EREIRL ER, EDITOR AND , PROPRIETOR.
u-VOL, XIX.-2541
113 1 *The fedowins liriei titF^aZ Porrester, se
.
coMpeuleil the genuine /tit hi' the Maulmain
irra).Pteek of tin birth ditniliter :
•' StY -911t0'
Ere but yeit'• moan hog left the sky,
. A kirdiing . E•eght my„lnthaei:seet,
Anti fokjea, oh let hiehigiy . !
Her tiny wings *Pon my knot.
From morn to evening's purple tinge,
' lo,wicuteme , b l l l Pllollneaostut lls ' •
Tyro rosy, kaves ,with a silken fringe
• khan sOttly oci her starry eyes. •
There!* not in Ind is, levtisr pint ' • •
Broad earth owns sots happier . nest;
4:10h: EllocVtfidu had a fountain stirred.
'.."_Whosk.waters never.mostahallteatt
•
Thls beautiful,mYsterious
Thht seeming visitant from heaven,
'Thie l bind, writs die immortal wing,
To me—to me, thy hand bath giten,
The pulse first caught it" tiny stroke.
The blood its crimson hue; trim mine;
.'Tho life arhieh ['hive dhred invoke,
Hartoeforth is'parallat with thine. •
' Sihmt *wills in toy roam—
I tretnitte with'ttelicious fear; '
• The future, with delight anti gloom,
Time and eternity, Sr. here. .
Doubt. ! —hapes, In etre tumult rise;
Hear, oh my God, one earnest prayer;
Room for my hind in Parodied%
Anil gietr her angel plumage there !,
• FREE SOIL VS. SLAVERY.
GREAT SPEECH
Against the Oompromise BUL
DELIVERED IN TD E UNITED STATES •[EATS
MOSDIY,JULT 21, 1848
( Conrlnikrl.)
What is there in the way, then, of my
giving in intelligent vote on this subject ?
Nothing it •at all. I would take this hill
in a moment, if I had faith in the processes
through•whieh that law is to pass until it
become' a laW in the Chamber below.—
Hut I hay.a not that faith, and I. will tell the
gesidamen why. It is a sad commentary
on the perfection , cf human . reason, that
with but few exceptions, gentlemen Cool
ing from a slave State—and f think I have
one behind me who ought to be bef o re me
—[Mr. Badger,) with a very few excep
tions, all eminent lawyers on this floor
from that section of the country, have ar
gued that you have no right to prohibit the
introduction of Slaver• into Oregon, Cali
fornis, and New Mexico ; while, on the
other baud, there is not a M 3114 with few
exceptions, (and some highly respectable)
in the free States, learned or unlearned,
clerical or lay, who has any pretensions to
Legal knowledge, but believes in his con
sicience that you have a right to prohibit
Slavery. Is that nut a curious commen
tary upon that wonderful thing called human
reason ?
Mr. UND6:RWOOD. It is regulated by a
line!
Mr. Coals's. Yes, by 30 deg. 30 min.,
and what is black on one side of the line is
white on the other, turning to jet black a
gain when restored to its original lo
cality. How is that? Can I have con
fidence is the Supreme Court of the
United State, when my confidence fails in
See:mars around ate here t Do I expect
ant She members of that body will herniae
careful than the Senators front Georgia
and South Carolina to form their opinions
without any regard to selfish considera
tions? Can I suppose that either of these
. getitleinen, or the gentleman from Georgia
on the other side of the chamber, [ , Mr.
Johnson.] or the learned Senator from
Mississippi, [Mr. Davis,] who thought it
exceedingly wrong that we should attempt
to restrain the Almighty in the execution
of His purposes, as revealed to us by No-
I suppose that these Senators,
with all the terrible responsibilities which
press upon us when engaged in legislating
for a whole empire, Caine to their (*inclu
sions without the most anxious delibera
tion ? And yet, on one side of the line,in
the Stave Stoles, the Constitution reads
yea, while on the other, after the exercise
.sof an equal degree of intelligence. calmness
rind deliberation, in the free States the
Conatitution is made to read nay.
I admire the Supreme Court of the
States as a tribunal. I admire the wis
dbm which contrived it. I rejoice in the
good clansequeitees to this Republic from
the exercise of its functions. I also re
vere, the Senate of the U. States. Here is
the most august body in The world, they
_say, composed of men who have wasted
the midnight oil hum year to year—men
in cloisters.. in courts, in legislative
been reaping the fruits of ripe
.. experiettee.-and-suddeiityllieir mighty in
tellects, able to scan every thing, however
minute, and comprehend everything, how
eier' trend; Utterly fail them, and they
kneel down 'hi dumb ingniticanise; and itn
filtirSlite Supreme Court to read the Con
atituthin for them. I think the Settitor
horn-South Carolina must have had some
new lightupon the subject within the last
tivr:yeats; and that several of my demo.
.watic Mends op all sides of. the .Chember
mturhorbeen smitten - with new love foe
the,puwer and,,wisdom of the Supreme
4.lttuvt.. You may rembember the case ad
rertocl to by the *nator from N. Jersey
bathiy. I recollect very wolf when we
.did not stop to inqPire how the Sup reme
cOtirt . had ordained. It bad decided, with
John Marshall at its head—a man whose
lightest conjectures upon the subject of
constitutional law have always had with
me as much weight as the well-con
sidered opinion of almost any other
.10iinthat Congress had power to es
• labile!' just such a bank as you had ; but
• with what infinite scorn did Democratic
Alcatlemen—Jackson Democrats as they
chose to be called—curl their lips when
*furred to that decision of the Supreme
Court. Then theca) , was," We aro udgea
lbr ourselves ; we make no law unless we
-have no !olive!' to enact it. . Now, how-'
ever, the doctrine is, that here is the only
tribunal competent to put the matter at rest
• forever. We are to than k'G od, that though •
MR 'should fail, there is an infallible dcpos-
itory of truth, and it lives once a year for
three atontha, in a little chamber below us !
