had received, from the moral and physical tortures endured, have become insane. They howl in their, prisons, sometimes mingling with the other victims, at other times alone, but without any difference of treatment. One of these wretohed maniacs committed one day an insane act. The head jailer beat him so cruelly as to leave him almost lifeless on the ground. Young C—, who was in the same cell, indignant at the outrage, called out that they were murder ing the man. Thereupon the jailer depart ed, but immediately returned with a band of turnkeys; who at once fell upon the youth, removed him to another prison, and there, with sticks and ropes, mercilessly belabored him. Another poor fellow, whose intellect was temporarily wandering., 4. M—, having made some complaints about his food, was kicked and thrashed back to his old cell—there left without at tendance, without the visit of the physician, and with the corsest diet. He recovered from his mental illness, but now, owing to the length of the imprisonment, of the suf ferings endured, and to the treatment to which he has been subjected, his health has suffered to such an extent that his friends' have, no hope of ever seeing -him again On this aide of the grave. paitp Etlegrapt. HARRISBURG, PA Tuesday Afternoon, December 4, 1830. LAST ANNUAL MESSAGE JAMES BIJOHA.NAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. PNLDEM-01T1ZINS or TUN SENATE AND House or , RAPANSINTATISPO :—Throughout the year since our last meeting, the country has been eminently prosperous in all its material inter ests. The general health has been excellent, our harvests have been abundant, and plenty smiles throughout the land. Our commerce and manufactures have been prosecuted with energy and industry, and have yielded fair - and ample returns,. In short, no nation in the tide of time has everpresented a spectacle of greater material prosperity than we have done until within a very recent period. Why hi it, then, that discontent now so ex- ' tensively prevails, and the Union of the. States, whialAs the source of all these blessings, is threatened with destruction t The long.con tinued and intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States has at length produced its natural effects. The different sections of the Union are now arrayed against each other, and the time has arrived, so much dreaded by the Father of his Country, when hostile geo graphical parties have been formed. I have long foreseen and often forewarned my country men of the now impending danger. This does not proceed solely from the claim on the part of Congress or the territorial legislatures to ex clude slavery from the Territories, nor from the efforts of different States to defeat the execu tion of the Fugitive Slave law. All or any of these evils might have been endured by the South without danger to the Union, (as others have been,) in the hope that time and reflection might apply tisa remedy. The immediate peril arises not so mitch from these causes as from the fact that the incessant and violent agita- Hen of thei;very question throughout the North for thlast quarter of a century, has at length produced its malign influence upon the slaves, and inspired them with vague notions of freedom. Hence a sense of security no longer exists around the family altar. This feeling of peace at home has given place to ap prehensions of servile insurrection. Many a matron throughout the South retires at night in dread of what may befall herself and her children before the morning. Should this ap prehension of domestic danger, whether real or i imaginary, extend and intensify itself until it; shal pervade the masses of the Southern people, then disunion will become inevitable.--Self-pre servation is the first law of nature, and has been implanted in the heart of man by his Creator for the wisest purpose ; nod no political union, however fraught with blessings and benefits in all other respects, can long continue, if the ne cessary consequence be to render the homes and firesides of nearly half the parties to it habitu ally and hopelessly insecure. Sooner or later the bonds;of such a Union must be severed.— It is my conviction that this fatal period has not, yet arrived ; and my prayer to God is that He would preserve the Constitution and the Union throughout all generations. But let us take warning in time, and remove the cause of danger. It cannot be denied that, for five and twenty years, the agitation at the North against slavery in the South, has been incessant. In 1886 pictorial handbills, and in flammatory appeals, were circulated extensive. ly throughout the South, of a character to ex cite the passions of the slaves; and, in the lan guage 'of General Jackson, "to stimulate them to Inturreotion, and produce all the horrors of aserviler war." This agitation has ever Bluets been,continued by the public press, by tbe pro ceedings of State and county conventions, and by , abolition sermons and lectures. The time of Congress has been occupied in violent speech es on this never-ending subject ; and appeals in pamphlet and other forme, endorsed by distin- gashed names, have been sent forth from this (*Oral point, slid Spread broadcast over the Union, How easy would it be for the American peo ple to Settle the slavery question forever, and to restore peace and harmony to this distracted country. They, and they alone, can do it. All that is necessary to accomplish the object, and all for which the slave States have ever contended, is to be let alone, and permitted to manage their domestic) institutions in their own way. As sovereign States, they, and they alone, are re sponsible before God and the world for the slavery existing among them. For this, the people of the North are not more responsible, and lave no more right to interfere, than with si stitutions in Russia or in Brazil.