the peace of no-
country for over one-. third of a century,
to he put throtlgll on the ipse dixit ofa
single, Senator from the North? I am
pretty well convincetl that my friend will
find outxthat the honorable chairman of
the committee on '1‘-‘rritories is not ex-
actly the. proper evponent of Northertl
sentittrent and Northern l‘-.=elil1"r.'.""-"_, He
will find out. that the lmnorable. chair.-."
man does not carry the whole. North in
hlsllreeches pocket, ‘ ' "
Imaintain. -Mr. Presitleltt, that the
people of the South, alul their Represen-'
larit-es in either tvillg of the Capitol,
should be the l:L.<l to seek or favor. the
abrogation of the Missouri Cotnpromise‘
'I‘h_ey should not seel: it for the sake of
their otvll honor, u‘hir‘lt tlley cannot but
desire to remain utlirupeat-bed and intact.
The measure was carried through the
two Houses. mainly by Sontltertt \'0l.es,
and wholly by Soutllern influence. Mr.
Clay, in his speech already more than
once referred to s.'t_vs: - '
" My friend from Alahzrmu in the Seu-
ate, (Mr King,) "Mr. Pinkney from Ma-
ryland, and a majority of the southern
Senators in this hotly, voted in favor of
the line 36 deg. 30 mill. ; and a majority
of the Southern members in the. other
House, at the head of whom was Mr.
Lowndes’ himself, voted also For that
line. I have no doubt that I did also,
but as I was Speaker of the llcuse, and
as the journal does not show which way
the speaker votes, except in the case of
a tie, Iam not able to tell with certain-
ty how I actually did vote, but I have no
earthly doubt that’ I voted ill cotutuou
with "my other Southern friends for the
adoption of the line 36 deg. 30 min."—
Here, then, was a measure adopted un-
der lle auspicesof such men as. King,
Pinckney. Lowntles, and Clay, for the
adjustment of a great and fearful contro-
versy between sections. You have en-
joyed the full benefit of it. You sectiréd
the admission of Missouri at the time’;
and Arkansas since. '.l‘he admission of
Texas was arranged on the same basis ;
and now, when the time has come.for.a_
realization oftlle just expectations of the
North, you propose to break the liargaill‘
How can this be done \Vll.ll0|Jt' an im-
peachmcnt of your honor? alltl"hou‘"r can
the North,on this ltypothesis, repose the
slightest. confidence ill you hereafter ?—
\Vill not cornpromises and adjtlstlnents"
infnture be itupossible? and will llotsec
tional strife infest our public councils and
pervade the whole _conutry "P l verily
believe" that this lnea‘stlre is contrary to
the true interests of the South. VVhat
you want is peace. Often and often have
you said let us alone—lceave our instilli-
lions undisturbed. Your true position
is a defensive one; but thisis a measure
of aggression on the North. You have
commenced a war on Northernfeelings,
Northern sentiments, and what will.-be
regarded as Northern riglils and inter-
tests; and you may depend upon it that
war will be If-‘l.lIl'llE‘ll with relellliess.""fit-
r
Ialso insist that this lnensure is coll-
trary to the. true lnl.Prr-5-.lsi of this Ad-
lninistration. \Vltll a Pre.-itlent elected
by an overwllelmlng majority, and with
majorities in the two llouse..s nearly as
decisive, the last tlliuig you should have
done was to throw-n the lmtrtb-slit-ll into
Congress. W'hy~notdevole yourselves
to the despatch of the public. business‘?
Why not t.uru your‘ attention to [I161 Pa-
cific Railroad, to a reduction or modifi-
cation of the tariff, to harbor zlntlriver
improvements, to tzuamelioration of your
army and navy laws, and to the vast
multitude of subjects, some of :1 public,
and some of a privaf.-=. concern, which
now solicit our attention 5 And what
psogress, Mr. President, nave We Infill‘?