IYe can go there. Now I understand my
duty bare to be to ascertain what constitu
tional power we have ; and when I have as-
certaineff that. I .act without refbrenee to
what the Supreme Court may do-...f0r
they have yet 'furnished no guide on the
subject4-we are to take it tar granted that
they will concur with us. I agree with
gentlemen who have been so lofty in their
encomiums upon that Court, diet their de
eldion, "whether right or "Wrcirle, - Contrale
our action. But we have not hitherto en
deavored to aseertaio what the. Supreme
Court would do. I wish next to ascertain
in what meaner this wonderful response is
to , be obtained—not frotq, the Delphic Or
sele,-but'front that infalible' divinity, the
Supreme Court. Hoar is Wu) be done 1
A gentleman starts from Baltimore, in Ma
rYlittal; With - tiduzerblack hien:who have
been slaves; he takes them to California,
3AOO made off. Now, I dont:know how
it may be in Other parts of the World, but I
know that in the State of Ohio we 'do not
travel 3,000 miles to. get justice. What,
then, is the admirable contrivance in this
baby which we can got at the meaning
Of the Constitution 1 It seems the Mean
ing, Of the Constitution is to bo forever hid , -
den from us until light 'shall be giveu by
the Supreme Court. Sir, this bill seems
to me a rich and rare legislative curiosity.
It does not: enact "a law," which I had
supposed the usual ruction of legislation.—
No, sir; it only malacca lawsuit."—
So we virteally enact that, when the Su
preme Coitit say we can make law, then .
We have Made it!
But sir, to have a fair trial of this ques
tion, so as to make it effectual to keep
slaves out of our Territories, all must ad
mit this trial should be had before slaves
become numerous there. If Slavery goes
there and remains theraor one year, ac
cording to alt experience, it is eternal.—
Let it but plant its roots there,and the next
thing you will hear will be earnest appeals
about the rights of property. It will be
said: "The senate did not say we had no
right to come here. The House of Rep
resentatives, a body of gentlemen elected
from all parts of the country, on account
of their sagacity and legal attainments, did
not prohibit us front comingliere. I the - tight
I had a right to come here: the Senator
from South Carolina said I had I right to
come ; the Hon. Senator from Georgia
said I had a right to come here ; his col
league geld it was a right secured - to me'
somewhere high up in the clouds, and not
belonging to tire world ; the Senator from
Mississippi said it was the ordinance of
Heaven, sanctified by decrees and reveal
ed through prophecy—am I not, then, to
enjoy the privileges thus so fully secured
to me 1 I have property here ; several of
my women have borne children, who have
parrot sequitur ventrem borne with them :
they are my property." Thus the appeal
will be made to their fellow-citizens around
them; antlit will be asked whether you
are prepared to strike down the property
which the settler in those territories has
acquired 1 That will be the case, unless
the negm from Baltimore, when he gets
there and sees Peons there—slaves not by
hereditary taint, but by a much better title
—a verdict before a justice of the peace—
should determine to avail himself of die ad
mirable facilities afforded him by this bill
for gaining his freedom. Suppose my
friend from New Hampshire, when he
goeC home, gets up a meeting and collects
a fund for the purpose of sending a mis
sionary after these men ; and when the
missionary arrives there, he proposes to
hold a prayer meeting ; he gets up a meet
ing. as they used to do in Yankee times,
•.for the improvement of gifts." Ile goes
to the negro quarterof this gentleman from
Baltimore, and says : "Come, I want this
brother; it is true he is a son of Ham. but
I want to instruct him that he is free." I
am very much inclined to think that the
missionary would fare very much as one
did in South Coolies, at the hands of him,
from, Baltimore. This bill supposes that
the negro is to start all at once into a free
Anglo-Saxon in California—the blood of
liberty flowing in every vein, and its divine
impulses throbbing in hie heart. ` Ile is to
say ; am free ;lam a Calico:indent
bring the right of habeas corpus with me."
At last he is brought upon a writ of hab
eas corpus—before whom I , 'Very likely
One of those gentlemen who Have been pro
elairtiiitg that Slavery has a right to go
there; for such are the men that Mr. Polk
is likely to appoint. On the faith of his
opinion the slave - has been prought there
—'what can he,do i There is his record
ed judgment printed in your Congressiopal
Report—what will be say 1 "Yoh are a
slave. Mr. Calhoun was tight. Judge
Berrien, 'of Georgia, a profinind lawyer.
where - I well knew. was right. I knots , '
thesigentlemen well I their opinion is en
titled th the highest authority ; and; In the
face of it. it does not become Me to say
that you , are free--se,boy,go to yourmat.;
ter; you belong to the chum pedal- sequi
tur, ventreot%; you are not 'quite enough of
a Saxon I" What, then, is to be done by
this bill.? • Oh 1 a writ of error or appeal
can some to the Suprethe Court of the U.'
States.. How 1 The. negro, Wile is to
be treated-like a-white man, taking out an
appeal, moat giro bonds in double the value'
of thosuNect matter in dispute. And what
is that ?' If you consider it the mercan
tile value of thia•negro. it may be. perhaps.
