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SbatTitan ^s^rv ie "Littzmtrntt 
 
 Noted Speeches of 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER 
 
 HENRY CLAY JOHN C. CALHOUN 
 
g^meriian Higtorp in Hiterature 
 
 NOTED SPEECHES 
 
 OF 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER 
 
 HENRY CLAY 
 JOHN C. CALHOUN 
 
 EDITED WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 
 
 BY 
 
 LILIAN MARIE BRIGGS 
 
 Assistant in the New York Public Library 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS 
 
 New York 
 MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 
 
 1912 
 
Copyright, 1912, by 
 
 MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 
 
 New York 
 
 
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 r- 
 
 •f X 
 
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 o c 
 
 . CONTENTS 
 
 i; PAGE 
 
 Biographical Sketch — Webster . . 3 
 
 Bunker Hill Monument Address . . 7 
 
 Reply to Hayne 41 
 
 On the Constitution and the Union . 83 
 
 Biographical Sketch — Calhoun . . 123 
 
 On the Reception of Abolition Peti- 
 tions 126 
 
 On the Slavery Question .... 139 
 
 Biographical Sketcfi — Clay . . .175 
 
 The Compromise of 1850 178 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Daniel Webster . . Facing page 4 
 John C. Calhoun . . . " "124 
 Henry Clay . . . . " "176 
 
/ 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 
 
(C 
 
 Liberty and Union, 
 
 now and forever, 
 
 one and inseparable." 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 Daniel Webster was born in the town of Sal- 
 isbury, New Hampshire, January i8, 1782 — the 
 last year of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 His early years brought him little opportunity 
 for schooling. He attended the small district 
 schools in the winter, more than his brothers, be- 
 cause he was considered too delicate for the farm 
 work, and showed a great eagerness for reading 
 and learning. Daniel had few books, and so 
 read them over and over until he knew them by 
 heart. No doubt the teaching of his experienced 
 father, and his loving, ambitious mother formed 
 the foundation for his education. Part of his 
 time was spent in rambles in the woods and 
 fields, and along the river, where he learned to 
 love nature. In the long winter evenings Dan- 
 iePs father told the children stories of the Revo- 
 lution, the traditions of the Indian wars, and of 
 the hardships of pioneer life. 
 
 When Daniel was fourteen he was sent to Exe- 
 ter Academy, where he remained only a few 
 
 3 
 
4 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 months, proving, however, to be the best scholar 
 in his class. Then for a short time he studied 
 with Dr. Samuel Wood, a minister- in an adjoin- 
 ing town. In August, 1797, before he was six- 
 teen, he entered Dartmouth College, showing 
 himself to be a thoroughly genial companion and 
 a kind, affectionate friend. After the second 
 year he decided to teach school in the winter 
 to help pay his own college expenses, in order 
 that his brother Ezekiel might also prepare 
 himself for college. For one year he edited a 
 small weekly paper to add to his meager in- 
 come. 
 
 Webster's first public speech was a Fourth-of- 
 July oration given during his third year in college 
 at the request of the citizens of Hanover. Upon 
 leaving college in 1801 he commenced the study 
 of law, but soon abandoned it and obtained a 
 school at Fryeburg, Maine; and to enable him 
 to save all of his salary for his brother, who had 
 just entered Dartmouth, he copied deeds to earn 
 money for his personal expenses. The following 
 year he resumed the study of law and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar in Boston in 1805. Daniel 
 wished to be near his father, so went to Bos- 
 cawen, a neighboring village of Salisbury, to com- 
 mence the practice of his chosen profession. His 
 noble, generous father heard his first speech at 
 the bar, but died In 1806. The next year Web- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 
 
 From an old Print 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 5 
 
 ster removed to Portsmouth, where he took a 
 prominent place among lawyers, having a large 
 though not very lucrative practice. 
 
 In 1 8 12 he was elected to Congress from New 
 Hampshire and reelected for the second term. 
 In i8i6 he withdrew from active public service 
 and removed to Boston, to again devote himself 
 to his profession. He first distinguished himself 
 in the celebrated Dartmouth College case. But 
 It was not alone his services to his country which 
 made him conspicuous in all New England; in 
 December, 1820, at the commemoration of the 
 two hundredth anniversary of the landing of the 
 pilgrims, he delivered his famous *' Plymouth 
 Oration.'* Such was his popularity that in 1822 
 he was chosen Congressman from Massachusetts, 
 remaining in the House until 182.8..' 
 
 In 1825 his address delivered at the laying of 
 the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument made 
 him the leading orator of America. Another of 
 his noted addresses is the eulogy upon Adams and 
 Jefferson, who died within a few hours of each 
 other, on July 4, 1826. 
 
 Mr. Webster was United States Senator from 
 1828 to 1841, and again from 1845 to 1850. 
 His wonderful speech of January 26, 1830, " Re- 
 ply to Hayne," is probably where his fame rests; 
 though his last noted speech " On the Consti- 
 tution and the Union," commonly called the 
 
6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 *' March the Seventh " speech, delivered in the 
 Senate, March 7, 1850, was quite as great. 
 
 The eminent statesman left Washington In 
 1852, and retired to his quiet home In Marsh- 
 field, where he died October 24, of the same 
 year. 
 
BUNKER HILL MONUMENT ADDRESS 
 
 Delivered at the Laying of the Corner- 
 stone OF THE Bunker Hill Monument at 
 Charlestown, Mass., June 17, 1825. 
 
 This uncounted multitude before me and 
 around me proves the feeling which the occasion 
 has excited. These thousands of human faces, 
 glowing with sympathy and joy, and from the im- 
 pulses of a common gratitude turned reverently 
 to Heaven in this spacious temple of the firma- 
 ment, proclaim that the day, the place, and the 
 purpose of our assembling have made a deep im- 
 pression on our hearts. 
 
 If, indeed, there be anything in local associa- 
 tion fit to affect the mind of man, we need not 
 strive to repress the emotions which agitate us 
 here. We are among the sepulchers of our fa- 
 thers. We are on ground distinguished by their 
 valor, their constancy, and the shedding of their 
 blood. We are here, not to fix an uncertain date 
 in our annals, nor to draw into notice an obscure 
 and unknown spot. If our humble purpose had 
 never been conceived, if we ourselves had 
 
 7 
 
8 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 never been born, the 17th of June, 1775, would 
 have been a day on which all subsequent history 
 would have poured its light, and the eminence 
 where we stand a point of attraction to the eyes 
 of successive generations. But we are Ameri- 
 cans. We live in what may be called the early 
 age of this great continent ; and we know that our 
 posterity, through all time, are here to enjoy and 
 suffer the allotments of humanity. We see be- 
 fore us a probable train of great events; we know 
 that our own fortunes have been happily cast; 
 and it Is natural, therefore, that we should be 
 moved by the contemplation of occurrences which 
 have guided our destiny before many of us were 
 born, and settled the condition In which we should 
 pass that portion of our existence which God al- 
 lows to men on earth. 
 
 We do not read even of the discovery of this 
 continent, without feeling something of a per- 
 sonal Interest In the event; without being reminded 
 how much It has affected our own fortunes and 
 our own existence. It would be still more un- 
 natural for us, therefore, than for others, to con- 
 template with unaffected minds that Interesting, 
 I may say that most touching and pathetic scene, 
 when the great discoverer of America stood on 
 the deck of his shattered bark, the shades of night 
 falling on the sea, yet no man sleeping; tossed on 
 the billows of an unknown ocean, yet the stronger 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 9 
 
 billows of alternate hope and despair tossing his 
 own troubled thoughts; extending forward his 
 harassed frame, straining westward his anxious 
 and eager eyes, till Heaven at last granted him 
 a moment of rapture and ecstasy In blessing 
 his vision with the sight of the unknown 
 world. 
 
 Nearer to our times, more closely connected 
 with our fates, and therefore still more Interest- 
 ing to our feelings and affections, Is the settlement 
 of our own country by colonists from England. 
 We cherish every memorial of these worthy an- 
 cestors; we celebrate their patience and fortitude; 
 we admire their daring enterprise; we teach our 
 children to venerate their piety; and we are justly 
 proud of being descended from men who have set 
 the world an example of founding civil Institutions 
 on the great and united principles of human free- 
 dom and human knowledge. To us, their chil- 
 dren, the story of their labors and sufferings can 
 never be without interest. We shall not stand 
 unmoved on the shore of Plymouth, while the 
 sea continues to wash it; nor will our brethren 
 In another early and ancient Colony forget the 
 place of Its first establishment, till their river shall 
 cease to flow by it. No vigor of youth, no ma- 
 turity of manhood, will lead the nation to forget 
 the spots where Its Infancy was cradled and de- 
 fended. 
 
lo NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 J But the great event in the history of the conti- 
 nent, which we are now met here to commemo- 
 rate, that prodigy of modern times, at once the 
 wonder and the blessing of the world, is the Amer- 
 ican Revolution. In a day of extraordinary pros- 
 perity and happiness, of high national honor, dis- 
 tinction, and power, we are brought together, in 
 this place, by our love of country, by our admira- 
 tion of exalted character, by our gratitude for sig- 
 nal services and patriotic devotion. 
 
 The Society whose organ I am was formed 
 for the purpose of rearing some honorable and 
 durable monument to the memory of the early 
 friends of American Independence. They have 
 thought that for this object no time could be more 
 propitious than the present prosperous and peace- 
 ful period; that no place could claim preference 
 over this memorable spot; and that no day could 
 be more auspicious to the undertaking, than the 
 anniversary of the battle which was here fought. 
 The foundation of that monument we have now 
 laid. With solemnities suited to the occasion, 
 with prayers to Almighty God for his blessing, 
 and in the midst of this cloud of witnesses, we 
 have begun the work. We trust it will be pros- 
 ecuted, and that, springing from a broad founda- 
 tion, rising high in massive solidity and unadorned 
 grandeur, it may remain as long as Heaven per- 
 mits the works of man to last, a fit emblem, both 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER ii 
 
 of the events In memory of which it is raised, and 
 of the gratitude of those who have reared it. 
 
 /We know, indeed, that the record of Illustrious 
 actions is most safely deposited In the universal 
 remembrance of mankind. We know, that If we, 
 could cause this structure to ascend, not only till 
 it reached the skies, but till it pierced them, its 
 broad surfaces could still contain but part of 
 that which, in an age of knowledge, hath already 
 been spread over the earth, and which history 
 charges Itself with making known to all future 
 times. We know that no inscription on entab- 
 latures less broad than the earth Itself can carry 
 Information of the events we commemorate 
 where it has not already gone; and that no struc- 
 ture, which shall not outlive the duration of letters 
 and knowledge among men, can prolong the 
 memorial. But our object Is, by this edifice, to 
 show our own deep sense of the value and im- 
 portance of the achievements of our ancestors; 
 and, by presenting this work of gratitude to the 
 eye, to keep alive similar sentiments, and to fos- 
 ter a constant regard for the principles of the 
 Revolution. Human beings are composed, not of 
 reason only, but of Imagination also, and senti- 
 ment; and that Is neither wasted nor misap- 
 plied which is appropriated to the purpose of 
 giving right direction to sentiments, and opening 
 proper springs of feeling In the heart. Let 
 
12 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 it not be supposed that our object Is to perpetuate 
 national hostility, or even to cherish a mere mili- 
 tary spirit. It is higher, purer, nobler. We con- 
 secrate our work to the spirit of national in- 
 dependence, and we wish that the light of peace 
 may rest upon it forever. We rear a memorial of 
 our conviction of that unmeasured benefit which 
 has been conferred on our own land, and of the 
 happy influences which have been produced, by the 
 same events, on the general interests of mankind. 
 We come, as Americans, to mark a spot which 
 must forever be dear to us and our posterity. 
 We wish that whosoever. In all coming time, shall 
 turn his eye hither, may behold that the place is 
 not undistinguished where the first great battle of 
 the Revolution was fought. We wish that this 
 structure may proclaim the magnitude and Im- 
 portance of that event to every class and every 
 age. We wish that Infancy may learn the pur- 
 pose of Its erection from maternal lips, and that 
 weary and withered age may behold It, and be 
 solaced by the recollections which it suggests. 
 We wish that labor may look up here, and be 
 proud, in the midst of Its toil. We wish that. In 
 those days of disaster, which, as they come 
 upon all nations, must be expected to come upon 
 us also, desponding patriotism may turn Its eyes 
 hitherward, and be assured that the foundations 
 of our national power are still strong. We wish 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 13 
 
 that this column, rising towards Heaven among 
 the pointed spires of so many temples dedicated to 
 God, may contribute also to produce, in all minds, 
 a pious feeling of dependence and gratitude. We 
 wish, finally, that the last object to the sight of 
 him who leaves his native shore, and the first to 
 gladden him who revisits it, may be something 
 which shall remind him of the liberty and the 
 glory of his country. Let it rise ! let it rise, till 
 it meet the sun in his coming; let the earliest light 
 of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and 
 play on its summit. 
 
 We live in a most extraordinary age. Events 
 so various and so important that they might crowd 
 and distinguish centuries are, in our times, 
 compressed within the compass of a single life. 
 When has it happened that history has had so 
 much to record, in the same term of years, as since 
 the 17th of June, 1775? Our own revolution, 
 which, under other circumstances, might itself have 
 been expected to occasion a war of half a 
 century, has been achieved; twenty-four sovereign 
 and independent States erected; and a general gov- 
 ernment established over them, so safe, so wise, 
 so free, so practical, that we might well wonder 
 Its establishment should have been accomplished 
 so soon, were it not far the greater wonder that 
 it should have been established at all. Two or 
 three millions of people have been augmented to 
 
14 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 twelve, the great forests of the West prostrated 
 beneath the arm of successful Industry, and the 
 dwellers on the banks of the Ohio and the Missis- 
 sippi become the fellow-citizens and neighbors of 
 those who cultivate the hills of New England. 
 We have a comnrerce that leaves no sea unex- 
 plored; navies which take no law from superior 
 force; revenues adequate to all the exigencies of 
 government, almost without taxation; and peace 
 with all nations, founded on equal rights and mu- 
 tual respect. 
 
 Europe, within the same period, has been agi- 
 tated by a mighty revolution, which, while It has 
 been felt In the Individual condition and hap- 
 piness of almost every man, has shaken to the 
 center her political fabric, and dashed against one 
 another thrones which had stood tranquil for ages. 
 On this, our continent, our own example has been 
 followed, and colonies have sprung up to be na- 
 tions. Unaccustomed sounds of liberty and free 
 government have reached us from beyond the 
 track of the sun; and at this moment the do- 
 minion of European power In this continent, from 
 the place where we stand to the south pole, is an- 
 nihilated forever. 
 
 In the meantime, both In Europe and America, 
 such has been the general progress of knowledge, 
 such the Improvement In legislation. In commerce, 
 In the arts. In letters, and, above all, in liberal 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 15 
 
 ideas and the general spirit of the age, that the 
 whole world seems changed. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding that this Is but a faint ab- 
 stract of the things which have happened since 
 the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, we are but 
 fifty years removed from It; atad we now stand 
 here to enjoy all the blessings oTour own condi- 
 tion, and to look abroad on the brightened pros- 
 pects of the world, while we still have among us 
 some of those who were active agents in the scenes 
 of 1775, and who are now here, from every quar- 
 ter of New England, to visit once more, and under 
 circumstances so affecting, I had almost said so 
 overwhelming, this renowned theater of their 
 courage and patriotism. 
 
 Venerable men, you have come down to us 
 from a former generation. Heaven has bounte- 
 ously lengthened out your lives, that you might be- 
 hold this joyous day. You are now where you 
 stood fifty years ago, this very hour, with your 
 brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to shoulder, 
 in the strife for your country. Behold, how al- 
 tered! The same heavens are Indeed over your 
 heads; the same ocean rolls at your feet; but all 
 else how changed ! You hear now no roar of hos- 
 tile cannon, you see no mixed volumes of smoke 
 and flame rising from burning Charlestown. The 
 ground strewed with the dead and the dying; the 
 
i6 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 impetuous charge; the steady and successful re- 
 pulse; the loud call to repeated assault; the sum- 
 moning of all that is manly to repeated resistance; 
 a thousand bosoms freely and fearlessly bared in 
 an instant to whatever of terror there may be in 
 war and death; — all these you have witnessed, 
 but you witness them no more. All is peace. The 
 heights of yonder metropolis, its towers and roofs, 
 which you then saw filled with wives and children 
 and countrymen in distress and terror, and looking 
 with unutterable emotions for the issue of the com- 
 bat, have presented you to-day with the sight of its 
 whole happy population, come out to welcome and 
 greet you with a universal jubilee. Yonder proud 
 ships, by a felicity of position appropriately lying 
 at the foot of this mount, and seeming fondly to 
 cling around it, are not means of annoyance to 
 you, but your country's own means of distinction 
 and defense. All is peace; and God has granted 
 you this sight of your country's happiness, ere you 
 slumber in the grave. He has allowed you to be- 
 hold and to partake the reward of your patriotic 
 toils; and he has allowed us, your sons and coun- 
 trymen, to meet you here, and in the name of the 
 present generation, in the name of your country, 
 in the name of liberty, to thank you ! 
 )^ But, alas! you are not all here! Time and the 
 sword have thinned your ranks. Prescott, Put- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 17 
 
 nam, Stark, Brooks, Read, Pomeroy, Bridge ! our 
 eyes seek for you in vain amid this broken band. 
 You are gathered to your fathers, and live only 
 to your country In her grateful remembrance and 
 your own bright example. But let us not too 
 much grieve, that you have met the common fate 
 of men. You lived at least long enough to know 
 that your work had been nobly and successfully ac- 
 complished. You lived to see your country's In- 
 dependence established, and to sheathe your 
 swords from war. On the light of Liberty you 
 saw arise the light of Peace, like 
 
 " another morn, 
 Risen on mid-noon;" 
 
 and the sky on which you closed your eyes was 
 cloudless. 
 
 '"But, ah! Him! the first great martyr In this 
 great cause ! Him ! the premature victim of his 
 own self-devoting heart! Him! the head of our 
 civil councils, and the destined leader of our mili- 
 tary bands, whom nothing brought hither but the 
 unquenchable fire of his own spirit! Him! cut 
 off by Providence In the hour of overwhelming 
 anxiety and thick gloom; falling ere he saw the 
 star of his country rise; pouring out his generous 
 blood like water, before he knew whether it would 
 fertilize a land of freedom or of bondage!—^ 
 
i8 NOTED SPEECHES OR 
 
 how shall I struggle with the emotions that stifle 
 the utterance of thy name ! * Our poor work 
 may perish; but thine shall endure! This monu- 
 ment may molder away; the solid ground It rests 
 upon may sink down to a level with the sea; but 
 thy memory shall not fail ! Wheresoever among 
 men a heart shall be found that beats to the trans- 
 ports of patriotism and liberty, Its aspirations 
 shall be to claim kindred with thy spirit ! 
 
 But the scene amidst which we stand does not 
 permit us to confine our thoughts or our sym- 
 pathies to those fearless spirits who hazarded or 
 lost their lives on this consecrated spot. We have 
 the happiness to rejoice here in the presence of a 
 most worthy representation of the survivors of the 
 whole Revolutionary army. 
 
 Veterans, you are the remnant of many a well- 
 fought field. You bring with you marks of honor 
 from Trenton and Monmouth, from Yorktown, 
 Camden, Bennington, and Saratoga. Veterans 
 OF HALF A century, when In your youthful days 
 you put everything at hazard in your country's 
 cause, good as that cause was, and sanguine as 
 youth Is, still your fondest hopes did not stretch 
 onward to an hour like this ! At a period to which 
 you could not reasonably have expected to arrive, 
 at a moment of national prosperity such as you 
 
 * Joseph Warren. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 19 
 
 could never have foreseen, you are now met here 
 to enjoy the fellowship of old soldiers, and to re- 
 ceive the overflowings of a universal gratitude. 
 
 But your agitated countenances and your heav- 
 ing breasts Inform me that even this is not an un- 
 mixed joy. I perceive that a tumult of contending 
 feelings rushes upon you. The images of the 
 dead, as well as the persons of the living, present 
 themselves before you. The scene overwhelms 
 you, and I turn from it. May the Father of all 
 Mercies smile upon your declining years, and bless 
 them! And when you shall here have exchanged 
 your embraces, when you shall once more have 
 pressed the hands which have been so often ex- 
 tended to give succor In adversity, or grasped in 
 the exultation of victory, then look abroad upon 
 this lovely land which your young valor defended, 
 and mark the happiness with which it is filled; yea, 
 look abroad upon the whole earth, and see what a 
 name you have contributed to give to your coun- 
 try, and what a praise you have added to freedom, 
 and then rejoice in the sympathy and gratitude 
 which beam upon your last days from the im- 
 proved condition of mankind. 
 
 The occasion does not require of me any partic- 
 ular account of the battle of the 17th of June, 
 1775, nor any detailed narrative of the events 
 which immediately preceded It. These are famil- 
 iarly known to all. In the progress of the great 
 
20 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 and Interesting controversy, Massachusetts and 
 the town of Boston had become early and marked 
 objects of the displeasure of the British Parlia- 
 ment. This had been manifested in the act 
 for altering the government of the Province, and 
 In that for shutting up the port of Boston. Noth- 
 ing sheds more honor on our early history, 
 and nothing better shows how little the feelings 
 and sentiments of the Colonies were known or 
 regarded In England, than the Impression which 
 these measures everywhere produced In America. 
 It had been anticipated, that while the Colonies 
 in general would be terrified by the severity of 
 the punishment Inflicted on Massachusetts, the 
 other seaports would be governed by a mere spirit 
 of gain; and that, as Boston was now cut off from 
 all commerce, the unexpected advantage which 
 this blow on her was calculated to confer on other 
 towns would be greedily enjoyed. How misera- 
 bly such reasoners deceived themselves! How 
 little they knew of the depth, and the strength, 
 and the Intenseness of that feeling of resistance to 
 illegal acts of power, which possessed the whole 
 American people ! Everywhere the unworthy 
 boon was rejected with scorn. The fortunate 
 occasion was seized, everywhere, to show to the 
 whole world that the Colonies were swayed by no 
 local Interest, no partial Interest, no selfish Inter- 
 est. The temptation to profit by the punishment 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 21 
 
 of Boston was strongest to our neighbors of Sa- 
 lem. Yet Salem was precisely the place where 
 this miserable proffer was spurned, In a tone of the 
 most lofty self-respect and the most indignant pa- 
 triotism. " We are deeply affected," said its in- 
 habitants, " with the sense of our public calami- 
 ties; but the miseries that are now rapidly 
 hastening on our brethren in the capital of the 
 Province greatly excite our commiseration. By 
 shutting up the port of Boston some imagine that 
 the course of trade might be turned hither and to 
 our benefit; but we must be dead to every idea of 
 justice, lost to all feelings of humanity, could we 
 indulge a thought to seize on wealth and raise 
 our fortunes on the ruin of our suffering neigh- 
 bors." These noble sentiments were not confined 
 to our immediate vicinity. In that day of general 
 affection and brotherhood, the blow given to Bos- 
 ton smote on every patriotic heart from one end 
 of the country to the other. Virginia and the 
 Carolinas, as well as Connecticut and New Hamp- 
 shire, felt and proclaimed the cause to be their 
 own. The Continental Congress, then holding 
 its first session in Philadelphia, expressed its sym- 
 pathy for the suffering inhabitants of Boston, and 
 addresses were received from all quarters, assur- 
 ing them that the cause was a common one, 
 and should be met by common efforts and common 
 sacrifices. The Congress of Massachusetts re- 
 
22 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 sponded to these assurances; and In an address to 
 the Congress at Philadelphia, bearing the official 
 signature, perhaps among the last, of the Immortal 
 Warren, notwithstanding the severity of Its suffer- 
 ing and the magnitude of the dangers which 
 threatened it, it was declared that this Colony " is 
 ready, at all times, to spend and to be spent in the 
 cause of America." 
 
 But the hour drew nigh which was to put pro- 
 fessions to the proof, and to determine whether 
 the authors of these mutual pledges were ready 
 to seal them in blood. The tidings of Lexington 
 and Concord had no sooner spread, than it was uni- 
 versally felt that the time was at last come for 
 action. A spirit pervaded all ranks, not transient, 
 not boisterous, but deep, solemn, determined, — 
 
 "Totamque infusa per artus 
 Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet." * 
 
 War on their own soil and at their own doors, was, 
 indeed, a strange work to the yeomanry of New 
 England; but their consciences were convinced of 
 its necessity, their country called them to it, and 
 they did not withhold themselves from the peril- 
 ous trial. The ordinary occupations of life were 
 abandoned; the plow was stayed in the unfinished 
 furrow; wives gave up their husbands, and 
 
 * " And a Mind, diffused throughout the members, gives energy to the 
 whole mass, and mingles with the vast body." 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 23 
 
 mothers gave up their sons, to the battles of a 
 civil war. Death might come in honor, on the 
 field; it might come, in disgrace, on the scaffold. 
 For either and for both they were prepared. The 
 sentiment of Quincy was full in their hearts. 
 " Blandishments," said that distinguished son of 
 genius and patriotism, " will not fascinate us, nor 
 will threats of a halter intimidate; for, under God, 
 we are determined, that, wheresoever, whensoever, 
 or howsoever, we shall be called to make our exit, 
 we will die free men." 
 
 The seventeenth of June saw the four New 
 England Colonies standing here, side by side, to 
 triumph or to fall together; and there was with 
 them from that moment to the end of the war, 
 what I hope will remain with them forever, — 
 one cause, one country, one heart. 
 
 The battle of Bunker Hill was attended with 
 the most important effects beyond its immediate 
 results as a military engagement. It created at 
 once a state of open, public war. There could 
 now be no longer a question of proceeding against 
 individuals, as guilty of treason or rebellion. 
 That fearful crisis was past. The appeal lay to 
 the sword, and the only question was, whether 
 the spirit and the resources of the people would 
 hold out till the object should be accomphshed. 
 Nor were its general consequences confined to our 
 own country. The previous proceedings of the 
 
24 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 Colonies, their appeals, resolutions, and addresses, 
 had made their cause known to Europe. With- 
 out boasting, we may say, that In no age or 
 country has the public cause been maintained^ 
 with more force of argument, more power of Illus- 
 tration, or more of that persuasion which excited 
 feeling and elevated principle can alone bestow, 
 than the Revolutionary state papers exhibit. 
 These papers will forever deserve to be studied, 
 not only for the spirit which they breathe, but for 
 the ability with which they were written. 
 
 To this able vindication of their cause, the Col- 
 onies had now added a practical and severe proof 
 of their own true devotion to It, and given 
 evidence also of the power which they could 
 bring to Its support. All now saw, that If America 
 fell, she would not fall without a struggle. Men 
 felt sympathy and regard, as well as surprise, when 
 they beheld these Infant states, remote, unknown, 
 unaided, encounter the power of England, and, 
 in the first considerable battle, leave more of their 
 enemies dead on the field. In proportion to the 
 number of combatants, than had been recently 
 known to fall In the wars of Europe. 
 
 Information of these events, circulating 
 throughout the world, at length reached the ears 
 of one who now hears me.* He has not forgot- 
 ten the emotion which the fame of Bunker Hill, 
 
 " The Marquis de Lafayette. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 25 
 
 and the name of Warren, excited in his youthful 
 breast. 
 
 Sir, we are assembled to commemorate the es- 
 tablishment of great public principles of liberty, 
 and to do honor to the distinguished dead. The 
 occasion Is too severe for eulogy of the living. 
 But, sir, your interesting relation to this country, 
 the peculiar circumstances which surround you and 
 surround us, call on me to express the happiness 
 which we derive from your presence and aid In 
 this solemn commemoration. 
 
 Fortunate, fortunate man! with what measure 
 of devotion will you not thank God for the 
 circumstances of your extraordinary hfe! You 
 are connected with both hemispheres and with 
 two generations. Heaven saw fit to ordain 
 that the electric spark of hberty should be 
 conducted, through you, from the New World 
 to the Old; and we, who are now here to 
 perform this duty of patriotism, have all of us 
 long ago received It In charge from our fa- 
 thers to cherish your name and your virtues. 
 You will account it an Instance of your good for- 
 tune, sir, that you crossed the seas to visit 
 us at a time which enables you to be present at this 
 solemnity. You now behold the field, the renown 
 of which reached you in the heart of France, and 
 caused a thrill in your ardent bosom. You see 
 the lines of the little redoubt thrown up by the In- 
 
26 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 credible diligence of Prescott; defended, to the 
 last extremity, by his lion-hearted valor; and within 
 which the corner-stone of our monument has 
 now taken Its position. You see where Warren 
 fell, and where Parker, Gardner, McCleary, 
 Moore, and other early patriots fell with him. 
 Those who survived that day, and whose lives 
 have been prolonged to the present hour, are now 
 around you. Some of them you have known in 
 the trying scenes of the war. Behold! they now 
 stretch forth their feeble arms to embrace you. 
 Behold! they raise their trembling voices to in- 
 voke the blessing of God on you and yours for- 
 ever. 
 
 Sir, you have assisted us In laying the foundation 
 of this structure. You have heard us rehearse, 
 with our feeble commendation, the names of de- 
 parted patriots. Monuments and eulogy belong 
 to the dead. We give then this day to Warren 
 and his associates. On other occasions they have 
 been given to your more Immediate companions 
 in arms, to Washington, to Greene, to Gates, to 
 Sullivan, and to Lincoln. We have become re- 
 luctant to grant these, our highest and last honors, 
 further. We would gladly hold them yet back 
 from the little remnant of that Immortal band. 
 *' Seriis in cceliim redeasJ^ "^ Illustrious as are 
 your merits, yet far, O, very far distant be the 
 
 * " Late may you return to heaven." 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 27 
 
 day, when any inscription shall bear your name, or 
 any tongue pronounce its eulogy ! 
 
 The leading reflection to which this occasion 
 seems to invite us, respects the great changes 
 which have happened in the fifty years since the 
 battle of Bunker Hill was fought. And it pecul- 
 iarly marks the character of the present age, that, 
 in looking at these changes, and in estimating their 
 effect on our condition, we are obliged to con- 
 sider, not what has been done in our country only, 
 but in others also. In these interesting times, 
 while nations are making separate and individual 
 advances in Improvement, they make, too, a com- 
 mon progress ; like vessels on a common tide, pro- 
 pelled by the gales at different rates, according to 
 their several structure and management, but all 
 moved forward by one mighty current, strong 
 enough to bear onward whatever does not sink 
 beneath it. 
 
 A chief distinction of the present day is a com- 
 munity of opinions and knowledge amongst men 
 in different nations, existing in a degree hereto- 
 fore unknown. Knowledge has, in our time, tri- 
 umphed, and is triumphing, over distance, over 
 difference of languages, over diversity of habits, 
 over prejudice, and over bigotry. The civilized 
 and Christian world is fast learning the great les- 
 son, that difference of nation does not imply neces- 
 sary hostility, and that all contact need not be war. 
 