— panthe ood sense and patriotic forbear anoe I confess I still greatly rely. Without their:o4, - h beyond the power of any Presi dent, no matter what may be his own political proclivities, to restore peace and harmony among the' States. Wisely limited and re strained as is his power, under our Constitu tion and laws, he alone can accomplish but lit. tie, for good or for evil, on such a momentous question. And this brings me to observe that the elec tion of any one of our fellow-citizens to the of ficstat,President does not of itself afford just cause for dissolving the Union. This is more eapedally true if his election has been effected by a mere plurality, and not a majority, of the people and has resulted from transient and temporary causes, which may probably never again occur. la order to justify a resort to revolutionary resistance, the Federal Govern ment must be guilty of "a deliberate, palpa ble, and dangerous exercise" of powers not granted by the Constitution. The late presi dential election, however, has been held in atrbat egiformity with its express provisions. gotr, than, can the result justify a reyolution to destroy this very 0 0 11 10kt/1W MAW; justice, a regard for the Constitution, all re quire that we shall wait for some overt and dangerous act on the part of the President elect before resorting to such a remedy. It is said, however, that the antecedents of the President elect have been sufficient to jus tify the fears of the South that he will attempt to invade their constitutional rights. But are such apprehensions of contingent danger in the future sufficient to justify the immediate des truction of the noblest system of government ever-devised by mortals? From the very na ture of his office, and its bigh responsibilities, he must necessarly be conservative. The stern duty 01 administering the vast and complicated concerns of this Government affords in itself a guarantee that he will not attempt any viola tion of a clear constitutional right. After all, he is no more than the chief executive officer of the Government. His province is not to make,'but to execute, the laws ; and it is a re markable fact in our history, that, notwith standing the repeated efforts of the anti-slavery party, no single act has ever passed Congress, unless we may possibly, except the Missouri Compromise, impairing in the slightest degree, the rights of ? the South to their property in slaves. And it may also be observed, judging from present indications, that no possibility exists of the passage of such an act, by a ma jority of both Houses, either in the present or the next Congress Surely, under these cir cumstances, we ought to be restrained from present action by the precept of Him who apake as never man spoke, that "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." The day of evil may never come, unless we shall rashly bring it upon ourselves. It is alleged as one cause for immediate se cession that the Southern States are denied equal rights with the other States in the com mon Territories. But by what' authority are these denied? Not by Congress, which has never passed, and I believe never will pass, any act to exclude slavery from these Territories: and certainly not by the Supreme Court, which has solemnly decided that slaves are property, and, like all other property, their owners have a right to take them into the common Terri tories, and hold them there under the protec tion of the Constitution. So far, then, as Congress is concerned, the objection is not to anything they have already done, but to what they may do hereafter. It will surely be admitted that this apprehension of future danger is no good reason for an imme diate dissolution of the Union. It is true that the territorial legislature of Kansas, on the 23d of February, 1860, passed in great haste an act, over the veto of the governor, declaring that slavery "is and shall be, forever prohibited in this Territory." Such an act, however, plainly violating the rights of property secured by the Constitution, will surely be declared void by the judiciary whenever it shall be presented in a legal form. Only three days after my inauguration the Supreme Court of the United States solemnly adjudged that this power did not exist in a ter ritorial legislature. Yet such has been the factious temper of the times that the correct- 1 nem of this decision has been extensively im pugned before the people, and the question has given rise to angry political conflicts through out the country. Those who have appealed from this judgmens of our highest constitu tional tribunal to popular assemblies would, if they could, invest a territorial legislature with power to annul the scred rights , of prop erty. This power Congress is expressly for bidden by the Federal Constitution' to ex ' ercise. Every State legislature in the Union is forbidden by its own constitution Ito exercise it. It cannot be exercised in any State except by the people in their-high est sovereign capacity when framing or amend ing their State constitution. In like manner, it can only be exercised by the people of a Ter ritory represented in a convention of delegates for the purpose of framing a constitution pre paratory to admission as a State into the Union. Then, and not until then, are they invested with power to decide the question whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits. This is an act of sovereign authority, and not of subordinate territorial legislation. Were it otherwise, then indeed would the equality of the States in the Territories be de stroyed, and the rights of property in slaves would depend, not upon the guarantees of the Constitution, but upon the shifting majorities of an irresponsible