$l,OOO or $2,000. But he cannot have
the appeal, according to this bill, unless the
value of the thing in controversy - amounts
to $2,000. But, then, there ‘ ccuelptathis
ideality of personal liberty. 'Whitt is it
worth 1 Nothing at all—says the . Sen
ator from South Carolina—to this fellow,
who is better without it. And under this
complexity of legal quibbling and litigation,
it is expected that the negro will stand
there and contend with his roaster, and,
corning on to Washington, will prosecute
his appeal two years before the Supreme
Court, enjoying the opportunity of vesting
his old friends about . Baltimore ! [Laugh-.
ter. ]
And now, Mr; President, if we have
found upon the opinions of wise forme of
I old, upon the observations of past and pre
sent time, that involuntary slavery is not
useful, profitable, or beneficial to either
'mister or slave, that such institutions only
become tolerable, because, when long es
tablished, the evil is less then those cense
quences which; would follow their budded
GETTYSBVIIG, PA, PRIDAUYENiNG, StrtERBEI 1, 1848.
shange,l think it will be admitted , that we
ahould prohibit involuntary servitude-in
the territories over which ; We have control.
klrrep then, the question,arises. have..WP
thin prohibitory' power I have already.
said, dint where the Supreme,Peuripf the
United States has solemnly adjudged any
Power to belong tie 'any bran& of this gov
ernment, such adjudi eatien should, until o
verruled. have greatif not controlling Weight-
With Cougress. What, then, are the ad
judications of that Court upon this point?
1 quote from the ease so often referred to,
American Insurance Company vs.;.Carter,
(let Peter's Reports:page 515.) On page
542 of that case, the Cain .say : "The
-Constitution - , eonfers--Atheolettely--onthe
Government of the Union the- power) of
making war, and. of making treaties. COG
sequently, that Coveromant possesses the
power of acquiring territory, either bycoss
quest or trusty." Again,n the same
page, the rtight,to make law fora
the power
theaspoken of ; .iperhapa die priwer
of governing a "Territory. of the United
States. whit:lllMS not by booming a State
acquired the Means of , self-government,
may result necessarily from, the . fact that it
iii not within the jurisdiction of any partic
ular State. The right to govern may, be
the inevitable consequence of the riglit.lo
acquire territory ; but 'whichever may be
the source whence the power is derived,
the possession is tinipieationed."
Nothing can be clearer or more Satisfac
tory on this point. While this doctrine
conforms to the plain dictates of reason, it
is satisfactory to know that the principle
has been strengthened by the uniform
practice under the Constitution. The lat
ter class of eases is toe numerous to per
mit even reference to them all. They
have been frequently-adverted to in this de
bate, and therefore I need not again bring
them to the atteution of the Senate. I
therefore find the poWer of Congress to
make law for a territory absolute and un
limited. I have only to consider whether
a law prohibiting Slavery, in a Territory
where Slavery does not already exist, is
sound policy for such Territory.
Now, if we can make auk law whatev
er, not contrary to the express proltibitiona
of the Constitution, we can enact that a
man vvithsoo,ooo worth of hank notes of
Mdrydand shall forfeit the whole amount
if he attempts to pass oueof them,in the
Territory of California. We may say ;if
a man carry a menagerie of wild-beasts
there worth $500,000, and undertakes to
exhibit them there, he shall forfeit them.
The man comes back with his menagerie,
and says that the law forbade him to ex
hibit his animals there ; it was thought
that, as an economical arrangernent,'slich
things should not be tolerated there. That
you may do : he of the lions and tigers
pet hack, having lost 'his Sande concern.
But now you take a slave to California,
and instantly your power fails ; all the
. power of the sovereignty of this country
is impotent to stop him. That is a strange
sort of argument to me. It has always
been considered that when a Slats forms
its Constitution it ran exclude Slavery.—
Why so ! Because it chances to consid
et it an evil. If it be a proper subject of
legislation in a State, and we have abso
lute legislative power, transferred to us by'
virtue of this bloody power of conquest,
as some say, or by purchase as others
maintain, I ask--wiiy may we not net
Again—considering this as an abstract
question—are there not duties devolving
upon us, tor the performance of which we'
may not be responsible to any earthly tri-
bunal,.but for which God who law created
us all will hold us accountable ; What is I
your duty. above all others, to a conquer
ed people ? You say it is your duty to ;
give them a Government—may you not,
then, do everything for them which you
are not forbidden to do by some fundarnen
tal axiomatic, truth at the foundation of
your Constitution ? Show me, then. luivy
your action is precluded, and I submit.--
Though I believe it ought to be otherwise,
yet, if the Conatittitiott of my Critintry for
! bids me, I yield. 'llia Constitution's 'or
many States declare Shivery to be an evil.
Southern gentlemen have' said that they
would have done away with it if possible, •
and they 'have apologized to the world and
to themslies for the existence of it In theirl
States. Those honest old men of another !
day never could have failed to strike WTI
the chains from every negro in the Colin ! '
ies, if it had been possible for . thein to do I
so without upturning the foundations of
society.. .