28 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 The whole world is becoming a common field for 
 intellect to act in. Energy of mind, genius, 
 power, wheresoever it exists, may speak out in any 
 tongue, and the world will hear It. A great chord 
 of sentiment and feeling runs through two conti- 
 nents, and vibrates over both. Every breeze 
 wafts intelligence from country to country, every 
 wave rolls it; all give it forth, and all in turn re- 
 ceive it. There is a vast commerce of ideas; 
 there are marts and exchanges for Intellectual dis- 
 coveries, and a wonderful fellowship of those in- 
 dividual intelligences which make up the mind and 
 opinion of the age. Mind Is the great lever of 
 all things; human thought is the process by which 
 human ends are ultimately answered; and the dif- 
 fusion of knowledge, so astonishing in the last 
 half-century, has rendered innumerable minds, 
 variously gifted by nature, competent to be com- 
 petitors or fellow-workers on the theater of Intel- 
 lectual operation. 
 
 From these causes, Important improvements 
 have taken place In the personal condition of in- 
 dividuals. Generally speaking, mankind are not 
 only better fed and better clothed, but they are 
 able also to enjoy more leisure; they possess more 
 refinement and more self-respect. A superior 
 tone of education, manners, and habits prevails. 
 This remark, most true In its application to our 
 own country, is also partly true when applied else- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 29 
 
 where. It Is proved by the vastly augmented 
 consumption of those articles of manufacture and 
 of commerce which contribute to the comforts and 
 the decencies of life; an augmentation which has 
 far outrun the progress of population. And 
 while the unexampled and almost incredible use 
 of machinery would seem to supply the place of 
 labor, labor still finds Its occupation and Its re- 
 ward; so wisely has Providence adjusted men's 
 wants and desires to their condition and their ca- 
 pacity. 
 
 Any adequate survey, however, of the progress 
 made during the last half-century In the polite and 
 the mechanic arts, In machinery and manufactures, 
 in commerce and agriculture. In letters and in 
 science, would require volumes. I must abstain 
 wholly from these subjects, and turn for a mo- 
 ment to the contemplation of what has been done 
 on the great question of politics and government. 
 This Is the master topic of the age; and during 
 the whole fifty years It has Intensely occupied the 
 thoughts of men. The nature of civil govern- 
 ment. Its ends and uses, have been canvassed and 
 Investigated; ancient opinions attacked and de- 
 fended; new ideas recommended and resisted, bv 
 whatever power the mind of man could bring to 
 the controversy. From the closet and the public 
 halls the debate has been transferred to the field; 
 and the world has been shaken by wars of unex- 
 
so NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 ampled magnitude, and the greatest variety of 
 fortune. A day of peace has at length succeeded; 
 and now that the strife has subsided, and the 
 smoke cleared away, we may begin to see what 
 has actually been done, permanently changing the 
 state and condition of human society. And, with- 
 out dwelling on particular circumstances, it Is most 
 apparent, that, from the before-mentioned causes 
 of augmented knowledge and improved individ- 
 ual condition, a real, substantial, and important 
 change has taken place, and Is taking place, highly 
 favorable, on the whole, to human liberty and 
 human happiness. 
 
 The great wheel of political revolution began 
 to move in America. Here its rotation was 
 guarded, regular, and safe. Transferred to the 
 other continent, from unfortunate but natural 
 causes, it received an Irregular and violent Im- 
 pulse; it whirled along with a fearful celerity; till 
 at length, like the chariot-wheels in the races of 
 antiquity, It took fire from the rapidity of Its own 
 motion, and blazed onward, spreading conflagra- 
 tion and terror around. 
 
 We learn from the result of this experiment, 
 how fortunate was our own condition, and how 
 admirably the character of our people was calcu- 
 lated for setting the great example of popular 
 governments. The possession of power did not 
 turn the heads of the American people, for they 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 31 
 
 had long been in the habit of exercising a great 
 degree of self-control. Although the paramount 
 authority of the parent state existed over them, 
 yet a large field of legislation had always been 
 open to our Colonial assemblies. They were ac- 
 customed to representative bodies and the forms 
 of free government; they understood the doctrine 
 of the division of power among different branches, 
 and the necessity of checks on each. The char- 
 acter of our countrymen, moreover, was sober, 
 moral, and religious; and there was little in the 
 change to shock their feelings of justice and hu- 
 manity, or even to disturb an honest prejudice. 
 We had no domestic throne to overturn, no privi- 
 leged orders to cast down, no violent changes of 
 property to encounter. In the American Revolu- 
 tion, no man sought or wished for more than to 
 defend and enjoy his own. None hoped for 
 plunder or for spoil. Rapacity was unknown to 
 it; the axe was not among the instruments of its 
 accomplishment; and we all know that it could not 
 have lived a single day under any well-founded 
 imputation of possessing a tendency adverse to the 
 Christian religion. 
 
 It need not surprise us, that, under circum- 
 stances less auspicious, political revolutions else- 
 where, even when well intended, have terminated 
 differently. It is, indeed, a great achievement, it 
 Is the masterwork of the world, to establish 
 
32 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 governments entirely popular on lasting founda- 
 tions; nor is it easy, indeed, to introduce the popu- 
 lar principle at all into governments to which it 
 has been altogether a stranger. It cannot be 
 doubted, however, that Europe has come out of 
 the contest, in which she has been so long en- 
 gaged, with greatly superior knowledge, and, in 
 many respects, in a highly improved condition. 
 Whatever benefit has been acquired is likely to be 
 retained, for it consists mainly in the acquisition 
 of more enlightened ideas. And although king- 
 doms and provinces may be wrested from the 
 hands that hold them, in the same manner they 
 were obtained; although ordinary and vulgar 
 power may, in human affairs, be lost as it has been 
 won; yet it is the glorious prerogative of the em- 
 pire of knowledge, that what it gains it never 
 loses. On the contrary, it increases by the multi- 
 ple of its own power; all its ends become means; 
 all its attainments, helps to new conquests. Its 
 whole abundant harvest is but so much seed wheat, 
 and nothing has limited, and nothing can limit, the 
 amount of ultimate product. 
 
 Under the influence of this rapidly increasing 
 knowledge, the people have begun, in all forms 
 of government, to think, and to reason, on affairs 
 of state. Regarding government as an institution 
 for the public good, they demand a knowledge of 
 its operations, and a participation in its exercise. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 33 
 
 A call for the representative system, wherever it 
 Is not enjoyed, and where there Is already Intel- 
 ligence enough to estimate its value, is persever- 
 ingly made. Where men may speak out, they 
 demand It; where the bayonet Is at their throats, 
 they pray for it. 
 
 When Louis XIV said: "I am the State," 
 he expressed the essence of the doctrine of un- 
 limited power. By the rules of that system, the 
 people are disconnected from the state; they are 
 its subjects, It Is their lord. These Ideas, founded 
 In the love of power, and long supported by the 
 excess and the abuse of it, are yielding, In our age, 
 to other opinions; and the civilized world seems 
 at last to be proceeding to the conviction of that 
 fundamental and manifest truth, that the powers 
 of government are but a trust, and that they can- 
 not be lawfully exercised but for the good of the 
 community. As knowledge Is more and more 
 extended, this conviction becomes more and more 
 general. Knowledge, In truth. Is the great sun 
 in the firmament. Life and power are scattered 
 with all Its beams. The prayer of the Grecian 
 champion, when enveloped In unnatural clouds 
 and darkness, Is the appropriate political suppli- 
 cation for the people of every country not yet 
 blessed with free Institutions: — 
 
 " Dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore, 
 Give me to see, — and Ajax asks no more." 
 
34 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 We may hope that the growing influence of 
 enlightened sentiment avIII promote the permanent 
 peace of the world. Wars to maintain family 
 alliances, to uphold or to cast down dynasties, 
 and to regulate successions to thrones, which have 
 occupied so much room in the history of modern 
 times, if not less likely to happen at all, will be 
 less likely to become general and involve many 
 nations, as the great principle shall be more and 
 more established, that the Interest of the world 
 Is peace, and Its first great statute, that every na- 
 tion possesses the power of establishing a govern- 
 ment for itself. But public opinion has attained 
 also an Influence over governments which do not 
 admit the popular principle Into their organiza- 
 tion. A necessary respect for the judgment of 
 the world operates. In some measure, as a con- 
 trol over the most unlimited forms of authority. 
 It Is owing, perhaps, to this truth, that the interest- 
 ing struggle of the Greeks has been suffered to go 
 on so long, without a direct Interference, either 
 to wrest that country from Its present masters, 
 or to execute the system of pacification by force ; 
 and, with united strength, lay the neck of Chris- 
 tian and civilized Greek at the foot of the bar- 
 barian Turk. Let us thank God that we live in 
 an age when something has Influence besides the 
 bayonet, and when the sternest authority does 
 not venture to encounter the scorching power of 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 35 
 
 public reproach. Any attempt of the kind I have 
 mentioned should be met by one universal burst 
 of indignation; the air of the civilized world 
 ought to be made too warm to be comfortably 
 breathed by any one who would hazard it. 
 
 It is, indeed, a touching reflection, that, while, 
 in the fullness of our country's happiness, we rear 
 this monument to her honor, we look for Instruc- 
 tion In our undertaking to a country which is now 
 in fearful contest, not for works of art or me- 
 morials of glory, but for her own existence. Let 
 her be assured, that she is not forgotten in the 
 world; that her efforts are applauded, and that 
 constant prayers ascend for her success. And 
 let us cherish a confident hope for her final tri- 
 umph. If the true spark of religious and civil 
 liberty be kindled, it will burn. Human agency 
 cannot extinguish it. Like the earth's central 
 fire, it may be smothered for a time; the ocean 
 may overwhelm it; mountains may press it down; 
 but its inherent and unconquerable force will 
 heave both the ocean and the land, and at some 
 time or other, in some place or other, the volcano 
 will break out and flame up to Heaven. 
 
 Among the great events of the half-century, 
 we must reckon, certainly, the revolution of South 
 America; and we are not likely to overrate the 
 importance of that revolution, either to the peo- 
 ple of the country itself or to the rest of the 
 
36 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 world. The late Spanish Colonies, now inde- 
 pendent states, under circumstances less favora- 
 ble, doubtless, than attended our own revolution, 
 have yet successfully commenced their national 
 existence. They have accomplished the great ob- 
 ject of establishing their independence; they are 
 known and acknowledged in the world; and al- 
 though In regard to their systems of government, 
 their sentiments on religious toleration, and their 
 provision for public instruction, they may have 
 yet much to learn, it must be admitted that they 
 have risen to the condition of settled and estab- 
 lished states more rapidly than could have been 
 reasonably anticipated. They already furnish an 
 exhilarating example of the difference between 
 free governments and despotic misrule. Their 
 commerce, at this moment, creates a new activity 
 In all the great marts of the world. They show 
 themselves able, by an exchange of commodities, 
 to bear a useful part in the Intercourse of nations. 
 A new spirit of enterprise and industry begins to 
 prevail; all the great interests of society receive a 
 salutary Impulse; and the progress of information 
 not only testifies to an improved condition, but 
 itself constitutes the highest and most essential 
 improvement. 
 
 When the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, 
 the existence of South America was scarcely felt 
 in the civilized world. The thirteen little colo- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 37 
 
 nies of North America habitually called them- 
 selves the " continent." Borne down by colonial 
 subjugation, monopoly, and bigotry, these vast 
 regions of the South were hardly visible above the 
 honzon. But in our day there has been, as It 
 were, a new creation. The southern hemisphere 
 emerges from the sea. Its lofty mountains begin 
 to lift themselves into the light of Heaven; its 
 broad and fertile plains stretch out, in beauty, to 
 the eye of civilized man, and at the mighty bid- 
 ding of the voice of political liberty the waters of 
 darkness retire. 
 
 And now let us indulge an honest exultation In 
 the conviction of the benefit which the example of 
 our country has produced, and Is likely to pro- 
 duce, on human freedom and human happiness. 
 Let us endeavor to comprehend In all Its magni- 
 tude, and to feel In all Its Importance, the part 
 assigned to us in the great drama of human affairs. 
 We are placed at the head of the system of rep- 
 resentative and popular governments. Thus 
 far our example shows that such governments 
 are compatible, not only with respectability and 
 power, but with repose, with peace, with security 
 of personal rights, with good laws, and a just ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 We are not propagandists. Wherever other 
 systems are preferred, either as being thought 
 better In themselves, or as better suited to exist- 
 
38 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 Ing conditions, we leave the preference to be en- 
 joyed. Our history hitherto proves, however, 
 that the popular form is practicable, and that 
 with wisdom and knowledge men may govern 
 themselves; and the duty incumbent on us is to 
 preserve the consistency of this cheering example, 
 and take care that nothing may weaken its au- 
 thority with the world. If, in our case, the rep- 
 resentative system ultimately fail, popular govern- 
 ments must be pronounced impossible. No 
 combination of circumstances more favorable to 
 the experiment can ever be expected to occur. 
 The last hopes of mankind, therefore, rest with 
 us; and if it should be proclaimed, that our ex- 
 ample had become an argument against the ex- 
 periment, the knell of popular liberty would 
 be sounded throughout the earth. 
 
 These are excitements to duty; but the^ are 
 not suggestions of doubt. Our history and our 
 condition, all that is gone before us, and all that 
 surrounds us, authorize the belief, that popular 
 governments, though subject to occasional varia- 
 tions, -in form perhaps not always for the 
 better, may yet, in their general character, be as 
 durable and permanent as other systems. We 
 know, indeed, that in our country any other is 
 impossible. The principle of free governments 
 adheres to the American soil. It is bedded in it, 
 immovable as its mountains. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 39 
 
 And let the sacred obligations which have 
 devolved on this generation, and on us, sink deep 
 into our hearts. Those who established our lib- 
 erty and our government are daily dropping 
 from among us. The great trust now descends 
 to new hands. Let us apply ourselves to that 
 which Is presented to us, as our appropriate ob- 
 ject. We can win no laurels in a war for inde- 
 pendence. Earlier and worthier hands have 
 gathered them all. Nor are there places for us 
 by the side of Solon, and Alfred, and other found- 
 ers of states. Our fathers have filled them. 
 But there remains to us a great duty of defense 
 and preservation; and there Is opened to us, also, 
 a noble pursuit, to which the spirit of the times 
 strongly invites us. Our proper business is Im- 
 provement. Let our age be the age of improve- 
 ment. In a day of peace, let us advance the arts 
 of peace and the works of peace. Let us develop 
 the resources of our land, call forth its powers, 
 build up its institutions, promote all its great In- 
 terests, and see whether we also, In our day and 
 generation, may not perform something worthy 
 to be remembered. Let us cultivate a true spirit 
 of union and harmony. In pursuing the great 
 objects which our condition points out to us, let 
 us act under a settled conviction, and an habitual 
 feeling, that these twenty-four States are one 
 country. Let our conceptions be enlarged to the 
 
40 DANIEL WEBSTER 
 
 circle of our duties. Let us extend our Ideas 
 over the whole of the vast field In which we are 
 called to act. Let our object be, OUR country, 
 
 OUR WHOLE COUNTRY, AND NOTHING BUT OUR 
 
 COUNTRY. And by the blessing of God, may that 
 country Itself become a vast and splendid monu- 
 ment, not of oppression and terror, but of Wis- 
 dom, of Peace, and of Liberty, upon which 
 the world may gaze with admiration forever. 
 
REPLY TO HAYNE 
 
 Delivered in the United States Senate, January 
 
 26, 1830. 
 
 Mr. President: — When the mariner has been 
 tossed for many days, in thick weather, and on an 
 unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of the 
 first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the 
 sun, to take his latitude, and ascertain how far 
 the elements have driven him from his true course. 
 Let us imitate this prudence, and, before we float 
 farther on the waves of this debate, refer to the 
 point from which we departed, that we may at 
 least be able to conjecture where we now are. I 
 ask for the reading of the resolution. 
 
 [The resolution was then read.] 
 
 We have thus heard, sir, what the resolution 
 is, which is actually before us for consideration; 
 and it will readily occur to every one that it is 
 almost the only subject about which something 
 has not been said in the speech, running through 
 two days, by which the Senate has been now en- 
 tertained by the gentleman from South Carolina. 
 Every topic in the wide range of our public affairs, 
 
 41 
 
42 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 whether past or present — everything, general 
 or local, whether belonging to national politics, 
 or party politics, seems to have attracted more or 
 less of the honorable member's attention, save 
 only the resolution before the Senate. He has 
 spoken of everything but the public lands. They 
 have escaped his notice. To that subject, in all 
 his excursions, he has not paid even the cold re- 
 spect of a passing glance. 
 
 When this debate, sir, was to be resumed on 
 Thursday morning. It so happened that It would 
 have been convenient for me to be elsewhere. 
 The honorable member, however, did not incline 
 to put off the discussion to another day. He had 
 a shot, he said, to return, and he wished to dis- 
 charge It. That shot, sir, which It was kind thus 
 to inform us was coming, that we might stand 
 out of the way, or prepare ourselves to fall before 
 It, and die v/ith decency, has now been received. 
 Under all advantages, and with expectation 
 awakened by the tone which preceded It, It has 
 been discharged, and has spent its force. It may 
 become me to say no more of its effect, than that, 
 If nobody Is found, after all, either killed or 
 wounded by It, It is not the first time, in the his- 
 tory of human affairs, that the vigor and success 
 of the war have not quite come up to the lofty 
 and sounding phrase of the manifesto. . . . 
 
 The honorable member complained that I had 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 43 
 
 slept on his speech. I must have slept on It, or 
 not slept at all. ... I did sleep on the gentle- 
 man's speech; and slept soundly. And I slept 
 equally well on his speech of yesterday, to which 
 I am now replying. It Is quite possible that in 
 this respect, also, I possess some advantage over 
 the honorable member, attributable, doubtless, to 
 a cooler temperament on my part; for, in truth, I 
 slept upon his speeches remarkably well. But the 
 gentleman Inquires why he was made the object 
 of such a reply? Why was he singled out? If 
 an attack has been made on the East, he, he as- 
 sures us, did not begin It, — It was the gentleman 
 from Missouri. Sir, I answered the gentleman's 
 speech because I happened to hear it, and because, 
 also, I chose to give an answer to that speech 
 which, if unanswered, I thought most likely to 
 produce injurious Impressions. I did not stop to 
 Inquire who was the original drawer of the bill. 
 I found a responsible indorser before me, and It 
 was my purpose to hold him liable, and to bring 
 him to his just responsibility without delay. But, 
 sir, this Interrogatory of the honorable member 
 was only Introductory to another. He proceeded 
 to ask me whether I had turned upon him, In 
 this debate, from the consciousness that I should 
 find an overmatch if I ventured on a contest with 
 his * friend from Missouri. If sir, the honorable 
 
 * Mr. Benton. 
 
44 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 member, ex gratia modestiae^ had chosen thus 
 to defer to his friend and to pay him a compli- 
 ment, without intentional disparagement to others, 
 it would have been quite according to the friendly 
 courtesies of debate, and not at all ungrateful to 
 my own feelings. I am not one of those, sir, who 
 esteem any tribute of regard, whether light or oc- 
 casional, or more serious and deliberate, which 
 may be bestowed on others, as so much unjustly 
 withholden from themselves. But the tone and 
 manner of the gentleman's question forbid me that 
 I thus interpret it. I am not at liberty to consider 
 it as nothing more than a civility to his friend. 
 It had an air of taunt and disparagement, some- 
 thing of the loftiness of asserted superiority, which 
 does not allow me to pass over it without notice. 
 It was put as a question for me to answer: 
 Whether I deemed the member from Missouri an 
 overmatch for myself in debate here. It seems 
 to me, sir, that this is extraordinary language, and 
 an extraordinary tone, for the discussions of this 
 body. 
 
 Matches and overmatches! Those terms are 
 more applicable elsewhere than here, and fitter for 
 other assemblies than this. Sir, the gentleman 
 seems to forget where and what we are. This is 
 a Senate; a Senate of equals: of men of individual 
 honor and personal character, and of absolute in- 
 dependence. We know no masters: we acknowl- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 45 
 
 edge no dictators. This is a hall for mutual con- 
 sultation and discussion; not an arena for the ex- 
 hibition of champions. I offer myself, sir, as a 
 match for no man; I throw the challenge of 
 debate at no man's feet. But then, sir, since the 
 honorable member has put the question for an an- 
 swer, I will give him an answer; and I will tell 
 him that, holding myself to be the humblest of the 
 members here, I yet know nothing in the arm of 
 his friend from Missouri, either alone or when 
 aided by the arm of his friend from South Caro- 
 lina, that need deter even me from espousing 
 whatever opinions I may choose to espouse, from 
 debating whenever I may choose to debate, or 
 from speaking whatever I may see fit to say, on 
 the floor of the Senate. Sir, when uttered as mat- 
 ter of commendation or compliment, I should 
 dissent from nothing which the honorable member 
 might say of his friend. Still less do I put forth 
 any pretensions of my own. But, when put to 
 me as a matter of taunt, I throw it back, and say 
 to the gentleman that he could possibly say noth- 
 ing less likely than such a comparison to wound 
 my pride of personal character. The anger of 
 Its tone rescued the remark from Intentional Irony, 
 which otherwise probably would have been Its gen- 
 eral acceptation. . . . Sir, I shall not allow myself 
 on this occasion, I hope on no occasion, to be be- 
 trayed Into any loss of temper; but If provoked, 
 
46 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 as I trust I never shall be, into crimination and 
 recrimination, the honorable member may perhaps 
 find that, in that contest, there will be blows to 
 take as well as blows to give; that others can 
 state comparisons as significant, at least, as his 
 own; and that his impunity may possibly demand 
 of him whatever powers of taunt and sarcasm he 
 may possess. I commend him to a prudent hus- 
 bandry of his resources. 
 
 We approach, at length, sir, to a more Impor- 
 tant part of the honorable gentleman's observa- 
 tions. Since it does not accord with my views of 
 justice and policy to give away the public lands 
 altogether, as mere matter of gratuity, I am asked 
 by the honorable gentleman on what ground it Is 
 that I consent to vote them away In particular 
 Instances? How, he inquires, do I reconcile with 
 these professed sentiments my support of meas- 
 ures appropriating portions of the lands to partic- 
 ular roads, particular canals, particular rivers, and 
 particular Institutions of education In the West? 
 This leads, sir, to the real and wide difference. In 
 political opinion, between the honorable gentle- 
 man and myself. On my part, I look upon all 
 these objects as connected with the common good, 
 fairly embraced In its object and Its terms; he, on 
 the contrary, deems them all. If good at all, only 
 local good. This Is our difference. The inter- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 47 
 
 rogatory which he proceeded to put, at once 
 explains this difference. " What interest," asks 
 he, ''has South Carolina in a canal in Ohio?" 
 Sir, this very question is full of significance. It 
 develops the gentleman^s whole political system; 
 and its answer expounds mine. Here we differ. 
 I look upon a road over the Alleghany, a canal 
 round the falls of the Ohio, or a canal or railway 
 from the Atlantic to the western waters, as being 
 an object large and extensive enough to be fairly 
 said to be for the common benefit. The gentle- 
 man thinks otherwise, and this is the key to open 
 his construction of the powers of the government. 
 He may well ask what interest has South Carolina 
 in a canal in Ohio ? On his system, it is true, she 
 has no interest. On that system, Ohio and Caro- 
 lina are different governments, and different 
 countries: connected here, it is true, by some slight 
 and ill-defined bond of union, but, in all main re- 
 spects, separate and diverse. On that system, 
 Carolina has no more interest in a canal in Ohio 
 than in Mexico. The gentleman, therefore, only 
 follows out his own principles; he does no more 
 than arrive at the natural conclusions of his own 
 doctrines; he only announces the true results of 
 that creed, which he has adopted himself, and 
 would persuade others to adopt, when he thus de- 
 clares that South Carolina has no interest in a 
 public work in Ohio. Sir, we narrow-minded peo- 
 
48 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 pie of New England do not reason thus. Our 
 notion of things Is entirely different. We look 
 upon the States not as separated, but as united. 
 We love to dwell on that union, and on the mu- 
 tual happiness which It has so much promoted, and 
 the common renown which It has so greatly con- 
 tributed to acquire. In our contemplation, Caro- 
 lina and Ohio are parts of the same country; 
 States, united under the same General Govern- 
 ment, having interests, common, associated. Inter- 
 mingled. In whatever Is within the proper sphere 
 of the constitutional power of this government, we 
 look upon the States as one. We do not Impose 
 geographical limits to our patriotic feeling or re- 
 gard; we do not follow rivers and mountains, and 
 lines of latitude, to find boundaries beyond which 
 public Improvements do not benefit us. We who 
 come here, as agents and representatives of these 
 narrow-minded and selfish men of New England, 
 consider ourselves as bound to regard, with an 
 equal eye, the good of the whole, In whatever Is 
 within our power of legislation. Sir, if a railroad 
 or canal, beginning In South Carolina and ending 
 in South Carolina, appeared to me to be of na- 
 tional importance and national magnitude, believ- 
 ing, as I do, that the power of government extends 
 to the encouragement of works of that description, 
 if I were to stand up here, and ask, what interest 
 has Massachusetts in a railroad in South Carolina, 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 49 
 
 I should not be willing to face my constituents. 
 These same narrow-minded men would tell me 
 that they had sent me to act for the whole country, 
 and that one who possessed too little comprehen- 
 sion, either of Intellect or feeling — one who was 
 not large enough, both In mind and In heart, to 
 embrace the whole — was not fit to be entrusted 
 with the Interest of any part. Sir, I do not desire 
 to enlarge the powers of the government, by un- 
 justifiable construction; nor to exercise any not 
 within a fair Interpretation. But when It Is be- 
 lieved that a power does exist, then It Is, In my 
 judgment, to be exercised for the general benefit 
 of the whole. So far as respects the exercise of 
 such a power, the States are one. It was the very 
 object of the Constitution to create unity of Inter- 
 ests to the extent of the powers of the general 
 government. In war and peace we are one; In 
 commerce, one; because the authority of the gen- 
 eral government reaches to war and peace, and 
 to the regulation of commerce. I have never seen 
 any more difficulty In erecting light-houses on the 
 lakes than on the ocean; In Improving the har- 
 bors of Inland seas, than if they were within the 
 ebb and flow of the tide; or of removing ob- 
 structions in the vast streams of the West, more 
 than In any work to facilitate commerce on the 
 Atlantic coast. If there be any power for one, 
 there Is power also for the other; and they are 
 
50 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 all and equally for the common good of the 
 
 country. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 The tariff, which South Caroluia had an effi- 
 cient hand In establishing in 1816, and this as- 
 serted power of Internal Improvement advanced 
 by her In the same year, and as we have seen ap- 
 proved and sanctioned by her representatives In 
 1824, — these two measures are the great grounds 
 on which she Is now thought to be justified In 
 breaking up the Union, if she sees fit to break 
 It up! 
 
 I may now safely say, I think, that we have had 
 the authority of leading and distinguished gentle- 
 men from South Carolina, In support of the doc- 
 trine of internal improvement. I repeat, that, up 
 to 1824, I, for one, followed South Carolina; but 
 when that star. In its ascension, veered off in an 
 unexpected direction, I relied on its light no 
 longer. 
 
 . . . The strenuous toil of the gentleman has 
 been to raise an inconsistency, between my dissent 
 to the tariff in 1824, and my vote In 1828. It Is 
 labor lost. He pays undeserved compliment to 
 my speech in 1824; but this Is to raise me high, 
 that my fall, as he would have It, In 1828, may be 
 more signal. Sir, there was no fall at all. Be- 
 tween the ground I took In 1828, there was not 
 only no precipice, but no dechvlty. It was a 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 51 
 
 change of position, to meet new circumstances, but 
 on the same level. A plain tale explains the whole 
 matter. In 18 16, I had not acquiesced in the 
 tariff, then supported by South Carolina. To 
 some parts of It, especially, I felt and expressed 
 great repugnance. I held the same opinions In 
 182 1, at the meeting in Faneuil Hall, to which 
 the gentleman has alluded. I said then, and say 
 now, that, as an original question, the authority 
 of Congress to exercise the revenue power, with 
 direct reference to the protection of manufactures, 
 is a questionable authority, far more questionable, 
 in my judgment, than the power of Internal Im- 
 provements. I must confess, sir, that in one 
 respect, some impressions have been made on my 
 opinions lately. Mr. Madison's pubhcatlon has 
 put the power in a very strong light. He has 
 placed it, I must acknowledge, upon grounds of 
 construction and argument, which seem impreg- 
 nable. But even If the power were doubtful, on 
 the face of the Constitution Itself, it had been as- 
 sumed and asserted in the first revenue law ever 
 passed under that same Constitution; and, on this 
 ground, as a matter settled by contemporaneous 
 practice, I had refrained from expressing the opin- 
 ion that the tariff laws transcended constitutional 
 limits, as the gentleman supposes. What I did 
 say at Faneuil Hall, as far as I now remember, 
 was that this was originally matter of doubtful 
 
52 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 construction. The gentleman himself, I suppose, 
 thinks there Is no doubt about It and that the laws 
 are plainly against the Constitution. Mr. Madi- 
 son's letters, already referred to, contain, in my 
 judgment, by far the most able exposition extant 
 of this part of the Constitution. He has satisfied 
 me, so far as the practice of the government had 
 left it an open question. With a great majority 
 of the Representatives of Massachusetts, I voted 
 against the tariff of 1824. My reasons were then 
 given, and I will not now repeat them. But, not- 
 withstanding our dissent, the great States of New 
 York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky, went 
 for the bill. In almost unbroken column, and it 
 passed. Congress and the President sanctioned 
 it, and It became the law of the land. What, 
 then, were we to do? Our only option was, 
 either to fall In with this settled course of public 
 pohcy, and accommodate ourselves to It as well as 
 we could, or to embrace the South Carolina doc- 
 trine, and talk of nullifying the statute by State 
 interference. 
 
 The last alternative did not suit our principles, 
 and, of course, we adopted the former. In 1827, 
 the subject came again before Congress, on a 
 proposition favorable to wool and woolens.. We 
 looked upon the system of protection as being 
 fixed and settled. . . . Because we had doubted 
 about adopting the system, were we to refuse to 
 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 53 
 
 cure its manifest defects, after it became adopted, 
 and when no one attempted Its repeal? And this, 
 sir, is the inconsistency so much bruited. I had 
 voted against the tariff of 1824 — but It passed; 
 and In 1827 and 1828, I voted to amend It, in a 
 point essential to the Interest of my constituents. 
 Where is the inconsistency? . . . 
 
 Sir, as to the general subject of the tariff, I have 
 little now to say. ... I remarked the other 
 day, that this policy did not begin with us in New 
 England; and yet, sir. New England is charged, 
 with vehemence, as being favorable, or charged 
 with equal vehemence as being unfavorable, to 
 the tariff policy, just as best suits the time, place, 
 and occasion for making some charge against her. 
 The credulity of the public has been put to its ex- 
 treme capacity of false impression, relative to her 
 conduct, in this particular. Through all the 
 South, during the late contest, it was New England 
 policy, and a New England administration, that 
 was afflicting the country with a tariff beyond all 
 endurance; while on the other side of the Alle- 
 ghany, even the act of 1828 Itself, the very subli- 
 mated essence of oppression, according to Southern 
 opinions, was pronounced to be one of those bless- 
 ings, for which the West was Indebted to the 
 ** generous South.'' 
 