with the public business, and what are
we likely to make? VVhat an extraor-
dinary spectacle has been exllillitetl III
the [louse of R-pre.setltative-! \'Veel:s
spent in perfet-tilltr ll tl-ticient-y bill,
which is then crttslletl tlotvn and buried
so deep as to be beyond the possibility of
resurrection. Be it retiwrulierr-ll, that
whatever of llell-afit‘-ial le=,;i-l.~l'iim the
country is to have tlttritlg any prl.-sideu-
tial term, must be aooomptislletl at the
first session of the first Congress of that"
term : the second session is too brief for
action on anything else than the appro-
priation bills; and the second Congress
is uniformly occuptetl, though very im-
roperly, with Llle provitlentlal election,
and by preparation for the inauguration
of anew Chief Magi-‘irate and the ar-
rangement of his Cabinet, In ortllér to
make it certaitl that we are to «lo nothing
for the country, you have ll!\’Ol\r".‘(l us in
this negro controversy. The Sctlute is
to be occupied with it many vet.-eks, and,
I venture to assert, that the House will
be so occupied luost if not all the session
III were the worst enemy wltioli Frank-
Iill Pierce has on earth, (illltl I should be
regarded his en.'elll_v at all,) I would do
the very thing wltit-.ll llisa l)(,'(‘ll done by
the honorable clluirtltan of the t:t.nntll"lt-
tee on Terfitorie.‘-, by illtrtltlttt-in;-; ztjplitip.
osition here \vlloll_v nut-alled tor, ‘amt:
fraught. with nothing but tilt.-t-iii:-I‘
It is with Illllllllv (¥0Il(‘.l‘l'll that l it-it-i,
trees the course whit-.ll my Willg fru-nil.-‘,l
honorable Senators from the South, tla.-ctttl
it proper to pursue otl this sullj-.~t. '1‘lley;l
seem, almost to a man, (ll.“[’Nl.'~t!tl .o rush
forward to the support of the lIOllvtl':‘-lllt-E
Senator from Illinois. Two of lite;-m
I
,___C~a,ll___lJe kept on foot on any such [jaai3_
‘ ‘ " 4:.-‘ .-.;~3.:. " --4.
rne the .-ttcnt-s.-tir of Henry Clay, (.\‘Ir.l
Dixon.) and the Ol.llt‘l’, par excelletlce,
his friend. (Mr. .ltnues,‘j have already
jivr.-‘p tllelr ntllfesiotl to {his m-:a-tu-e.--
t otttil .--fly to those honorable Senator-‘.
a szflirit of kindness and respect, that I
._‘ ,rd the proposed amendment of the
’l\‘Il_ 0"I‘l'I'v3-stricvion as a measure of rod-
ical §,lI!.-—extreme ratlicalisln. And ‘do
the honorable Senators suppose that the
wlll‘—I l’“"~Yv “S ‘ Qreat national party,
931'» ill“ "'*‘-"Y "l0mPnt you pass this meas-
l.l""3j Y?“ 9-"fill-lde not only the lVIi.ssouri
Cor'n'promise,but the adjustment. of 1850,
and the Baltimore Whig Platform of
18-52., You blow the \Vhig party imo
l£'7I‘._'vI_l|0llE(£I‘n(l' atoms. ‘Another Whig
- attonal .onvemion wi I be im os.sib|e_
Nothing can induce me to becdlne, on
the contingency named. a party to such
convention. It will be idle to attempt.
any understanding with Southern
.\Vh‘lgs on the -stzbjo.-ct of slavery, Did
we not go at Baltimore the finality of
the C-o_nlpr"omlse of 1850 I Did \l.'e not
agree to stand by even the Fll2lllVE£
Slave law, so distasteful to malty of our
people _= Did we not, on occasion of a
proposition by the l_lonora_ble Senator
from Ilassachtlsetts. (Mr. Samuel) ‘°
repeal that act, abide our promise and
\'""0lP. in the‘ negative? DO YOU I10‘ "WV
tell us in effect-tha't all such covenants
are binaiggion us in perpmlo, but ‘not.
bindi'ng”oil‘ you any lonszer ‘than you
choose to be‘ bound? I. "P981. ""3
measure, if carried, is and ought to be
fatal. to the Whig party, and I think it
will be equally fatal to the Democratic
..m€"é;i‘n “’"‘":i't "all iifnee. Let us. see
what they are-: "Slavery rests wilh the
'I'crritorie:-: in wllicll it exi.-ts"——lrt1e l-—--
rruel It is only the t3lllZ“ll.\’ of such
States and 'I‘e.rrit.ort-s that call ell"-cLuall_\'
influerlce or set.’ Ie the policy wllit-.li should
be pursued on this pt-.rplexin«_~; .-tlbje-nt__
exactly true‘. ".~\ngry t-\:Iernal agita-
tion by exciting the prejudices of the
.-layve-holding f?0rnnIllnlll’.’.~,, wllile it may
etldanger the Union, tends rather to sus-
tain than destroy the bonds of the ensla-
ved 3" true! every word true!