I do not revive, these ; things,. to 101 4.
the feelings of gentlemen, .1 know some
of them consider this institution as valua;:
bin but many of them, I also know, re•
gard it as an evil. But. Slavery is not in
Oregon, it is not in California ; and-when
1 find that you have trampled doWn'the.
people in order to eitend your dominion'
ever them, I feel it te . 'ho . my ditty,' Whin
you appeal to . me to - make, lairs for them,
and the Supreme Court has said that 1
have the power to do so, to avert from
them this evil of Slavery, and to establish I
free institutions, under which no man can
say that another is his property. 1
'do
nut doubt this power. I know' that it has
beenvonsidered of old, from 1787 till the
present hour, to be vested in Congress,--1
The judicial tribunals. in the West have
considered it so, and the Supreme Court
of the United States have said in that de
cision, so often referred to, that is was so. ,
have they found any restrictions .upon)
us ? No. And what would you do if.;
you were in Oregon to-day, and it were
a State 1 What would you do, and you.
turd you ? Would any man here, if lie
were acting in a legislative capacity, say,
"I feel myself bound to admit this evil in
to the country, - for the benefit of some of ;
the States who are overburdened!' with
slaves."' If this were true, it would be I
the ditty of the free States, in that frater
nal spirit which ought to prevail between
the various States of the Union, to admit'
slaves whenever the Slave States became I
overburdened with them. Do we so act
in legislating for our States ? No ; wa
say, "Enjoy yOur slaves', or free them, as
you will, but it is our wish that there shot?,
be no Slavery here." You may implore
a State, if you will, to take slaves into its
bosom fur your convenience, but. key de
.rE f trii!c , ito ruE.-
, .
not feel tbrimsejvcs had by any Govern
meet oblkution to Ida Am I not, then,
boun4 to Jay thi fopitinne of the; §tate
for Whose suture press I am to be res
ponsible, in the m , WilPhich, I think the
most likely; to prodrhenefieial results
to the people there lkiid when 'I find
myself possessed of powee;'and cloth
i
ed with corn ru ensur respopp,i lity„no
threatsl of ilissofut4 'l' the MU,: no
beardArttiriks he ' there, am : leak if
all that which b it heard Much of
out of - dolina- - -'C Tit 'Presidential - e 4
._ .
tendon, shall .d r ukriity_Vailluitig ihis
eoursei lem e 4 first a 'inf . ,' in the
language of immee of 09711
-would, tinsels. That fillarety_ obeli
never exist ih money. Then, when
my black ma cons to the Supreme
Court Of the itettittatesi as provided
in .this bill, he untawith u ,positive law
in his favor, coa must:overrule the
decision of the , e I;„Peters. or else Melt
appeal must be shoed. Then we will
have, acted upo ealbjett—Wcwill have
forbiddeni Slav observed that some
gentlemencteth added this subject, were_ •
very careful to •, i , withrunphasievthai'
:Slavery way g; he it is not prohibited.
/
That is the, re WI Otero! the Ordinance
of 1787 to the calind.Ciimpromiee Bill.
/ have no dou hat every Senator wbo
assented to tit bill convinced. himself
that; it was. the lt we could pans.. -I have
no douht.that e friends • froth the North '
tholight it weeks) effective. in preventing
Slavery in Al Territories. But I see
that the,Senatuom Sou* Carolina does
not, think so. le support* the bill for
the very retutor it willadMit Slavery;
the Senator fro 7armonti for the reason
that Slavery ia rbidden by it. . Now, in
this coofusieu edema, I desire that Con
greis, if, it have y•, opinion. express it,.
If we have a poorer to legislate. oser
Merle Territorii how long iv mild it take
to write down t ;siith article of the Or
dinance of 1787 -'note of us whattitik
that ought to be udemental law in the err
1
ganization of ' itories wilL vote for it;
and those of me. .11dOve, otherwise, will
vote againet it,. I, :whichever party, ari
umpbs, will give ;to,Oregon and Calder
' .nia, bearing the ousibility. ' But I meat
say, that I do no ke,What appears V nee
—Logy it in uo na ive sense-.--a shut -•
I fling ofthe respo ility, nthichis :upon its
'now. :and which. e.cannoCaveisl. .The
Supreme. Court :overrule our decision;
but if we think have power to ordain
that Slavery shall it exist in that Terri
tory, let us say s • not, let us so decide.
Let us not evade question altogether.
That honoree! miters who reixtrwil
this bill had' its *age •vory much; at
heart, I have no 104'4 nor doll feel dis
posed to dotty that .ery man of them be
lieved that 'ii 4,0 jit such 4 Measure ail
was calculated to ye tranquility to the
agitated minds of ti People of this court =
try. Well, Ido 'scare her that agitation
further than that I ill look to it as a me
i tive to inquire earthly what my powers
land my duties are. I have heard touch of
this—l have been ir self a prophet oldie
solution of this Upn ; but 1 have seen
' the Union of theseltates survive so many
shocks; that I am. it afraid of dies'olution.
Perhaps, indeed, bee this cry •of wo!f
has.been lung disriariled, he .may conic
at last when nut upepted ; :but I do not
believe that, the pipit of the Soutluare
willing to sever thinsilves from thislie‘
public because we mill tot establish Slave
ry hero or there. - ;f te have no power
to pass the Ordinace 41787, let the pee•
ple of the South gold he Supreme. Court,
and have the quesion decided. It will
only be a' fete menial till the Court • re
sumes its session lent and the question
can then be tried.l Ifths decis ion be a
gainst us, the gentlendi of the South can
at once commence their emigration to
these Territories.. lel us then make the
law as we think it ogtt to made now. ,
• 1 ant the more coffitmed in the come
which lam deuermiodto pursue, by some
historical facie elicited ha this
. very deem,.