territorial legislature. Such a doctrine, from its intrinsic unsoundness, can not long influence any considerable portion of our people, much leas can it afford a good rea son for a dissolution of the Union. The moat palpable violations of constitution al duty which have yet been committed consist iu the acts of different State legislatures to de- feat the execution of the fugitive slave law. It ought to be remembered, however, that for these acts, neither Congress nor any President can justly be held responsible. Having been passed in violation of the Federal Constitution, they are therefore null and void. All the courts, both State and National, before whom the question has arisen, have from the beginning declared the fugitive slave law to be constitutional. The single exception is that of a State court in Wisconsin ; and this has not only been reversed by the proper appellate tribunal, but has met with such universal reprobation that there can be no danger from it as a precedent. The validi ty of this law has been established over and over again by the Supreme Court of the 'United States with perfect unanimity. It is founded upon an express provision of the Constitution, requiring that fugitive slaves who escape from service in one State to another shall be "deliv ered up" to their masters. Without this pro vision it is a well-known historical fact that the Constitution itself could never have been adopt ed by the Convention. In one form or other under the acts of 1798 and 1850, both being substantially the same, the fugitive-slave law has been the Jaw of the land from the days of Washington until the present moment. Here, then, a clear case is presented, in which it will be the duty of the next President, as it has been my own, to act with vigor in executing this supreme law against the conflicting enact ments of State legislatures. Should he fail in the performance of this high duty, he will then have manifested a disregard of the Constitu tion and laws, to the great injury of the people of nearly one-half of the States of the Union. But are we to presume in advance that he will thus violate his duty? This would be at war with every principle of justice and of Christian charity. Let us wait for the overt act. The fugitive-slave law has beeen carried into execu tion in every contested case since the commence ment of the present administration ; though often, it is to be regretted, with great loss and Inconvenience to the master, and with consid erable expense to the government. Let us trust that the State legislatures will repeal their unconstitutional and obnoxious enactments. Unless this shall be done without unnecessary delay, it is impossible for any human power to save the Union. The Southern States, standing on the basis of the Constitution, have a right to demand this act of justice from the States of the North.— Should it be refused, then the Constitution, to which all the States are parties, will have been willfully violated by one portion of them in a provision essential to the domestic security and happiness of the remainder. In that event the injured States, after having first used all peace ful and constitutional means to obtain redress, would be justified in revolutionary resistance to the Government of the Union. I have purposely confined my remarks to revolutionary resistance, because it has- been claimed within the lash two years that any State, whenever this shall belts sovereign will and pleasure,may secede from the Union, in accordance' ith the Constitution, and without any violation of- the constitutional rights of the other members of the Confedenuty, That Pennsylvania etitgrap4, eutsbap litarroon, Cluembtr 4, 1860. as each became parties to the Union by the vote of its own people assembled in Conven tion, so any one of them may retire from the Union in a similar manner by the vote of such a convention. In order to justify secession as a constitution al remedy, it must.be on the principle that the Federal Government is a mere voluntary asso ciation of States, to be dissolved at pleasure by any one of the contracting parties. If this be so, the Confederacy is a rope of sand, to be penetrated and dissolved by the first adverse wave of public opinion in any of the States.— In this manner our thirty-three States may re solve themselves into as many petty, jarring, and hostile republics, each one retiring from the Union, without responsibility, whenever any sudden excitement might impel them to such a course. By this process a Union might be entirely broken into fragments in. a few weeks, which cost our forefathers many years of toil, privation, and blood to establish. Such a principle is wholly inconsistent with the history as well as the character of the Fed eral Constitution. After it was framed, with the greatest deliberation and care, it was sub mitted to conventions of the people of the several States for ratification. Its provisions were discussed at length in these bodies, com p:sed of the first men of the country. Its op ponents contended that it conferred powers upon the Federal Government dangerous to the rights of the States, whilst its advocates main tained that under a fair construction of the instrument there was no foundation for such apprehensions. In that mighty struggle be tween the first intellects of this or any other country, it never occurred to any individual, either among its opponents or advocates, to assert, to`r even to intimate, that their efforts were all vain labor, because the moment that any State felt herself aggrieved she might secede from the Union. What a emitting ars gement would this have proved against those who dreaded that the rights of the States would be endangered by the Constitution. The truth is, that It was not until many years after the origin