 With large investments In manufacturing es- 
 tablishments, and many and various Interests con- 
 
54 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 nected with and dependent upon them, It is not 
 to be expected that New England, any more than 
 other portions of the country, will now consent 
 to any measure destructive or highly dangerous. 
 The duty of the government, at the present mo- 
 ment, would seem to be to preserve, not to de- 
 stroy; to maintain the position which It has as- 
 sumed; and for one I shall feel It an Indispensable 
 obligation to hold It steady, as far as In my power, 
 to that degree of protection which it has under- 
 taken to bestow. No more of the tariff. 
 
 Professing to be provoked, by what he chose to 
 consider a charge made by me against South Caro- 
 lina, the honorable member, Mr. President, has 
 taken up a new crusade against New England. 
 . . . For a good long hour or two, we had 
 the unbroken pleasure of listening to the honora- 
 ble member, while he recited, with his usual grace 
 and spirit, and with evident high gusto, speeches, 
 pamphlets, addresses, and all the ** et ceteras " 
 of the political press, such as warm heads produce 
 In warm times; and such as It would be " discom- 
 fiture " Indeed, for any one, whose taste did not 
 delight In that sort of reading, to be obliged to 
 peruse. This Is his war. This Is to carry the 
 war Into the enemy's country. It Is In invasion 
 of this sort, that he flatters himself with the ex- 
 pectation of gaining laurels fit to adorn a Sena- 
 tor's brow ! 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 55 
 
 . . . Let me observe, that the euloglum 
 pronounced on the character of the State of 
 South Carolina, by the honorable gentleman, 
 for her revolutionary and other merits, meets 
 my hearty concurrence. I shall not acknowl- 
 edge that the honorable member goes be- 
 fore me In regard for whatever of distinguished 
 talent, or distinguished character, South Carolina 
 has produced. I claim part of the honor, I par- 
 take In the pride, of her great names. I claim 
 them for countrymen, one and all. . . . When 
 I shall be found, sir, In my place here, In the Sen- 
 ate, or elsewhere, to sneer at public merit because 
 It happens to spring up beyond the little limits of 
 my own State or neighborhood; when I refuse, 
 for any such cause, or for any cause, the homage 
 due to American talent, to elevated patriotism, to 
 sincere devotion to liberty, and the country; or, 
 If I see an uncommon endowment of Heaven — 
 if I see extraordinary capacity and virtue In any 
 son of the South — and if, moved by local preju- 
 dice, or gangrened by State jealousy, I get up here 
 to abate the tithe of a hair from his just character 
 and just fame, may my tongue cleave to the roof 
 of my mouth ! 
 
 Sir, ... let me remind you that In early times, 
 no States cherished greater harmony, both of 
 principle and feeling, than Massachusetts and 
 South Carolina. Would to God that harmony 
 
56 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 might again return! Shoulder to shoulder they 
 went through the Revolution, hand In hand they 
 stood round the administration of Washington, 
 and felt his own great arm lean on them for sup- 
 port. Unkind feeling, if it exist, alienation 
 and distrust, are the growth, unnatural to such 
 soils, of false principles since sown. They are 
 weeds, the seeds of which that same great arm 
 never scattered. 
 
 Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium 
 upon Massachusetts — she needs none. There 
 she Is — behold her, and judge for yourselves. 
 There Is her history : the world knows It by heart. 
 The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston, 
 and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill — 
 and there they will remain forever. The bones 
 of her sons, falling in the great struggle for Inde- 
 pendence, now He mingled with the soil of every 
 State, from New England to Georgia; and there 
 they will lie forever. And, sir, where American 
 Liberty raised its first voice, and where its youth 
 was nurtured and sustained, there it still lives. In 
 the strength of its manhood and full of its original 
 spirit. If discord and disunion shall wound It — 
 if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk at 
 and tear it — if folly and madness — if uneasi- 
 ness, under salutary and necessary restraint — 
 shall succeed to separate it from that Union, by 
 which alone Its existence is made sure, it will 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 57 
 
 stand, In the end, by the side of that cradle In 
 which Its Infancy was rocked: It will stretch forth 
 Its arm with whatever of vigor It may still retain, 
 over the friends who gather round it; and it will 
 fall at last, if fall It must, amidst the proudest 
 monuments of Its own glory, and on the very spot 
 of Its origin. 
 
 There yet remains to be performed, Mr. Presi- 
 dent, by far the most grave and Important duty, 
 which I feel to be devolved on me, by this occa- 
 sion. It Is to state, and to defend, what I con- 
 ceive to be the true principles of the Constitution 
 under which we are here assembled. I might 
 well have desired that so weighty a task should 
 have fallen Into other and abler hands. I could 
 have wished that It should have been executed by 
 those whose character and experience give weight 
 and Influence to their opinions, such as can not 
 possibly belong to mine. But, sir, I have met 
 the occasion, not sought it: and I shall proceed to 
 state my own sentiments, without challenging for 
 them any particular regard, with studied plain- 
 ness, and as much precision as possible. 
 
 I understand the honorable gentleman from 
 South Carolina to maintain, that it is a right of 
 the State legislatures to Interfere, whenever. In 
 their judgment, this government transcends its 
 constitutional limits, and to arrest the operation 
 of Its laws. 
 
58 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 I understand him to maintain this right, as a 
 right existing under the Constitution, not as a 
 right to overthrow it on the ground of extreme 
 necessity, such as would justify violent revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 I understand him to maintain an authority on 
 the part of the States thus to interfere for the 
 purpose of correcting the exercise of power by 
 the General Government, of checking it, and of 
 compelling It to conform to their opinion of the 
 extent of its powers. 
 
 I understand him to maintain that the ultimate 
 power of judging of the constitutional extent of 
 Its own authority Is not lodged exclusively In the 
 General Government, or any branch of it; but that, 
 on the contrary, the States may lawfully decide 
 for themselves, and each State for itself, whether 
 In a given case the act of the General Government 
 transcends its power. 
 
 I understand him to insist that If the exigency 
 of the case. In the opinion of any State govern- 
 ment, require It, such State government may, by 
 its own sovereign authority, annul an act of the 
 General Government which it deems plainly and 
 palpably unconstitutional. 
 
 This is the sum of what I understand from him 
 to be the South Carolina doctrine, and the doc- 
 trine which he maintains. I propose to consider 
 it, and compare it with the Constitution. Allow 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 59 
 
 me to say, as a preliminary remark, that I call 
 this the South Carolina doctrine only because the 
 gentleman himself has so denominated It. I do 
 not feel at liberty to say that South Carolina, as a 
 State, has ever advanced these sentiments. I hope 
 she has not, and never may. That a great ma- 
 jority of her people are opposed to the tariff laws, 
 is doubtless true. That a majority somewhat less 
 than that just mentioned, conscientiously believe 
 these laws unconstitutional, may probably also be 
 true. But that any majority holds to the right of 
 direct State interference, at State discretion, — the 
 right of nullifying acts of Congress by acts of 
 State legislation, — Is more than I know, and 
 what I shall be slow to believe. 
 
 What he contends for Is, that it is constitutional 
 to interrupt the administration of the Constitu- 
 tion Itself, In the hands of those who are chosen 
 and sworn to administer It, by the direct Interfer- 
 ence, in form of law, of the State, in virtue of their 
 sovereign capacity. The inherent right In the 
 people to reform the government I do not deny: 
 and they have another right, and that is, to resist 
 unconstitutional laws without overturning the gov- 
 ernment. It is no doctrine of mine that uncon- 
 stitutional laws bind the people. The great ques- 
 tion is, whose prerogative Is it to decide on the 
 constitutionality or unconstitutionality of the laws? 
 
6o NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 On that the main debate hinges. The proposi- 
 tion that, in case of a supposed violation of the 
 Constitution by Congress, the States have a con- 
 stitutional right to interfere and annul the law of 
 Congress, is the proposition of the gentleman: I 
 do not admit it. If the gentleman had intended 
 no more than to assert the right of revolution for 
 justifiable cause, he would have said only what all 
 agree to. But I can not conceive that there can 
 be a middle course between submission to the laws 
 when regularly pronounced constitutional, on the 
 one hand, and open resistance, — which is revolu- 
 tion, or rebellion, — on the other. I say, the right 
 of a State to annul a law of Congress can not be 
 maintained but on the ground of the unalienable 
 right of man to resist oppression; that Is to say, 
 upon the ground of revolution. I admit that 
 there is an ultimate violent remedy, above the 
 Constitution and in defiance of the Constitution, 
 which may be resorted to when a revolution is to 
 be justified. But I do not admit that, under the 
 Constitution, and In conformity with It, there Is 
 any mode In which a State government, as a mem- 
 ber of the Union, can Interfere and stop the 
 progress of the General Government, by force 
 of her own laws, under any circumstances what- 
 ever. 
 
 This leads us to Inquire Into the origin of this 
 government, and the source of Its power. Whose 
 
DAIS! I EL WEBSTER 6i 
 
 agent is it? Is it the creature of the State legisla- 
 tures, or the creature of the people? If the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States be the agent of the 
 State governments, then they may control it, pro- 
 vided they can agree in the manner of controlling 
 it; if it be the agent of the people, then the people 
 alone can control it, restrain it, modify or reform 
 it. It is observable enough, that the doctrine for 
 which the honorable gentleman contends, leads 
 him to the necessity of maintaining, not only that 
 this General Government is the creature of the 
 States, but that it is the creature of each of 
 the States severally; so that each may assert the 
 power, for itself, of determining whether it acts 
 within the limits of its authority. It is the serv- 
 ant of four and twenty masters, of different wills 
 and different purposes, and yet bound to obey all. 
 This absurdity (for it seems no less) arises from 
 a misconception as to the origin of this govern- 
 ment and its true character. It is, sir, the people's 
 Constitution, the people's government; made for 
 the people; made by the people; and answerable 
 to the people. The people of the United States 
 have declared that this Constitution shall be the 
 supreme law. We must either admit the propo- 
 sition, or dispute their authority. The States are, 
 unquestionably, sovereign so far as their sover- 
 eignty is not affected by this supreme law. But 
 the State legislatures as political bodies, however 
 
62 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 sovereign, are yet not sovereign over the people. 
 So far as the people have given power to the Gen- 
 eral Government, so far the grant is unquestion- 
 ably good, and the government holds of the people 
 and not of the State governments. We are all 
 agents of the same supreme power, the people; 
 The General Government and the State govern- 
 ments derive their authority from the same source. 
 Neither can, in relation to the other, be called 
 primary, though one is definite and restricted and 
 the other general and residuary. The National 
 Government possesses those powers which It can 
 be shown the people have conferred on it, and no 
 more. All the rest belongs to the State govern- 
 ments or to the people themselves. So far as the 
 people have restrained State sovereignty, by the 
 expression of their will in the Constitution of 
 the United States, so far It must be admitted State 
 sovereignty is effectually controlled. I do not 
 contend that it is, or ought to be, controlled 
 farther. The sentiment to which I have referred 
 proposes that State sovereignty Is only to be con- 
 trolled by its own " feeling of justice ": that is to 
 say, it is not to be controlled at all; for one who 
 is to follow his own feelings is under no legal 
 control. Now, however men may think this 
 ought to be, the fact is that the people of the 
 United States have chosen to impose control on 
 State sovereignties. There are those, doubtless. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 63 
 
 who wish they had been left without restraint; 
 but the Constitution has ordered the matter dif- 
 ferently. To make war, for instance, is an exer- 
 cise of sovereignty; but the Constitution declares 
 that no State shall make war. To coin money is 
 another exercise of sovereign power; but no State 
 is at liberty to coin money. Again, the Constitu- 
 tion says that no sovereign State shall be so sover- 
 eign as to make a treaty. These prohibitions, it 
 must be confessed, are a control on the State sover- 
 eignty of South Carolina, as well as of the other 
 States, which does not arise " from her own feel- 
 ings of honorable justice." Such an opinion, 
 therefore, is in defiance of the plainest provisions 
 of the Constitution. 
 
 In Carolina the tariff is a palpable, deliberate 
 usurpation; Carolina, therefore, may nullify It, 
 and refuse to pay the duties. In Pennsylvania It 
 Is both clearly constitutional and highly expedient; 
 and there the duties are to be paid. And yet we 
 live under a government of uniform laws, and 
 under a Constitution, too, which contains an ex- 
 press provision, as it happens, that all duties shall 
 be equal In all the States. Does not this approach 
 absurdity? 
 
 If there be no power to settle such questions. 
 Independent of either of the States, Is not the 
 whole Union a rope of sand? Are we not thrown 
 
64 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 back again precisely upon the old Confederation? 
 It is too plain to be argued. Four and twenty 
 interpreters of constitutional law, each with a 
 power to decide for itself, and none with author- 
 ity to bind anybody else, and this constitutional 
 law the only bond of their Union! What is 
 such a state of things but a mere connection dur- 
 ing pleasure or, to use the phraseology of the 
 times, during feeling? And that feeling, too, not 
 the feeling of the people, who established the Con- 
 stitution, but the feehng of the State govern- 
 ments. 
 
 And now, sir, what I have first to say on this 
 subject is, that, at no time, and under no circum- 
 stances, has New England, or any State in New 
 England, or any respectable body of persons in 
 New England, or any public man of standing in 
 New England, put forth such a doctrine as this 
 Carolina doctrine. ... 
 
 No doubt, sir, a great majority of the people of 
 New England conscientiously believed the Em- 
 bargo Law of 1807 unconstitutional; as conscien- 
 tiously, certainly, as the people of South Carolina' 
 hold that opinion of the tariff. . . . How did 
 Massachusetts deal with it? It was, as she 
 thought, a plain, manifest, palpable violation of 
 the Constitution, and it brought ruin to her doors. 
 Thousands of families, and hundreds of thou- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 65 
 
 sands of Individuals, were beggared by It. While 
 she saw and felt all this, she saw and felt, also, 
 that as a measure of national policy It was per- 
 fectly futile; that the country was no way bene- 
 fited by that which caused so much individual 
 distress; that it was efficient only for the produc- 
 tion of evil, and all that evil inflicted on ourselves. 
 In such a case, under such circumstances, how did 
 Massachusetts demean herself? Sir, she remon- 
 strated, she memorialized, she addressed herself 
 to the General Government, not exactly " with the 
 concentrated energy of passion," but with her own 
 strong sense, and the energy of sober conviction. 
 But she did not Interpose the arm of her own 
 power to arrest the law, and break the embargo. 
 Far from It. Her principles bound her to two 
 things; and she followed her principles, lead 
 where they might. First, to submit to every con- 
 stitutional law of Congress; and secondly, If the 
 constitutional validity of the law be doubted, to 
 refer that question to the decision of the proper 
 tribunals. ... 
 
 Being fully of opinion that the Embargo Law 
 was unconstitutional, the people of New Eng- 
 land were yet equally clear in the opinion — It 
 was a matter they did not doubt upon — that the 
 question, after all, must be decided by the judicial 
 tribunals of the United States. Before those tri- 
 bunals, therefore, they brought the question. . . . 
 
66 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 The established tribunals pronounced the law con- 
 stitutional, and New England acquiesced. Now, 
 sir. Is not this the exact opposite of the doctrine 
 of the gentleman from South Carolina? . . . 
 
 I wish now, sir, to make a remark upon the Vir- 
 ginia Resolutions of 1798. I can not undertake 
 to say how these resolutions were understood by 
 those who passed them. Their language Is not a 
 little indefinite. In the case of the exercise by 
 Congress, of a dangerous power, not granted to 
 them, the resolutions assert the right on the part 
 of the State to Interfere and arrest the progress 
 of the evil. This Is susceptible of more than one 
 interpretation. It may mean no more than that 
 the States may Interfere by complaint and remon- 
 strance, or by proposing to the people an altera- 
 tion of the Federal Constitution. This would all 
 be quite unobjectionable. Or It may be that no 
 more Is meant than to assert the general right of 
 revolution, as against all governments. In cases 
 of Intolerable oppression. This no one doubts; 
 and this. In my opinion. Is all that he who framed 
 the resolutions [Mr. Madison] could have meant 
 by It: for I shall not readily believe that he was 
 ever of opinion that a State, under the Constitu- 
 tion and In conformity with It, could upon the 
 ground of her own opinion of its unconstitution- 
 ality, however clear and palpable she might think 
 the case, annul a law of Congress so far as It 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 67 
 
 should operate on herself by her own legislative 
 power. 
 
 I must now beg to ask, sir, whence is this sup- 
 posed right of the States derived? — where do 
 they find the power to interfere with the laws of 
 the Union? Sir, the opinion which the honor- 
 able gentleman maintains Is a notion, founded In 
 a total misapprehension, In my judgment, of the 
 origin of this government, and of the foundation 
 on which It stands. I hold It to be a popular gov- 
 ernment, erected by the people; those who ad- 
 minister It, responsible to the people; and itself 
 capable of being amended and modified, just as 
 the people may choose It should be. It Is as pop- 
 ular, just as truly emanating from the people, as 
 the State governments. It is created for one pur- 
 pose; the State governments for another. It has 
 Its own powers; they have theirs. There Is no 
 more authority with them to arrest the operation 
 of a law of Congress, than with Congress to ar- 
 rest the operation of their laws. We are here to 
 administer a Constitution emanating Immediately 
 from the people, and trusted by them to our ad- 
 ministration. It is not the creature of the State 
 governments. It Is of no moment to the argu- 
 ment, that certain acts of the State legislatures are 
 necessary to fill our seats In this body. That Is 
 not one of their original State powers, a part of 
 the sovereignty of the State. It is a duty which 
 
68 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 the people, by the Constitution Itself, have Im- 
 posed on the State legislatures; and which they 
 might have left to be performed elsewhere, if they 
 had seen fit. So they have left the choice of 
 President with electors; but all this does not 
 affect the proposition, that this whole government 
 — President, Senate, and House of Representa- 
 tives — is a popular government. It leaves it 
 still all its popular character. The governor of a 
 State (in some of the States) is chosen, not di- 
 rectly by the people, but by those who are chosen 
 by the people, for the purpose of performing 
 among other duties that of electing a governor. 
 Is the government of the State, on that account, 
 not a popular government? This government, 
 sir, is the independent offspring of the popular 
 will. It Is not the creature of State legislatures; 
 nay, more, if the whole truth must be told, the 
 people brought it into existence, established it, 
 and have hitherto supported it, for the very pur- 
 pose, amongst others, of imposing certain salu- 
 tary restraints on State sovereignties. The States 
 can not now make war; they can not contract 
 alliances; they can not make, each for Itself, sepa- 
 rate regulations of commerce; they can not lay 
 Imposts; they can not coin money. If this Con- 
 stitution, sir, be the creature of State legislatures, 
 it must be admitted that It has obtained a strange 
 ^control over the volitions of its creators. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 69 
 
 The people then, sir, erected this government. 
 They gave It a Constitution, and In that Constitu- 
 tion they have enumerated the powers which they 
 bestow on It. They have made It a limited 
 government. They have defined Its authority. 
 They have restrained It to the exercise of such 
 powers as are granted; and all others, they de- 
 clare, are reserved to the States, or the people. 
 But, sir, they have not stopped here. If they had, 
 they would have accomplished but half their work. 
 No definition can be so clear, as to avoid possi- 
 bility of doubt; no limitation so precise, as to ex- 
 clude all uncertainty. Who, then, shall construe 
 this grant of the people? Who shall Interpret 
 their will, where It may be supposed they have left 
 It doubtful? With whom do they repose this ulti- 
 mate right of deciding on the powers of the gov- 
 ernment? Sir, they have settled all this In the 
 fullest manner. They have left It with the gov- 
 ernment Itself, In Its appropriate branches. Sir, 
 the very chief end, the main design, for which the 
 whole Constitution was framed and adopted, was 
 to establish a government that should not be 
 obliged to act through State agency, or depend 
 on State opinion and State discretion. The peo- 
 ple had had quite enough of that kind of govern- 
 ment, under the Confederacy. Under that 
 system, the legal action — the application of law 
 to Individuals — belonged exclusively to the 
 
70 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 States. Congress could only recommend — 
 their acts were not of binding force till the States 
 had adopted and sanctioned them. Are we in 
 that condition still? Are we yet at the mercy of 
 State discretion, and State construction? Sir, If 
 we are, then vain will be our attempt to maintain 
 the Constitution under which we sit. 
 
 But, sir, the people have wisely provided, In 
 the Constitution Itself, a proper, suitable mode 
 and tribunal for settling questions of constitu- 
 tional law. There are, In the Constitution, 
 grants of powers to Congress; and restrictions on 
 these powers. There are, also, prohibitions on 
 the States. Some authority must, therefore, 
 necessarily exist, having the ultimate jurisdiction 
 to fix and ascertain the interpretation of these 
 grants, restrictions, and prohibitions. The Con- 
 stitution has itself pointed out, ordained, and 
 established that authority. How has it accom- 
 plished this great and essential end? By declaring, 
 sir, that " the Constitution and the laws of the 
 United States, made In pursuance thereof, shall be 
 the supreme law of the land, anything in the con- 
 stitution or laws of any State to the contrary not- 
 withstanding." 
 
 This, sir, Vv^as the first great step. By this the 
 supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the 
 United States is declared. The people so will it. 
 No State law is to be valid, which comes in con- 
 
DANIEL PFEBSTER 71 
 
 flict with the Constitution, or any law of the 
 United States passed in pursuance of It. But who 
 shall decide this question of Interference? To 
 whom lies the last appeal? This, sir, the Con- 
 stitution Itself decides, also, by declaring, " that 
 the judicial power shall extend to all cases arising 
 under the Constitution and laws of the United 
 States." These two provisions, sir, cover the 
 whole ground. They are. In truth, the keystone 
 of the arch. With these It Is a constitution; with- 
 out them It Is a confederacy. In pursuance of 
 these clear and express provisions. Congress estab- 
 lished, at its very first session, In the judicial act, 
 a mode for carrying them Into full effect, and for 
 bringing all questions of constitutional power to 
 the final decision of the Supreme Court. It then, 
 sir, became a government. It then had the means 
 .of self-protection; and, but for this. It would. In 
 all probability, have been now among things 
 which are past. Having constituted the govern- 
 ment, and declared Its powers, the people have 
 further said, that since somebody must decide on 
 the extent of these powers, the government shall 
 Itself decide; subject, always, like other popular 
 governments, to Its responsibility to the people. 
 And now, sir, I repeat, how Is It that a State legis- 
 lature acquires any power to interfere? Who, or 
 what, gives them the right to say to the people, 
 " We, who are your agents and servants for one 
 
72 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 purpose, will undertake to decide that your other 
 agents and servants, appointed by you for another 
 purpose have transcended the authority you gave 
 them ! " The reply would be, I think, not im- 
 pertinent: "Who made you a judge over an- 
 other's servants? To their own masters they 
 stand or fall." 
 
 And now, Mr. President, let me run the honor- 
 able gentleman's doctrine a little into its practical 
 application. Let us look at his probable modus 
 operandi [mode of operation]. If a thing can 
 be done, an ingenious man can tell how it is to be 
 done. Now I wish to be informed, how this 
 State Interference Is to be put in practice without 
 violence, bloodshed, and rebellion. We will take 
 the existing case of the tariff law. South Caro- 
 lina Is said to have made up her opinion upon It. 
 If we do not repeal It (as we probably shall not), 
 she will then apply to the case the remedy of her 
 doctrine. She will, we must suppose, pass a law 
 of her legislature, declaring the several acts of 
 Congress, usually called the tariff laws, null and 
 void, so far as they respect South Carolina, or the 
 citizens thereof. So far, all Is a paper trans- 
 action, and easy enough. But the collector at 
 Charleston Is collecting the duties Imposed by 
 these tariff laws: he therefore must be stopped. 
 The collector will seize the goods If the tariff 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 73 
 
 duties are not paid. The State authorities will 
 undertake their rescue; the marshal, with his 
 posse, will come to the collector's aid, and here 
 the contest begins. The militia of the State will 
 be called out to sustain the nullifying act. They 
 will march, sir, under a very gallant leader: for I 
 believe the honorable member himself commands 
 the militia of that part of the State. He will 
 raise the nullifying act on his standard, and spread 
 it out as his banner! It will have a preamble, 
 bearing, That the tariff laws are palpable, deliber- 
 ate, and dangerous violations of the Constitu- 
 tion ! He will proceed with this banner flying to 
 the custom-house at Charleston : 
 
 "All the while, 
 Sonorous metal, blowing martial sounds." 
 
 Arrived at the custom-house, he will tell the 
 collector that he must collect no more duties under 
 any of the tariff laws. This he will be somewhat 
 puzzled to say, by the way, with a grave counte- 
 nance, considering what hand South Carolina her- 
 self had in that of 18 16. But, sir, the collector 
 would probably not desist at his bidding. He 
 would show him the law of Congress, the treasury 
 Instruction, and his own oath of office. He 
 would say, he should perform his duty, come what 
 might. Here would ensue a pause : for they say 
 that a certain stillness precedes the tempest. The 
 
74 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 trumpeter would hold his breath awhile, and be- 
 fore all this military array should fall on the cus- 
 tom-house, collector, clerks, and all. It is very 
 probable some of those composing it would re- 
 quest of their gallant commander-in-chief to be 
 Informed a httle upon the point of law; for they 
 have, doubtless, a just respect for his opinions as 
 a lawyer, as well as for his bravery as a soldier. 
 They know he has read Blackstone and the Con- 
 stitution, as well as Turrene and Vauban [writers 
 on military science]. They would ask him, there- 
 fore, something concerning their rights in this 
 matter. They would inquire, whether it was not 
 somewhat dangerous to resist a law of the United 
 States. What would be the nature of their 
 offense, they would wish to learn, if they by mili- 
 tary force and array resisted the execution In 
 Carolina of a law of the United States, and it 
 should turn out after all that the law was consti- 
 tutional? He would answer, of course, treason. 
 No lawyer could give any other answer. John 
 Fries [leader of a rebellion In Pennsylvania, In 
 1799, against a direct tax levied by Congress], he 
 would tell them, had learned that some years ago. 
 How, then, they would ask, do you propose to 
 defend us? We are not afraid of bullets, but 
 treason has a way of taking people off that we do 
 not much relish. How do you propose to defend 
 us? "Look at my floating banner," he would 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 75 
 
 reply; " see there the nullifying law! " Is It your 
 opinion, gallant commander, they would then say, 
 that if we should be indicted for treason, that 
 same floating banner of yours would make a good 
 plea in bar? "South Carolina is a sovereign 
 State," he would reply. That is true — but 
 would the judge admit our plea? "These tariff 
 laws,'' he would repeat, " are unconstitutional, 
 palpably, deliberately, dangerously." That all 
 may be so; but if the tribunal should not happen 
 to be of that opinion, shall we swing for it? We 
 are ready to die for our country, but it is rather 
 an awkward business, this dying without touching 
 the ground ! After all, that is a sort of hemp tax, 
 worse than any part of the tariff. 
 
 Mr. President, the honorable gentleman would 
 be in a dilemma, like that of another, great gen- 
 eral [Alexander the Great]. He would have a 
 knot before him which he could not untie. He 
 must cut it with his sword. He must say to his 
 followers, defend yourselves with your bayonets; 
 and this is war — civil war. 
 
 Direct collision, therefore, between force and 
 force is the unavoidable result of that remedy for 
 the revision of unconstitutional laws which the 
 gentleman contends for. It must happen in the 
 very first case to which it is applied. Is not this 
 the plain result? To rei^ist, by force, the execu- 
 tion of a law generally is treason. Can the courts 
 
76 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 of the United States take notice of the indulgence 
 of a State to commit treason? The common say- 
 ing that a State can not commit treason herself is 
 nothing to the purpose. Can she authorize others 
 to do it? If John Fries had produced an act of 
 Pennsylvania annulling the law of Congress, 
 would it have helped his case? Talk about it as 
 we will, these doctrines go the length of the revo- 
 lution. They are incompatible with any peace- 
 able administration of the government. They 
 lead directly to disunion and civil commotion; and, 
 therefore, it is, that at their commencement, when 
 they are first found to be maintained by respect- 
 able men, and in a tangible form, I enter my pub- 
 lic protest against them all. 
 
 The honorable gentleman argues, that if this 
 government be the sole judge of the extent of its 
 own powers, whether that right of judging be in 
 Congress or the Supreme Court, it equally sub- 
 verts State sovereignty. This the gentleman sees, 
 or thinks he sees, although he can not perceive 
 how the right of judging in this matter, if left to 
 the exercise of State legislatures, has any tend- 
 ency to subvert the government of the Union. 
 The gentleman's opinion may be that the right 
 ought not to have been lodged with the General 
 Government; he may like better such a constitu- 
 tion as we should have under the right of State 
 interference: but I ask him to meet me on the 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 77 
 
 plain matter of fact; I ask him to meet me on the 
 Constitution itself; I ask him if the power is not 
 found there — clearly and visibly found there? 
 But, sir, what is this danger, and what the grounds 
 of it? Let it be remembered that the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States Is not unalterable. It 
 Is to continue In its present form no longer than 
 the people who established it shall choose to con- 
 tinue It. If they shall become convinced that they 
 have made an Injudicious or inexpedient partition 
 and distribution of power between the State gov- 
 ernments and the General Government, they can 
 alter that distribution at will. 
 
 If anything be found in the national Constitu- 
 tion, either by original provision or subsequent in- 
 terpretation, which ought not to be In It, the peo- 
 ple know how to get rid of it. If any construction 
 be established unacceptable to them, so as to 
 become practically a part of the Constitution, they 
 will amend It at their own sovereign pleasure: but 
 while the people choose to maintain It as It is, — 
 while they are satisfied with it and refuse to change 
 it, — who has given, or who can give, to the State 
 legislatures a right to alter It, either by interfer- 
 ence, construction, or otherwise? Gentlemen do 
 not seem to recollect that the people have any 
 power to do anything for themselves; they Im- 
 agine there Is no safety for them, any longer than 
 they are under the close guardianship of the State 
 
78 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 legislatures. Sir, the people have not trusted 
 their safety, In regard to the general Constitution, 
 to these hands. They have required other secur- 
 ity, and taken other bonds. They have chosen to 
 trust themselves, first, to the plain words of the 
 Instrument, and to such construction as the govern- 
 ment itself, in doubtful cases, should put on Its 
 own powers, under their oaths of office and sub- 
 ject to their responsibility to them: just as the 
 people of a State trust their own State govern- 
 ments with a similar power. Secondly, they have 
 reposed their trust in the efficacy of frequent elec- 
 tions, and in their own power to remove their 
 own servants and agents, whenever they see cause. 
 Thirdly, they have reposed trust In the judicial 
 power, which in order that it might be trust- 
 worthy, they have made as respectable, as disin- 
 terested, and as independent as was practicable. 
 Fourthly, they have seen fit to rely, in case of 
 necessity or high expediency, on their known and 
 admitted power to alter or amend the Consti- 
 tution, peaceably and quietly, whenever experi- 
 ence shall point out defects or imperfections. 
 And finally, the people of the United States have 
 at no time, in no way, directly or indirectly, au- 
 thorized any State legislature to construe or in- 
 terpret their high Instrument of government; 
 much less to interfere, by their own power, to 
 arrest its course and operation. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 79 
 
 If, sir, the people, In these respects, had done 
 otherwise than they have done, their Constitution 
 could neither have been preserved, nor would it 
 have been worth preserving. And if its plain 
 provisions shall now be disregarded, and these 
 new doctrines interpolated in it, it will become as 
 feeble and helpless a being as Its enemies, whether 
 early or more recent, could possibly desire. It 
 will exist In every State, but as a poor dependent 
 on State permission. It must borrow leave to 
 be; and will be no longer than State pleasure, or 
 State discretion, sees fit to grant the indulgence 
 and to prolong its poor existence. 
 