Dion,. I remember aka* .was laid by thee ,
Senator from Virgiia the other day. .It
is a truth, that - whet, the Constitution of
•the United States ws made, South Caro
i lima and Georgia relied tO"conie into the
1
Union Unlffie the Salve trade should be
' continued for tweittyrbars ; and the North
I I agreed that they weld vom.to 'continue
the Slave trade for niany years ; yes, vo
ted that' this new Republic should. engage
in piracy. and 'munle at ' tbe• Will of two
States! So the hisory: reads:; • and the
condition of the egroment was,•that those
two States should Agee to mime arrange.
mene about twigslaws:. . I do • not
blatneSouth Caroliu and Georgia for this
ti
transaction 'any m than. I tite thosp,
Northern States why shared in it. But
suppose Alia questioe were , now presented
here by any one, Whether we should adopt
the foreign slave 'trap and continue it :for
twenty . years, ,wouk not the whole laud,
turn pale . with Iterrrt, that, in the middle.
of the nineteenth eettury, a citizen of e
fret: community, a nator of the United
States, should dare t. propose the adoption,
of a system thett hasbeen denothinated pi
, racy sled murder, aid is by law punished
by death all over Niristendnin t What
did they do then t They bad the power
to prohibit it; bat, at the command pf
these two States, tiny allowed that to be
introduced into the ..''onstitution, to which
moch of Slavery nov existing in our land
is clearly to be trace?. For who con doubt
that, but for that Solid bargain, SlaVery
would by this timehave disappeared from
all the States then in the Union, with one
or two exceptions ? The nuniber of slaves
in the Cubed State at this period was
übout six hundred thousand ; it is now
three millions. And, just as you extend
the area of Slavery, so you multiply the
difficulties which lie in the way of its ex
termination. It had been infinitely better
that day that South Carolina and Georgia
had remained out of the Union for a while,
rather than that the Constitution should
have been made to sanction the slave trade
fox twenty years. Thu dissolution of the
old Confederation would have been nothing
in comparison with that recognition of pi
racy and murder. 1 can conceive of no
thing in the dark record ef man's enormi
ties, corn the death of Abel down to this
hour, so horriblo.as that of stealing people
from their. own home,. and making them
and their posterity ',laves forever. It iv a
crime which we know hns been visited
With such signal punishment in the hist°.
IV of nations as 'to warrant the belief that
'Hearin itself had interfered to avenge the
wrongs of earth. ' . .
. in thui Characterizing this accursed
traffic, I speak but the common sentiment
of sit mankind. I could not, if I taxed
My feeble intellect to the utmost, denninic'e
it in language ns strong as that uttered by
Thomas Jefferson himself. Nay, more—
the. spirit of that great man descending to
his grandson. in your Virginia Convention.
denoorteed the Slave Trade, as now car
ried on hettreenihe Statei, as being ne lees
infamous than that foreign Shwa Trade
carried on in ships that went down into
the sea. I speak of Thomas Jefferson )
Randolph. If yen would not go to Africa, I
and thettee people California with Mares,
may yeti ncit'perpetuate equal enormities }
here( You take the child from its ino.
ther's i
..bosom—you separate husband and
wife—and you transport them three thou-
iinzioila off to the shores of the,,,Pacitie.
I know that this is a peculiar institution;
and I detail notthat in the hands' of Myth
gentlemen as talk about it here, it may be
made, very attractive. It may be A very
agreeable sight to behold a large company
of dependents. kindly treated by a Menu
lent master, and tolnice the manifestations
of gratitude which they exhibit. But: ill
in my eyes a 'rtiuCh'inore grideful ppeeta.
cle would be Weida patriarch-in theitaine
neighborhood; 'with his deponderits . 'ell
around liim, iterated with all the.amiluitee
of freedom bestowed upon them. by - the
Common Fathett in whine sight; ail .ate
alike precious! ..skis. indeed, u v.ery:*Vo.
peculiar" institution: Am:tooling -.so. , the
aceount of the Senator from Mississippi.
(Mr. Davis.) this.inteitution oshiblits all
that is.most amiable and. beautiful t in , our
auto re- : -.- That :Senator , -drow.s: pioturerse
allold,gree-licatied negrottroniamealeititud
ing the .!'ilagePtta..ef her ;heart: 41 11 1 11 .'1AF I
white child l o ud upend. ,Thia le tr ue, ;
emit - 4 . tilititVinliiir gelid - , remitter . ; iotho u
grateful servant. , But, sir, aillare not such
as theire. • The 'Seeger concealed thi';'
Other side of the - picture;; - and it was ouii'
revealed to di by the mdeklifipieliensien
of the Senator from Florida.. (Mr West-
cott4) who' Wanted • the powM• to send al
patrol all over the country toPrevent'the 1
slaves front rising .to upturn. the order of
society. !hail , almost. belie ved, after hear
ing...the beautiful, romantic, sentimental
narration of LIM Senator from Mississippi,
that „Pod fliad,. lodged, as he .said,., made
this people in Africa,,to some; over here
mid wait .llppll. tie, ( 011_14 kfenalof front,
FlOrida waked ate. up to a recollectten Au
the old doctrines of 'Washington tr!fl,,lef- 1
fersoit,'hy assuring nit thiit 'wherever. that
patriarchal instituuon existeil, a rigid pram!
should be . main mined 'tinnier 6 prerent the,
u prising of the - slave. Sir, it is indeetl'a petl 4 l
liar institution. ; , I know ettsy good men.
who, as maste n i,lio Om' 4! ma an tout oh by the
kindness, equity, and moderetien of their,
rule aadgovernmentof,thekr slivrat het, tit
t i
a bad man, as sometimes happees;aso at
',
himpenS, In possession of uncontrolle d O.:
minion over another, blank or Whiteiiiid
then wrongs follow that tvtieti,
It is; air a troublesome ittatitiititia; if titi,
quires too much 'law, tommuch. force, to
keep nivel:mist and domestic security;;
therefore. .1 do not wish to extetatit *I
these new mules yet feeble'Terrhoriee.