Mr. President, I have ever been op-
posed to this exrernal.at__-itatioll, and am
so still. Iadrnit we have no constitu-
tional or legal right to interfere with
slavery in the States. and I think it in-
expedien: to interfere with it in the Ter-
ritories where it. exists, And I admit,
further, we have no moral right to bar-
rass and worry the people of such States
and Territories by fruitless external agit-
ation, lcoudemn it utterly; but then you
must permit me. to say, tvitll the Chief
Magistrate of the country, that ‘we re-
gard it as a great moral, social and po-
litical evil, and therefore ll’. is not a prop-
er subject of extension. I do not like
“'*"'3‘ tutu.-b to speak of‘ slavery as :2 “mm”-
al evil." beca.tt.=e= it seems to give offence
to 0-If fricntls, who :-tar-pose we mean to
set up pltarisaioal pretensions to superim
morality over the South. It is not so.‘
Iadmit, there are great ruoral evils at
the North, some of which we are trying
to reform, such as drunkenness, and you
may chastise us to your heart’s content
on account of such -vile. I must at least
be permiueti to think of slavery as a
party. Behold the -alelnr-ms of discord
midst! And when all outside pressure
3- withdrawn by the destruction of the
\Vhig party, what will become of you ?
\Vill "you not be scattered to the four
winds of Heaven, and will not all exis-
ting organization be broken up?
S‘tr,I have become ‘heartily tired of
public life, and I hope soon to find re-
pose in_ seclusion in the. bosom of my
family.’ Iam greatly offended at the tur-
nioil which we have incessantly had on
this mlflflable subject. Why, Mr. Prea-
ident, I have hardly been able, for years
to eutercither chamber without being;
in‘;’,0lV,9d in all the gfl-wvia (perhaps the
h0"'-Iornble chairman would say aroma)»
of some negro question. Even now it
fills the chamber-—‘ it smells to Heaven.’
Why will you stiffer demagogues to be
inccssantly dabbling in this subjocr--
stirring up this offensive c’ess pool, exis-
ting in the midst of the body politic I
say to you plainly, Senators from the
South, unless you frown on such at-
npmpts, we shall be in hot. water all the
of, ihe Union designing men, trying: to
either party or personal capital out
oTT?lhis subject. It has got. to be high
time that we had :1 body of independent
menin the country. If I had one hun-
dred thousand good and true men scat-
tered all over this vast Republk-,ro stand
by“t"ne,I would engage to put down the
wllole tribe of demagogllcs. A handful
o_f-men, compact and united, can often
turn the scale between contending fac-
tions, and subdue them to reason. I hate
a_.Northern anti -slavery demagogue, and
I hate a Southern pro-slavery demagogue
I think meanly of them all ;, but of all
the mean reptiles which God for some
inscrutable purpose suffers to crawl and
to beslitne, the earth, I think a Northern
pro-slavery dernagegne. is the meanest.
;jjB,ut, Mr. President, if all Compromis-
e"s‘-aind platforms are to be blown up by
the passage of this bill, and if in conse-
qu‘enc"_'e I am drawn into rt position not
uulil{e't;hat of the soldier at the battle of
New Orleans, who, when inquired of by
General Jackson. to what. regiment he
belonged, replied he was there fighting
on his own book, I intend to have 5
platform of my own, and I am happy to
inform the Senate that I have found one
which suits me exactly, and I wish to
produce it hereby way of notice to my
constituents and the country.
On the lltll day of June, 1846, a dam
ocrat State Convention was held_at Con-
cord, N. H.. wbereat a Committee on
Resolutions was appointed, of which the
eminent citizen, now President of the
United States, was chairman, who repor-
ted to the Convention a series of resolu-
tions, from which I take the following:
~"‘ Rf30IlIe(l, 'I'bs.t we reaffirm the sentiments and opin-
ions of the Democratic party and Democratic statesmen
of the North, entertained from 1776 to the prettent day,
irt relation to alavm-_y—thal we deplore -2‘: c.n'stem1:a;1d re-
yflfll if asa great moral and .-orial evil, but with thin con-
viction we do not deem ourselves more wise than Wash-
ington, Franklin, and their associates. and that patriot-
ism, common honesty, and religion: principle, alike
bind us to a acted observance of the compact made by
tbose wise man.” _
‘- Resolved, That the policy to be pursued in reference
to alaverv. rests with the States and Territories wifhlu
which it'e"xist—¢hat whatever parties may profess, it in
onlv as citizens of such States and Territories that the
member. of those parties can essentially influence that.
policy, and that angry external agifafion,_"b_y ex:-iting
the-prejudices of the slaveholdiaz communities, while it
may endanger the Union, tends rather tovfanten than to
destroy the bonds of the ennlavet .”