 But, sir, although there are fears, there are 
 hopes also. The people have preserved this, 
 their own chosen Constitution, for forty years, 
 and have seen their happiness, prosperity, and 
 renown, grow with its growth, and strengthen with 
 its strength. They are now, generally, strongly 
 attached to It. Overthrown by direct assault. It 
 can not be; evaded, undermined, nullified. It will 
 not be, if we, and those who shall succeed us 
 here as agents and representatives of the people, 
 shall conscientiously and vigilantly discharge the 
 two great branches of our public trust — faith- 
 fully to preserve and wisely to administer It. 
 
 Mr. President, I have thus stated the reasons 
 of my dissent to the doctrines which have been 
 advanced and maintained. I am conscious of 
 
8o NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 having detained you and the Senate much too 
 long. I was drawn Into the debate, with no pre- 
 vious dehberatlon as Is suited to the discus- 
 sion of so grave and Important a subject. But it 
 Is a subject of which my heart is full, and I have 
 not been willing to suppress the utterance of its 
 spontaneous sentiments. I can not, even now, 
 persuade myself to relinquish it without express- 
 ing once more my deep conviction that, since It 
 respects nothing less than the union of the States, 
 it is of most vital and essential importance 
 to the public happiness. I profess, sir, in my ca- 
 reer hitherto to have kept steadily in view the 
 prosperity and honor of the whole country, and 
 the preservation of our Federal Union. It is to 
 that Union we owe our safety at home, and our 
 consideration and dignity abroad. It is to that 
 Union that we are chiefly indebted for whatever 
 makes us most proud of our country. That 
 Union we reached only by the discipline of our 
 virtues In the severe school of adversity. It had 
 its origin In the necessities of disordered finance, 
 prostrate commerce, and ruined credit. Under 
 Its benign influence, these great interests immedi- 
 ately awoke, as from the dead, and sprang forth 
 with newness of life. Every year of its duration 
 has teemed with fresh proofs of its utility and 
 its blessings; and although our territory has 
 stretched out wider and wider, and our popula- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 8i 
 
 tlon spread farther and farther, they have not 
 outrun Its protection or Its benefits. It has been 
 to us all a copious fountain of national, social, and 
 personal happiness. I have not allowed myself, 
 sir, to look beyond the Union, to see what might 
 lie hidden In the dark recess behind. I have not 
 coolly weighed the chances of preserving lib- 
 erty when the bonds that unite us together shall 
 be broken asunder. I have not accustomed my- 
 self to hang over the precipice of disunion, to 
 see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom 
 the depth of the abyss below; nor could I regard 
 him as a safe counselor In the affairs of this 
 government whose thoughts should be mainly 
 bent on considering, not how the Union should 
 be best preserved, but how tolerable might be 
 the condition of the people when It shall be 
 broken up and destroyed. 
 
 While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, 
 gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us 
 and our children. Beyond that I seek not to 
 penetrate the veil. God grant that. In my day 
 at least, that curtain may not rise. God grant, 
 that on my vision never may be opened what lies 
 behind. When my eyes shall be turned to be- 
 hold, for the last time, the sun in Heaven, 
 may I not see him shining on the broken and dis- 
 honored fragments of a once glorious Union; on 
 States dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a 
 
82 DANIEL WEBSTER 
 
 land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, It may be, 
 In fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and 
 lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous en- 
 sign of the Republic, now known and honored 
 throughout the earth, still full high advanced. Its 
 arms and trophies streaming In their original lus- 
 ter, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single 
 star obscured — bearing for Its motto, no such 
 miserable Interrogatory as, What Is all this 
 worth? Nor those other words of delusion and 
 folly. Liberty first, and Union afterwards — but 
 everywhere, spread all over In characters of liv- 
 ing light, blazing on all Its ample folds, as they 
 float over the sea and over the land, and In every 
 wind under the whole heavens, that other senti- 
 ment, dear to every true American heart — Lib- 
 erty and Union, now and forever, one and 
 Inseparable! 
 
ON THE CONSTITUTION AND 
 THE UNION 
 
 Delivered in the United States Senate, March 
 
 7, 1850. 
 
 Mr. President: — I wish to speak to-day, 
 not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a northern 
 man, but as an American, and a member of the 
 Senate of the United States. It is fortunate that 
 there is a Senate of tRe United States; a body not 
 yet moved from its propriety, nor lost to a just 
 sense of its own dignity and its own high respon- 
 sibilities, and a body to which the country looks, 
 with confidence, for wise, moderate, patriotic, 
 and healing counsels. It is not to be denied that 
 we live in the midst of strong agitations and 
 are surrounded by very considerable dangers to 
 our institutions and government. The impris- 
 oned winds are let loose. The East, the North, 
 and the stormy South combine to throw the whole 
 sea into commotion, to toss its billows to the 
 skies, and disclose its profoundest depths. I 
 do not affect to regard myself, Mr. President, 
 as holding, or fit to hold, the helm in this combat 
 
 83 
 
84 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 with the political elements; but I have a duty 
 to perform, and I mean to perform It with 
 fidelity, not without a sense of existing dangers, 
 but not without hope. I have a part to act, 
 not for my own security or safety, for I am look- 
 ing out for no fragment upon which to float 
 away from the wreck, if wreck there must be, 
 but for the good of the whole, and the preserva- 
 tion of all; and there is that which will keep 
 me to my duty during this struggle, whether the 
 sun and the stars shall appear for many days. I 
 speak to-day for the preservation of the Union. 
 " Hear me for my cause." I speak to-day out 
 of a solicitous and anxious heart, for the restora- 
 tion to the country of that quiet and that harmony 
 which make the blessings of this Union so 
 rich, and so dear to us all. These are the topics 
 that I propose to myself to discuss; these are the 
 motives, and the sole motives, that influence me 
 in the wish to communicate my opinions to the 
 Senate and the country; and if I can do anything, 
 however little, for the promotion of these ends, 
 I shall have accomplished all that I expect. 
 
 . . . We all know, sir, that slavery has ex- 
 isted in the world from time immemorial. There 
 was slavery in the earliest periods of history, 
 among the Oriental nations. There was slavery 
 among the Jews; the theocratic government of 
 that people issued no injunction against it. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 85 
 
 There was slavery among the Greeks; and the 
 ingenious philosophy of the Greeks found, or 
 sought to find, a justification for It exactly upon 
 the grounds which have been assumed in this coun- 
 try; that is, a natural and original difference 
 among the races of mankind. ... At the intro- 
 duction of Christianity, the Roman world was 
 full of slaves, and I suppose there is to be 
 found no injunction against that relation between 
 man and man in the teachings of the Gospel 
 of Jesus Christ or of any of his apostles. 
 . . . Now, sir, upon the general nature and 
 influence of slavery there exists a wide dif- 
 ference of opinion between the northern portion 
 of this country and the southern. It is said on 
 the one side, that, although not the subject of 
 any Injunction or direct prohibition in the New 
 Testament, slavery is a wrong; that it is founded 
 merely in the right of the strongest; and that 
 it is an oppression, like unjust wars, like all those 
 conflicts by which a powerful nation subjects a 
 weaker to its will; and that, in its nature, what- 
 ever may be said of it in the modifications 
 which have taken place, it is not according to the 
 meek spirit of the Gospel. It is not "kindly af- 
 fectloned"; it does not "seek another's, and not 
 its own"; it does not "let the oppressed go 
 free." These are sentiments that are cherished, 
 and of late with greatly augmented force, among 
 
86 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 the people of the Northern States. They have 
 taken hold of the religious sentiment of that part 
 of the country, as they have, more or less, taken 
 hold of the religious feelings of a considerable 
 portion of mankind. The South upon the other 
 side, having been accustomed to this relation be- 
 tween the two races all their lives; from their 
 birth, having been taught, in general, to treat the 
 subjects of this bondage with care and kindness, 
 and I believe, in general, feeling great kindness 
 for them, have not taken the view of the subject 
 which I have mentioned. There are thousands 
 of religious men, with consciences as tender as 
 any of their brethren at the North, who do not 
 see the unlawfulness of slavery; and there are 
 more thousands, perhaps, that, whatsoever they 
 may think of it in its origin, and as a matter de- 
 pending upon natural rights, yet take things 
 as they are, and, finding slavery to be an estab- 
 lished relation of the society in which they 
 live, can see no way in which, let their opinions on 
 the abstract question be what they may, it is in 
 the power of this generation to relieve themselves 
 from this relation. And candor obliges me to 
 say, that I believe they are just as conscientious, 
 many of them, and the religious people, all of 
 them, as they are at the North who hold differ- 
 ent opinions. . . . 
 
 There are men who, with clear perceptions, as 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 87 
 
 they think, of their own duty, do not see 
 how too eager a pursuit of one duty may involve 
 them In the violation of others, or how too 
 warm an embracement of one truth may lead to 
 a disregard of other truths just as Important. 
 As I heard It stated strongly, not many days ago, 
 these persons are disposed to mount upon some 
 particular duty, as upon a war-horse, and to drive 
 furiously on and upon and over all other duties 
 that may stand In the way. There are men who. 
 In reference to disputes of that sort, are of opinion 
 that human duties may be ascertained with the 
 exactness of mathematics. They deal with mor- 
 als as with mathematics ;^ and they think what Is 
 right may be distinguished from what Is wrong 
 with the precision of an algebraic equation. 
 They have, therefore, none too much charity to- 
 ward others who differ from them. They are 
 apt, too, to think that nothing Is good but what Is 
 perfect, and that there are no compromises or 
 modifications to be made In consideration of dif- 
 ference of opinion or in deference to other men's 
 judgment. If their perspicacious vision enables 
 them to detect a spot on the face of the sun, they 
 think that a good reason why the sun should be 
 struck down from Heaven. They prefer the 
 chance of running Into utter darkness to living 
 In heavenly light, If that heavenly light be not 
 absolutely without any Imperfection. There are 
 
88 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 impatient men; . . . too Impatient to wait for 
 the slow progress of moral causes In the Im- 
 provement of mankind. . . . 
 
 But we must view things as they are. Slavery- 
 does exist in the United States. It did exist in 
 the States before the adoption of this Constitu- 
 tion, and at that time. Let us, therefore, con- 
 sider for a moment what was the state of 
 sentiment, North and South, in regard to slav- 
 ery, — in regard to slavery, at the time this 
 Constitution was adopted. A remarkable change 
 has taken place since; but what did the wise and 
 great men of all parts of the country think of, 
 slavery then? In what estimation did they hold 
 it at the time when this Constitution was adopted? 
 It will be found, sir, if we will carry ourselves by 
 historical research back to that day, and ascertain 
 men's opinions by authentic records still existing 
 among us, that there was no diversity of opinion 
 between the North and the South upon the subject 
 of slavery. It will be found that both parts of 
 the country held it equally an evil, a moral and 
 political evil. It will not be found that, either 
 at the North or at the South, there was much, 
 though there was some, invective against 
 slavery as inhuman and cruel. The great 
 ground of objection to it was political; that it 
 weakened the social fabric; that, taking the place 
 of free labor, society became less strong and labor 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 89 
 
 less productive; and therefore we find from all 
 the eminent men of the time the clearest expres- 
 sion of their opinion that slavery is an evil. 
 They ascribed Its existence here, not without truth, 
 and not without some acerbity of temper and 
 force of language, to the Injurious policy of 
 the mother country, who, to favor the navigator, 
 had entailed these evils upon the colonies. . . . 
 You observe, sir, that the term slave, or slavery, 
 is not used in the Constitution. The Constitu- 
 tion does not require that '' fugitive slaves " shall 
 be delivered up. It requires that persons held 
 to service in one State, and escaping into another, 
 shall be delivered up. Mr. Madison opposed 
 the introduction of the term slave, or slavery, 
 Into the Constitution ; for he said, that he dici 
 not wish to see It recognized by the Constitution 
 of the United States of America that there could 
 be property in men. . . . 
 
 Here we may pause. There was, if not an 
 entire unanimity, a general concurrence of senti- 
 ment running through the whole community, and 
 especially entertained by the eminent men of all 
 parts of the country. But soon a change began, 
 at the North and the South, and a difference of 
 opinion showed itself; the North growing much 
 more warm and strong against slavery, and the 
 South growing much more warm and strong in 
 its support. Sir, there is no generation of man- 
 
go NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 kind whose opinions are not subject to be Influ- 
 enced by what appear to them to be their present 
 emergent and exigent interests. I Impute to 
 the South no particularly selfish view In the change 
 which has come over her. I Impute to her cer- 
 tainly no dishonest view. All that has happened 
 has been natural. It has followed those causes 
 which always influence the human mind and op- 
 erate upon it. What, then, have been the causes 
 which have created so new a feeling In favor of 
 slavery In the South, which have changed the 
 whole nomenclature of the South on that subject, 
 so that, from being thought and described In the 
 terms I have mentioned and will not repeat, It has 
 now become an Institution, a cherished institution. 
 In that quarter; no evil, no scourge, but a great re- 
 ligious, social, and moral blessing, as I think I 
 have heard It latterly spoken of? I suppose this, 
 sir, is owing to the rapid growth and sudden ex- 
 tension of the cotton plantations of the South. 
 So far as any motive consistent with honor, justice, 
 and general judgment could act, it was the cotton 
 Interest that gave a new desire to promote slav- 
 ery, to spread It, and to use Its labor. I again 
 say that this change was produced by causes which 
 must always produce like effects. The whole In- 
 terest of the South became connected, more or 
 less, with the extension of slavery. If we look 
 back to the history of the commerce of this coun- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 91 
 
 try in the early years of this government, what 
 were our exports? Cotton was hardly, or but 
 to a very limited extent, known. In 1791 the 
 first parcel of cotton of the growth of the United 
 States was exported, and amounted only to 19,- 
 200 pounds. It has gone on Increasing rapidly, 
 until the w^hole crop may now, perhaps, in a sea- 
 son of great product and high prices, amount 
 to a hundred millions of dollars. In the years I 
 have mentioned, there was more of wax, more of 
 Indigo, more of rice, more of almost every article 
 of export from the South, than of cotton. When 
 Mr. Jay negotiated the treaty of 1794 with Eng- 
 land, it is evident from the Twelfth Article of 
 the Treaty, which was suspended by the Senate, 
 that he did not know that cotton was exported 
 at all from the United States. 
 
 Well, sir, we know what followed. The age 
 of cotton became the golden age of our Southern 
 brethren. It gratified their desire for improve- 
 ment and accumulation, at the same time that It 
 
 excited It. 
 
 • •■••••• 
 
 Sir, there Is not so remarkable a chapter in 
 our history of political events, political parties, 
 and political men as Is afforded by this admis- 
 sion of a new slave-holding territory, so vast that 
 a bird cannot fly over It In a week. New Eng- 
 land, as I have said, with some of her own votes, 
 
92 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 supported this measure. Three-fourths of the 
 votes of Hberty-loving Connecticut were given for 
 it in the other house, and one half here. There 
 was one vote for it from Maine but, I am happy 
 to say, not the vote of the honorable member who 
 addressed the Senate the day before yesterday, 
 and who was then a Representative from Maine 
 in the House of Representatives; but there was 
 one vote from Maine, aye, and there was one vote 
 for it from Massachusetts, given by a gentleman 
 then representing, and now living in, the district 
 in which the prevalence of Free Soil sentiment 
 for a couple of years or so has defeated the choice 
 of any member to represent it in Congress. Sir, 
 that body of Northern and Eastern men who gave 
 those votes at that time are now seen taking upon 
 themselves, in the nomenclature of politics, the 
 appellation of the Northern Democracy. They 
 undertook to wield the destinies of this empire, if 
 I may give that name to a Republic, and their 
 policy was, and they persisted in it, to bring into 
 this country and under this government all the ter- 
 ritory they could. They did it, in the case 
 of Texas, under pledges, absolute pledges, to the 
 slave interest, and they afterwards lent their aid in 
 bringing in these new conquests, to take their 
 chance for slavery or freedom. My honorable 
 friend from Georgia, in March, 1847, nioved the 
 Senate to declare that the war ought not to 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 93 
 
 be prosecuted for the conquest of territory, or 
 for the dismemberment of Mexico. The whole 
 of the Northern Democracy voted against It. 
 He did not get a vote from them. It suited the 
 patriotic and elevated sentiments of the North- 
 ern Democracy to bring in a world from 
 among the mountains and valleys of California 
 and New Mexico, or any other part of Mex- 
 ico, and then quarrel about It; to bring It In, and 
 then endeavor to put upon It the saving grace 
 of the Wilmot Proviso. There were two emi- 
 nent and highly respectable gentlemen from 
 the North and East, then leading gentlemen 
 In the Senate (I refer, and I do so with 
 entire respect, for I entertain for both of those 
 gentlemen. In general, high regard, to Mr. DIx of 
 New York and Mr. Nlles of Connecticut), who 
 both voted for the admission of Texas. They 
 would not have that vote any other way than as 
 it stood; and they would have it as it did 
 stand. I speak of the vote upon the annexation 
 of Texas. Those two gentlemen would have the 
 resolution of annexation just as It Is, without 
 amendment; and they voted for it just as It Is, and 
 their eyes were all open to Its true character. 
 The honorable member from South Carolina who 
 addressed us the other day was then Secretary of 
 State. His correspondence with Mr. Murphy, 
 the Charge d'Affalres of the United States in 
 
94 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 Texas, had been published. That correspondence 
 was all before those gentlemen, and the Secretary 
 had the boldness and candor to avow In that corre- 
 spondence, that the great object sought by the 
 annexation of Texas was to strengthen the slave 
 Interest of the South. Why, sir, he said so In so 
 many words. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun. Will the honorable Senator 
 permit me to Interrupt him for a moment? 
 
 Mr. Webster. Certainly. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun. I am very reluctant to Inter- 
 rupt the honorable gentleman; but, upon a point 
 of so much Importance, I deem It right to put 
 myself rectus in curia. I did not put It upon the 
 ground assumed by the Senator. I put It upon 
 this ground; that Great Britain had announced to 
 this country. In so many words, that her object 
 was to abolish slavery In Texas, and, through 
 Texas, to accomplish the abolition of slav- 
 ery In the United States and the world. The 
 ground I put It on was, that it would make 
 an exposed frontier, and, if Great Britain 
 succeeded In her object. It would be impossible 
 that that frontier could be secured against the ag- 
 gressions of the Abolitionists; and that this gov- 
 ernment was bound, under the guaranties of the 
 Constitution, to protect us against such a state of 
 things. 
 
 Mr. Webster. That comes, I suppose, sir, 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 95. 
 
 to exactly the same thing. It was, that Texas 
 must be obtained for the security of the slave In- 
 terest of the South. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun. Another view Is very distinctly 
 given. 
 
 Mr. Webster. That was the object set forth 
 In the correspondence of a worthy gentleman not 
 now living, who preceded the honorable member 
 from South Carolina In the Department of State. 
 There repose on the files of the Department, as 
 I have occasion to know, strong letters from 
 Mr. Upshur to the United States Minister In Eng- 
 land, and I believe there are some to the 
 same Minister from the honorable Senator him- 
 self, asserting to this effect the sentiments of this 
 government; namely, that Great Britain was ex- 
 pected not to Interfere to take Texas out of the 
 hands of Its then existing government and make 
 It a free country. But my argument, my sugges- 
 tion, is this: that those gentlemen who composed 
 the Northern Democracy when Texas was 
 brought Into the Union saw clearly that It was 
 brought In as a slave country, and brought In for 
 the purpose of being maintained as slave territory, 
 to the Greek Kalends. I rather think the honor- 
 able gentleman who was then Secretary of State 
 might, In some of his correspondence with Mr. 
 Murphy, have suggested that It was not expedient 
 to say too much abou-t this object, lest It should 
 
96 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 create some alarm. At any rate, Mr. Murphy 
 wrote to him that England was anxious to get rid 
 of the constitution of Texas, because it was a con- 
 stitution establishing slavery; and that what 
 the United States had to do was to aid the people 
 of Texas in upholding their constitution; but that 
 nothing should be said which should offend the 
 fanatical men of the North. But, sir, the honor- 
 able member did avow this object himself, 
 openly, boldly, and manfully; he did not disguise 
 his conduct or his motives. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun. Never, never. 
 
 Mr. Webster. What he means he is very apt 
 to say. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun. Always, always. 
 
 Mr. Webster. And I honor him for it. 
 
 This admission of Texas was in 1845. Then 
 In 1847, flagrante hello between the United States 
 and Mexico, the proposition I have mentioned 
 was brought forward by my friend from Georgia, 
 and the Northern Democracy voted steadily 
 against it. Their remedy was to apply to 
 the acquisitions, after they should come In, the 
 Wllmot Proviso. What follows? These two 
 gentlemen, worthy and honorable and influ- 
 ential men (and if they had not been they could 
 not have carried the measure), these two gentle- 
 men, members of this body, brought in Texas, 
 and by their votes they also prevented the passage 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 97 
 
 of the resolution of the honorable member from 
 Georgia, and then they went home and took the 
 lead In the Free Soil party. And there they 
 stand, sir! They leave us here, bound In honor 
 and conscience by the resolutions of annexation; 
 they leave us here, to take the odium of fulfilling 
 the obligations In favor of slavery which they 
 voted us Into, or else the greater odium of viola- 
 ting those obligations, while they are at home 
 making capital and rousing speeches for free soil 
 and no slavery. And therefore I say, sir, that 
 there is not a chapter in our history, respecting 
 public measures and public men, more full of what 
 would create surprise, and more full of what does 
 create, in my mind, extreme mortification, than 
 that of the conduct of the Northern Democracy 
 on this subject. 
 
 Mr. President, sometimes when a man is found 
 In a new relation to things around him and to other 
 men, he says the world has changed, and that he 
 Is not changed. I believe, sir, that our self-re- 
 spect leads us often to make this declaration In 
 regard to ourselves when it is not exactly true. 
 An individual is more apt to change, perhaps, 
 than all the world around him. But under the 
 present circumstances, and under the responsibil- 
 ity which I know I incur by what I am now 
 stating here, I feel at liberty to recur to the vari- 
 ous expressions and statements, made at various 
 
98 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 times, of my own opinions and resolutions respect- 
 ing the admission of Texas, and all that has fol- 
 lowed. . . . On other occasions, in debate here, 
 I have expressed my determination to vote for 
 no acquisition, or cession, or annexation, North 
 or South, East or West. My opinion has been, 
 that we have territory enough, and that we should 
 follow the Spartan maxim: " Improve, adorn 
 what you have," — seek no further. I think that 
 it was in some observations that I made on the 
 three million loan bill that I avowed this senti- 
 ment. In short, sir, it has been avowed quite 
 as often in as many places, and before as many 
 assemblies, as any humble opinions of mine ought 
 to be avowed. 
 
 But now that, under certain conditions, Texas 
 Is In the Union, with all her territory, as a slave 
 State, with a solemn pledge also that, If she shall 
 be divided Into many States, those States may 
 come In as slave States south of 36° 30', how are 
 we to deal with this subject? I know no way of 
 honest legislation, when the proper time comes 
 for the enactment, but to carry Into effect all that 
 we have stipulated to do. . . . That Is the mean- 
 ing of the contract which our friends, the 
 Northern Democracy, have left us to fulfill; and I, 
 for one, mean to fulfill it, because I will not vio- 
 late the faith of the government. What I mean 
 to say Is, that the time for the admission of new 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 99 
 
 States formed out of Texas, the number of such 
 States, their boundaries, the requisite amount of 
 population, and all other things connected with 
 the admission, are In the free discretion of Con- 
 gress, except this: to wit, that when new States 
 formed out of Texas are to be admitted, they 
 have a right, by legal stipulation and contract, to 
 come In as slave States. 
 
 Now, as to California and New Mexico, I hold 
 slavery to be excluded from these territories by a 
 law even superior to that which admits and sanc- 
 tions It In Texas. I mean the law of nature, of 
 physical geography, the law of the formation of 
 the earth. That law settles forever, with a 
 strength beyond all terms of human enactment, 
 that slavery cannot exist In California or New 
 Mexico. Understand me, sir; I mean slavery as 
 we regard It; the slavery of the colored race as It 
 exists In the Southern States. I shall not discuss 
 the point, but leave it to the learned gentlemen 
 who have undertaken to discuss It; but I suppose 
 there Is no slavery of that description In California 
 now. I understand that peonism, a sort of penal 
 servitude, exists there, or rather a sort of volun- 
 tary sale of a man and his offspring for debt, an 
 arrangement of a peculiar nature known to the 
 law of Mexico. But what I mean to say Is, that 
 It Is Impossible that African slavery, as we see It 
 among us, should find Its way, or be Introduced, 
 
loo NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 Into California or New Mexico, as any other nat- 
 ural Impossibility. California and New Mexico 
 are Asiatic In their formation and scenery. They 
 are composed of vast ridges of mountains of great 
 height, with broken ridges and deep valleys. 
 The sides of these mountains are entirely barren; 
 their tops capped by perennial snow. There may 
 be in California, now made free by Its constitu- 
 tion, and no doubt there are, some tracts of valu- 
 able land. But It Is not so In New Mexico. 
 Pray, what Is the evidence which every gentleman 
 must have obtained on this subject, from informa- 
 tion sought by himself or communicated by oth- 
 ers? I have inquired and read all I could find, 
 in order to acquire Information on this Important 
 subject. What Is there In New Mexico that 
 could, by any possibility. Induce anybody to go 
 there with slaves! There are some narrow strips 
 of tillable land on the borders of the rivers; but 
 the rivers themselves dry up before midsummer Is 
 gone. All that the people can do In that region 
 Is to raise some little articles, some little wheat 
 for their tortillas, and that by Irrigation. And 
 who expects to see a hundred black men cultiva- 
 ting tobacco, corn, cotton, rice, or anything else, 
 on lands In New Mexico, made fertile by irriga- 
 tion ? 
 
 I look upon It, therefore, as a fixed fact, to use 
 the current expression of the day, that both Call- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER loi 
 
 fornia and New Mexico are destined to be free, 
 so far as they are settled at all, which I believe, 
 In regard to New Mexico, will be but partially, 
 for a great length of time; free by the arrange- 
 ment of things ordained by the Power above us. 
 I have therefore to say, in this respect also, that 
 this country Is fixed for freedom, to as many per- 
 sons as shall ever live In It, by a less repealable 
 law than that which attaches to the right of hold- 
 ing slaves in Texas; and I will say further, that, 
 If a resolution or a bill were now before us, to 
 provide a territorial government for New Mex- 
 ico, I would not vote to put any prohibition Into 
 It whatever. Such a prohibition would be idle, 
 as It respects any effect it would have upon the 
 territory; and I would not take pains uselessly to 
 reaffirm an ordinance of nature, nor to reenact 
 the will of God. I would put In no WHmot Pro- 
 viso for the mere purpose of a taunt or a reproach. 
 I would put into It no evidence of the votes of 
 superior power, exercised for no purpose but to 
 wound the pride, whether a just and a rational 
 pride, or an Irrational pride, of the citizens 
 of the Southern States. I have no such ob- 
 ject, no such purpose. They would think It a 
 taunt, an Indignity; they would think it to be an 
 act taking away from them what they regard as a 
 proper equality of privilege. Whether they ex- 
 pect to realize any benefit from it or not, they 
 
I02 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 would think It at least a plain theoretic wrong; 
 that something more or less derogatory to their 
 character and their rights had taken place. I pro- 
 pose to Inflict no such wound upon anybody, unless 
 something essentially Important to the country, 
 and efficient to the preservation of liberty and 
 freedom, Is to be effected. I repeat, therefore, 
 sir, and, as I do not propose to address the Senate 
 often on this subject, I repeat It because I wish It 
 to be distinctly understood, that, for the reasons 
 stated. If a proposition were now here to establish 
 a government for New Mexico, and It was moved 
 to Insert a provision for a prohibition of slavery, 
 I would not vote for It. . . . Sir, we hear occa- 
 sionally of the annexation of Canada; and if there 
 be any man, any of the Northern Democracy, or 
 any of the Free Soil party, who supposes It neces- 
 sary to Insert a Wilmot Proviso in a territorial 
 government for New Mexico, that man would, of 
 course, be of opinion that it is necessary to protect 
 the everlasting snows of Canada from the foot of 
 slavery by the same overspreading wing of an act 
 of Congress. Sir, wherever there Is a substantive 
 good to be done, wherever there Is a foot of land 
 to be prevented from becoming slave territory, 
 I am ready to assert the principle of the exclusion 
 of slavery. I am pledged to it from the year 
 1837; I have been pledged to It again and again; 
 and I will perform these pledges; but I will not do 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 103 
 
 a thing unnecessarily that wounds the feelings of 
 others, or that does discredit to my own under- 
 standing. ... 
 