Is it pretended .thetalave labor could he
profitable. in Oregon or Calif/initial e.1)o ,
we expect to grow cotton and sugar -there ? 1
I do not. know that it may not be done
there; for. as the gentleman from New
York has told us, just as you go west.upon
this continent, the line of latitude changes
in temperature, so that you may hive a
very different isothermal• line as you apl.:
preach the Pacific ocean. • But I do net
care se much about' that.. 'Mir objectien
is a radical one to the instituttort, every.
where.. I believe, it there is anytpluce
upon the globe-Which We inhabit-Where*
white , man Winos work.' he has no %nisi
nees•there. -If that 'place is fit only file'
black men to Work, let black emu alone
work there. I do not keel, any -Pater
law fet Mates goed than ihat,
_old oup,
which 'nes announced lit Man idler, the
flist tranegression; that by . the sweat or his
brow he Should earn his' bread, 1 don't
knhw what . business Men: have in the
World, unities - it is to work. if any nem
has no work of lima or hand to do in this
world. /et bun 'get out of it soon. : The
is the only gentleman Who has nothing to
ho but eektind sleep. Hint we dispose of
as Merin as he is fat. Difficult asthe get.
dement of this queedearsemes to some, it
is in may judgment -only, so because we will
notice* at it and treat it as an original
prizpoittion, to be decided by the inflective
its determination may have on the Ter
, ritories themselves. Wo aro ever running
i away front this, and inquiring how it will
'
affect the .. slave States " or the e free
'
Suttee." The only qUestinit mainly to he
considered is, How will this policy affect
.1 the Territories for which I hi* law is in
. tended I Is Slavery a good thing, or is it,
a bad thing, for (~tea t ? With my views
of the subject, I must !outsider it had pulley
to plant Slavery in any soil where I do n o t
find it already growing. I look upon it
as an exotic, that blights with its shade the
soil in which you plant it t therefore, as I
am satisfied of our constitutional power to
prohibit it, so I am equally; eertain it is our
duty to do so.
In the States where law and long usage
have made the slave property, as property
I treat it, It is there, and while there it
should and will receive that protection
' which the Cotisiitution and the good neigh
borhood of the States afford and require at
our hands. But I should he false tomy
best convictions of duty, policy...and right,
if by my vote I should extend it one ucre
beyond its present /unit's. I may be mix.
taken in all this ; bowl* one tlii lig 1a a sane-
fied.;—of the honest conviction of my own
judgement; and no imaginary interrtip-
Lino of the ties which bind the various sec
tion* of the Confederacy. sliall indite° me
me to shrink from these convictions, w hot
ever I am called upon to Ferry them out
into law. ! .
But we urd•told that; *hen OM Consti
tution watsvnatie;tt,tertirlisted etffnin re
lative proportions between the power of
the slave and
,between the power of the
free States. I understand the. Senator
from South Carolina, that we were uhtNr
obligations to preserve forever these rela
tive proportions in the 'Mute way.
Mr. Csmtous, I said' nothihg or die
kind.
Mr. CORWIN. lam very happy to be
undeceived. I understood the Senator to
conceive that this is a question 'of power.
It is not so. It is a question of municipal
law, of civil polity. The men who framed
the Constition never dreamed that there
was to be a conflict of power between the
slave and free States. They never dream
ed that the South was to contend that they
would always be equal in representation
in the Senate to the North. They had no
idea of that equilibrium of poWer of which
we have heard so much. 'Phu circum
stances of that period forbade any sunk
supposition. ',oohing at all the circum•
stances, (and: I have no doubt these far
seeing men regarded them carefully,) you
would have had fourteen free States and
nine slave States. But every man who
had much to do with the foriontidu of the
Constitution expected and desired that
Slavery should be prohibited hi the new
States ; and they even expected to have it
abolished in many of the States where it
existed. They"lnut no idea of coolliet ;
and It the' eltra hthathot in the Smith, as
well as those* the North, mould let the
subject ihine,'We should havC much less
.4 proper, seuienient of the
question.
Wh4e, the ~e ltortne, f itosticiton Aft the
North, it is said, would burst the barriers
of the Uonstitution, and rttah into the slave
Outwit to - enforce their abelition views,
trannlytg oti your laws autl madly over
tereteg, extseng institutioos there, the
South:venni its fiery indignation in wiles
inustueasured reproach, But have South
ern gentlemen considered their position
before the world on this question You
declare the OPittion that Sllavery does not
eititti.i,o,(lregon, California, or New Mex
ico ;c all the immense regions are now, and
for many years, have been free fromlN egro
Slayery. • And now what do the ultra fa
natics of the South ask Sir, they avow
•their-detertiiiio wit to rush into these free
T,erriteries, overturn the social systems
, there „existing, uproot all - establishments
.10011dt:11111.1'nd moulded by an absende of
Slavery, and having thus swept away the
litti,:iter 'free system's, plant there forever
'the aystem of in'.oluntary servitude.
sir, §outhern gentlemen most say 00 more
about the :finance of the North endeavor
ireto uproot your institutions, while you
din example Of thinte fanatics in
y+tine,
traatnieor 'the SOII of this
,
Sir, -- there is no ditrnettee be
.
t w een tile two, (ase", Tne (atm tys 0C Me
i
btit'a miutAtti l ltreeir those of the
North.' l If' tlierit' he any e, it is
only tltl : • 'lto' 6Oatie of the 'North •has
•Pot'liolfea , fat least' in
theory. to enlarge and eittettil 'the bounda
rjep,o(lptinan,(iglits. 'llie.,fanatic.of the
iltrhnirelk tiacelislstent with the !ob.;
•vious mkdetiedee of ,the , , agei,peeke to ex
tend, at
- one sweep, human Wack slavery
over a ebuntry, , new and sparsely nettled,
largaiitteetitnt than moat of the Govern- .