of the Federal Government that such a proposition was first advanced. It was then met and refuted by the conclusive argu ments of Gene.al Jackson, who in his massage of 16th January, 1888, transmitting the nulli fying ordinance of South Carolina to Congress, employs the following language "The right of the people of, a single State to absolye them selves at will, and without the consent of the other States, front their most solemn obliga tions, and hazard the liberty and happiness of the millions composing this Union, cannot be acknowledged. Such authority is believed to be utterly repugnant both to the principles upon which the General Government is consti tuted and to the objects which it was expressly formed to attain." It is not pretended that , any clause in in the the Constitution gives countenance to such a theory. It is altogether founded upon infer ence, not from any language contained in the instrument itself, but from the sovereign char acter of the' several States by which it was ratified. But is it beyond the power of a State, like an individval, to yield a portion of its sovereign right to secure the remainder ? In the language of Mr. Madison, who has been called thefather of the Constitution : "It was formed by the States—that is, by the people in each of the States, acting in their highest sov ereign capacity ; and formed consequently by the same authority which formed the State constitution." " Nor is the Government of the United States, created by the Constitution, less a Gov ernment in the strict sense of the term, within the sphere of its powers, than the governments created by the constitutions of the States are, within their several spheres. It is, like them, organized into legislative, executive, and ju diciary departments. It operates, like them, directly on persons and things ; and, like them it has at command a p hysical force for execu ting the powers committed to it. It was intended to be perpetuated, and not to be annulled at the pleasure of arty one of the contracting parties. The old articles of con federation were entitled "Articles of Confeder ation and Perpetual Union between the States;" and by the 13th article it is expressly declared that "the articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual." The preamble to the Constitution of the United States, having express reference to the articles of Confedera tion, recites that it was established "in order to form a more perfect• Union." And yet it is contended that this "more perfect Union" does not include the essential attribute of per petuity. But that the Union was designed to be per petual appears conclusively from the nature and extent of the powers conferred by the Constitu tion on the Federal Government. These pow ers embrace the very highest attributes of na tional sovereignty. They place both the sword and the purse under its control. Congress has power to make war, and to make peace; to raise and support armies and navies, and to conclude treaties with foreign governnients. It is in vested with the power to coin money, and to regulate the value thereof, and to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States. It is not necessary to enumer ate the other high powers which have been con ferred upon the Federal Government. In order to carry the enumerated powers into effect, Con gress possesses the exclusive right to lay and collect duties on imports, and in common with the States to lay and collect all other taxes. But the Constitution has not only conferred these high powers upon Congress, but it has adopted effectual means to restrain the States from interfering with their exercise. For that purpose it has, in strong prohibitory language, expressly declared that "no State shall enter into any treaty, alliance or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill'of attainder' ire port facto lair, or law impairing the obligation of contracts."— Moreover, "without the consent of Congress, no • State shall lay ,any imposts or duties on any imports or exports, except what may be abso lutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ;" and, if they exceed this &monist, the excess shill belong to the United States. And "no State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage; keep troops, or ships of war, in time of peace ; enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power; or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such immi nent danger as will not admit of delay." • , In order still further to secure the;uninter rupteds exercise of these high - powerk• against State interposition, it is provided "that this Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shalt be made, un der the authority of the United 'States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby; anything in the Constitution or laweof any State to the contrary notwithstanding." The solemn sanction of religion has been superadded to the obligations of, official duty, and all senators and representatives , of, the United States, all members of State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, "both cf the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to--sup port this Constitution." ; In order to' carry into ' effect these, powers, the Constitution lies established a perfect Gov ernment in all its: forms, Legislative, Execu tive, and Judicial ; and this Government, to the extent of its powers, acts directly upon the individual citizens of ..every Slate, and exe cutes its own decrees 'by the agency of its own Officers. In thin respect it differs entirely from I the Government .under the old- Confederation, wnich was confined to making requisitions on the States - hi — their licrtefain — bliar , -ttter— • s ••• • =RE !MEI A4l , left it in the discretion of each whether to