 Mr. President, In the excited times in which 
 we live, there Is found to exist a state of crimina- 
 tion and recrimination between the North and 
 South. There are lists of grievances produced 
 by each; and those grievances, real or supposed, 
 alienate the minds of one portion of the country 
 from the other, exasperate the feelings, and sub- 
 due the sense of fraternal affection, patriotic 
 love, and mutual regard. I shall bestow a little 
 attention, sir, upon these various grievances exist- 
 ing on the one side and on the other. I begin 
 with complaints of the South. I will not answer, 
 further than I have, the general statements of the 
 honorable Senator from South Carolina, that the 
 North has prospered at the expense of the South 
 in consequence of the manner of administering 
 this government. In the collection of its revenues, 
 and so forth. These are disputed topics, and I 
 have no inclination to enter into them. But I 
 will allude to other complaints of the South, and 
 especially to one which has in my opinion, just 
 foundation; and that is, that there has been found 
 at the North, among individuals and among legis- 
 lators, a disinclination to perform fully their con- 
 stitutional duties in regard to the return of 
 persons bound to service who have escaped Into 
 
104 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 the free States. In that respect, the South, In my 
 judgment. Is right, and the North Is wrong. Ev- 
 ery member of every Northern legislature Is 
 bound by oath, like every other officer In the coun- 
 try, to support the Constitution of the United 
 States; and the article of the Constitution which 
 says to these States that they shall deliver up fugi- 
 tives from service. Is as binding In honor and con- 
 science as any other article. No man fulfills his 
 duty In any legislature who sets himself to find 
 excuses, evasions, escapes from this constitutional 
 obligation. I have always thought that the Con- 
 stitution addressed Itself to the legislatures of the 
 States or to the States themselves. It says that 
 those persons escaping to other States " shall 
 be delivered up," and I confess I have al- 
 ways been of the opinion that It was an Injunction 
 upon the States themselves. When It Is said that 
 a person escaping Into another State, and coming 
 within the jurisdiction of that State, shall be deliv- 
 ered up, it seems to me the Import of the clause Is, 
 that the State Itself, In obedience to the Constitu- 
 tion, shall cause him to be delivered up. That 
 Is my judgment. I have always entertained that 
 opinion, and I entertain It now. But when the 
 subject, some years ago, was before the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, the majority of the 
 judges held that the power to cause fugitives from 
 service to be delivered up was a power to be ex- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 105 
 
 ercised under the authority of this government. 
 I do not know, on the whole, that It may not have 
 been a fortunate decision. My habit is to respect 
 the result of judicial deliberations and the 
 solemnity of judicial decisions. As It now stands, 
 the business of seeing that these fugitives are de- 
 livered up resides In the power of Congress and 
 the national judicature, and my friend at the head 
 of the Judiciary Committee has a bill on the sub- 
 ject now before the Senate, which, with some 
 amendments to it, I propose to support, with all 
 Its provisions, to the fullest extent. And I desire 
 to call the attention of all sober-minded men at 
 the North, of all conscientious men, of all men 
 who are not carried away by some fanatical idea 
 or some false Impression, to their constitutional 
 obligations. I put it to all the sober and sound 
 minds at the North as a question of morals and a 
 question of conscience. What right have they, In 
 their legislative capacity, or any other capacity, to 
 endeavor to get round this Constitution, or to em- 
 barrass the free exercise of the rights secured by 
 the Constitution, to the person whose slaves escape 
 from them? None at all; none at all. Neither 
 in the forum of conscience, nor before the face of 
 the Constitution, are they, in my opinion, justified 
 In such an attempt. Of course It Is a matter for 
 their consideration. They probably, in the ex- 
 citement of the times, have not stopped to con- 
 
io6 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 sider this. They have followed what seemed to 
 be the current of thought and of motives, as the 
 occasion arose, and they have neglected to Investi- 
 gate fully the real question, and to consider their 
 constitutional obligations; which, I am sure. If 
 they did consider, they would fulfill with alacrity. 
 I repeat, therefore, sir, that here Is a well- 
 founded ground of complaint against the North, 
 which ought to be rernoved, which Is now In the 
 power of the different departments of this gov- 
 ernment to remove; which calls for the enact- 
 ment of proper laws authorizing the judicature 
 of this government, In the several States, to do 
 all that Is necessary for the recapture of fugitive 
 slaves and for their restoration to those who 
 claim them. Wherever I go, and whenever I 
 speak on the subject, and when I speak here I 
 desire to speak to the whole North, I say that 
 the South has been Injured In this respect, and 
 has a right to complain; and the North has been 
 too careless of what I think the Constitution per- 
 emptorily and emphatically enjoins upon her as 
 a duty. 
 
 Complaint has been made against certain reso- 
 lutions that emanate from legislatures at the 
 North, and are sent here to us, not only on the 
 subject of slavery In this District, but sometimes 
 recommending Congress to consider the means of 
 abolishing slavery In the States. I should be 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 107 
 
 sorry to be called upon to present any resolu- 
 tions here which could not be referable to any 
 committee or any power In Congress; and there- 
 fore I should be unwilling to receive from the 
 legislature of Massachusetts any Instructions to 
 present resolutions expressive of any opinion 
 whatever on the subject of slavery, as it exists at 
 the present moment in the States, for two reasons : 
 because I do not consider that I, as her representa- 
 tive here, have anything to do with it. It has 
 become, in my opinion, quite too common; and 
 if the legislatures of the States do not like that 
 opinion, they have a great deal more power to put 
 it down than I have to uphold it; it has become, 
 in my opinion, quite too common a practice for 
 the State legislatures to present resolutions here 
 on all subjects and to instruct us on all subjects. 
 There is no public man that requires instruction 
 more than I do, or who requires information 
 more than I do, or desires it more heartily; but 
 I do not like to have It In too imperative a 
 shape. . . . 
 
 Then, sir, there are the Abolition societies, of 
 which I am unwilling to speak, but In regard to 
 which I have very clear notions and opinions. I 
 do not think them useful. I think their opera- 
 tions for the last twenty years have produced 
 nothing good or valuable. At the same time, I 
 believe thousands of their members to be honest 
 
io8 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 and good men, perfectly well-meaning men. 
 They have excited feelings; they think they must 
 do something for the cause of liberty; and, In their 
 sphere of action, they do not see what else they 
 can do than to contribute to an Abolition press, or 
 an Abolition society, or to pay an Abolition lec- 
 turer. I do not mean to Impute gross motives 
 even to the leaders of these societies, but I am not 
 blind to the consequences of their proceedings. 
 I cannot but see what mischief their interference 
 with the South has produced. And Is It not plain 
 to every man? Let any gentleman who enter- 
 tains doubts on this point, recur to the debates In 
 the Virginia House of Delegates In 1832, and he 
 will see with what freedom a proposition made by 
 Mr. Jefferson Randolph, for the gradual abo- 
 lition of slavery was discussed In that body. 
 Every one spoke of slavery as he thought; very 
 Ignominious and disparaging names and epithets 
 were applied to It. The debates In the House 
 of Delegates on that occasion, I believe were all 
 published. They were read by every colored 
 man who could read, and to those who could not 
 read, those debates were read by others. At 
 that time Virginia was not unwilling or afraid to 
 discuss this question, and to let that part of her 
 population know as much of the discussion as they 
 could learn. That was in 1832. As has been 
 said by the honorable member from South Caro- 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 109 
 
 Una, these Abolition societies commenced their 
 course of action in 1835. ^^ ^s said, I do not 
 know how true it may be, that they sent incen- 
 diary publications into the slave States; at any rate, 
 they attempted to arouse, and did arouse, a very 
 strong feeling; in other words, they created great 
 agitation in the North against Southern slavery. 
 Well, what was the result? The bonds of the 
 slaves were bound more firmly than before, their 
 rivets were more strongly fastened. Public 
 opinion, which in Virginia had begun to be ex- 
 hibited against slavery, and was opening out for 
 the discussion of the question, drew back and shut 
 itself up in its castle. I wish to know whether 
 anybody In Virginia can now talk openly, as Mr. 
 Randolph, Governor McDowel, and others talked 
 in 1832, and sent their remarks to the press? 
 We all know the fact, and we all know the 
 cause; and everything that these agitating people 
 have done has been, not to enlarge, but to re- 
 strain, not to set free, but to bind faster, the slave 
 population of the South. . . . 
 
 There are also complaints of the North against 
 the South. I need not go over them particu- 
 larly. The first and gravest is, that the North 
 adopted the Constitution, recognizing the exist- 
 ence of slavery in the States, and recognizing the 
 right, to a certain extent, of the representation of 
 slaves in Congress, under a state of sentiment and 
 
no NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 expectation which does not now exist; and that by 
 events, by circumstances, by the eagerness of the 
 South to acquire territory and extend her slave 
 population, the North finds itself, in regard to the 
 relative influence of the South and the North, of 
 the free States and the slave States, where it never 
 did expect to find itself when they agreed to the 
 compact of the Constitution. They complain, 
 therefore, that, instead of slavery being regarded 
 as an evil, as it was then, an evil which all hoped 
 would be extinguished gradually, it is now re- 
 garded by the South as an institution to be cher- 
 ished, and preserved, and extended; an institu- 
 tion which the South has already extended to the 
 utmost of her power by the acquisition of new 
 territory. 
 
 Well, then, passing from that, everybody in 
 the North reads; and everybody reads whatso- 
 ever the newspapers contain; and the newspapers, 
 some of them, especially those presses to which 
 I have alluded, are careful to spread about 
 among the people every reproachful sentiment 
 uttered by any Southern man bearing at all 
 against the North; everything that is calculated 
 to exasperate and to alienate; and there are many 
 such things, as everybody will admit, from the 
 South, or from portions of it, which are dissemi- 
 nated among the reading people; and they do ex- 
 asperate, and alienate, and produce a most 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER iii 
 
 mischievous effect upon the public mind at the 
 North. Sir, I would not notice things of this 
 sort appearing in obscure quarters; but one thing 
 has occurred In this debate which struck me very 
 forcibly. An honorable member from Louisiana 
 addressed us the other day on this subject. I 
 suppose there Is not a more amiable and worthy 
 gentleman In this chamber, nor a gentleman who 
 would be more slow to give offense to anybody, 
 and he did not mean In his remarks to give 
 offense. But what did he say? Why, sir, he 
 took pains to run a contrast between the slaves 
 of the South and the laboring people of the 
 North, giving the preference, In all points of con- 
 dition, and comfort, and happiness to the slaves 
 of the South. The honorable member, doubt- 
 less, did not suppose that he gave any offense, or 
 did any Injustice. He was merely expressing his 
 opinion. But does he know how remarks of that 
 sort will be received by the laboring people of 
 the North? Why, who are the laboring people 
 of the North? They are the whole North. 
 They are the people who till their own farms 
 with their own hands; freeholders, educated men, 
 independent men. Let me say, sir, that five- 
 sixths of the whole property of the North Is in 
 the hands of the laborers of the North; they 
 cultivate their farms, they educate their children, 
 they provide the means of Independence. If 
 
112 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 they are not freeholders, they earn wages; these 
 wages accumulate, are turned Into capital, Into 
 new freeholds, and small capitalists are created. 
 Such Is the case, and such the course of things, 
 among the Industrious and frugal. And what 
 can these people think when so respectable and 
 worthy a gentleman as the member from Louisi- 
 ana undertakes to prove that the absolute Igno- 
 rance and the abject slavery of the South are more 
 in conformity with the high purposes and destiny 
 of Immortal, rational, human beings, than the 
 educated, the Independent free labor of the 
 North ? 
 
 There Is a more tangibly, and Irritating cause 
 of grievance at the North. L Free blacks are con- 
 stantly employed in the vessels of the North, gen- 
 erally as cooks or stewards. When the vessel 
 arrives at a southern port, these free colored men 
 are taken on shore, by the police or municipal 
 authority, imprisoned, and kept in prison till the 
 vessel is again ready to sail. This Is not only 
 Irritating, but exceedingly unjustifiable and op- 
 pressive. Mr. Hoar's mission, some time ago to 
 South Carolina, was a well-intended effort to re- 
 move this cause of complaint. The North thinks 
 such Imprisonments Illegal and unconstitutional; 
 and as the cases occur constantly and frequently 
 they regard It as a grievance. 
 
 Now, sir, so far as any of these grievances have 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 113 
 
 their foundation In matters of law, they can be 
 redressed, and ought to be redressed; and so far 
 as they have their foundation in matters of 
 opinion, in sentiment, In mutual crimination and 
 recrimination, all that we can do is to endeavor to 
 allay the agitation, and cultivate a better feeling 
 and more fraternal sentiments between the South 
 and the North. 
 
 Mr. President, I should much prefer to have 
 heard from every member on this floor declara- 
 tions of opinion that this Union could never be 
 dissolved, than the declaration of opinion by 
 anybody, that In any case, under the pressure of 
 any circumstances, such a dissolution was possible. 
 I hear with distress and anguish the word '* seces- 
 sion," especially when it falls from the lips of 
 those who are patriotic, and known to the country, 
 and known all over the world for their political 
 services. Secession! Peaceable secession! Sir, 
 your eyes and mine are never destined to see that 
 miracle. The dismemberment of this vast coun- 
 try without convulsion! The breaking up of the 
 fountains of the great deep without ruflling the 
 surface ! Who is so foolish — I beg every- 
 body's pardon — as to expect to see any such 
 thing? Sir, he who sees these States, now re- 
 volving in harmony around a common center, and 
 expects to see them quit their places and fly off 
 without convulsion, may look the next hour to see 
 
114 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 the heavenly bodies rush from their spheres, and 
 jostle against each other in the realms of space, 
 without causing the wreck of the universe. There 
 can be no such thing as a peaceable secession. 
 Peaceable secession is an utter impossibility. Is 
 the great Constitution under which we live, cover- 
 ing this whole country, is it to be thawed and 
 melted away by secession, as the snows on the 
 mountain melt under the influence of a vernal sun, 
 disappear almost unobserved, and run off? No, 
 sir! No, sir! I will not state what might pro- 
 duce the disruption of the Union; but, sir, I see 
 as plainly as I can see the sun in Heaven what that 
 disruption itself must produce; I see that it must 
 produce war, and such a war as I will not de- 
 scribe, in its twofold character. 
 
 Peaceable secession! Peaceable secession! 
 The concurrent agreement of all the members of 
 this great Republic to separate! A voluntary 
 separation, with alimony on one side and on the 
 other. Why, what would be the result? Where 
 is the line to be drawn? What States are to 
 secede? What is to remain American? What 
 am I to be? An American no longer? Am I to 
 become a sectional man, a local man, a separatist, 
 with no country in common with the gentlemen 
 who sit around me here, or who fill the other 
 house of Congress? Heaven forbid! Where 
 is the flag of the RepubHc to remain? Where is 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 115 
 
 the eagle still to tower? or Is he to cower, and 
 shrink, and fall to the ground? Why, sir, our 
 ancestors, our fathers and our grandfathers, those 
 of them that are yet living amongst us with pro- 
 longed lives, would rebuke and reproach us; and 
 our children and our grandchildren would cry out 
 shame upon us, if we of this generation should 
 dishonor these ensigns of the power of the gov- 
 ernment and the harmony of that Union which is 
 every day felt among us with so much joy and 
 gratitude. What Is to become of the army? 
 What Is to become of the navy? What is to be- 
 come of the public lands? How is each of the 
 thirty States to defend itself? I know, although 
 the idea has not been stated distinctly, there is to 
 be, or It Is supposed possible that there will be, a 
 Southern Confederacy. I do not mean, when I 
 allude to this statement, that any one seriously 
 contemplates such a state of things. I do not 
 mean to say that It Is true, but I have heard it 
 suggested elsewhere, that the Idea has been enter- 
 tained, that, after the dissolution of this Union, a 
 Southern Confederacy might be formed. I am 
 sorry, sir, that It has ever been thought of, talked 
 of. In the wildest flights of human imagination. 
 But the Idea, so far as it exists, must be of a sepa- 
 ration, assigning the slave States to one side, and 
 the free States to the other. Sir, I may express 
 myself too strongly, perhaps, but there are Im- 
 
ii6 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 possibilities In the natural as well as In the phys- 
 ical world, and I hold the Idea of the separation 
 of these States, those that are free to form one 
 government, and those that are slave-holding to 
 form another, as such an Impossibility. We 
 could not separate the States by any such line, if 
 we were to draw It. We could not sit down here 
 to-day and draw a line of separation that would 
 satisfy any five men In the country. There are 
 natural causes that would keep and tie us together, 
 and there are social and domestic relations which 
 we could not break If we would, and which we 
 should not if we could. 
 
 Sir, nobody can look over the face of this 
 country at the present moment, nobody can see 
 where Its population Is the most dense and grow- 
 ing, without being ready to admit, and compelled 
 to admit, that erelong the strength of America 
 will be In the Valley of the Mississippi. Well, 
 now, sir, I beg to Inquire what the wildest enthusi- 
 ast has to say on the possibility of cutting that 
 river In two, and leaving free States at its source 
 and on Its branches, and slave States down near its 
 mouth, each forming a separate government? 
 Pray, sir, let me say to the people of this country, 
 that these things are worthy of their pondering 
 and of their consideration. Here, sir, are five 
 millions of freemen in the free States north of 
 the river Ohio. Can anybody suppose that this 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 117 
 
 population can be severed, by a line that divides 
 them from the territory of a foreign and alien 
 government, down somewhere, the Lord knows 
 where, upon the lower banks of the Mississippi? 
 What would become of Missouri? Will she join 
 the arrondissement of the slave States? Shall 
 the man from the Yellowstone and the Platte be 
 connected, in the new republic, with the man who 
 lives on the southern extremity of the Cape of 
 Florida? Sir, I am ashamed to pursue this line 
 of remark. I dislike it, I have an utter disgust 
 for it. I would rather hear of natural blasts and 
 mildews, war, pestilence, and famine, than to hear 
 gentlemen talk of secession. To break up this 
 great government! to dismember this glorious 
 country! to astonish Europe with an act of folly 
 such as Europe for two centuries has never be- 
 held in any government or any people! No, sir! 
 no, sir! There will be no secession! Gentle- 
 men are not serious when they talk of secession. 
 Sir, I hear there Is to be a convention held at 
 Nashville. I am bound to believe that if worthy 
 gentlemen meet at Nashville in convention, their 
 object will be to adopt conciliatory counsels; to 
 advise the South to forbearance and moderation, 
 and to advise the North to forbearance and 
 moderation; and to Inculcate principles of 
 brotherly love and affection, and attachment to 
 the Constitution of the country as it now is. I 
 
ii8 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 believe, If the convention meet at all, It will be 
 for this purpose; for certainly, If they meet for 
 any purpose hostile to the Union, they have been 
 singularly Inappropriate In their selection of a 
 place. I remember, sir, that, when the treaty of 
 Amiens was concluded between France and Eng- 
 land, a sturdy Englishman and a distinguished 
 orator, who regarded the conditions of the peace 
 as ignominious to England, said In the House of 
 Commons, that If King William could know the 
 terms of that treaty, he would turn In his coffin ! 
 Let me commend this saying to Mr. Windham, in 
 all its emphasis and In all Its force, to any persons 
 who shall meet at Nashville for the purpose of 
 concerting measures for the overthrow of this 
 Union over the bones of Andrew Jackson. . . . 
 And now, Mr. President, Instead of speaking 
 of the possibility or utility of secession, instead of 
 dwelling In those caverns of darkness. Instead of 
 groping with those ideas so full of all that is hor- 
 rid and horrible, let us come out into the light 
 of the day; let us enjoy the fresh air of Liberty 
 and Union; let us cherish those hopes which be- 
 long to us; let us devote ourselves to those great 
 objects that are fit for our consideration and our 
 action; let us raise our conceptions to the magni- 
 tude and the Importance of the duties that de- 
 volve upon us; let our comprehension be as broad 
 as the country for which we act, our aspirations 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER 119 
 
 as high as Its certain destiny; let us not be pig- 
 mies In a case that calls for men. Never did 
 there devolve on any generation of men higher 
 trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preserva- 
 tion of this Constitution and the harmony and 
 peace of all who are destined to live under It. 
 Let us make our generation one of the strongest 
 and brightest links In that golden chain which Is 
 destined, I fondly believe, to grapple the people 
 of all the States to this Constitution for ages to 
 come. We have a great, popular. Constitutional 
 Government, guarded by law and by judicature, 
 and defended by the affections of the whole peo- 
 ple. No monarchical throne presses these States 
 together, no Iron chain of military power encir- 
 cles them; they live and stand under a govern- 
 ment popular In Its form, representative in its 
 character, founded upon principles of equality, 
 and so constructed, we hope, as to last forever. 
 In all Its history It has been beneficent; It has 
 trodden down no man's liberty; It has crushed no 
 State. Its daily respiration Is liberty and patriot- 
 Ism; Its yet youthful veins are full of enterprise, 
 courage, and honorable love of glory and renown. 
 Large before, the country has now, by recent 
 events, become vastly larger. This Republic 
 now extends, with a vast breadth across the whole 
 continent. The two great seas of the world wash 
 the one and the other shore. We reahze, on a 
 
I20 DANIEL WEBSTER 
 
 mighty scale, the beautiful description of the orna- 
 mental border of the buckler of Achilles: 
 
 " Now, the broad shield complete, the artist crowned 
 With his last hand, and poured the ocean round; 
 In living silver seemed the waves to roll, 
 And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the whole." 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 
 
JOHN C. CALHOUN 
 
 Froi}i an old Print 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 John Caldwell Calhoun was born March 
 1 8, 1782, In the Abbeville District, South Caro- 
 lina. 
 
 As a young boy he had very little regular 
 schooling. When he was thirteen years old, his 
 father, Patrick Calhoun, died, leaving his family 
 in very modest circumstances. John remained on 
 the farm with his mother for five years, leading 
 the quiet simple life of a farmer boy. Then 
 at the age of eighteen, under the direction of his 
 brother-in-law. Dr. Waddell, he began to prepare 
 himself for college at the North Carolina Acad- 
 emy. In two years he was able to enter the 
 junior class at Y^le College, and graduated with 
 high honors In 1804. 
 
 The ensuing year and a half proved him to be 
 a diligent student of law at the Litchfield Law 
 School. Then returning to South Carolina, he 
 studied for a short time In a law office at Charles- 
 ton. From there he went to his native town, and 
 very soon after opening an office, he was sent by 
 
 123 
 
124 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 his district to the State legislature ; while there he 
 so distinguished himself that In 1811 he was 
 elected a member of Congress, and placed on the 
 Committee on Foreign Relations. 
 
 Mr. Calhoun's first formal speech was de- 
 livered In Congress, December 12, 181 1, an argu- 
 ment in defense of the resolutions before the 
 House, for the preparation of war. His noted 
 speech on " Repeal of Direct Tax " was made on 
 January 31, 1816, and "The New Tariff Bill" 
 speech, a longer and more carefully prepared 
 argument, was delivered on April 6, of the same 
 year. 
 
 Upon leaving the House of Representatives 
 Mr. Calhoun' accepted a place on President Mon- 
 roe's cabinet as Secretary of War, which place 
 he filled with credit to himself and to the coun- 
 try. From 1825 to 1829 he served as Vice- 
 President with John Quincy Adams, and was re- 
 elected with President Jackson. In 1833 Mr. 
 Calhoun resigned the Vice-Presidency to become 
 United States Senator from South Carolina, hold- 
 ing the office for ten years. 
 
 His well-known speech on the Force Bill was 
 given In February, of his first year In the Senate; 
 another one of extraordinary force. In support of 
 State Rights, was delivered that same month. 
 And In February, 1837, he made that able speech 
 on the Abolition Petitions. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 125 
 
 In 1844 he was made Secretary of State by 
 President Tyler. He was again, In 1845, sent 
 to the United States Senate, where he spent his 
 remaining years. Owing to Mr. Calhoun's III 
 health, his last speech " On the Slavery Question,'' 
 was read by Senator Mason, March 4, 1850. 
 He died in Washington, the last day of that 
 month, March 31, 1850. 
 
ON THE RECEPTION OF ABOLI- 
 TION PETITIONS 
 
 Delivered in the United States Senate, February 
 
 6, 1837. 
 
 Mr. President: — If the time of the Senate 
 permitted, I would feel it to be my duty to call 
 for the reading of the mass of petitions on the 
 table, in order that we might know what language 
 they hold towards the slave-holding States and 
 their institutions. But as it will not, I have 
 selected, indiscriminately from the pile, two; one 
 from those in manuscript, and the other from the 
 printed, and without knowing their contents will 
 call for the reading of them, so that we may judge 
 by them of the character of the whole. 
 
 [Here the secretary, on the call of Mr. Cal- 
 houn, read the two petitions.] 
 
 Such is the language held towards us and ours. 
 The peculiar institution of the South — that on 
 the maintenance of which the very existence of the 
 slave-holding States depends — is pronounced to 
 be sinful and odious in the sight of God and man; 
 and this with a systematic design of rendering us 
 
 126 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 127 
 
 hateful In the eyes of the world — with a view to 
 a general crusade against us and our Institutions. 
 This, too, in the legislative halls of the Union, 
 created by these confederate States for the better 
 protection of their peace, their safety, and their 
 respective Institutions. And yet we, the repre- 
 sentatives of twelve of these sovereign States, 
 against whom this deadly war is waged, are ex- 
 pected to sit here In silence, hearing ourselves and 
 our constituents day after day denounced, with- 
 out uttering a word; for If we but open our lips 
 the charge of agitation Is resounded on all sides, 
 and we are held up as seeking to aggravate the 
 evil which we resist. Every reflecting mind must 
 see In all this a state of thlnfrs deeply and danger- 
 ously diseased. 
 
 I do not belong to the school which holds that 
 aggression is to be met by concession. Mine is 
 the opposite creed, which teaches that encroach- 
 ments must be met at the beginning, and that those 
 who act on the opposite principle are prepared to 
 become slaves. In this case, in particular, I hold 
 concession or compromise to be fatal. If we 
 concede an inch, concession would follow conces- 
 sion, compromise would follow compromise, until 
 our ranks would be so broken that effectual resist- 
 ance would be impossible. We must meet the 
 enemy on the frontier, with a fixed determination 
 of maintaining our position at every hazard. 
 
128 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 Consent to receive these insulting petitions, and 
 the next demand will be that they be referred to a 
 committee in order that they may be deliberated 
 and acted upon. At the last session we were 
 modestly asked to receive them, simply to lay 
 them on the table, without any view to ulterior 
 action. I then told the Senator from Pennsyl- 
 vania [Mr. Buchanan], who so strongly urged 
 that course in the Senate, that it was a position 
 that could not be maintained; as the argument in 
 favor of acting on the petitions, if we were bound 
 to receive, could not be resisted. I then said that 
 the next step would be to refer the petition to a 
 committee, and I already see indications that such 
 is now the intention. If we yield, that will be 
 followed by another, and we will thus proceed 
 step by step to the final consummation of the ob- 
 ject of these petitions. We are now told that the 
 most effectual mode of arresting the progress of 
 abolition is to reason it down; and with this view 
 it Is urged that the petitions ought to be referred 
 to a committee. That is the very ground which 
 was taken at the last session in the other house, 
 but instead of arresting its progress it has since 
 advanced more rapidly than ever. The most un- 
 questionable right may be rendered doubtful if 
 once admitted to be a subject of controversy, and 
 that would be the case in the present instance. 
 The subject is beyond the jurisdiction of Con- 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 129 
 
 gress : they have no right to touch it in any shape 
 or form, or to make it the subject of dehberation 
 or discussion. 
 
 In opposition to this view, it is urged that Con- 
 gress is bound by the Constitution to receive peti- 
 tions in every case and on every subject, whether 
 within its constitutional competency or not. I 
 hold the doctrine to be absurd, and do solemnly 
 believe that it would be as easy to prove that it 
 has the right to abolish slavery as that it is bound 
 to receive petitions for that purpose. The very 
 existence of the rule that requires a question to be 
 put on the reception of petitions, is conclusive to 
 show that there is no such obligation. It has 
 been a standing rule from the commencement of 
 the government, and clearly shows the sense of 
 those who formed the Constitution on this point. 
 The question on the reception would be absurd 
 if, as is contended, we are bound to receive. But 
 I do not intend to argue the question; I discussed 
 it fully at the last session, and the arguments then 
 advanced neither have been nor can be answered. 
 As widely as this incendiary spirit has spread, 
 it has not yet infected this body, or the great mass 
 of the intelligent and business portion of the 
 North; but unless it be speedily stopped, it will 
 spread and work upwards till it brings the two 
 great sections of the Union into deadly conflict. 
 This is not a new impression with me. Several 
 
130 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 years since, in a discussion with one of the Senators 
 from Massachusetts [Mr. Webster], before this 
 fell spirit had showed itself, I then predicted that 
 the doctrine of the proclamation and the Force 
 Bill [President Jackson's measures for overcom- 
 ing Nullification, in 1832-33], that this govern- 
 ment had a right, in the last resort, to determine 
 the extent of its own powers, and enforce its de- 
 cision at the point of the bayonet — which was so 
 warmly maintained by that Senator — would at 
 no distant day arouse the dormant spirit of Aboli- 
 tionism. I told him that the doctrine was tanta- 
 mount to the assumption of unlimited power on 
 the part of the government, and that sucii would 
 be the impression on the public mind in a large 
 portion of the Union. The consequence would 
 be inevitable. A large portion of the Northern 
 States believed slavery to be a sin, and would con- 
 sider it as an obligation of conscience to abolish it 
 if they should feel themselves in any degree re- 
 sponsible for its continuance; and that this doc- 
 trine would necessarily lead to the belief of such 
 responsibility. I then predicted that it would 
 commence as it has with this fanatical portion of 
 society; and that they would begin their opera- 
 tions on the ignorant, the weak, the young, and 
 the thoughtless, and gradually extend upwards 
 till they would become strong enough to obtain 
 political control; when he and others holding the 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CJLHOUN 131 
 
 highest stations in society would, however reluc- 
 tant, be compelled to yield to their doctrines, or be 
 driven into obscurity. But four years have since 
 elapsed, and all this Is already In a course of regu- 
 lar fulfillment. 
 
 Standing at the point of time at which we have 
 now arrived, It will not be more difficult to trace 
 the course of future events now than it was then. 
 They who Imagine that the spirit now abroad in 
 the North will die away of itself, without a shock 
 or convulsion, have formed a very Inadequate 
 conception of its real character; It will continue to 
 rise and spread, unless prompt and efficient meas- 
 ures to stay its progress be adopted. Already It 
 has taken possession of the pulpit, of the schools, 
 and to a considerable extent of the press, — those 
 great instruments by which the mind of the rising 
 generation will be formed. 
 
 However sound the great body of non-slave- 
 holding States are at present. In the course of a 
 few years they will be succeeded by those who will 
 have been taught to hate the people and institu- 
 tions of nearly one-half of this Union, with a 
 hatred more deadly than one hostile nation ever 
 entertained towards another. It Is easy to see the 
 end. By the necessary course of events. If left 
 to themselves, we must become, finally, two peo- 
 ples. It is Impossible under the deadly hatred 
 which must spring up between the two great sec- 
 
132 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 tions, if the present causes are permitted to oper- 
 ate unchecked, that we should continue under the 
 same political system. The conflicting elements 
 would burst the Union asunder, powerful as are 
 the links which hold it together. Abolition and 
 the Union cannot co-exist. As the friend of the 
 Union I openly proclaim it, and the sooner it is 
 known the better. The former may now be con- 
 trolled, but in a short time it will be beyond the 
 power of man to arrest the course of events. We 
 of the South will not, cannot surrender our insti- 
 tutions. To maintain the existing relations be- 
 tween the two races inhabiting that section of the 
 Union, is indispensable to the peace and happi- 
 ness of both. It dannot be subverted without 
 drenching the country in blood, and extirpating 
 one or the other of the races. Be it good or bad, 
 it has grown up with our society and institutions, 
 and is so interwoven with them, that to destroy it 
 would be to destroy us as a people. 
 
 Lut let me not be understood as admitting, even 
 by implication, that the existing relations between 
 the two races in the slave-holding States is an 
 evil — far otherwise; I hold it to be a good, as it 
 has thus far proved itself to be to both, and will 
 continue to prove so if not disturbed by the fell 
 spirit of Abolition. I appeal to facts. Never 
 before has the black race of Central Africa, from 
 the dawn of history to the present day, attained 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 133 
 
 a condition so civilized and so improved, not only 
 physically, but morally and intellectually. It 
 came among us in a low, degraded, and savage 
 condition; and in the course of a few generations 
 it has grown up under the fostering care of our 
 institutions, reviled as they have been, to its pres- 
 ent comparatively civilized condition. This, with 
 the rapid increase of numbers, is conclusive proof 
 of the general happiness of the race. In spite of 
 all the exaggerated tales to the contrary. 
 