'meets 0f:W.3 , 0a, World. , This does ap
pear to my poor judgement. not merely at
'Wef:lo4,lt• the 4spirit,of the age.: with the
belterepirit, would .savin men in all
agq,k; ; .pity,, mpre-7-1 mue,t 4e. eardoeed if
1 declare it weirs the„ kspeet of absurdity,
itireganee; pail liiierity. Sir, l have spo
keit out sty opinions freely, boldly, but in
nit apirit of unkindness to arty man or any
seetiOn of our cointnim ountry. I know
how widely different are the views of oth
ergentleinen from' mine. I know how
habit, Mier, time, ColOr our thoughts, and
iiitlettilfortn our principles"often." But I
amt. here repeat my belief, that if we
could set about this .business in the spirit
of:those who founded this. Iteptiblie, we
atiould (have no, difficulty in enacting the
aitkillollee of 1787. f Sir, itris best, to re
peat.what they did.- In 1787, they made
the, Constitution. In 1787. they mode
that celebrated Ordinance fur the North
wegt. Sir, this doctrine of free territory
is not newt it is coeval with the Constitu
tion,' born the saute year, of the same pa
rents, and baptised in the seine good old
Relpubliean church. And now, when we
are about'to establish these new Republics,
much larger than the old, why should we
not imitate their example, reenact their
laws, and thus secure to this new Repub•
lic on the Pacific the glory, the prosperity,.
the rational progress, which have shed
such lustre around that founded upon the
shore of the Atlantic 'I •
A Senator who Plies before me (Mr, Fitzgerald)
has with great propriety explained to the deflate
the position in which 1w is plated on this subject,
as conneele..l with his friend, General Casa, not
now a member Of this body. The subject, as
bearing on the opinions and prospects of both
General Cam and General Taylor, has been often
adverted to in this debate. While I am yet on
ray feet, t desire to say a word or two . ini this as.
pert of the debate.
I speak of one absent front this Ultaniber with
every feeling of respect, and with snow reluctance.
It is said, and I believe truly, that lleneral Claes
has, within the last ten years, entertained two
opinions on this subject, the ono in direct conflict
with the other. In other Words, ho has changed
his opinion respecting it. Whereas Ito was at mar
lime in favor of extending the Ordinance of 1787
over all new territory; rime lie denies the power
of Congress to do Iso. Titus it follows that he
would arrest all such . legislation by interposing
his veto. His position or pi twat is fixed. 'Hut,
sir, this facility forming and thronging opinions
in a geutlemau at his time of life, givessonai hope
that in the future he may not obstinately persevere
in his error, :in, one who mi such subjects ran
change in the two past years his opinion, gives
hopetul 'expectation that he may change kirk in
the two years to runic. AsNlajor Dogirld Wm+ ,
ty would say, "Ile will be untenable, ti, reason." I
Ills opinion, it sonic, is, that the whOle subject is
to be given over to tho unlimited discretion of the I
Territorial Legislatures, As to General Taylor a I
prrsition itt te4aol to this arid all like subjeet.t of
dolomite policy, I here declare that if I did not
consider hini pledged by his , published letter' to
Captain Aliison.not to interpose hits vehron suck
subjects of legislation, ho certainly could not get
my vote, nor do' I believe that deny N'orthent
state.
Mr, liucrt:o4i. i would like to he informed
by the Mentitor front Ohio, as he has tektite% ld
Vientind Csm's position, and as be is about to dive
islipport to Taylor s if orur Imo ult
Two t
.)NEW . SERIES-NW V.'
00rienil Taylor's view on the stihja' et ? and 160
his opi nion would be, as expresiwd in hieineses6
to.Uotigresel
Mr. Onnwt'. Icapnut. , ' ..•
Mr. HANN/WAN:, I understand the Senatnr
front Ohio to say, that ii General Taylor week'
interpose a vein open the subject, be would ntitt
into for kiln under any eireuinatances.
Mr. Conwi it. I would not; nor would any
Whig in Ohio, unless indeed We found him op
posed to just such another man who had a great
many bad qualities beside. (A laugh.) But,
aii,l have to say that I do not believe th a t (t ea .
end Taylor could get the electoral role of ii"froe
litate ill America, if it were not 'for the belief that
prevails. that upon thi, auldect, 'es walls upon
any mbar of domestic policy, where •the power o(
(3ungreas had been sanctioned by; the various shil
partments of Government, and atinuiesend in by
the people, he would not, through the splo power,
interfere to crush the free will IA the ticopfc,aa ex
prea,i,l through both branches of Congreter.
I reisiat, sir, that if Connives, having the power
asthilined by the Supreme Court, acted on by
Congress in various cases, as sisnvit by your It
'elation, sanetionen in so many Ways, andAill 4101 V
citeerldlly nequicaced in by the people, 40014
enact the Ordinance of 1787 over again; and Cs.
tend it over the three Territories in question; Mitt
the num in tits White House should iniatfami his
veto, and again and again thrust his puny anti in;
the way of the Legislative power. and arrest fbr a
long time the popular will, I will not say he woul f l
' be impeached, tried, and (if the law trete so) haye
his head brought to the block. Pritience might
in its eihuustion give way to exasperation, and
the tunas of law mid the majesty of judicial total
fall before the summary vengeance of as 'utilized
and insulted. people.