obey or to refuse, and they often declined to comply wsth such requisitions. It thus became oeces sary, for the purpose of removing this barrier, and "in order to form a more perfect Union," to establish a Government which could act di rectly upon the people, and execute its own laws without the intermediate agency of the States. This has been accomplished by the Constitution of the United States. In short, the Government created by the Constitution, and deriving its authority from the sovereign people of each of the several States, has precisely the same right to exercise its power over the people cf all these States, in the enumerated cases, that each one of them possesses over subjects cot delegated to the United States but "reserved to the Slates, res pectively, or to the people." To the extent of the delegated powers the Constitution of the United States is as much a part of the constitution ut each State, and is as binding upon its people, as thou o ti it had been textually inserted therein. This Government, therefore, is a great and powerful Government, invested with all the at tributes of sovereignty over the special sub jects to which its authority extends. Its fra mers never intended to implant in its bosom the seeds of its own destruction, nor were they at its creation guilty of the absurdity of provid ing for its own dissolution. It was not intended by its trainers to be the baseless fabric of a vision, which, at the touch of the enchanter, would vanish into thin air, but a substantial and mighty fabric, capable of resisting the slow decay of time and of defying the storms ot ages. Indeed, well may the jealous patriots of that day. bave indulged feats that a government of such high powers might violate the reserved rights of the States, and wisely did they adopt the rule of a strict construction of these pow ers to prevent the danger I But they did not fear, nor bad they any reason to imagine, that the Constitution would ever be so Interpreted as to enable any State, by her own act; and without the consent of her sister States, to dis charge her people from all or any of their Fed eral obligations. It may be asked, then, are the people of the I States without redress against the tyrany and oppression of the Federal Government ? By no means. The right of resistance on the part of the governed against the oppression of their governments cannot be denied. It exists inde- Pendently of all constitutious, and has been exercised at all periods of the world's history. Under It old governments have been destroyed, and new ones have taken their place. It is embodied in strong and express language in our own Declaration of Independence. But the distinction must ever be observed, that this is revolution against an established Govern ment, and not a voluntary secession from It by virtue of an inherent constitutional right. In short, let us look the danger fairly in the face. Secession is neither more nor leas than revolution. It may or it may not be justifia ble revolution, but still it is revolution. What, in the mean time, is the responsibility and true position of the Executive? He is bound by solemn oath before God and the country "to take care thatthe laws be faithfully executed," and from this obliga tion he cannot be. absolved by any human power. But what if the performance of this duty, in whole or in part, has been rendered impracticable by events over which he could have exercised no control? Such, at the pres ene moment, is the case throughout the State of South Carolina, so far as the laws of the United States to secure the administration of justice by means of the Federal Judiciary are concerned. All the Federal officers within its limits, through whose agency alone these laws can be carried into execution, have already re signed. We no longer have a district judge, a district attorney, or a marshal, in South Caro lina. In fact, the whole machinery of the Fed eral Government, necessary for the distribution of remedial justice among the people, has been demolished ; and it would bo difficult, if not impossible, to replace it. The only acts of Congress on the statute book, bearing upon this subject, are those of the 28th February, 1795, and 3d March 1807. These authorize the President, after he shall have ascertained that the marshal with hisposaa cor a / a /us is unable to execute civil or criminal process in any particular case, to call forth the militia and employ the army and navy to aid him in performing this service, having first by Proclamation commanded the insurgents "to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within a limited time." This duty cannot by possibility be performed in a State where no judicial authority exists to issue pro cess, and where there is no marshal to execute it, and where, even if there were such an offi cer, the entire population would constitute one solid combination to resist him. The bare enumeration of these provisions prove how inadequate they are without further legislation to overcome a united opposition in a single State, not to speak of other States who may place themselves in a similar attitude.