 In the meantime, the white or European race 
 has not degenerated. It has kept pace with Its 
 brethren In other sections of the Union where 
 slavery does not exist. It Is odious to make com- 
 parison; but I appeal to all sides whether the 
 South Is not equal In virtue, Intelligence, patriot- 
 ism, courage, disinterestedness, and all the high 
 qualities which adorn our nature. I ask whether 
 we have not contributed our full share of talents 
 and political wisdom in forming and sustaining 
 this political fabric; and whether we have not con- 
 stantly Inclined most strongly to the side of lib- 
 erty, and been the first to see and first to resist the 
 encroachments of power. In one thing only are 
 we Inferior — the arts of gain; we acknowledge 
 that we are less wealthy than the Northern section 
 of this Union, but I trace this mainly to the fiscal 
 action of this government, which has extracted 
 much from, and spent little among us. Had It 
 
134 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 been the reverse, — If the exaction had been from 
 the other section, and the expenditure with us, — 
 this point of superiority would not be against us 
 now, as it was not at the formation of this govern- 
 ment. 
 
 But I take higher ground. I hold that in the 
 present state of civilization, where two races of 
 different origin, and distinguished by color, and 
 other physical differences, as well as intellectual, 
 are brought together, the relation now existing in 
 the slave-holding States between the two, is, in- 
 stead of an evil, a good — a positive good. I 
 feel myself called upon to speak freely upon the 
 subject where the honor and interests of those I 
 represent are Involved. I hold, then, that there 
 never has yet existed a wealthy and civilized 
 society In which one portion of the community did 
 not, in point of fact, live on the labor of the other. 
 Broad and general as is this assertion, it is fully 
 borne out by history. This is not the proper occa- 
 sion, but If it were it would not be difficult to trace 
 the various devices by which the wealth of all civi- 
 lized communities has been so unequally divided, 
 and to show by what means so small a share has 
 been allotted to those by whose labor it was pro- 
 duced, and so large a share given to the non-pro- 
 ducing class. The devices are almost innumer- 
 able, from the brute force and gross superstition 
 of ancient times, to the subtle and artful fiscal 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 135 
 
 contrivances of modern. I might well challenge 
 a comparison between them and the more direct, 
 simple, and patriarchal mode by which the labor 
 of the African race is, among us, commanded by 
 the European. I may say with truth, that In few 
 countries so much Is left to the share of the 
 laborer, and so little exacted from him, or where 
 there is more kind attention paid to him In sick- 
 ness or Infirmities of age. Compare his condition 
 with the tenants of the poorhouses In the more 
 civilized portions of Europe — look at the sick 
 and the old and Infirm slave, on one hand. In the 
 midst of his family and friends, under the kind 
 superintending care of his master and mistress; 
 and compare It with the forlorn and wretched con- 
 dition of the pauper In the poorhouse. 
 
 But I will not dwell on this aspect of the ques- 
 tion; I turn to the political; and here I fearlessly 
 assert that the existing relation between the two 
 races In the South, against which these blind fanat- 
 ics are waging war, forms the most solid and dura- 
 ble foundation on which to rear free and stable 
 political Institutions. It Is useless to disguise the 
 fact. There Is, and always has been In an ad- 
 vanced stage of wealth and civiUzatlon, a conflict 
 between labor and capital. The condition of 
 society In the South exempts us from the disorders 
 and dangers resulting from this conflict; and 
 which explains why It is that the political condl- 
 
136 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 tion of the slave-holding States has been so much 
 more stable and quiet than that of the North. 
 The advantages of the former in this respect will 
 become more and more manifest, if left undis- 
 turbed by Interference from without, as the coun- 
 try advances in wealth and numbers. We have, 
 in fact, but just entered that condition of society 
 where the strength and durability of our political 
 institutions are to be tested; and I venture noth- 
 ing In predicting that the experience of the next 
 generation will fully test how vastly more favor- 
 able our condition of society Is to that of other 
 sections for free and stable institutions, provided 
 we are not disturbed by the Interference of others, 
 or shall have sufficient Intelligence and spirit to 
 resist promptly and successfully such Interference. 
 It rests with ourselves to meet and repel them. I 
 look not for aid to this government, or to the 
 other States: not but there are kind feelings to- 
 wards us on the part of the great body of the non- 
 slave-holding States; but as kind as their feelings 
 may be, we may rest assured that no political 
 party In those States will risk their ascendency for 
 our safety. If we do not defend ourselves, none 
 will defend us; If we yield, we will be more and 
 more pressed as we recede; and if we submit, we 
 will be trampled under foot. Be assured that 
 emancipation Itself would not satisfy these fanat- 
 ics; that gained, the next step would be to raise 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 137 
 
 the negroes to a social and political equality with 
 the whites; and that being effected, we would soon 
 find the present condition of the two races re- 
 versed. They and their Northern allies would 
 be the masters, and we the slaves; the condition 
 of the white race in the British West India islands, 
 bad as it was, would be happiness to ours. There 
 the mother country is interested in sustaining the 
 supremacy of the European race. It Is true that 
 the authority of the former master Is destroyed, 
 but the African will there still be a slave, not to 
 Individuals but to the community, — forced tO' 
 labor, not by the authority of the overseer, but by 
 the bayonet of the soldiery and the rod of the 
 civil magistrate.* 
 
 Surrounded as the slave-holding States are with 
 such Imminent perils, I rejoice to think that our 
 means of defense are ample. If we shall prove to 
 have Intelligence and spirit and to see and apply 
 them before It Is too late. All we want Is con- 
 cert, to lay aside all party differences, and unite 
 with zeal and energy In repelling approaching 
 dangers. Let there be concert of action, and we 
 shall find ample means of security without resort- 
 ing to secession or disunion. I speak with full 
 knowledge and a thorough examination of the 
 subject, and for one see my way clearly. One 
 
 * By the British Emancipation Act, which went into effect in 1834, 
 former slaves were to serve as apprentices under their late masters for 
 seven years. 
 
138 JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 
 
 thing alarms me — the eager pursuit of gain 
 which overspreads the land, and which absorbs 
 every faculty of the mind and every feeling of the 
 heart. Of all passions avarice Is the most blind 
 and compromising — the last to see and the first 
 to yield to danger. I dare not hope that any- 
 thing I can say will arouse the South to a due sense 
 of danger; I fear it Is beyond the power of mortal 
 voice to awaken It in time from the fatal security 
 Into which It has fallen. 
 
ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, 
 
 MARCH 4, 1850. 
 
 I HAVE, Senators, believed from the first that 
 the agitation of the subject of slavery would, if 
 not prevented by some timely and effective meas- 
 ure, end in disunion. Entertaining this opinion, 
 I have, on all proper occasions, endeavored to 
 call the attention of both the two great parties 
 which divide the country to adopt some measure 
 to prevent so great a disaster, but without suc- 
 cess.. The agitation has been permitted to pro- 
 ceed, with almost no attempt to resist it, until it 
 has reached a point when it can no longer be dis- 
 guised or denied that the Union is in danger. 
 You have thus had forced upon you the greatest 
 and the gravest question that can ever come 
 under your consideration: How can the Union 
 be preserved? 
 
 To give a satisfactory answer to this mighty 
 question, it is indispensable to have an accurate 
 and thorough knowledge of the nature and the 
 character of the cause by which the Union is en- 
 
 139 
 
I40 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 dangered. Without such knowledge it Is Impos- 
 sible to pronounce, with any certainty, by what 
 measure It can be saved; just as It would be Im- 
 possible for a physician to pronounce, In the case 
 of some dangerous disease, with any certainty, by 
 what remedy the patient could be saved, without 
 similar knowledge of the nature and character of 
 the cause which produced It. The first question, 
 then, presented for consideration. In the Investiga- 
 tion I propose to make, In order to obtain such 
 knowledge. Is: What Is It that has endangered 
 the Union? 
 
 To this question there can be but one answer: 
 That the immediate cause Is the almost universal 
 discontent which pervades all the States compos- 
 ing the southern section of the Union. This 
 widely-extended discontent Is not of recent origin. 
 It commenced with the agitation of the slavery 
 question, and has been Increasing ever since. The 
 next question, going one step further back. Is: 
 What has caused this widely-diffused and almost 
 universal discontent? 
 
 It Is a great mistake to suppose, as is by some, 
 that It originated with demagogues, who excited 
 the discontent with the intention of aiding their 
 personal advancement, or with the disappointed 
 ambition of certain politicians, who resorted to It 
 as a means of retrieving their fortunes. On the 
 contrary, all the great political Influences of the 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 141 
 
 section were arrayed against excitement, and ex- 
 erted to the utmost to keep the people quiet. 
 The great mass of the people of the South were 
 divided, as In the other section. Into Whigs and 
 Democrats. The leaders and the presses of both 
 parties In the South were very solicitous to pre- 
 vent excitement and to preserve quiet; because it 
 Was seen that the effects of the former would 
 necessarily tend to weaken, If not destroy, the 
 political ties which united them with their re- 
 spective parties In the other section. Those who 
 know the strength of the party ties will readily 
 appreciate the Immense force which this cause 
 exerted against agitation, and In favor of pre- 
 serving quiet. But, great as It was. It was not 
 sufficient to prevent the wide-spread discontent 
 which now pervades the section. No; some 
 cause, far deeper and more powerful than the one 
 supposed, must exist, to account for discontent so 
 wide and deep. The question then recurs: 
 What Is the cause of this discontent? It will be 
 found In the belief of the people of the Southern 
 States, as prevalent as the discontent Itself, that 
 they cannot remain, as things now are, consistently 
 with honor and safety. In the Union. The next 
 question to be considered is: What has caused 
 this belief? 
 
 One of the causes Is, undoubtedly, to be traced 
 to the long-continued agitation of the slavery 
 
142 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 question on the part of the North, and the many 
 aggressions which they have made on the rights 
 of the South during the time. I will not enumer- 
 ate them at present, as it will be done hereafter in 
 its proper place. 
 
 There is another lying back of it — with which 
 this is intimately connected — that may be re- 
 garded as the great and primary cause. This is 
 to be found in the fact, that the equilibrium be- 
 tween the two sections, in the government as it 
 stood when the Constitution was ratified and the 
 government put in action, has been destroyed. 
 At that time there was nearly a perfect equilib- 
 rium between the two, which afforded ample 
 means to each to protect itself against the aggres- 
 sion of the other; but, as it now stands, one sec- 
 tion has the exclusive power of controlling the 
 government, which leaves the other without any 
 adequate means of protecting itself against its 
 encroachment and oppression. To place this 
 subject distinctly before you, I have. Senators, 
 prepared a brief statistical statement, showing the 
 relative weight of the two sections in the govern- 
 ment under the first census of 1790, and the last 
 census of 1840. 
 
 According to the former, the population of the 
 United States, including Vermont, Kentucky, and 
 Tennessee, which then were in their incipient con- 
 dition of becoming States, but were not actually 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 143 
 
 admitted, amounted to 3,929,827. Of this num- 
 ber the Northern States had 1,997,899, and the 
 Southern 1,952,072, making a difference of only 
 45,827 in favor of the former States. The num- 
 ber of States, Including Vermont, Kentucky, and 
 Tennessee, were sixteen; of which eight, includ- 
 ing Vermont, belonged to the northern section, 
 and eight, including Kentucky and Tennessee, to 
 the southern, — making an equal division of the 
 States between the two sections, under the first 
 census. There was a small preponderance In the 
 House of Representatives, and In the Electoral 
 College, In favor of the northern, owing to the 
 fact that, according to the provisions of the Con- 
 stitution, In estimating federal numbers five slaves 
 count but three ; but It was too small to affect 
 sensibly the perfect equilibrium which, with that 
 exception, existed at the time. Such was the 
 equality of the two sections when the States com- 
 posing them agreed to enter into a Federal Union. 
 Since then the equilibrium between them has been 
 greatly disturbed. 
 
 According to the last census the aggregate 
 population of the United States amounted to 
 17,063,357, of which the northern section con- 
 tained 9,728,920, and the southern 7,334,437, 
 making a difference in round numbers, of 
 2,400,000. The number of States had Increased 
 from sixteen to twenty-six, making an addition 
 
144 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 of ten States. In the meantime the position of 
 Delaware had become doubtful as to which sec- 
 tion she properly belonged. Considering her as 
 neutral, the Northern States will have thirteen 
 and the Southern States twelve, making a differ- 
 ence in the Senate of two senators In favor of the 
 former. According to the apportionment under 
 the census of 1840, there were two hundred and 
 twenty-three members of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, of which the Northern States had one 
 hundred and thirty-five, and the Southern States 
 (considering Delaware as neutral) eighty-seven, 
 making a difference In favor of the former in the 
 House of Representatives of forty-eight. The 
 difference in the Senate of two members, added 
 to this, gives to the North in the Electoral Col- 
 lege, a majority of fifty. Since the census of 
 1840, four States have been added to the Union 
 — Iowa, Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas. They 
 leave the difference in the Senate as It was when 
 the census was taken; but add two to the side of 
 the North in the House, making the present ma- 
 jority In the House in Its favor fifty, and In the 
 Electoral College fifty-two. 
 
 The result of the whole Is to give the northern 
 section a predominance In every department of 
 the government, and thereby concentrate in it the 
 two elements which constitute the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, — majority of States, and a majority of 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 145 
 
 their population, estimated in federal numbers. 
 Whatever section concentrates the two in itself 
 possesses the control of the entire government. 
 
 But we are just at the close of the sixth decade, 
 and the commencement of the seventh. The cen- 
 sus is to be taken this year, which must add greatly 
 to the decided preponderance of the North in the 
 House of Representatives and in the Electoral 
 College. The prospect Is, also, that a great In- 
 crease will be added to its present preponderance 
 in the Senate, during the period of the decade, by 
 the addition of new States. Two territories, 
 Oregon and Minnesota, are already In progress, 
 and strenuous efforts are making to bring In three 
 additional States from the territory recently con- 
 quered from Mexico; which, if successful, will- 
 add three other States in a short time to the north- 
 ern section, making five States; and increasing the 
 present number of Its States from fifteen to 
 twenty, and of Its senators from thirty to forty. 
 On the contrary, there Is not a single territory In 
 progress In the southern section, and no certainty 
 that any additional State will be added to It dur- 
 ing the decade. The prospect then is, that the 
 two sections in the Senate, should the effort now 
 made to exclude the South from the newly ac- 
 quired territories succeed, will stand before the 
 end of the decade, twenty Northern States to four- 
 teen Southern (considering Delaware as neutral), 
 
146 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 and forty Northern senators to twenty-eight 
 Southern. This great increase of senators, added 
 to the great Increase of members of the House of 
 Representatives and the Electoral College on the 
 part of the North, which must take place under 
 the next decade, will effectually and Irretrievably 
 destroy the equilibrium which existed when the 
 government commenced. 
 
 Had this destruction been the operation of 
 time, without the Interference of government, the 
 South would have had no reason to complain; but 
 such was not the fact. It was caused by the legis- 
 lation of this government, which was appointed 
 as the common agent of all, and charged with 
 the protection of the Interests and security of all. 
 The legislation by which It has been effected may 
 be classed under three heads. The first is, that 
 series of acts by which the South has been excluded 
 from the common territory belonging to all the 
 States as members of the Federal Union — which 
 have had the effect of extending vastly the por- 
 tion allotted to the northern section, and restrict- 
 ing within narrow limits the portion left the South. 
 The next consists In adopting a system of revenue 
 and disbursements, by which an undue propor- 
 tion of the burden of taxation has been Imposed 
 upon the South, and an undue proportion of its 
 proceeds appropriated to the North; and the last 
 Is a system of political measures, by which the 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 147 
 
 original character of the government has been 
 radically changed. I propose to bestow upon 
 each of these, in the order they stand, a few re- 
 marks, with the view of showing that it is owing 
 to the action of this government that the equilib- 
 rium between the two sections has been destroyed, 
 and the whole powers of the system centered in 
 a sectional majority. 
 
 The first of the series of Acts by which the 
 South was deprived of its due share of the terri- 
 tories, originated with the confederacy which pre- 
 ceded the existence of this government. It is to 
 be found in the provision of the ordinance of 
 1787, Its effect was to exclude the South en- 
 tirely from that vast and fertile region which lies 
 between the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, now 
 embracing five States and one Territory. The 
 next of the series is the Missouri compromise, 
 which excluded the South from that large portion 
 of Louisiana which lies north of 36° 30', except- 
 ing what Is included In the State of Missouri. 
 The last of the series excluded the South from 
 the whole Oregon Territory. All these. In the 
 slang of the day, were what are called slave terri- 
 tories, and not free soil; that Is, territories be- 
 longing to slave-holding powers and open to the 
 emigration of masters with their slaves. By 
 these several Acts the South was excluded from 
 one million two hundred and thirty-eight thou- 
 
148 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 sand and twenty-five square miles — an extent of 
 country considerably exceeding the entire valley 
 of the Mississippi. To the South was left the 
 portion of the Territory of Louisiana lying south 
 of 36° 30', and the portion north of It Included 
 in the State of Missouri, with the portion lying 
 south of 2^° 30' including the States of Louisiana 
 and Arkansas, and the territory lying west of the 
 latter, and south of 36° 30', called the Indian 
 country. These, with the Territory of Florida, 
 now the State, make, in the whole, two hundred 
 and eighty-three thousand five hundred and three 
 square miles. To this must be added the terri- 
 tory acquired with Texas. If the whole should 
 be added to the southern section it would make an 
 Increase of three hundred and twenty-five thou- 
 sand five hundred and twenty, which would make 
 the whole left to the South six hundred and nine 
 thousand and twenty-three. But a large part of 
 Texas Is still in contest between the two sections, 
 which leaves it uncertain what will be the real ex- 
 tent of the proportion of territory that may be left 
 to the South. 
 
 I have not Included the territory recently ac- 
 quired by the treaty with Mexico. The North is 
 making the most strenuous efforts to appropriate 
 the whole to herself, by excluding the South from 
 every foot of it. If she should succeed, It will 
 add to that from which the South has already 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 149 
 
 been excluded, 526,078 square miles, and would 
 Increase the whole which the North has appro- 
 priated to herself, to 1,764,023, not including the 
 portion that she may succeed In excluding us from 
 In Texas. To sum up the whole, the United 
 States, since they declared their Independence, 
 have acquired 2,373,046 square miles of terri- 
 tory, from which the North will have excluded 
 the South, If she should succeed in monopolizing 
 the newly acquired territories, about three-fourths 
 of the whole, leaving to the South but about one- 
 fourth. 
 
 Such Is the first and great cause that has de- 
 stroyed the equilibrium between the two sections 
 In the government. 
 
 The next is the system of revenue and disburse- 
 ments which has been adopted by the government. 
 It is well known that the government has derived 
 Its revenue mainly from duties on Imports. I 
 shall not undertake to show that such duties must 
 necessarily fall mainly on the exporting States, 
 and that the South, as the great exporting portion 
 of the Union, has in reality paid vastly more than 
 her due proportion of the revenue; because I deem 
 It unnecessary, as the subject has on so many occa- 
 sions been fully discussed. Nor shall I, for the 
 same reason, undertake to show that a far greater 
 portion of the revenue has been disbursed at the 
 North, than Its due share; and that the joint effect 
 
I50 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 of these causes has been, to transfer a vast amount 
 from South to North, which, under an equal sys- 
 tem of revenue and disbursements, would not have 
 been lost to her. If to this be added, that many 
 of the duties were Imposed, not for revenue, but 
 for protection, — that Is, Intended to put money, 
 not In the treasury, but directly Into the pockets 
 of the manufacturers, — some conception may be 
 formed of the Immense amount which. In the long 
 course of sixty years, has been transferred from 
 South to North. There are no data by which it 
 can be estimated with any certainty; but It is safe 
 to say that It amounts to hundreds of millions of 
 dollars. Under the most moderate estimate, it 
 would be sufHcIent to add greatly to the wealth of 
 the North, and thus greatly Increase her popula- 
 tion by attracting emigration from all quarters to 
 that section. 
 
 This, combined with the great primary cause, 
 amply explains why the North has acquired a pre- 
 ponderance in every department of the govern- 
 ment by its disproportionate Increase of popula- 
 tion and States. The former, as has been shown, 
 has increased, in fifty years, 2,400,000 over that 
 of the South. This Increase of population, during 
 so long a period, is satisfactorily accounted for, by 
 the number of emigrants, and the Increase of their 
 descendants, which have been attracted to the 
 northern section from Europe and the South, in 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 151 
 
 consequence of the advantages derived from the 
 causes assigned. If they had not existed — If the 
 South had retained all the capital which had been 
 extracted from her by the fiscal action of the gov- 
 ernment; and, if It had not been excluded by the 
 ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri compromise, 
 from the region lying between the Ohio and the 
 Mississippi rivers, and between the Mississippi 
 and the Rocky Mountains north of 36° 30' — it 
 scarcely admits of a doubt, that it would have 
 divided the emigration with the North, and by 
 retaining her own people, would have at least 
 equaled the North in population under the census 
 of 1840, and probably under that about to be 
 taken. She would also. If she had retained her 
 equal rights in those territories, have maintained 
 an equality in the number of States with the 
 North, and have preserved the equilibrium be- 
 tween the two sections that existed at the com- 
 mencement of the government. The loss, then, 
 of the equilibrium Is to be attributed to the action 
 of this government. 
 
 But while these measures were destroying the 
 equilibrium between the two sections, the action of 
 the government was leading to a radical change 
 in Its character, by concentrating all the power of 
 the system in itself. The occasion will not per- 
 mit me to trace the measures by which this great 
 change has been consummated. If it did, it would 
 
152 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 not be difficult to show that the process commenced 
 at an early period of the government; and that It 
 proceeded, almost without Interruption, step by 
 step, until It virtually absorbed Its entire powers; 
 but without going through the whole process to 
 establish the fact. It may be done satisfactorily by 
 a very short statement. 
 
 That the government claims, and practically 
 maintains, the right to decide In the last resort, 
 as to the extent of Its powers, will scarcely be 
 denied by any one conversant with the political 
 history of the country. That It also claims the 
 right to resort to force to maintain whatever 
 power It claims against all opposition Is equally 
 certain. Indeed It Is apparent, from what we 
 dally hear, that this has become the prevailing and 
 fixed opinion of a great majority of the com- 
 munity. Now, I ask, what limitation can possi- 
 bly be placed upon the powers of a government 
 claiming and exercising such rights? And, If 
 none can be, how can the separate governments 
 of the States maintain and protect the powers re- 
 served to them by the Constitution — or the peo- 
 ple of the several States maintain those which are 
 reserved to them, and among others, the sover- 
 eign powers by which they ordained and estab- 
 lished, not only their separate State Constitutions 
 and Governments, but also the Constitution and 
 Government of the United States? But, If they 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN i53 
 
 have no constitutional means of maintaining them 
 against the right claimed by this government, It 
 necessarily follows, that they hold them at Its 
 pleasure and discretion, and that all the powers 
 of the system are In reality concentrated in it. It 
 also follows, that the character of the government 
 has been changed In consequence, from a federal 
 republic, as it originally came from the hands of 
 its framers, into a great national consolidated 
 democracy. It has indeed, at present, all the 
 characteristics of the latter, and not of the for- 
 mer, although It still retains Its outward form. 
 
 The result of the whole of those causes com- 
 bined Is, that the North has acquired a decided 
 ascendency over every department of this govern- 
 ment, and through It a control over all the powers 
 of the system. A single section governed by the 
 will of the numerical majority, has now. In i.^ct, 
 the control of the government and the entire pow- 
 ers of the system. What was once a constitu- 
 tional Federal Republic, Is now converted, in 
 reality, into one as absolute as that of the Auto- 
 crat of Russia, and as despotic in Its tendency as 
 any absolute government that ever existed. 
 
 As, then, the North has the absolute control 
 over the government. It is manifest that on all 
 questions between it and the South, where there 
 Is a diversity of Interests, the Interest of the latter 
 will be sacrificed to the former, however oppres- 
 
154 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 sive the effects may be; as the South possesses no 
 means by which It can resist, through the action of 
 the government. But If there was no question 
 of vital Importance to the South, in reference to 
 which there was a diversity of views between the 
 two sections, this state of things might be endured 
 without the hazard of destruction to the South. 
 But such is not the fact. There is a question of 
 vital importance to the southern section. In refer- 
 ence to which the views and feelings of the two 
 sections are as opposite and hostile as they can 
 possibly be. 
 
 I refer to the relation between the two races in 
 the southern section, which constitutes a vital por- 
 tion of her social organization. Every portion 
 of the North entertains views and feelings more 
 or less hostile to It. Those most opposed and 
 hostile, regard It as a sin, and consider themselves 
 under the most sacred obligation to use every 
 effort to destroy it. Indeed, to the extent that 
 they conceive that they have power, they regard 
 themselves as implicated in the sin, and responsi- 
 ble for not suppressing It by the use of all and 
 every means. Those less opposed and hostile, 
 regarded it as a crime — an offense against hu- 
 manity, as they call It; and, although not so fanat- 
 ical, feel themselves bound to use all efforts to 
 effect the same object; while those who are least 
 opposed and hostile, regard it as a blot and a 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN i55 
 
 stain on the character of what they call the 
 Nation, and feel themselves accordingly bound to 
 give it no countenance or support. On the con- 
 trary, the southern section regards the relation 
 as one which cannot be destroyed without sub- 
 jecting the two races to the greatest calamity, and 
 the section to poverty, desolation, and wretched- 
 ness; and accordingly they feel bound, by every 
 consideration of interest and safety, to defend it. 
 
 This hostile feeling on the part of the North 
 toward the social organization of the South long 
 lay dormant, and it only required some cause to 
 act on those who felt most intensely that they 
 were responsible for its continuance, to call it into 
 action. The increasing power of this govern- 
 ment, and of the control of the northern section 
 over all its departments, furnished the cause. 
 It was this which made the impression on the 
 minds of many, that there was little or no re- 
 straint to prevent the government from doing 
 whatever it might choose to do. This was suffi- 
 cient of itself to put the most fanatical portion of 
 the North in action, for the purpose of destroy- 
 ing the existing relation between the two races In 
 the South. 
 
 The first organized movement toward It com- 
 menced in 1835. Then, for the first time, socie- 
 ties were organized, presses established, lecturers 
 sent forth to excite the people of the North, and 
 
156 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 Incendiary publications scattered over the whole 
 South, through the mall. The South was 
 thoroughly aroused. Meetings were held every- 
 where, and resolutions adopted, calling upon the 
 North to apply a remedy to arrest the threatened 
 evil, and pledging themselves to adopt measures 
 for their own protection, if it was not arrested. 
 At the meeting of Congress, petitions poured in 
 from the North, calling upon Congress to abolish 
 slavery in the District of Columbia, and to pro- 
 hibit, what they called, the internal slave trade 
 between the States — announcing at the same 
 time, that their ultimate object was to abolish 
 slavery, not only in the District, but in the States 
 and throughout the Union. At this period, the 
 number engaged in the agitation was small, and 
 possessed little or no personal influence. 
 
 Neither party in Congress had, at that time, 
 any sympathy with them or their cause. The 
 members of each party presented their petitions 
 with great reluctance. Nevertheless, small, and 
 contemptible as the party then was, both of the 
 great parties of the North dreaded them. They 
 felt, that though small, they were organized in 
 reference to a subject which had a great and com- 
 manding influence over the northern mind. Each 
 party, on that account, feared to oppose their peti- 
 tions, lest the opposite party should take ad- 
 vantage of the one who might do so, by favoring 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 157 
 
 them. The effect was, that both united in insist- 
 ing that the petitions should be received, and that 
 Congress should take jurisdiction over the sub- 
 ject. To justify their course, they took the ex- 
 traordinary ground, that Congress was bound to 
 receive petitions on every subject, however objec- 
 tionable they might be, and whether they had, or 
 had not, jurisdiction over the subject. Those 
 views prevailed in the House of Representatives, 
 and partially in the Senate; and thus the party suc- 
 ceeded in their first movements, in gaining what 
 they proposed — a position in Congress, from 
 which agitation could be extended over the whole 
 Union. This was the commencement of the agi- 
 tation, which has ever since continued, and which, 
 as is now acknowledged, has endangered the 
 Union itself. 
 
 As for myself, I believed at that early period, 
 if the party who got up the petitions should suc- 
 ceed in getting Congress to take jurisdiction, that 
 agitation would follow, and that it would in the 
 end, if not arrested, destroy the Union. I then 
 so expressed myself in debate, and called upon 
 both parties to take grounds against assuming 
 jurisdiction; but in vain. Had my voice been 
 heeded, and had Congress refused to take jurisdic- 
 tion, by the united votes of all parties, the agita- 
 tion which followed would have been prevented, 
 and the fanatical zeal that gave impulse to the 
 
158 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 agitation, and which has brought us to our present 
 perilous condition, would have become extin- 
 guished, from the want of fuel to feed the flame. 
 That was the time for the North to have shown 
 her devotion to the Union; but, unfortunately, 
 both of the great parties of that section were so 
 Intent on obtaining or retaining party ascendency, 
 that all other considerations were overlooked or 
 forgotten. 
 
 What has since followed are but natural conse- 
 quences. With the success of their first move- 
 ment, this small fanatical party began to acquire 
 strength; and with that, to become an object of 
 courtship to both the great parties. The neces- 
 sary consequence was, a further Increase of power, 
 and a gradual tainting of the opinions of both the 
 other parties with their doctrines, until the Infec- 
 tion has extended over both; and the great mass 
 of the population of the North, who, whatever 
 may be their opinion of the original Abolition 
 party, which still preserves Its distinctive organiza- 
 tion, hardly ever fail, when It comes to acting, to 
 cooperate In carrying out their measures. With 
 the Increase of their Influence, they extended the 
 sphere of their action. In a short time after the 
 commencement of their first movement, they had 
 acquired sufficient Influence to Induce the legisla- 
 tures of most of the Northern States to pass acts, 
 which In effect abrogated the clause of the Const!- 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 159 
 
 tution that provides for the delivery up of fugi- 
 tive slaves. Not long after, petitions followed 
 to abolish slavery In forts, magazines, and dock- 
 yards, and all other places where Congress had 
 exclusive power of legislation. This was fol- 
 lowed by petitions and resolutions of legislatures 
 of the Northern States, and popular meetings, to 
 exclude the Southern States from all territories 
 acquired, or to be acquired, and to prevent the 
 admission of any State hereafter Into the Union, 
 which, by Its constitution, does not prohibit slav- 
 ery. And Congress Is Invoked to do all this, ex- 
 pressly with the view of the final abolition of 
 slavery in the States. That has been avowed to 
 be the ultimate object from the beginning of the 
 agitation until the present time; and yet the great 
 body of both parties of the North, with the full 
 knowledge of the fact, although disavowing the 
 Abolitionists, have cooperated with them In almost 
 all their measures. 
 