I agree, Mr. President, to every word
of these resolutions. It is true, was
vs‘-.r"y much puzzled in the first instance
to determine how" the origin of the Dem-
ocratic party of the North could be. car-
ried back to so remote in period as 1776,
but when I came to read out of the Dec.
laratlon of Indepeltdence that “all "men
are endowed with certain inaliena.-tie
1-it-.-hts—that among these are life, liber-
ty? and pursuit. of ltappiness,” ll‘. became
very plain. I was equally puzzled by
lhereference to \Vashington and Frank-
lin, _pm-ticularl y to the latter, but on sear-
ching out the public documents I was
enabled to solve the mystery. ' It appears
that a memorial by Benjamin Franklin.
as President of the Pennsylvania society
for promoting the abolition of slavery,
“'3: presented in the senate at the first
session of the first. Congress, held «under
the Constitution. to wit: on. the 12th
of February, 1790, from which I make
the following extract: " that mankind
are all formed by the same Almighty be-
itlg,"‘"ali_ke objects of his care arid equally
designed for the enjoyment of happiness
the christian religion teaches us to believe
and the pol=it-'toé‘I>creed.nf Americans fol ly
coincides with the position." "They,"
the ntelnoriali.-its, 'I‘.3\'"P.'0Il.9P.l'S'Pl"I, with
particular saf.isfa"ction, that many impor-
tant and salutary powers arevested in
y~ou,;Z,,that is to say in Congress, “for pro-
lilotiijg the welfare and securing the
blass“ings.of liberty to the "I.lIlIt!?(I States
and as they conceive that these blessings
ought rightfully to be administered with
out distinction of color to a'l description
of people, so they indulge thetnselves in
the pleasing expectation that nothing
whicll can be done for the relief of the
unhappy objects of their care will be
either omitted or delayed.” I admit,
Mr. President, that we are bound "to'a
sacred observance of the compact which
unites us as a nation—-we should not on
the one hand seek to ovcrtllrotv slavery
by violating its provisions, nor on the
other pervert its true intern and mean-
ing by making it an instrument. for the
extension of this "great, moral, and Social
evil” all on: this continent. Wont.-;
""\Vaslliogl«ul, Frallkliu, and their asst)
0lal'»‘-“-,'7 -Iv'.'-lmling of course Jeflbrsoil
(_v.'llo once €X('.ltIIlllt:tI’ --I H-,,",j,j,._ fa,
my country when] recollect God is jlr-t"l
have gone for any such extellsion ,- 1
Having thus cleared the subject of all
doubt, I am prepared to give in my adhe-
~""“ “?_ “-"WV “'0|.'ll contained in tile.»-
fesolullous. .l:lu}y reflect. high honor on
our worthy Chlet Magistrate. 1 embra-
ced them \\-‘ltll all my heart. 1 am wil-
bug ‘to live and die by them-—iu shrug,
and repulsion now in full activity in your,
while. There will begin both quarters iinde
gt.-at social and political evil. I will
never unite with you in considering II.
.,he gzmmm bomcm-—as a thing lit to be
exggndud, And here 1 adopt the words
of “em” (".;.;v, to be found in his spa-ec}.
of the 5th of Febrnary._ I make them
my own; and I have said I never could
vote for it myself, andl repent I never
cm, and never will vote and -no ear-titty
pduref will make me vote _to spread
slaw,” mtg,» :erra.ror_2/ tether: 2! does not
exist supply the President must take
the same View of the subject. Surely
he manor be willing to extend over the
[and what he has pronounced “a great.
moral and social evil"-——a deplorabeevd
Hence the rumors which have reached
no that ho is patronizing this measure.
and usi his influence to promote it.
must be a foul slander !-—-his friends ought
to resent it-
“a.,.-mg thus erected my platform, rind
having found it sound, after an examini-
rion plank by plank. I am prepared for
retirement, and I will tell you what I
51,3“ do when I am faraway from those
turbinent scenes. I intend to assume an
pendent position, and support the
best man who is before the country, tr-
rupective of party names. I will not
be Jpterretl from giving, him my support
because he is called a emocrar, or even
because he is called a Democrat, or even
because he. is a slaveholder, provided I
am well satisfied he will hunt down agi-
tators and demagognes both North and
South. Here are two Senators near rue
my friend from South Carolina,(Mr. But-
lel-,) and my friend from Texas, (Mr.