— Congress alone has power to decide whether the present laws can or cannot be amended so as to carry out more effectually the objects of the Constitution. The same insuperable obstacles do not lie in the way of executing the laws for the collection , of the customs. The revenue still continues ' to be collected, as heretofore, at the custom house in Charleston; and should the collector unfortunately resign, a successor may be ap ' pointed to perform this duty. Then in regard to the property of the United States in South Carolina. This has been par. chased for a lair equivalent, "by the consent of the legislature of the State," "ffir the erection offorts, magazines, arsenals," &c., and over these the authority "to exercise exclusive legis lation" hail been expressly granted by the Con stitution to Congress. It is not believed that any attempt will be made to expel the United Stites from this property by force; but if in thiti I should prove to be mistaken, the officer in command of the forts has received orders to act Strictly on the defensive. In such a contin gency, the responsibility for consequences would rightfully rest upon the heads of the as salient& Aii ii rt from the execution of the laws, so far as this may be practicable, the Executive has no authority to decide what shall be the rela tions between the Federal Government and South Carolina. He has been invested with no such discretion. He possesses no power to change the relations heretofore existing between them, much less to acknowledge the Independ ence of that State. This would be to invest a mere Executive, officer with the power of re cognising the dissolution of the Confederacy among our thirty-three sovereign States. It beara no resemblance to the recognition of a foreign de facto government, involving no such responsibility. Any attempt to do this would, on his part, be a naked act of usurpation. It la, therefore, my duty to submit to Congress the ;whole question in all its bearings. ; The course of events is so rapidly hastening fur bard, that the emergency may soon arise, when you may be called upon to decide the momen tous question whether you possess the power, by force of arms, to compel a State to remain h(the Union. I should feel. myself recreant to my duty were I not to express an opinion on this important subject. The question fairly stated is: Hui the - Consti tntion delegated toCongress the power to coerce &State into submission which is attempting to withdraw or has actually withdrawn from the Confederacy ? If answered in the affirmative, itlenst be on tho principle that the power has been conferred upon Congress to declare and to make war against a State. After mut% serious reflection I have arrived at the conchision that noanch power has been delegated to Cogress or to any other department of the Federal Govern meet. it is manifest, upon an inspection of the (Xeditithwiii, that thistle not among the specific and enumttated powers granted to Congress ; and it is squally apparent that its exercise is not "necessary and proper for carrying into ex caution" any one of these powers• So far from this power having been delegated to Congress, it was expressly refused by the Convention which framed the Constitution. It appears, from the proceedings of that body, that on the 31st of May, 1787 the clause "au thorizing an exertion of the form of the whole agaiust a delinquent State" came up for con sideration. Mr. Madison opposed it in brief but powerful speech, from which I shall extract but a single sentence. lie observed : "The use of force against a State would look more like a declaration of war than an infliction of punish ment ; and would probably be considered by the party attacked as a dissolution of all pre vious compacts by which it might be bound.' Upon his motion the clause was unanimously postponed, and was never again I believe pre rented. Soon afterwards, on the Bth June, 1787, when incidentally adverting to the sub ject, he said : "Any Government for the United States, formed on the supposed practicability of using force against the unconstitutional pro ceedings of the States, would prove as visions, ry and fallacious as the 'government of Con gress," evidentlY meaning the then existing Congress, of the old Confederation. Without descending to particulars, it may be safely asserted, that the power to make war against a State is at variance with the whole spitit and intontof the Constitution. Suppose such a war should result in the conquest of a State, how are we to govern it afterwards? Shall we hold it as a province, and govern it by despotic power? In the nature of things we could not, by physical force, control the will of the people and compel them to elect senators and representatives to Congress, and to perform all the other duties depending upon their own volition, and required from the free cams of a free State as a constituent member o e Confederacy. Bid, if possessed of this power, would it be wise to exercise it under existing circumstan ces ? The object would doubtless be to pre serve the Union. War would not only present the most effectual means of destroying it; but would banish all hope of its peaceable recon struction. Besides, in the fraternal conflict a vast amount of blood and treasure would be expended, rendering future reconciliation be tween the States impossible. In the mean time, who can foretell what would be the suf fering and privation of the people during its existence? The fact is, that our Union rests upon public opinion, and can never be cemented by the blood of its citizens shed in civil war. If it can not live in the affections of the people, It must ono day perish. Congress possesses many means of preserving it by conciliation ; but the sword was not placed.in their hands : o preserve it by force. But may I be permitted solemnly to invoke my countrymen to pause and deliberate, be fore they determine to destroy this, the grand est temple which has ever been dedicated to human freedom since the world began? It has been consecrated by the blood of one fathers, by the glories of the past, and by the hopes of the future. D , e Union has already made es the most pregperous, and, ere long, will, If preserved, render us the most powerful nation on the face of the earth. In every foreign re gion of the globe the title of American citizen is held in the highest respect, and when pro nounced in a foreign land it causes the hearts of our countrymen to swell with honest pride. Surely when we reach the brink of the yawn ing abyss, we shall recoil with horror from the last fatal plunge. By such a dread catastro phe the hopes of the friends of freedom throughout the world would be destroyed, and a long night of despotism would enshroud the nations. Our example for more than eighty years would not only be lost; but would be quoted as a conclusive proof that man is unfit for self government. 