 Such Is a brief history of the agitation, as far 
 as It has yet advanced. Now I ask. Senators, 
 what Is there to prevent Its further progress, until 
 it fulfills the ultimate end proposed, unless some 
 decisive measure should be adopted to prevent It? 
 Has any one of the causes, which has added to Its 
 Increase from Its original small and contemptible 
 beginning until It has attained its present magni- 
 tude, diminished In force? Is the original cause 
 
i6o NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 of the movement — that slavery is a sin, and 
 ought to be suppressed — weaker now than at the 
 commencement? Or Is the Abolition party less 
 numerous or Influential, or have they less Influence 
 with, or less control over the two great parties of 
 the North In elections? Or has the South greater 
 means of influencing or controlling the movements 
 of this government now, than It had when the agi- 
 tation commenced? To all these questions but 
 one answer can be given : No, no, no. The very 
 reverse is true. Instead of being weaker, all the 
 elements In favor of agitation are stronger now 
 than they were In 1835, when It first commenced, 
 while all the elements of Influence on the part of 
 the South are weaker. Unless something decisive 
 Is done, I again ask, what is to stop this agitation, 
 before the great and final object at which It aims 
 — the abolition of slavery in the States — Is con- 
 summated? Is it, then, not certain, that If some- 
 thing Is not done to arrest It, the South will be 
 forced to choose between abolition and secession? 
 Indeed, as events are now moving. It will not re- 
 quire the South to secede. In order to dissolve the 
 Union. Agitation will of Itself effect it, of which 
 Its past history furnishes abundant proof — as I 
 shall next proceed to show. 
 
 It Is a great mistake to suppose that disunion 
 can be effected by a single blow. The cords 
 which bound these States together In one com- 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN i6i 
 
 mon Union, are far too numerous and powerful 
 for that. Disunion must be the work of time. 
 It is only through a long process, and successively, 
 that the cords can be snapped, until the whole 
 fabric falls asunder. Already the agitation of the 
 slavery question has snapped some of the most Im- 
 portant, and has greatly weakened all the others, 
 as I shall proceed to show. 
 
 The cords that bind the States together are not 
 only many, but various In character. Some are 
 spiritual or ecclesiastical; some political; others 
 social. Some appertain to the benefit conferred 
 by the Union, and others to the feeling of duty 
 and obligation. 
 
 The strongest of those of a spiritual and ecclesi- 
 astical nature, consisted In the unity of the great 
 religious denominations, all of which originally 
 embraced the whole Union. All these denomina- 
 tions, with the exception, perhaps, of the Catholics, 
 were organized very much upon the principle of 
 our political Institutions. Beginning with smaller 
 meetings, corresponding with the political divi- 
 sions of the country, their organization terminated 
 in one great central assemblage, corresponding 
 very much with the character of Congress. At 
 these meetings the principal clergymen and lay 
 members of the respective denominations from all 
 parts of the Union, met to transact business relat- 
 ing to their common concerns. It was not con- 
 
i62 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 fined to what appertained to the doctrines and 
 disciphne of the respective denominations, but ex- 
 tended to plans for disseminating the Bible — 
 establishing missions, distributing tracts — and of 
 establishing presses for the publication of tracts, 
 newspapers, and periodicals, with a view of dif- 
 fusing religious information — and for the sup- 
 port of their respective doctrines and creeds. All 
 this combined contributed greatly to strengthen the 
 bonds of the Union. The ties which held each 
 denomination together formed a strong cord to 
 hold the whole Union together, but, powerful as 
 they were, they have not been able to resist the 
 explosive effect of slavery agitation. 
 
 The first of these cords which snapped, under 
 its explosive force, was that of the powerful 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. The numerous 
 and strong ties which held it together, are all 
 broken, and its unity is gone. They now form 
 separate churches; and, instead of that feeling of 
 attachment and devotion to the interests of the 
 whole church which was formerly felt, they are 
 now arrayed into two hostile bodies, engaged in 
 litigation about what was formerly their common 
 property. 
 
 The next cord that snapped was that of the 
 Baptists — one of the largest and most respect- 
 able of the denominations. That of the Presby- 
 terian is not entirely snapped, but some of Its 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 163 
 
 strands have given way. That of the Episcopal 
 Church Is the only one of the four great Protestant 
 denominations which remains unbroken and entire. 
 
 The strongest cord, of a poHtical character, con- 
 sists of the many and powerful ties that have held 
 together the two great parties which have, with 
 some modifications, existed from the beginning of 
 the government. They both extended to every 
 portion of the Union, and strongly contributed to 
 hold all its parts together. But this powerful 
 cord has fared no better than the spiritual. It re- 
 sisted, for a long time, the explosive tendency of 
 the agitation, but has finally snapped under its 
 force — if not entirely, In a great measure. Nor 
 Is there one of the remaining cords which has not 
 been greatly weakened. To this extent the Union 
 has already been destroyed by agitation, in the 
 only way it can be, by sundering and weakening 
 the cords which bind It together. 
 
 If the agitation goes on, the same force, acting 
 with Increased intensity, as has been shown, will 
 finally snap every cord, when nothing will be left 
 to hold the States together except force. But, 
 surely, that can, with no propriety of language, 
 be called a Union, when the only means by which 
 the weaker is held connected with the stronger por- 
 tion Is force. It may. Indeed, keep them con- 
 nected; but the connection will partake much more 
 of the character of subjugation, on the part of the 
 
i64 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 weaker to the stronger, than the union of free, in- 
 dependent States, In one confederation, as they 
 stood In the early stages of the government, and 
 which only Is worthy of the sacred name of Union. 
 
 Having now. Senators, explained what It is that 
 endangers the Union, and traced It to Its cause, 
 and explained its nature and character, the ques- 
 tion again recurs. How can the Union be saved? 
 To this I answer, there is but one way by which it 
 can be, and that Is by adopting such measures as 
 will satisfy the States belonging to the southern 
 section, that they can remain in the Union con- 
 sistently with their honor and their "safety. There 
 Is, again, only one way by which this can be 
 effected, and that Is by removing the causes by 
 which this belief has been produced. Do this, and 
 discontent will cease, harmony and kind feelings 
 between the sections be restored, and every appre- 
 hension of danger to the Union be removed. The 
 question, then, is. How can this be done? But, 
 before I undertake to answer this question, I pro- 
 pose to show by what the Union cannot be saved. 
 
 It cannot, then, be saved by eulogies on the 
 Union, however splendid or numerous. The cry 
 of ^' Union, Union, the glorious Union! " can no 
 more prevent disunion than the cry of " Health, 
 health, glorious health ! " on the part of the physi- 
 cian, can save a patient lying dangerously ill. So 
 long as the Union, Instead of being regarded as a 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 165 
 
 protector, Is regarded In the opposite character, 
 by not much less than a majority of the States, it 
 will be In vain to attempt to conciliate them by 
 pronouncing eulogies on It. 
 
 Besides, this cry of Union comes commonly 
 from those whom we cannot believe to be sin- 
 cere. It usually comes from our assailants. But 
 we cannot believe them to be sijicere; for If they 
 loved the Union, they would necessarily be de- 
 voted to the Constitution. It made the Union, — 
 and to destroy the Constitution would be to 
 destroy the Union. But the only reliable and 
 certain evidence of devotion to the Constitution 
 is to abstain, on the one hand, from violating It, 
 and to repel, on the other, all attempts to violate 
 It. It Is only by faithfully performing these high 
 duties that the Constitution can be preserved, and 
 with It the Union. 
 
 But how stands the profession of devotion to 
 the Union by our assailants, when brought to 
 this test? Have they abstained from violating 
 the Constitution? Let the many acts passed by 
 the Northern States to set aside and annul the 
 clause of the Constitution providing for the de- 
 livery up of fugitive slaves answer. I cite this, 
 not that it Is the only instance (for there are many 
 others), but because the violation In this particu- 
 lar is too notorious and palpable to be denied. 
 Again: Have they stood forth faithfully to 
 
i66 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 repel violations of the Constitution? Let their 
 course In reference to the agitation of the slavery 
 question, which was commenced and has been 
 carried on for fifteen years, avowedly for the pur- 
 pose of abolishing slavery In the States — an 
 object all acknowledged to be unconstitutional, — 
 answer. Let them show a single instance, during 
 this long period, in which they have denounced 
 the agitators or their attempts to effect what is 
 admitted to be unconstitutional, or a single meas- 
 ure which they have brought forward for that 
 purpose. How can we, with all these facts be- 
 fore us, believe that they are sincere In their pro- 
 fession of devotion to the Union, or avoid 
 believing their profession is but Intended to In- 
 crease the vigor of their assauhs and to weaken 
 the force of our resistance? 
 
 Nor can we regard the profession of devotion 
 to the Union, on the part of those who are not 
 our assailants, as sincere, when they pronounce 
 eulogies upon the Union, evidently with the In- 
 tent of charging us with disunion, without utter- 
 ing one word of denunciation against our assail- 
 ants. If friends of the Union, their course 
 should be to unite with us in repelling these as- 
 saults, and denouncing the authors as enemies of 
 the Union. Why they avoid this, and pursue the 
 course they do. It is for them to explain. 
 
 Nor can the Union be saved by Invoking the 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 167 
 
 name of the Illustrious Southerner whose mortal 
 remains repose on the western bank of the Poto- 
 mac. He was one of us, — a slave-holder and a 
 planter. We have studied his history, and find 
 nothing in it to justify submission to wrong. On 
 the contrary, his great fame rests on the solid 
 foundation, that, while he was careful to avoid 
 doing wrong to others, he was prompt and de- 
 cided in repelling wrong. I trust that, in this 
 respect, we profited by this example. 
 
 Nor can we find anything In his history to deter 
 us from seceding from the Union, should it fail 
 to fulfill the objects for which it was instituted, by 
 being permanently and hopelessly converted into 
 the means of oppressing Instead of protecting us. 
 On the contrary, we find much in his example to 
 encourage us, should we be forced to the extrem- 
 ity of deciding between submission and disunion. 
 
 There existed then, as well as now, a Union — 
 between the parent country and her colonies. It 
 was a Union that had much to endear it to the 
 people of the colonies. Under its protecting and 
 superintending care, the colonies were planted 
 and grew up and prospered, through a long course 
 of years, until they became populous and wealthy. 
 Its benefits were not limited to them. Their ex- 
 tensive agricultural and other productions, gave 
 birth to a flourishing commerce, which richly re- 
 warded the parent country for the trouble and 
 
i68 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 expense of establishing and protecting them. 
 Washington was born and grew up to manhood 
 under that Union. He acquired his early dis- 
 tinction In Its service, and there Is every reason to 
 believe that. he was devotedly attached to It. 
 But his devotion was a national one. He was 
 attached to it, not as an end, but as a means to an 
 end. When It failed to fulfill its end, and. In- 
 stead of affording protection, was converted Into 
 the means of oppressing the colonies, he did not 
 hesitate to draw his sword, and head the great 
 movement by which that Union was forever 
 severed, and the Independence of these States 
 established. This was the great and crowning 
 glory of his life, which has spread his fame over 
 the whole globe, and will transmit It to the latest 
 posterity. 
 
 Nor can the plan proposed by the distinguished 
 Senator from Kentucky, nor that of the adminis- 
 tration, save the Union. I shall pass by, without 
 remark, the plan proposed by the Senator. I, 
 however, assure the distinguished and able Sena- 
 tor, that, in taking this course, no disrespect what- 
 ever is Intended to him or to his plan. I have 
 adopted It because so many Senators of distin- 
 guished abilities, who were present when he de- 
 livered his speech, and explained his plan, and 
 who were fully capable to do justice to the side 
 they support, have replied to him. 
 
JOHN CALDIVELL CALHOUN 169 
 
 The plan of the administration cannot save 
 the Union, because it can have no effect whatever, 
 toward satisfying the States composing the south- 
 ern section of the Union, that they can, consist- 
 ently with safety and honor, remain In the 
 Union. . . . 
 
 Having now shown what cannot save the 
 Union, I return to the question with which I com- 
 menced. How can the Union be saved? There 
 Is but one way by which It can with any certainty; 
 and that is, by a full and final settlement, on the 
 principle of justice, of all the questions at Issue 
 between the two sections. The South asks for 
 justice, simple justice, and less she ought not to 
 take. She has no compromise to offer, but the 
 Constitution; and no concession or surrender to 
 make. She has already surrendered so much 
 that she has little left to surrender. Such a set- 
 tlement would go to the root of the evil, and 
 remove all cause of disconten't, by- satisfying the 
 South that she could remain honorably and safely 
 In the Union, and thereby restore the harmony 
 and fraternal feelings between the sections, which 
 existed anterior to the Missouri agitation. Noth- 
 ing else can, with any certainty, finally and for- 
 ever settle the question at Issue, terminate agita- 
 tion, and save the Union. 
 
 But can this be done? Yes, easily; not by the 
 weaker party, for it can, of Itself do nothing, — 
 
I70 NOTED SPEECHES OF 
 
 not even protect Itself — but by the stronger. 
 The North has only to will it to accomplish it 
 — to do justice by conceding to the South an 
 equal right in the acquired territory, and to do 
 her duty by causing the stipulations relative to 
 fugitive slaves to be faithfully fulfilled, to cease 
 the agitation of the slave question, and to provide 
 for the insertion of a provision In the Constitu- 
 tion, by an amendment, which will restore to the 
 South, In substance, the power she possessed of 
 protecting herself, before the equilibrium between 
 the sections was destroyed by the action of this 
 government. There will be no difficulty in devis- 
 ing such a provision — one that will protect the 
 South, and which, at the same time, will improve 
 and strengthen the government, instead of im- 
 pairing and weakening It. 
 
 But will the North agree to this? It is for 
 her to answer the question. But, I will say, she 
 cannot refuse, if she has half the love for the 
 Union which she professes to have, or without 
 justly exposing herself to the charge that her love 
 of power and aggrandizement is far greater than 
 her love of the Union. At all events the respon- 
 sibility of saving the Union rests on the North, 
 and not on the South. The South cannot save it 
 by any act of hers, and the North may save it 
 without any sacrifice whatever, unless to do jus- 
 tice, and to perform her duties under the Consti- 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 171 
 
 tutlon, should be regarded by her as a sacrifice. 
 It Is time, Senators, that there should be an 
 open and manly avowal on all sides, as to what Is 
 intended to be done. If the question Is not now 
 settled, It Is uncertain whether It ever can here- 
 after be; and we, as the representatives of the 
 States of this Union, regarded as governments, 
 should come to a distinct understanding as to our 
 respective views. In order to ascertain whether 
 the great questions at Issue can be settled or not. 
 If you, who represent the stronger portion, can- 
 not agree to settle on the broad principle of jus- 
 tice and duty, say so; and let the States we both 
 represent agree to separate and part in peace. 
 If you are unwilling we should part in peace, tell 
 us so, and we shall know what to do, when you 
 reduce the question to submission or resistance. 
 If you remain silent, you will compel us to infer 
 by your acts what you intend. In that case, Cali- 
 fornia will become the test question. If you 
 admit her, under all the difficulties that oppose 
 her admission, you compel us to infer that you 
 intend to exclude us from the whole of the ac- 
 quired territories, with the intention of destroy- 
 ing, irretrievably, the equilibrium betw^een the two 
 sections. We would be blind not to perceive in 
 that case, that your real objects are power and 
 aggrandizement, and infatuated, not to act ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
172 JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN 
 
 I have now, Senators, done my duty in ex- 
 pressing my opinions fully, freely and candidly,- 
 on this solemn occasion. In doing so, I have 
 been governed by the motives which have gov- 
 erned me in all the stages of the agitation of the 
 slavery question since Its commencement. I have 
 exerted myself, during the whole period, to arrest 
 It, with the Intention of saving the Union, If it 
 could be done; and If it could not, to save the 
 section v/here It has pleased Providence to cast 
 my lot, and which I sincerely believe has justice 
 and the Constitution on its side. Having faith- 
 fully done my duty to the best of my ability, both 
 to the Union and my section, throughout this agi- 
 tation, I shall have the consolation, let what will 
 come, that I am free from all responsibility. 
 
HENRY CLAY 
 
HENRY CLAY 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777, in 
 Hanover County, Virginia. When a lad he was 
 sometimes called the " mill-boy of the Slashes," 
 as he was so often seen riding through the 
 marshy country to the mill, with a bag of meal 
 thrown over the horse's back. 
 
 When Henry was four years old, his father 
 died, leaving his mother to care for the large 
 family with no support except the meager income 
 of a small farm. She was a devoted mother, a 
 woman of strong character, and anxious that her 
 children ihould have an education. Henry went 
 to the little log school-house In the neighborhood, 
 working in the fields mornings and nights to help 
 support the family. At the age of fourteen he 
 was placed as errand-boy in a store at Richmond, 
 his mother having married and removed there 
 with her family. 
 
 The following year his step-father, who was 
 Interested In the boy's desire for learning, secured 
 for him a position In the office of the Court of 
 
 175 
 
176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 Chancery. When Henry had been with the 
 chancellor four years, he decided to study law, 
 having gained much legal knowledge in the pre- 
 vious years. After some months of hard study 
 he was admitted to the bar, and in spite of the 
 lack of early opportunities, was determined to 
 succeed. In 1797 he went to Lexington, Ken- 
 tucky, his parents having previously moved there, 
 and soon secured a successful and lucrative prac- 
 tice. 
 
 His public life began when he was twenty-two, 
 the year that the Kentucky constitution was to be 
 remodeled, and he attempted to abohsh slavery 
 from the State. He soon became popular and 
 was sent to the State legislature, serving at dif- 
 ferent periods, in all, seven sessions. 
 
 Mr. Clay filled two unexpired terms In the 
 United States Senate, 1806-07, and 1809-11. 
 In 181 1 he was elected to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, and was at once chosen Speaker of the 
 House. President Madison appointed Clay one 
 of the five commissioners to negotiate peace with 
 England at Ghent, in the Netherlands. He had 
 now become famous and was welcomed home 
 with public dinners and much display, and was 
 reelected to Congress. 
 
 Though Mr. Clay was not the author of the 
 Missouri Compromise of 1821, it was, without a 
 doubt, his influence which caused the plan to sue- 
 
HENRY CLAY 
 
 From an old Print 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 177 
 
 ceed; another service which made him more be- 
 loved than ever. On leaving the House in 1825 
 he was made Secretary of State by President 
 Adams. 
 
 In 1 83 1 he was sent to the United States 
 Senate, and during the first term secured 
 the passage of a compromise bill — *' Compro- 
 mise of 1833 " — giving him for the second time 
 the title of " the Great Pacificator." He re- 
 mained in the Senate until 1842, and was reelected 
 in 1849. His great speech, " the Compromise of 
 1850," another endeavor to save the Union, was 
 made on February 5 and 6, 1850. The gifted 
 orator died in Washington, June 29, 1852, and 
 was buried July 10 at Lexington, Kentucky. 
 
THE COMPROMISE OF 1850 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, 
 FEBRUARY 5 AND 6, 185O. 
 
 Mr. President : — Never on any former occa- 
 sion have I risen under feelings of such painful 
 solicitude. I have seen many periods of great 
 anxiety, of peril, and of danger in this country, 
 and I have never before risen to address any 
 assemblage so oppressed, so appalled, and so 
 anxious; and, sir, I hope it will not be out of place 
 to do here, what again and again I have done in 
 my private chamber, to implore of Him who 
 holds the destinies of nations and individuals in 
 His hands, to bestow upon our country His bless- 
 ings, to calm the violence and rage of party, to 
 still passion, to allow reason once more to resume 
 its empire. . . . Sir, I have said that I have seen 
 other anxious periods in the history of our coun- 
 try, and if I were to venture, Mr. President, to 
 trace to their original source the cause of all our 
 present dangers, difficulties, and distractions, I 
 should ascribe it to the violence and intemperance 
 of party spirit. ... I know, sir, the jealousies, 
 
 178 
 
HENRY CLAY > 179 
 
 the fears, the apprehensions which are engendered 
 by the existence of that party spirit to which I 
 have referred; but If there be In my hearing now, 
 in or out of this Capitol, any one who hopes, In 
 his'race for honors and elevation, for higher hon- 
 ors and higher elevation than that which he now 
 occupies, I beg him to believe that I, at least, will 
 never jostle him In the pursuit of those honors 
 or that elevation. I beg him to be perfectly per- 
 suaded that, if my wishes prevail, my name shall 
 never be used In competition with his. I beg to 
 assure him that when my service Is terminated in 
 this body, my mission, so far as respects the public 
 affairs of this world and upon this earth, is closed, 
 and closed. If my wishes prevail, forever. But, 
 sir. It is Impossible for us to be blind to the facts 
 which are daily transpiring before us. It Is Im- 
 possible for us not to perceive that party spirit 
 and future elevation mix more or less In all our 
 affairs. In all our deliberations. . . . 
 
 From the beginning of the session to the pres- 
 ent time my thoughts have been anxiously directed 
 to the object of finding some plan, of proposing 
 some mode of accommodation which would once 
 more restore the blessings of concord, harmony, 
 and peace to this great country. I am not vain 
 enough to suppose that I have been successful In 
 the accomplishment of this object, but I have 
 presented a scheme; and allow me to say to hon- 
 
i8o NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 orable Senators that, If they find In that plan any- 
 thing that Is defective, if they find in It anything 
 that is worthy of acceptance, but Is susceptible of 
 Improvement by amendment, it seems to me that 
 the true and patriotic course is not to denounce it, 
 but to Improve It — not to reject without exami- 
 nation any project of accommodation having for 
 Its object the restoration of harmony In this coun- 
 try, but to look at it to see If it be susceptible of 
 elaboration or Improvement, so as to accomplish 
 the object which I indulge the hope Is common to 
 all and every one of us, to restore peace and quiet, 
 and harmony and happiness to this country. 
 
 Sir, when I came to consider this subject, there 
 were two or three general purposes which it 
 seemed to me to be most desirable. If possible, to 
 accomplish. The one was, to settle all the con- 
 troverted questions arising out of the subject of 
 slavery. It seemed to me to be doing very little 
 If we settled one question and left other distract- 
 ing questions unadjusted; It seemed to me to be 
 doing but little if we stopped one leak only In the 
 ship of State, and left other leaks capable of pro- 
 ducing danger, If not destruction, to the vessel. 
 I therefore turned my attention to every subject 
 connected with the Institution of slavery, and out 
 of which controverted questions had sprung, to 
 see If It were possible or practicable to accommo- 
 date and adjust the whole of them. Another 
 
HENRY CLAY i8i 
 
 principal object which attracted my attention was, 
 to endeavor to form such a scheme of accommo- 
 dation that neither of the two classes of States 
 into which our country is so unhappily divided 
 should make any sacrifice of any great principle. 
 I believe, sir, the series of resolutions which I 
 have had the honor to present to the Senate ac- 
 complishes that object. 
 
 Sir, another purpose which I have had in view 
 was this: I was aware of the difference of 
 opinion prevailing between these two classes of 
 States. I was aware that, while one portion 
 of the Union was pushing matters, as it seemed to 
 me, to the greatest extremity, another portion of 
 the Union was pushing them to an opposite, per- 
 haps not less dangerous extremity. It appeared 
 to me, then, that If any arrangement, any satis- 
 factory adjustment could be made of the contro- 
 verted questions between the two classes of States, 
 that adjustment, that arrangement, could only be 
 successful and effectual by extracting from both 
 parties some concession — not of principle, not 
 of principle at all, but of feeling, of opinion. In 
 relation to matters In controversy between them. 
 Sir, I believe the resolutions which I have pre- 
 pared fulfill that object. I believe, sir, that you 
 will find, upon that careful, rational, and atten- 
 tive examination of them which I think they de- 
 serve, that neither party In some of them makes 
 
i82 NOTED SPEECH GF 
 
 any concession at all; in others the concessions of 
 forbearance are mutual; and in the third place, in 
 reference to the slave-holding States, there are 
 resolutions making concessions to them by the 
 opposite class of States, without any compensation 
 whatever being rendered by them to the non- 
 slave-holding States. I think every one of these 
 characteristics which I have assigned, and the 
 measures which I proposed, is susceptible of clear 
 and satisfactory demonstration by an attentive 
 perusal and critical examination of the resolutions 
 themselves. Let us take up the first resolution. 
 
 The first resolution, Mr. President, as you are 
 aware, relates to California, and it declares that 
 California, with suitable limits, ought to be ad- 
 mitted as a member of this Union, without the 
 imposition of any restriction either to interdict 
 or to introduce slavery within her limits. Well, 
 now, is there any concession in this resolution by 
 either party to the other? I know that gentle- 
 men who come from slave-holding States say the 
 North gets all that it desires; but by whom does 
 it get it? Does it get it by any action of Con- 
 gress? If slavery be interdicted within the limits 
 of California, has it been done by Congress — by 
 this government? No, sir. That interdiction is 
 Imposed by California herself. And has It not 
 been the doctrine of all parties that when a State 
 Is about to be admitted into the Union, the State 
 
HENRY CLAY 183 
 
 has a right to decide for itself whether it will or 
 will not have slavery within its limits? 
 
 Mr. President, the next resolution in the series 
 which I have offered I beg gentlemen candidly 
 now to look at. I was aware, perfectly aware, 
 of the perseverance with which the Wilmot Pro- 
 viso was Insisted upon. I knew that every one 
 of the free States In this Union, without excep- 
 tion, had by Its legislative body passed resolutions 
 Instructing their Senators and requesting their 
 Representatives to get that restriction Incorpo- 
 rated In any Territorial government which might 
 be established under the auspices of Congress. I 
 knew hov/ much, and I regretted how much, the 
 free States had put their hearts upon the adop- 
 tion of this measure. In the second resolution 
 I call upon them to waive persisting In It. I ask 
 them, for the sake of peace and in the spirit of 
 mutual forbearance to other members of the 
 Union, to give It up — to no longer Insist upon 
 It — to see, as they must see. If their eyes are 
 open, the dangers which lie ahead. If they perse- 
 vere in Insisting upon It. 
 
 When I called upon them in this resolution to 
 do this, was I not bound to offer, for a surrender 
 of that favorite principle or measure of theirs, 
 some compensation, not as an equivalent by any 
 means, but some compensation In the spirit of 
 
1 84 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 mutual forbearance, which, animating one side, 
 ought at the same time to actuate the other side? 
 Well, sir, what is It that is offered them? It is a 
 declaration of what I characterized, and must still 
 characterize, with great deference to all those 
 who entertain opposite opinions, as two truths, I 
 will not say Incontestible, but to me clear, and 
 I think they ought to be regarded as indisputable 
 truths. What are they? The first is, that by 
 law slavery no longer exists in any part of the 
 acquisitions made by us from the Republic of 
 Mexico; and the other Is, that in our opinion, ac- 
 cording to the probabilities of the case, slavery 
 never will be Introduced into any portion of the 
 territories so acquired from Mexico. . . . 
 
 With respect to the opinion that slavery does 
 not exist In the territories ceded to the United 
 States by Mexico, I can only refer to the fact o( 
 the passage of the law by the Supreme Govern- 
 ment of Mexico abolishing It, I think. In 1824; 
 and to a subsequent passage of a law by the legis- 
 lative body of Mexico, I forget in what year, by 
 which they proposed — what It Is true they have 
 never yet carried into full effect — compensation 
 to the owners of slaves for the property of which 
 they were stripped by the act of abolition. I can 
 only refer to acquiescence of Mexico in the aboli- 
 tion of slavery, from the time of its extinction 
 down to the time of the treaty by which we ac- 
 
HENRY CLAY 185 
 
 quired these countries. . . . The laws of Mexico, 
 as they existed at the moment of the cession of 
 the ceded territories to this country, remained the 
 laws until, and unless, they were altered by that 
 new sovereign power which this people and these 
 territories came under, In consequence of the 
 treaty of cession to the United States. 
 
 I think ... I may leave that part of the sub- 
 ject, with two or three observations only upon the 
 general power which I think appertains to this 
 government on the subject of slavery. 
 
 Sir, before I approach that subject, allow me 
 to say that. In my humble judgment, the Institu- 
 tion of slavery presents two questions totally dis- 
 tinct and resting on entirely different grounds — 
 slavery within the States, and slavery without the 
 States. Congress, the General Government, has 
 no power, under the Constitution of the United 
 States, to touch slavery within the States, except 
 In three specified particulars in that Instrument: to 
 adjust the subject of representation; to Impose 
 taxes when a system of direct taxation is made; 
 and to perform the duty of surrendering, or caus- 
 ing to be delivered up, fugitive slaves that may 
 escape from service which they owe In slave 
 States, and take refuge In free States. And, sir, 
 I am ready to say that If Congress were to attack, 
 within the States, the Institution of slavery, for 
 the purpose of the overthrow or extinction of 
 
i86 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 slavery, then, Mr. President, my voice would be 
 for war; then would be made a case which would 
 justify in the sight of God, and in the presence 
 of the nations of the earth, resistance on the part 
 of the slave States to such an unconstitutional and 
 usurped attempt as would be made on the suppo- 
 sition which I have stated. 
 
 Then we should be acting in defense of our 
 rights, our domiciles, our safety, our lives; and 
 then, I think, would be furnished a case in which 
 the slave-holding States would be justified, by all 
 considerations which pertain to the happiness and 
 security of man, to employ every instrument 
 which God or nature had placed in their hands to 
 resist such an attempt on the part of the free 
 States. And then, if unfortunately civil war 
 should break out, and we should present to the 
 nations of the earth the spectacle of one portion 
 of this Union endeavoring to subvert an institu- 
 tion in violation of the Constitution and the most 
 sacred obligations which can bind men; we should 
 present the spectacle in which we should have the 
 sympathies, the good wishes, and the desire for 
 our success of all men who love justice and truth. 
 Far different, I fear, would be our case if un- 
 happily Ave should be plunged into civil war — if 
 the two parts of this country should be placed in 
 a position hostile toward each other — in order 
 
HENRY CLAY 187 
 
 to carry slavery into the new territories acquired 
 from Mexico. ... 
 
 The government has no right to touch the in- 
 stitution within the States; but whether she has, 
 and to what extent she has the right or not to 
 touch it outside of the States, is a question which 
 Is debatable, and upon which men may honestly 
 and fairly differ, but which, decided however it 
 may be decided, furnishes, in my judgment, no 
 just occasion for breaking up this happy and 
 glorious Union of ours. . . . 
 
 Mr. President, I shall not take up time, of 
 which already so much has been consumed, to 
 show that, according to the sense of the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States, or rather accordlnor to 
 the sense In which the clause has been interpreted 
 for the last fifty years, the clause which confers on 
 Congress the power to regulate the Territories 
 and other property of the United States conveys 
 the authority. . . . 
 
 I said there is another source of power equally 
 satisfactory, equally conclusive In my mind, as 
 that which relates to the Territories; and that is 
 the treaty-making power — the acquiring power. 
 Now I put It to gentlemen, is there not at this 
 moment a power somewhere existing either to 
 admit or exclude slavery from the ceded territory ? 
 It Is not an annihilated power. This is ImpossI- 
 
1 88 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 ble. It is a subsisting, actual, existing power; 
 and where does it exist? It existed, I presume 
 no one will controvert, in Mexico prior to the 
 cession of these territories. Mexico could have 
 abolished slavery or introduced slavery either in 
 California or New Mexico. That must be con- 
 ceded. Who will controvert this position? 
 Well, Mexico has parted from the territory and 
 from the sovereignty over the territory; and to 
 whom did she transfer it? She transferred the 
 territory and the sovereignty of the territory to 
 the Government of the United States. 
 