I know very well that the Senate is weary of
This depute. I wish now only to state
our
which will show what his which our breth
ren of the South now demand. If you tape the
area uf the free States and thislavo States authey
exist, and compare them, you will find that the
latter predominate. When the Constitution was
conned, arid when all the territory which you then
had was brought into the 110 ion, the free S f atee
had un 'excess of 100,0101 minute miles over the
slave States; but when you had acquired
[MA, ritlfilla, and 'resits, and added them to' the
Union, unit when you have added the claire of
the rSouth that they will carry their slaves irvt
0(1'4011, New Mexico, arid California, What will
their lac the condition of the free Statist The
slate stscer, will -have one-third more powir iii
sonain of tho United Stater then che free
t4tatea could ever have.
Sir, if this I. to be viewed at all as question of
power, W list I
hose stated would Is: the,epet rn•
,ailt of yielding to the present claim of the
.§0.4414 ;
and this will he the result. nutters yon prohibit the
inuodurtiou of idurery into these territories.. 'Sir,
I have sirs I the working of this tiyittemi ; Pin*
thirty. slave holders among three bundled, inhabb
tams who are not slavelioldera, and they will rualni.
lain their position against the three It undred. ! Let
one man out of 'My he a slaveholder, and he' will
persuade the folly-nine that it is better that the
mitutant should eclat. It is a capital and floatsl
opposed to labor and pi:minty. How this
war may waati in the future. I r will not say ;. but
thus far the former hare ever been an over-match
for the hurler.
. -
But, en, I do not like this view of such a
r, sub-
strength
or
If it were merelycomparison of strength
or contest . for relative power, I could yield Without
squiggle. But I ant called on to lay the founda ,
tions tut society over a vast extent of country, ,
this work be done wisely now, ages unborn ,Will
61e a 11?1, 111111 we 811a111 have done in our day What
ovis.rience approved and duty demanded. 'lf this
work shall be eareles‘ry or badly done,' countless
millions that shall inherit. that vast region will
hereatter remember our fully as their curse ; our
!MIR'S and deeds, instead of praises, shall only
call forth execration and reproach. In the conflict
of present opinions, 1 have listened patiently to all.
Finding myself opposed to some with whom Ihavo
randy ever dillered betine, I hare doubted myself,
rerexamined my conclusions, reconsidered all the
arguments on either side, and I hin still obliged to
adhere to my first nomessions, I may say, my
inag clicristed opiiiious. If I part company
With some here, whom I habitually respect, I still
fund with me the men of the joist, Whom the nations
venerated. I stand upon the ordinance of 17h7.
There the path is marked by ti:.' blood of the Re
volution: I stand in company with the t• 1 en of
'bi," heir lochs wet with the mists of the Jordan
ever which they passed, their garments purple with
the waters of the Red ilea through which they led
us of out, to the land of promise. With them to
peiritthe way, 'however lurk the present, Hope
shines upon the future, and, discerning then-foot
print; in lay path, I shall tread it with unfaltering
trust.
A CIIAPTI:II OF POLITICAL W °smuts.—
Kinie une has quaimily remarked, since
peace has been made, that this has been
the first example of war brgurt iviihout
authority and ended without autho4ty.L—
But this is gritty a part of the wonders which
attend this roost extraordinary s chapter tie
history. Look at these, fur example :
1, The President makes war without the au ,
thoriiy of law, •
2. His A mhassador ends it without his &Whorl
ty, or any authority.
:1. The President of this country permits the a
' blesttlenergls of the enemy to take the etnnumuid:
and tight us as hard as possible.
4.. The General of our forces, who conqueral
the enemy, is arrested in the midst of victories,
and, without ollituce, is tried as a criminal,
5. We propose to pity twenty millions of doll
late for tc. ritoky We have already occupied.
We have the hest lands in the world; and wo
are exceedingly anxious to get at the worst.
A series of contradictions, of hluhders, and for
credible inconsistencies, like these, rotnd, we he ,
litre, be paralleled by any administration in - any
country. Perhaps, if we .hunt up the records-of
King Julio or Henry VI., we may nwasility• thud a
parallel ; but certainly not in this country or in.
any recent 6iaury of Burope.-- , Frioquri.(4)
Contswineciddi. ' '
At.anAma.-4Thu Taylor Ifrottvdttlion 'of
the seventh district has selected Satattelit?;
Rice as the.TANI.OR and FlLt.montr i ele,rtor
of 'that ' ty 34 s thorotpliv
gulne Deinocrai, gOes'elidiii4litatiC'4ly
for 'Pay lor Pilityorir, and ia ,at
work.,
.tiddrotiMito the pewit* tis raiiotts•
parts' ttf the' diStriet;
,
I,ltrfeuiNo.—A 'eolorair tnart ' 6m M'
John Smith, watt tarred and thallrered
Birmingham, t'a., ivearTittsbuirg, tiOWed
nesday night hist, It'it'irnanber . orhis oion
color, becauselre irathrbeit%yed'a ruivitvity
slave from Virginia into tlitt liaird& of Iti:*
master, al? slos ‘ l'u44rtf.
TeNNE:list:T.—The Metylpftii Efigfe
says shtniting friths all.,
her hills, tosamtatits and vallit'ys, for
for liatifieation,puoilgir
are beitig held lit Ott! COLPIIIIV I S F t epPrOYti.
and a tor:natio of 'enthusiast? t.,s, swe, e p ing
(101VIt all remnants of oitistsitimi tre,Gen.,,
Taylor.' 'ln hoe;e of Mr.,
1-'olk, rat im,irCitstt gatheriog ratiiied the
nomirettions—the largest and inost
ttal meeting ever congregated (refit .11tir
hulls and
troth our 'opponents 'EttiottertAtcr
might-as, welt gohniti.;theit , irtttatt a$
in this tight, tuiti shtroarktatildititreetiorress't
for uht 4.4ck,vveo capture mot is/ thee besttt
Pure November,