't is not every wrong—nay, it is not every grevious wrong—which can justify a resort to such a fearful alternative. This ought to be the last desperate remedy of a despairing peo ple, after every other constitational means of conciliation• had been exhausted. We should rejlect that under this free government there is an incessant ebb and flow in public opinion. The slavery question, like everything human, will have its day. I firmly believe that it has already reached and passed the culminating point. But if, in the midst of the existing ex citement, the Union shall perish, the evil may then become irreparable. Congress can con tribute much to avert it by proposing and re commending to the Legislatures of the -several States the remedy for existing evils, which the Constitution has itself provided for its own pre servation. This has been tried at "different criti- . cal periods of our history, and always with eminent success. It is to be foisnd in the fifth article providing for its own amendment.— Under this article amendments have beenpro posed by two-thirds of both Rouses of Congress and have been " ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States," and consequently become parts of the Constitution. To this process the country Is indebted for the clause prohibiting Congress from passing any law respecting the establishment of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or of the right of petition. To this we are also indebted for.the Bill of Rights-which secures the people against any abuse of power by the Federal Government. Such were the apprehensions justly entertained by the friends of States rights at that period as to have ren dered it extremely doubtful whether the Con stitution could have long survived without these amendments, _ . Again, the Constitution was amended by the same process after the election of President Jefferson by the House of Representatives, in February, 1803. This amendment was render ed necessary to prevent -a recurrence of the dangers which had seriously threatened the existence of the Government during the pen dency of that election. The article for its own amendment was intended to secure the amicable adjustment of conflicting constitutional ques tions like the present, which might arise be tween the governments of the States and that of. the United States. This appears from con temporaneous history. In this connection, I shall merely , call atten tion to a few sentences in Mr. lidairs!on's justly celebrated report, in 1799, to the legislature of Virginia. In this he ably and conolitsively defended the resolutions of the preceding legislature against the strictures of several other State legislatures. These were mainly founded np9l2 ,the protest of the Virginialegho lature againat the "Allen and Sedition Acts," as "palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution." In pointing out the peaceful and constitutional remedies, and he referred to none other, to which the States were authori zed to resort, on such occasions, he concludes by saying, "that the legislatures of the States might have made a direct representation to Congress with a view to obtain the rescinding of the two offensive acts.-d - r they might have represented to their respective Senator in Con gress their wish that tiro-thirds thereof would propose an explanntory amendment, o the Co nstitution, or two-thirds of themselves, if such had been their option, might, by an applies,. tion Congress, have obtained*" Convention for the same object." - This is the very course which I earnestly re commend in order to obtain an fiexpleastory amendment" of the Constitution on the the subject slavery. This might originate with Con gress or the State Legislatures, as maybe deem:. ed most advisable to attain thenbject. The ex p lana tory - amenament-Might be con finedo to the Anal settlement. of the ia-nocon strugtion.of_the Constitaitthree-apecial 1. AA express reCOvarop i ,of the right property in maces in the :States wi; exists or may hereafter exibt. 2 The duty of protecting this rigid. the common territories thioughout ti: ; 4 - ritorial existence, and until thiy • raffled as States into the L'ni at, with ct out slavery, 118 their ccmititutions scribe. 3 A like recognition of th© right master to have his slave, who has a.scar..! ono State to another, restored oral op" to him, and of the validity of the slave law enacted fcr this pur r with a declaration that all State laws or defeating this right are violati, 1., Constitution, and are conscquectiy void. It may be objected that this eur.stl the Constitution has already been s,:tt; Supreme. Court of the United ;States. ,t , .. 1 more ought to be required. Tor a , that a very large proportion of the United States still contest thec ri„ , tbit decision, sad never will cease 1., tion and admit its binding lorce uutl. established by the people o' 6c• l ! ,•‘; in their sovereign character. such , , tory amendment would, it is believ., terminate the existing dissensions t peace and harmony among the States It ought not to be doubted that bt: peal to the arbitrayment establi,hui Constitution itself would be receive i w, t • - by all the States of the Confederacy event it ought to be tried in a spirit Hatton before any of those States 1. ii,t themselves from the Union. Whet I entered upon tho duties of L, 1