 The Government of the United States acquires 
 in sovereignty and in territory over California 
 and New Mexico, all, either in sovereignty or ter- 
 ritory, that Mexico held in California or New 
 Mexico, by the cession of those territories. Sir, 
 dispute that who can. The power exists or it 
 does not; no one will contend for its annihilation. 
 It existed in Mexico. No one, I think, can deny 
 that. Mexico alienates the sovereignty over the 
 territory, and her alienee is the Government of the 
 United States. The Government of the United 
 States, then, possesses all power which Mexico 
 possessed over the ceded territories, and the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States can do in reference 
 to them — within, I admit, certain limits of the 
 Constitution — whatever Mexico could have 
 done. There are prohibitions upon the power of 
 
HENRY CLAY 189 
 
 Congress within the Constitution, which prohibi- 
 tions, I admit, must apply to Congress whenever 
 she legislates, whether for the old States or for 
 new territories; but, within those prohibitions, the 
 powers of the United States over the ceded terri- 
 tories are coextensive and equal to the power of 
 Mexico in the ceded territories, prior to the ces- 
 sion. 
 
 I pass on from the second resolution to the 
 third and fourth, which relate to Texas: and 
 allow me to say, Mr. President, that I approach 
 the subject with a full knowledge of all its diffi- 
 culties; and of all the questions connected with or 
 growing out of this institution of slavery which 
 Congress is called upon to pass upon and decide, 
 there are none so difficult and troublesome as 
 those which relate to Texas, because, sir, Texas 
 has a question of boundaryito settle, and the ques- 
 tion of slavery, or the feelings connected with it, 
 run into the question of boundary. The North, 
 perhaps, will be anxious to contract Texas within 
 the narrowest possible limits, in order to exclude 
 all beyond her to make it a free Territory; the 
 South, on the contrary, may be anxious to extend 
 those sources of Rio Grande, for the purpose of 
 creating an additional theater for slavery; and 
 thus, to the question of the limits of Texas, and 
 the settlement of her boundary, the slavery ques- 
 
I90 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 tlon, with all Its troubles and difficulties, is added, 
 meeting us at every step we take. 
 
 There is, sir, a third question, also, adding to 
 the difficulty. By the resolution of annexation, 
 slavery was Interdicted In all north of 36° 30'; 
 but of New Mexico, that portion of It which lies 
 north of 36° 30' embraces, I think, about one- 
 third of the whole of New Mexico east of the 
 Rio Grande; so that you have free and slave 
 territory mixed, boundary and slavery mixed 
 together, and all these difficulties are to be en- 
 countered. And allow me to say, sir, that among 
 the considerations which induced me to think it 
 was necessary to settle all these questions, was the 
 state of things that now exists In New Mexico, 
 and the state of things to be apprehended both 
 there and In other portions of the territories. 
 Why, sir, at this moment there Is a feeling ap- 
 proximating to abhorrence on the part of the peo- 
 ple of New Mexico at the Idea of any union with 
 Texas. 
 
 Sir, the other day my honorable friend who 
 represents so well the State of Texas said that 
 we had no more right to touch the limits of Texas 
 than we had to touch the limits of Kentucky. I 
 think that was the illustration he gave us — that 
 a State Is one and Indivisible, and that the General 
 Government has no right to sever It. I agree 
 
HENRY CLAY 191 
 
 with him, sir, in that, where the limits are ascer- 
 tained and certain, where they are undisputed and 
 indisputable. The General Government has no 
 right, nor has any other earthly power the right, 
 to interfere with the limits of a State whose 
 boundaries are thus fixed, thus ascertained, known, 
 and recognized. The whole power, at least, to 
 interfere with it is voluntary. The extreme case 
 may be put — one which I trust in God may never 
 happen in this nation — of a conquered nation, 
 and of a constitution adapting itself to the state 
 of subjugation or conquest to which it has been 
 reduced; and giving up whole States, as well as 
 parts of States, in order to save from the con- 
 quering arms of the invader what remains. I 
 say such a power in case of extremity may exist. 
 But I admit that, short of such extremity, volun- 
 tarily, the General Government has no right to 
 separate a State — to take a portion of its terri- 
 tory from it, or to regard it otherwise than as 
 integral, one and indivisible, and not to be affected 
 by any legislation of ours. But, then, I assume 
 what does not exist in the case of Texas, and these 
 boundaries must be known, ascertained, and in- 
 disputable. With regard to Texas, all was open, 
 all was unfixed; all is unfixed at this moment, with 
 respect to her limits west and north of the 
 Nueces. . . . Mr. President, I have said that I 
 think the power has been concentrated in the Gov- 
 
192 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 ernment of the United States to fix upon the 
 limits of the State of Texas. ... In the resolu- 
 tion, what Is proposed? To confine her to the 
 Nueces? No, sir. To extend her boundary to 
 the mouth of the Rio Grande, and thence up that 
 river to the southern limit of New Mexico; and 
 thence along that limit to the boundary between 
 the United States and Spain, as marked under the 
 treaty of 1819. 
 
 Why, sir, here is a vast country. I believe — 
 although I have made no estimate about It — that 
 it is not inferior in extent of land, of acres, of 
 square miles, to what Texas east of the river 
 Nueces, extending to the Sabine, had before. 
 And who is there can say with truth and justice 
 that there Is no reciprocity, nor mutuality, no con- 
 cession In this resolution, made to Texas, even in 
 reference to the question of boundary alone? 
 You give her a vast country, equal, I repeat, in 
 extent nearly to what she Indisputably possessed 
 before; a country sufficiently large, with her con- 
 sent, hereafter to carve out of it some two or 
 three additional States when the condition of the 
 population may render It expedient to make new 
 States. Sir, is there not In this resolution con- 
 cession, liberality, justice? But this Is not all that 
 we propose to do. The second resolution pro- 
 poses to pay off a certain amount of the debt of 
 Texas. A blank Is left In the resolution, because 
 
HENRY CLAY 193 
 
 I have not heretofore been able to ascertain the 
 amount. 
 
 • •••■••« 
 
 I pass to the consideration of the next resohi- 
 tion in the series which I have had the honor to 
 submit, and which relates, if I am not mistaken, 
 to this District. 
 
 *' Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abolish 
 slavery in the District of Columbia, while that in- 
 stitution continues to exist in the State of Mary- 
 land, without the consent of that State, and with- 
 out the consent of the people of the District, and 
 without just compensation to the owners of slaves 
 within the District." 
 
 Mr. President, an objection at the moment was 
 made to this resolution, by some honorable Sena- 
 tor on the other side of the body, that it did not 
 contain an assertion of the unconstitutionality of 
 the exercise of the power of abolition. I said 
 then, as I have uniformly maintained in this body, 
 as I contended for in 1838, and ever have done, 
 that the power to abolish slavery within the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia has been vested in Congress by 
 language too clear and explicit to admit, in my 
 judgment, of any rational doubt whatever. 
 What, sir, is the language of the Constitution? 
 "To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases 
 whatever, over such District (not exceeding ten 
 miles square) as may, by cession of particular 
 
194 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 States and the acceptance of Congress, become 
 the seat of the Government of the United States/' 
 Now, sir, Congress, by this grant of power, is In- 
 vested with all legislation whatsoever over the 
 District. 
 
 Can we conceive of human language more 
 broad and comprehensive than that which Invests 
 a legislative body with exclusive power. In all cases 
 whatsoever, of legislature over a given district of 
 territory or country? Let me ask, sir. Is there 
 any power to abolish slavery In this District? 
 Let me suppose, In addition to what I suggested 
 the other day, that slavery had been abolished In 
 Maryland and Virginia — let me add to It the 
 supposition that It was abolished In all the States 
 in the Union; Is there any power then to abolish 
 slavery within the District of Columbia, or Is 
 slavery planted here to all eternity, without the 
 possibility of the exercise of any legislative power 
 for Its abolition? It cannot be Invested in Mary- 
 land, because the power with which Congress is 
 invested is exclusive. Maryland, therefore, is ex- 
 cluded, and so all the other States of the Union 
 are excluded. It Is here, or it Is nowhere. 
 
 This was the view which I took In 1838, and I 
 think there Is nothing in the resolution which 
 I offered on that occasion Incompatible with the 
 view which I now present, and which the resolu- 
 tion contains. While I admitted the power to 
 
HENRY CLAY 195 
 
 exist in Congress, and exclusiv^ely in Congress, to 
 legislate in all cases whatsoever, and consequently 
 in the abolition of slavery in this District, if it is 
 deemed proper to do so, I admitted on that occa- 
 sion, as I contend now, that it is a power which 
 Congress cannot, in conscience and good faith, 
 exercise while the institution of slavery continues 
 within the State of Maryland. . . . 
 
 This resolution requires . . . that slavery shall 
 not be abolished within the District of Columbia, 
 although Maryland consents, although the people 
 of the District of Columbia themselves consent, 
 without the third condition of making compensa- 
 tion to the owners of the slaves within the Dis- 
 trict. Sir, it is immaterial to me upon what basis 
 (liis obligation to compensate for the slaves who 
 may be hberated by the authority of Congress is 
 placed. There is a clause in the Constitution of 
 the United States, of the amendments to the Con- 
 stitution, which declares that no private property 
 shall be taken for public use, without just compen- 
 sation being made to the owner of the prop- 
 erty. Well, I think, in a just and liberal interpre- 
 tation of that clause, we are restrained from taking 
 the property of the people of this District, in 
 slaves, on consideration of any public policy, or 
 for any conceivable or imaginable use of the pub- 
 lic without a full and fair compensation to the 
 people of this District. . . . 
 
196 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 I know it has been argued that the clause of the 
 Constitution which requires compensation for 
 property taken by the public, for its use, would 
 not apply to the case of the abolition of slavery 
 in the District of Columbia, because the property 
 is not taken for the use of the public. Literally, 
 perhaps. It would not be taken for the use of the 
 public; but It would be taken in consideration of a 
 policy and purpose adopted by the public, as one 
 which it was deemed expedient to carry into full 
 effect and operation; and, by a liberal interpreta- 
 tion of the clause. It ought to be so far regarded 
 as taken for the use of the public, at the instance 
 of the public, as to demand compensation to the 
 extent of the value of the property. . . . 
 
 The second clause of this resolution [the sixth], 
 provides ^' that It Is expedient to prohibit within 
 the District the trade In slaves brought Into It 
 from States or places beyond the limits of the Dis- 
 trict, either to be sold therein as merchandise, or 
 to be transported to other markets." 
 
 Well, Mr. President, If the concession be made 
 that Congress has the power of legislation, and 
 exclusive legislation. In all cases whatsoever, how 
 can It be doubted that Congress has authority to 
 prohibit what Is called the slave-trade In the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia? Sir, my Interpretation of the 
 Constitution Is this: that with regard to all parts 
 of it which operate upon the States, Congress can 
 
HENRY CLAY 197 
 
 exercise no power which Is not granted, or which 
 Is not a necessary Implication from a granted 
 power. That Is the rule for the action of Con- 
 gress In relation to Its legislation upon the States, 
 but In relation to Its legislation upon this District, 
 the reverse. I take It to be the rule that Congress 
 has all the power over the District which Is not 
 prohibited by some part of the Constitution of the 
 United States; In other words, that Congress has 
 a power within the District equivalent to, and co- 
 extensive with, the power which any State Itself 
 possesses within Its own limits. Well, sir, does 
 any one doubt the power and the right of any 
 slave-holding State In this Union to forbid the In- 
 troduction, as merchandise, of slaves within their 
 limits? Why, sir, almost every slave-holding 
 State In the Union has exercised Its power to pro- 
 hibit the Introduction of slaves as merchan- 
 dise. ... 
 
 Sir, the power exists; the duty. In my opinion, 
 exists ; and there has been no time — as I say, in 
 language coincident with that used by the honor- 
 able Senator from Alabama — there has been no 
 time In my public life when I was not willing to 
 concur In the abolition of the slave-trade In this 
 District. . . . Why are the feelings of citizens 
 here outraged by the scenes exhibited, and the 
 corteges which pass along our avenues, of man- 
 acled human beings, not collected at all in our own 
 
198 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 neighborhood, but brought from distant parts of 
 neighboring States? Why should they be out- 
 raged? And who Is there, that has a heart, that 
 does not contemplate a spectacle of that kind with 
 horror and Indignation? Why should they be 
 outraged by a scene so Inexcusable and detestable 
 as this? 
 
 Sir, It Is no concession, I repeat, from one class 
 of States or from the other. It Is an object In 
 which both of them, it seems to me, should heart- 
 ily unite, and which the one side as much as the 
 other should rejoice In adopting, Inasmuch as It 
 lessens one of the causes of inquietude and dissatis- 
 faction which are connected with this District. 
 
 The next resolution Is: 
 
 *' That more effectual provision ought to be 
 made by law, according to the requirement of the 
 Constitution, for the restitution and delivery of 
 persons bound to service or labor In any State, 
 who may escape into any other State or Territory 
 In the Union." 
 
 Now, Mr. President, upon that subject I go 
 with him who goes furthest in the interpretation 
 of that clause In the Constitution. In my humble 
 opinion, sir. It is a requirement by the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States which is not limited In 
 Its operation to the Congress of the United States, 
 but extends to every State In the Union and to the 
 
HENRY CLAY 199 
 
 officers of every State in the Union; and I go one 
 step further : It extends to every man in the Unipn, 
 and develops upon them all an obligation to assist 
 in the recovery of a fugitive from labor who takes 
 refuge in or escapes into one of the free States. 
 And, sir, I think I can maintain all this by a fair 
 Interpretation of the Constitution. It provides: 
 
 " That no person held to service or labor in one 
 State under the laws thereof, escaping Into an- 
 other, shall, In consequence of any law or regula- 
 tion therein, be discharged from service or labor, 
 but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to 
 whom such service or labor may be due." 
 
 It will be observed, Mr. President, that this 
 clause in the Constitution Is not among the enumer- 
 ated powers granted to Congress, for. If that had 
 been the case. It might have been urged that Con- 
 gress alone could legislate to carry It into effect; 
 but It Is one of the general powers or one of the 
 general rights secured by this constitutional In- 
 strument, and It addresses Itself to all who are 
 bound by the Constitution of the United States. 
 Now, sir, the officers of the General Government 
 are bound to take an oath to support the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States. All State officers are 
 required by the Constitution to take an oath to 
 support the Constitution of the United States; and 
 all men who love their country and are obedient 
 to Its laws, are bound to assist In the execution of 
 
200 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 those laws, whether they are fundamental or de- 
 rivative. I do not say that a private individual is 
 bound to make a tour of his State in order to assist 
 an owner of a slave to recover his property; but 
 I do say, if he is present when the owner of a 
 slave is about to assert his rights and endeavor to 
 obtain possession of his property, every man pres- 
 ent, whether he be an officer of the General Gov- 
 ernment or the State government, or a private in- 
 dividual, is bound to assist, if men are bound at 
 all to assist in the execution of the laws of their 
 country. 
 
 Now what is this provision? It Is that such 
 fugitive shall be delivered upon claim of the party 
 to whom such service or labor may be due. As 
 has been already remarked in the course of the 
 debate upon the bill upon this subject which is now 
 pending, the language used in regard to fugitives 
 from criminal offenses and fugitives from labor is 
 precisely the same. The fugitive from justice is 
 to be delivered up, and to be removed to the State 
 having jurisdiction; the fugitive from labor is to 
 be delivered up on claim of the party to whom 
 such service is due. Well, has it ever been con- 
 tended on the part of any State that she is not 
 bound to surrender a fugitive from justice, upon 
 demand from the State from which he fled? I 
 believe not. There have been some exceptions 
 to the performance of this duty, but they have not 
 
HENRY CLAY 201 
 
 denied the general right; and if they have refused 
 in any instance to give up the person demanded, 
 it has been upon some technical or legal ground, 
 not at all questioning the general right to have the 
 fugitive surrendered, or the obligation to deliver 
 him up as Intended by the Constitution. 
 
 I think, then, Mr. President, that with regard 
 to the true interpretation of this provision of the 
 Constitution there can be no doubt. It Imposes 
 an obligation upon all the States, free or slave- 
 holding; it Imposes an obligation upon all officers 
 of the Government, State or Federal; and, I will 
 add, upon all the people of the United States, 
 under particular circumstances, to assist In the sur- 
 render and recovery of a fugitive slave from his 
 master. There has been some confusion and, I 
 think, some misconception, on this subject, In con- 
 sequence of a recent decision of the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. I think that decision has 
 been entirely misapprehended. There Is a vast 
 difference between Imposing Impediments and 
 affording facilities for the recovery of fugitive 
 slaves. . . . 
 
 Mr. President, I do think that that whole class 
 of legislation, beginning In the Northern States 
 and extending to some of the Western States, by 
 which obstructions and Impediments have been 
 thrown In the way of the recovery of fugitive 
 slaves, is unconstitutional and has originated In a 
 
202 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 spirit which I trust will correct itself when those 
 States come calmly to consider the nature and ex- 
 tent of their federal obligations. Of all the 
 States in this Union, unless it be Virginia, the State 
 of which I am a resident suffers most by the escape 
 of their slaves to adjoining States. 
 
 I have very little doubt, indeed, that the extent 
 of loss to the State of Kentucky, in consequence 
 of the escape of her slaves, is greater, at least in 
 proportion to the total number of slaves which are 
 held within that common wealth, even than in Vir- 
 ginia. I know full well, and so does the honor- 
 able Senator from Ohio know, that it is at the 
 utmost hazard, and insecurity of life itself, that 
 a Kentuckian can cross the river and go into the 
 interior to take back his fugitive slave to the place 
 from whence he fled. Recently an example oc- 
 curred even in the city of Cincinnati, in respect to 
 one of our most respectable citizens. Not having 
 visited Ohio at all, but Covington, on the opposite 
 side of the river, a little slave of his escaped over 
 to Cincinnati. He pursued it; he found it In the 
 house In which It was concealed; he took it out, 
 and it was rescued by the violence and force of a 
 negro mob from his possession — the police of 
 the city standing by, and either unwilling or un- 
 able to afford the assistance which was requisite to 
 enable him to recover his property. 
 
 Upon this subject I do think that we have just 
 
HENRY CLAY 203 
 
 and serious cause of complaint against the free 
 States. I think they fail In fulfilhng a great obli- 
 gation, and the failure Is precisely upon one of 
 those subjects which In Its nature Is the most irri- 
 tating and Inflaming to those who live In the slave 
 States. 
 
 Now, sir, I think it is a mark of no good 
 neighborhood, of no kindness, of no courtesy, that 
 a man living In a slave State cannot now, with 
 any sort of safety, travel In the free States with 
 his servants, although he has no purpose whatever 
 of stopping there longer than a short time. And 
 on this whole subject, sir, how has the legislation 
 of the free States altered for the worse within the 
 course of the last twenty or thirty years? Why, 
 sir, most of those States, until within a period of 
 the last twenty or thirty years, had laws for the 
 benefit of sojourners, as they were called, passing 
 through or abiding for the moment in the free 
 States, with their servants. . . . Well, now, sir, 
 all these laws In behalf of these sojourners 
 through the free States are swept away, except I 
 believe in the State of Rhode Island. 
 
 Mr. Dayton — And New Jersey. 
 
 Mr. Clay — Aye, and in New Jersey. . . . 
 
 Then, Mr. President, I think that the existing 
 laws upon the subject, for the recovery of fugitive 
 slaves, and the restoration and delivering of them 
 up to their owners, being found inadequate and 
 
204 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 ineffective, it is incumbent on Congress — and I 
 hope hereafter, in a better state of feeling, when 
 more harmony and good will prevail among the 
 members of this confederacy, it will be regarded 
 by the free States themselves as a part of their 
 duty also — to assist in allaying this irritating and 
 disturbing subject to the peace of our Union; but, 
 at all events, whether they do it or not, it is our 
 duty to do it. It is our duty to make the law 
 more effective, and I shall go with the Senator 
 from the South who goes furthest in making penal 
 laws and imposing the heaviest sanctions for the 
 recovery of fugitive slaves, and the restoration of 
 them to their owners. 
 
 Mr. President, upon this part of the subject, 
 however, allow me to make an observation or two. 
 I do not think the States, as States, ought to be 
 responsible for all the misconduct of particular in- 
 dividuals within those States. I think that the 
 States are only to be held responsible when they 
 act in their sovereign capacity. If there are a 
 few persons, indiscreet, mad if you choose — 
 fanatics if you choose so to call them — who are 
 for dissolving this Union, as we know there are 
 some at the North, and for dissolving it in conse- 
 quence of the connection which exists between the 
 free and slave-holding States, I do not think that 
 any State in which such madmen as they are to be 
 found, ought to be held responsible for the doc- 
 
HENRY CLAY 205 
 
 trines they propagate, unless the State itself 
 adopts those doctrines. 
 
 Mr. President, I have a great deal yet to say, 
 and I shall, therefore, pass from the consideration 
 of this seventh resolution, with the observation, 
 which I believe I have partly made before, that 
 the most stringent provision upon this subject 
 which can be devised will meet with my hearty 
 concurrence and cooperation, in the passage of the 
 bill which is under the consideration of the Senate. 
 The last resolution declares: 
 
 " That Congress has no power to prohibit or 
 obstruct the trade in slaves between the slave- 
 holding States; but that the admission or exclu- 
 sion of slaves brought from one into another of 
 them, depends exclusively upon their own particu- 
 lar laws." 
 
 This is a concession, not, I admit, of any real 
 constitutional provision, but a concession from the 
 North to the South of what is understood, I be- 
 lieve, by a great number at the North, to be a 
 constitutional provision. If the resolution should 
 be adopted, take away the decision of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States on this subject, and 
 there is a great deal, I know, that might be said 
 on both sides, as to the right of Congress to regu- 
 late the trade between the States, and, conse- 
 quently, the trade in slaves between the States; 
 
2o6 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 but I think the decision of the Supreme Court has 
 been founded upon correct principles, and I trust 
 It will forever put an end to the question whether 
 Congress has or has not the power to regulate the 
 Intercourse and trade In slaves between the differ- 
 ent States. 
 
 Such, Mr. President, Is the series of resolutions 
 which, In an earnest and anxious desire to present 
 the olive branch to both parts of this distracted, 
 and at the present moment, unhappy country, I 
 have thought It my duty to offer. Of all men 
 upon earth I am the least attached to any produc- 
 tions of my own mind. No man upon earth is 
 more ready than I am to surrender anything which 
 I have proposed, and to accept in lieu of it any- 
 thing that is better; but I put It to the candor of 
 honorable Senators on the other side and upon all 
 sides of the House, whether their duty will be per- 
 formed by simply limiting themselves to objec- 
 tions to any one or to all of the series of 
 resolutions that I have offered. If my plan of 
 peace, and accommodation, and harmony. Is not 
 right, present us your plan. Let us see the coun- 
 ter project. Let us see how all the questions that 
 have arisen out of this unhappy subject of slavery 
 can be better settled, more fairly and justly settled 
 to all quarters of the Union, than on the plan pro- 
 posed in the resolutions which I have offered. 
 Present me such a scheme, and I will hall It with 
 
HENRY CLAY 207 
 
 pleasure, and will accept it without the slightest 
 feeling of regret that my own was abandoned. 
 Sir, while I was engaged in anxious consideration 
 upon this subject, the idea of the Missouri Com- 
 promise, as it has been termed, came under my re- 
 view, was considered by me, and finally rejected as 
 In my judgment less worthy of the common accept- 
 ance of both parts of this Union than the project 
 which I have offered for your consideration. 
 
 Now, sir, when I came to consider the subject 
 and to compare the provisions of the line of 36° 
 30' — the Missouri Compromise line — with the 
 plan which I propose for the accommodation of 
 this question, what said I to myself? Why, sir, 
 if I offer the line of 36° 30' interdicting slavery 
 north of it, and leaving the question open south 
 of that line, I offer that which is illusory to the 
 South; I offer that which will deceive them, if 
 they suppose that slavery will be introduced south 
 of that line. It Is better for them, I said to my- 
 self — It Is better for the whole South, that there 
 should be non-action on both sides, than that there 
 should be action interdicting slavery on one side, 
 without action for admission of slavery on the 
 other side of the line. Is it not so? What, then, 
 is gained by the South, If the Missouri line is ex- 
 tended to the Pacific, with an interdiction of 
 slavery north of it? Why, sir, one of the very 
 
2o8 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 arguments which have been most often and most 
 seriously urged by the South has been this, that we 
 do not want you to legislate upon the subject at 
 all; you ought not to touch it; you have no power 
 over it. I do not concur, as is well known from 
 what I have said upon this occasion, in this view 
 of the subject. But that is the Southern argu- 
 ment. We do not want you to legislate at all on 
 the subject of slavery. But if you adopt the Mis- 
 souri line and extend it to the Pacific, and interdict 
 slavery north of that line, you do legislate upon 
 the subject of slavery, and you legislate without a 
 corresponding equivalent of legislation on the sub- 
 ject south of the line. For, if there be legislation 
 interdicting slavery north of the line, the principle 
 of equality would require that there should be 
 legislation admitting slavery south of the line. 
 
 Sir, I have said that I never could vote for it, 
 and I repeat that I never can, and never will vote 
 for it; and no earthly power shall ever make me 
 vote to plant slavery where slavery does not exist. 
 Still, if there be a majority — and there ought to 
 be such a majority — for interdicting slavery 
 north of the line, there ought to be an equal ma- 
 jority — if equality and justice be done to the 
 South — to admit slavery south of the line. And 
 if there be a majority ready to accomplish both of 
 these purposes, though I cannot concur in the 
 action, yet I would be one of the last to create any 
 
HENRY CLAY 209 
 
 disturbance, I would be one of the first to acquiesce 
 In such legislation, though It Is contrary to my own 
 judgment and my own conscience. I think, then, 
 it would be better to keep the whole of these terri- 
 tories untouched by any legislation by Congress 
 on the subject of slavery, leaving It open, unde- 
 cided, without any action of Congress In relation 
 to It; that It would be best for the South, and best 
 for all the views which the South has, from time 
 to time, disclosed to us as correspondent with her 
 wishes. . . . 
 
 And, sir, I must take occasion here to say that 
 In my opinion there Is no right on the part of any 
 one or more of the States to secede from the 
 Union. War and dissolution of the Union are 
 identical and inevitable, in my opinion, There 
 can be a dissolution of the Union only by consent 
 or by war. Consent no one can anticipate, from 
 any existing state of things. Is likely to be given; 
 and war Is the only alternative by which a disso- 
 lution could be accomplished. If consent were 
 given — if It were possible that we were to be 
 separated by one great line — In less than sixty 
 days after such consent was given war would 
 break out between the slave-holding and non- 
 slave-holding portions of this Union — between 
 the two Independent parts Into which it would be 
 erected in virtue of the act of separation. In less 
 than sixty days, I believe, our slaves from Ken- 
 
2IO NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 tucky, flocking over in numbers to the other side 
 of the river, would be pursued by their owners. 
 Our hot and ardent spirits would be restrained by 
 no sense of the right which appertains to the Inde- 
 pendence of the other side of the river, should 
 that be the line of separation. They would pur- 
 sue their slaves into the adjacent free States; they 
 would be repelled; and the consequence would be 
 that, In less than sixty days, war would be blazing 
 in every part of this now happy and peaceful land. 
 And, sir, how are you going to separate the 
 States of this confederacy? In my humble 
 opinion, Mr. President, we should begin with at 
 least three separate confederacies. There would 
 be a confederacy of the North, a confederacy of 
 the Southern Atlantic slave-holding States, and a 
 confederacy of the valley of the Mississippi. My 
 life upon it, that the vast population which has 
 already concentrated and will concentrate on the 
 head-waters and the tributaries of the Mississippi 
 will never give their consent that the mouth of 
 that river shall be held subject to the power of any 
 foreign State or community whatever. Such, I 
 believe, would be the consequences of a dissolu- 
 tion of the Union, immediately ensuing; but other 
 confederacies would spring up from time to time, 
 as dissatisfaction and discontent were disseminated 
 throughout the country — the confederacy of the 
 lakes, perhaps the confederacy of New England, 
 
HENRY CLAY 211 
 
 or of the Middle States. Ah, sir, the veil which 
 covers these sad and disastrous events that lie be- 
 yond it, is too thick to be penetrated or lifted by 
 any mortal eye or hand. Mr. President, I am 
 directly opposed to any purpose of secession or 
 separation. . . . 
 
 Mr. President, I have said, what I solemnly be- 
 lieve, that dissolution of the Union and war are 
 identical and inevitable; and they are convertible 
 terms; and such a war as It would be, following a 
 dissolution of the Union/ Sir, we may search the 
 pages of history, and none so ferocious, so bloody, 
 so Implacable, so exterminating — not even the 
 wars of Greece, including those of the Common- 
 ers of England and the revolutions of France — 
 none, none of them all would rage with such vio- 
 lence, or be characterized with such bloodshed 
 and enormities as would the war which must suc- 
 ceed, if that ever happens, the dissolution of the 
 Union. And what would be its termination? 
 Standing armies, and navies, to an extent stretch- 
 ing the revenues of each portion of the dissevered 
 members, would take place. An exterminating 
 war would follow — not sir, a war of two or three 
 years' duration, but a war of interminable dura- 
 tion — and exterminating wars would ensue, until, 
 after the struggles and exhaustion of both parties, 
 some Philip or Alexander, some Caesar or Napo- 
 leon, would arise and cut the Gordian knot, and 
 
212 NOTED SPEECH OF 
 
 solve the problem of the capacity of man for self- 
 government, and crush the liberties of both the 
 severed portions of this common empire. Can 
 you doubt It? 
 
 Look at all history — consult her pages, ancient 
 or modern — look at human nature; look at the 
 contest In which you would be engaged In the sup- 
 position of war following upon the dissolution of 
 the Union, such as I have suggested; and I ask 
 you If It Is possible for you to doubt that the final 
 disposition of the whole would be some despot 
 treading down the liberties of the people — the 
 final result would be the extinction of this last and 
 glorious light which Is leading all mankind, who 
 are gazing upon It, In the hope and anxious ex- 
 pectation that the liberty which prevails here will 
 sooner or later be diffused throughout the whole 
 of the civilized world. Sir, can you lightly con- 
 template these consequences? Can you yield 
 yourself to the tyranny of passion, amid dangers 
 which I have depicted, In colors far too tame, of 
 what the result would be If that direful event to 
 which I have referred should ever occur? Sir, I 
 Implore gentlemen, I adjure them, whether from 
 the South or the North, by all that they hold dear 
 In this world — by all their love of liberty — by 
 all their veneration for their ancestors — by all 
 their regard for posterity — by all their gratitude 
 to Him who has bestowed on them such unnum- 
 
HENRY CLAY 213 
 
 bered and countless blessings — by all the duties 
 which they owe to mankind — and by all the 
 duties which they owe to themselves, to pause, 
 solemnly to pause at the edge of the precipice, be- 
 fore the fearful and dangerous leap be taken into 
 the yawning abyss below, from which none who 
 ever take it shall return in safety. 
 
 Finally, Mr. President, and In conclusion, I Im- 
 plore, as the best blessing which Heaven can be- 
 stow upon, me upon earth, that If the direful event 
 of the dissolution of this Union Is to happen, I 
 shall not survive to behold the sad and heart- 
 rending spectacle.