Houston) either of whom would do well
for the conntry—-" we might go farther
and fare worse.”
1 have no prejudice against my solub-
eru. brethren; slavery I cconsider rather
the misfortune than the. crime of the
South. It is only when you become ag-
gressive that I feel bound to resist you.
V\’lly should I have arty prejudice? My
honored father, whose remains I followed
to the grave in the fall of 1839, was him-
self a slaveholder, and my earliest. revol-
lt-ctions ire associated with xvlmt you
call an institution.
Ihave sometimes ' thought, Mr. Presi-
dent, that the North is in danger of be-
ing sold out., andthat we are to be redn-
ced to st.-rviulde. I can hardly believe
we are in much danger It is proper for
me to give full notice that. if such an
unhappy fate is before us, I intend to re-
serve to myself one libcrly——that of
choosz'.22g my arm -master, and I say now
he shall be some high toned Southern
gentlemen, and not a Northern (IOl1'Ill
face, who would sell his birthright for a
mess of portage. I have ever u utter-
stood that Northern men who go South
and turn slave owners, or slave drivers,
uniformly prove the most relentlr ss and
cruel of mat.~ters—Ht:aven deliver me.
from such borldage.’
And finally, Mr. President, I. would
enquire where is all this to enb? Are
the Vitals of the Republic-. to be inces-
santly lact-rated ? Is there to be no
moderation, no regard to plighted faith ;
no sgnse of justice.-who is hereafter to
stay the raging elements of sectional
strif-a...Clay, Calhoun, Vilebster, "\VO0(l-
bury, all are gone, and few seemed dis-
poged to int:-Fpose and say to the. rtlrging
elements, “peace, be still.” I have of-
ten wished during the progress of this
discussion that Henry Clay we-re l'lvit1.‘.',’
and present to participate in it.
He would have: opposed to this turns-
nre a stern and "uncompromising resist.
ance. I deeply deplore his absence‘ If;
he were hergtbis day,witll his erect form ,2
animated countenance, flaslliug eyes, and
fervid ac:-.¢nrs—he. would make these?
arches ring with his retnonstrance against.
the folly, nay the madness of your conrsei
Sir, I have done, I wash my hand of ailj
responsibility for the consequence of tilts;
measure. l
Marriage.—The following are the
opinions of two prominent. ladies upon,,’
the subject of marriage :
' - Marriage is to woman a state of slave.‘
ry. It‘. takes from her the right to her.
own property, and makes her submissive;
in all things to her hnsb:aud."’"
Lucy Stone.
‘- Vlarriage a state of slavery! Aye"
but the bonds are silken and easily worn,
Marriage. is the sanotifier of love-—an in.
stitutiotl tv-hicll acknotvledges‘ the right
of tvnmatl to be protected, and the dntjt‘
of man to protect IIPI‘. The offices oi
wife and mother are those of slaves----
IVh:af higher destiny beneath the skies"
than to instruct the infant mind it
tllougllts of purity 1 What 1,01,.-r ms...
slon than to soothe the -turbid torrent in
man's passions by :i word-a look--5
smilel It is. to woman this work is giv
en. \Voman, in her vocation. may c-lice:
the tired spirit, may lead hope to the tie-‘
ponding. may whisper love to the lone-lg
\vhile‘man may toil, and traffic, and fo-
fret, and grow .-a\agr-_ \\ Lo \‘.‘GlIlll t
change places with hint '."'
Ella I"I'e~n.ttt'or(ll’.r Jamnul.
Very 0/¢l.——'l‘llo.-.re died in .\'losr_‘0\
Russia, in Nov:-mb-.-r lu.-"t, a \’t’llI:‘l‘8l.il -
rem-_;,of a {miner gI‘.ll(‘l'l|ll0ll. nanletl -.\.
Pierre So"rloysky. His age ti.-‘:1;-‘l.‘.”.' _ve:ll‘
-and '2 months. He was born in the reig:
‘of the I-Inlpress Anna, the Ilallfllllef 0
peg.-y me Great, and dtlritlghis life Rns
-ia has grown from a cotnparativelj
weak and almost barbarous governmeni
to be the largest in territorial extent ant
the most powerful empire ml the globe
@- Tb-eguew ‘Ilaw School—at Albary"
to make them religiously my rule of con-
containa about sixty pupils.
’ A
l.
7l.;.-
Norwalk Chronicler